Week 26

We are in the last week of the second trimester, according to my handy week-by-week book, which means Baby Monkey is about 2/3 done being incubated!  Here's a "from my view" belly shot taken while sitting at my desk today.  The thing that struck me is that you can *barely* see my hand there under the bump.  Wowsa.

I was lucky that in talking to friends and family, there wasn't too much I wasn't at least aware of when it came to all the "fun" things that come along with pregnancy.  I have to say that two things were/are a bit more extreme than I expected.

1 - Sleep.  Oh sleep, how do I miss, thee, let me count the ways.  I haven't really slept well or much since about the time I found out I was expecting.  First trimester is was this sort of random insomnia (joy) and second trimester has been pain/discomfort making sleep elusive.  I work my way through the bed, the couch and the recliner at various points throughout the week (and sometimes all three in one night).  The whole "it's good practice for when the baby comes" thing might be true, but I sort of though that I'd at least be able to get a FEW good nights sleep before the Monkey arrives.  Silly me.

2 - Heat.  I joke about being an incubator for the baby, but little did I know that I'd heat up like an incubator too!  I'm always the cold one in our house.  Hate using the air, bundled under a blanket in the basement in the summer, multiple layers in the winter, that's me.  Lately though, it's a bit of a role reversal.  Even the dog is now curling up next to me at night because I'm throwing off the most heat.  It's a bit ridiculous how warm I am.  I'm breaking out in a sweat, Jay's under a blanket he's so cold.  The incubator joke is more reality than fiction.

Oh, and a third bonus one - the kid is already turning my hair gray!  I thought I had a few years before the stress would get to me, but apparently now.  Luckily, my hair is still light enough that the gray hairs still look blond, but with close inspection you can see the difference.  I'm already planning an excursion after the first of the year to cover those pesky hairs up, along with any others that might want to appear in the next few months!

Baby Z...the Prequel

Hello friends and family!  Welcome to Baby Z's blog...or at least the blog where we'll talk about Baby Z and all things related.  As I write this, we are officially 25 weeks and 6 days along in this 40 week pregnancy.  I find the whole process fascinating, but I have to say, 40 weeks is seeming like a long time!

Our current adventure started Easter Sunday, which was when we first found out we were expecting.  My first appointment with the doctor was at 6 weeks, where Baby Z was confirmed, we heard a bit of a heartbeat, and found out our due date was January 1, 2012.  No Rose Bowl for us this year!  Because I'm considered high risk due to the lupus, I went back at 8 and 11 weeks also.  Ultrasounds at both showed good heartbeats and growth and that all was looking as it should.  It's amazing to look at the photos from each of those and see how quickly things change in there!

Shortly after the 11 week appointment, Baby Z was nicknamed Baby Monkey by our 3-year-old niece.  It stuck, which was ok since it was pretty gender neutral.  Since all was going well, I got put on the typical 4-week appointment rotation and have been on that for the last few months.  Our next (and most recent) ultrasound was at 19 weeks, which was doubly fun since Mom and Dad were there to see their first grandchild as well.  At that appointment Baby Z was NOT shy about showing the "goods" and we learned that Baby Z will be a boy...or at least that's how it certainly appears!

Overall, the past 6 months or so have gone pretty well.  The first trimester was...the first trimester.  Pretty much 24/7 nausea and the all-encompassing fatigue, but nothing that wasn't at least manageable (or out of the ordinary).  Things got better with the second trimester, I started gaining weight (hello belly!) and moved out of the extreme fatigue into just easily worn out.  I'm moving now into the somewhat-uncomfortable phase when it comes to the back and hips.  Apparently, I was not designed to sleep on my side.  My hips kill me, even with the small fortress of pillows I've started to use.  Between my fortress and the dog, poor Jay is getting the squeeze!

That essentially gets us up to our current point!  I'll try to post some photos and updates as we go along, and then of course even more once we actually have a little one to show off.