Liam Update

I finally had my doctor's appointment this past Thursday. It was supposed to happen the previous Tuesday, but was canceled due to weather. So it had been more than 5 weeks since the last one. Thankfully, I was able to go after work and not have to take off any time in my first week. The appointment was very quick, but once again everything checked out fine and normal. My blood pressure was normal, and I got to hear Liam's heartbeat. It was 143 beats per minute, so it is getting slower over time. My next appointment is in less than 3 weeks, and I will have to do the glucose test then. At that point, I will be in the third trimester and have to start going every two weeks. Let's hope I can schedule most of them for after work!

Speaking of work, I started a temp to hire position at Cigna this past week. My background check and paperwork went through faster than I expected, which is great. I work on a "team" of 16 or so people, which I think just means we sit in the same general area and are under the same manager. I have my own cubicle and computer and such. I basically do whatever they tell me. It's all admin/office work. I've caught on quickly and kept busy the first week. I enjoy the people around me as I've gotten to know a few of them better. Most of them are temps as well. I also enjoy getting up every morning and going to work. That may sound crazy to some people, but I really do. I also like getting paid, which will happen every week starting next week. I think this job will do quite nicely until the baby comes. There's a filtered water and ice machine on the floor and I drink water all day long and no one bothers me about going to the bathroom ALL THE TIME. No one has said a word about my baby belly, and I've only told one person I'm pregnant, a temp who started just a few weeks ago. I'm sure they can tell, though. I definitely can't hide it any longer, not that I would want to. I did find out that when it's time for me to have the baby, I will still be in the "temp" period and working through the temp agency. My temp agency's policy is that if you miss 5 days, they replace you. So I will not be able to keep this job once Liam is born. That's ok. I will figure out something else to do after he is born. As long as I can work until May, that will be great. I really am thankful to be working!

Liam has been growing lately. I came home Friday from work, looked in the mirror and told Will that my belly was bigger than it had been that morning. He agreed. It is a gradual process, but I swear my belly pokes out more and more every day. For a few weeks now, I've been able to feel his kicks on the outside of my belly and occasionally see my belly move if I'm paying attention. So cool! What's even better is that in the past few days, Will has been able to feel and sometimes see some of Liam's kicks as well. Before, if he was kicking a bunch, I'd get Will to put his hands on my belly, but Liam would usually stop or Will would say he couldn't feel it when he kicked. But every evening the past few days, he's been able to feel some of them. Will tells him to "Kick me as hard as you can," but that doesn't really work. He does not kick on command. I've noticed that Liam is more active at night. I barely feel him for the first few hours I'm awake, and then I feel him off and on throughout the day. The activity picks up at night, though. I wonder if that's any indication of how he'll be outside the womb. If he's night owl, he'll have his daddy to blame. I used to be a night owl, but having to get up early for work and then being in pain in the morning makes me go to bed earlier and wake up earlier these days.

Being pregnant has been great so far. I haven't had much to complain about at all. I feel perfectly normal pretty much all the time. The only time I'm in pain is first thing in the morning. I have to sleep on my sides, of course, and that puts a lot of strain on my hips these days. So I flip from side to side throughout the night when the pain of a hip hurting wakes me up enough to let me know it's time to flip. As a result, both of my hips hurt every morning when I wake up. Sometimes my legs even hurt down to my knees. Once I manage to roll (literally) out of bed and walk around some, the pain goes away. I probably need one of those pregnancy pillows, but I"m afraid of spending the money on one and then it not working. So really, that's my only pregnancy pain complaint. It's not so bad, but I do need to find a solution soon.

I'm 26 weeks today! Fourteen-ish more weeks to go. Yesterday, we ordered our Chicco Travel System, so little man will be able to go places in style. Last week, we got a bouncy seat for him. I can't wait for him to get here and use it all! I think the weeks will fly by now that I'm working. He'll be here before I know it: ready or not.