40 Weeks (third time around…kind of)

Here we are again. 40 weeks. I had really hoped that this one would be like Noel and come a few days early, but no dice.

So here I am with swollen hands, swollen ankles, and +50 pounds. Yes, I gained another 3 pounds last week, some of which is probably water weight and some may have been my clothes (it was a good bit colder at my appointment this past week than it was the week before), but still…I'm not relishing this huge weight gain.


40 weeks and a day or two. Easter Sunday, 2014.

The only good news about this baby being late is that I had time to a) get my hair cut for the first time in 14 months, and b) get a pedicure for the first time in five years [side note: the man pulled out something that looked like a bottle opener but must have actually been a heavy duty shredder/razor to use on my calluses. Embarrassing.]. And now chances are very great that all of our girls with have birth dates with a "2" in them…Noel was born on the 12th, Lane on the 22nd, and now this one will probably have a "2" as well. I'm picking at straws here, people. Don't laugh at me.

So that's life at 40 weeks. I'm done. I ate 2/3 of a pineapple yesterday and may go walk a couple of miles later today in effort to move this baby along. No such luck so far. Today would be a good day for her to be born…it was my great-grandmother's birthday…just sayin'… 

38(.5) Weeks (third time around)

Lest anyone think I've gone and done the impossible for me (have a baby a week or two early), rest assured, I'm still here, still pregnant. *smile*


This past Friday, 38 weeks.

I went to the doctor today and I am proud to announce that for the first time this pregnancy I have not gained any weight (since last week, at least). So that just puts me at around 40-45 pounds gained overall, and I'm about 32 pounds up from the high end of my "normal" weight range…I was definitely underweight at the beginning of this pregnancy due to a stressful summer.

I'm feeling alright, I suppose. My sternum finally stopped hurting about a week ago. My back still hurts in that same spot. My reflux has almost completely disappeared. My only real complaint/problem (other than just general discomfort) is that I am really swollen, especially at night time. I now have to take off my substitute wedding band before I go to bed, because my fingers and hands swell up so that even it doesn't fit at night time. I'm just hoping that my fingers go back down to their regular size after the birth so that I can wear my regular wedding rings again! Someone please tell me that the swelling goes away!

I'm sleeping alright (when the girls sleep well, I sleep well). I have no stretch marks (hooray for good genetics there!). My belly button is still in, although it's mostly flat. I'm a "tight 1 cm dilated" according to my doctor. Baby is head down and well engaged, although she's kind of sideways inside me…head down but feet on my left side and bottom on my right, with her back running down the right side of my stomach/uterus/whatever. It's really weird to feel her push on both sides of my stomach but to know that she is definitely, 100% for sure head all-the-way down.

I'm hoping for a baby by Easter…I'm due sometime between the 19th and the 23rd…I say the 19th, doctors have all said the 23rd. So we shall see. Either way…I'm hoping that two weeks from today we're holding a baby in our arms!

36 Weeks (third time around)

Four weeks from today (or yesterday, or Wednesday, depending on who you ask) we should have another girlie in these parts!


Belly pic brought to you from Seagrove, Florida.

A couple weeks ago I told Shannon, "Six weeks. Just six weeks. Or maybe four. I could be down with four." To which he replied, "Or eight." "No, not eight. I'm not doing that again!" And I'm not. There are worse things in life than being induced!

I'm feeling alright. The house we're staying in here is three stories and I've walked a lot of stairs this week. My calves are feeling all the stairs and the extra 35ish pounds. My back still hurts. The spot below my sternum still hurts. But at least my reflux seems to have subsided, at least most of the time. I have a baby shower two weeks from tomorrow…I'd be a-ok if this girlie decided to come at any point after that! Lane asked me to pick her up the other day and when I reminded her that she's a big girl and understands that I can't pick her up because of the baby in my belly, she replied, "Maybe when that baby comes out you can pick me up." I'm ready to be able to interact with my kids normally, to run with them and pick them up and let them snuggle on my lap. So here's to hoping we'll have a baby by April 10th or so!

31 and 34 Weeks (third time around)

Here I am, two days before I'm 35 weeks, finally getting around to posting. Seems to be the way it goes these days. We're getting ready to move (again) on Saturday back to Alabama, where we'll be until we head back overseas. Our time in North Carolina has been so busy that we're really looking forward to our time in Alabama, hoping that it provides us with some rest before the baby comes. We'll be traveling a bit until the end of March, but after that we are trying to mostly stay put until the end of May.


31 weeks.

I will say that this pregnancy has been a lot rougher than my first two. In hindsight, I think I had really, really easy pregnancies with them both. There has just been something about this being my third (and therefore having two other littles to keep up with), being in America, traveling a lot, and eating out a lot (due to the traveling a lot), that has just made this pregnancy rough. And maybe being 34 has something to do with it, too. I've felt like a whale since about 24-25 weeks. My legs ache frequently. The same spots hurt that hurt when I was pregnant the first two times: my upper back, specifically on the right side, and below my sternum right between my ribs, where they're separating to make room for baby.


34 weeks, last Friday.

My fingers have swollen so I can't wear my wedding rings. For about two weeks I couldn't wear them while I slept but could wear them during the day…now I can't wear them at all. I've gained somewhere between 35-40 pounds…I'm not sure exactly since I don't know how much I weighed to begin with, but I weigh more now than I ever did with Lane or Noel. And I still have five or so weeks to go. I don't exactly know where all that weight is, since I don't feel like my ankles are swelling or that my face is chubby…but it's there, and I'm just hoping it's not on a 10-pound baby!

