22 weeks today!

Yay! Today makes 22 weeks, and only two more weeks until viability!

I can't believe how much bigger I look and feel than last week. I'm not sure how noticeable it is in a picture, but I can feel it and all I've heard the last two days is how huge I am. It's crazy! I think this pregnancy is going by a little faster than Noah's did, and I'm gonna chalk it up to having a two year old to play with and chase around and take care of. I have someone to focus on besides my pregnancy, and things to do to pass the time. It still feels like just yesterday I was only eight weeks along and still hadn't told anybody!

Asher is like my secret best friend, we just play "tag" all day and nobody even notices. I poke my belly and wait for him to poke me back, and then I poke him again, and this will go on for about an hour at a time.

So, about the baby!

He's about 11in long now (rough estimate as we've reached the point where fetuses grow and develop differently) and the size of a papaya. The average fetal weight at this point in pregnancy is 12-20oz. His eyes and lips are more developed, so he's looking less like an alien fish and more like a baby! He's also developing sleep cycles now - sleeping for roughly 12-14 hours a day. His lungs are developing and his fingernails are finished developing. His pancreas is now making it's own hormones for his body and brain! 

And about me? My back is starting to ache more, which is to be expected. Fortunately it isn't unbearable and a little prenatal yoga and belly dance make it feel loads better. My uterus is now above my belly button (feeling for fundal height is normal for me so I've been able to tell where it is for a while haha) and my new "outtie" belly button is sticking out even more. Yipee! Can I roll my eyes on here? If I'm not at risk (and so far I'm not) I'm skipping my glucose test again. I've been eating way better than before I got pregnant - less sugar, less junk, less processed foods - and I get a lot of exercise between walking, playing with Noah, yoga, dancing, and babysitting. My OB has made it clear that the glucose test will more than likely be optional for me. I'm happy about it, I've heard terrible things about it. Mostly that many women puke from that ridiculously sugary drink they make you drink beforehand and how you have to fast for eight hours before your appointment. Fasting for any amount of time isn't really my thing, especially when I'm pregnant.

I've also been feeling much better as far as the cramping that landed me in L&D is concerned, but I do have to wear a support band if I go on longish walks so I don't get crampy. That, though, I believe is due to stretching out faster because your ligaments aren't as tight with second, third, fourth pregnancies as they were with your first.

My little breakdancer is bustin' out some new dance moves in there and Noah wants me to watch Thomas the train with him, so that's all for now! :)

Belly dancing in labor - revisited

It's been raining here all day (again). Wasn't this supposed to happen in April, not June? Mother Nature, you've got your months mixed up! We've been bored all day, watching TV, watching the rain, snuggling, dancing, everything.

I also found a couple of videos on Youtube about prenatal belly dancing. We did a lot of that today! There are some moves you can do that sort of massage the baby in utero, Ash seemed to like it. It helped relieve pressure in my back and made everything loose and relaxed, it was really, really nice. 

I still fully intend to use belly dancing moves during labor to help relieve pain/pressure from contractions. If it works this well before I'm in labor, I can only imagine how nice it will feel when I am in labor! 

*BONUS*

My skirt feels really, really neat when I'm belly dancing, haha. It just sways with me and feels all whooshy and stuff. God, I'm such a little kid when it comes to skirts. I love to dance and spin in them and feel them move and twirl. It's pretty awesome. If you wear skirts, I know you understand.

I also found some nifty new prenatal yoga videos I want to try out tonight. A lot of standard poses, which I'm okay with because that's what I usually do, but there's some new stuff mixed in and I'm excited to try it. 

I'm not quite sure what feels better right now, prenatal yoga or prenatal belly dance! But since I've been dancing my way around the house all day long, I can't wait to get my stretchy on later tonight when I get to do my yoga. I think the easiest way to make me happy is to do yoga with me or show me some new poses to try out. It just makes you feel so great! Centered, grounded, and it's nice to be a bit more flexible than I normally am. I can actually almost do a split now - and I couldn't pre-pregnancy! In fact, I haven't been able to do a split since I was maybe eight years old and enrolled in gymnastics.

It's kind of funny though, I'm so flexible now that -- will walk into a room where I'm watching TV and find me in the weirdest, most uncomfortable looking positions, but they feel really nice and comfy! Take for instance, yesterday I was watching the Food Network and the sun was in my eyes... solution? Prop my leg up halfway behind my head so my knee would block the sun from my eyes. Or the fact that I now find myself sitting in butterfly pose nearly every time I sit on the ground. It's just all really natural to me at this point, and my back feels ten times better than before I started doing yoga again.

Someone's sleepy!

We managed a short walk to Subway and the swings on the way back today. He was so excited to get out even though we only stayed inside all day for one day... and even then we sat on the front porch and he dug for worms in the front yard. He was running and jumping everywhere, picking up rocks and telling me "Mama, hold 'em, no pockets," because his shorts didn't have any pockets. He picked me probably about 20 flowers along the way, too, because he's a little sweetheart. He hugged every tree we passed and stopped for a good twenty minutes and asked me to sit down with him so he could toss rocks in a puddle. My tattoo shop is also on the path home so he begged to go in and talk to my tattoo artist and he showed off some dance moves, said hello to each and every fish in the tank and to each artist that was working today, and then we made our way back home.

