prenatal pampering

Today is the start of my third trimester. That's both exciting and scary! I have a lot to look forward to this month, though. First, I have my baby shower in Edgerton next Sunday. Then, I have my Cincinnati shower June 22nd. (I'm very lucky to have so many great people in my life to help celebrate our little girl.) Plus, we start our childbirth education classes at the end of June.

The last few weeks have been a lot of fun as well. Last Friday, as a Father's Day surprise to Kevin, I had maternity photos taken at Kelly Michelle Photography in Covington, KY. We learned about the studio at the Baby Expo in April, and Kevin liked the idea of doing maternity photos, but I was lukewarm about it. A few weeks ago I had the idea to do them as a present for him. I paid for a one-hour studio session, and they took pictures of me for 2.5 hours! I felt like a model, and the experience alone was worth the price. My plan was to take my friend Megan with me to select the prints then surprise Kevin with them on Father's Day. However, they took so many pictures in multiple outfits (6!) and poses, I knew I'd never be able to choose, and I thought Kevin would really enjoy seeing all of them and selecting the ones he liked best. So, without telling him about the photos at all, I picked him up after work last night and took him to the studio as a surprise. It was really fun to view all the photos with him and see which ones he preferred. I'm not always super photogenic, but she did such a great job and made me feel so comfortable that there were lots of good ones to choose from. I also made reservations right down the street from the studio at Chez Nora for dinner, then we went to Newport on the Levee for Cold Stone ice cream afterward. It ended up being a very lovely, and much needed, date to end the week. And Kevin is the king of surprises, so it was nice to treat him to a unexpected night out, especially since he's been so overwhelmed with work lately.

Today, I used the gift certificate Kevin had given me for a prenatal massage at Timeless Aesthetics, a new medspa near our house. It was soooo relaxing and nice to be pampered. I'd love to do it once a week if I could afford it!

So as I enter this last stage of my pregnancy, I'm feeling very blessed--and spoiled--and have never been happier!

our baby: 27 weeks

This week your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14.4 inches long with his legs extended. He can now open and close his eyes, and he sleeps and wakes at regular intervals. He may suck his fingers, and although his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with assistance — if he were to be born prematurely. Chalk up any rhythmic movement you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and isn't bothersome to him, so enjoy the tickle. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. Wonder what he's thinking?

there's no place like home

The HOW Conference was a big success. We had close to 4,000 attendees--our largest event ever--and everyone seemed pleased with the program. I enjoyed it, but the traveling, walking and being "on" all day long was very tiring. Plus I didn't sleep well at all. I hope to make up for it this weekend, though. I have five days off, and I need it!

Suddenly, my stomach looks and feels huge. She kicks a lot now and was very active during the conference. I think my weird eating schedule and atypical diet attributed to that. She was especially spastic after I downed an iced chai latte with whipped cream from Starbucks just before boarding the plane. I usually don't eat a lot of sugar or drink caffeine, so I'm sure it was a shock to her system, but I needed it at that point. I also had a lot of pain in my upper right abdomen whenever I ate a meal in Boston. It's not as bad now that I'm home, so I'm not sure if it was caused by what I was eating, when I was eating or how I was sitting when I ate (i.e., at a table instead of on a couch or at my desk, lol). I just hope it's not my gall bladder because it sounds a lot like the gall bladder pain Melissa had with her two pregnancies.

Speaking of Melissa, she had her baby Tuesday. She named her Sydney Ann, and she weighed a whopping 9 pounds, 6 ounces! Luckily, she had a scheduled c-section. The doctor estimated the baby at between 6.5 and 7.5 pounds earlier this week. The fact that they can be that far off scares the heck out of me. Anyway, if you'd like to see pics of Miss Sydney, check out Joan's Journeys, Melissa's mom's blog.

home alone

I know lately I've been more of the traveler in the family, but this weekend Sarah left for the annual HOW Conference, this year in Boston, and left us home alone. I don't like it when she's away, but I've been so busy this is probably a good time for her to be gone.
My suspicious lack of posts lately is due largely to the fact that I have never been busier at work than I am right now. The biggest project I've taken on since I started my new job is quickly approaching completion and I am working day and night (literally) to stay on top of my pieces. It's been pretty exhausting and I don't imagine it will get any easier for at least the next six weeks. Which sucks, but it is timing itself out pretty well so that when our little girlie gets here, I'll be able to give her my undivided attention.
I did manage to carve out some time this weekend to make some major progress on our landscaping. It has been looking sorely neglected this season, so I spent a few hours Saturday cleaning out all of the dead stuff around the house and on Sunday Sarah's brother Michael came down and helped me plant three new bushes, spread 26 bags of mulch, clean out even more of the landscaping, put up the awning on the front porch, and mow the lawn. Needless to say, it wore me out even more but I'm very happy with how it looks and can't wait for Sarah to get home and see the results of my effort.
So work's crazy, time is moving way to fast (holy cow! We're down to double digits in days until Baby Girl Whitman arrives!!!), and while I'm definitely missing Sarah this week, I'm glad that I can get some extra work done without taking away from my time with her.
I've got to get back to work...