Baby girl is very active…she's not head-down yet and I can frequently feel her hands on the left side of my belly and her feet on my right side. At night when I lie down it seems like she spends a good 10-15 minutes getting herself adjusted as well. I haven't felt any baby hiccups yet, and while occasionally she'll stick a foot in my ribs and really hurt me, for the most part I just feel pregnant because I'm pregnant, not because the baby is pressing on me or hurting me in some way (if that makes sense at all).

So…overall, I'm done. Stick a fork in me. I'm grateful to still have a healthy baby inside me, but I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore. I'm hoping this girlie decides to come a week or two early…it would make up for Lane being 17 days late! I just want to get to April and then she can come. Please, God?

28 Weeks (third time around)

On Friday I hit 28 weeks, at least according to me. The doctors don't know what they're talking about this go-around because I am most definitely NOT any less than 28 weeks. I know. But due dates are all a guessing and estimation game anyways, so it doesn't really matter that much I suppose. Give or take 12 weeks and God-willing we'll have another kiddo in the house and that's all that's important.

28 weeks.

I have to say that I feel absolutely HUGE this pregnancy. I'm not sure what weight I started out at so I can't say exactly how much I've gained. But my "normal" weight range is between 120 and 130, with "healthy" for me being at 125 or so. I think I'm at 153, which means that I've probably gained nearly 30 pounds already. And I can feel it, too. It's just harder to move around, harder to squat to pick up anything, and so on. I bought new shoes today because I just couldn't take wearing my nearly-10-year-old boots another day because my legs would just ache if I stood or walked around for too long. So I'm definitely feeling huge, even if I look perfectly normal for 28 weeks.

I'm feeling pretty well, though, other than just feeling big. I still sleep all night if a kid doesn't wake me up. I'm not having to wake up to pee, although if I'm up (which I am nearly every night with one girlie or the other) I do take advantage of the toilet. I'm more likely to wake up because I'm starving than because I have to go to the bathroom. I've had a little bit of reflux but not nearly as badly as when I was pregnant with Noel. I've had no real food aversions or cravings this pregnancy. It's been pretty uneventful other than just being starving a lot of the time.

So that's life in third-trimester-land. I've got birthday party posts to write and lots about our time in the States to write about. I have a hard time convincing Shannon that I want to do something in the evenings other than watch television shows (we have been seriously deprived of television shows in English over the last almost-four years), so when it happens I read or blog. I'm loving not having to study in the evenings!

Off for a snack. This baby wants food. Again.

Baby Bump

So…I've been horrible at documenting this pregnancy. Absolutely horrible. I have nothing to blame except, oh, the craziness of life. Not "normal" craziness, definitely abnormal craziness. Husband-out-of-the-country craziness (weeks 4-8, 17). Thanksgiving craziness (week 20). Moving craziness (weeks 21, 22, 23, 24, and oh yes, week 25 as well). Christmas craziness (week 24). Birthday craziness (weeks 22 and 25). All that to say…it's been a crazy pregnancy.


14 weeks. Mid-October.


17 weeks. Early November.

In the very early stages of this pregnancy (months 1-2) I felt just fine, for the most part. I had a little of that "need to keep my tummy full" feeling in order to stave off morning sickness, but overall I was ok. Months 3-4 I was so tired. Extremely tired. Like, I'd sleep as late as possible, go to class, come home and take a nap (I let Lane watch way too many shows while Noel napped so I could nap, too) and then cook dinner or do a load of laundry and that was it for the day. I was in bed most nights by 9 p.m., some nights as early as 7:30. Watching my kids, going to class, and keeping the bare minimum done on housework was all I could manage.


20 weeks. Late November.

Month five was better, and thank goodness for it since it was spent packing, packing, and packing. And moving. We moved out of our apartment, put all our stuff in storage, and moved in with some friends for a few days. They took us to the airport later that week, and we re-located to Alabama for a couple of weeks. We stayed with Shannon's dad and stepmom for our first four days back.


23 weeks. December 20.

The beginning of month six marked a move to Shannon's mom and stepdad's, where we stayed for a week before going back to his dad and stepmom's for three days. Then we moved to North Carolina where we'll be until mid-March, about a month before this baby is due to make an appearance.


26 weeks. (Right after I'd eaten dinner, of course.)

We've been in the States four weeks and have already put nearly 3500 miles on the vehicle we're driving. We've been to six states, celebrated two birthdays (three if you count Jesus'!), transitioned Noel to a big-girl bed, and slept in four different places. We've done some really fun things (Chuck-E-Cheese for Noel's birthday, a 2-night stay at a swanky B&B for me and Shannon, buying some new maternity clothes, seeing bambino #3 for the first time via ultrasound, our girls' first Christmas in America with grandparents), as well as some not-so-fun things (blood work, dental exams [Shannon and I each need a crown, ugh], Lane's first visit to the dentist, repairing the hatch-back of our 2002 van, jet-lag with a 2 and 3-year old) and so far...we're just plain tired. We are ready to get some rest, to recuperate from 3.5 long years of living overseas before we go back and do it all again.

So, that's the story so far of the bump. Just craziness. I'll try to get back on board with bi-weekly updates in the third trimester because I think we'll actually be in one place for most of it! This baby is already pretty active and moving around a lot…for not having felt the baby much at all until around 22 weeks…s/he is making up for it now!

38 Weeks (second time around)

It's almost time to have a baby around here!

I went to the doctor on Tuesday and she is finally satisfied with my weight gain (12 kilos, or 26 pounds). I'm glad to know that I can stop eating like a pig just to put on some pounds! I hate eating junk just to get some calories, but I feel like that's all I did for the past two weeks. I guess that maybe it paid off, though, as Baby Girl is measuring a bit more 'normal' sized now. So yay!

