26 weeks!

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take two to three days.

Happy Thanksgiving! This time next year I'll have a little one to chase around on Thanksgiving - so weird! My mom is just itching to go buy toys on Black Friday tomorrow for Campbell to use next year, she's crazy!

We ordered the crib and dresser/changer - they'll be here on Tuesday! We also ordered and received the bedding and mattress and changing pad. It's coming together! We need to clean the carpets and paint in the nursery and then we can start getting it together!

Pretty much the same is going on with me, no new issues/symptoms! One week away from the 3rd trimester!

25 weeks!

How your baby's growing: head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

As far as I'm concerned, I got some good news from the doctor this week. I had my follow up ultrasound and my placenta has moved up and I'm "cleared for vaginal delivery". Such amazing news. Thank you God. Barring any last minute complications that may come up, I won't have to have a c-section. I do accept that anything is possible, I'm just glad to not have to worry about it and all the other complications that can come with a low lying placenta right now.

We're going to register tomorrow, I'm really excited! It will be nice to have that down! My mom and I are hopefully going to start clearing out the nursery on Sunday and finish up the day after Thanksgiving b/c you know I won't be out shopping with the masses!

I also registered for some of the pregnancy classes we are going to take: Infant CPR, Home with Baby and Beginning Breastfeeding. I'm just waiting for 2010 dates for the Childbirth preparation classes at the hospital we're delivering at (right now it's only at the other hospital).

I've still had Braxton Hicks contractions and they still freak me out but I'm trying to monitor them.

So, here's me:

24 weeks!

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

And here's me:

I've been feeling okay. I had several braxton hicks contractions on Sunday and was totally freaked. I really want to get everything around here in order so I feel more prepared. I want nothing more than for this baby to stay inside 'cooking' for the next 16 weeks so please God, let him stay inside. I will honestly be okay if he's a week late too!

We plan to get rid of somethings this weekend so we can start moving stuff out of the nursery so we can get it set up. Next weekend I want to order our furniture and hopefully register too.

Today we had to go for another ultrasound b/c the last ultrasound showed I have a low lying placenta which can change so we had a follow up to see if it's risen. God I hope it has.

You should SEE the pictures we got! Although they weren't looking at the baby, she did give us a few shots of him. One of them looks JUST like Nick. It looks like they took a picture of him, morphed it into an ultrasound type picture and printed it out. It scares me to look at it! It's crazy!!

Halloween

Oh yeah, I want to show off our pumpkins from Halloween - okay, really just mine - can you guess which one it is?!

It was Nick's idea but I carved it, he did the scary one - okay, scary to me.

23 Weeks

Today I'm 23 weeks pregnant.

I can say that my complaints have gone up! I have heartburn all the time, doesn't matter what I eat or don't eat. It comes and goes all day. I have started taking Tums which aren't that bad - I expected the worst.

My lower back hurts and my hips kill when I sleep. We're getting a new mattress in the next week or so and I think that will really help.

Campbell is kicking a ton, mostly at night, when laying on the couch or laying in bed. I love it, it's so fun. Many times it so hard I can see it on the outside. Nick's still the only person who has felt him kick. He loves it too.

This is what Babycenter has to say about what Campbell is up to at this point:

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

And here is meeeeeee: