Bump Update - Week 26

Really quick post this week. Things are all good here. I've been reading a ton, trying to catch up on my reading challenge of 70 books for the year. I'm at 58... last year my challenge was to get to 60. I may have to settle for a final count of 65... fingers crossed! I'm working on Visitation Street by Ivy Pochoda right now.

I'm listening to The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling and I'm hoping to get my hands on Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris. 

I refuse to read his books because while they would still be enjoyable, listening to him read his essays takes it to a whole different level of hilarity.

We went to see Hunger Games: Catching Fire in the theater. It was worth it, good theater movie. I was surprised how much I had forgotten from the books... that being said, I liked each book less and less as the series went on so I really shouldn't be too surprised. 

I've been trying to swim about every other day and that's going well. Makes me feel a bit like I did when I was really into running. My bathing suit is starting to protest my belly's growing size. I'm hoping Ed will let me know before it pops right off of me. Ed's been keeping active as well. He was cleared to try riding his bike a bit and has been testing that out. Small steps, but it's hugely freeing. He's added in occupational therapy to his scheduled therapies so we're out and about a little more. 

We were up to some other shenanigans this week but I'm going to save them for next week's big holiday post. That's about all for now!

Bump time! 

How far along? 26 Weeks

How Big Is Baby? A 14 inch hot house cucumber - I eat these all the time... imagining something that large goofing around in my belly is pretty freaky. When I imagine baby, it's much smaller. So hard to fathom.

Sleep: I'm feeling a bit more of my size when I attempt to turn over in bed. I'm getting a great upper body workout using our bed frame to hoist myself from side to side.

Best moment this week: I'm holding off on this section until next week's post to include in our Turkey Day recap! 

Movement: Baby likes to make a statement. If we're watching something scary it's like baby knows and will try to freak out right at the perfect time to scare the bejesus out of me. Baby has Ed's sense of humor apparently! 

Symptoms: Heartburn, as usual. Tailbone pain comes and goes. I travel with pillows now and I've set up a throne on the couch that involves multiple pillows. It's a bit ridiculous looking but it's getting the job done.

Food cravings/aversions: Pickles and the smell of mole or enchilada sauce are on my no go list. Craving wise? I'm still eating pretty much anything. I was desperate for strawberry cheesecake ice cream this week. Thank goodness for a sale on ice cream :) 

Gender: Can we talk about how adorable all baby clothing is? Boy or girl, we're looking at the most irresistible striped, colorful, patterned craziness and I just do not know what to do with myself! Damn you black friday temptations! Especially Old Navy. You just don't know what you do to me, sale section.

Belly Button in or out? In... but it's starting to get a little freaky. When I'm on my back and try to roll from side to side, it sooooorta pops out. Eeep!

What I miss: Not bumping into things. I'm constantly underestimating my belly and knocking into doorways, chairs, the fridge door, etc.

What I am looking forward to: Heading over to see Dad & Debbie for Thanksgiving! Which means decorating the apartment for Christmas will be close behind. 

Funny moment of the week: Apparently pregnancy has made me very defensive. Ed did a normal 'scare' where he snapped my book shut, startling me. I nearly punched him out. He was pretty shocked how angry I got and I came down pretty quick, but I felt a bit like Amy Poehler on Ellen... she does not like to be scared:

Labor Signs: nope

Weekly Wisdom: It really isn't worth it to beat yourself up when you forget things or say the wrong word or rerun your mistakes over and over in your head. Just sucks the life and joy right out of you. When that rerun reel starts, try your best to wiggle your toes, recognize it's happening, let it go and move on to the next thought.  

Milestones: I've passed the 100 days left mark! 100 still seems like a good deal of days so I'm not feeling any pressure, but when I start thinking it's only a couple months, that gets me a little keyed up. 

