28-29 Weeks

Two things that happened this past week: 1) we traveled to Vail, Colorado so I could be the matron (old pregnant lady) of honor in my best friend Joselyne's wedding, and 2) we had our 28 week appointment.
When all was said and done I think we handled out last trip before Ginny comes very well.  I did get altitude sickness down in Vail, which is about 8,000 ft above sea level, and I was starting to think I might not make it all the way up to the top of the mountain for the wedding, which was about 10,000 feet.  But Henry, being ever resourceful, found a mountain climbing store that carried little canisters of oxygen, like an inhaler, and after about eight shots I felt ridiculously better.  Between that and the cup of delicious pumpkin spice Starbucks every morning (hey the mountain guy said caffeine helps the sickness and I'm allowed 2 cups a day) I made it though the wedding with no problems.  Poor Joselyne kept worrying about me which made me feel awful, the last thing I wanted to do was cause the bride more stress!  But her wedding was absolutely beautiful and she looked gorgeous and so very happy.  I really couldn't be more excited for her.  Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Perry!!  Now we'll see if they make it through their survival backpacking honeymoon through the Colorado mountains. :-)

Today we also had our 28 week appointment.  Traveling and the automatic headaches that come with making doctors appointments means we're a little behind schedule but no biggie.  We had another ultrasound (I'll post a picture later but she's so big now it's hard to really see much) to measure her growth and keep an eye on my fibroids.  She's in the 75%, weighing in at 3.4 pounds!  Obviously the fibroids have had no impact on her growth!  Unfortunately right now she's in the breech position, so we're back in for another ultrasound in 4 weeks (doctor's appointments every 2 weeks from here until 35 weeks).  The next ultrasound will check her growth again, the fibroids and her position.  Everyone think TURN!  We need her to get head down otherwise we're scheduling a C-section.  It's just too dangerous for the doctor to try and turn her with an external version because of the tumors, so again, everyone think TURN!!  Other than that, nothing more exciting to report!

• What's the Baby Doing?: Baby's eyes are open!  She should be sleeping on a regular schedule now, probably 20-30 minutes at a time.  The brain is also continuing to develop and expand rapidly, and the baby is continuing to accumulate layers of fat under her skin.  Weight and size are continuing to increase.
• Weight Gain: I'm going to call this week a special snowflake because of the wedding.  Yeah, we'll stick with that.

• Showing:  No question about it, she's a big baby!

• plus I like to eat cookies!  mmmm, yummy cookies...

• Symptoms: Well, I had some decreased movement over the weekend so now I have to count kicks for an hour after I eat.  So far so good, she's still in there moving around.  We're hoping that the decreased movement is because she flipped into breech sometime while we were traveling in Colorado, which means hopefully she'll flip back again.  Of course it could have been the decreased oxygen levels too, or just travelling, who knows.  But I've been experiencing insane pressure low down in my belly, like she's pushing her butt down.  Oh yeah, she's frank breech which means she's got her legs up near her head, like in a jack-knife position.  It does not feel good for mom.
• Sleep: Been pretty good.  The first night in Vail was terrible, but I did well after that.  Then last night was awful too with the insane pressure.  Seriously, everyone think TURN!
• Movement:  Guess I already covered that above.  Hopefully it will pick up again, but with the tumors and her monster size, she's quickly running out of room.
• Best Moment of the Week: Standing next to my best friend since I was three years old as she married the man she loves.  Then coming home. :-)
• What I Miss:  This week it was deli meat.  I'm not supposed to eat it because of listeria bacteria, but Jos had this amazing spread of cheese and cured meat while we were getting ready and I really really wanted to eat it!  Oh and the seared tuna appetisers at the reception too.  I swear, my first meal after delivery is going to be take-out from Kamehachi.
• What I'm Looking Forward To: This weekend we have another baby class and a tour of the hospital we'll be delivering at.  It just one more step closer to d-day!
• Milestone:  Ginny opening her eyes it the biggest one this week, if we could look inside we could see what color they are.  Which would be hazel since both Henry and I have hazel eyes and it's recessive.  So I guess it wouldn't be that exciting.
• Henry's Quote of the Week: "You're PREGNANT!  Get it through your head."  This was Henry's mantra this weekend as I tried to do things I shouldn't like walk up hills or carry heavy suitcases or wear high heels to walk around or whatever other high jinks I wanted to get up to when I was already huffing from low oxygen.  We practiced coached breathing while walking around the trails of Vail, it actually works pretty well!

