Baby Bump #2 (30 Weeks)

Well today marks the 30th week of our pregnancy. Rowan is now about 15.7 inches long, and almost 3 pounds, about the size of a head of cabbage. It's so hard to believe that there is only 10 weeks left?! And maybe even less if she decides to come early like her older brother. We hope that she will at least wait until we have celebrated Liam's 2nd birthday party which we are having at aquarium on November 7th, a month before his real birthday. I had been doing pretty good until last night when I was getting Liam ready for bed, and I was sitting on the floor with my legs straight out in front of me. I twisted my leg somehow, and hurt it. I don't think it is muscle related, it feels more severe. At the time it really hurt, but I rubbed it out, and figured it was ok. Then I decided to try my workout, and it seemed to be OK, so I did 5 miles on the stationary bike. Hind sight, it was probably not the best idea...later that evening my leg got really stiff and painful. I read this morning that the hormones produced during pregnancy cause the ligaments that support your joints to become relaxed. This makes the joints more mobile and more at risk of injury. Although the crazy thing is, I wasn't doing anything strenuous, I was just sitting on the floor! Anyway, I think I did something to the joint or a ligament, and I'm hoping that it heals soon....I can barley walk. I joked that now I waddle with a limp. So my next Dr.'s appt is on Monday. Then I do think that I will be going to the Dr. every 2 weeks. Man time is just flying by!

UPDATE 9-28-09
About 24 hrs. after I hurt my knee, it started to feel better, and thankfully it feels all better now. I had my 30 week check up today. Not a whole lot to report. I am feeling her movements more now, although most of the movements are low, and we're guessing its because she is still breech. About this time with Liam, there was a hard spot in the middle of my belly which we called 'Butt or Head', but with her we don't feel any particular body parts...I'm crossing my fingers that she heads down soon!! The doctor agreed that we should check her a little earlier at 34 weeks instead of 37 weeks, since Liam did come 4 weeks early. Next appointment is in 3 weeks.

comment by Gaylene on 09/26/2009
Be careful sweetie and heal fast! Wish I could see your waddle ;)

Liam is 21 Months

Liam's verbal skills have exploded over the last month or so.  He is saying so many new words, it's hard to keep track of them all.  We will ask him to say a word, and he will say them back to us.  He is learning to count, and learning his colors too!  He's starting to put words together also, like if he wants his shoes or socks off, he will say 'no shoe' or 'no sock'.  Also, if he hears someone fart, he will say 'No Fart'....it's sooo funny!  He's been doing a lot of cute things too.  When he takes a sip of a drink, he will say 'Ahhhhh' in a refreshing way.  Another thing he picked up that we didn't realize we did was if someone burps, we say 'Nice', and now when he burps, he will look at us and say 'Nice'!  So funny!  He will pat his back if he's coughing.  He had a scratch on his knee, and he would point to his knee, and say 'boo boo'.  After it healed, if we asked him where his boo boo was, he would say 'Boo boo all gone', and he would do the sign for all gone too.  He would fill his cheeks with air a bit when he said 'boo boo', so the word came out with some pressure.  I just love how he says it, so I ask him all the time where his boo boo went.  He also has started to say 'Hi' a lot...he knew 'Bye' pretty well, but now associates seeing someone, and saying 'Hi'.  And then sometimes he will follow it up with 'Sup' (for what's up?)  which I realized that I say ALL the time after he started saying it.  He likes doors to be closed, so if he can he will say 'close' and then close it himself, or he will point to the door and say 'close'.  We are still working on the word open...he will smile and look at me, and open his mouth in the 'O' shape, but hasn't said it yet.  We had to put a safety lock on our playroom door, and he makes sure that we lock it.  If he thinks it's unlocked, he will go to it, and say 'Fix'.  He has a book about Elmo's Puppies and he loves when I read it to him at night.  There is a part where it says 'What is Elmo Thinking about'...'That's right Puppies', and I will pause and he will shout 'Puppies!', then later in the book it will say 'Shhhhh' Puppies need their sleep....' and he will put his finger up to his mouth and say 'Shhhhh', it's sooo cute!  A couple of scary things that he did this month was one he stuck a black bean up his nose.  Thankfully, Mike was able to get it out in one piece...and the other is he is really close to climbing out of his crib, so we are going to try to transition him to a toddler bed pretty soon.  We are just finishing up getting his new room ready for him.  It seems he really knows who we are now.  He will call us 'Mama's' or 'Dada's', and has recently has said 'Daddy' too.  He will see a picture of us and if we ask who it is, he can tell who is who.  We just can't believe how much he has changed in the last month, and we are pretty excited about the fact that he's learning so many new words.  It just makes things so much easier when we can communicate with him!

Baby Bump #2 (27 Weeks)

So I had my 27 Week check up today, and there isn't much to report...everything is going pretty smoothly. Heartbeat and measurements are good. I am starting to get a little more achy in my lower back, especially if I lay on my back for any amount of time. It's getting harder to get off the floor too. She moves a little here and there, but sadly she's not as active as Liam was. The Dr. says that is OK, and that every baby has their own bar of movement. He also said that only 2% of breech babies at the 1/2 way mark don't move down by their due date, so most likely she will move (crossing fingers). Anyway, only 13 weeks to go, although if she comes early like Liam could only be 9 weeks!! We are hoping she will at least hold out till we have had Liam's 2nd Birthday party which we are planning a month early since she is due very close to his birthday.

