Week 26

How far along: 26 weeks – began September 11, 2017.

Size of Baby: Butternut squash (just over 14 inches long, about 2 pounds)

Milestones: BB is busy gearing up for birth, from borrowing some of my antibodies so that his immune system is best suited to my environment to packing on more fat to regulate his body temperature. His eyes, which have been sealed for months now, are starting to open and he's becoming responsive to light. At this point, most of his development simply involves putting on height and weight.

Best Moment This Week: Spending time with Leif feeling BB kick has been a favorite activity of mine for some time, but lately, we've been able to do it more since he moves around a lot more. He's still pretty shy at first when Leif touches my belly, but if we wait long enough, he comes around. It's also really sweet when Leif talks to him about all of the fun things they'll do together in the future.

What I’m Looking Forward To: Still looking forward to my shower, even though we had another hiccup. Toys"R"Us/Babies"R"Us announced that they're closing most if not all of their stores, and even though I've read claims that this won't affect online baby registries, I created a backup one at Target that I'm directing people to. Also, we have another baby class this weekend - this one's for breastfeeding. The last one we took was Baby Basics, which was very helpful. It covered bathing, changing, burping, comforting holds, safe sleep, and even baby massages. The best things were getting hands-on practice and receiving a ton of informative hand-outs which I'm putting in an easy-to-reference binder. I adjusted my registry after learning about the different products and items they use at the hospital, and feel a lot better about my selections now. I know breastfeeding is usually challenging to get the hang of, so I'm grateful to be attending a class to get a head start. We'll see how it goes!

What I Miss The Most: I can't say that there's anything new that I really miss this week, I feel like everything's going pretty smoothly for the most part. Occasionally, I have to miss out on certain foods and activities due to my restrictions, but it's nothing bothersome or different than usual.

Symptoms: A new one recently has been rib pain. It seems like BB prefers to rest against my right side, so it's made the area very tender at times. It helps to make sure I'm sitting up straight and avoiding leaning on my left arm which strains it. My belly muscles in general have been pretty sensitive and sore at times, and I've had an intense sinus headache off and on. I've also been getting a little more emotional from time to time. Nothing that's unbearable though!

Cravings: You guessed it - Cheese-Its have still been my go-to snack. Blueberry yogurt, apples, figs, meat and veggies, twice-baked potatoes, peanut butter cookies, and sweet potatoes have also been on the menu a lot this week. We also picked up a banana caramel pie from Aldi, so looking forward to having that tonight!