Week 26

How far along: 26 weeks

Best moment this week:  A lazy Saturday spent on the beach and in the pool relaxing.

What's new with baby:  This week she is about 14 inches long and weighs 1.75 pounds.  She's about the size of a head of lettuce!  Her hearing is getting more sensitive as her ears develop more this week, and she is practicing breathing by inhaling and exhaling small amounts of fluid to get ready for that first real breath in three months.  She loves to kick and twist and lets me know when she's getting hungry.  Usually before my stomach growls she starts kicking furiously and I know it's time to eat.  At 26 weeks we have also statistically reached viability- can you believe technology has come so far that 90% of babies born this early can survive?  Of course I want her to get much stronger and keep cooking for as long as possible!

Mom is feeling: Great except for occasional twinges and aches in my lower back, especially when I go up and down stairs.  Even though I feel fine, the doctor's office prescribed me another round of antibiotics because they still found traces of last month's annoying bacterial infection.  Let's hope the lingering bacteria die before they have a chance to make me sick again.  Now that it's October I'm getting more and more excited that her arrival is getting closer... you might have noticed that the ticker in the top right of the blog is in the double digits, less than 100 days to go!

Weight gain:  I don't know.  I haven't weighed myself all week, and don't really want to.  Let's say 13+.

Wardrobe: The great thing about living in mild South Carolina is that my summer maternity clothes should last me all fall too.  I've found that by accessorizing with a different scarf, cardigan, or jewelry I can make the same 3 maternity tops look different each week.

Cravings:  None.

Missing:  Simple abilities like bending over to pick something up without losing my balance.

Name news: We call her by our favorite regularly, although we're not yet ready to commit or reveal it as her official name.

Scared about: Nothing right now, things have been so busy lately that I hardly have time to think or worry about anything!

Excited about:  Holding her.  The bigger the belly gets the more I hold it because it's the natural place for my hands to go.  Then I start thinking about how in a few months I'll actually be able to hold her in my arms and see that sweet little face and I get all giddy inside.  I can't wait to meet her!