27 Weeks - A Rutabaga / Green Onion

September 18, 2014


Photo Thoughts: LAST WEEK of the Second Trimester!  I can't believe it.  I'm loving the new spot I chose for these weekly photos. My photographer thinks it's too much back-lighting, but whatever- better than the harsh overhead lighting.  Also, don't be alarmed, I am fully aware that what I am holding is NOT a rutabaga.  I just have no desire to buy an obscure food that I know we won't eat, so I went with green onion, since that is pretty close to the baby's length this week.  Also, a special guest appearance by my family in my weekly photos this week! 

How I'm Feeling: Physically I still feel great... except for some soreness from a little accident I had this week (more on this below).  It was kind of a hard week emotionally, with my grandmother's funeral over the weekend, but overall, things are going well. 

Baby/Bump: Baby boy is officially showing brain activity this week!

The baby bump is finally showing some pretty consistent and noticeable growth OUTward.  I sill have yet to have a stranger acknowledge that I'm pregnant... so hopefully that doesn't just mean that I'm still looking like someone with a beer gut. 

Symptoms: I'm starting to experience some lower back pain if I'm on my feet for long (doing dishes, making dinner, etc.).  But then again, it also bothers me if I sit for too long... so it's kind of a lose-lose situation.  It's not terrible though. 

Weight: I didn't weight myself again this week. Whatever.

What I'm Stressing About/Worries: It was sort of stressful to come back to the giant mess of a house that I left behind the day after we moved.  Boxes and random furniture that we really don't have room for are everywhere.  But, David did surprise me by totally taking care of the garage (lots of heavy things, plus it's hot in there) and all the electronic stuff (which I would have totally messed up anyways).  I guess I just have to start slowly chipping away at unpacking... little by little.

This 100 day reminder was quite a wake-up call!  Time is FLYING by.

I'm also a little bit worried about a dermatologist appointment I had this week. The doctor wanted to biopsy a spot on my scalp that I had pointed out to him since I thought it looked suspicious.  He said that he would be pretty surprised if it came back as anything, so I'm actually pretty optimistic and not too worried about it.  I should hear back either way next week. 

What I'm Missing: I really would have loved to have had a few drinks this weekend.  It was hard being around all of my cousins that are close in age to me, and not being able to have a drink with them... but only a few more months of sobriety :-)

Sleep: I'm still sleeping really well! The hotel bed I slept in while I was in North Carolina was seriously one of the most comfortable beds ever!  And then I got to come home to our giant king size bed again- that novelty still hasn't worn off yet.  Yay sleep!

Exercise: Totally slacking off.  Between moving, travelling, unpacking, there are just way too many excuses to make.  I'm giving myself some slack though, and telling myself I will get back to it when things calm down a little bit. 

Movement: Still feeling daily movement.  And slowly, but surely, the movements are getting stronger.  Although I still don't feel like I can discern if a movement is a kick, punch, stretch, roll, etc.  Well, I take that back- sometimes I feel a movement that just has to be a roll.  It is the strangest feeling, and it almost makes me feel motion-sick for a brief moment. 

It's hard to describe what the movements feel like.  It doesn't really feel like gas bubbles anymore. A lot of the time it actually feels very similar to the way a muscle twitch in your leg might feel.  One friend of mine said that to her it felt like someone tapping their fingers on her belly from the inside.  Weird!  Another friend of mine (hi, Maggie!) :-)  described it in a really genius way.  She said to "picture a goldfish you win at a fair, or bring home from the pet store in a plastic bag full of water. The goldfish bumping against the side of the bag is kind of what it feels like when the baby moves." I thought that was a pretty genius comparison/description.  Although I do feel like the movements I'm feeling are slowly starting to feel stronger than that. 

Boy or Girl: XY

Milestones: Baby's 2nd round trip flight.  He has now been in Texas, Arizona and North Carolina (and Georgia and Illinois if you count layovers).  I hope I have a baby who is an easy traveler- especially knowing that a good amount of travelling will be in our future with most of our family being out of town!  A negative side effect of the travelling though, was that when I got home late Sunday night and changed out of my jeans, I realized that my ankles and feet were super swollen from the flight.  Really, really attractive. And it took several days for the swelling to go down.  I didn't follow doctor's orders to get up and move around during the flight- lesson learned. 

Cute, right?

HighLowlights of the Week: Guys, I had a super scary fall over the weekend.  I was at my aunt's house where the whole family was gathering before we headed to the church for my grandma's funeral.  About 30 minutes before we needed to leave (great timing), I headed upstairs to use the bathroom.  My aunt was at the top of the stairs and said there was already someone in there, so I turned to go back downstairs to try the bathroom down there, and somehow I missed a step and fell head first on.my.back. all the way to the bottom of the stairs.  I hit my head on the wood floor at the bottom, and I just remember that within seconds there were a ton of people standing above me.  I also managed to pull part of the hand railing out of the wall attempting to catch my fall.  My first reaction was to try and sit up and make clear that I didn't want a bunch of people just standing there staring at me.  So my mom cleared everyone out, except for her and my cousin who conveniently just so happens to be an ER doctor.  My cousin checked me out, and I didn't honestly feel all that bad, and she said she'd check in with me throughout the day, and just said that as long as I didn't have any cramping or bleeding that the baby was fine.  I am so thankful that I wasn't seriously hurt, and most importantly that the baby was OK.  It was mostly just really scary and really embarrassing.  I walked away with a giant scratch on my shin (no idea what that came from- I think maybe from the heel of my shoe), a very sore back, and a huge bruise on the back of each hip- I must have hit my lower back/hips pretty hard.  So. Now I know- the whole pregnancy clumsiness/shifting of your center of balance is no joke.  I'm legitimately scared of stairs now.  Good thing I just moved into a 2 story house. 
*Also an important lesson: done with heels during this pregnancy.  Yep.

Focus on the bruise- not the love handles, stretch marks, etc.