Baby size: the baby is compared to the size of a bunch of scallions - guessing that's the length comparison because last week it was the size of a rutabaga. The vegetable comparison are so weird! He's close to 2 pounds and 14" long.
Here are a couple of bump pics. I'm sooo much bigger than I was with Paul! I carried small with him, and I'm probably still smaller than the average woman thanks to my height/long torso, but I feel HUGE. Excuse the hair in the photos below. I tend to take these bump pics before showering so my hair is always a mess!
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| 24 weeks |
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| 26 weeks, although I look smaller than 24 weeks in this photo, probably because I'm not wearing a maternity shirt? |
Name progress: We have 3 potential names but are leaning towards one. We haven't made a decision and probably won't until closer to the birth. But I'm glad we at least have some options we both like. There have been a lot of vetoes in this process! I really wanted Samuel (shortened to Sam) but Phil hated the alliteration (our last name starts with an S)! Oddly, I really liked the alliteration! And Phil really wanted Peter but I said no way, Jose. Peter and Paul is just too cutesy. I mean there is a children's song about birds named Peter and Paul. Plus it's just a bit too biblical for my liking, and I can't handle another P name! I already will say Phil instead of Paul and vice versa so I was a hard no on another P name! We won't be sharing the name until the baby is born to avoid people's strong and at times rude opinions!
Symptoms/RA management: My RA has been OK. I've had a few flares but upping my prednisone dose and icing takes care of them. I've also been having some back pain so have been seeing a chiropractor who specializes in prenatal care. Some of my low back pain is related to weakness in my left hip/glute. I wasn't surprised to hear about that weakness because that is the hip that I had surgery on in 2016 to repair a labral tear.
Recent/upcoming appointments: I had my 24 week appointment 2 weeks ago and all went well at that. We talked about the plan for my c-section. She's recommending we take Paul out of daycare and isolate for 7-10 days before delivery, and have anyone who is caring for Paul isolate during that time as well. It's good to know this ahead of time so we can plan and make sure my parents (they will take care of Paul while we are in the hospital) also isolate. They could spend Thanksgiving with us, though, but we'll see what plan we come up with. I also have a back-up plan in case the baby comes early - one of my best friends whose kids go to the same daycare said they'd love to be our back-up option!
My next appointment is at 28 when I enter the 3rd tri. I'll have the glucose test which I KNOW I'm going to fail since I'm on prednisone (it raises your blood sugar). I'll also have a growth ultrasound to make sure the umbilical cord attachment issue that was detected at 20 weeks isn't impacting his growth. I doubt it is since my stomach sure is growing!
Sleep: I continue to deal with intermittent insomnia. I probably get up during the night to read about 3-4 nights/week. It's annoying but insomnia is super common in pregnancy. Usually I can fall asleep after 10-15 minutes of reading but sometimes I'm up for over an hour which is very annoying. Weekend naps are a life saver!!
Cravings/favorite foods and aversions: I don't really have any cravings but I have been enjoying more sweets than usual knowing that I'll be on a strict gestational diabetes diet come mid-September. I'm not going overboard, I'm just letting myself have ice cream, GF muffins from my favorite coffee shop, PSLs, the occasional mocha from Caribou, etc. The GD diet is very restrictive - I will basically eat no sweets and have to watch my carb intake super closely, including things like fruit. So I feel I earned some care-free weeks leading up the third tri!
Exercise: I still haven't fit strength training into my routine yet but I still hope to do that. I think when the weather cools down I will do some strength training in the basement while Paul plays with his toys down there after school. Right now we try to be outdoors if it's not beastly hot out! I'm also counting all the acorn sweeping/pick-up/raking I've done as a workout. Oak trees are pretty but dang they are a mess! I try to take a walk 5 days/week and those feel great and really get my heart rate up. It doesn't take much to get your heart rate up when you are pregnant! For example, my resting heart rate is about 72 right now but normally it's around 58-60 when I'm not pregnant!
Recent baby prep/decisions: The baby's room was painted while we were at the lake but that's all we've done with that room. We'll wait until January or later to move furniture around because for now Phil likes to use it as his office on the days he works from home. Eventually, we'll move Paul's changing table into that room, and move the dresser that is in the office/baby room into Paul's room. And then we'll wait and see if we need to buy a crib. I'm going to guess we'll need to because Paul shows no signs of being done with his crib. He's never attempted to crawl out of it and loves his crib so we'll keep him in there as long as we can!
