28 Weeks and "Normal"

There's nothing more reassuring during pregnancy than hearing the words, "Everything looks normal." We had our first 3rd Trimester check-up this week at the birth center, which means lots of tests: hemoglobin, glucose tolerance, uterine growth, etc. and everything came back NORMAL. I assumed that it would but, as you're sitting there watching the blood being drawn from your arm, this doubt creeps into your mind and you wonder, "What if I'm doing something wrong?" But, "normal" was the word of the week and for that, I'm truly thankful. It makes it hard to feel confident when you constantly have friends and strangers alike saying things like, "You can't possibly be 7 months along...you're much too tiny." or "You're only 7 months; your belly looks huge!!" I'm learning to just brush all the comments aside and wait until the midwives at the birth center give me the thumbs up, which will be every 2 weeks now, instead of once per month, now that we're in the 3rd Trimester.

We're hoping for some more "normal" results this coming week as we head into UNC Women's Hospital for our 29 Week ultrasound. Tuesday's the big day when we get the verdict: Cesarean at the hospital vs. Natural delivery at the Birth Center. We're praying for the latter!!! At my 2nd Trimester ultrasound, I was diagnosed with a partial placenta previa (the placenta was partially covering the opening of the cervix through which the baby will have to pass during delivery). We're hoping that on Tuesday, they'll say that the placenta has moved up high enough that it won't interfere with dilation of the cervix or normal delivery. If it's still too close to the cervix, there's no choice; we have to do a cesarean. So, keep praying that placenta up up up!!! We'll keep you updated. If anything, we'll get another sneak-peek at our little Molly inside her dark, warm home.

Molly and I entered the 3rd Trimester this week and we're gearing up for 3 months of rapid growth and development. As of this week, Molly should weigh about 2.5 pounds and is about 16 inches long. She's beginning to fill up her temporary home and stretching out is becoming more difficult. I had the amazing experience this week of feeling what I believe was a tiny hand pushing out of my belly as she was trying to stretch out. It looked like she was waving "Hi" to me!!! She has learned a new skill this week that she'll add to her growing repertoire of activities which already includes coughing, sucking, hiccupping, and "practice breathing". She has learned this week to blink and can do so voluntarily or involuntarily when a bright light is shined on my belly. She has also started dreaming this week, thanks to the REM sleep she has started experiencing as part of her normal sleep schedule. I actually think I caught her dreaming the other night. As I was sitting on the couch, it felt like she was sleeping because she was so "quiet". All of a sudden, she sort of "spazzed out" and everything was going at once...arms, legs, knees, fists. It reminded me of when you wake up in the middle of a "running dream" or a "falling dream" and you start flailing your arms in your sleep. So, sweet dreams to you, Molly and I hope you don't have too many more running dreams...for your sake and mine :-)

Below are some pictures from the baby shower my Orange Charter School co-workers put together for Molly a few weeks ago and I never got a chance to post.

Good-Byes and Hellos: Weeks 26 & 27

We recently had to say good-bye to some very good friends. Valerie and Krzysztof are friends of ours from church that we've become very close to over the last few years. Valerie and I both shared our struggles with our earlier infertility and then shared our joy as we both found out we were pregnant within two weeks of each other. The four of us have swapped pregnancy stories and advice, laughed over odd cravings and "popped" belly-buttons, attended Bradley childbirth classes together, and even took our "baby-moon" vacation together to the Outer Banks. Krzysztof's job was recently relocated to Kansas City and we were forced to say our last good-byes. They were tough farewells, but I'm thankful for the fact that technology is shrinking our world, allowing Valerie and I to continue our friendship. Who knows? Perhaps we'll re-connect someday and Baby Molly and Baby Brandon can meet outside the womb for the first time.

To off-set our sad good-byes, we had a fantastically joyful "hello" this week as we welcomed our new nephew, Isaiah Wayne Brandon to the world on May 3rd. Born to my oldest sister, Jessica, and her husband, Lewis, he is their second son and Baby Brother to 3-year old, Corbin. Isaiah is perfect in every way, from his teeny tiny toes to his little heart-shaped lips. I think Molly enjoyed meeting her new cousin too. As I was holding Isaiah in my arms and resting him on my belly, Molly kept kicking him right in his little tushie. I guess that was her way of saying, "Hello!" It was so fun to practice "mommying" him while Jessica rested and recovered, although it has made the waiting for our own little baby even harder. Sometimes I feel like the next three months can't pass quickly enough. I just can't wait to meet Molly and welcome her into our family.

I think the "mommying practice" converged with my crazy pregnancy hormones and a huge growth spurt in Molly to create a lethal emotional trifecta this week. I have to admit, I've been a bit skeptical throughout my pregnancy of these rumored mood swings, crying bouts, and emotional outbursts. I chalked it all up to Hollywood hype that made for good screenplay, but wasn't really true. Well, I'll be the first to admit, I was wrong!!!

I dragged myself through this week, exhausted from head to toe. It felt like the first trimester all over again, except that instead of feeling nauseous, I was ravenously hungry...all the time, no matter how much I ate. I wished that I could take my food intravenously so I could catch up on my sleep while I ate :-) On top of that, I was a sobbing wreck. Everything made me cry: songs on the radio, my mom's voice on the phone, stress at work, even trying to decide what to eat for dinner. This wouldn't be so weird except that I NEVER cry, over ANYTHING! I don't think Eric knew what to do with himself because he'd never really seen me cry before. And of course, spending time with Baby Isaiah just made me want Molly to be here even more, the icing on the cake of this crazy week. So, in case you didn't believe it, I'm here as your witness: pregnancy hormones are for real!!!

I think my body has finally re-adjusted to Molly's new growth rate and things have settled back to normal, or as normal as they can be heading into the third trimester. At least now, Eric doesn't have to walk into a room and wonder if I'm going to bite his head off or cry on his shoulder :-) The new normal for Molly is "speedy growth." She is weighing in this week at just over two pounds and will more than triple that weight over the next 3 months. She is also over 14 inches long from head to toe and will add another 5-10 inches to her height before she's born. She is now able to open and close her tiny eyelids and can detect bright sunlight shining on my belly. She has regular periods of sleeping and wakefulness, although her constant belly-dancing has me convinced there's much more of the latter than the former. She's also busy "practicing" her breathing in her immature lungs by inhaling amniotic fluid and blowing it back out. All that practice can give her a bout of the baby hiccups, an occurrence I'm pretty sure we felt the other night as we were laying in bed. With our hands on my belly, Eric and I both felt a "bump-bump-bump" that was much too strong and slow to be a heart-beat and much too rhythmic to be just kicking. Practice makes perfect, Molly, so keep on "breathing"!