Third Trimester

Wow time flies! I'm already in my third trimester now! I've really been enjoying getting weekly email updates from babycenter.com to see what's going on in there.

According to the site, our baby is now 14.8 inches long from head to heel and weighs a little over 2 lbs.

The coolest news is that he can now open and close his eyes and has eyelashes! He can also think and hear. Phil read him a story, "Daddy Cuddles", the other night. He is kicking and moving around a lot! And gets hiccups! It's the weirdest feeling.

Everything is going really well so far. I feel good for the most part. Typical backaches and trouble sleeping, occasional heartburn, but I really can't complain. Throughout the pregnancy, I've never gotten sick and I haven't had really unusual cravings. I'm really hoping the next 12 weeks or so go this well. Wow, only 12 weeks left. Wow.

A much needed "babymoon"

Phil and I just had a fabulous, relaxing getaway to Orcas Island this President's Day weekend. View our Shutterfly photo slideshow here. We stayed at a place called Inn at Ship Bay, which was probably THE best accommodations on the island and also reasonable rates. We highly recommend it. Very clean, comfortable, new, friendly staff, beautiful view and grounds, and good central location on the Island. It definitely exceeded our expectations! They even included an extra long body pillow for me in our room since I mentioned I was 6 mos. pregnant! :)

We enjoyed a gourmet meal at the Inn's restaurant on Saturday evening - extremely delicious, beautiful presentation, and I'd love to go back when I am able to enjoy their extensive wine list.

For breakfast, the Inn at Ship Bay provides homemade granola, organic yogurt, fruit, and homemade muffins. Once again, very impressed. They could seriously sell this granola and make a fortune!

On Sunday we drove around Moran State Park (4th largest state park in Washington) and drove to the top of Mt. Consitition where there is a cool lookout Tower with a 360° view of the San Juan Islands. It was very cold up there so we didn't stay long, but really beautiful views. We drove around exploring the rest of the Island, saw lots of breathtaking scenery, quite a few deer and bald eagles, then took a nap in the afternoon.

We had a heck of a time finding anything open on Sunday evening for dinner. Apparently, Orcas Island pretty much shuts down on Sundays and Mondays so all the President's Weekend visitors were crammed into the one open restaurant for dinner that night... a little Mexican restaurant where Phil and I experienced our first Sopapilla (YUM!!)

The only frustrating thing about our vacation was the ferry system. We got horrible directions from the WA State Ferry's own website (linking to Yahoo maps) to get to the Anacortes ferry that took us through the winding streets of downtown Mt. Vernon, where we got stuck at a malfunctioning Railroad crossing, waited 10 minutes or so with no train in sight and everyone else going around and over the tracks anyway (freaking me out!) before Phil and I finally decided to do the same. We got totally lost because the street signage was so bad and the Yahoo maps directions didn't make any sense. Then we missed our Ferry to Orcas Island by 5 minutes and had to wait 3 hours for the next one. On the way home on Monday afternoon, we got to the Ferry terminal an hour before it's departure, only to find out it was already full and we'd have to get the next one... another 3 hour wait. Oh well... I guess the point was to relax, so we tried not to let it get to us. Driving home we learned the easy way to get to I-5 straight from 20, so we'll never trust Yahoo maps again! I bet businesses pay to have directions go through their areas! Grrr!

Phil and I celebrated our 11-year anniversary of being a couple on Monday so it was a very nice way to celebrate and spend some time together before the baby's born. We tried not to talk too much about baby stuff while on vacation, though Phil did get to feel some really good motion one evening our baby was practicing flip turns in my belly! Apparently our baby didn't get the memo that this was supposed to be a relaxing vacation!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Phil is earning major bonus points today. I just got this delivered to my office. What a thoughtful husband!

25 weeks Update

Had a doctor appt yesterday. Everything is going great. Size and weight are exactly on target (at 25 weeks, a baby is about 14" head to toe and weighs a little less than 2 lbs.) and the doctor was impressed by his strong, steady heartbeat. He is certainly a big kicker! I feel him moving a lot, especially in the mornings and evenings.

I do the glucose screen in a couple weeks. This is where I have to chug a pint or so of sugary liquid ("Tang") and then go in for blood tests to check for gestational diabetes. Because I'm Rh negative, they'll also check my Rh antibodies at this time to make sure I haven't become "sensitized". I'll have another Rh immune globulin shot at 30 weeks or so as a precaution and then another after delivery if the baby is Rh positive.

I also go in for another UltraSound at 32 weeks (end of March) to see if the low-lying placenta has moved out of the way of the cervix, which my doctor is pretty confident it will as my uterus grows. I have been reading up on C-sections just in case and I'd REALLY like to avoid that if at all possible, but of course we have to do what is best for the situation.

As for me, I'm continuing to get overwhelmed by all the reading and knowledge to be gained about pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. The resources are endless and it's hard to keep straight all the foods to eat and foods to avoid, products to buy, appointments to make, etc. I talked to my doctor about the occasional numbness in my legs and arms and she said that is from the changes in my spine and pelvic bones spreading and putting pressure on nerves in certain situations. She can prescribe physical therapy and massage therapy if it persists. I have a Gene Juarez massage appt on Friday thanks to a wonderful Christmas present my amazing husband! So we'll see if that helps.

Phil and I will probably register this Sunday afternoon. Debating Babies R Us or Target or both. We're pretty sure we've decided on this bedding set: http://www.glennajean.com/Supersized/Mod-Squad-Super-Size.html which isn't available at either store, only at various online retailers and eBay, but it's the only one we really like that has many decor options and accessories. My interior designer sister Nicki has been helping us with the floorplan of the nursery. It's a tricky room with not a lot of wall space. We bought a really nice custom closet organization system last week and I'm excited to get that installed. That will help a lot.

My focus this week is not to get stressed—remembering to take deep breaths, drink plenty of water, and sleep as much as possible.

BTW - that UltraSound picture is just a joke! Some of you are so gullible!!! :)

Latest UltraSound pic

He's definitely Phil's son.

Belly - 25 weeks

On the same day, one person said I was getting SO BIG and another person said I was SO TINY. I don't know what to make of it. My doctor says I'm just right, so I guess I'm neither.