Taken this morning before I went Christmas shopping. Wearing pre-pregnancy jeans. Can't believe I can still get them on! (Although they're NOT comfortable to sit in, I didn't feel like I had 'saggy butt from maternity pants' syndrome for this photo!)

It's so interesting, being pregnant here versus in the States. I haven't had a UA since the very first time I went to the doctor at nine or ten weeks. In the U.S. you get one every single time you go to the doctor. On Tuesday, at 37.5 weeks pregnant, my doctor didn't check me to see if I was dilated. She didn't do a group B strep test. She didn't ask me about my birth plan or desires. And she didn't want me to come back in until next Friday, when I'll be 39 weeks.

As far as how I'm feeling...I'm feeling fine. That same spot beneath my sternum is killing me, just like it did with Lane. My first doctor thought it was muscles stretching. This doctor thinks it's my liver (I think...maybe it was a different organ) pressing up against my sternum, since the liver (or the other organ...I really don't remember) is a hard, not-flexible or squishy organ. My upper back hurts in the same spot as it did with Lane. And my lower back, on the left, almost into my rear-end smarts sometimes when I step funny. If I overdo it (which I seem to have done, oh, almost every day this week) the insides of my hips ache. And it's really sad, because all that 'overdoing it' entails is doing something normal, like taking Lane to the park or the bazaar, or going Christmas shopping like I did today.

I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore, at least as far as how my body is feeling goes. As far as practically-speaking goes...it'd be nice if she'd hold on for another week. I have a baby shower tomorrow. I have a few Christmas things left to buy, maybe a new purse/diaper bag, and possibly a bouncy seat (depending on if I can find one to borrow). And quite honestly it'd be nice to shop alone and not with newborn in tow. As far as my outlook on how long I think my body carries babies for...I'm planning for a 2012 baby, even though she's due in two weeks.

This past week some ladies with whom I attend a Bible study surprised me with a small baby shower. I haven't known these ladies for very long so didn't invite them to my "real" baby shower, not feeling comfortable asking them to come after only knowing them for six or so weeks. But they surprised me with pretty desserts and lots of packages to open, mostly full of practical things like diapers, wipes, and baby shampoo, which was so perfect since we will need those things, whereas we have a good amount of clothes and toys and things from when Lane was little. I was so blessed by them.

So...that's life at 38 weeks (or 1 week shy of being able to say "nine months") pregnant in the Scarbrough household. Once again, I'm going to hope there's no 40-week belly photo, but...I'm not holding my breath!

36 Weeks (second time around)

Alright, peeps, this is going to be quick because it's late and I forgot that I have to make some coleslaw for tomorrow (you know it tastes better if you let it sit overnight!).

Only four weeks to go! Eeek! We have been super busy over the last few weeks trying to get things ready for this bambino's arrival! And, I think...I think we can say that we have accomplished most of what needed to be done:

*Everything in our apartment is functioning, many things better than they were just a couple of weeks ago (light fixtures, hot water heater, leak on the balcony, toilets, etc., etc., etc.).

*Baby clothes are all clean and while they're not put up (I'm honestly not sure where to put them), they are clean and easily accessible.

*We have 140 newborn disposable diapers (yes, we will switch to cloth, but probably not for the first month...I like to get in a routine before I add washing diapers every other day into the mix!), which might last us two weeks if we're lucky.

*We have a baby monitor.

*Our pantry is stocked the best I can do for now, just in case this baby comes early.

*I got new contact lenses and Shannon got new glasses.

*I've made it through 6 of 7 weeks of Turkish class outside my home.

36 weeks. Do I look giddy or what?

I went to the doctor earlier this week and am up to 10 kilos (22 pounds) gained. Baby is weighing (to my doctor's best guess) about 4.5 pounds, or a little over 2 kilos. She's still measuring a bit small, but my doctor isn't worried since I'm not a big (I'm tall but small-boned) person and neither is Shannon. I got some medicine for reflux since I've not been wanting to eat due to feeling like food was lodged in my esophagus. Now, while the medicine is nasty, at least I feel like eating and can lie down to sleep at night! Baby girl is still low, low, low, and my doctor estimates that my labor will last about six hours, beginning to end. Ha. I hope she's right, although I'm not banking on it!

That's that! I'll be back soon...like I said, we've actually gotten a lot done in the last 3-4 weeks so now I can relax some. I need to pack my hospital bag, put a towel under my side of the bed (just in case my water breaks at night!), and brush up on breathing techniques and that chapter about birth in What to Expect When You're Expecting. Not too long now!

34 Weeks (second time around)

I've been trying to get a good 34-week belly picture since Friday but to no avail. Here's the best (blurry) photo we could conjure up:

Friday was 34 weeks. I can't even believe that we're going to have another baby in, oh, a month and a half or so. Yikes!

The past couple of weeks have been very good for us as far as getting-things-done goes. We (finally) got a potty for Lane and a baby monitor (we haven't needed one until now because our apartments have been so small, but in this new apartment our bedroom [and where the baby will be] is so far away from Lane's room and the front of the apartment that we really can't hear crying very well if fans or noisemakers are going). All newborn clothes have been sorted and while they're not unpacked (since I'm not really sure where to put them), they are clean and easily accessible.

