Week by Week: Week 25

Our Baby (a.k.a. Lil' Feisty):

• Is at least 13 inches long by now. I'm pretty sure Feisty is bigger than that by now and will stay bigger than the "average" from now on. That's about the same length as the gigantic zucchini sitting on our kitchen table.
• Weighs anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 pounds. I'm going with at least 2 pounds for Feisty. 
• Is fattening up! Let's go, chubby cheeks!
• Can now sense which way is up and which way is down. 
• Is growing more and more hair, which has its own distinctive color and texture. 

I (traditionally): 

• Have a uterus the size of a soccer ball by now. 
• Should be able to feel the top of said uterus between my sternum and my belly button. 
• Have felt a few Braxton Hicks contractions by now. 
• Have to pee more and more. 
• Am having trouble sleeping right around now.
• Should start thinking about pre-registering at my delivery hospital--if choosing a hospital birth. 
• Might start noticing some constipation or, yikes, hemorrhoids.
• Still have that glorious gas and bloating. 
• Have that good ol' heart burn. 
• Also have all-over aches and pains due to hormone fluctuations. 

I (actually):

• Have a gigantic uterus due to a gigantic baby, apparently. I can feel it about an inch below my sternum right now. This might be because I have a very short torso, so I'm hoping that I'm just measuring big because there's nowhere else for my uterus to go in my short torso. 
• Um, have felt more than a few Braxton Hicks. In my case, they haven't been painful. At times there has been enough pressure that I slowed down or stopped my movement all together, but that's about the extent of it. I'm going with all of that being a good thing--my uterus is just practicing all those waves it'll use during labor and delivery. 
• Pee all the time. And now my bladder doesn't have to be the "normal" amount of full in order to go. That Lil' Feisty sitting on my bladder makes me need to go pretty dang often. 
• Am indeed having trouble sleeping. I'm chalking up last night's tossing and turning to the heat and humidity sitting in our house
• Am choosing a hospital birth, and my pre-registration paperwork is sitting in a folder on our kitchen table. I'm still eyeballing it rather than filling it out. 
• Haven't been constipated, but I do have plenty of gas. Last night, before I even knew what was happening, a massive burp ripped out of my throat while we were preparing dinner. I was a little scared, I have to admit. 
• Still haven't had real heartburn. Am I just one of the fortunate ones, or is it waiting to spring on me later? 

Since Feisty had that growth spurt two weeks ago, I've found myself stepping on the scale much more often and scanning my belly with a critical eye. I mean, I have 3 months to go, and only 7 more pounds I'm "allowed" to gain. This is a dangerous area to be in, mostly because it's most important to make sure that I get enough calories every day and that my diet is balanced; it's less important that I do what I can to stall my weight gain. Some might even argue that it's not important, for while my BMI measurement placed me (firmly) in the overweight category, this fact actually surprised my midwife quite a bit. She said she wouldn't have assumed that by looking at me. All that to say, perhaps being allowed to gain a maximum of 25 pounds during pregnancy isn't as hard and fast a rule as one might think. 

Besides that, I finally broke down and bought some new undies. I went ahead and got some giant, cotton briefs, and while they may not be the sexiest underwear out there, I definitely feel awesome. My bum is covered, the waistband doesn't bite into my belly, and the leg holes don't dig into my lady parts. 

Speaking of that, those lady bits are pretty sensitive, especially when it comes to sitting for long periods of time. It might be something you've never thought of, but when your reproductive area swells during pregnancy, sitting on a hard surface (like a dining chair) for more than an hour at a time can leave your lady bits bruised and sore. I discovered this after visits from our parents, but I got it in spades when I went out to an all-night diner with some friends this weekend. We stayed out from 9:00 to 2:00 a.m., and by the end I was pretty much dying to get up out of that chair. And I'm still dealing with the aftermath. All that to say, if a pregnant lady says she wants to get up and do some chores or a task, don't insist she sits and takes it easy. She honestly needs to get up out of that chair!

Pregnancy in the summer is no joke. It really is different than enduring regular summer heat. The smallest exertion makes you sweat. You sweat in weird, new places, especially between your legs and under your giant, pregnant boobs. The clean feeling from your shower (which was probably pretty cold) disappears within minutes, and your changing hormones make you smell different than normal. I did my chores yesterday at a slower pace while sweat collected in every crevice of my body. I can't believe I used to be cold all the time! 

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I think that's all for me this week. My list of things to do before Feisty comes just keeps getting longer and longer. How is that possible? 

Keep it real!