25 weeks: adios Previa

It's been 25 weeks! 6 months! Holy cow. I can barely believe how much you are growing and how much you are running the show around here. My pregnancy app tells me you are the size of an ear of corn. I kept meaning to get a post up at a various weeks but time has gotten away from me and here we are now, getting close to the third trimester.

Things are feeling a little bit more real now- I'm definitely looking like a very pregnant person and you are definitely making it known you are there. You are like a little ninja in there, constantly kicking me and constantly moving around to make me think you are in between my ribs, or smashing my lungs, which just seems to be par for the course.

You have given me a few wonderful gifts though- so far, no intense leg cramps, which is awesome, because I had them terribly with the boys! Also, so far, no intense back pain, which is even better, because with the boys it was horrible just to stand around, so thank you baby girl for that!

Here we are at 25 weeks. I'm feeling like your birth weight will be bigger than the boys- call it mother's intuition or whatever, but you really seem like you are bigger at this stage than they were (maybe its just that I am bigger?). I'm constantly winded, bending over to tie my shoes is a chore and nothing fits well. I have six pairs of maternity jeans that I rotate. I've refused to buy anything new for my maternity wardrobe, so we're making due with something like 10 shirts, six pairs of pants, two dresses and a few work outfits for presentations at conferences (I would totally wear comfy pregnancy pajama pants all the time if I could. Sigh. Sadly, that's not exactly accepted just yet!).

One of the best parts of 25 weeks is that the placenta Previa is gone! Woo hoo! No more ultrasounds and onward toward a regular delivery. I was so relieved to hear that the most recent ultrasound showed that it moved and that I could look forward to going full term (fingers crossed) and delivering without a C-section!


Another lovely aspect of this pregnancy is that with both boys by this point I had experienced spotting, which any mom knows when you are pregnant, scares the shit out of you. You've been generous though and allowed me to relax a little. No complications and all seems to be trucking along in a healthy happy pattern.

As we round the bend to the third trimester its feeling a little bit more real- we are now preparing for your arrival. You have a name, but its going to stay a secret until you are born. I'm not interested in the world's opinions about our selection, so we'll keep it under wraps, like we did with the boys. I've started on your nursery, started to to crochet you a blanket and we've begun to order things that are needed- a car seat and stroller. Next up are a few other essentials- an Ergo baby carrier for Portugal and a handful of other accessories.

Our lives are so busy right now, we're trying to tick things off the to-do list to make way for your arrival. I'm trying hard to get out a handful of journal articles before you arrive, as well as write a few grants, so those tasks are leading the front edge of my work brain. Meanwhile at home we are trying to finish up some shelving, the boys toy box and get two major projects done- the mudroom and the front yard landscaping, which hopefully will happen early this spring.

With this last third of the pregnancy creeping up on our regular pace of things I'm starting to think about how it will all be different when you arrive and how our hearts will grow so much as we welcome you into this world. I look forward to seeing how our lives change, and at the same time I'm doing my best to anticipate what I can so that we are prepared and ready for what you bring into this world- a whole lot of love and a tiny bit of chaos.