our baby this week

I'm off to the HOW Conference in Boston this morning. I have cute clothes and sensible shoes, and am very excited to spend a few days with my HOW girls. Please pray that I'll feel great while I'm gone. My belly has gotten much bigger in the past few weeks, and along with that has come some shortness of breath, mild fatigue and lots of hip pain. Bridgid, one of my fellow staffers, is on crutches, so we'll be the slow, gimpy ones this week!

26 weeks
Your baby now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber), from head to heel. The nerve pathways in her ears are developing, which means her response to sounds is growing more consistent. Her lungs are developing now, too, as she continues to take small breaths of amniotic fluid — good practice for when she's born and takes that first breath of air. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

our baby: 25 weeks

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. Her hair is probably recognizable now (in color and texture), although both may change after she's born.

happy mother's day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms who read our blog!

I had a great mother-to-be day. Kevin made breakfast while I slept in, and he and all my fur babies bought me the movie "Juno." If you haven't seen it yet, I encourage you to rent it. It's hilarious and very sweet. Then Katie, Seth and I took Mom and Gran to brunch at The Houston Inn while Kevin watched Casey (we invited him to come with us, but he was kind enough to watch Casey so we could have a baby-free meal). Katie, Mom and Gran surprised me with an early shower present/Mother's Day gift: all our baby bedding and accessories! They wanted us to have it now so we could complete the nursery and have it all set up for our Cincinnati shower on June 22nd. Katie's hosting the shower, but it's at our house, so all our friends can see the room before she's born. We're very excited, and everything's in the wash right now so we can put it all together tonight.

Yesterday, we went to a couples shower/cookout for our friends Doug and Sue, who are having a boy 6 weeks before us. It was a beautiful day and a fun party. Beforehand, we spent a little time shopping at some kids' stores in Oakley and picked up a few gifts for upcoming events. And we got some great ice cream, one of my favorite treats lately!

I'm tired, and my left hip has been bothering me, but it was a very nice weekend. I can't believe it's almost over!

doctor update

I had my 24-week doctor's appointment yesterday, which was very routine. I asked him about the link between your mother's labor and delivery and your own, because my mom had a very tough time with all three of us, and he seems to think that there's no correlation (Kevin and I have the opinion that, although it's not necessarily an indicator, it could be a factor, based on anecdotal evidence). I also asked him about the link between your own birth weight and your baby's (I was only 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and 3 weeks late; I know that's shocking), and again, the docttor didn't think there was any connection, although I've read that there is. So according to him, I have basically nothing to indicate how I might do in labor and delivery. Fabulous.

He did say that he would monitor the baby's weight closely once I hit 36 weeks (including another ultrasound), and that he doesn't want me to try to deliver a baby that weighs more than 8 pounds the old-fashioned way, although I've heard that those weight estimates can be very wrong. He also said he wouldn't let me go more than a week past my due date. And I can elect to have a c-section if I want. I know I still have 15 weeks, but people have been asking me about this stuff, and I'm starting to think about it, so I just wanted to get his perspective.

He also gave me a recommendation for a hospital in Boston, should I have any problems during the HOW conference, which is a week from Saturday. I don't anticipate anything going wrong, but it's good to have that info. I'll see the doctor again in 4 weeks for a check up and my glucose tolerance test. That's all for now!

our baby this week

Not much new to report this week. Kevin's been very busy at work, and I'm gearing up for the HOW Conference in two weeks. It's early this year, which works out better for me. The Zyrtec seems to be helping both my rash and allergies. I have a doctor's appointment Thursday. It should be pretty routine. I don't do the gestational diabetes test until the next appointment. Here's what's going on this week.

Week 24
Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when she was just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn) , that makes a pretty lean figure, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon put on more baby fat. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, her brain is growing rapidly, and her taste buds are developing. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.