In the past two weeks we've gotten a light in our kitchen fixed, two lights in our living room/dining room fixed, and six light fixtures hung. Our toilet no longer squeaks when it's filling with water. Our balcony shouldn't leak anymore. An outlet that had come out from the wall has been reattached. We now have a rod in our entryway wardrobe so people can hang coats up when they come in. We got an end table to go between our couches and hold our telephone. We've gotten some baskets to organize hair bows, clips, spices, napkins, q-tips, and so on. I think the only thing left on our "to do" list as far as apartment things go is to get some blinds (which we already purchased) hung in our kitchen. It's a major load off of my back to know that these things have been purchased and that most of them are finished. Hopefully by Thanksgiving all of the loose ends will be tied up and I can spend time preparing for Christmas and Lane's birthday. It is a wonderful feeling to get things done that have been hanging over your head for months!

As far as pregnancy goes, I feel fine. I have a bit of heartburn at bedtime if I eat anything after dinner, so I'm usually choosing to be a little hungry before bed so that I can sleep...otherwise it's a bit painful to lie down, even with extra pillows. My legs/feet aren't hurting nearly as much as they did not too long ago, so I think that maybe I've finally developed some extra muscle in my legs to carry my belly around. My maternity pants are still sagging, which drives me crazy. Most days I feel pretty normal and capable of life, but some days I feel like this baby is so low that I can barely walk. I'm getting even slower at getting around this great big city.

Anyhow, that's what's up in the Scarbrough household at 34 weeks, 2 days pregnant with kiddo #2. We're doing well, just trying to get things taken care of ASAP so that we're not caught totally off-guard if this baby comes early. I miss blogging more regularly, but...I think it'll have been worth it once Baby Girl comes and I'm not stressed out trying to get things in our apartment fixed, since they'll already be taken care of!

32 Weeks (second time around)

32 weeks today!

Yikes, only eight more weeks to go! I went to the doctor yesterday and all is well on the baby front. She should be weighing about 3.5 pounds by now. She's head-down and quite low. She's so low, in fact, that my doctor wanted to check and make sure I wasn't dilated and in danger of preterm labor (I'm not [dilated, that is]). I gained another kilo in the last four weeks which puts me up to 17 pounds (8 kilos) gained. I'm three pounds behind what I had gained with Lane at 32 weeks, which might explain why my maternity pants are still falling down. It's quite annoying, because they fit great with Lane. Regular pants are too tight to be comfortable (although amazingly I can still get them on and buttoned), maternity pants are too baggy. I look like a frump. Thank goodness my friend Diana loaned me some of her maternity tops this past week so now I have more than four shirts to choose from!

I'm feeling well, just tired. My doctor wants me to try to not walk more than 30 minutes each day and to take it easy, and although she didn't put me on official bed rest, I think she thinks that Baby Girl shouldn't be quite so low so early. I'm already waddling and going to the bathroom, oh, a million times a day (or at least every hour). Ahh, well. It just confirms what I've thought all along, which is that I feel further along than I ever did with Lane, and that this one might come a bit early. We shall see, though. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a 2012 baby, either, since Lane was so late.

Baby girl is quite the squirmy little thing, and I often feel her feet in my ribs on my right side. I also feel either knees or fists rolling around sometimes, and it's still the weirdest feeling. I am still enjoying being pregnant overall, even though I'm getting more uncomfortable. I'm trying to remind myself that it'll all be over in about two months, which is just insane. We'll have another little person to take care of and to love. I'm just trying to enjoy these last weeks of being a family of three, of being able to give Lane lots of attention, and of getting to sleep all night! Life will change soon enough...I'm trying not to wish this pregnancy away but instead to savor it.

30 Weeks (second time around)

Today marks 3/4 through! I can't believe we're going to have a baby in ten(ish) weeks!

Anyways, since I'm such a bad (ahem, busy) blogger these days and only get around to one post a week, I thought I'd celebrate being 3/4 of the way there by giving you a week in photos. Don't worry, this won't be photo overload...at least not too much so.

My week started with a trip out to an outlet mall in search of a few things for our apartment. (I still plan on posting pictures of our apartment, but I've been waiting until it's "finished." Big purchases have to happen over time, so it'll be at least another month on the grand finale for you all.) Anyhow, on Sunday a friend and I hauled our toddlers to an outlet mall. She needed pants for her kiddo, I needed some things for the apartment. I only got a couple of things, but you can only haul so much back when you have to take two buses and haul a toddler and a stroller with you!

Our new entryway mat. I'm hoping it cuts down on the amount of mopping I have to do!

Last week my friend Kecia posted on facebook about her apple pancakes with cider syrup. We eat pancakes every Saturday, and I'm always on the lookout for new recipes, so I requested hers. I made a few modifications when I made them for the second time. And Kecia, the originals were great, but I have to say...try them my way. They're even yummier. =)

Yum. Click here for my (revised) recipe.

On Tuesday, Shannon's Russian teacher stayed and cooked us all dinner. She lives about two hours away and wanted to have us all over to her place one night, but we all knew it was just never going to happen. So we proposed she cook here one day after class, and that's just what she did! Four hours of cooking (and tons of dishes) later, we sat down to some traditional Uzbek dumplings and pilaf. It was fantastic, although I have to say that I'm glad we eat more vegetables in our normal food!

Uzbek plov (pilaf) and samsas (dumplings). Mmm.

I started a Turkish class at a local language school, so I'll be going to class three days a week for four hours a day. We decided that if I was ever going to take an actual class it was now or never. My class is seven weeks long, so we should finish right around Thanksgiving. Hopefully I'll learn a bit of new grammar that my conversation partner hasn't been able to explain to me.

With my new class comes lots of homework!

