25 Week Updates: Baby 2.0

How far along? 25 weeks today!

How big is baby? My baby apps estimate her around 13.5 inches, 1.5 pounds. She's apparently starting to look more and more like a newborn, with baby fat accumulating. This week capillaries start developing in her lungs to ready them for life outside the womb, and her nostrils- which have been closed up until now- open, allowing her to practice "breathing" in the womb. Amazing!

How big is Mama? Up a little more than a pound from last week (1.4 pounds), for a weigh in this morning at 133.8 pounds.

Sleep? Actually pretty decent this week! Still taking 1/2 a Unisom nightly. I've also started a nightly routine of purposefully "connecting" with baby before I fall asleep; putting my hands on my belly and breathing in energy directly to her, setting my wishes and intentions for her life (things along the lines of good health & a long life, joy, and having a strong sense of self and self-love). I also have a pact with her that she needs to be at least 37 weeks along and 6 pounds before she can make her debut! Amazingly enough, every time I do this little ritual she starts moving and kicking like crazy. It's pretty awesome.

Food cravings/aversions? Nothing new or notable…

Symptoms?

*Good gracious has BABY BRAIN taken over. I have no idea what the official scientific reasoning for this phenomemom are, but my amateur observation is that there seems to be a direct correlation between the size of my belly and how much blood flow actually makes it to my brain. Last night I had to get up out of bed no less than 4 times to do routine things I'd somehow forgotten (like taking my magnesium pill and taking my 25 week photos, etc).

*The baby apps talk about how I might be noticing thicker, more luxurious locks of hair during pregnancy. Well, I seem to be LOSING hair at a rate reminiscent of the Great Postpartum Hair Loss with Iyla. That stuff isn't supposed to fall out until after you give birth- so what gives? It makes me very nervous for the postpartum hair loss with this kid….with the way things are going I may legitimately end up bald.

*Hips/back/thighs still constantly a struggle. I did venture out on a walk to the park with Iyla yesterday for the first time in a LONG time… and… I made it. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't fast, but I was very proud of myself (and very sore by the end of the night).

Big sister? A couple of my favorite recent Iyla quotes:

"I love you in the moonlight." We have no idea where that came from, but it is soooo sweet!

Whenever I tell Iyla something about 'when I was a little girl,' (as in: 'those were my ponies when I was a little girl!) she always, ALWAYS says to me: "I loved you when you were a little girl." Cue my heart exploding! And my frou-frou ways wondering if this little soul has always been watching me and connected to me during my time here in this life.

A few shots from Iyla's past week:

Breakfast out with Papa

Excited for another school day!

Teaming up for swim lesson back floats

Big girl swing at the park

Sass before school

Most looking forward to? We are going to take Iyla on her first ever camping trip this coming weekend (weather permitting) for a little friend's birthday camp out party! I am a bit nervous about tent sleeping at 6+ months pregnant, but excited to see Iyla experience the magic that is camping.

I'm also excited to start going shopping for nursery furniture. I've been collecting ideas on a Pinterest board, and my 'vision' right now is to paint the walls a subtle blue-gray (Restoration Hardware's "Silver Sage")- and have white curtains, a white or gray chair, and a white rug. The baby's bedding is primarily turquoise with pink and yellow accents, so I'll play off those colors in the room as well. I had been planning on dark wood furniture like the rest of our house has, but this week have done a 180 and think we may go with a white crib and dresser!

Baby's bedding

Inspiration picture

This is very close to the color the walls will be

I'm definitely enjoying the creative challenge of putting a new room together!

25 Weeks, Boobs, & Baby Items

I went to get fitted again for a new bra today. Those 32D's I picked up a few months back have been leaving deep grooves in my sides, taunting me as the girls continue to grow. I picked up a 34D, which apparently is the equivalent of a DD cup! And I have to say, it fits like a glove. Can't wait to see what happens once the baby is here and my milk comes in.... oy!

Our first registry item also arrived today, compliments of my parents (thanks Mom & Dad!) An official Graco Pack N' Play. A must for weekend visits to see family in Houston, and also likely what we'll keep in our room for the baby to sleep in when she first joins us.

These things are serious business- there are soooo many on the market to choose from, and it took me a long time to finally settle on the model that seemed best for us. The first one I fell in love with was based purely on looks- an Eddie Bauer version:

However, the reviews were so-so, and when I went to see a similar one at the store I had to agree it seemed flimsy & the changing pad did tilt a bit to the side.

The next contender was a cute Graco version with a groovy print:

I really liked the pattern on this one. I then came to find out that one needs to cover the bottom mattress with a sheet (naive new mom alert!), so that the bulk of this pattern would be hidden. Between that and the fact that all of our other furniture is wood/brown, this model got vetoed.

Which brought me to THE ONE. It is gender neutral enough for a boy or girl (should our next child be a boy), and is also the only Pack N' Play with an MP3 holder/set up, where we can play our own music mixes for the baby! How cool is that?

And I am totally going to girl it up with these base sheets:

I also ordered the first of the baby's crib bedding. I had been planning to just put it all on our registry, but when I went to the Dwell Studio site that makes it, I saw that most of the set was being heavily discounted and many pieces were already out of stock! *Cue panic attack.* I thought for sure this meant the pattern was being discontinued. I ordered up what was still available (for great prices too!) and ran over to a local boutique here in Austin I knew carried the set. They were almost out as well, but were able to call the Dwell Studio company & confirm that no, the set had NOT been discontinued, they were just extremely low on inventory. Now everything on the site is out of stock! I am so glad I grabbed what I could and am on email alert lists for the remaining items we need.

This is the set I fell in love with- the "Vintage Blossom:"

Our nursery has neutral buttery yellow walls, and I envision the final decor having a few small accents of pale pink along with lots of white and maybe an occasional splash of orange. I've been keeping all my ideas on my Pinterest board, and hope with the arrival of our glider/rocker (due by September 20th!) and these sheets the final color scheme will start coming together.

On to my 25 week updates!

How far along? 25 weeks

How big is baby?  The baby websites say she is around 13.6 inches long and 1.5lbs- about the size of a cauliflower. This week her brainwave patterns are beginning to develop, meaning she will start being able to remember things!

Weight gain? Not much after last week's huge climb... about another .2 of a pound, for a total of 11.2 lbs up from my pre-pregnancy weight.

25 week belly shot taken from the Nordstrom lingerie dressing room

Sleep? Still doing well there. I did have some crazy round ligament pain a couple times this week while turning over in bed, but was able to fall back asleep pretty quickly.

Symptoms? I had 2 migraines this week- boo. I've also been really tired- notably so. Trying my best to take naps when able and otherwise power through my days.

When I first get up from sitting there is a really weird somewhat uncomfortable swooshing feeling as everything in my stomach shifts up and back again. If I am feeling that swoosh sensation this much already, I can't even imagine how it will feel 2-3 months from now!

Movement? I feel her moving on and off throughout the day pretty consistently, usually every 2-3 hours. She is usually active about 5 minutes after I lay down, and also wakes up with me at night when I get up to use the bathroom. I was feeling a lot of kicking way up by my ribs the other night- it is amazing that my uterus now stretches up that far!

Cravings/Aversions? I still have quite a sweet tooth for bakery items- cookies really hit the spot in the late afternoon. Trying to be good about that & sub the cravings with something like an apple or chocolate milk instead.

Most looking forward to? Leaving tomorrow morning for our Babymoon vacation to New Mexico! Perhaps our little girl will remember this as her first vacation, now that she has all that brainwave activity going on.