Oh So Slightly Baby Crazy: 25 Weeks! A Rutabega! (ummm a ruta-what?)

From Babycenter:

How your baby's growing

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

How your life's changing

Your baby's not the only one with more hair — your locks may look more full and lustrous than ever. It's not that you're growing more hair, but thanks to hormonal changes, the hair that you'd normally shed is sticking around longer than usual. Enjoy the fullness while you can — the extra hair will fall out after you give birth.

You may also notice that you can't move around as gracefully as before. Unless your caregiver has advised you otherwise, it's fine to continue to exercise, but follow a few safety rules: Don't work out when you're feeling overly tired and stop if you feel any pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. Don't lie flat on your back and avoid contact sports as well as any exercise where you're apt to lose your balance. Be sure to drink plenty of water, and make time for both warm-up and cool-down periods.

When you have your glucose-screening test at 24 to 28 weeks, a second tube of blood may be taken at the same time to check for anemia. If blood tests show that you have iron-deficiency anemia (the most common type of anemia), your caregiver will probably recommend that you take an iron supplement.

Have you started thinking about baby names yet? Choosing a name is an important decision, but it should be a fun one, too. You may want to consider family history (Great Grandpa Zeb), favorite locations (Venice, where you honeymooned), or cherished literary or film characters (Greta, Meg, or Atticus, for example). Check out a couple of baby-name books to help you brainstorm, too.

Alphamom says: (note: I'm including the entire posting, not just the bullet points, as the info about Labor is of particular interest to me, since, well, I have no idea what I am doing.)

Week 25

Your Baby:

Weighs about 1 1/2 pounds and is 13 1/2 inches long.
Is growing more hair, with a distinctive color and texture and everything.

You:

Have a uterus the size of a soccer ball.
Have probably noticed a decent increase in your belly size over the past few weeks — your fundal measurements (the length between your pubic bone and the top of your uterus) grew about an inch-and-a-half in the past four weeks alone.
May start experiencing uterine contractions soon, if you haven’t already.

I don’t really have a single, streamlined topic for this week, other than 25 WEEKS? WHAT? WHAAAAAT?

I had my first Braxton-Hicks contractions over the weekend — a bit earlier than last time, I think, or maybe I just assumed they were gas. (Pregnancy is so gaseous, people, I will just never get over it.)

Braxton-Hicks contractions are…well, they’re contractions of your uterus. A sudden tightening, sort of like a menstrual cramp, but…not really like a menstrual cramp. Sometimes they hurt in a stabbing, gasping-for-air sort of way, and other times they don’t hurt at all. Everything just clenches up for a few seconds or a minute (if you put your hand on your stomach you can sometimes even feel the sudden rock-hardness of your uterus), and then everything relaxes, like nothing happened at all. They aren’t dangerous or an indicator of early labor (unless you have more than four an hour, or notice bleeding or leaking fluid) — they’re partly your body’s natural warming up for the real thing and partly just a total flipping annoyance.

I was driving home when the first one hit — a sharp clenching sensation took over my entire pelvic region and remained steady for what felt like forever, but was probably less than a minute. My mouth involuntarily opened in a gasp or cry that I never really got out, and then it was over. I got home and quickly grabbed a big glass of water and a stack of throw pillows to prop under my feet. Dehydration can play a big part in these sorts of contractions, and I remember having to practically quadruple my water intake during the third trimester to keep them under control.

The next one came the next day, while we were walking through the mall. This one hurt. A lot. More pain than a mere tightening, and I suddenly had to stoop over a little bit and walk very slowly. It refused to stop until I sat down. At some point Jason turned around and realized he’d left his pregnant wife all the way back by the Foot Locker, and instinctively headed towards the nearest vending machine for a bottle of water. He remembers this part too! Pregnancy: it’s just like riding a really awkward and flatulent bicycle.

With my first pregnancy, I was always trying to get friends and family members to “describe” labor to me. How will I know? What does it really feel like? Cramps? A backache? Appendicitis? Uh…gas?

I was always frustrated when a woman would describe her early labor as “feeling funny.” What do you MEAN you “felt funny?” That is supremely unhelpful, and I shall blame you when I accidentally deliver my child at the grocery store because I felt more “stabby” than “funny.”

And now, when asked to describe my own labor story (or even when I’m NOT asked, because lo, do I ever love to tell that story), I admittedly start off by saying that something just felt sort of “off” that day. I was 40 weeks to the day, and had been having a TON of Braxton-Hicks contractions all week, with a marked increase in the past day or two. (The only time I DIDN’T have any contractions was during the TWO doctor’s appointments I’d gone to, when that sort of thing actually gets monitored and counted. Those appointments revealed nothing but a sealed-up-tight cervix and a completely quiet and laid-back uterus.)