Here's couple parting pictures from this weekend, one of me and Joselyne at lunch in the village and one of me and Henry at the wedding (even though it was supposed to be cold, we still got some sun!)

27 Weeks

Hello Third Trimester!!  We're getting there, slowly but surely.  This week was a good one.  I finished my workshop class and now have only one more teaching class to go.  Henry is working on some writing for his new job, but generally we're both having pretty easy days right now.  I've finally been able to get going on a baby blanket for Ginny (I'm actually making one for myself!) and Henry is putting together a scrapbook of all the ultrasounds and pictures we have so far.  We've had to go in for so many ultrasounds over the course of this pregnancy it's like having a flipbook of a developing baby.  Socially we had a very busy week which is highly unusually for hermits such as us.  Dinner with my friend Kristen on Thursday (who is sadly moving two hours away to Wisconsin), my summer office outing to Arlington Race Track and a BBQ at a co-worker's house on Friday, sailing on Lake Michigan on my boss' beautiful and huge sailboat Saturday afternoon, then a really silly movie with Kristen on Saturday night.  Friday and Saturday were probably the busiest days I've had since May and I was thankfully able to keep going through it all.  Today however I'm falling asleep!  I can't seem to do anything without my eyelids dropping on me.  Don't worry I'm not driving home.  In fact, Henry is picking me up a little early so we can go to the seamstress to get my maid (actually matron) of honor dress fitted for my best friend Joselyne's wedding which is in two weeks.  Hopefully I will still fit into it, or she can make me fit into it, and I won't look like a giant clover-green beluga whale.

• What's the Baby Doing?: Although the baby's lungs, liver and immune system aren't fully mature yet, if birth were to occur this week the chances of survival are at least 85 percent!  The baby will start recognizing Mom and Dad's voices this week. although it's hard to hear clearly through all the vernix and amniotic fluid.  She is entering her most active period, from 27 to 32 weeks.
• Weight Gain: Two pounds.  Fingers crossed about that dress!

• Showing?: My belly looks a little higher than last week.  Oh and my belly button is pretty much non-existent at this point.  We're still rubbing me down twice a day with oil and cream, hoping to keep those stretch marks away!

