Before I was pregnant, I remember thinking it was crazy or weird that women always referenced their pregnancy progress in weeks. How did they always know exactly what week they were in? Wasn’t it hard to keep track? And why go in weeks when talking about months is so much easier?
But, of course, now that I am the pregnant one, I constantly know exactly how many weeks — to the day — I am. When I started these pregnancy recaps, I thought I’d do them every few weeks, because how much could really change or feel different in a mere seven days? But, I’ve discovered, so much happens and feels different in just one week!
Week 26, in particular, was long. It was overwhelming at times, and really, really wonderful at times.
The wonderful parts included sharing baby’s sex (it’s a girl!), another appointment with the midwife, and going to a fun wedding on Saturday.
What a backdrop!The appointment with the midwife went great. I did my glucose test and am waiting on the results, and baby put on quite a show during the ultrasound. Her legs and arms were up by her face and she was moving around like a nut, but then, no joke, she turned her face to us and cracked a little smile. (The ultrasound technician narrated this, but I would’ve seen it on my own. So cool to see her face!) We also spent some time with both the midwife and doula talking about delivery and post-delivery things, like cord blood banking vs. delayed cord clamping, and other things I’ve been Googling endlessly but wanted their opinions on.
The overwhelming parts from the week included attempting to finish up our registry and spending too much time getting lost on the internet. I’ll get to that.
People can definitely tell I’m pregnant and baby kicks constantly! I love those kicks. Sometimes I think about not being pregnant and I get a little sad, because I’ll miss the kicks. (But as Kara Goucher told me on a soon-to-be-released episode of the Ali on the Run Show, the kicks will be replaced with smiles and snuggles.)
Here’s more from Week 26…
More belly, but also more tan.BABY IS THE SIZE OF…
a head of kale or an eggplant. According to our most recent ultrasound, baby is weighing in around 1 lb. 12 oz., and is happy, healthy, and very wiggly.
Got lots of pictures of baby this week! The ultrasound tech printed a photo from when she smiled at us, but I can’t see it in the photo. Sad.HOW I’M FEELING
Overwhelmed. And sick for a day.
I started really doing work on our baby registry on Tuesday. I have some incredible friends who sent me their well-researched lists with notes and so much helpful information, but eventually I tend to get exhausted. Picking clothes, crib sheets, and cute hooded bath towels is easy. But I find myself getting most overwhelmed by stuff related to feeding.
How do I know which bottles to start with? Why do people complain so much about washing bottle parts? Can they not go in the dishwasher? Then there are all the feeding and pumping accessories: the sterilizers, breast pumps, milk storage bags, and warming bags. I do plan to schedule an appointment with a lactation specialist before baby gets here, so I’m sure that will be a huge help, but in the meantime, I find this particular category to be a lot to digest and understand.
We are excited to meet you, baby!I woke up feeling super sick Thursday. Like worse than any first trimester nausea. I felt pukey and gross, and with this Crohn’s stuff in the mix, it made for a rough morning. Eventually, around 11 AM, I stopped willing myself to feel better, and let myself crawl into bed. I woke up several hours later, still feeling exhausted and crappy, but knowing I was smart to let myself rest for a bit.
On the Crohn’s front, I had a long talk with my GI on Thursday. I’m frustrated by this flare and the timing (obviously) and need it to go away. We weighed some options and ultimately decided to start on a 30-day dose of Uceris, which is a mild steroid that specifically targets the colon. My doctor approved, and said if his wife had Crohn’s and were pregnant and flaring, this is exactly what he would do for her. (This is also the medication that helped me get into a brief remission last year, so fingers crossed it helps this time.)
WHAT I’M EATING
Deviled eggs. I’m really wanting deviled eggs right now.
ON THE WORKOUT FRONT
A few Orangetheory classes, a handful of zero-exercise days, and a 3-mile, 3-bathroom-stop run on Saturday morning. When I do glute bridges at Orangetheory, I can feel baby all the way up by my ribs. She’s getting big and taking up lots of space!
Most of my workouts this week were pretty lame, but I wrapped up Week 26 with a great OTF workout. We did a 12-minute distance challenge on the treadmills — so just running as far as we could in 12 minutes — and while my distance was nothing remarkable compared to what I could do pre-pregnancy, I felt great the whole time, and left class with a lil’ runner’s high!
WHAT I’M WEARING
This dress (I have the long version, but can’t find it online), to my college friend’s wedding on Saturday. The wedding was lovely, and my stomach felt pretty good the whole day, which was a huge relief. People could very clearly tell I’m pregnant, and everyone was so lovely and warm and awesome and supportive and kind. No one talked about how our lives are about to end or how we’ll never sleep again. Instead, all the new moms and dads on the dance floor (and there were a ton!) talked about how great the experience is and about how much fun we’re about to have. It was the best.
Always touching my stomach. I can’t help it. It’s right there.WHAT I’M READING
Reviews and stuff. Bottles and baby carriers and bathtub solutions, OH MY GOD.
