26 weeks ultrasound pics

Profile shot

She's looking our way . . . looks like her eyes have opened!

Smooches! She puckered her lips when they got this photo.

My sweet baby girl!

Blowing kisses and running laps!

At our OB appointment on Saturday we were FINALLY able to get a better look at Stephanie's face. She is still in the head-down, ready-to-blast-off position, but she did turn her face a little bit. I talked to her beforehand and asked her to please let us have a look at her face, so I guess she felt like obliging. We could see her swallowing and she puckered her lips a few times - it looked like she was blowing kisses at us! It was too precious.

I am now at the point where I will start seeing my doctor every two weeks, instead of once a month. Starting at the next appointment, I'll spend time hooked up to the fetal heart rate monitor to see how she is doing and how she responds to contractions or whatever. At the appointment after that, he'll start checking for dilation and effacement changes. Whoa - it's really coming down to the end. On Wednesday, I hit the third trimester, and it's the homestretch from there on out.

It's amazing how we are able to bond with her and get to know her while she is still in utero. Sometimes, she will even respond to her name with a swift kick. She will "dance" to certain songs, and seems to like church services. At bath time, she is strong enough to make the water ripple. She has a set schedule for feeding time, and she will give me no rest until I get up and feed her. We have a new game where we play "footsie." She likes to shove her foot as far out of my belly as possible, and I'll say "Is that your footsie?" and give it a little tickle, and she'll take it back, then shove it up again, and we go until she gets tired of it. Watching and poking my belly gives me hours of entertainment (I know, I know, I should get a life). Now, I always wanted to run cross-country in high school, and I think she is gearing up for a meet in there. Sometimes, when I am laying in bed, it feels like she is running from the top to the bottom of my belly! It's like a pitter-patter of little feet that travels up and down. It is SO FREAKY! Like an ALIEN running around it's cage. And I know I'm a crazy cat lady, but sometimes, her little jumps remind me of my cat. I try to tell Steve his snores are bad - he doesn't believe me, but his snores are sometimes loud enough to make her jump - which then means that I have to roll out of bed and rush to the potty, since her head is right on my bladder. And speaking of rolling out of the bed, I really almost rolled right onto the floor last week, thanks to my new sliding pelvis. I bet I could get into a split again! Of course, the problem would be getting back up off the floor once I'm down there. : )

Of course, I'm sure it is much easier to take care of a baby *inside* my belly than outside, but I still look forward to having her with us. She already seems to show so much personality already, I'm sure it will be so much fun to get to know her "on the outside" (sounds like she's in prison, huh).

See how I am growing!

18 weeks

21 weeks - on Valentine's Day

25 weeks - she's really growing now!
Steve says, "I think you might be pregnant." Silly man. : )

I am nearing the end of the second trimester, and boy am I feeling every bit of it! I am starting to get backaches and I can hear my pelvis crack and pop when I walk or turn over in bed, and sometimes I even feel it slide when I walk (an incredibly weird sensation, mind you). I got my first stretch marks (ACK! THE HORROR!) but luckily they are on my thighs, and not on my belly. I am staying greased up with cocoa butter in hopes I can avoid getting the stretch marks on my belly. I seem to have a headache every single day (but luckily my migraines seem to have lessened). I still vomit spontaneously, but at least the lingering nausea is gone, and I still rely on Tums (although I am sure not to take too many - thanks for the heads up, Kim). My fingers have started to swell a bit, so I've taken off my wedding rings, and I even feel my feet swelling sometimes. I feel like I can eat all day long (and all night, too), although I can't eat too much in one sitting. Suddenly I have a major sweet tooth, and SweeTarts Jelly Beans are my new favorite candy. I stay off the scale as much as possible - no need to torture myself! Luckily, my doctor's office uses the metric system, so I really don't have an idea of my weight until I convert it. 67 kilograms sounds so much better than 100-and-none-of-your-business pounds! : )

We bought our stroller and carseat - which was exciting! Soon, we'll purchase the pack-n-play, which we plan to keep downstairs to give her a place to sleep, since that's where I am during the day. The crib and changing table are ready in her room, just waiting for the bedding set I ordered to get here. I am so ready to have everything done in her room, although she won't be in there for the first few months. We plan to keep her in our room for the first 4-6 months, but I still want her room to be ready.