I love baked potatoes. But I only like them either a) loaded with butter, cheese, salt, and pepper, or b) with a bit of the butter, cheese, salt, and pepper, and a ton of broccoli. You can't find broccoli here in the summer, so we don't eat many baked potatoes in the summer. But now that broccoli is back in season (and less than $1 a pound, even!), we're eating bakers about once a week. And I love them, because it's one of the easiest meals I can prepare. They're healthy. And Lane loves them.

Huge baked potatoes topped with steamed broccoli, cheese, and a bit of butter, salt, and pepper. Full of potassium, vitamins A and C, calcium, fiber, and iron.

Since autumn officially arrived Shannon has been complaining that the world is cold. It's absolutely hilarious to me, since it's still in the 60's at the coldest part of the day. I love it. At any rate, we changed out our wardrobes this week, putting up shorts, tank tops, and short-sleeved shirts, and pulling out our sweaters, fleece pajama pants, and fuzzy socks. And we took the quilt off our bed and pulled out the down comforter. Now the world is warm again, at least when we're sleeping.

There's nothing like a poofy down comforter and fresh flowers on the nightstand to make you want to crawl into bed!

Last week we went to the emniyet to start the process to renew our ikamets (residence permits). Thursday we trekked back to the emniyet to pick them up. Praise the Lord, this process was about a gillion times easier than last year. And a whole lot cheaper too. We got two-year permits for the three of us for less than one of us cost last year.

Renewed! And we don't have to go back for two whole years! (Well, except to get New Baby Girl's sometime in the late winter/early spring.)

After I discovered last week that Lane is a pretty good (and enthusiastic) helper in the kitchen, I've started letting her help with anything I can. She puts vegetables in pots for me, raisins or nuts in cookie dough, spoonfuls of spices or cupfuls of flour into mixing bowls. She's a great helper, and loves it.

Helping me put broccoli in a pot. (Love the winter hat she's wearing. It's hilarious, but she insisted. Gotta love toddlers and their strong wills!)

Today I came home from class to find that Shannon had bought me roses. Miniature ones. Orange. I love them. And I love him.

I love fresh flowers.

And finally, today's belly picture. 30 weeks. I'm feeling just fine, overall. It's starting to get uncomfortable to lay on my back or to sit in one position for too long. My maternity pants are still too big if I'm walking around...I have to wear a belt to hold them up, which absolutely cracks me up. My legs kill me if I do too much walking (or if I just do too much, period), but if I take it easy for a day or two and soak in really hot water, I can get to feeling pretty normal. One thing is for sure...I only have 10ish weeks left!

30 weeks today. I feel ginormous.

28 Weeks (second time around)

It's finally happening:

I'm starting to look pregnant.

Taken this morning on the way out the door to my doctor's appointment. In hindsight I wish I hadn't worn long sleeves, but it was chilly when we left at 8:15. Plus, I've been wanting to wear this shirt that I got on clearance at the Gap for $7, so I jumped at the chance!

Over the past couple of weeks I've started to feel pregnant. My legs and feet are usually aching by midday. I've found myself wondering how I waited tables until 35ish weeks with Lane, but this time my legs are hurting by lunchtime. I think I've found the culprit: concrete and wooden floors everywhere. In America, even if you work for eight hours on your feet, most of the time you come home and walk around on carpet with padding underneath it. Not so here. So I've taken to wearing my running shoes (because let's face it, I'm not running in them!) in the house (it's a big cultural no-no to wear shoes in the house here, so my tutor and babysitter look at me like I'm crazy for doing it). It's helping somewhat, but I'm still very, very achy a lot of days. My doctor told me today to be sure to elevate my legs every chance I get to prevent varicose veins. Ugh. At least I have a great bathtub...I think God knew when it took us forever to find an apartment that I was going to need a real (and nice!) bathtub.

This bathtub has been a real treat, especially after not having one at all for over a year!

My appointment today went well. I'm up to 15 pounds (7 kilos) gained, which is about right on track, I think. I'm not sure how well I'd handle having to carry much more around on all the concrete floors, so I'm glad to not be gaining too much yet. I'll take the weight as it comes...just trying to be good to my feet, legs, and back, as well as to the baby! I am now taking four vitamins per day, per doctor's instructions: iron, omega 3's, my regular prenatal, and calcium/magnesium. Sheesh I'm glad I don't have to take so many pills on a normal basis! I also took my glucose test, which was miserable. My appointment was at 9:30, and I wasn't allowed to eat anything this morning. I got blood taken at about 10:00, again at 11:00, and again at 12:00. And then I was finally able to eat. So not fair making pregnant women fast for 12 hours!

All looks well with our girlie. She's measuring right on track, although her abdominal cavity is measuring a bit on the small side. My doctor said that she suspects that she'll just be a skinny baby (like Lane was), but is still going to keep an eye on it. All major organs are developing normally and measuring on track.

Baby Girl is very active, more so than Lane, was, I think, at this point in the pregnancy. I feel like I'm further along than I did with Lane at 28 weeks. That might have something to do with Lane being so late and maybe my due date being off, or it could just be because all my muscles have done this before. At any rate, we're going to try to have everything ready for Baby Girl's arrival eight weeks from now, when I'm at 36 weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if this one comes early (although after Lane, I also wouldn't be surprised if this one is a January baby instead of a December baby!).

For those who are curious, you can click here to see my 28-week belly photo from when I was pregnant with Lane. I think I look more like I did here, at 30 weeks.

26 Weeks (second time around)

It's really sad when I only find time to update the blog when it's time for a belly picture! In all honesty, this past week since getting back from vacation has just been insanely busy. Last weekend we spent cleaning, grocery shopping, doing laundry, unpacking, and so on. Then during the past four days I had class each day, Shannon had class two days, we each had two meetings to go to, we hosted people for dinner, and all the regular stuff as well (cooking, shopping, cleaning, studying/homework). So...it's been a busy week. We're hoping that this next week is not quite so crazy, because we've only been back a week and we're already exhausted!

