Thursday, February 21, 2008

Pregnancy Update -- Week 25!!

How your baby's growing:

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. His hair is probably recognizable now (in color and texture), although both may change after he's born.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

Your baby's not the only one with more hair — your locks may look more full and lustrous than ever. It's not that you're growing more hair, but the hair you'd normally shed is sticking around longer than usual. You may also notice darker or thicker body hair. It will return to normal in the weeks after you give birth. You probably can't move around as gracefully as before. It's fine to continue to exercise, but use your common sense: Don't work out when you're feeling overly tired, and stop if you feel any pain or when you begin to feel at all fatigued, dizzy, or short of breath. Don't lie on your back too long or do any exercise where you're apt to lose your balance. Be sure to drink plenty of water, and make time for both warm-up and cool-down periods.

When you have your glucose-screening test at 24 to 28 weeks, your practitioner may take a second tube of blood at the same time to check for anemia. Although your blood volume increases dramatically during pregnancy, the total amount of your red blood cells becomes diluted — a problem sometimes called physiologic anemia that's common in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. If your blood tests show that you have anemia, your caregiver will likely recommend that you take a supplement.



Soooooo, two days ago I had my 25 week doctor check up and had my glucose test.

* I passed the glucose test, so no going for a 3 hour test, woooot!

* However, I am slightly anemic, so I need to take extra iron. Noooooooooo! If I'm constipated now, can you imagine what extra iron will do to me?? Wahhhh :(

* I have gained a total of 10 lbs

* Blood pressure 110/70

* Baby's heart rate in the 130's

So thats that. I'm grateful everything is going well with the pregnancy -- its been a pretty smooth ride so far, no serious complaints other than back pains (especially during the night). I haven't had a full night's sleep in about a month now -- even though I bought a full body pillow (which has been helping) I am just so uncomfortable at night, and wake up from neck/back/hip pain. Not fun. And I've been keeping Emiro up with my tossing and turning, but he's keeping his complaining to a minimum (as he should, I did give him the look of death one day when he grumbled about it. the nerve!!!).

I'm definitely feeling the baby more and more, but instead of just feeling kicks and squirms I am also starting to feel her really move around. For example, yesterday I'm pretty sure her legs were tapping/kicking me about 2 inches above my belly button. When I put my hand on the spot and pressed slightly down on it, I felt her foot moving away, and then coming back up and nudging the same spot. It was the cutest thing ever - I just sat mesmerized with my hand clamped on my belly, feeling her tap and nudge and kick me in the same spot over and over again, and she would react if I pressed slightly back at her.

Here are the latest pregnancy shots.......... Yes, I'm still wearing some pre-pregnancy jeans, but its only 2-3 I have left that I can actually button up, and thats only because they are super low. I also have several pregnancy jeans and pants, so I'm hoping I don't have to spend any more $$$ on pregnancy clothes (especially now that we have so much baby stuff to buy!!!).

23 Weeks!



25 Weeks!



You can tell my belly is popping out more......... This little girl is definitely growing!!! Two weeks can make a BIG difference :D

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Random update!

I can't believe its 23 degrees outside and snowing.... This weather sucks! I'm sitting here at work, wondering how long it will take me to dig the car out tonight when I get out of work at 8pm. Ughhh. Not much to report, so I will do a short update.

Weekend-

Was nice. On Saturday we re-visited some potential apartments (more on that later) and then I spent hours doing imaginary apartment decoration in my head. I'm obsessed. On Sunday we drove to Pennsylvania where Emiro's best friend (Joey's)  mom is hospitalized for terminal cancer. Joey called us last week and asked if we could come and visit since they gave her about 3-4 weeks to live. We came along with Emiro's mom (who used to be friends with Joey's mom, since they grew up together) and spent the entire day there. It was DEPRESSING. First of all, being in a hospital sucks. Walking by all those rooms with dying people inside them just made me uber emotional. Second, she was completely out of it - she could barely talk coherently. Ugghhhh. But Joey was really happy to have us there, so it was worth it. 

Apartment Search -

We're in full blown apartment search right now. Since we're not going to buy a home anytime soon (were not planning on pregnancy!) and I'm still traumatized by our last experience, we're going to rent and then re-evaluate in a year or two what we would like to do. Renting right now will provide us with flexibility (should we decide to move to another state) and it would be a good $700-1000 cheaper than paying a mortgage. We have a couple of top contenders we're REALLY excited about, but thats for a separate post. Might I mention how ridiculously expensive it is to live in Northern New Jersey? For $2500 you really don't get a lot -- we mostly found 2 bedroom shitholes for that price range, but I did end up finding a couple of good possibilities.

Car Woes -


These past 2 months we've been hit with car problems.
#1 - coming back from Israel to a collapsed rear windshield - $400
#2 - having to change my front 2 tires which were badly balding - $500
#3 - Emiro's battery suddenly dies - $180
#4 - two days after we fix his battery, the alternator dies - $500

Ughhhhhhhhh. Just looking at those numbers makes me want to curl up and cry :( 

Baby Shower -

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to have a baby shower!!! Rachel and Danielle are ever-so-kindly throwing me a baby shower in the middle of April. Now, the reason I say I never thought I would have a shower is not because of superstition, but  simply because in Israel there is no such thing as a shower. I guess the whole judaism superstition prevented this concept from ever taking root in Israel (although that doesn't explain why the concept of bridal showers never caught up in Israel). As a result, I always felt awkward at the thought of being in the middle of so much attention... But like Rachel told me "get over it and enjoy being spoiled!". I only asked for it to be a small group of people and I'm actually getting very excited :)

By the way, my IMA will be there since my parents are coming to visit me (and the belly!) during Passover! WOOOOHOOOOOO! So she will represent all of the family and friends in Israel :D