She is such an active baby in the womb - I wonder if it is a sign of things to come. And oh goodness, do I have some reaping to do from my childhood! I am sure that I will have an all new appreciation for my parents and the things they put up with from me. I'm sure Steve has some reaping to do as well. : )

Sometimes, it is frightening to think that in just a few months, we will actually have a real, live baby in our home. It's been just me and Steve for almost 8 years of marriage, and although we've wanted this for so long, it is still a huge change. As a perfectionist, I feel like there is so much I don't know and it's bothering me! I want to have a plan for how the next 18 years should go, a step-by-step guide for every large milestone and small accomplishment, so that I can prepare and know just how to act and the perfect thing to say. It really is a scary thing that babies don't come with manuals! I know I have to let go of my perfect ideals - I'm certainly not going to be a perfect mother, and as much as I know I'll love our little Penny, she won't always be a perfect angel either. I'm sure we'll learn as we go, and I pray God will give us wisdom to handle the things that come up.

I am looking forward to meeting our little girl. I always spend my first waking moments imagining how she will look, how she will smell, what it will feel like to finally have her here with us. I can hardly wait - COME ON, JUNE!!!

My first trip to L&D

Last night, I started having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions. Timing them, I realized they were 5 minutes apart! This continued pretty much all night, with me catching snatches of sleep in between. Then, I noticed a dull back ache and some crampiness. Of course, my worry is pre-term delivery. Along with the contractions coming every 5 minutes, I was having to potty every 5 minutes as well - that's why I couldn't get much sleep.

I decided to make sure and stay hydrated and stay off my feet today, and it worked for a while, until the afternoon when the contractions started to pick up again. I called my doctor and let him know what was going on and he told me to go to the hospital if it persisted. I'm kinda freaking out now, so I send Steve an email, have a short cry about it and set about getting ready to go to the hospital. Steve called me and then came home and we made our way to the hospital.

When we arrive at the hospital, the fun of the language barrier begins. The lady at the reception desk spoke very little English, but I showed her my "Mutterpass" (my pocket OB chart that I must carry everywhere) and she directed us to the gyno department. The lady there spoke no English at all, but took us downstairs to the maternity ward, and luckily the midwife spoke English. I was put on a monitor for the baby and for the contractions and lay there for a while. Stephanie does not like those fetal monitors, and she kicked at it the entire time. After signing a bunch of papers I couldn't understand, we went upstairs for an ultrasound and examination to make sure I wasn't dilating. The doctor up there spoke only Russian and German, but luckily, there was another nurse/midwife who was able to translate for us. Everything looked fine, no sign of dilation or shortening in my cervix, and baby is fine. However, it turns out I have a bladder infection. They offered me to stay for the night, and they would give me magnesium for the contractions and check me again in the morning. I am starving at this point, and I just want to go home. So, I get a prescription for the magnesium and some antibiotics and orders to follow up with my OB in the morning.

At least we got to see the hospital and Steve got a dry run on the route. It's really lovely and had a nice atmosphere. I think it will be a nice experience, but I really don't want to go there for another 13 weeks at least! I always dreaded being "that woman" who thought she was in labor but got sent home sans baby. Of course, in this instance, I didn't want to be in labor. But better safe than sorry, so that is why we went on to the hospital. Now I just need this baby to stay put for the next few months!

Let's have a look . . .

Pregnancy brings its share of ca-razy dreams, but I usually can't remember them upon waking. During my nightly potty trips, I shake my head over the craziness, promising myself that I will remember in the morning, but when morning comes, my brain is wiped clean with only the knowledge that I had dreamed something weird. But I did remember this dream from last night . . .

I was back home in Florida, and I had plans to go see a movie with some of my family, including my dad, my sister Dione, my grandma MaBelle, my aunts Joyce and Deborah and some others. There were to be 11 people in all, and we were going to see "Titanic." So, we were standing around outside some building, and I can feel the baby moving inside of me. It was a circular motion and it reminded me of a washing machine. I told Dione to feel the baby, and then I let my dad feel it. So then my dad takes my belly off, and it's like some kind of contraption that was held together with wing nuts. We unscrew the nuts, and there's baby! It was a HE, and he was slender and covered in the waxy vernix. He kinda had a little smile on his face, and he was sitting breech and his legs were crossed. I remember wanting to stroke his little back, but I didn't want to introduce any germs to him. So, we looked at him for a little while, then we screwed the belly back together and I was all pregnant again. Weirdness!

I'm trying to figure out why I keep dreaming this baby is a boy! It's been that way the entire pregnancy, and that's why I was so surprised when the doctor told us it was a girl. With all the baby girl stuff we've bought, there had better not be any surprises in that delivery room! I think I'm going to make Dr. Michaelides check extra carefully at our next appointment . . .