7 months….wow. Time passed so slowly the first 5ish months of this pregnancy. Now it seems like the weeks are flying by. I’m heading to the dr today and am hoping for another great report. I’m getting used to these dr visits that end with no drama!
Baby's lungs are mature enough that, if born right now, she has a pretty good chance of surviving (with help from medical technology). Her skin is still pretty wrinkly (one byproduct of living in amniotic fluid) but will smoothen as fat continues to deposit. Your baby is about 14 ¼ inches long and weighs in at 2 ½ pounds. This still seems very small, but remember that during the last several weeks of pregnancy your baby will gain a significant amount of weight. Your baby’s brain is really beginning to develop into a more complex organ. Up until this point, your baby’s brain has been relatively smooth, but beginning this week his/her brain will develop grooves and indentions along its surface. The amount of brain tissue also begins to increase during the 28th week. The development of hair also continues. Eyebrows and eyelashes are visible, while the hair on your baby’s head grows even longer. Your baby is also starting to look a little rounder as the fat storage under the skin continues to develop. This is an important part of development that will continue through the remainder of your pregnancy.
Child care- I’m beginning to hate those words. Sadly enough this is becoming one of my biggest stresses right now. I am having an extremely hard time finding child care for the babe. We toured a few day cares. As all things go- we loved a couple, liked a couple, and disliked the rest. The ones that we loved the most are just too expensive for us. Everyone says “you’ll find the money, it just always works out”. Maybe they are right. I know we can be resourceful when we’re in a pinch, but I honestly don’t know that we could come up with it month after month. It’s not like it would be a one-time bill. Even if we did scrape it together monthly, we would be so strapped financially, NOTHING could go wrong. I’m just not sure this is feasible for us. Sooooooooooooo, we are looking into in home day cares. This comes with its own problems (what doesn’t, right?). I want to find someone based off of a reference/recommendation. I do not want to drop my baby off to a complete stranger. I would prefer to find someone that a friend of a friend has used in the past. This is becoming harder than I imagined. There just aren’t a lot of people who used in home day cares, love the caregiver, is near where we live or work, AND who happens to have an opening in August. Hopefully we will find something soon so that we’re not still looking last minute.

aaaahhh, the joys of pregnancy

Well, pregnancy brings new and exciting symptoms every day. Trust me; I’m using “exciting” very loosely. I will spare you the details of some symptoms because they’re just TMI and really nothing you want to hear about-ever. I should just say that I wake up often, notice a lovely change to my body and just say “REALLY?” I’ll leave it at that.
I will say I am the newest member of the cankles club. I honestly thought I might skip this lovely side effect of pregnancy because I have not gained a lot of weight and it’s winter time. I know that most pregnant women get cankles in the summer when it is so hot and humid, but I guess cankles strike in the winter too. I have been trying to be “good” and wear flats every day (you know giving up heels is a real sacrifice for me), but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. By the end of the day my feet are folding over my shoes and my ankle bone has completely disappeared. It is HOT, let me tell you. If I MUST find something positive (only if I must), it’s good that I have cankles in the winter because they are mostly covered with my pant leg and shoes. If it was summer and I had to put these puppies in sandals, they would eat the sandals alive.
Another side effect that I can tell you about is snoring. Yes, full on calling the hogs. I don’t know what happened but as soon as I entered the 3rd trimester I started snoring every night. The bad part about it is I already sleep on my side. So, it’s not even like I can turn over to get it to stop. Larry honestly has to leave the room most nights.
Cankles and snoring- it doesn't get much hotter than that, does it?

I head back to the dr. in a week for my 7 month visit. They will do an ultrasound at that appointment, so I’m very excited to get to check in on her again! Hopefully she’s doing great.
Baby is over 2 pounds and 15 inches long. Hard to believe she’s grown that much in 27 weeks!
Got a sudden pain in your rear? That's just baby, settling into place for her upcoming debut. Her head might be pressing on your sciatic nerve, which can cause pain and numbness down the backs of your legs. Don't worry -- it'll ease up soon after labor. For now, your aching back deserves a pat. You've reached trimester three!
Baby's lungs are going through some major developments these days, which (combined with the opening of previously plugged nostrils) means she's now able to practice inhaling and exhaling. The lack of air in your womb means every "breath" is filled with amniotic fluid, but hey -- it's progress.

whoa, why is there baby stuff in my house??

I know this is going to sound absolutely absurd, but I honestly dont know if I have totally connected this pregnancy to having a baby. Told you it would sound weird.... I have come to terms with the fact that I'm pregnant (kinda hard to deny with this gut), but I'm not sure I really GET the fact that there will be a baby joining our family in April- 100 days to be exact.

Larry put the stroller together recently and it was soooooooo weird to see it and the carrier/car seat sitting around our house. I woke up the next morning to see the carrier sitting on our couch and literally had to do a double take, thinking to myself- why is there baby stuff here?.. Sometimes I look at the carrier/stroller and tell myself- wow, there's going to be a baby in there..

I warned you all of this would sound weird, but I guess it's all part of the process of getting ready for motherhood (hope I"m not the only one that's felt this way).

Houston, we have a problem...

Ok, I take it all back.....Remember all of those previous posts I made wishing my belly would just look pregnant?? Well, apparently all of the wishes were saved up and cashed in all in the same week. My belly has literally been growing by the hour this week. There have been days this week where you could honestly see the difference from when I got up in the morning to when I went to bed that night-it's growing that fast. I am not sure this much belly is what I had in mind. :) If I've grown this much in one week, I'm petrified to see how much I will grow in 15 more weeks.... I think it's fair to assume I wont still be at 7lbs total weight gain at 7 months.....

Here is a pix from 24 weeks vs. 25 weeks. That's a lot of change for one week! What the???

For the record: yes, Larry did tell me so.

Baby's now the size of an eggplant!That oh-so-handy sense of equilibrium is kicking in, and baby's learning to distinguish right side up from upside down. Your uterus has grown quite a bit bigger this week. The top of your uterus is between your bellybutton and your sternum. Your uterus is about the size of a soccer ball now! Your baby is able to do more with their fingers now and can move his fingers to make a complete fist. As your baby becomes more dexterous, he will be able to touch and hold his feet. Babies also begin to prefer their left hand or right hand at this time. Because babies settle into routines of sleep and activity, you might begin to notice these patterns as well. Some women experience the most fetal movements while they are trying to rest. Exploring the structures inside your uterus may have become baby's prime entertainment. Fascinated by the amount of tactile stimulation a fetus gives itself; it touches a hand to the face, one hand to the other hand, clasps its feet, touches its foot to its leg, its hand to its umbilical cord. Blood vessels of the lungs develop. Your baby's nostrils begin to open. The nerves around the mouth and lip area are showing more sensitivity now.