So its been a while, but I'm back. I have officially entered the 3rd trimester! That means only 12 weeks to go....I'm not ready!!! Our little man has a name now- Harwyn Asher Mack. And yes, we know his initials will be HAM. The name Harwyn came from an elderly man Andrew met. It means brave friend and has an English origin like parts of Andrew's family. I'm completely in love with the name Asher and have every intention of calling him Ash-unless of course he's being a brat, at which I will refer to him as Andrew's Spawn...I mean Harwyn Asher.
Finally he is big enough and the placenta is high enough so I can actually feel him moving around. For those of you who have never been pregnant, the baby kicking feels like massive gas bubbles or for you ladies, huge butterflies moving around your stomach. Often times it feels like a alien trying to escape. Sometimes it tickles and other times, when he kicks you just right, it'll send you running to the bathroom, but with in a second, that urgent, gotta go feeling is gone...but you'll probably still go to make sure that little kick didn't cause a little leak. Our little guy can now even be felt moving from the outside. In the evening, if I've been laying on one side for a bit, you can feel a bulge the size of a baseball on that side of my stomach where he has settled in and got comfy. And if I stand up pretty quickly from that position, one side of my stomach will stick out a tiny bit more then the other side. I'm actually really enjoy this because I feel like I can bond with him now. Its also helping me learn his daily routine, which involves a lot of naps. He even dreams! How cute is that?!
A lot has changed since my last post, mostly my waistline. I seem to be expanding over my entire body. There is not one square inch of your body that is not effected at all by pregnancy, even your nose falls victim. My ideal nose has started to do this weird thing were it is swelling and spreading across my face. My cheeks look as though I've been hiding nuts away in them....I promise I haven't, however, peanut M&M's do sound divine right about now. I can clearly see the changes in my boobs and stomach, they're huge, but my face, well, lets just say I was blissfully unaware of the, "I just got stung by a Bee and I'm having a allergic reaction," look I've been sporting. It wasn't until I seen a picture and thought, " What's wrong with my face? That is a horrible angle." Then I looked at two more photos when shock, horror, and dizziness set in-its not the camera, the angle, or the lighting...its my face!! There is no preparing for that realization!
So the little guy who has taken my body captive isn't quite so little anymore. I had another ultrasound today and he is almost 3 lbs! He can blink his eyes now, which have been sealed shut up until recently. He is even growing eyelashes. And our little guy is getting chubby. Before he was growing longer and developing all his functioning parts, but now his job is to beef up, because we all love a fat little baby. So in the next 12 weeks we're gonna have a heavy weight....well, a little heavy weight 6lbs 8oz, fingers crossed (I'm not cut out to push out any 10 pounders), with an average size head. Our little man is busy, preparing for his big debut. He has been having intense practice sessions in breathing and swallowing. He practice breathes the amniotic fluid in and out so he'll be a pro when its time for his first breath. He's also been busy at work on learning how to suck and swallow food. Since his taste buds are up and running, when he swallows the amniotic fluid, he's getting a taste of my last meal...hope he likes pasta!
Weighing in at 2lbs 12oz, he is in the 54 percentile. So he is right on target. This is a big relief for us because about a month ago we found out the the location where the umbilical cord is attach to the placenta, is in the wrong spot. Instead of being dead center, (on the placenta, not the baby, his belly button will be in the right spot) the umbilical cord is attached at the very edge of the placenta. This can cause the baby to receive less nutrients, causing low birth weight. But for now, he looks good.
So that is the latest with us. Later this week I'll post some pictures on the progress of our nursery and maybe a photo of my exploding stomach.