We got back and he asked if he could watch TV, so we turned on Nickelodeon and watched some Spongebob (and I know Spongebob isn't the best show for a two year old, but it's still much better than The Regular Show and he likes it). He was sitting on the floor playing with his magnets and watching his show and slowly but surely made his way all the way down to the floor. I saw his eyes starting to close and asked him if he wanted to come up on the bed, and he tells me "No mama, I play." And then he starts nodding off again, and I ask again, "Buggy, come snuggle with mama and take a nap," to which he replies "No, mama, I not tired, no night night." Well, sure enough, less than five minutes later he's passed out on the floor in front of the bed. Of course I took some pictures before I moved him, he's too cute not to.

As for me and Asher, we're doing pretty well. I'm not very crampy at all today, and my back feels fine. I've been resting the entire time I've been home. He's kicking away, all day long, and soon enough I'll have video of him moving for you guys. Noah watching him move some limb across my belly today and his jaw dropped, and he goes, "Oh no mama, what happened?!" with such alarm on his face. I can't get enough of this kid. When I told him it was just Asher moving, he got a super stern look on his face, pointed his finger at my belly and said "Be nice to mama!" He's so protective of me haha. I did explain to him that he wasn't being mean, he was just stretching, and Noah deemed it an acceptable explanation and went on his merry way.

I love, love, love being a mama!

I'm worried... and blessed.

I'm worried beyond belief although everything should be okay. My greatest fear in this pregnancy and in my last was going into labor before we reached viability, and yesterday's scare and the fact that I'm essentially on bedrest just makes that fear so much more real. I'm trying to relax, to keep calm and just take it easy. 

There's only so much to do on the computer and there's nothing on TV, my house is clean, Noah's clean and fed. I've already showered. There's nothing left to do. I want to go for a walk more than anything but I'm not going to, because what matters more? A 30 minute walk or a healthy baby? The answer is obvious. 

I'm 21w2d (21w3d by my new due date) and I have about 3 weeks until we reach viability - a big goal. I have three main goals in pregnancy:

1. Fourteen weeks. Once you reach your second trimester your chances of carrying to term skyrocket.
2. Twenty-four weeks. This is when you reach viability. At this point, all will be done to help your baby survive if you go into labor and they're unable to stop it. At 24 weeks the baby's chance of survival is 39% and at 25 weeks it shoots up to 50%.
3. Forty weeks. This is considered full term (though due dates can be off up to 2 weeks in either direction, so 38-42 weeks could also be "full term").

I would much rather go overdue than have any of my babies prematurely. I don't wish for any of my babies to come before their due date, no matter how uncomfortable I may be. That's the whole point of being a mama - you sacrifice for your littles. When we chose to keep the baby, I made the decision to sacrifice my own comfort to keep this baby safe. If I couldn't do that, I wouldn't get pregnant.

I just want more than anything for Asher to stay put until the end of October. I want him to grow big and healthy. Of course we want to meet him but it's way too soon to meet him right now. Even at 23 weeks a baby's chances of survival are only 17%.

Even with these issues, I'm reminded every day that I'm blessed to even be able to carry a baby. I know so many women who can't even get pregnant, who have been trying for years to get pregnant with no luck. I'll take bedrest over not being able to conceive any day. I'm so lucky to have a healthy two year old and I hope to have an equally healthy baby boy in October, no sooner! So please, baby boy, just stay in there. Keep baking, bubba! You need to get big and strong like your big brother! <3

*Edit made for me by a BG mama :)

Just got back from L&D...

I've been crampy all day in my lower back/abdomen, and even after drinking lots of water, lying on my side and napping it wasn't really letting up. So after about 4 hours of giving it time, I went into L&D to get monitored.

They admitted me, hooked me up to the monitors and gave me some ice water. They got his heartbeat on the doppler (upper 150s) and then gave me a vaginal exam. I'm dilated to 1cm externally and closed internally with a thick cervix, which is good! My contractions were mostly BH contractions - also good. They tested my urine to see if the pain was from a UTI, bladder infection or kidney infection. Negative to all three, so again, good news. So I asked why there's still pain if there's no infections, no real contractions? My OB says the pain is probably from Asher being super active and irritating my uterus.

They discharged me and let me know that, while I'm not on bedrest, I do need to take it easy. No watching the 3yo boy that I watch and no long walks or strenuous activity until at least 25 weeks, because he wants Asher to be viable and that happens at 24 weeks. This means no income of my own for the next four weeks, but it's worth it to keep my baby boy in and baking. 

The one really nice thing to come out of today was that my mom finally got to feel him kick! He hated the fetal monitor and kept trying to kick it off my belly because it was invading his space. Yup, he's our kid alright haha. And now I'm home, relaxing on my couch and keeping hydrated. We're usually so active, the next few weeks are gonna drag by. I'll be looking for lots of arts & crafts type things I can do at home with my Bugman. 

Come on, Asher, stay in there and bake! We wanna keep you in till you're full term, so we have a nice, big, healthy bubba! We wanna meet you too but we want you to be alright when we do meet. It's not so far off, enjoy it in there while you can. Nothing beats womb service ;)