Another blurry self-portrait. D'oh. Isn't it funny how I can take pretty darn good pictures of other people, but I SUCK at taking pictures of myself?!This week, Baby Buena weighs about 10 oz, and is developing the layers of his skin. He is also practicing swallowing, and is digesting, which is producing the lovely meconium that we will experience along with the first diaper change.
Most women are feeling their babies kick away by this point--I wish that I were! Every once in awhile, I feel something like a bubble popping in my abdomen, but I'm still not entirely convinced that it's the bambino. I'm certainly not feeling any definite "kicks", and consequently, neither is Justin. I'm getting seriously impatient about that too.
In terms of new symptoms for me, I've got a bunch, including:
-Eczema. I am almost positive that my hand and foot rash is eczema. Unprompted, several nurses that I know have commented that they didn't know that I had eczema.
-Bloody noses. Just about every morning, which I'm told is fairly normal.
-Seriously sore ribs, especially on my right side. It's reminiscent of when I had a broken rib.
-Leg cramps, especially in the middle of the night
-Constant lower back pain
-Headaches. Again.
This hasn't been an easy pregnancy for me symptom wise, but I'm trying to remind myself daily about what a blessing this is! I am truly, truly, blessed, and I know that as soon as I hold this little one in my arms, all the difficult symptoms will seem like nothing. Today, I am pregnant, and I am thankful for that--as much as we don't talk about it, or think that once we're out of the first trimester we're "safe", I've been hearing lots and lots of stories within the past week about late pregnancy loss (some of women right around 20-24 weeks), and that really puts things into perspective. This pregnancy, despite its crazy symptoms, is an absolute gift, and I don't want to forget that.
We think that we have a name picked out for each gender. We're pretty traditional in our names, so you won't see any funky spellings from us! We're solid on the boy's name, which would be Caleb Ryan. That's the name of the son that we've had in almost every single pregnancy dream that I've had. After I told Justin about my dreams, he said that he really liked the name Caleb ("It's a good, strong, baseball-player name") and changed his boy preference from Nolan Ryan to Caleb Ryan (I really couldn't name a kid Nolan Ryan, even though by the time he grows up, most kids probably won't know who that is).
For a girl, I think we've settled on Elizabeth Grace. Neither one of us can really think of many girl's names...but we both seem to like that combo. In the one dream I've had where we've had a girl, we named her Elizabeth. Plus, I like that the name Elizabeth has similar nicknames to the name Isabella, which was a favorite name of mine for years, but I didn't want to go with it (a) it is just so popular now, and (b) the only middle name I like with Isabella is Marie, and I can't bring myself to give my child a middle name that means "sea of bitterness".
Most women are feeling their babies kick away by this point--I wish that I were! Every once in awhile, I feel something like a bubble popping in my abdomen, but I'm still not entirely convinced that it's the bambino. I'm certainly not feeling any definite "kicks", and consequently, neither is Justin. I'm getting seriously impatient about that too.
In terms of new symptoms for me, I've got a bunch, including:
-Eczema. I am almost positive that my hand and foot rash is eczema. Unprompted, several nurses that I know have commented that they didn't know that I had eczema.
-Bloody noses. Just about every morning, which I'm told is fairly normal.
-Seriously sore ribs, especially on my right side. It's reminiscent of when I had a broken rib.
-Leg cramps, especially in the middle of the night
-Constant lower back pain
-Headaches. Again.
This hasn't been an easy pregnancy for me symptom wise, but I'm trying to remind myself daily about what a blessing this is! I am truly, truly, blessed, and I know that as soon as I hold this little one in my arms, all the difficult symptoms will seem like nothing. Today, I am pregnant, and I am thankful for that--as much as we don't talk about it, or think that once we're out of the first trimester we're "safe", I've been hearing lots and lots of stories within the past week about late pregnancy loss (some of women right around 20-24 weeks), and that really puts things into perspective. This pregnancy, despite its crazy symptoms, is an absolute gift, and I don't want to forget that.
We think that we have a name picked out for each gender. We're pretty traditional in our names, so you won't see any funky spellings from us! We're solid on the boy's name, which would be Caleb Ryan. That's the name of the son that we've had in almost every single pregnancy dream that I've had. After I told Justin about my dreams, he said that he really liked the name Caleb ("It's a good, strong, baseball-player name") and changed his boy preference from Nolan Ryan to Caleb Ryan (I really couldn't name a kid Nolan Ryan, even though by the time he grows up, most kids probably won't know who that is).
For a girl, I think we've settled on Elizabeth Grace. Neither one of us can really think of many girl's names...but we both seem to like that combo. In the one dream I've had where we've had a girl, we named her Elizabeth. Plus, I like that the name Elizabeth has similar nicknames to the name Isabella, which was a favorite name of mine for years, but I didn't want to go with it (a) it is just so popular now, and (b) the only middle name I like with Isabella is Marie, and I can't bring myself to give my child a middle name that means "sea of bitterness".
So funny about J's calling Caleb Ryan a good baseball name - that's how I think of names too - will it sound strong and powerful when announced at their high school games? I just can't picture a kid with a name like Jayden quarterbacking a football team.
ReplyDeleteI'm an excema sufferer - but have figured out ways to deal with it. When I have really bad patches, it's hydro cortisone cream spread all over the patch, then covered with cetaphil. I use cetaphil all over my body daily to try and prevent patches, but the cortisone works when the patches show up.
Oh, I also love Elizabeth Grace - perfect, classic and will still be perfect whens he's an adult.
ReplyDeleteWe know a little boy named Nolan Ryan, lol. I like Caleb Ryan better. :) Elizabeth has always been one of my favorite girl names.
ReplyDeleteLove the names. I've always liked the name Elizabeth. Good luck at your u/s next week!!!
ReplyDeleteLook how CUTE you are! Love it!
ReplyDeleteIt is such a tenuous line to tread between hating the symptoms and loving them for the blessing of the baby. You've got the right attitude!
Leg cramps are the worst though. I already forgot about them!
I LOOVE the name Caleb and it would have been a top contender for me, but we know quite a few in these parts. :( So glad you guys agreed though! Elizabeth Grace is beautiful as well!
Love the names :)
ReplyDeleteEvery time I walk through somewhere with baby stuff, I see something cute and keep saying "I sure wish I knew whether J and Mere were having a boy or a girl!" lol. So hurry up would ya? ;)
love those names! And wow, where did that belly come from? you are growing like a weed! :) can't wait to hear the "big" news :)
ReplyDeleteLooking good! What kind of shirt are you wearing? It looks cool.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love your names. they sound good together. Especially the girl name. Elizabeth does have a lot of good nicknames.
(Caleb means Dog in Hebrew- I don't know why- but that is all I think of when I hear the name/word Caleb. Good thing I love dogs!)