All that being said, I'm 26 weeks pregnant today. Next Friday will be only three months until my due date. We're having a baby in THREE months! Eeek! We continue to be amazed at how quickly this pregnancy is flying by. It really is true that you just don't have time with second (and probably subsequent) pregnancies to relish each moment, read everything in What to Expect When You're Expecting, and so on. Life is just too, too busy with a toddler for me to focus much on how much our lives are going to change in December.

26-weeks. Taken on our balcony.

So...onto pregnancy stuff. I'm feeling fine. I haven't been sleeping very well at night, but I think it's got more to do with drifting off for 10-15 minutes in the afternoon when I put Lane down for her nap than being uncomfortable. I'm trying really, really hard to not succomb to the desire for a nap after lunch so that I'll sleep better at night. I'll have a doctor's appointment in a couple of weeks and will have my blood drawn and all that lovely stuff. Speaking of which, did you know that I haven't had to have a single UA this pregnancy? I remember very distinctly having to pee in a cup every. single. time. I went to the doctor in America. Haven't had to do it once here. Kinda nice. =)

Comparing photos with when I was 26 weeks pregnant with Lane, I feel like I look better this time...not as fat. I remember feeling really chubby and not "pregnant" at 26 weeks with her. This time around I feel like I actually look pregnant, and I also feel like I'm not gaining extra weight in my hips, butt, and thighs, which is where nearly all of my "fat stores" weight from Lane went. I can still wear my regular jeans and I don't feel like they're as tight around my thighs as when I was pregnant before. I have pulled out my maternity clothes (tank tops, especially) and it's nice to wear them when I'm lounging around, but if I'm out walking around I prefer regular pants since my maternity ones sag and I have to constantly pull them up.

Well, that's that! I can't believe we're almost to the third trimester already...we need to get a move on getting ready for this baby!

24 Weeks (second time around)

24 weeks and 2 days. This photo brought to you from Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.

22 Weeks (second time around)

Today I got my BabyCenter update in my inbox with a link to their website telling me all about being 22 weeks pregnant. When you go to their site there are usually questions and answers that might interest you over on the right side of the page. Today I noticed that there was a question from someone about their being really big for 22 weeks and was it normal, etc. What caught me was the "top answer." It started with "22 weeks pregnant is 6 months and 1 day pregnant..."

Does anyone else see the error in that statement, or is it just me?

First off, let me state this: this is my blog so I'm entitled to say what I want (ahem, that's for you, Chach [my sister]). Therefore I will go into this rant, and if you don't like it, well...you don't have to say anything. It's not directed at anyone in particular. It's just a pet peeve of mine. That being said...

40 weeks of pregnancy does NOT equal 10 months, ever. You can say that each month has 4 weeks, blah, blah, blah, but the truth of the matter is that February is the only month that has only 4 weeks in it. 7 months have 31 days and 4 months have 30 days. That means that for every 9 weeks pregnant you are, you get about 2 months, not 2 months plus a week. 40 weeks is approximately 9 months and 1 week. Considering you're not even technically pregnant the first 2 weeks of that 40 weeks, if you deliver before 41 weeks (according to your LMP), a pregnant woman isn't even technically pregnant for a whole 9 months, let alone 10 months.

All that being said, I fully understand that pregnancy can feel like it lasts forever. I was pregnant with Lane for 42 weeks and 3 days (including the 2 weeks you're not "technically" pregnant in the beginning) and I get it: it feels like it lasts forever. It feels like you should be able to claim 10 months. But you can't, because it's just wrong. If you're pregnant for 40 weeks and that equals 10 months, how do you fit the remaining 12 weeks of the year into the 2 months that you have left? Answer: you can't; 40 weeks does not equal 10 months!!!

There. I feel better. Now everyone out there knows how I feel about women who lament their 10-month-long pregnancies. Consider yourselves informed. =)

22 weeks today! (love Lane in the background...cracks me up.)

So, I'm 22 weeks pregnant (almost 5 months, nowhere close to 6-months-and-a-day that mystery-answerer on BabyCenter claims) today. I have no idea if I've gained any weight in the last 4 weeks (I've been trying!), but I can tell that my belly is getting bigger. I can still wear most of my regular pants, although my maternity shorts (I only have one pair) from the Gap are pretty comfortable these days. I'm feeling fine, have plenty of energy, am sleeping pretty well, and overall can't complain a bit. Baby Girl is kicking up a storm and I'm still surprised how much I can feel her moving, since I didn't feel Lane at all until 21 weeks. It's still a novelty at this point. I have two doctor's appointments on Tuesday, one at my regular OBGYN and another with an ultrasound specialist who will look at Baby Girl's heart and make sure she doesn't have any cardiac problems.

Well, that's that. We're on the mend, for anyone who's wondering. Lane still has a nasty cough and I've got some stuff clinging onto my nasal passages, but overall we're much better. This upcoming week looks pretty mellow compared to the past few weeks and I'm so excited to not be super busy...just normal busy! It'll be fantastic.

20 Weeks and a Birthday Boy

Friday was a fun, albeit exhausting, day.

Shannon turned 37. The day started with birthday pancakes and a skype call with his dad.

My first attempt at number pancakes. Not too bad!

Then we walked Lane down to some friends' house where the dad babysat Lane and our friends' kid while we all went to IKEA. Thank you, Tim, for giving us a relaxing day shopping instead of a stressful one!

