26 Weeks

About the baby:

In the 26th week, your baby weighs approximately 2 pounds, and is 9-plus inches long from head to rump. Your baby may still appear to be wrinkly, but will continue to gain weight steadily over the next 14 weeks until birth smoothing out the wrinkles of their loose skin.

Although your baby's eyes have been sealed shut for the last few months, they will soon open and begin to blink. Depending on ethnicity, some babies will be born with blue or gray-blue eyes (which may change color in the first year of life) and some will be born with brown or dark eyes. Eyelashes are growing in, as is more hair on the head develops too.

There isn't much for them to see at the moment - but darkness with possible filtered light perception if you were to shine a flashlight up to your stomach. 

With the heightening senses of sight and sound, you may notice an increase in activity when your baby sees bright light or hears loud sounds.

This week, I've been having more cramping on and off. Yesterday, I had the worst yet! I had this terrible, shooting, stabbing pain that was new! It was new because it wasn't just abdominal, but also vaginal (sorry, men… you were warned months ago about what this blog may contain though). 

It was seriously difficult to walk, sit, stand, or anything. Pretty uncomfortable.

On top of that, Nolan was having too much fun on my bladder at the time too. 

He's been moving a lot today, which makes me happy. I love feeling him move. It at least gives me some peace of mind that he's okay. I'm starting to feel like rolls of movement now too. I can tell when he's turning or flipping. I've also been able to feel him with my hand twice now through my skin. That's pretty amazing! And super weird! This is seriously one of the best parts of being pregnant, feeling him move always makes me smile. 

I'm on weekly doctor visits and this week's appointment is tomorrow. Guess we'll get an update on how things are going. 

We had two baby showers this weekend! They were both so much fun. Thanks again to all the wonderful family/friends that contributed to the enjoyment of it. And of course… for all of the wonderful gifts!

We've done so well! So far… Cory and I have only purchased two things for the baby! Lol. Of course, Cory won't let me get much! Even now! We still have one more shower at the end of the month. 

We got all of our nursery furniture (except for a night stand), we got our swing, we have some of our chosen bottles (and accessories), we have a good pile of clothes (of course :), and then… yesterday… out of nowhere one of our aunts from the husband's side of the family informed us that they'd purchased our carseat, stroller, and dropcam (video monitor)!! What a blessing! Nearly all of the "big" items are out of the way! Some of the more expensive things left are like the carry-cot, breast pump, bouncer, …saucer/mats, etc. 

I'm so thankful and appreciative of all that we've been given. How extremely generous and helpful! I mean, we've had our "baby fund" for like years, so I've not been worried about getting the things that we want/need, but it's still such an amazing relief to know that our savings can just be kept in savings, or for emergencies or whatever. You can't plan for everything after all…

I'm excited about the brands that we've chosen too! I've done so much research! I've attended classes. I've read reviews. Especially with the car seat. I'm hard-core sold on convertible car seats after attending a car seat/safety training course, plus speaking to safety technicians. I know a lot of people think it's inconvenient because you can't haul it around with you, but it's likely the only car seat we'll have to have… plus… that's what the carry-cot is for ;)'

I'm hoping that this evening, I can get in his room and start organizing and going through some of the stuff. I haven't had any time for that yet!

He's been squirming around the whole time I've been writing this. His movements are getting higher up now too - like in the lower rib range now.

Ah! So exciting!! I only have 14 weeks left, people! I love this little boy to pieces already! What will he do to me once he is here?!