26 week update

Belly at 25 weeks, 1 day(ish), photo taken last Thursday

How big is baby? My weekly BabyCenter.com email tells me Baby Girl is 14 inches long and almost two pounds.

Weight gain/loss: My guess is that I'm up about 10 pounds since my pre-pregnancy weight. I've had a rough week with Ford... lots of tantrums and whining on his part... and I swear I've been "emotionally eating" because of it. I told Brad that yesterday, any time I had a moment to myself (during Ford's short nap, or a rare moment of him playing quietly, or after he went to bed), I had the urge to eat a Honey Bun! And the bad thing is, I had a box of Honey Buns from Sam's! So yes, I ate three Honey Buns yesterday. WHAT?! I didn't even really want them, I was just like, "NEED CARBS, NEED PEACE." Maybe I should try memorizing Bible verses in those brief "me" times, unless I want to end up gaining 60 pounds by March. 

Sleep: Not so good in the last week or so. I don't know what's going on... I'm not uncomfortable, and I'm falling asleep pretty easily now that we've overcome the flu and chest congestion. But four nights in a row, like clockwork, I've awoken at 3 a.m. on the dot and not been able to fall asleep till 5 or 6 a.m. I really can't explain it! It's just two or three hours out of my night, but it ends up making me feel like I haven't slept at all. Maybe it's just the busyness of this time of year. My mind starts racing when I wake up and I end up going over my to-do list.

Movement: She's an active little lady, no doubt. I mostly feel kicks, not a lot of punches, but they are so frequent! Ford had this patented move of running his knee cap or fist or foot across the length of the inner front of my belly really slowly and firmly. It made my skin crawl! Such a strange sensation. Baby girl has only done that a couple of times, whereas Ford did it almost daily at this point. She also hasn't hiccuped yet, while Ford would get hiccups a couple of times a day beginning around this time. Just interesting to start noting the differences between their fetal movement. 

Symptoms: The leg soreness I mentioned last time as subsided some. Not sure what symptoms to report... there's not a lot happening! I was at a Christmas party last Thursday and it felt like she was trying to bust through my right side. SO much pressure. But that was kind of a one-off thing.

Belly button: The top little nub part is OUT! It's been an outtie since I was, I don't know, 15 weeks? Before I was even really showing. It popped way early with Ford too. With him I had to tape it down with masking tape so it wasn't a huge distraction through my clothes, and I'm close to that point with baby girl. I guess I have a shallow belly button! 

Food cravings: Okay, last time I waxed philosophical about what a craving really is, blah blah. But over the past two weeks, I think I understand! I was at CVS picking up some medicine for Ford, and I saw a 12-pack of Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry, and it sounded SO GOOD at that moment, so I bought it! Weird! I don't think I had ever had one before, so there's no reason that I should have thought that sounded good. And I was driving around with Ford running errands the other day when I realized I had only had a few apple slices for breakfast, and I thought a Burger King Croissanwich would really hit the spot. How weird is that?! So we found a nearby BK and I ate the sandwich and Ford ate the hash browns. Ha. Obviously between the Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi and the sausage Croissanwich, I have really classy cravings. 

Gender: Sweet Baby Girl!
What I miss? Update on my answer from two weeks ago... I got to have a few sips of cider! We went to Flying Saucer to celebrate Brad running the Spartan Beast race, and our server brought me a tasting glass of cider. It honestly was not that good, but I think it scratched my itch for cider. So there's not much I miss this week. Maybe feeling cute in my clothes? I love cold weather clothes, but it's just not the same when I don't have a waist!

What I'm looking forward to? Seeing friends and family over the holidays. We'll be heading to Austin on Friday to watch my younger brother's band play their last show ever. We've got a packed schedule for the days we'll be in the Hill Country area, but I can't wait! 

Big Brother: There was a nursery rhyme my parents read to me when I was little, and I feel like it applies to Ford (just switch the girl references for boy references): 

There was a little girl.

She had a little curl.

When she was good she was very good, 

But when she was bad she was horrid!

We've had a week of horrid days around these parts. Not totally terrible... he has some truly heart-melting moments that seriously fill me up to my tippy top with joy and warm fuzzies... but oh man. Lots of toddler angst. And I do not know what to do about it, other than continue to give him lots of love, try to help him process through his difficult moments, quote Scripture to him about patience, gentleness, obedience, and say lots of prayers for wisdom and discernment! I have found "quiet time" to be really effective for Ford over the last week. If he's really just beside himself and nothing I do will help, I put him in his crib, turn one lamp on, and turn on some piano music for him, then leave the room. He has a moment with his blankies and puppy, calms down, and after a few minutes starts chirping, "Mama? Mama. Mama!" That's usually enough to reset him for a little while, and we can play peacefully again. For a little while.