Happy 20 Months Liam!

Liam has changed a ton in the last month.  I would say the first half of the month, he was pretty cranky,  perhaps he was teething.  He has also started getting really serious about tantrums when he is not getting what he wants.  Also, during the last month I had some restrictions because of my pregnancy.  I wasn't supposed to lift him, and he started being stubborn about going up or down the stairs and going where I needed him to. It was a rough couple of weeks. He has also figured out how to open the lever door handles.  He has escaped a couple times, so we had to put a lock on the playroom door. 

Then the last half of the month, he's been a pretty happy kid.  His language skills have taken a leap.  He is saying a lot of new words, and also starting to say words back when we say them to him.  We got him a few new toys that he likes.  He now has a little car to ride around in.  He likes to get in through the window, Dukes of Hazard style!  He also has a new slide, and pool to play in.  He LOVES the water and especially likes to slide down his slide into the pool.  He will say 'weeeee' when going down the slide or when we swing him.  He also loves to be outside, and will ask to go 'outside' or 'side'.  Some of his other new words are: 'cookie','kick','strawberry', he said 'dinosaur' once, and will say 'go' when we say 'ready set'.  He also is starting to put two words together.  The other day I took his shoes off, and he wanted his socks off too, so he said 'No Sock'.  He is also learning his different body parts and will point and say the word when we ask where they are.  I've mentioned in previous posts that he LOVES Elmo, but it seems that his love has turned into an obsession.  He has to watch him all the time, and he also has started to use his Elmo doll as a comfort toy.  He will snuggle Elmo under his arm, and likes to sleep with him too.

We got him a baby book that has pictures of a family bringing a baby home. He really likes the book, and will say 'baby' and point to it when he wants to look at it.  He knows what a baby is, and anytime he sees one on TV or in a book, he will say 'baby'.  

So the last milestone that I want to mention is that he got his first haircut!  My aunt Gina is a beautician and we took him to her to get a haircut.  We really like his hair on the longish side, so he just got a trim.  He did amazingly well and sat on dad's lap while Gina trimmed him up.  Anyway, this month has had it's ups and downs, but thankfully it ended on the up note.  It is just crazy for us to believe that he is only 4 months away from turning 2?!  Even though he's growing up so quickly, we still like to think of him as our little man...I'm sure one day he will protest, but for now that is what he is!

comment by Gaylene on 08/10/2009
oh, I'm excited for you guys. Liam is sounding more grown up...what a doll with his Elmo.

Large Mango (23 weeks)

I know it's only been a week since my last pregnancy update, but I have some good news!! I had a follow-up Ultra Sound today since the recording machine was not working the last time. The technician checked the placenta and it has moved, or rather grew enough that it is not laying low! This means the restrictions I was on have been lifted! We are all very happy about that. We got a great video of her moving about, and playing peek-a-boo, and toward the end we can see her opening and closing her mouth....she is sooo cute! Also, her position was breech, which I kinda guessed because I have started to feel more of her movements, but mostly it feels like she is dancing on my bladder. I am guessing that being breech at this point is not a big deal because they are still moving around a lot.

We had been a little concerned about the lack of movement, since Liam was so active by this stage...but last night Mike was able to feel her move!

Baby #2 Update (22 Weeks)

22 weeks marks the start of the 6th month, and Rowan is about 11 inches (about the length of a spaghetti squash), and is nearly a pound. Today, I had my first Dr's visit since my Ultra Sound when they told me I had a low lying placenta. Naturally, I had a list of questions regarding this issue. Basically, this is a fairly common thing, and he just wants me to 'not overdo it'. It's OK for me to lift Liam, and do a little yoga, but still no work-outs, and continue pelvic rest. And if anything causes me to bleed, then I need to stop! They were booked for the ultra sound machine today, so I have an appointment in a week to get the video, and they can check the placenta again then. He says that the heart beat sounds normal, and I'm measuring good. And the fact that I don't feel her move as much as the first pregnancy can be normal, but there would be a concern if that doesn't change in a month. As far as my due date, they have given me so many different days...thinking I will just stick with early December when people ask. I'm feeling pretty good overall. So far there doesn't seem to be as much growing pains as the first time round, and I'm guessing that is because it's already been stretched out. I am still a little bummed that I still can't work out because I am starting to gain more weight than I would like, but I know I don't want to risk hurting our little one, so I will just have to work on losing the weight after she is born.

Baby # 2 (20 weeks)

Well, this week marked half way...Rowan is about 10.5 oz. and about 10 inches head to heal, about the length of a banana.  I'm not sure if it is because of the low placenta, but I have not felt much of her movements.  I remember Liam doing acrobats at this point, and even Mike felt him move at 19 weeks!  We do know that she is indeed moving from the Ultra Sound we had, and I do have a heart monitor that I can hear her heart, so that is reassuring, but it is a little weird that I can't feel her much yet.  Anyway, I do have an appointment with the Dr. next Thursday, so I will have a HUGE list of questions regarding this placenta issue, etc. We also should be getting a video recorded since it wasn't working the last time.  Looking forward to that appointment for sure!