Lane loves to ride on daddy's shoulders.

No photos of IKEA. I mean, it's IKEA. We did eat lunch there and spent a long time there. Our friends needed to pick out big things like a couch, so they wanted to be sure to get what they liked. Our list was much shorter and was mostly things for Lane's room. When her room is all put together you'll see photos.

After IKEA, we rushed home in order to spend a few minutes with Lane before heading out again. Our friend Kristina came and babysat so that we could go out for dinner. Thankfully Lane loves Kristina, so it wasn't any skin off of her back that we only saw her for about two hours all day long!

Technically this was our anniversary dinner, but we went on Shannon's birthday since Fridays are less hectic than Wednesdays, generally speaking.

My chargrilled chicken sandwich. It was yummy!

So, on Shannon's birthday, on a Friday, we went to TGIFriday's! We hadn't been before, and quite honestly probably won't return. The food was good, but by the time you take into consideration the hour it took us to get there, the hour it took us to get home, the fact that they didn't have their air conditioning on and it was about 87° outside (and inside too), and that our dinner was about $40 (a burger, a chicken sandwich, and two small waters)...it was good, but not that good. Shannon's still on the quest for the best hamburger in Istanbul, as Friday's burger was not, in his opinion, worth the extra cost over and above NumNum's burger.

Shannon with his birthday/anniversary burger, complete with fake (not pork) bacon!

We were so hot after traveling an hour in the heat and eating our meal in the heat that we were honestly not up for being out in heat anymore. So, despite the fact that Kristina was spending the night at our house and we could stay out as late as we wanted, we headed home and were home by about 8:30. Shannon bought ice cream and we all made banana splits/sundaes and watched You've Got Mail, which Shannon had never seen. I assembled the step stool we bought for Lane, and we stayed up way too late. It was a good birthday/anniversary celebration!

20 weeks + one day.

And lastly, Friday marked 20 weeks, or halfway through this pregnancy. Only 4.5 months to go!

18 Weeks (second time around)

18 weeks.

Today I went to the doctor for my 18-week check-up and all is looking fine. This baby is still measuring right on track, has big feet (an inch long already!), and is a GIRL! We're excited that Lane will have a little sister to play with and be buddies with. And daddy's excited to have a gaggle of girls in his house. *grin*

I'm feeling great. I don't even feel pregnant most of the time (well, other than the middle of the night when I have to pee at least twice). I started to feel the baby move sometime in this last week, which is, of course, oh-so-fun. I can't wait until the kicks are strong enough for Shannon to feel them. I'm still wearing all regular clothes, although I did get a pair of maternity shorts from the Gap that I could wear now if I want to (they have that adjustable elastic in the waist), but I don't need them yet by a long shot.

Unfortunately I'm still holding as far as my weight goes...I didn't gain even a single pound in the last month. I'm trying, really I am. I just know that eating lots of junk just to gain weight isn't any healthier for the baby than not eating the junk and not gaining weight. Surely weight gained from empty calories isn't good weight, even when pregnant. Right? I'm trying to eat extra dinner, nuts, olives, cheese and bread or crackers for snacks, lots of fruit and veggies, and a milkshake every night for dessert. I'm getting my 300 extra calories each day...I just think I'm burning them off just as quickly as I eat them!

That's all that's up in pregnancy-land. We just moved last week and I've been busy unpacking, cleaning, and organizing. I have a TON of photos of our place but have been too busy to give you all a tour, so...rest assured one is coming. As well as lots of "fun" stories about moving in. Trust me...they're so good they get their own post.

16 Weeks (second time around)

16 week belly shot on the balcony. I think I'm showing a teensy bit.

In pregnancy-land, I had my doctor's appointment last Monday and all looks well with Baby #2. This baby is measuring right on track for an EDD of December 16th, which makes me SO happy since Lane was always measuring small (which might be part of the reason I went 17 days past due with her and still had to be induced). I'm really, really hoping that this baby decides to debut on a day other than Christmas, and of course it'd be nice if he/she is early, but really I just don't want a Christmas baby. My birthday is on New Year's and one holiday birthday is enough for this family as far as I'm concerned! Of course God will probably decide to give us a Christmas baby just to teach me something about trusting Him for what's best...

It's fun because here you get an ultrasound/sonogram every time you go to the doctor. So I get to hear the heartbeat and see our little bebek ("baby" in Turkish) every time. It's fun. And it makes me wonder what on earth American doctors charge so much for since you only get 2-3 ultrasound/sonograms in the States. Hmm...

My doctor also advised me to really try to gain some weight over the next month, so I'm enjoying the freedom to do things that I don't usually do, like get whipped cream on my frappucino at Starbucks or eat bigger, more filling snacks. I'm not sure if it's helping me gain any weight, but I can definitely say that I'm trying everything I can short of just sitting down with a pint of Ben & Jerry's, which wouldn't be the healthiest way to gain some weight anyways.

I'm enjoying reading back over my bi-weekly posts from when I was pregnant with Lane and comparing then with now. For example, when I was pregnant with Lane I was still super tired at 18 weeks. (You can read my 16-week post from my first pregnancy here). Granted, I was working 30 hours a week waiting tables, but still, this go-around I have a good bit of energy and have for a week or two. We're usually in bed by 10:00 or 10:30 and I usually wake up on my own after eight hours and can't go back to sleep even if I want to. I guess that's good?

I've also noticed that my emotions have toned down a bit which has been quite refreshing. When I was pregnant with Lane I think I really only had 2-3 times that I could blame the pregnancy for making me super emotional and overreact. This pregnancy...I felt like I cried every day over the silliest things for weeks. I'm so glad to be back to my (fairly) level-headed self.

