Week 26: boombox of her heartbeat

I'll start this one off with some sad news...Debi passed away on Sunday, June 2nd at 9:20am. From what I hear it was peaceful. Her 17 year old daughter was by her side. Her memorial service will be held Saturday, June 15th and she will be buried near her mother. I'll be in Cali during that time so am very grateful that I will be able to pay my respects with my family. The family is holding up but still in shock from how sudden and unexpected her passing was. You're never fully prepared but in this case we were all blindsided by the news of her even going into the hospital. We continue to pray for strength and understanding as well as for her two beautiful daughters.

While we may pause for a moment, life still moves on with or without us. For Marco and I it's easy to distract ourselves knowing we have the little one on the way. She's been moving more and more. So much so that Marco can now feel distinct, swift movements from her. Every movement you hear, "Oh my gosh" and "Woah that was big" from Marco. We laugh and enjoy the calm before the storm. haha. He can now hear the fuzzy boombox of her heartbeat when he puts his ear to my belly which is amazing. Now I have something I can be jealous of him for. :)

This week I had a distinct dream about her being born early at 35 weeks. She was only 4 lbs but reached up and touched my face and hugged me. Very strange but still comforting in a way. My daily prayers now include asking that she go to full term before delivery. haha

I was in an artsy mood and made a couple things for Zoe's room:

This is from a poem I had to memorize in junior high. "The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost"

I felt it fitting for not only wanting her to be adventurous but also a mentality of making your own path and not following the crowd just because it's easier. The painting will hang in her room and goes quite well with a couple other paintings we have in there already from a friend of mine.

Before and after. This was more out of boredom. We had left over scrapbook paper and Mod Podge so I ripped them up and decoupaged the box. I will most likely use this to hide baby wipes or creams in the changing table.

How far along: 26 weeks 5 days (Cucumber: 15in, 2.2 lbs)

Symptoms: Feeling uncomfortable and awkward now. I feel huge but look in the mirror and it's still the same as yesterday. haha. Starting to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Haven't been getting continuous sleep; wake up still tired. Without going into details some bathroom trips are difficult. LOL. The things your body goes through with a baby sitting on your bladder and internal organs is weird. It's all apart of it though and will be worth it when she's in my arms.

 

Aversions: none

 

Cravings: none

 

Wedding Rings: still wearing the one band.

 

Belly button: top of my belly button is protruding now. The rest is right on the surface and ready to pop at any moment. I give it another 2-3 weeks.

 

Sleep: I'm having a hard time falling asleep/feeling comfortable this week. The body pillow is coming in handy now. Start on my left side and turn to my right. It isn't the most comfortable feeling rolling over like that. Laying on my back is no longer comfortable at all.

 

Excited for: The Cali trip and the baby shower. Can't believe it's in 6 weeks already. :)

Fears: She will be born premature. I haven't had any signs of an issue but with the dream I had and a recent magazine article I read it's now something that concerns me. Also, having a C-section and recovery being difficult. A friend of mine just had one because she wasn't dialating on her own and had a really hard recovery period. I just pray my body does what it needs to when it needs to and heels quickly.

 

Mood: Typically calm and content. We laugh a lot but have been more tired as well.

 

Missing: restful night sleep and painless feet

 

Movement: constant. Loving it all.

 

Exercise: haven't done too much walking this week. I've been so tired when I get home I have been falling asleep on the couch plus Marco has been working a lot of OT.

 

Readings/Research: a free baby magazine I got in the mail (I forget the name of it). Articles about "going green" and basically how unnecessary it is for babies, another about Whooping Cough (makes me more of a germ-aphobe) and another about premature babies and the effects.

We had some thunder storms this last week and while raining I saw a double rainbow. Had to capture and share. Just made me smile :)