25 Weeks!!

How your baby's growing

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

How your life's changing

Your baby's not the only one with more hair — your locks may look more full and lustrous than ever. It's not that you're growing more hair, but thanks to hormonal changes, the hair that you'd normally shed is sticking around longer than usual. Enjoy the fullness while you can — the extra hair will fall out after you give birth.

You may also notice that you can't move around as gracefully as before. Unless your caregiver has advised you otherwise, it's fine to continue to exercise, but follow a few safety rules: Don't work out when you're feeling overly tired and stop if you feel any pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. Don't lie flat on your back and avoid contact sports as well as any exercise where you're apt to lose your balance. Be sure to drink plenty of water, and make time for both warm-up and cool-down periods.

When you have your glucose-screening test at 24 to 28 weeks, a second tube of blood may be taken at the same time to check for anemia. If blood tests show that you have iron-deficiency anemia (the most common type of anemia), your caregiver will probably recommend that you take an iron supplement.

Have you started thinking about baby names yet? Choosing a name is an important decision, but it should be a fun one, too. You may want to consider family history (Great Grandpa Zeb), favorite locations (Venice, where you honeymooned), or cherished literary or film characters (Greta, Meg, or Atticus, for example). Check out a couple of baby-name books to help you brainstorm, too.

Yay for 25 weeks! Just reading what's going on this week makes me laugh. I don't think I have fuller hair, but maybe I do. I don't notice that stuff. I am definitely not exercising!! I know I should be, but it's only 5 degrees out today! With a wind chill of -10! So no exercising for me today. Or the rest of winter probably for that matter. :) I have already done the glucose test once and get to take it again on January 3rd. And we already have our baby name picked out (and the spelling looks settled too based on that poll!). Although I do like the recommended name "Meg". That's a good one. ;-)

I'm still feeling this baby move ALL THE TIME. Even more than before. Last night while laying in bed I did a fetal kick count, just for fun. And I was at my 10 kicks within about 3 minutes. I did it again and was up to 10 kicks in another 5. Just writing this post (and a lot of this post is just cut and paste!) and I'm already at another 7 kicks. She's a mover!!

Only a few more weeks of the second trimester! I'm ready to move on to the third. I was at a holiday party this weekend and so many people commented on how big I was and how I still have a long way to go. This pregnancy is definitely different than with Dominick. With Dom I was "all baby" according to my doc throughout the whole pregnancy...I think I'm a little more this time around! But that's ok.

Personal trainer and the YMCA - I'll see you both in April/May!!

Happy 25 weeks baby A!