HOW I’M SLEEPING
I took another long nap on Sunday afternoon. I swear I closed my eyes for two seconds and then woke up two hours later. I needed it. I felt awesome after.
WHAT I’M WONDERING
I think I covered that already! I’m wondering about everything!
Fun and productive stuff coming up: We’re moving next Monday (!), and will get the baby’s crib and dresser soon after. I set up a pediatrician interview and a meeting at a local daycare I’m interested in, and next week things get really real with a childbirth class and our official hospital tour.
Ellie is not so sure about this new roommate! Or me.Onto the third trimester! Whoa!
More Baby on the Run:
21 Responses
First, you look amazing! I had a wedding when I was 26 weeks too, and it was the best (like peak cute/pre-unwieldy preggo).
Second, I’d like to join the minimalist echo chamber. At least for me, minimalism was key to NYC apartment sanity, but also, for the first 3 months, my baby was basically a (v cute) sack of potatoes. He needed diapers, which are v easy to get, and formula when I wanted more than 2 hours to myself. Like other commenters, I never bothered with sanitizing — dishwasher works just fine!
My one piece of advice: go out as much as you can during the potato sack phase! (And I guess buy the thing that will allow for that — a carseat or a stroller or a carrier.)
I had a TON of stuff, and my baby uses 5 random bottles from mixed brands that I dishwasher and put in the microwave sterilizer daily. I got a baby tub with a newborn sling from my neighbor because the fancy “bathing system” I registered for was so uncomfortable and hard to use. Hell, sometimes I just plopped him in the sink! The only thing I wished I’d researched more was my stroller, because I wound up having to have two separate cars eat adapters because mine didn’t fit well with the brand stroller I registered for. Not a huge deal in the long run.
Remember when you got married, and suddenly there were a million decisions to make and a million companies trying to sell you things and it was probably very hard to remember that you didn’t actually need most of what they were selling? Yeah, having a baby is like that, but with more guilt.
Of course you can’t know what you’ll need, which I took as an argument to start with the thing that’s easiest. I planned to breastfeed but bought three cheapo “just in case” Chicco bottles, which it turned out we would use for eight feedings a day for the first three months of his life until it occurred to us that we could own a day’s worth. It didn’t occur to us that a tiny baby too stupid to breastfeed could have an opinion about which bottle he liked.
Also, my lactation consultant told me to (a) serve formula/milk at room temperature or cooler from the beginning, and (b) not worry about sterilizing bottles, just wash them like you would any other dish. Of course you’d want to check the latter with your ped, but these two pieces of advice have saved me a ton of work.
Finally, if you have any kind of trouble with feeding in the beginning, renting a hospital grade breast pump is well worth it. The cost is something like $75/month (plus the $20 parts kit, which you may get in the hospital) and it can be really helpful in getting your supply established.
As a pediatrician myself, meeting with a pediatrician before the baby comes is a fantastic idea! That’s where you’ll get the most sound advice. The best way to feed a baby is the way that works best for you and the baby. For the first couple months, all that baby needs is diapers and a place to sleep. A lactation specialist may be of some help before the baby comes, but they’re the most help when baby is here and they can watch the two of you and help troubleshoot. You’re gonna be great! Bebes are fantastic and squishy and just the best.
I agree it’s so confusing to see all these products, but like others said, don’t overthink it! I’m breastfeeding my third baby and never even heard of heating bags? I just boiled parts to sanitize or used the dishwasher. I borrowed a couple kinds of bottles from a friend and didn’t open the ones on my registry that I got as a gift until I tried them with my baby and he took one. Really as long as you have a carsear and some diapers you are good to go! You look beautiful in that dress! Love it!
You look amazing in that dress!
Older mom here……my boys are 16 and 12. Half the stuff that is on the market now for babies wasn’t available when I had my kids. Guess what? I survived and my kids lived! I think sometimes too many choices is overwhelming. Just because a product is out there and the reviews say it is a “must have”, doesn’t mean you have to use it. Some of the stuff that is marketed is quite comical in my opinion. What your baby needs is to be changed, fed, snuggled and loved. That is all and can actually be done with very few material objects. Once you meet your baby girl, you will know what she needs. Mom instinct kicks in and always follow that instinct even if it means breaking the “rules” in all the baby self help books. You have to do what works for you and your baby and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise (or make you feel guilty about it). You guys will do great! Sit back, relax and enjoy your last trimester. Everything else will fall into place!
100% agree with other posters that most things are hard to do until the baby is here! Best laid plans tend to go awry when they arrive lol They will definitely guide you as to what is the best for them (and you!). Try not to give in to mummy guilt either – I ended up struggling for 3 months trying to breastfeed my son when it clearly was not working (like 0 milk production and having to feed formula anyway) and yet everyone kept saying, keep trying, it will work! You really need to listen to your baby and your own instincts. It can be so hard though when everyone around has their own opinions and advice. Be ready for some awkward time when you are figuring things out but in the end you WILL figure it out!! So sorry to hear about the Crohn’s crap – ugh worst time during pregnancy, and I very much sympathize! Fingers crossed Uceris does the trick!
