Week 26: Feeling the Burn

While overall, I have to say that the second trimester has been much better than the first (aside from those pesky hospitalizations), I'm beginning to feel the symptoms of the home stretch. One of my least favorite has been the increasing amount of heartburn... And with all the projects we are trying to get done before Allison's arrival, being in a crouched or bent position only makes it worse! The good news is that it's not so bad I can't manage it by varying my activities or schedule. I definitely don't want to add any additional meds, so hopefully that will continue to work.

We are also very excited to start work on the nursery soon!! After registering (thanks again for everyone's suggestions), it all seems a little bit more real. I guess I'm nesting because I can't wait to start the painting and sewing. The paint has been purchased and we have the stencils for the walls all mapped out, so we are well on our way! You may have noticed that we don't have much bedding on our registry and that is because I found a pattern at Target that was discontinued. However, we were able to snag a few key pieces on clearance. Here is the link if you are curious... DwellStudio Circles. So, next week my objective is to find some coordinating fabrics for the window treatments 'n such. I'm so excited to see it all come together!

Week 25: Help!

Matt and I finally got the courage to start our Babies R Us registry last night, and I can't believe how overwhelming the entire experience was! Not really knowing what we really "need" we did our best to hit the basics, but only added a meager 17 items. So, I'm hoping that all the mommies out there could take a few minutes and let us know what your best/worst purchases were... Here is a link to our registry if you want to take a look.

Babies R Us Registry

Week 24: Stats

Another month has past and Baby Allison is getting BIG!! I have been gaining a bit of weight which is a relief and my belly measures 26"! (It should be approximately the same as the number of weeks gestation +/- 2", so I'm a bit on the big side.) She is still as active as ever and her heartbeat is really strong. While she still has quite a bit of cooking to do, her survival rate would actually be pretty good if she were born now. I find that very reassuring because I keep joking that she is trying to bust out of my belly with her strong kicking! Some other fun facts:

Week Twenty-Four

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• Bring on the bulk! Baby gains about 6 ounces this week. The weight is in muscle, bone mass and organs.
• His body begins to fill out with his appearance increasingly becoming more like a newborn.
• Taste buds begin to form. If mom drinks something strange or bitter, baby may be observed showing his distaste.
• Little creases have appeared on his palms. The muscular coordination of his hands has improved as he sucks his thumb.
• Over the next seven days the sweat glands will be forming in the skin.
• His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.
• This week your baby is officially considered viable.
• Baby weighs 1.3 pound (600gm) and is 11.8 inches (30cm) long -- almost the length of a ruler!

As for my health, I think it's safe to say that I will be stuck on the steroids until delivery. Best guess is that my last flare was caused by tapering off the meds too quickly. This can be a common response when the disease begins to go through withdrawal. I have to be very aware of everything I'm eating to monitor the effects each has on my digestive function. As well as I have eliminated most processed foods which has helped quite a bit. Besides that, I'm taking it day by day, anxiously awaiting Spring when we get to meet our little gymnast!

Week 23: Happy New Year!

Everyone in the Binning house has their fingers crossed that 2009 will be much calmer than 2008 was!! The good news is that I actually felt well enough to celebrate the new year after spending the previous 5 days in the hospital... Katie and Ian invited us and a few others over to Ian's mom's house and we played Rock Star, billiards, and had a great time socializing. It wasn't a late night by any means, but I made it to midnight and a little beyond without any trouble. The coolest part of the evening was when Matt finally felt Allison move for the first time right after midnight! What a way to ring in the new year!!

Week 22: Bah Humbug

So, Christmas started out really great for us... Allison has been moving around a lot more- to the point where others can feel her kick! Then on Christmas Day, my Crohn's took a turn for the worse suddenly. By 5pm I knew it wasn't going to improve on its own, so I headed back to the ER. Not surprisingly, they admitted me. I was given IV steroids and put back on a clear liquid diet as well given an MRI. The test proved that I don't have any abcess or obstruction, which is good news. They did however, find a 4cm cyst on my right ovary. I was a little alarmed, but apparently it is very common and nothing to worry about. After a few days of rest and the medications, I could tell things were on the mend, but maintenance is now the name of the game. It's become obvious that I may not be able to get off the steroids for the remainder of the pregnancy. This complicates things a bit, but all my doctors seem pretty confident that staying on the medications will be safe for both of us for the next few months.

Week 21