Living My Days With Passion, Purpose, and Pizzazz

I have been pregnant for 210 days. That’s a whole lotta days. Since I will be induced at 39 weeks, I have about 63 left. In some ways, that seems like an eternity, but in other ways I know it will fly by.

Swollen ankles, baby hiccups, and outrageous heartburn are all part of the daily routine around here. This baby is a twirler. Rarely kicks or punches, but is constantly spinning. A wee bit painful at times. My second daughter was the exact same way. At thirty weeks the baby is an estimated 17 inches and 3.5 pounds. He is expected to gain about .5 pounds per week during the duration of the pregnancy.

Over the last couple of weeks, lots of progress has been made on my “to do before the baby comes” list. It feels great to check things off. My list is so ridiculously long, that in reality, I know it is physically impossible to finish it all before hand, but every little bit helps.

I also had 2 showers recently. Showers always overwhelm me with gratitude at the friends and family I have in my life. This baby is being born into a community of people that already love him so much. He has an endless list of aunties ready to smooch his cute little face. I had an amazing time at both parties, surrounded by people I love. I sat on a zebra couch, with a sock monkey nearby and had tons of little friends helping me open gifts for our new little man at one. At the other, we had a riveting game of racing babies to see who would eat first. I mean really, whats not to love?

Then I got to spend a whole day in my jammies looking through all my gifts, organizing, and putting things away. That is such my happy place.

I’m on the last lap. It’s getting close…

I am nearing the half way point and I really can not be more excited. Pregnancy is amazing. Pregnancy is hard and completely miraculous. It seems as though aliens have taken over every inch of my body.

I felt the baby move yesterday for the first time. Again this morning. It is without a doubt the most amazing feeling in the world.

In just two days, we are going for an ultrasound to determine the gender of the baby. Yes, we are telling…both the gender and the name. I am completely unable to keep secrets about that kind of thing. It will be so nice to know and name this little one swimming around inside of me. We are going for one of those social type of ultrasounds where they schmooz you, give you pictures and dvd’s, and have multiple screens for your viewing pleasure. The only thing missing is popcorn, although I am sure you could bring that too. The kids will be coming along. We are all counting the days. Shawn and Emma want a girl, Cameron wants a boy, Taylor and I don’t really care….it should be interesting to see everybody’s reactions.

The baby is an estimated 6 inches long this week and weighs 7 ounces. Mind boggling fact of the week: if my baby is a girl, her ovaries have already produced millions of primordial egg cells, which, within a few weeks, will develop into actual eggs. um wow.

Here is my fuzzy iphone self portrait….

It seems like I have been pregnant for months and yet I have 33 weeks left to go, but who’s counting?

It’s amazing to read and see all the pictures and information online.

This fact blew my mind…

“You might be surprised to learn that even though the embryo is only about 2 cm long, every major system in the human body is present in its earliest form by the end of week 7 of pregnancy.”

It’s amazing to think that one of these is currently swimming around in my tummy. (This image is at six weeks). At this point, the baby has a working liver, fully formed intestines and appendix, pumping blood, and is the size of a blueberry.

Despite the fact that I can’t get anything done, might bite your head off if you look at me wrong, sleep constantly, actually pray daily to throw up …and will likely continue this path for at least another 5 weeks

I’m in love.