26 & 27 Weeks

Well first off, my blood pressure has been better as I've been checking in. I think dropping out of a few things has really helped lower my anxiety. Laughter also helps. Which occurred with an absolutely ridiculous interaction: One morning recently, I was reaching up into a kitchen cabinet to get a jar of peanut butter. In the process, I knocked down a container of cocoa powder...which opened and spilled EVERYWHERE. All over the counter, the fronts of the kitchen drawers, the stove, the floor, and on me. All over my shirt and the brand new pair of pants I finally broke down and bought to accommodate my baby belly. This morning, Dan happened to have a late morning for work. He was lying back down in bed, but I went into the bedroom, stunned at what happened. I managed to share that I needed help. He popped out of bed ready to do what he could. He even managed to keep his laughing to a minimum! Then he had the goofy and brilliant suggestion to vacuum the powder up. The best part is that he vacuumed my outfit. You read that right. He vacuumed my outfit. I was shaking with giggles the whole time. But it really helped! My outfit was wearable! I swear, I felt like I was in an "I Love Lucy" episode.  

Having these moments of giggles have been good when they come, because my temper and patience have been shorter. I have been using Dan as a sounding board to find out when my feelings are somewhat reasonable and when they're really off kilter. For example, my mom keeps trying to get me to decide about things that are much lower on my priority list right now - like what outfit I want to have to wear at the hospital after the baby is born. That's much lower on my than other things. And Dan pointed out that I still have a whole trimester, therefore three months, to go before my due date. So buying something this early on would probably not be a good idea. Also, she wanted me to pick something out so she could give it to me at our baby shower next weekend, and I'm pretty uncomfortable with the idea of opening a gift with clothing in my size. I'm very self-conscious about it. There was one time this week, though, when I didn't feel like they were though. Dan and I have decided to hire a doula. It's a concept we first became familiar with several years ago through friends, and the more I learn about it, the more comfortable and hopeful I feel about having a compassionate, informed advocate on our side. I shared this news with my mom and met with a surprising amount of resistance. When I've tried to talk with her about it, she's been extremely closed off and snarky. She won't open up to me about why she's so seemingly angry about it, but it's intense. It all came to a head this morning and I think that the topic is something I will be uncomfortable broaching for a long while. My main concern now is that Julie, who we want to hire, will be treated poorly by my mom. Learning from her reaction, we decided to try a different approach with Dan's parents and wrote them an email that included Julie's contract as well as a couple articles about what doulas are. Now I'm anxiously awaiting a response from them.

On another note, Emma has been moving around like crazy this week! I'm finally seeing her move in my abdomen, though Dan hadn't yet. So one afternoon, when she was particularly wiggly, I video taped it and send it to Dan. Then later, I shared it with our moms and a couple friends. So much fun! And by now he's seen it in person too!

As for me, I'm still facing acid reflux. Between that and some hip pain, sleeping is becoming a more of an obstacle. I keep hoping for some pretty good sleep before Emma arrives, because I know once she's here, sleep will become a rare commodity. As for Emma, she's was the size of a butternut squash at 26 weeks and is now the size of a "bunch of bananas" or a large cucumber at 27 weeks. Both of my apps say that Emma is over 2lbs now and around 15 or so inches long. It just seems so big!

I've read that I could start having contractions as my body prepares for birth. Emma is plumping up so she'll be ready to regulate her own body temperature after she's born. Her eyes are finally starting to open and she'll be more responsive to light, which we've definitely found to be true when we held a light up to my stomach! She definitely moved around when it was there. She's borrowing some of my antibodies to help her immune system. Soon, I'll get my flu shot at work so she'll be even better taken care of. Most of her bodily systems are intact and most of the rest of her development revolves around putting on height and weight. The doctor's office has added an iron supplement to my daily list of "to take" things. My recent blood tests show that I'm slightly anemic. So...it's been added and hopefully it's doing what it needs to.  

Next week, I'll be starting my third trimester! We have back to back appointments with the specialist and with the nurse practitioner. When we go to the doctor, we'll have our next ultrasound. They're also going to do an echo of Emma's heart. Apparently, when moms-to-be at their practice have some of the risk factors that I do, that's one of the things they do; check the heart more fully. I really hope everything's okay.

Last thing for now: I had been trying to come to terms with the reality that we couldn't hire someone to take photos of Dan and me while I'm pregnant. I had really been wanting that because it's a really special time and it may or may not be the only time we experience pregnancy and expecting a baby. I cried to him one night, realizing that there were so many other things we needed to spend money on. Instead of letting the subject die there, he reached out to a photography group he's involved with. Within 24 hours, we had three photographers step up to say they would take "trade for" photos for us. Trade for, or "tf" means that they'll be free, though the photographer will be able to use them on their websites and whatnot. It's like what Dan does with many of his models. We're hoping to do shoots at the beach, at a local park, and downtown. I've been thinking about outfits we might wear to each. I was so excited and grateful! So we'll have even more photographs to document this time than I could have hoped for!