Week 27

Week 27 is the last week of the second trimester!  We're almost 2/3s of the way through this pregnancy!  In a way, I feel like I've been pregnant forever.  In another respect, I feel like time is just flying by.  We could feasibly have a baby here 3 months from today!

Johnny has become SO much more active...at least, he's that much bigger and stronger.  For the first time this last week, his movements have started to be painful!  He's awful active at night, keeping me awake for hours at a time when he gets "rolling". :)  I don't imagine that bodes well for us once he gets here.  Lots more sleepless nights ahead!  I felt hiccups for the first time early this week, which is just too cute!  He's also started to get really irritated if there is any pressure applied to my belly.  He just kicks and squirms until I move!

This week, Johnny should weigh just about 2 pounds and be about 14 1/2 inches long.  But who are we kidding?  We all know he's bigger than he's "supposed" to be!  I had my appointment with Ali yesterday, and when we did my measurements, I was measuring at a 29!  No doubt about it, he's gonna be a big boy...

Yesterday's visit was amazing!  Claire and Sophie were so excited for Ali to get here, and Claire could hardly wait to get to hear Baby Johnny go "a-woosha-woosha-woosha"!  My physical exam was all good, and Johnny's heartbeat was nice and strong.  Apparently, he has good reactivity too!  I didn't know this before, but when you're listening to a baby's heartbeat via doppler, they can hear it too.  It gets them all excited and you can literally hear their hearts start beating faster!  Johnny thought his heartbeat was SO COOL!  It sped up quite noticeably, which is a good sign that he's healthy and his nervous system is developing normally.  Ali was able to determine that he was already head down toward my pelvis, which is a good sign (though admittedly a lot can change in the next 13 weeks for so!)

Ali and I discussed my nutrition and exercise as well.  When she asked how my eating had been, I had to blush a little bit!  I haven't done so well avoiding my cravings over the last few weeks.  I told her about my near constant desire for Wendy's and Ben and Jerry's.  She thought it sounded like my body needs more fats...so I should make sure it gets the good fats and not the saturated fats!  I'll be eating a lot more avocados and sunflower seeds in the coming weeks!

Danny and I had a lot of questions for Ali, and I must say we were really pleased with the answers!  Danny was hopefully that he'd be able to deliver the baby once the head was out and Ali checked to make sure the cord wasn't wrapped around his little neck.  Danny felt confident he could catch him, since he couldn't really drop the slimy guy in the water!  Ali thought it would be perfectly fine to do so, as long as both Johnny and I were doing good.  Danny is so excited!  I found out how to go about renting our birthing tub, what to do about testing for and handling Group B Strep, and whether or not one of the midwife assistants would be able to play photographer/videographer for us.  Looks like we're well on our way to being prepared for this birth! We're all so excited!