26 weeks

Weekly Update: 

How far along: 26 weeks, 4 days. I say good-bye to the second trimester in a couple days. 

How big is baby: still compared to an eggplant or a rutabaga with crown-to-rump length as 9-9.25 inches or head-to-heels around 14 inches. Baby's average size right now is 1.6 to 2 lbs. My uterus is now compared to a basketball. eek. 

Total weight gain: [sigh]. This is becoming a tough question. Using my personal scale and weighing almost every morning, it appears  as though I stayed the same or maybe a 1/2 pound this week. So, my records show about 16.5ish at this point. According to my OB at my checkup this morning, I have gained a total of 17.  My only beef with this measurement is that the OB has been 2 lbs less than what I have been getting, so I blame the extra 2 lbs at today's weigh-in on the fact that I wore actual tennis shoes instead of flip flops like I have been wearing. Lame excuse, I know. :)

Maternity clothes: I'm at the point where I am thinking that in the near future, I will need to add some items to my maternity wardrobe in order to survive the fall in this ever-expanding state. Still manage to fit into some non-maternity stuff though! 

Cravings: sad to say that we are actually OUT of milk tonight so I was unable to have some. Otherwise, I'm not too picky about my food and will eat anything. 

Sleep: me + pillows + my bed = love. I love sleeping. Aside from the pesky leg cramp every couple nights, I have nary a complaint. 

Movement: Yep, he's still in there cooking... and he reminds me of that daily. 

Best moment this week: [I must freely admit that I am a nerd prior to sharing this moment]. Upon reading in one of my books that someone could actually hear the baby's heartbeat at this point by placing their ear upon my belly, I just had to make Randy try it. As suspected, he could hear nothing other than my digestive system, well, digesting. So, I had him find the stethoscope. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I found his heartbeat using my stethoscope. Very nerdy, but made me happy! 

What I miss: being treated like a normal, fully-capable human being. Don't get me wrong, being pregnant has it's perks, but I don't like being babied (no pun intended). I realize that my job is a bit more physically demanding than the average person's, but I can still handle most of the demands it poses right now. I openly pass on the patients who require a lot of lifting or are very large, so I'm not setting myself up to get hurt. Some days I feel like I need a sign on my forehead that says "I can do this. Just because I'm a bit pot-bellied right now does not mean I'm handicapped". When I push patients up a short ramp to the rehab department several times, every day, I'm pretty sure I can handle the 4th wheelchair as well as the 1st and last. Thank you, though! 

What I am looking forward to: Getting the results of the glucose tolerance test from today (should know by the end of the week if I failed it). And moving forward on anything to do with this little guy. We've had a number of projects come up recently that are now coming to a close so we can focus on the nursery once again. 

Pregnancy rant: Instead of a rant today, I will choose to answer the questions posted by a follower of the blog from last week. 

Biggest fears: At this time, I would say that my biggest fears concern two things. #1: the baby's health. I had posted previously about my exposure to potential toxins early in the pregnancy (involving vaccines you aren't supposed to have during the first trimester), and although he looked good on the ultrasound, it still is a lingering thought at times. It doesn't scare me now like it did in the first month or so, but every now and then I think "what if..."   #2: the transition into parenthood. Having never been a mother before, I wonder if I am up to the challenge. There are books you can read, conversations with other mothers, and even parenting classes to attend, but it's not going to be the same as actually being someone's mother. The fear of the unknown is what drives both of these issues for me. 

Things that I dream about concerning the baby: Despite this child's genetic predisposition for physical therapy (ha, I am just kidding)... I/we have no expectations for him to be any way involved in PT/sports/medicine/etc. unless he wants to be. I will borrow a few lines for a song I heard on the radio the other day to summarize my feelings regarding this question:

'I will love you for you

Not for what you have done

Or what you will become

I will love you for you" 

- JJ Heller "What Love Really Means"

*Yes, I know this is a Christian song and I have taken these lyrics a bit out of context, but still, don't you think those words are enough?