27 Weeks

Matt and I have neglected to get a "tummy progress" shot the past couple weeks, so here is a nice little update! 27 weeks this past weekend and still feeling good (minus the constant back ache).      


27 weeks

William is rolling around quite a bit and I definitely felt him hiccuping the other day. I was sitting in a meeting at work and I started to feel a bumping in my side... again and again and again and again. It wouldn't stop. It reached a point where I almost burst out laughing wondering if everyone around me could see the side of my stomach pulsating incessantly.  

Next milestones: 3rd trimester begins this weekend, glucose test in 1 week, and William's 3D/4D ultrasound is scheduled for November 10th aka Matt's birthday!

Before I forget... 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Practice Makes Perfect

Stroller arrived! Matt put it together the other night and we did a practice walk down our back alley with Maggie for kicks. She wasn't so sure about this massive object on wheels, but ended up walking very nicely beside it. I'm looking forward to leisurely strolls with William AND Maggie!

Few clicks and twists - ready to go!

Sniff sniff...

And why are we bringing this monstrosity along with us...

 

It's not SO bad!



Hot Wheels!

Never thought I'd be excited about a stroller, BUT I am! My parents just bought the Uppababy Vista for William. A recent online sale made it a must buy NOW. Nice to have one item on the check list checked off!

I have heard great things about this particular stroller and love that it is on the more "stylish" side. It will come in handy later down the line, since it can adjust to fit a second child! MUCH later down the line, but it's nice to know there is room to grow making it a worthwhile investment.

Here's to some new hot wheels! Thank you, Grandpa/Grandma Tisone!

Uppababy Vista in wheat - William's first pair of wheels!



In other news, we had a regular check-up today and all is well. William's heartbeat was 145 and my growing belly measures normal. The doctor suggested I get a flu shot, so I had my first flu shot today too. At our next appointment in two weeks I'll take the glucose test and assuming Matt does not have a negative bloodtype (I'm negative and I guess most people are positive) then I'll have the Rhogam shot.

 

Third trimester is right around the corner (couple more weeks), which is pretty unbelievable and I am beginning to feel the signs of it. My lower back hurts terribly if I've been moving around a lot (Matt is now #1 cleaning lady) and at night I sometimes jolt out of bed because I feel the worst cramps in my calves and feet. The doctor said it's very normal and I'm at the point where the pressure of the baby will cause some discomfort. And so I'm helping Obama with the terrible national unemployment numbers by hiring my heating pad full-time!   

DC Getaway

 Matt and I went to DC this past weekend and had the BEST time! Fall is my absolute favorite season and I wanted to make a point to get back home in October to enjoy the changing leaf colors before my traveling comes to a halt in the 3rd trimester. I also wanted to surprise Matt with a couple special events as an early birthday present... tickets to Les Miserables at the Kennedy Center (neither of us had seen the musical yet and Matt had never been to the Kennedy Center before) and tickets to the Redskins / Eagles game (If Matt had to pick a team to cheer for he would definitely pick the Eagles, since we went to school in the Philadelphia area and his brother worked for the Eagles for some time while living in the City of Brotherly Love). In addition to enjoying the culture and sports, we also ate our way through the weekend... brunch at Serendipity 3 was glorious (a french toast log the size of my head topped off with frozen hot chocolate), picnic at Gravelly Point watching the planes fly overhead, and lots of fried goodness at Fedex Field. William ate pretty well as a result and all the carbo loading we did probably helped his strength, since Matt actually FELT a kick on Tuesday!

I can't wait for Fall in Virginia next year... it will be great to have William in tow. His barn coat is already hanging in his closet ready to go! 

Kennedy Center

 

French Toast Log at Serendipity 3

Frozen Hot Chocolate... at 10 a.m.



Matt avoided an altercation at Fedex Field and wore a Redskins shirt


   

What will William look like?

I'm pretty partial to brown eyes (obviously biased as I have brown eyes) and I always tell Matt that I hope William has my brown eyes. Everything else... happy to relinquish Matt's boyish good looks to William. Well, no reason to wait any further to find out what he'll look like because morphthing.com already knows!

TA-DA!

His eyes look grey/blue here though! Ok, maybe he won't look like this at all -- but it was pretty funny to give it a whirl.

We are having a 3D/4D ultrasound next month and will be able to see some actual facial features prior to D-Day. Keep you posted on who William looks more like!    

Handyman Strikes Again!

It was a gloriously rainy and overcast weekend in Orlando. I never see a full day of rain around here and I really do love the type of day where you're just content to stay home in your pajamas! It was also the perfect weekend for the handyman to strike again! Matt tackled another item on the "to do" list -- William's closet!

Maggie wondering what fool would go out in this weather

A couple years ago I was out of town for a friend's bachelorette party and upon my return home Matt surprised me with a completely redesigned master closet completed all by himself -- so I knew this would be a simple task in comparison. We went to Ikea and got all the supplies on Sunday afternoon then by Sunday evening he finished the most difficult part of the job. Basically, I was looking to divide the closet into two sides -- one side having a small hamper and drawers then the other side having a few rows to hang clothing. The rows are the easy part and he needed a couple more items from Home Depot to finish it up, so the closet is 95% done here. Great job, handyman Matt! 



The nearly finished product



Hard at work

Also new this week... it has become more obvious that I am pregnant (instead of maybe she needs to do some sit-ups). Yesterday at the grocery store I was wearing a pretty loose gym shirt and the cashier at check-out asked, "You got a bump under there?" No fooling anyone anymore! A picture from this past weekend on my way to my friends, Katie and Alan's engagement party. 24 weeks / 6 months along!



24 weeks / 6 months



Drinkin' Champagne, Feelin' No Pain

I have only told a handful of people, since the situation only became a situation recently... but even prior to getting pregnant, my blood platelets levels have been lower than the norm. Not a big deal though because I have never had any symptoms of low blood platelets (bloody nose, bruising easily, etc). It is very possible to have low blood platelets and function completely normally. The only problem is with pregnancy the blood platelet level may drop more than usual, which is exactly what happened to me a couple weeks ago. My ob/gyn called to let me know they had dropped from the 120-ish range to 85 (ideal being 145+) at my last appointment. Not happy. See, the problem is... when blood platelets drop below 100 then the ob/gyn group I see will not administer an epidural! As in -- you're going to be delivering the natural way!  

AHHHHHH!!!

Now I know epidurals have not been around forever and bazillions of women before me have delivered naturally -- some even CHOOSE to do so today. I on the other hand would rather be feelin' no pain. 

As a result of the drop to 85 my ob/gyn referred me to a hematologist, who Matt and I met with today. Good news! Blood platelets are back up and higher than they were before. Now in the 130-ish range. The hematologist was really great and she said there is absolutely no cause for concern at this time. She recommended that we continue to draw blood to check the platelet count every 4 weeks for the next 8 weeks then after 8 weeks we will determine whether I should be back in the office having my blood drawn weekly or bi-weekly leading up to D-Day. Such a relief because already I was stressing out thinking... now I need to find one of these ladies called a doula and take natural birth classes and see a specialist more often... but for now, I am in the clear and I am definitely crossing my fingers that everything remains status quo. 

I'll leave you with my theme song for (hopefully) DELIVERY DAY as sung by one of my absolute favorites -- Willie Nelson. The title of the song being more appropriate than the actual context of the song.