25 Weeks

I know that I'm a day early in posting, but since I have class tomorrow night and I'm delaying getting started/finished on my case study, I'd rather do this!

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

Let your spouse put an ear to your belly -- he might be able to pick up baby's heartbeat (no stethoscope required). Inside the womb, the formation of tiny capillaries is giving baby a healthy pink glow. Baby's also soaking up your antibodies, getting the immune system ready for life outside the womb. Eyes are forming, and baby will soon perfect the blink -- perfect for batting those freshly grown lashes.

Evan now not only kicks, punches, and head butts me, but I can feel him floating around. It feels somewhat like an upset stomach. If you place your hand on my belly you can feel him run a body part along it. He's also gotten so strong that you can see my belly move too! It's also noticeable to see where he like to hang out. Every now and then my stomach is completely lopsided! Oh, how could I forget the cramps...last night I woke up nearly crying from a leg cramp in my calf. I also had my toes start cramping on me while at work.

Paul and I are hoping to finish registering for some items at Babies 'R Us either this weekend or soon after. I feel like I'm a little behind on this, but it could just be me.

ONLY 15 WEEKS TO GO!

Birthing

I've registered Paul and myself for our childbirth class. We're all set to do it on April 18th. The lady who I spoke to wanted us to go in mid-May, but seeing as my friends are delivering 5 weeks early...it's made me paranoid! So I stuck with the April date.

Evan's nursery

After going to the stadium, Paul and I stopped at Babies 'R Us to pick up some things for our friends. While we were there we selected our crib and dresser, as well as the crib bedding. I hope Evan likes airplanes!

They're here!

Today was the opening of the Indians' spring training facility in Goodyear. Paul and I went down to check it out!

Mark Shapiro, General Manager

When we walked in, we wanted to find our seats for the first Sunday game, and I noticed that the players were starting practice. Paul and I hurried over to get a seat and watch them for a while.

Paul was even able to get an autograph of my favorite player, Grady Sizemore! We didn't tell him how I was almost hit by a foul ball of his last summer and that Paul gave the ball away to the girl that it did hit.

Jackson Peter Saigeon

Congrats to our friends, Shawn and Paul, on the arrival of their little boy last night!! Jackson weighs 5 lbs. 10 oz. and is 18 inches long. He's also 5 weeks early! Mom and baby are doing well. Her shower was scheduled for Sunday, so now they'll be having an open house type event.

Photos are courtesy of Shawn's sister, and talented photographer, Pamela.

See her link on the right!

24 Weeks

Well, I had yet another doctors appointment today and Evan looks and sounds healthy. His measurements from our last ultrasound were all normal. YAY! Next month will be my glucose test and the final 4 week appointment. After that we'll be going every two weeks.

I'm a little disappointed with The Bump right now. Their weekly fruit measurements have now turned into monthly ones at this stage of pregnancy. I'm switching to Babycenter's weekly images for now.

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

In the past few weeks, the top of your uterus has risen above your belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball. **This is not ok-- and it's just going to get bigger!**

Indians' Stadium

Spring Training is coming and we've been waiting for this day for some time now! The new Indians' stadium is opening to the public on Saturday! We can't wait to see it!!

Thank you!

A HUGE thank you to our friends Mark and Sarah (along with Kerri and Mike) for the three GIANT bags of baby clothes that they gave us. Evan will be set for a while!

Valentine's Day

Paul and I weren't sure what we wanted to do for Valentine's Day this year, so we didn't decide on going out for dinner until Thursday. Yes, I know that it's nearly impossible to get a reservation, but oh well. Anyway, we called a little place called Venice that we go to on 48th St. and Elliot. Luckily they had openings, but we also thought that it was a little strange.

One of our friend, Paul N., also didn't make reservations for himself and his girlfriend. Paul tells him about our little "secret" place and our friend makes a reservation too.

Here comes Valentine's Day...Paul and I are all dressed up ready for dinner. We get in the car and head off to the restaurant. In the car we're chatting about how lucky it was that they had availabilities. We also start to joke around about how we think it's owned by the Mafia and they've probably turned into an Italian sports/betting bar. We pull into the parking lot and we notice that the name has changed. It's no longer Venice Ristorante, but Vertucci's Italian Grill and Sports Bar!!!!! AH!!!!!

