27 weeks 5 days

I just realized I hadn't posted these! These are the pictures from the specialist we went to at 24 weeks. Look at that foot! It appears he has my feet, good for him! Giant feet are much better for boys than for girls. In the bottom picture his head is on the left and it's a profile. His hand is just above his head. Every time we see him he has his hands up over his eyes! Apparently he hates the light like Greg. I'll probably find him sleeping with a pillow over his head in the crib.

Everything is going very well, I have another specialist appointment and my regular 28 week appointment on Tuesday. Smudgy is moving a ton, especially at night. He kicks me in the ribs every once in a while which is less fun than the others.

26 weeks 2 day

Even though I know I'm 26 weeks along (or more importantly, 14 weeks from full term) I still can't believe it and, writing the title (yes, I said writing even though I typed) makes it more real and, frankly, terrifying. (There are a lot of commas in that sentence!) I promise I'm excited about Smudgy coming, really I am. I just hope that I'm ready when he does. I keep saying that I hope I'm ready to be a mom and people always respond "you already are!" That may be so, technically, but I don't feel like one. I feel more like a host right now.

At the last ultrasound the technician said that he was viable. I know I'm supposed to be excited about that but I mostly just felt the urge to clutch my stomach, squeeze my legs together and pray. Not only because I want him to make it to full term but also because I'm just not ready to be done yet. So far, and I realize this may jinx me, I enjoy being pregnant. There are some downsides but, for me, the pluses outweigh the negatives. I feel important all the time, like I'm constantly busy even when I'm just watching television. There's so much going on over here! All the time!

He's really moving now, a constant affirmation that he's okay. They say that, at this point, babies are sleeping about 14 hours a day. Either Smudgy is an active sleeper or I'm calling bravo sierra. Not that it bothers me, mind you. We haven't had any feet stuck in between ribs or anything yet (something I'm told I can look forward to.) People ask me what it feels like; it used to feel like bubbles popping. Now that he's almost 2 pounds it feels like getting kicked in the stomach by tiny feet from the inside. I realize that's not helpful but that is exactly what it feels like.

In other news, I can't believe it's October! This only means that the rest of the pregnancy will fly. I get to decorate for Halloween this weekend then comes Thanksgiving and then Christmas and then Smudgy, hopefully in that order! I can't wait! Honestly. I promise.

24 weeks 3 days

The more pregnant I get the worse I get at writing on this blog. I'll try to do better!

My new favorite pregnancy symptom is getting overheated. There are times that I feel like I'm going to explode I'm so hot. It's like I have a personal heater inside.

We went to the doctor on Tuesday for our regular 24 week check up. The ultrasound technician couldn't see the heart well enough at the last appointment so she wanted to check it again now that Smudgy's a little bigger. The heart looked great, no problems there. There was a white spot below the heart that she wanted checked more closely so she said she was going to take a picture and send it to my doctor. Greg was concerned but I felt pretty calm about it, she didn't seem alarmed at all.

Then we went in for our appointment which happened to be with a midwife this month. She was the absolute worst at being calming. She started talking about cardiologists and specialists. It was the last thing we needed. She made us an appointment with a perinatal specialist but we couldn't go until Thursday. It was the longest 48 hours ever!

We went to see the specialist on Thursday morning. A nurse was doing an ultrasound for the doctor to look at and he came in in the middle of it to tell us that he'd been watching from his office and that everything was fine. We immediately felt better. Turns out that Smudgy has a hemangioma on his liver. Apparently it's very common and doesn't mean anything. He said he sees about one a month. So....yeah! Crisis averted. On the very positive side, we have now had a specialist looking at Smudgy's everything including organs and everything looks great!

20 Weeks 3 Days

We went to the doctor on Wednesday to have the 20 week ultrasound and ..............it's a boy! More importantly though, everything looked good. We could clearly see Smudgy and all his parts. The spine was a little creepy but I'm glad it's there! It's amazing what can happen in 13 weeks. I still can't believe it.

Thursday I went for my regular appointment. My blood pressure was normal for the first time so fingers crossed that it stays that way. I asked the doctor what will happen if it goes back up and he told me that I would be on bed rest and would most likely have the baby around 38 weeks. It's only two weeks difference but it actually takes the birthday from January to December, after Christmas to before and from 2010 to 2009! Weird.

I got to hear the heart beat again and I could hear kicks too! It's so strange that I can hear the baby moving and see him moving but I can't feel it. As violent as it looks though I've stopped being in a hurry!

20 Weeks

We're halfway there! I can't believe it, it's gone really fast so far. Don't worry, I know the last half is harder. We go for the ultrasound tomorrow that should tell us if Smudgy is a girl or a boy. I'm really excited, and nervous. I haven't felt Smudgy yet, at least I don't think I have. I know that it's too early to worry but I will anyway until I see that heartbeat tomorrow.

Smudgy's Beach Pictures

Smudgy's first game of catch.

Smudgy's first T-shirt.

Smudgy's first Skeeball and arcade prize!

Smudgy's first game of Putt Putt.

16 weeks 6 days

At my last appointment I had blood drawn for the AFP test which lets you know if your baby is at increased risk for Down's Syndrome, Trisomy 18 or Open Neural Tube Defects. The doctor said the results would be back in a week and that they would email me if everything was normal and call me if it wasn't. I had a voice mail today from a nurse wanting me to call her back, it's been exactly a week. I freaked out! I called her back 21 times (no exaggeration, I counted) and she finally answered. Turns out it was just a response to a question I asked at my last appointment. I told the nurse how I had driven myself crazy and she said the results weren't back yet.

One hour later I got the email, everything is normal! Yay!