• Symptoms: Still hungry like a hippo.  I'm starting to get a stronger sweet tooth than I had before (if that's possible), thank goodness for oatmeal bars and greek yogurt!  No real weird cravings as of yet.  The onion thing went away a while ago, although I still have my afternoon mocktail of V8 juice, hot sauce and cocktail onions.  My back has been okay this week too.  It has been really hurting me for over a month now, but usually Henry's back rubs and/or some yoga that my sister taught me helps out a lot.  I have to wear this super attractive maternity belt (under my clothes of course) to help me support my belly now if I'm going to be walking any sort of distance.  It feels soooo good, but it's hard to believe I have to result to elastic to help me hold up my own body.
• Sleep: Some days good, some days bad, but I feel like I'm getting enough sleep.  I think.
• Movement: Ginny's an active one!  Currently kicking me right in the bladder, thanks kid.  Lots of movement this week and Henry has been able to catch it a bunch too which is always amazing.  She seems to like to hang out on my right side all the time but only a couple days ago I started feeling some kicks on the left side.  Maybe she's finally starting to take up some space in there!
• Best Moment of the Week: Hmm, this is non-baby related but sailing on Lake Michigan was pretty awesome.  It was probably the most beautiful day we've had this summer, not too hot with a wonderful breeze.  It was just so relaxing and nice, I was a little sad when we pulled back into the harbor.  Also, I got to have a dipped cone from Dairy Queen on Sunday, which I have been talking about wanting to get ever since my sister Tracy, her husband Shayne, Henry and I went on an unsuccessful hunt for one back in April.  April!  Four months later I finally got one. :-)
• What I Miss: I miss being able to sleep on my back.  I'm really comfortable on my back usually.  But now I can't stand lying on my back for more than a few minutes.  If I accidentally roll onto my back in the middle of the night it eventually wakes me up.  Technically I'm not supposed to be lying on my back anyway because apparently the weight of my belly puts pressure on the major artery that carries blood to my brain and to the baby.  So good thing it's so uncomfortable right now or I would have a hard time remembering not to sleep that way.
• What I'm Looking Forward To: Labor Day weekend!  That's a four day weekend for me.  Granted I still have to teach class on Friday, but it's only a couple hours out of my day.  Yay for a mini stay-cation!
• Milestones: Ginny recognizing our voices is pretty wonderful.  And I may be getting my first stretch mark.  Or it's a shadow.  I hope shadow.
• Henry's Quote of the Week: Henry's giving it to me this week.  He started the P90X workout this week, which for those who don't know is a super high intensity workout regime that you do for 90 days, I think 90 mins a day, which should have him finishing right before our due date.  Tonight I walked in and stood there rubbing my belly, after a few minutes of me watching him huff and sweat I said, "That looks hard."  Then I left to seek out a bowl of cereal.

Check out our new poll!  As we now know the sex of the baby, I thought perhaps a little timing poll might be fun as we officially enter the last trimester.  So what do you think?  Will Ginny come before, on, or after her due date? (November 30th for those who have forgotten)

26 Weeks

I'm a little late on the post this week, but I'll chalk it up to being busy (it's the best excuse).  I officially went back to work full time last week and it sucks!  I know boo hoo, right?  But I got seriously spoiled working part-time, getting to come home for lunch, hang with Henry and the cats, procrastinate on my writing... not that it's gotten much better at work because of the stupid IT people and their big-brother hawk eyes (they now do not want us using mobile media devices on our computers so I've been too scared to use my USB drive that is my life because I worry that they'll catch on somehow and remotely erase it), but even so I do tend to get more homework done there in general.  I've got one more week of taking class and two more weeks of teaching class then a short summer break before it's back to school again.  Henry is working remotely, doing some research and writing assignments.  It might be quiet for him for a bit as his boss is now in Austria for over two weeks, making me super jealous with all the wonderful Viennese deserts and beautiful music I'm sure she's enjoying.  The cats are excited, however, to have his undivided cuddling attention for a bit.