And your weekly dose of my crazy-haired, sweet niece: 

Ed/Bump Update - Week 25

Sorry for the delay on the post. It's been a pretty quiet week again. Ed is still doing therapy and adding in some occupational therapy next week. Still doing weekly treatments. Still feeling good. He keeps testing his limits and is finding some still holding him back in particular areas, but mostly, he's pretty independent and happy. We talk about where he was before and how far he's come from the hospital... seems surreal. When we drive over for therapy it's amazing to see him walk into the center, past places where I would wheel him around for fresh air before. Very happy to have him come so far and feel so much better. I don't have too much to add otherwise so onto some pictures!

I treated myself to my first manicure/pedicure since.... January? Don't believe the rumors, I can still touch my toes, it's just getting a little uncomfortable to do so. :) I went to the Whole Foods Salon in the Whole Body store in Campbell. It was awesome. Didn't smell like nail salons usually do and they had all these low toxin products and pretty flowers in the baths! Gold for the hands, red for the toes. 

Ed decided I wasn't matchy matchy enough and made sure my hardware went along with my new nails...

I'm pretty excited about the phone. I'm very thankful and lucky. (And totally copying my mom who just got this exact same phone about two weeks ago) :)

Ed had his own activities setting up the stroller and installing the carseat base. I may have been sleeping while he was working so it was like the magical baby prep fairy came and did all the hard work! 

I'm getting bigger everyday it seems and baby is getting one helluva workout doing whatever he/she is doing in there...

Now for the bump update!

How far along? 25 Weeks

How Big Is Baby? A 13 inch rutabaga.. One app says my uterus is the size of a soccer ball. That seems incredibly large. I'm sure when I visit home I'll feel my size a bit more, and while I do feel more cumbersome lately, I don't know if I feel like I've tacked on a whole soccer ball!

Sleep: Better now that it's pretty cold overnight and we can break out the flannel sheets. I love feeling all cuddled up. Plus, baby doesn't seem to be training for the winter olympics overnight like he/she was last week.

Best moment this week: Two parter of little pleasures: 1. My massage. So nice. Like I said before, this woman comes in close second in my book of best masseurs, and really does the trick for setting me up for a great week. 2. Already mentioned but worth repeating - every moment spent with frigid temperatures in our room and toasty temperatures in our flannel sheets! 

Movement: Comes and goes in spurts... I have days where it's just all day, all out craziness in there and then a couple days break. Sounds like baby is just like mom, pretty limited energy wise and needing lots of naps to recover from freak outs. 

Symptoms: Mostly everything is calm, including indigestion (yay!), but a new thing is that my tailbone hurts. Aches like I took a tumble or a sat down abruptly on some concrete. Sitting on the exercise ball is my only reprieve. I looked it up and it's probably just the baby's position. Fingers crossed he/she moves in short order!

Food cravings/aversions: Same story, I could eat a little bit of everything and anything. I miss eating my normal dinners from our dieting times and feeling sated. Now those same wonderful fish, kale and salad dinners leave me thinking hey, I'm still starving... I could follow that up with a waffle, a piece of cheese and a bowl of ice cream! 

Gender: One of Ed's therapists started telling him about the joys of raising kids, in particular regards to school age years and all the bouts with weird rashes, colds and lice. She noted how having a girl made the lice years particularly hard, all the washing and combing and braiding. A woman at the salon noted how having a boy was challenging her, having to smell him after his showers to make sure he actually washed, sending him back in to do it again if he 'smelled like wet dog.' Either way, I know Ed's excited! :) 

Belly Button in or out? In.

What I miss: Hmmm not too much this week. Feeling pretty content and enjoying being obviously pregnant.

What I am looking forward to: These next few quiet weeks before we start to amp up baby prep. Our increased appointments start in 3 weeks and our childbirth prep classes start in January. 

Funny moment of the week: I swear, I had one. And I even say out loud, 'Oh man, this is gonna be my funny moment of the week!' And then... I forget. So many times. It's that goldfish memory thing. Pregnancy brain out the wazoo. I felt like I laughed a lot this week. So much so my belly often aches. Totally worth it. :)

Labor Signs: nope

Weekly Wisdom: I've been trying to meditate a bit more and this week one of the Deepak Chopra meditations really resonated with me. "Your heart knows the answer." There's just something about that statement that makes me feel comforted and hopeful all at the same time. I've been struggling with the idea of purpose lately and wondering what my impact in life will be. I don't want to be famous and don't need acclaim... but I would like to feel purposeful. So, in terms of my searching for that, thinking 'my heart knows the answer' is hugely reassuring. Just gotta keep listening I guess.  

