Today our travel system got delivered to my work. I haven't unpacked it yet, but I did open the box and peek in to make sure the car seat has EPS foam (it does!). I'm looking forward to assembling it (as little as there is to assemble), trying it out, folding it up, fitting it into my trunk, attaching the car seat into the back seat of my car, etc. :-) Yay!!! I wonder if the cats will want to get into the stroller and be wheeled around...

Week 25

"Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — doesn't sound like much, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for a more rounded one. As your baby gains weight, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. His hair is probably recognizable now in color and texture, although both may change after he's born. Babies born with red hair can turn into blonds, dark-haired newborns can grow up with fair tresses, and blonds often turn into brunettes."

-- from www.babycenter.com

It's hard to believe I've been pregnant for 24 weeks (well, really 22 weeks)! Definitely over halfway there! According to a book I have called Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, by Tracy Hogg, if William was born now he'd have a 30-70% chance of surviving. Every day that percentage increases by 3-4%, and there's a >90% chance that he would survive after week 28.

A couple of days ago, William was kicking rather strongly while Darryl and I were in bed, so I pulled back the covers and we both looked at my stomach: we could actually see William kicking! I think Darryl thought that was even more amazing than just feeling William move. We tried to see him again, but sometimes when William's kicking hard and I want Darryl to feel or see him, William decides to stop being cooperative. :-)

Yesterday we went to Home Depot to get the paint for William's room. The colour is "Ribbon Yellow" in eggshell finish from Glidden paints. I wanted to put a little photo on here of the colour, but after going to Glidden's website and finding it, the computerized "Ribbon Yellow" looks horribly unlike the pigmented version. Essentially, it's a light, bright yellow. We chose this colour because we wanted a bright and cheerful room, and also I want it to match with the trim ("Coconut Milk" in semi-gloss, which we used in our guest/family room and will use in our guest bathroom), and with our prospective guest bathroom colour ("Shakespeare green"--a sort of light olive green). We also bought caulking (for the outside of the windows), painter's tape, and all the other supplies we'll need to paint William's room. I'm very excited and wish I could paint too! I can't wait once it's painted and we can put on a border and get all the furniture and everything set up so it's just ready and waiting for William's big day! The border I'm referring to there is an alphabet border I found online:

Please click on it for a larger view. Originally, we were thinking about putting removable Winnie-the-Pooh stick-ups on the walls, but at work one day I just got to thinking and I really wanted an alphabet border. I had ABCs on the wall when I was a kid, and I thought it would not be as babyish to have the ABCs. Plus, it would be fun to help William learn his alphabet, and I like the little pictures that go with each letter.

Yesterday I also bought 4 maternity tops. Three of them are fairly low-cut, which seems to be a popular style in maternity clothing. I like them because they're fitted, so I look pregnant and I don't look like I'm just wearing a tent.

Apart from getting the paint, our chief reason for going shopping yesterday was to look at strollers. My parents wanted to get us a travel system (stroller + infant car seat) for our baby shower in March, but they couldn't find any good ones (ie. that met my specifications) in person, so they thought I should perhaps buy it down here and they would pay for it. We had previously looked at all sorts of stores and I thought there was a good selection of travel systems out there (specifically: Graco, with SnugRide seat with EPS energy-absorbing foam). However, when we went to look yesterday (4 stores!), the selection was much poorer than I'd remembered. So we wound up ordering the stroller online. This is the model that we ordered:

http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/product.aspx?modelNumber=7260BAN3&productID=727&tab=features&CategoryID=12&subCatID=

You can click on the link to read a description of the travel system and see the features, dimensions, etc. It should arrive in 3-7 business days, and I'm looking forward to setting it up and trying the car seat out in my car. **Thanks, Mom & Pap!!**

Week 24

"Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when she was just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long, that makes for a pretty lean figure, but her body is filling out proportionally. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, her brain is growing rapidly, and her taste buds may be working now. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

Your baby can hear more and more now, and you may even notice her startle at loud, sudden noises. But she's probably getting used to the regular noises she hears around the house, such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner. Many new parents are surprised by how unfazed their newborns seem by sounds like these, but if you think about it, they've had months to get accustomed to them. "

- from www.babycenter.com

Week 23

"Your baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound. He may be able to feel your movements now, so put on some fun tunes and dance around the house. No matter what race your baby is, his skin is red and wrinkled at this stage and will likely look pink or reddish at birth. Blood vessels that show through your baby's transparent skin cause this coloration. His true skin tone will develop over the course of his first year.
Blood vessels in your baby's lungs are developing to prepare him for breathing, but complete lung development will take many more months. The lungs are the last organ to fully develop in babies. That's why premature babies (those born before 37 weeks) often have such a hard time breathing. Babies born this week have a chance of surviving with the help of intensive medical care, but their risk of serious complications is very high. "

- from www.babycenter.com

I guess I really am pregnant after all.......













These photos are hardly flattering, but at least it's starting to look as though I'm actually pregnant instead of just fat. You can click on the photos to see the larger, scarier versions! In a few weeks, I may post some more.

I still feel really good, with relatively lots of energy. I should be getting more sleep, however. I'm really enjoying feeling William kick; for a few weeks he was kicking mostly on my left side, but recently he's been kicking very low (thankfully not my bladder). I'm looking forward to seeing and meeting William, even though I know there is a very steep learning curve ahead and there will be times of lack of sleep, of grumpiness, of frustration and worry. Right now I'm reading a book called "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" by Tracy Hogg, because it was recommended by a friend who has just had her second child. I like the idea of a flexible but predictable schedule for William, and I'm hoping to be able to follow many of the author's recommendations. I hope I will have patience enough to really listen to William's cries and to observe him, in order to discern what exactly he may need.

Week 22

"How your baby's growing: Your baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches and almost 1 pound. Her skin will continue to appear wrinkled until she gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her head and body is now visible. Her lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath her gum line. Her eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and her pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily."

- from www.babycenter.com

I'm part of a "birth club" on pregnancy.org, and one of my fellow moms-to-be gave me a reality check today: we only have about 4 months left till our due dates!!! Not being a good dates/times kind of person, I had it in the back of my mind that I still had 6 months to get everything (including myself) ready! Wow! This is very exciting, but there's still so much to do! I've got the office mostly cleared out, so we can begin setting up for painting very soon. We still have to sand down and re-paint some furniture too, see what Allen & Annette are willing to loan us (hopefully a crib), and buy some stuff! This will, of course, get harder (for me) as time goes on and I start to bulge out more. I still don't look very pregnant, though feeling William kicking and moving is definitely a daily occurrence. Darryl felt William last night too! :-)

One thing that saddens me is that I feel some of my close friends from Canada have become distant. I don't know if it's because they feel they're at a different lifestage and so don't have much in common with me, or if I've overwhelmed them with talk about the baby (I don't feel as though I've been bombarding them), or if they're afraid that I won't want to talk to them about my pregnancy much because they're not at that lifestage, or if there is some other reason. Several people in my online birth club, though, have also had similar experiences.

Week 21

"How your baby's growing: Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long. His eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel him move. He's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if he starts working out just when you're settling down for the night."

-- from: www.babycenter.com