Mood: Pretty good except I was feeling so OVER SUMMER last week when it was so hot and humid. Sorry to all the summer lovers out there! I'm just ready for cooler fall temps but drier air has arrived and it's been beautiful lately!
8 comments:
LOL!! I'm with you on the Peter/ Paul thing. I don't think I could handle that combo either. There was a childhood Sunday School song that I used to love as a kid that starts "Peter and Paul went to pray...they met a lame man on the way...he asked for alms and held out his palms, and this is what Peter did say..." Hahaha. I can't hear those names without singing that song, so it would be a hard no for me too.
Glad to see you look GREAT and seem to be feeling well too. What a blessing. Hoping all continues well and that your glucose can stay down. Darn Prednisone is a tough one.
This pregnancy sure seems to be flying by! I had pregnancy insomnia, too, and it is not fun.
I sure hope you don’t get gestational diabetes, but am sure you’ll handle it well. We are excited to find out the name as we know it will be a traditional one, which we like, but I’m also a fan of biblical names as we have so many in our family now. Four out of six grandsons have one and I love it!
Glad the RA is at least under control. I hadn't thought about the Peter/Paul thing -- I love the name Peter but I can see why it wouldn't work. I'm not opposed to alliteration, though. But at least you have some choices you both look.
You look terrific, Lisa. Just keep at it. And I hope your sleeping evens out a bit.
You look absolutely wonderful - pretty and fresh (but I know in reality you're probably exhausted!). And tiny, but you're small anyway so that is no surprise. Hopefully the RA stays controlled and the chiropractor is able to help your back.
I like the names Peter and Paul - Paul was on our list, but Peter is extremely common in my in-law's family, and we didn't want to add one more. Names are hard. That's why I just let David do it, haha. It's good you have it narrowed down to a few options already!
I totally think that your belly looks bigger in the orange shirt; maybe it is because black is more slimming? I don't know! As for the name, you do you! I do find it a little confusing when people's kids names all start with the same letter (especially if one of the parents names does too) but hey, if that is what you like, do it! I can't wait to hear what you guys come up with.
As you know, I have been experimenting with low carb/low sugar... can you have monkfruit or other kinds of sweeteners? Or are those off limit too? Because I have pretty much cut out sweeteners, but I do use monkfruit when I want a little bit of sweet. I know some of the artificial sweeteners still cause your glucose levels to spike, but I do not think that monkfruit is one of them.
That is funny about the Peter/Paul thing. I can understand that. When you say that - I think of "Puff the Magic Dragon" - written by Mary, Peter, and Paul. :D
So you won't be naming him Pedro, I assume - since that name starts with a P as well. haha!
You look so cute! I have heard from sooo many people now how much faster they show 2nd pregnancy compared to the 1st! So crazy. I'm surprised how long it is taking for me to show. I hardly have anything - I just feel uncomfortable and most of my work pants don't fit (b/c I always wore pretty slim-fitted dress pants.
I'm on team summer-hate. But that is common for AZ. But mine is pretty intense. In fact, this morning I actually started crying uncontrollably while I was getting ready for work. And I am NOT a crier! Ryan had no idea what to do with me - I think he was excited to leave the house for work this morning to get away from his crazy, pregnant wife :D haha! I don't know what set me off...but we have another heat advisory this weekend. I'm so sick of it!!!
Aww, Sam would have been cute with your last name! :)
I'm going to cross fingers and toes you are not diagnosed with gestational diabetes. There should be some way for the docs to realize it's due to your prednisone use! Ugh. That diet does NOT sound fun at all so I'm glad you're enjoying the next few weeks of treats!
I'm with you on hating summer. I am so over the humidity and 100-degree heat. September is going to be just as hot as August was here in FL so no break for us anytime soon! I hope things calm down in your neck of the woods!
You are smart not to mention the name. People love to give their opinions, and are often very rude about baby names.
Insomnia sucks. I've suffered from it quite a bit in my life, and this week was absolutely awful. I didn't fall asleep at all on Monday night, and on Tuesday I got about half an hour of sleep. Fortunately things got better as the week went on. I have so much trouble turning my mind off.
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