So there you go. I'm trying not to post too much about pregnancy in my "regular" posts and to save it for my bi-weekly posts, because I know that it gets annoying reading peoples' bemoanings about their pregnancies if they do it too much. I figure if I can keep my bemoanings to once every two weeks, my readers might actually find them interesting and not annoying. Capisce?

14 Weeks (second time around)

Well, just like when I was pregnant with Lane, I don't have much to show for my first belly pic with this baby. But, seeing how I've already gotten a couple of requests from my sister and friends for belly pics, I figured I'd go ahead and start at 14 weeks again. Plus, this just goes to show that not everyone starts showing super early with their second pregnancies. (You can see my 14-week belly pic the first time around here.)

Forgive the horrible glare from the overhead light and the frizzy ponytail. This is what you get after a long day with a 16-month old and a husband who didn't want to take lots of photos.

I can tell that I'm a tad bit thicker in the waist (1/2-inch to an inch), but overall all my regular clothes are still fitting just fine.

I've been feeling better this week, nausea-wise. I've been really blessed this time around, just as I was with Lane, to not feel too badly. This go-around I had about a month where I just felt icky. I actually threw up once, too, so I can no longer say that I've never thrown up while pregnant. Sad. There were a couple of weeks where I was more tired than usual. And of course, my sense of smell is so heightened that I can smell the Atlantic Ocean from here. But I think that I'm on the upswing and will hopefully be feeling completely back to normal in a week or so.

Lane at "mama is 14 weeks pregnant."

That's about it that's up in pregnancy-land. I have my second doctor's appointment on Monday. Hopefully as I come out of the First Trimester Black Hole I'll be better at updating again. My lack of blogging correlates 100% with the pregnancy, so...as I feel better I fully plan on updating regularly. Lest anyone wonder if this blog will ever regain it's once-regularity, I promise, it will.

42 Weeks

42-week belly pic. I haven't gained any weight in about 3 weeks.

Ugh. Lane is so, so late. We are going to have to teach her some manners when she's old enough to understand that 2 weeks late is WAY too late. Sigh.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday morning. The first thing he asked me was, "So, do you want to be induced today?" Our hospital is not that big, and they only schedule (I think) 1 induction per day, so the hospital is booked up for inductions this week, except for yesterday and Friday. I didn't feel mentally prepared to leave the doctor's office for the hospital to be induced yesterday, so we scheduled an appointment for Friday morning at 6 am. After leaving the doctor's, we went to the hospital to have a non-stress test done on the baby just to make sure that she is still ok in the womb, since after today I will technically be overdue, and some babies don't thrive past 42 weeks. If the test had left any question then I would have been induced yesterday with no problem or complaint from me, but since all looks and sounds well, we're waiting until Friday for the induction and praying that I go into labor naturally before then.

Everyone keeps asking me why I don't want to be induced and advising me to just be induced and get it over with. I think that what it all really boils down to is this: I want to feel like it is my choice to get an epidural. Because I want to at least try to give birth without one, and so many people who have had natural births and induced births tell me that it is more painful when you are induced and that I will want the epidural, I feel like if I am induced that my choice to have one or not will be taken away from me. Does that make sense? If I decide that labor is too much and that I want the epidural, I want it to be because natural labor was too much, not because the induction caused it to be too much. I also really don't want to be hooked up to an IV or fetal monitor. I want to be able to move around, walk, get in the bathtub (our hospital has a GREAT labor tub), etc. I want to be able to make it through the early part of labor at home, not at the hospital strapped to all sorts of contraptions.

There are other reasons that I've been willing to wait so long before being induced. My original due date was January 12th, but they changed it at my 11-week (which turned out to be 12-week) ultrasound, saying that our baby was older than the date of the 12th (based on my last period) would indicate. We're pretty sure we know the date I got pregnant. I know that I ovulate early (not late, like many women who go past 40 weeks), and haven't had a cycle longer than 26 days in over 2 years. All of these things have led us to believe that the due date of the 5th was correct, but "full-term" is 38-42 weeks. Since there is that possibility that my due date actually was the 12th (and I ovulated late that month), and not the 5th, Lane would only be a week late as of tomorrow, and that's still only 41 weeks and not technically overdue. Every other sonogram that I've had (besides the 12-week one) has indicated that Lane was not actually due on the 5th, but on the 12th or the 14th, or even the 16th. However, because ultrasounds done in the first trimester are supposed to be the most accurate (all babies grow at the same rate the first trimester) we still thought she was due on the 5th. All that to say, while we (and our doctor) believe that the date of the 5th was/is accurate, we also don't believe that I'm way overdue. We're all hoping that she decides to come on her own between now and Friday, because let's face it: all babies would eventually make their way into the world without an induction, and most of them would do it before they were really in the womb 42 weeks (or 40 weeks if you want to get technical). Most babies are "late" because the due date was wrong and because up to 42 weeks is still normal, not because they're actually late.

My doctor stripped my membranes again yesterday. I have been having contractions, although they haven't really hurt. I'm about 3, maybe 4, centimeters dilated, and baby's head is quite low and well-engaged. I'm mentally ready to have this baby, and my doctor says that my body is indicating it's ready for labor as well. I'm getting to the "miserable" stage, but it comes and goes, with me feeling fine (just pregnant) about half the time and miserable (barely able to walk or move) the other half. Perhaps by waiting the extra couple of days I'll get my wish to at least start labor naturally and be able to make the decision to either get an epidural or use Pitocin to speed labor up when I see how things are going naturally before I circumvent the natural process. Nobody was ever pregnant forever...