BillyandAshlee.com

We had a bit of a scary experience over the weekend. Friday night I had some spotting, so we called the on-call dr. and she recommended we go to labor & delivery at the hospital to be checked out. Long story short is that we were admitted, I had to put on the gown and get in bed, monitors were attached, etc. but the baby was doing “awsome” (to use the nurse/dr word), no contractions, and my urine came back from the lab fine (they were thinking it could be due to a UTI). So, I was released after about 3 hours with instructions to get plenty of rest, stay out of the heat, drink lots of water, and to call my dr. on Monday. I called Monday and since I wasn’t still spotting (was just Friday night) and I had a normal appt onTuesday anyway, they said it was fine, unless the spotting returned.

So, I had my appt on Tuesday and the dr. said it is probably due to the low-lying placenta that I have and we are checking on that again with another sonogram at 32 weeks and we’ll find out then. So, seems like everything is ok! I only gained 2.5 pounds this month (thank goodness after a big gain last month!), blood pressure is still perfect, and I increased 5cm’s to measuring 32cm’s. The dr. wasn’t concerned I was measuring that far ahead, he said it’s just an estimate and we’ll check on things in 4 weeks. I also had my glucose screening (had to drink this flat orange pop, wait an hour and then have my blood drawn). So, I’ll get the results either Friday or Tuesday to know whether or not I have anemia and whether my levels are elevated for being at risk for gestational diabetes (if so, I have to follow-up with a 3hr fasting and bloodwork test). I now have appts every 2 weeks!! I can’t believe we’re already at that point! So, my next appt is 7/12 (just routine weight/blood pressure/measurement/heartbeat).

Other than appt news, we’re making lots of progress around the house! We painted the nursery a few weeks ago (I’m still getting on Billy to get those pic’s uploaded along with this weeks belly pic!), last weekend we painted all of the hallways in the basement and family room level, and over the last two evenings we painted the office/new guestroom. I still have to paint all the hallways on the top two levels and the three bathrooms. Hopefully we get it all done in the next few weekends, and then it’s on to the other million things on our to-do list! We’re having our usual 4th of July party on Saturday and then we’ll spend the rest of the weekend on house projects. Next Friday is Billy’s 29th birthday and then Saturday, 7/9, we have our birthing class!!

Your Baby’s Development

This week marks an important milestone for Baby’s brain development. Until now, the surface of your baby’s developing brain was smooth. During this week, Baby’s brain begins to form its characteristic grooves and indentations, allowing the brain’s surface to expand while it develops within Baby’s tiny skull.

At about two pounds four ounces and 13.8 inches from head to toe, your baby has certainly come a long way!

Other important developmental advances continue as well:

• Baby will continue to add layers of fat under her skin, and will get plumper with each passing day.

• Hair on Baby’s head will continue to grow.

• A boy’s testes are usually completely descended into the scrotum by this point.

• A girl’s labia are still small and won’t yet cover the clitoris. The labia will grow closer together in the last few weeks of pregnancy.

• Baby’s lungs are now capable of breathing air.

Your Development

By week 28, your uterus is about three inches above your belly button. Your weight gain may range from about 17 to 24 pounds.

Starting now, you’ll probably be visiting your doctor every other week instead of every month. At your next appointment, your doctor may be able to tell you how your baby is positioned in the womb.

Ideally, soon you will feel her settle with her head pointed down toward your cervix — a sensation called “lightening.” If you feel the baby’s head pushing against your cervix, he or she is probably in the proper head-first position for delivery. Babies in a head-up or breech position during labor may need to be delivered by cesarean section if the doctor can’t turn them around.

However, don’t be alarmed at a breech presentation at this point – it’s not that unusual for Baby to be in a breech position at this point. She still has two months to change position, which most babies do.

Your Baby’s Development

This week marks the beginning of the third trimester — and a big developmental change as Baby’s fused eyelids finally open. The lids have been closed since early pregnancy to protect the developing retina at the back of the eye. The retina is the part of the eye that receives light information, and transmits the information to the brain for interpretation. The retina develops its normal layers during this week.

Although Baby may not have grown much taller, she now weighs more than two pounds. Right now, your baby looks like she will at birth, just a little thinner and smaller.

Other developmental changes include:

• Lungs, liver and immune system are still developing.

• As hearing continues to develop, some scientists suggest Baby may start to recognize your voice, although sounds may be muffled because waxy coating still covers the ears.

• Response to sound will become more pronounced as the development of the auditory nerve is completed.

• Baby’s brain continues to grow and develop rapidly.

Your Development

As your uterus has grown and you’ve gained more weight, your ligaments are also getting looser in preparation for delivery, which can make your hips feel unstable or loose. This loosening and shifting may cause occasional sharp pains in your pelvic area that can get stronger with each successive pregnancy. It’s important to move slowly and deliberately, and avoid sudden movements.

