Two down, one to go! It's incredible that we're 2/3 of the way to meeting Miss Izzie B! The third trimester starts at 27 weeks, so we've officially left the second trimester behind. The second trimester is usually classified as the most comfortable of the three as you're done being sick and you're not too big yet. I'd have to say that's pretty accurate, although I still feel pretty great. The second trimester is also great because you have your anatomy ultrasound that tells you the gender of your baby (if you choose to do so) and at 24 weeks, your baby reaches viability (the ability to have a chance of survival outside of the womb). Also, it's when you start to feel movement. Baby also does a ton of growing, going from the size of my clenched fist (about 4.5 inches from crown to rump and a few ounces) to the size of a head of cauliflower (16.5 inches from head to toe and 2.5 pounds). Of course, our baby girl will gain the most weight during the third trimester as she will likely be over 8 pounds like all the babies in our family (which includes Andy, my parents, me and my brothers, and of course, Brady).
It's very hard to believe I'm already 7 months pregnant! The time is just flying by, which makes sense as I spend most of my days keeping up with Brady instead of sitting around dreaming of baby. Time probably won't even appear to slow down as we approach the holidays and then immediately go into preparations for Brady's 3rd birthday. I'm due less than three weeks after his actual birthday.
I also don't feel pregnant most days. My belly still isn't very noticeable unless I'm wearing a form fitting shirt and it doesn't get in my way. I have had a few moments of what they call "pregnancy brain" and even today, was searching for my scissors and Andy found them in the trash with the scraps after I clipped coupons from the newspaper. I haven't had any problems falling asleep, and most nights I fall asleep on the couch while watching a few shows with Andy. He often looks over and sees me fighting to keep my eyes open. At this point, I only have to get up on average once a night to use the bathroom.
My weight gain is in check (thank goodness) and is already less than what I'd gained with Brady (even if I started up 5 pounds). I'm up to a total of 15 pounds gained (remember the recommendation is 25-35) and with Brady I was up 19 pounds. That means I gained 33 pounds in the last trimester with Brady and I know where most of that weight came from, so I know how to avoid that much this time. The baby will make up about six pounds of what I gain in the third trimester, so that's of some comfort. At this point, my appointments have been every 4 weeks, but after my appointment at 28 weeks right before Christmas, they'll start to be every 2 weeks. Once I hit 36 weeks, they'll be every week. That means there will be less cheating between visits, then being good about a week before the weigh-in.
Izzie is a very active baby every day, so I never have to wonder if she's alright. She's almost more active than Brady was, which is why I wouldn't have been surprised early off if she'd been a boy (although now we have proof otherwise). I swear sometimes she is an octopus, because there's no way she can hit me in so many directions at the same time. With Brady, I could only feel him when sitting or laying down. Izzie is so strong that she hits me when I'm standing up. I often see my belly moving around with her very strong kicks and punches. She's very quiet in the middle of the night, so that bodes well for when she comes home as babies establish their sleep patterns before they're born.
Once we found out that Izzie was a girl, we started buying a few things here and there. I bought a handful of clothes (not nearly enough to cover her for the first three months even) and a few friends have sent gifts of clothes and hair bows. We've told most family that we'd prefer baby items for Christmas as we don't really need things for ourselves. My mom already got me my double stroller while she was here for Thanksgiving and other family members have been told we need girl clothes. I still have to go through all of Brady's baby clothes and see what is gender neutral (I know I bought at least a few items). We have all of the furniture already, and have the gear like car seat, baby swing, etc. from when Brady was little, so the big items are already taken care of. I will get to do the one thing I've been dreaming of since Brady was born and that's decorate a nursery. We moved around so much, we only ever put up a wall border in Brady's nurseries. Once Brady moves out this Christmas, we can start painting and decorating.
16 weeks
20 weeks - Halfway there!
24 weeks
(finally starting to get a little belly, not that I'm complaining as I don't tend to get any stretch marks until the very end, even if you can see my old faded ones with the camera flash)
The belly shot progression (from left to right) : 16 weeks, 20 weeks, 24 weeks. She definitely grew a ton between 16 and 24 weeks!
A comparison shot between Brady (left) and Izzie B (right). Can you see the difference?
Brady loves to get in the action when I'm taking belly shots. He sees me standing with my shirt up and he starts doing the same. He then tells Andy that it's his turn for pictures. This is Brady at 20 weeks.
And again at 24 weeks
Andy decided this would be a good opportunity to have Brady take "muscle" shots with his shirt off.
Brady is going to make a fantastic big brother. Every time he goes to sleep, whether its for nap or at the end of the day, he makes sure to remind me that he has to kiss Izzie nigh-nigh. Yesterday, he lifted my shirt, rubbed my belly, and said, "Baby is getting big." Then he said, "Come on out baby!" I told him, she has to get a little bigger before she can come out. We'll see how he'll react when she finally arrives. He's such a great helper around the house, so I'm sure he'll be the first one to jump up and grab a diaper or a bottle.
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