Baby Update: Week 26

Due date: July 22, 2013 - only 99 days away?!

Baby size: 14-15 inches, big cucumber now & weighing 2-2.2 lbs.

Total weight gain: about 17 lbs or 8 kg, no gain again this week, but definitely gained in waist measure

Maternity clothes: With nice weather, I pulled out some capris from the back of the closet! They feel good, but definitely utilizing the rubber band trick to keep them in place. :)

Sleep: Good! Mostly uninterrupted except for one fluke of a night when I woke up at 3:30 for a couple hours.

Movement: We've tried to stir her up with a flashlight now that her eyes are open, but she is pretty good at ignoring our pestering, it seems. But generally, she moves around a lot these days and I love when I can even see it!

Food cravings: Toast with cream cheese and strawberry jam. Yum.

Symptoms: For a few weeks now I've noticed my vision getting worse...apparently this happens when you're pregnant, but should correct itself after delivery. Annoying, but holding off on an eye exam and new lenses.

Gender: Girl!

Name: Our friends are all asking us what our daughter's name will be and I think some of don't realize that it's a secret, but think that it is Secret. Fun language barriers. :)

Labor Signs: No. But I should probably begin some reading on labor and delivery...yikes.

Goals for the Week: Rest better. The weather was so beautiful that I overdid it a few times this week and I really felt it.

Things I am doing well: Walking and stretching, I am feeling like I am in decent shape. Also, this week I ate some beans which I think are gross, but I know they've got some good stuff for the baby. I feel like I make good choices with food and don't eat a whole lot of empty calories.

Feeling toward Pregnancy: Feeling big and tight and wondering how I can get bigger. Not excited about stretch marks and post delivery body, but expecting that the joy of our little girl in our life will shadow such thinking in comparison.

What I miss: With the weather turning nice people are definitely staying up and doing things later, but I like to stay pretty near to home by 9:00. Just don't have the energy and all I can think about is how late it will be when I have to walk back home. Guess I'm feeling a twinge of nostalgia for the carefree and spontaneity of pre-pregnancy and feeling a little old.

What I am looking forward to: I haven't felt our baby have the hiccups yet - excited for that!

Fears or uncertainties to surrender: Feeling pretty peaceful now, but like I said, it's probably time to start reading up on the scary part...yikes.

Milestones: Had my first big emotional meltdown of pregnancy yesterday. It was ridiculous and I can only guess that hormones were to blame. It was over how much ketchup Kenny leaves on his plate and wastes. See, ridiculous. He was pretty awesome and did a good job of understanding that it wasn't really me, but the pregnancy talking. Also, I used the Carl & Ellie love story from the movie Up in an English lesson yesterday and found myself in tears again...it's just so beautiful and tragic! Anyway, yesterday was quite an emotional day.

Albanian Culture and Pregnancy Tidbit: I thought I was expecting in August and after two invalid pregnancy tests, I asked a friend to help me to go have blood and urine tests at a clinic to see if I was pregnant. The first place we went said they didn't do them in our city and that I would need to go to the birth hospital for an ultrasound. We went and the experience was a little shocking. The birth hospital in our city is government-run and from what I saw in poor condition and in need of renovations. There was no reception, no one to tell why we were there or what we needed, just people wandering in and about. There were several people crowded around one door in the hallway and we saw the door was to the room for ultrasounds, so we gathered with the others. When the door opened, people crowded to squeeze in and speak with a doctor, even with a woman, belly-bare, on the table for her US. No privacy. After some time we caught the attention of one of the doctors that we saw coming out and told them our situation and she said it was a little early to tell, and to come back in a week or two. And honestly, I was relieved, the lack of organization and privacy at such an important event freaked me out a little.

I hadn't been pregnant that time after all. But when we actually were pregnant, after a positive pregnancy test, we did things a little differently. We visited a private doctor's office with our language tutor, who had just had a baby. We made an appointment and had privacy. It was the doctor, our tutor/friend, Kenny, and myself. The doctor understood English, but didn't speak it, so I was glad Daniela was with us. The doctor confirmed the pregnancy and said the embryo was in the right place and it was amazing! I'm sure that had it been at the state birth hospital it would also have been amazing, but a bit chaotic, and I am glad we had the experience that we did.