And Now For Something Completely Different: 21

Well, Henry predicted it. When I started this he said, "You know once school gets going you're going to stop updating your blog." And unfortunately he was right. I just got very bogged down in school and work, plus a bit of traveling, and well, unfortunately the updates kinda fell to the wayside. I sincerely apologize to you guys who are actually reading this and especially to the ones who thought something had gone horribly wrong with me. Here's the rundown of what was going on in our lives for the past 4 weeks:
21 Weeks - Not much happened this week so I really have absolutely no excuse for not posting. :-(
22 Weeks - Henry left on Monday morning, heading to San Diego to take the California Bar exam. My mom picked him up an was gracious enough to feed him a few lunches and dinners while he was down there. On Wednesday I went to the doctor's again to get more pictures of the baby's spine. Everything looked great, Ginny was constantly moving and annoying ultrasound techs, but I love watching her. I actually go to see and feel her punch me at one point which was amazing. The only thing that was iffy was that they determined that she is measuring big and they want me to go in for another (yes another!!) ultrasound at 28 weeks to chart her growth. I think that they just have her due date wrong. She was always measuring "big" on the ultrasounds even when she looked like a sea monkey so neither Henry nor I are worried.
23 Weeks - Henry met me in Seattle after the bar was over and we drove to Tri-Cities to visit with Henry's family for a couple days. This was our last big trip out to see family so it was nice to spend some time. Marsha (Henry's mom) and Alma (Henry's grandma) got to feel Ginny kick which was really special. We had a great time and it was very relaxing for me. We also got to see Tracy, Shayne and Alexandra on our way to and from Tri-Cities, which was wonderful as always, as well as some of our college friends. Henry's friend Nick and his wife, and my friend Jenn and her husband are also expecting so we had some fun trading pregnancy stories!
24 Weeks - Back in Chicago and no breathers before getting back in the game. I went straight from the airport to class, then had to teach a make up class the next day and teach a regularly scheduled class the day after that. Still going to work part time, but that's all ending soon as I will be back full time starting at 26 weeks. Henry got a bit of a break as he didn't start working remotely for the Law Offices of Sandra Morris until this week. He spent most of his time cleaning the house after the cats had it to themselves for the week we were gone. Not he's super happy to be doing some real legal work! We also bought our first piece of baby equipment this week, a pack and play with a bassinet which will be Ginny's bed until we move to San Diego and get her some real furniture.

25 Weeks - Had our appointment yesterday, we have one more four week appointment, then we start going in every two weeks until the home stretch after 35 weeks, at which point we go in every week. Starting to inch up on the third trimester, only two more weeks to go! Last weekend my nephew Billy came to visit us in Chicago. It was his first plane ride and he did it all by himself! We had a great time visiting the Museum of Science and Industry and the Field Museum and running around Chicago. I am proud to say I held up pretty well, even outlasting the nine-year-old one day. Henry had really been looking forward to seeing the exhibits himself, especially the one at the Museum of Science and Industry about storms. They stood in a simulated tornado and made tsunamis and generally ran amok. Lots and lots of fun!

What's the Baby Doing?: The big news is that Ginny's lungs went through a major development these past few weeks and now she has a better than 50-50 chance of surviving outside if she had to be born today. Every week the odds get better which is very exciting. Her hands are now fully developed and she is exploring her surroundings now. At this point, average babies are 15 inches long and weigh 1.5 pounds.
Weight Gain: Sorry it's been too many weeks to come up with an actual number. But I asked the doctor how I was doing and she said I was absolutely fine. The nice part is that she told me to measure my weight gain from what I was when I got pregnancy, not from what I was after I lost the weight in the first trimester, so by that I really haven't gained that much.

Showing?: Holy belly explosion Batman!

Symptoms: Feeling pretty good these past couple weeks so not many symptoms. My lower back has been really starting to hurt, but thankfully Henry is very free with the back rubs :-) I'm also getting a lot of stretching and pulling sensations around the belly but that's really not a shocker.
Sleep: On and off. I find that when I eat a little something before bed I sleep a little better. Strange that I get the most hungry around 9:00pm.
Movement: Ginny is an active little one! It feels like she's constantly moving and kicking. Of course when we were visiting Henry's family she would stop whenever someone put their hand on my belly. On days when I do a lot of walking, like when we were at the museums, she's pretty quiet but she wakes up as soon as I sit down. Just one more sign that she's going be just like Henry and unable to sit quietly for more than ten minutes.
Best Moment of the Week: I'm going to claim memory issues on this one and just say all the moving.
What I Miss: Strangely deli meat has been a big one the last couple weeks because whenever I try to go grab a quick sandwich I realize I can't eat any of them because they all have stupid deli meat! And now all I can think about is salami.
What I'm Looking Forward To: The third trimester feels so close now, which means that the end is in sight. It will be very nice to meet the little thing who's main occupation right now seems to be kicking and punching me.
Milestones: As of 24 weeks Ginny is now able to survive outside of me which is major major milestone! If she really really had to be born tomorrow there's a good chance she would be just fine which makes so much of my anxiety disappear. However, I do think she should stay in there and cook a while longer! :-)

New category starting!! It's Henry's quote of the week, taken completely out of context and added here for your reading pleasure. Henry would like it if you scooped up his wisdom like glimmering pearls of, well, wisdom.