Twenty Six Weeks

I'm finally starting to feel better, most days. I think I've only taken Zofran twice in the last week; what a relief! As a result, I have been eating more, if not normally. My belly seems to have grown hugely in response (look at last week's photo -- can you believe the difference?).

I'm up ten and a half pounds and feeling the change in my body -- it's suddenly so uncomfortable as to be painful to bend over or to carry anything heavy. Carrying Calliope feels slightly ludicrous -- I hike her up high, above the belly, then twist her sharply sideways. Needless to say, she doesn't get held for long.

Some days I have tons of Braxton Hicks contractions, mostly while walking home from the train. They are not exactly painful but they are definitely intense. I generally have to sit for a few minutes when I get home to recover.

And a couple of days ago, I felt a body part suddenly poke out at my skin. A limb of some sort. Still small but strong and distinct.

I suddenly panicked this week about the fact that I've done basically nothing to prepare for this baby's arrival. My plan had been to work on my to do list over February School Vacation but it suddenly occurred to me that I might not not be feeling full of zest by then. So this week I finally bought Calliope a long-researched twin mattress. And hopefully on Sunday, if everyone is healthy, we are going bed shopping. Thus liberating the crib mattress from the toddler bed so it can go back to being a crib mattress. That will be two big items off my list. It's possible that not every item on my list, things like "organize underwear drawer" will be addressed, but I'm trying.

Calliope has started asking to "hug my sister." She has threatened to "hold my sister" (hug my belly?) in bed when we are sharing a hotel room during our upcoming travels. Which makes my heart sing. I just hope Calliope still loves her sister when she's on the outside.

Calliope and Tree Leaf