25 Weeks

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your holiday was warm, dry, and filled with the people you love. We have had a mildly eventful couple of weeks around here, traveling and enjoying the company of family. Here's our week 25 update!

Symptoms
My symptoms have stayed pretty consistent over the last couple of weeks. I still have persistent killer heartburn and acid reflux, plus the normal aches, pains, and increased bathroom trips of pregnancy (brought on, in part, by the insane amounts of water I'm drinking). Braxton Hicks contractions have become a daily occurrence, but they aren't painful - just a little uncomfortable. The good things have also stuck around - hair and nail growth, nice skin, and I feel really good in my body. I love watching this bump grow!

How big is baby?
Our fruit comparison this week is a cauliflower. Yep, a cauliflower! Baby is about 13 or 14 inches long (which would make for a pretty big cauliflower, unless perhaps there was some genetic modification involved) and can weigh anywhere between 1.5 and 2.5 pounds. He or she is gaining fat quickly and growing more hair, and can tell the difference between up and down. We've got two weeks left in the second trimester, according to the handy chart I found on Google (to the right). Once we get back from our Christmas vacation, we'll be filling out our preregistration paperwork for the hospital and beginning to get our hospital bag ready. I can't believe we're already this far - it feels like time has flown by. As much as I've enjoyed this pregnancy, I'm looking forward to having more time (now that I've graduated) to really savor it. I know that the next time I'm pregnant, I'll probably be chasing a toddler around, so I'm intent on really enjoying these last few weeks, now that I can!

Movement
Babe moves every day now, during a few active periods. Usually these periods are early in the morning, a couple in the early afternoon, and then I get a good pounding when I lay down to go to bed. I've had a dull ache around my sternum the last couple of days - I'm pretty sure the baby whacked me good the other day and bruised something in there. Ah, well. I'm sure it won't be the last time!

Maternity clothes
I got a new pair of maternity jeans and a "Mama" top from H&M for Christmas! I'm wearing the top in the update photo - it fits great. Thanks Mom!

Highlights of the week
Lots of good moments over the last two weeks! Last Friday, I graduated from UCCS with a Bachelor of Arts in history (I figure that gets me a pass for not posting). The graduation ceremony was nice, but a little long for a girl with limited bladder capacity. I hadn't originally planned to walk at the ceremony, but now I'm glad I did.

Then on Sunday, after church, we began our trek to Nebraska to visit my grandparents, as well as my aunt and uncle and my cousin and his wife (who is also pregnant - she's due about a week and a half before me!). We arrived late Sunday night and have been here since. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve service at my grandparents' church, and then opening presents at their house. We got some nice pictures with my cousin and his wife at the church.

Elliott and I have really enjoyed having this week off together. We've gone on a couple of coffee dates, slept in, and played a lot of board games. We also caught the Doctor Who Christmas special on BBC! He flies back home tomorrow.

Low moments of the week
The end-of-the-semester rush was tough to handle and I definitely had my share of mini-breakdowns, but worth it once everything was done!

Dreams
I had a strange one the other night. I dreamt that I went into labor, and Elliott and I went to this "birthing pool" with five or six other couples who were also in labor, and we were part of this bizarre synchronized delivery. We got into the pool, and this coach was swimming around and checking in with all of us, then suddenly I had the baby. But the baby was missing its arms and legs, and when I mentioned this to the coach, he said, "Oh, yeah. You'll be getting those later." I was totally bewildered. Before we were allowed to leave we had to prove our parenting skills by heating Spaghetti-Os correctly. In the microwave. In the pool. There was more, but it's kind of faded now. I told Elliott about it as soon as I woke up, and we figured out that if the dream meant anything, it probably meant that I need to enhance my calm.

Cravings and aversions
Nothing really! Still chomping on ice and I'd rather have a salty snack than a sweet one, but nothing compulsive.

What I'm looking forward to
I'm looking forward to the third trimester! I'm also really looking forward to getting started on the baby's room, now that I've got the time to devote to it. It hit me today that I'm going to have a lot more time than I'm used to. Elliott and I spent a good chunk of our date this morning talking about what I'm going to do with all that time. I haven't quite figured it out, but it will be nice to have!