You may notice that it’s getting increasingly hard to breathe as the uterus continues to expand near the rib cage, adding more pressure to your lungs. Getting a bit breathless is expected; you and your baby are still getting all the oxygen you need.

Also around this week, you may begin noticing some changes in your behavior, due to hormonal changes and everything that’s on your mind. For example, you may have trouble concentrating, keeping track of belongings, or remembering important things. You can help yourself to feel more in control by trying to minimize the stress in your life, getting plenty of rest, and taking those brief memory lapses in stride.

Here’s my latest belly shot from last Sunday, 26w3d! I think I’m growing a belly up higher finally!

Better late than never, right? =)

Not much time to post, it’s 12am and I need to get to bed. I’m still working 12ish hour days but we’re finally seeing an end in site, so hopefully within a week or so I’ll be back to 40 hour weeks. This weekend we are planning on cleaning out the nursery and office closets, painting the office, moving the guest room into the office, etc. We’ll try to post pics of the progress!

Your Baby’s Development

As Baby grows, space is getting tighter inside the womb. Baby now measures about 12.8 inches tall and probably weighs almost two pounds. Most of this weight is bone and tissue, because she still doesn’t have much body fat. In fact, the main development of body fat doesn’t really occur until late in the third trimester. Between now and week 29, your baby will have a growth spurt and gain another pound.

Lots of other developments occur this week:

• Baby is beginning to blink and open her eyes.

• Eyelashes are beginning to grow.

• Hair is continuing to grow on Baby’s head.

• To support her growing body, Baby’s spine is getting stronger and more flexible.

• Although she hasn’t put on much fat, Baby is beginning to look a little plumper.

Your Development

You’ve probably gained between 16 and 20 pounds by now, which includes Baby’s weight, plus the weight of the placenta, enlarged uterus, amniotic fluid, and excess blood volume. There is also appreciable fat storage in the maternal body (largely during the second trimester), averaging four to seven pounds. As the uterus enlarges and Baby gets bigger, you may notice more back pain, pelvic pressure, leg cramps and headaches. However, any pains that even remotely feel like contractions should be reported to your doctor. Preterm labor (labor beginning before the baby is fully developed) is much easier to stop in the early stages.

By now you can probably feel your baby moving every day, although not all babies are equally active. If you become concerned during those moments when you can’t feel your baby move, try lying on your left side and being still. It’s usually easier to feel fetal movement in that position.

Your Baby’s Development

During this week, your baby is spending more time preparing for life after birth. Nerves around the mouth and lip area are becoming more sensitive now, preparing Baby for that all-important task of finding a nipple and getting nourishment.

At a pound and a half and a length of about eight to 10 inches, Baby is growing at a steady pace. The umbilical cord is thick and resilient now, covered in a firm, slippery substance that prevents kinking and knotting and may regulate the blood flow between placenta and Baby.

This week, you could expect:

• Baby will begin curling her fingers into a fist.

• Baby’s dexterity will continue to develop.

• She’ll continue to explore her surroundings, including the umbilical cord.

• Your baby’s spinal structure will begin to form.

• Baby’s nostrils beginning to open.

Your Development

You may continue to notice physical changes this week related to pregnancy. Your eyes may become sensitive to light, feeling gritty and dry. Caused by hormones, this is a perfectly normal pregnancy symptom called dry-eye. To ease your discomfort, try using an “artificial tears” solution for added moisture.

You may also notice the onset of or continue to experience indigestion as the hormone progesterone slows down the emptying of the stomach to allow for increased absorption of nutrients for you baby. Eating smaller, more frequent meals, and avoiding spicy and fatty foods may help ease this condition.

Since we were out of town, this one was taken a few days later than normal (24w2d) and we’re just now getting it posted.

My dr. appt went great! My dr. said that changes in physical activity and climate can cause the cramping, etc. Also, the abdominal tightening I’ve been having he said is braxton hicks. Good to know! I notice it most when we walk in the evenings and he said I might have to change the length or time or frequency of our walks (we walk each night for about 45 mins). I think I’ll stick with status quo for now and see how it goes. He did an internal and said that there is no signs at all of any preterm stuff. That was such great news to hear!! It was what my gut was telling me, but I wanted my dr. to confirm it. Finally, my urine culture showed no signs of a UTI, sweet! He also told me that I’m a case of someone that has read a bit too much and is overprepared (said in a nice way of course) and Billy started laughing and told him to tell me to throw away all the books and stay off the internet like Billy has been telling me to do. Sorry, that’s just not in my nature! I have to overprepare for EVERYTHING (each major purchase, trips, babies, etc.), that’s just me, super Type A personality! Anyway, good to hear everything was ok. I’m measuring 27 weeks (and I’m 24.5) and my dr. said that is just fine and that the baby is growing really well. I go back in 3 weeks for my glucose test.