Milestones: I can't remember if I wrote this last week, but one milestone is being able to see the baby move from the outside. There are very few things in life as surreal as seeing your belly move seemingly on it's own.

And as always, a little Emilia time!

I love how sassy she looks here :)

Ed/Bump Update - Week 24

Much less to report this week... With Mom back on the east coast, we've allowed ourselves to lay about a bit more. I've been scrambling to get back on reading track for my year's goal of 70 books. I'm only at 53 books, 7 books behind schedule according to GoodReads. I know I can make up about half of that with all the pregnancy books I'm reading, but it would be really nice to get some good literature under my belt before this baby comes along. I'm desperate to finish A Dance With Dragons... I've been working on that way too long. Still swimming almost everyday, which feels nice. Walking isn't as easy for Ed, obviously, or for me, because of the back issues, so I'm grateful to have a way to get in some exercise. Trying to add in some meditation and yoga on a more regular basis but when you have the memory of a goldfish (I know, I know, that's a myth), it can be challenging to keep track of your goals.


Ed is doing well, moving around the house, filling up his schedule with physical rehab appointments and at home treatments. He's feeling better, walking around with a cane now. He has his crutches for when he needs them, but for reasonable distances, he is pretty much only using the cane. It's really nice having him home, experiencing baby stuff with me. He's been really helpful when it comes to giving me a hand to move around. Sometimes the pain I have makes it hard for me to turn over or stand on my own, so he gives me a good shove. I'd be stuck without him! :)
We had a little date night this week at Ciano's in Campbell, put together the house a little more, and mostly just used this week to settle in. 

Date night - So nice :)

Wall shelves, a clock, some pictures? I think it's coming together!

Curtains, because the damn cats looooove playing with the blinds in the middle of the night. Jerks. We'll be putting more of these upstairs in the nursery as well.

Bump time!

How far along? 24 weeks... Um, where did the first 6 months go?

How Big Is Baby? An ear of corn. And boy am I starting to feel baby's size!

Sleep: I think we're gonna have to start working in some naps again these days. Bedtime is not happy time with these back problems.

Best moment this week: Seeing my belly move. I feel like an alien, or rather that I'm hosting an alien, but it's pretty amazing seeing it wiggle around. 

Movement: I swear there's an octopus in there. Gone for now are the days of quiet baby, now are the days of constant movement. Even in the middle of the night, I'll wake up and feel baby moving all around. .

Symptoms: Indigestion. And it sucks. Can't even pinpoint the foods that trigger it.

Food cravings/aversions: Everything. But always at random. And it always starts with, "Hey Ed, you know what sounds really good??" Yesterday: 10am -fruit tart. 3pm - key lime pie. 630pm - plain sweet potato. Every day goes like that and of the many ridiculous cravings, I'm doing my best to fulfill only a handful. 

Gender: Strangers are starting to guess the gender based on how I'm carrying... It's amazing how freely those guesses come. 

Belly Button in or out? In.

What I miss: Raw oysters and clams. A friend posted an Instagram picture and I stumbled across my pictures from our Seattle trip. Best oysters I've ever had.

What I am looking forward to: Short term? My massage on Wednesday. I miss Laura Marks' massages back home, but this woman comes in close second to knowing how to work my kinks out. Long term? I'd say the holidays again but let me be honest... I'm already singing carols and working on my holiday cards, planning holiday meals and shopping for Christmas presents. I don't think you can 'look forward to something' when you're pretty much forcing it to be reality.

Funny moment of the week: It isn't baby oriented but Ed had a funny incident with the nurse that he mentioned after one of his initial in-home treatments. The nurse was asking Ed some basic set up questions to start and then came to, "Do you have a preferred thermometer?" Ed gave the guy a funny look and said, "oral?" The nurse, clearly meaning something else, gave Ed a similarly funny look in response and said, "Oh. Yes. I have that." 