I’d lost the mucous plug (which is…yeah, exactly what it sounds like and it’s also known as “bloody show”), officially hit my due date, was working from home and rolling around like a giant beached whale while I contracted all over the place, but my first real indication that something was happening was just…feeling funny. I realized I was taking these deep breaths — not on purpose, but I was. I was pacing and stretching my back and closing my eyes during the contractions. All these tiny little involuntary things you see women on those birthing shows do during labor that you don’t even realize ARE involuntary.

But I wasn’t in pain, really, at least nothing beyond what I’d experienced during regular old Braxton-Hicks contractions. I also didn’t notice a clear pattern in the contractions, since the timing still seemed to be pretty all over the place. It wasn’t until much later than evening when the contractions started getting regular and closer together that I felt timidly confident enough to call my doctor and slowly make my way to the hospital (AFTER one more walk around the block, a shower, a complete repacking of the bag and of course, updating my stupid BLOG).

By the time we got to the hospital it was around one in the morning and I was just over three centimeters dilated — exactly what I needed to be admitted rather than sent back home. I was fully dilated (10 centimeters) and pushing about eight hours after that.

And yet, looking back, I realize that I was slowly moving into active labor for most of the afternoon. It probably “officially” started around noon, a good 12 hours before I got to that full-on, not-to-be-confused-with-anything-else stage of labor.

So if you’re reading this and fretting about knowing the difference between false labor and the real thing, whether that’s a real contraction or a Braxton-Hicks, or are just hoping to Not Be That Pregnant Woman who rushes to Labor & Delivery during every bout of indigestion, allow me to use my bottomless arsenal of words and natural gift of descriptive language to tell you exactly how to know if you are in labor:

You’ll feel sort of…funny. You’ll spend some time convincing yourself that you aren’t in labor, grumble that calling your doctor or getting in the car is just a surefire way to make it all stop dead in its tracks, and then you’ll still wait another hour to call the doctor because he said to call only after an HOUR of regular contractions and it’s only been 45 minutes and that one was kind of irregular so should we start counting from zero again? And then maybe you’ll change your mind and decide that you ARE in labor and there will be a frantic scramble for bags and cellphone chargers and camera batteries and your partner will ask you over and over in the car if this is really “it” or if “it” has stopped and then you’ll get to the hospital and hopefully, probably be in actual labor and get to stay until you have your baby, who you will hold and stare at and be completely unable to believe that just a few hours before was just a funny feeling in your stomach somewhere.

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Me: Wowee- has he been kicking up a storm! I forgot to mention that at my weigh-in at my last appointment, that I tipped the scales at 150. So I have finally exceeded my pre-wedding weight (before I lost weight before the wedding). So I am wondering, where was I packing it on before, if it's all in my uterus now? Taking a glance at our engagement photos, all in my face I'd say.

Tiredness still comes and goes. The latest problem has been insomnia. I have no problem falling asleep early in the evening on the couch, stretched out with my blanket and The Office on, but getting up later and finally going to bed? WIDE AZZ AWAKE. Maybe I should just stick with the couch.

Will it ever be cool again? It's still in the 80's-90's and my MN breathern are complaining that it's already 30 degrees up there. Send some our way....

Nursery Progress (plz 'cuse the crappy iphone early morning photos, I was in a hurry. I have yet to graduate to fancy blog photos):

Shot of the outside wall, now creating our 'foyer', with the wall niche well on it's way. Accent lighting and a trim shelf will be part of the niche. Look at us with our fancy bull-nosing. This may become our shrine to Obama.

Shot of the inside, back of the niche. Opening to the left will eventually be french doors. A ceiling fan will replace the chandelier. Walls about ready for primer and paint. Can you spot my first son?

One corner near the window, with supplies. Will continue the fancy trim work around the rest of the room.

The 'closet', courtesy of the empty space behind out master bathroom mirror. No door to save space. Envision a small rod, holding a pinned-back curtain that I will lovingly sew (or rather, iron, with directions from a 'no sew curtains' recipe, courtesy of YHL). We will also install a few rows of rods, to hang all the delicious ones-ies I am currently stockpiling.

View through the doors, towards the window. Yes, my beloved chaise lounge will have to go somewhere else. :( Like wrapped up and stored in Hub's warehouse at work.