Week 25

This has been an absolutely great week! With Christmas over and Dan home for a few days I was able to get SO much done! We put together the bassinet that my Aunt Pam gave us. We just need to polish it up and it will be ready to go. We did the tons of shopping (mostly for clothes) that Dan has been putting off for a while. Dan? Not want to shop? Who would have thought! I've done about six loads of laundry and the apartment has been vacuumed! Now I just need to finish relabeling the recently reorganized storage drawers and finish the dishes and I will be well on my way to some scrapbooking time! Yippee!
We had an awesome, spur of the moment, New Year's Eve bash. It seems to be turning into a tradition that we call everyone on December 31st and say "Hey! Come over and celebrate with us!" We always wait to see if someone else is going to do something and they never do. So instead of being lonely we get all the other lonely people together with us! Shockingly, this turned out to be about 15 people this year, as well as a few
friendly canines. Needless to say, our usually spacious apartment was QUITE full. But we had a good time and nobody (except the clumsy pregnant lady, aka. ME) spilled anything on our carpet. I don't think I could have asked for better. It was really nice to get everyone together, just to hang out for a while.
As for the baby, she has been very active. I feel her move most of the day now, which I absolutely love. I think she's been having the hiccups a lot lately. Occasionally I feel this really rhythmic: bounce up, down, reverb, repeat. It feels really weird and makes me laugh. I just imagine her sitting in there (although I'm sure it's too crammed by now) and just bouncing on her bottom when the hiccups come along. Not reality, but a cute image in my head. I can definitely tell she's starting to run out of room. She's started to painfully jab her pointy portions into me. I had an elbow or something jabbed in my right side for about 15min yesterday! I kept trying to convince her to move, pushing back- laying down- rolling over-etc, but she definitely took her time changing positions.
I also think I may have had my first actual Braxton Hicks contractions while grocery shopping the other day (it seemed different from the round ligament pains anyway). I kept getting a tight pain in my lower abdomen that was really uncomfortable. I had to stop walking a few times to just let them pass. I guess I'll have to talk to the doctors about that one at our next visit.
Other than those few complications, I've been doing fabulously and feeling absolutely wonderful! We even found Aiden's heartbeat with the stethoscope the other night. Dan and I decided to see if she would react to a flashlight (her eyes are supposed to be starting to open). No luck there, but we did manage to find her heartbeat a whopping 2 1/2 inches above my belly button! It was so cool! Well, I'm hoping and praying these next 14 weeks will be as good at this past month has been. I can finally say I'm starting to enjoy being pregnant, even though it IS more difficult to get around.
Now for some belly pictures:





It's about time to retire this shirt. It's just about too short!
















I think I'll start including a "top" view from now on.












And from the front: Those stripes really minimize the bump.






*When is your due date? April 12, 2010

*What week are you in? 25 weeks

*How much weight have you gained? +7 lbs

*Do you know the gender of your baby? If so, what? GIRL!

*Do you have a name picked out? What? Aiden Ryelle

*Maternity clothes? Yes please!

*Stretch Marks?I give up. I'll still put on the lotion because it feels nice, but I have no hope left.

*How are you feeling right about now? It's all acid reflux baby

*Have you felt the baby move? There's a little dancer in there!

*Sleep habits? Must remember to sleep on my side.

*Any food cravings? Does just craving food count?

*Anything you loved before that you absolutely cannot eat anymore? Well, I shouldn't have had that fondue last night. Oil just means acid reflux.

*Memorable Moment of the Week: Hearing Aiden's heartbeat with the stethoscope!