melted smoosh

bump watch: annnnd there's definitely been another growth spurt this week! baby girl is a little lower too, which has made things ... uncomfortable , to put it discreetly. my only hope is that this means she'll be making her grand entrance sooner than her big sister did (at 10 days past due), but i'm not holding my breath! little peanut:  is the size of a pineapple -- weighing in at around 5 lbs and measuring about 19 inches long. her lungs are continuing to develop, and as she grows, there's less amniotic fluid surrounding her, so it's a little easier to distinguish her movements. in particular, i keep feeling (and seeing!) the bottom of her little foot poke out on the left side of my belly. so cute! image credit from  W hat to Expect When You're Expecting best moment:  my thoughtful coworkers threw a sweet shower for me at work this week! it was a complete surprise, and it was so much fun to celebrate this little one. they all pitc...

bump watch: baby measured 34 weeks at my appointment this week, and is still head down! and the bump is definitely growing, although it seems to be a slow and steady progression rather than any super growth spurts. little peanut:  at 33 weeks is 4.5 lbs and 1 9 inches long. her brain is continuing to grow, causing her head circumference to expand by half an inch this week -- crazy! and she's settling into more routine sleep/wake cycles, which can freak me out sometimes since she'll go a few hours without moving. invariably, just as soon as i really start to wonder if everything is okay, she'll start kicking and rolling like a maniac -- little stinker! image credit from  Baby Center best moment:  meeting with Amy, our doula, this morning! she was such a fantastic support person for us during Greta's birth, and i'm so excited to work with her again. symptoms:  i have a little cold this week, which would b...

bump watch: measured exactly 30 weeks at my appointment at 30 weeks and 2 days. my next appointment isn't until 33 weeks so we'll see how baby girl is growing! the size doesn't seem much different to me, but somehow i'm feeling more unwieldy, having a harder time rolling out of bed in the morning or bending down to help Greta get dressed. little peanut:  at 32 weeks is the size of a head of lettuce, 3.9  pounds and 19 inches long. her fingernails have finished growing and now her toenails are starting to develop! she's breathing in amniotic fluid as her lungs continue to develop. image credit from  Baby Center best moment:  finding some new maternity dresses on clearance last week! they'll be perfect for maternity pictures, and for the weekend getaway we're planning to celebrate our anniversary next month. symptoms:  this past weekend i was definitely feeling tired, achy, dizzy, and emotional for no particu...

bump watch: curious to see how my belly will measure at my appointment tomorrow, since i was already measuring 30 weeks at my 28 week visit! my belly is still growing, but i haven't noticed the same major growth spurt that i had between weeks 26-28. baby is dancing and jiving, which makes for some entertaining undulations. little peanut:  weighs 3.1 pounds and is 17 inches long, the size of a butternut squash.  baby girl's brain is developing folds and wrinkles this week, to maximize surface area and make all those synapses possible! she's also developing fingernails. and this week, she's finally reached newborn proportions (instead of her head being huge compared to the rest of her body). image credit from  W hat to Expect When You're Expecting best moment:  i had a serendipitous moment at my favourite kids' consignment store yesterday. i stopped in to see if they had the Joovy double stroller i want, which they didn't, but t...

bump watch: baby girl has had a growth spurt over the last few weeks! and it's not just my imagination -- she measured 2 weeks ahead at my appointment this morning. i'm already starting to stretch the limits of some of my maternity shirts, and we have a loooong way to go! little peanut:  is the size of a cabbage -- 2.5 pounds and 16 inches long. the most amazing brain development this week is that baby can now dream! i wonder what goes through her little head when she sleeps. she's also practicing blinking. image credit from  W hat to Expect When You're Expecting best moment:  so many great things this week! Greta went to her Sibling Class at the hospital this weekend and loved taking a tour of the delivery unit and seeing a real baby in the nursery. afterwards she told me her favourite part of the class was "the movie" (they showed a DVD of kids interacting with their new baby siblings) and the snacks ("banilla pudding"). the b...

   bump watch:  i'm starting to bump into things, if that's any indication of how things are growing. (no pun intended.) and it's getting a little tougher to haul myself up out of bed, especially since that entails crawling over my beloved pregnancy pillow!  little peanut:  is as long as a cucumber at 15 inches from head to foot, and weighs 2 lbs 2 ounces. baby's tastebuds are developing so that she can taste the difference when i eat a salad (last night) versus a quarter pounder with cheese (today). just this week she's started to push her back up against one side of my belly, which feels exactly like a Braxton Hicks contraction except that it only involves one side! so bizarre, but awesome that she is getting so strong!  image credit from  What to Expect When You're Expecting best moment:  passing my 1 hour glucose tolerance test! with Greta, i failed the 1 hour test by a few points and then passed the 3 hour. this ...

bump watch: i cannot believe how much my belly has grown over the past 2 weeks! the even crazier thing is that my weight has stayed stable (up 20 pounds at 24 weeks and holding steady -- in the second trimester i've tended to gain a few pounds one week and then plateau for the next few weeks). i'm able to distinguish baby's head, butt, and back now, which is fun! she's still flipping all over the place and doesn't seem to prefer one side of my belly over the other (as opposed to her sister, who was always hanging out on the right!).  little peanut: baby girl has grown from the size of a rutabaga (1 1/2 pounds) at 25 weeks to the size of an eggplant (two full pounds) at 26 weeks. this week's big accomplishment is opening those eyes! baby's brain is also developed enough to respond to sounds or bright lights with increased activity and pulse. and she's more coordinated, able to play with her toes or grasp the umbilical cord.  image credit...