• What's the Baby Doing?: The hair on baby's head is longer and more plentiful and more fat is accumulating under the skin with each passing day.  The footprints and fingerprints are now formed.  All the components that make up the eyes have developed and the baby will open her eyes in about two weeks.
• Weight Gain: Yay!  A normal week; 1 pound.
• Showing?:  Definitely filling out those maternity clothes.  No picture this week (sorry!!), check back in a couple days for week 27 and I'll definitely have a picture.
• Symptoms: Hello Braxton Hicks.  Had them on Monday night really bad, but Henry took me for a walk around the block and they went away.  Ginny has been doing the Macarena in my belly for a while now; she doesn't ever seem to stop moving!  It's great though, especially when you can see the little kicks move my stomach around.  I've also hit the stage where I want to eat everything in sight.  It's like a constant feeding frenzy and I have to make sure to have a snack at least every two hours.  My new favorite thing?  Cereal before bed.  Don't know why but there is something magical about a big bowl of cereal around 9:00pm.
• For a while I thought the pre-bedtime cereal gorge was helping keep me asleep because I've had a couple pretty awesome nights this week.  But alas, I do still wake-up pretty often.  Now it's not just once to use the bathroom, but also because I'm not comfortable in one position the entire night anymore.
• Movement: ♫ Dale a tu cuerpo alegría Macarena, Heeeeeey Macarena! ♪ Fun Fact: Did you know that song is actually a rumba? 
• Best Moment of the Week: I found out I passed my glucose tolerance test with flying colors.  No gestational diabetes for me.  Let's go get some cake!
• What I Miss: Hearing about a food (any food) and not wanting to immediately eat it.  Now I really want cake.  And cereal.  Henry has already been talked into take-out pasta on Monday night and is making me french toast this weekend.  I think he's still so happy I'm eating I could probably talk him into just about anything when it comes to food without getting the side-eye.
• What I'm Looking Forward To: Next week we enter... the third trimester.  The end is in sight!
• Milestones: I guess the Braxton Hicks, my body is starting to get ready for giving birth which means that at some point it will actually happen.  I have yet to decide if this is a good thing or not.
• Henry's Quote of the Week: My favorite: "You too could be right all the time, you just have to really think things through before you say them." Henry's favorite: "This line is ridiculously long for 8 o'clock at night, when I get to the front I'm going to sh*t on the counter!" (waiting in line for a ridiculously long time to pick up my prescription at Walgreens)
• I'm giving you an extra quote of the week from my friend Joselyne because it was extra funny.
• "I was so bored I couldn't even be confused."  I feel that way too Jos, a lot.

Until next week!  Or really, a couple more days.

21 - 25 Weeks

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.

• Henry's Quote of the Week: "It's okay, I didn't marry you for your math skills."

I promise to be more on track from here on out.  If not, feel free to harass me until I get my butt in gear!

 

24 Week Appointment

Time for the glucose screening for gestational diabetes!  Yuck.  Basically I had to drink a bottle of super-concentrated orange-flavored straight sugar, and then sit for an hour before having my blood drawn.  While waiting my hour we had our appointment.  As our doctor is part of a group, we're trying to see every doctor in the group at least once because if I go into labor outside of regular business hours we get whichever doctor is on call.  Hopefully I'll deliver sometime between 9 and 5 so that I can have my own doctor, but since that's not really something I can control, its best we see everyone so we don't have a stranger showing up in our delivery room.  So far we like most of them, but they all have very different personalities.  This one was not very excited for question and answer time, which was too bad for her since I actually had a bunch of questions, including the all-important "can I have a glass of wine at Joselyne's wedding?"  In case anyone was wondering, the answer was yes.  As far as the glucose test goes, I'll get my results later this week.  Fingers crossed I can still eat sugar and carbs!

20 week doctor's appointment

Well, we are officially having a baby girl!  Her name will be Genevieve Elizabeth Rau and we are already in love!  Our 20 week doctor's appointment went great, they took about a million pictures of her then we were given a bunch of papers on pediatricians, baby classes, and what to bring to the hospital.  Lot of information for only being half-way through the pregnancy.  Even with the hour long diagnostic ultrasound, they called us later to say they didn't get enough pictures of her spine so I have to go back in two weeks while Henry will be in San Diego taking the Bar exam.

Here's a picture of Ginny!

                                    

And now that we know, we just couldn't resist!

         

So although we want to try to keep the pink to a minimum, we're both very excited about all the cute little clothes that will be in our future.

20 Weeks

Okay so I've been very very bad about the blog this past week (or two) and I sincerely apologize.  In my defense... not a lot happened in week 19 so I think we can skip all that and settle into week 20.  Because a lot happened this week!
In personal news, Henry is still studying for the California Bar and I'm still taking classes.  I begin teaching my first class, Reading and Writing Historical Fiction, on Friday which is both nerve-racking and exciting.  I picked up my course packets yesterday and got a very satisfied feeling remembering how much I hated course packets as an undergrad.  It's good to be able to inflict them upon others now!  Plus mine says "Professor's Copy" on it, which is admittedly awesome.

