Baby and I – looking large, feeling good.

Baby

BIGGEST NEWS OF THE WEEK: We have reached our first viability milestone! At 24 weeks, baby is considered medically viable. I’d like to keep Baby Girl cooking quite a lot longer, but it is a small comfort to know we’ve made it to this point!

In other, equally important – but slightly less mind-blowing – news, we visited the doctor today for our 24 week checkup. My uterus is measuring right on track, and baby’s heart-rate was 145 – perfectly healthy and normal.

Baby also displayed her sense of humor, putting on a bit of a show for the doctor. I warned the doctor that baby was kicking on the lower right part of my belly, and she decided she’d put her little heart-rate wand right there. Sure enough, Baby Girl kicked the crap out of the wand and nearly blew our eardrums out! Doc got a good laugh out of that, and I like to think that Baby Girl was giggling in my belly at her joke, too.

Over the weekend, our sweet girl stopped moving quite as much as she normally does. I was starting to get worried due to the decreased movement, but never did call the doctor about it because 1) I did feel her a little on occasion so I knew without a doubt she was still alive, and 2) I knew I’d be seeing the doctor today anyway. She picked back up her activity again yesterday at some point to a level that is reminiscent of Lewis’ activity levels, which also helped ease my mind. Maybe her “young and wild” days are behind her and she’s settling down into a more mature, easygoing pattern? Too soon for that? Wait 25-30 more years? Oh well, one can always hope.

Baby’s room had some small transformations this week, too. Obviously, one of the twin beds is gone (into big brother Lewis’ room!), and the crib has moved in (disassembled at the moment). Additionally, some non-baby items that were in the closet switched places with some baby items that were floating around the room. Next steps include moving the non-baby items to new homes, getting rid of two tables and an old rug, disassembling and storing the other twin bed, and reassembling the crib. Then we just figure out how to get our hands on the new furniture we’ve picked out, decorate, and bam! A nursery. Sounds like a lot when you write it out, but it feels like it could all be finished in a weekend if we felt compelled. So I’d say we’re in excellent shape, given the fact that we’ve likely got about 15-16 more weeks before it needs to be done!

Mama

I was right that they recorded my weight wrong at my last appointment. I talked with the doctor about it and she agreed. Now we’re all satisfied with the news that I “only” gained 8 lbs in the last month. Which is still too much. But it’s time to face the music – I’m just not good at keeping my weight in check while I’m pregnant. Plain and simple.

My cravings have remained unpronounced, except that I’d really like a light, summery beer. Perhaps a Corona with lime.

Physically, I’ve been exhausted. I was home alone with Lewis on Saturday, for example, and I actually fell asleep while he was playing. I was sitting on the couch, and he was tearing around like a crazy person, and I fell asleep. Thankfully not for very long, but the fact that I could sleep through Lewis’ “vroom vrooms”, crashing, and laughing just shows you how stinking tired I was.

I’ve also had some braxton hicks contractions. They’ve been pretty infrequent and not painful at all. But I do notice them and try to use that as a cue to slow down and/or drink some water.

The dry skin on my face has improved, but my hands are cracked and bleeding. I am sure this is partly due to hormones, and partly due to all the hand-washing after diaper changes and the constant peeing I’ve been doing!

This week I also finally gave in and went to get new bras to accommodate my changing shape. No regrets! I have gone from constant awareness that I am wearing a bra to not noticing at all. Sweet, sweet relief! The change in size is but one of many signs that my breasts are starting to think about feeding a baby again. Good work, body!

Lewis

Lewis gets a long update again this week, but I’m happy to report that it is more positive. After a couple really, really tough weeks, we are starting to figure a few things out and we’re all feeling more optimistic.

The big boy bed transition is going about as smoothly as we could hope. Lewis loves his new bed! We spent the whole day on Friday (while I was working from home! Phew, busy!) talking about how he was getting a new bed, playing with the mattress, putting the sheets on, etc. Then Lewis “helped” daddy take down his crib while we all said “bye bye crib”, and voila! The new bed was in place. Still, days later, he walks into his room and sees his bed and exclaims with delight, “NEW BED! MY NEW BED!”, as if he is surprised to see it. And when we go into the nursery next door, he sees the pieces of his crib and says very matter-of-fact, “it’s baby sister’s bed”.

We put a childproof doorknob cover on the inside of Lewis’ door so he can’t escape and roam about the house in the middle of the night now that he is a “free range” child, but we haven’t really needed that so far. He does wake up a few times a night and kind of whimpers and calls out for “mama”, but he hasn’t gotten out of bed and usually puts himself back to sleep within 3-5 minutes. I suspect the wake-ups are because he is cold. He doesn’t seem to like the big comforter, but the small quilts and blankets we put on him instead are easily kicked off. Oh well, that seems like his problem – not ours! We offer him the big blanket, and he refuses. So he can live with it!

Unfortunately, he has been waking up earlier in the new bed and does get out of bed in the morning and jiggles the doorknob. He finds it quite distressing that he can’t get out of his room. So no dilly-dallying for Kyle and me – if we hear the kid, time to get up. 5:30? 6:00? Get up, mom and dad! (yaawwwwn!)

Putting Lewis to bed at bedtime and, to a lesser degree, naptime has turned quite challenging, and we haven’t quite gotten a routine figured out there yet. So far, we’ve tried laying in bed with him, sitting in the chair while he is in bed alone, sitting next to the bed and rubbing his back, and other similar varieties. But we can’t leave him unattended yet because he does get out of bed if we don’t stay. The end result is that bedtime has been averaging 60-90 minutes, which is waaaaay too long. Anyway, I’m confident this piece will come when we finally find a routine that everyone is comfortable with. In the meantime, I’m thanking my lucky stars that the rest of the bed transition isn’t terrible.

The eating battles have all but disappeared. (GASP! Amazing!) The whole “it takes a week” thing has proved to be true in this instance, and we have noticed that Lewis has settled into the new expectations and started eating again. Even with the improvements, we expect some ebb and flow in his appetite, because he’s a toddler after all! But at least it isn’t a completely dry spell where he isn’t getting enough calories to exist.

Everyone’s moods have improved with the improvements in kiddo’s eating habits – Lewis is happier because he isn’t starving (duh!), and mama and dada are less stressed about the health of kiddo AND it’s easier to be in a good mood when there isn’t a toddler screaming nonstop. Woo!

The new daycare started today! After the whirlwind and upheaval last week, and all the emotions that came along with it, it felt really good to leave Lewis at the new place today. He immediately settled in and seemed comfortable, and he was excited to see his same teacher, whom he loves.

Because the change happened so quickly, Kyle and I hadn’t had a chance to visit the new location in person. That felt a bit risky, but now that I’ve been there I feel really comfortable with it. There is a kitchen, a Japanese style table where the kids can sit on cushions on the floor to eat, two indoor play spaces with lots of fun toys, and a fenced in outdoor area for the kids to play.

They eat vegetarian, which isn’t my favorite thing for Lewis, even as a semi-vegetarian myself. But the teacher is well aware of Lewis’ need for high calorie/fat foods, and she is on our team making sure he gets what he needs. And Lewis does get meat at home, so he isn’t going to be a forced-vegetarian. I just don’t think that will work for him as a permanent diet choice, given his weight issues.

Anyway, the point is that I think this new situation will work out just fine!