Yes bottles can go in the dishwasher! I recommend buying ones with as few parts as possible 🙂 my daughter prefers ones with five separate pieces… ugh! Also – just to add this 🙂 I was unable to breastfeed for many many reasons and everyone kept trying To guilt me into doing it by saying “omg you don’t want to have to wash and sanitize bottles” … and washing and sanitizing bottles is the easiest thing ever. We just run our dishwasher nightly on sanitize. No biggie at all. It all works out however you want to do it.
Washing bottle/pump parts is hard because it feels like you’re always doing it. During maternity leave I was home alone with a baby all day who cried what felt like all the time, and whenever I could or needed to, I had to be pumping and/or washing parts. (Pumping with an awake baby is really hard because it’s very difficult to tend to the baby at the same time.) It took months for me to realize I needed to buy a second set of pump parts. (Another product I waited too long to buy that I recommend – a hands free pumping bra. Not totally hands free but it helps a lot.) I probably should have bought more bottles too, but I was always worried about the quantity piling up, and also we didn’t have a ton of space in our little NYC kitchen. Basically when you’re exhausted and spent, the last thing you want to do (especially at odd hours) is wash bottle and pump parts. It’s obviously not the end of the world – just wanted to chime in on why everyone hates it!
Fellow Crohnie here- I really hope the Uceris kicks in soon and you have the same success as you did last year! I started taking it for the first time about 6 weeks ago and that plus starting Humira has been a game changer for me. I feel like I have my life back. Also it’s so so much better than prednisone with all its terrible side effects. Wishing you all the best for your third trimester!
Prednisone is THE WORST. Ugh. I generally don’t experience any negative side effects with Uceris, so fingers crossed for this time around, and so glad that + Humira are working for you!
I agree with the previous poster – babies will decide what bottles they like and what they don’t like. Get a couple of different kinds (my 7 month old hated all bottles except for comotomo, so I’m partial to those) and then see what she likes. I did not take that advice and now have a graveyard of unused bottles in my kitchen cabinets!
The Comotomo ones are the only ones I registered for! I saw a lot of people saying the same thing — that their baby hated all other ones but liked those, so that’s what I figured we’d start with, and we’ll see. (And LOL at “graveyard of unused bottles.”)
I found to my (very frugal) dismay that the only way to find which “stuff” worked was to actually try it out on my real baby. He loathed TWO carriers I bought (we ended up with an Ergo baby, fwiw (not much)), we stuck with Avent bottles but went through 5 nipples over time, and I tried 3 bumpers before deciding on an old-fashioned one (to the horror of every piece of sleep advice on the internet–sorry, baby sleep gods!). To me, this is a great metaphor for child-rearing advice in general. I’ve read a lot of advice claiming it was the “best” or “right” way to do something (e.g., Babywise) and being a consummate rule follower, I’ve done it to the letter. And yet, when I actually paid attention to what my baby actually wanted & needed, we both thrived, even when it was against a lot of The Rules (i.e. I sometimes co-slept, nursed him to sleep, supplemented with formula, used said bumper and more, all things I would’ve been horrified by pre-baby but saved my life IRL). I’m sure that none of my advice will apply to you except for this–trust yourself and your baby!!
I totally agree with this approach — I think that’s why I feel overwhelmed NOW, because I feel like I “have to” register for and get all this stuff that everyone swears is THE BEST, but deep down knowing that, like everything, it’s SO individual. I’m trying to find that happy spot where we have enough to use and experiment with during those first few weeks, but knowing everything can (and probably will!) change! This is pretty much what happened with Ellie (our dog), too — everyone gave us so much advice and swore that every product they loved was OMG THE BEST. Turns out, Ellie very quickly and easily let us know what SHE liked best, and we went with that! Which is why I plan to raise our child the same way we have raised our dog. I think it’ll work! (Thank you for chiming in!)
I put all my pump and bottle parts in the dishwasher. Maybe not the textbook correct answer but it works! If you get those starter bags from all the baby places for your registry they come with bottles which is a nice easy (free) place to start figuring out what the baby likes. No matter how much bottle research you do she could still not like it or like it and change her mind after. Baby’s are something else haha
Feeding is something you’ll figure out post-baby. I found the prenatal breastfeeding class kind of useless — like someone explaining how to play a piano but without any actual pianos in the room to play. As long as you have a Brest Friend pillow before the baby arrives, you can figure the rest of the stuff out later! (And everything can go in the dishwasher. There are just a lot of little parts to everything, which is why washing all that stuff is rough.)
It’s on the registry! Was one of the first things I put on there, per your recommendation!
Also, just FYI – babies and toddlers kick, too. Like, a lot. In really painful places. Ha!