Little Baby: 24 weeks

At our last OB appointment, our doctor asked us to start making all of our appointments occur ever two weeks after our October monthly check-up. In a month we will be in the third trimester of this pregnancy! Landon and I are still a little bit confused about why our check-ups are necessary at all. They usually last about 2 minutes, with her asking how I feel (i always feel great), measuring the size of my uterus and listening for Little Baby's heart beat. They're pretty uneventful. I'm not even sure which questions to ask. 

 Dooney still can't feel when the Bambina is frolicking. But I'm sure he will eventually. 

This last week we got to see our little girl in an ultrasound again. I was relieved to hear that her brain is normal. They tell me she is perfect. I will still be counting her fingers and toes when she comes out.

She is 1lb 6 oz and is still scheduled to be born on January 19th.

She is growing fast. I'm starting to feel her moving a lot. She loves to party before and after my meals and when I lay down to sleep. By the end of the day I am usually a LOT larger looking and feeling. I'm not sure if it's gravity or a day's worth of food in my slower digestion tract, but I am certainly more uncomfortable by the end of the day than at the beginning. After dinner, I usually am uncomfortable sitting - there is no room for my food!

My uterus is the size of a soccer ball. A soccer ball! No wonder....

The fall weather feels amazing. I am so grateful that the days are cooler. And the trees in the mountains are so beautiful. Last week we got 4" of snow in the mountains which was enough to make people giddy. Of course, it's all melted by now, but it was a huge encouragement of what we hope will be a snow-filled winter.

I ushered in autumn this weekend with pumpkin bread and a little autumn decor in the house. It's been a very relaxing weekend, which is a relief because i had a rather busy work week, which brought back my cold that I thought I had kicked last weekend. Apparently my immune system is weaker than normal. 

Little Baby: 23 Weeks

Yikes! Sorry for the lag.

By the Jordan River on the edge of the Sea of Galilee.

As some of you know, Landon and I were on our BabyMoon. Which was a wonderful 2 week trip to the Mediterranean. It was great to spend some relaxing time alone together - "one last hurrah!" - i suppose. We went somewhere that we thought would be difficult to visit with kids. So we enjoyed a cruise to places like Jerusalem, Ephesus, Naples, and Athens. A lot of history and a lot of walking, which isn't very kid-conducive. It was perfect for us, though. And it's the first time we've traveled together since our trip to Thailand in 2006. It was wonderful and rejuvenating!

When I returned, my boss said, "Oh look, you came back with a belly!" Which is quite true. While we were traveling, people from every country and culture remarked that I was pregnant, which was fun to enjoy. For some reason, a lot of people like to see pregnant women. 

Now that the BabyMoon is over, next comes the baby, i suppose.

At 23 weeks, I am LOVING the newly-found Fall weather that we are enjoying here in Utah. Feeling fat is more comfortable when you can be fully clothed, that's for sure. And I have several beautiful clothes to wear in these cooler temps thanks to generous friends and sister-in-law.

Little Baby weighs just over a pound now and is growing fast. Sometimes I can feel her using my bladder like a pillow and i have to literally hold my belly up a little bit to ease the discomfort that is making my bladder feel like it will explode.

I am feeling her move a lot more now. One of my goals during our baby moon was to have landon feel her for the first time. That still didn't work out, which i couldn't believe because I feel like she can get pretty crazy in there. She does a celebratory dance every time I eat dessert: proof that some of here genes have been passed down from generations of Sheelys.

I haven't sewed anything for this baby in a long time. A few months ago I sewed some burp clothes, crib sheet, and swaddling blanket. There are a lot of other things that I hope to sew that are also very practical like nursing pads and baby diapers. We are brainstorming on names for this Little One but have not decided on anything yet. Once we do decide, we are not planning on sharing it with anyone until her birth day.

Mom came to visit over Labor Day weekend, which was wonderful. She helped me stock up on a few baby things. And in my own process of becoming a mother, I have had a huge longing for my own mom. So it was nice to have her here for a few days.

Next week we get to see our daughter again on another ultra-sound. The doctor wasn't able to get her head circumference last month. And i'm not complaining about a return visit. I'm excited to see her again!