Labor Signs: nope

Weekly Wisdom: You cannot guess what will or won't be a problem. None of the issues I'm having with this pregnancy are things I anticipated. And the things I anticipated, have been absolutely no problem. Just goes to show, you can try to prepare yourself by reading every book you can lay your hands on, but really, things will happen and you just have to roll with it!  

Milestones: Hmmm no real milestones this week other than reaching the 6 month mark! We're still putting the house together and setting up a new routine here... it's coming together though :)

And because we can't get through another week without an Emilia fix, here's your double dose, because I just couldn't choose!

Ed/Bump Update - Week 23

Great week! Mom is still here visiting and leaves tomorrow. I'll be very, very sad to see her go. We had all kinds of appointments and activities. I'll try to keep this a word light and picture heavy post. You guys don't need to hear me gush about how nice it is to have Mom here :)

View from Mountain Winery in Saratoga

Wine tasting at Sebastiani in Sonoma

Water tasting for me at Gloria Ferrer

The good stuff for these two :)

My "I'm totally relaxed and at ease with city driving" face

On our way to Cliff House for dinner

Ed is getting into the swing of his outpatient rehab and at home treatments. Everything is going well and he's feeling ok. No great noticeable strides at this point, but just having things stabilize and normalize is very nice. He's now playing the role of inspiration for people who are in the low parts of the syndrome at the rehab facility. He's feeling confident that things will keep progressing and is really settling in at home. Even though he's not nearly 100%, it feels like the very hard days are behind us.

I've been swimming more, trying to get some exercise in again. Although, I'm quickly approaching the point where my bathing suit will bust open at the side seams.

Now the bump!

Facetime pic thanks to Ck!

How far along? 23 weeks

How Big Is Baby? A mango? These size comparisons are a little bizarre. My bump app on my iPad says baby is about 11.5 inches... I've never seen a mango that big.

Sleep: Not so hot these days. I'm thinking calling it a love/hate relationship is apt.

Best moment this week: Mom and Ed both getting firm karate chops from the baby :) It's hard to pin down and isn't too frequent but it's amazing when I can get all hands on belly in time. It was hard picking just one best moment of the week though... it was really wonderful.

Movement: More noticeable and stronger. Baby takes long breaks but then delivers nice strong whacks or kicks right to my belly button area. I love it.

Symptoms: Crazy cravings? Emotional? Nothing unusual here :)

Food cravings/aversions: Seafood? My memory seems to be shot so this kind of interferes with this. Every time I open the cabinet and see my cans of smoked oysters I exclaim how good that sounds! But with the memory of a goldfish, I'll turn away from the cabinet and immediately forget that's what I wanted to eat. But let's be honest, I crave pretty much everything when the idea crosses my mind... pad thai, curry, mt tam cheese from cowgirl creamery, broccoli, pizza.... I'm covering the board really. 

Gender: How interesting are these graphics of baby names! 

Six Decades of Boys Names

Six Decades of Girls Names

If you click through on the links the graphic displays the names changing through the years until 2012.

Belly Button in or out? In.

What I miss: Hmmm I suppose wine still. But it was amazing how satisfying it was, just smelling the wines.

What I am looking forward to: Still the holidays. After such a nice long visit with Mom I'll be very sad to have her leave... can't wait to come see our family and friends! Maybe more short term I'm looking forward to planning something for Thanksgiving. Let the turkey and cranberry sauce cravings begin!

Funny moment of the week: Realizing that in the not too distant future, I will be able to do this: 

Labor Signs: nope

Weekly Wisdom: Wiggle your toes and breathe. I've been doing the driving these days and I'm a skiddish driver for sure. Trying to take deep breaths and just relax and not get all wound up is a good exercise, every day.  Doesn't help anyone to be tense and anxious.  

Milestones: Our first group prenatal check up was this past week. We were the youngest people there but thankfully not the only first timers. It's really nice having other expectant parents to talk to and to have as guides. And we bought our tickets to come home for Christmas! Yay! :)

And my favorite Emilia picture of the week :)