Well, Ellis is certainly growing - quite a bit in the last few weeks! People are finally commenting that I actually look like I'm pregnant now (something I've been able to tell for over a month now!)
As of today, I am at 25 weeks and everything is progressing fairly normally.
Ellis's Heartbeat: Yesterday it was registering in the 150s and is getting easier to pick up on our home fetal doppler. We don't listen to it quite as much since Ellis has started kicking and we know he's actually real. (Sometimes it's still surreal to think that we're having a baby!)
Weight gained: 9 pounds total for Mama. My doctor told me that's in the normal range, but that I can definitely eat to satisfy my appetite - which is what I've been doing all along! Ellis should weigh between 1.5 and 2.5 pounds with a length of 13.6 to 14.8 inches.
Kicks: As I said, Ellis has been kicking. A lot. And flipping, twisting, and hitting. I haven't distinguished any specific times of the day when he is moving, but there are definitely activities that get him active. Generally he'll kick when I'm sitting on the couch reading (he's probably bored to death of the Learning Theories textbook I've been reading for class!) If I'm laying in bed and switch from my right to left side or vice versa, he must sense that change and starts moving. He also responds to his Daddy! Whenever Davis rubs my belly, Ellis kicks him. Also, Davis has fun "shaking" my belly to wake Ellis up and get him moving. (He did this one night as I was trying to fall asleep, so I told Davis I'd kick him every time Ellis kicked me!) It has been such a JOY to watch Davis's face as he feels Ellis kick and move. His movements are getting stronger, and I can often see my belly move when Ellis does.
Back: As Ellis grows, so does my back pain. I've pretty much figured out that it's my left sacroiliac joint causing all the problems (it's near that dimple to the left of the bottom of your spine). Up until recently I was able to treat it with a heating pad and Tylenol, but nothing is working at the moment. Basically, it hurts to sit, stand, walk, bend, go upstairs or downstairs, and so on. I can essentially immobilize that portion of my back if I lay on my side with a body pillow between my legs, but that is not convenient for doing anything other than sleeping (and even that is restless at best). I'm about to the point of finding a chiropractor who works with pregnant women and see if we can come up with any other solutions.
Maternity Clothes: Well, I put this off as long as I could (and longer than Davis wanted me to). A couple weekends ago I gave in and went shopping for maternity clothes. I feel like I spent WAY too much, but I got 2 pairs of shorts, 2 pairs of capri-style pants that can become ankle-length, 2 pairs of dress pants, 2 pairs of leggings, and 2 shirts. I'm hoping that between that and the clothes I already own I'll be able to make it most of the way through my pregnancy. I'll probably have to invest in more shirts, but that will only happen when I absolutely have to. The beautiful part of looking at maternity clothes is that they have elastic stretchy bands as opposed to typical waist bands - it has NEVER been this easy for me to find clothes that fit! As I told Davis, I may pretend to be pregnant forever just so I have an excuse to wear comfy pants :)
Here's some other, non-baby news:
- I've got a week left in my summer classes - and it can't come quickly enough! I am worn out trying to juggle 2 classes and work.
- My last day teaching Preschool is July 3rd, and I'll return on July 25th as a Pre-K teacher.
- My brother has moved to Atlanta and just began Physical Therapy school at Emory!
- Davis and I are taking a much-needed vacation in a couple weekends to the mountains.
- We were able to get together my family and my Uncle Ed's family for the Giants-Braves game over Father's Day weekend. Although we spent a LOT of time in traffic, it was great fun to see everyone!
- Davis and I put in a bid on a house, and we should hear back about it this week. We're not getting our hopes up, but it would be incredible if we actually got it.
Now I've got to get back to work (but thank goodness for those little things you can do to procrastinate, like writing a blog!)