We talk about whether or not we want to go in and decide against it. Paul remembers that Cafe Boa is nearby, but it's packed. Then, Paul calls Portland's and Cibo downtown instead. Portland's has seating at the bar available and no one answers at Cibo (and they don't take reservations). As we drive by Cibo to see what the wait looks like we notice that it's really busy. Last try is Portland's. We arrive and we notice some empty tables. Fortunately, the waitress is able to seat us at a table and we didn't have a reservation! WAHOO!! Dilemma solved!

Happy Valentine's Day, Paul!

My weekend -- the good, the bad, and the nasty

I'll start with the good stuff:
1. The Academy Winter Guard went to their first regional in California this weekend and they got second place!

2. I scheduled a 3-d ultrasound for March 17th! (Thanks, Liza!)

3. I can see my belly move when Evan kicks!

The Bad and the Nasty:
1. I had to come home from California early...I got sick. I threw up six times on Sunday, so Liza made me fly home on an earlier. Count them up: twice at rehearsal, once at the show site, once in Cori's car on the way to the airport (thank goodness she had and empty coffee cup in her car), once at the airport, and once at home.

I think that Sunday was the first time my maternal instincts kicked in -- all I could think about was the fact that Evan wasn't getting any food that day and hoping that he was ok. Even as I was heaving into the toilet, I was praying that I wasn't squashing him. I slept on the flight home, but for a second when I woke up as the plane landed, I couldn't feel my belly. In that split second I thought I had lost Evan. I unzipped my jacket to make sure he was still there, and he was. All I wanted to do was go home, try to eat, and rest to make sure he was ok. Unfortunately, the eating part didn't work until Monday. Paul gave me a cup of crushed ice that his daddy books said would be easier to keep down than water, and that was the only thing that was staying in!

Monday I was able to have some toast, a little soup, and some cereal. I'm feeling much better today, although I think I ate too much too fast at lunch. I'm hoping to be able to have a larger dinner tonight.

Ellen Show

I saw this video on my friend's website...hysterical!

22 Weeks

I am going to be out of town this weekend, so the updated belly picture is now a few days early. I cannot believe how BIG I have gotten in the past few weeks. I'm fully into maternity pants and I'm trying to wear my loose non-maternity shirts as long as I can. Although, it's bad when they are too short and it looks weird when your tummy hangs out. Fortunately, I've only gained about 7 or 8 pounds so far. My friend, Liza, keeps teasing of me. She says that she's never seen such a big belly so early...but that from the back, I still look the same. So here it is...a photo of me from the back.

And then I turn around and you get to see this...

22 weeks

Here are the previous weeks' photos to compare.

18 weeks

14 weeks

11 weeks

As for Evan, he's much more active. I feel him moving around more often and his movements are much stronger. Paul has felt him a few times now and my mom has even had the chance to feel! He moves the most in the mornings (on my way to work), afternoon (after lunch), and in the evenings around 8 or 9. Usually it's when I've had a chance to sit after being up and around during the day.

I'm excited to know that he can hear his daddy and I talk to him now. I feel as though I should be talking to him more than I am. (And watching my language a bit more too!) More and more I have noticed my belly taking on different shapes. The part of watching my stomach move hasn't hit yet, but I can tell when it's not the same as it was before.

Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop.

**Side note: the chart I posted before says that weeks 22-26 are month 6, but above weeks 21-24 are month 5. I'm confused.

Making room for Evan

Besides the fact that my stomach is growing to make room for Evan, Paul has chosen this week to be the week that we rearrange our home to make space for his nursery. He is having the carpet cleaners come this Saturday morning and needs to have the current exercise room and office cleared in order to get a "good" cleaning. Here is where we are right now...

The exercise room is still the exercise room.

The office is now mostly empty.

My desk has moved into the living room. It doesn't match. **

Paul's desk has moved into the laundry room. It's a good thing we have a LARGE laundry room.

**I had to enlarge the image of Layne in the living room. He's scary looking!!