In other news, we went and ordered our glider and ottoman tonight! We got a Dutailer from Babies-R-Us in a cherry finish and a neutral (cream/tan) fabric. I figure if we don’t like the fabric, we can sew slipcovers for it, right Nanny? =), which we might end up doing anyway since I know you can’t remove the covers and I can only imagine they get a bit yucky with a baby! They said it will be in in 10-12 weeks, which is around 35-37 weeks for me, should be here in time, but my fingers are crossed anyway! This is the glider:

We also have our stroller choices narrowed down to 4 (we’re going to get a light stroller for normal use and then probably next Spring get a jogger or 3-wheel all-terrain for walks and the dog park). These are the 4 we’re considering (and not necessarily in these colors):

1. Maclaren Global Buggy

2. Inglesina Zippy

3. Zooper Waltz

4. Zooper Swing

I think we’re leaning towards the Zooper Swing, but want to go play with them in the store again.

Off to walk Brody…we took a belly pic this morning, we’ll try to get it up tonight or tomorrow!

We’re back from NYC and now we need a vacation!! We had a blast, we did some shopping, took a ferry by the Statue of Liberty (still can’t go in as a result of 9/11), went to Ellis Island, Empire State Building, Trump Tower, Central Park, Natural History Museum, saw a few comedy shows, went to the Broadway musical “The Producers” (Billy actually liked it!), ate a lot of food we shouldn’t have!, etc etc etc. We’ll try to get the pics up in the gallery here soon! Oh, and several people stopped me to ask what we’re having and when we said we weren’t finding out, they said “oh it doesn’t matter, it’s a girl!”. Wonder what it is that makes everyone think that? Only 3.5 more months and we’ll know!

I think I probably overdid it a bit (we walked for 5 straight days), as I started having a backache and some cramps on Friday, so called my dr. and they said to rest the rest of the day and if it didn’t get better, to call back and they’d probably send me to the ER. Well, it did get better and I’ve been fine since, so I think I’m probably ok. However, I have my normal dr. appt today, which I’m really happy for because it should give me some piece of mind. I’ll post about it later!

Tonight after the appt, we’re going to go order our glider and ottoman from Babies R Us, they take around 12 weeks to come in, so we better get that done soon! Crazy that we’re starting to “run out of time” for stuff, it felt like September would never be here and now in ways it feels like it’s right round the corner!

Billy and I are hosting Megan and Jerron’s co-ed baby shower this Saturday, so we have lots to do to get ready this week (clean, food, decorations, order a cake and keg (for the guys of course), etc.). So, after that is over this weekend, the “nesting” will begin with painting the inside and outside of the house, staining the deck, cleaning and organizing the garage and basement, moving the guestroom into the office and getting the nursery ready, cleaning out closets for Goodwill, putting a closet organizer in the nursery, etc. I can’t wait!

Not sure if I posted this before or not, but Billy and I decided to do one of those 3d/4d ultrasounds for fun! We’re scheduled to go 7/7! It will be so neat to see what this baby looks like!!

Your Baby’s Development

This week Baby prepares herself for a big, lusty cry upon arrival. Her lungs are beginning to produce surfactant, a wetting agent that will help her breathe correctly and will keep her tiny lungs from collapsing or sticking together. Blood vessels and air sacs are developing in the lungs and will eventually exchange oxygen and circulate it to all parts of Baby’s body.

Baby still has a lot of growing to do. At 1.2 pounds and eight to nine inches, she should add at least another five pounds before birth for optimum health.

This week, the following developments may occur:

• The inner ear, which controls balance, will become fully formed. This means that your baby may be able to tell when she is upside down or right side up while floating in the amniotic fluid.

• Baby will continue to explore her internal environment, flexing her fingers and touching her surroundings.

Your Development

As your baby continues to grow, you may begin to notice heartburn, a burning sensation that can reach from the lower throat to the bottom of your breastbone. During pregnancy, heartburn is caused by both hormonal and physical changes in your body. The placenta produces a hormone that relaxes the valve dividing the esophagus from the stomach, allowing stomach acids to move up into the throat. At the same time, the growing baby can push stomach acid up into the esophagus as well. You can help ease heartburn by eating five or six small nutritious meals a day. Also try to avoid going to sleep right after eating.

This is about the first time that your doctor may recommend testing you for gestational diabetes, a temporary type of diabetes that occurs during pregnancy. Women with gestational diabetes tend to have babies of very high birth weight, which can lead to difficulties during labor In addition; gestational diabetes can lead to low blood sugar in the baby after birth. During the screening test, you’ll drink a sugary solution and then have your blood drawn. If your blood sugar levels are abnormal, you’ll have further tests. Gestational diabetes usually can be controlled with a special diet. Also, mothers who develop gestational diabetes with their first child are more likely to have the condition with subsequent pregnancies as well.