26 Weeks Pregnant

26 weeks pregnant. 98 more days to go! Boy how time flies!

26 weeks Disney Bump Tracker picture!

     I loved the second trimester and so far am loving the third! Both have been so much more enjoyable than the first trimester. I was miserable during my first trimester due to getting a sinus infection in the beginning and then dealing with the morning sickness. Now that all that has passed, I am finally able to fully enjoy my pregnancy. To some extent, I have my energy back and am pretty much feeling like normal.

    Now this doesn't mean everything is easy. My number one complaint for this week is lack of sleep and leg cramps. I've been having such a difficult time sleeping at night. I cannot sleep flat on my back because the uterus is heavier and presses against a major vein that sends blood from the lower body to the heart. It is said that the best position for me to sleep is on my left side because it increases the amount of blood and nutrients to Liam. What is difficult is that in the middle of the night, I will wake up with leg pain especially in my thighs. I have heard of women experiencing charlie horses, but it's not that kind of cramp. It's like a soreness. I was told to try a body pillow and to put that in between my legs to reduce the pressure, but that still doesn't work. I tried increasing my water intake and I still experience pain. The only way I noticed I can get some kind of relief is by stacking up a bunch of pillows and basically sleeping upright with my legs stretched out.

     As seen in the picture above, my bump is getting more noticeable now! I have finally hit the stage where friends and family are asking to touch my bump. In the beginning, I wasn't fond of it because my bump didn't feel like a bump. It felt more like flubber to be quite honest. Although it was only my mom who was rubbing my tummy and talking to Liam when I was no where close to showing at the earlier stages of pregnancy, I felt super awkward. Now, my bump is a little harder and more defined so I feel a little less awkward. It's still weird though to have people come up and just rub your belly like I'm a little Buddha or something. I don't mind it really, but it's definitely going to take some getting use to and I know its only going to get rubbed more often as the weeks go by.

     I had my doctor's appointment earlier this week and Liam is doing well. My doctor measured my abdomen from the top of my uterus to my pubic bone and said I was growing perfectly. Yay! She also listened to Liam's heartbeat. I'm naturally a big worry wart and of course I'm always nervous on how Liam is doing. At this point in the pregnancy, I've been seeing my doctor every four weeks. That is a long time in between check ups to see how Liam is doing so of course I'm always wondering if he's developing well and is healthy. When she was listening to his heartbeat, she was very quiet and was listening longer than usual. I immediately checked the look on her face and it was calm and no sign of distress or anything. It seriously felt like ages, and even Calvin was a little worried because he later told me he thought she was listening longer than usual too. He also thought Liam's heartbeat sounded pretty fast. But finally she said the words I wanted to hear, "sounds good! He's a happy baby!" Phew! What a sigh a relief.

     For the most part, the appointment went really well. The only thing I wasn't happy with, was my weight gain. I had gained 6 lbs! That hurts to say, but then again I did just eat before my appointment. I got off of work at 1 pm and was obviously starving. My appointment was at 2:45 so we had some time to grab something to eat. I was craving some wings and I was trying to be good and eat a small portion size, but Calvin was starving as well and decided to order the entire restaurant! Needless to say, I ended up eating a lot more than planned. I swear, at this point in the game, my stomach knows no end! So to make myself feel a little better, I just tell myself I did get weighed on a very full stomach. I'm definitely trying to get myself on track and eat better.

       We are finally getting a chance to paint Liam's nursery. Well, Calvin is. I offered to help, but he doesn't want me to be smelling all the fumes. I am extremely excited to see the finished product of his nursery! We have chosen the theme of his nursery to be Monster's Inc, hence the Monster's Inc baby shower. :) I don't want to spoil the plan we have of painting the room, but will definitely be posting pictures once it's completed. I'm also super excited that Babies R Us now carries a Monster's Inc nursey line! I first noticed it weeks ago and the only piece from the collection that they had was the window valance. I kid you not, I checked every single day, hoping and praying that more of the collection will come out. Slowly, more pieces started popping up on the website. Each time I saw a new item available, I felt like a kid on Christmas day. I squealed with joy and immediately told Calvin! When I checked two days ago, all the pieces are up online! I have added it to our registry, but I might just have to pick it all up myself because I'm just too worried it will sell out quickly! 

    Other than that, 26 weeks has been a breeze! I'm loving every minute of being pregnant and feeling my little monster move around my belly. I can't believe we have hit the double digit countdown now. These 98 days are going to go by super fast. I feel like I have so much to do and so little time!