And a big Congratulations!! to Lynne and Tom who got married last weekend in Seattle.  Lynne was, of course, an absolutely gorgeous bride.  I totally cried, and probably would have even without all the crazy hormones, and we're both so happy for them!  It also meant I got to go to Seattle.  Henry was sad he couldn't come too, but he's getting so close to the Bar it's really best for him to buckle down and having me out of the house for a bit probably helped with that.  I got to spend some time with my wonderful sister Tracy, her awesome husband Shayne, and their adorable daughter Alexandra.  I had such a relaxing and great time just hanging out with them, playing with Alexandra, and reminding myself that all this pregnancy stuff is totally worth it.  Plus I got to raid my sister's maternity clothes!  Does it get any better?  Oh wait, it did!  I also got to see my friend Nina and her son Holden, as they were miraculously in town at the same time.  Holden and Alexandra played together for a while, both doing a truly excellent job of sharing.  It was really too cute.

But of course I had to pay the price and this Monday we had a little issue.  It looks like I caught a stomach bug at some point over the weekend, the complications of which landed us in the hospital again.  We were released the same day and I've been okay since.  But as some of you out there know, dehydration causes contractions, and with the tumor I get extra pain really easily, so after a fun day-long trip to Labor and Delivery, I am now back to taking it easy and trying to drink lots of water.

• What's the Baby Doing?: Baby's skin is thickening and developing more layers, hair and nails are continuing to grow.  The baby is now 6 inches long and weighs about 9 ounces!
• Weight Gain: Four pounds in two weeks.  Ummmm, uh oh?  I partly blame Seattle and the excellent food my sister fed me (hello Cedars!), but it evened out in a not-good way as I lost some of it with the bug.

• Showing: Hopefully the pounds I kept were all belly.  I do feel a lot larger (in the belly) than before.  And heavy!  Everything feels heavier and firmer.  Yes, everything.

• Symptoms: I can't really call the events of Monday symptoms since they weren't normal.  Other than Monday when I couldn't keep anything down, and Tuesday when I didn't want to eat at all, I've actually been pretty hungry.  My new favorite food?  Yogurt covered cranberries.  Although I do still partake in the rampant onion eating.
• Sleep: Sleeping is starting to get uncomfortable.  I'm not supposed to lie on my back for long periods of time anymore, but I'm not the biggest fan of being on my side right now.  My belly is in the way!  It's in a weird in-between stage where putting a pillow under me isn't really that comfortable, but not having anything under me isn't great either.  Must go on hunt for tiny flat pillow.
• Movement:  YAY!!!!  The baby started kicking, like real big kicks, on Sunday!  It was amazing and hasn't really stopped since.  Of course as soon as Henry put his hand on my belly the kicks would stop, but I just think it's because he has a very calming influence ;-)  He finally felt them himself on Monday night and now the favorite bedtime ritual is to lie there with hands on my stomach and wait for the baby to start moving.  When I was in bed all day Tuesday and the kicks just kept coming, but as soon as I went back to work and school on Wednesday, the baby settled down a bit and I only felt a couple throughout the day.  I guess when I'm moving and active it actually rocks the baby to sleep.
• Best Moment of the Week: The kicking!! We can kind of feel the baby roll around too which is neat, but for me I love the kicks.  It feels like a little hello from inside.  Honestly, and this sounds weird, but it makes me feel even more connected to the baby.  Runner up moment of the week was Alexandra saying "Aunt Tori you look beautiful" while 'helping' me get ready for Lynne's wedding.  I just about died.  Second runner up was watching Alexandra and Holden play together.  They were just so cute!
• What I Miss:  Hmmm, I didn't really have a missing moment this week.  Although, Henry has been biking on the weekends and my poor bike looks so sad and unused on it's rack.
• What I'm Looking Forward To: Telling everyone the sex of the baby!
• Milestones: Again, the kicking.  It's a pretty big one.  Oh and I'm 20 weeks which means I'm half-way through!  Woo-hoo, only 20 more weeks to go!