24 for 24 (Sprout in Pictures)

I knew I had to write about it when I turned 24 weeks pregnant on the 24th of the month. That kind of oversight is unforgivable. :o)  Time is inching forward.

As is my belly.  I'm still measuring about a half inch to an inch bigger than when I was pregnant with Mookie. I don't know about my weight, but I'm slowly gaining, and that's what is important. Just like with Mookie, though, I'm not often hungry. And when I am hungry, I don't necessarily want to eat what is available, and can't think of what I would eat if it were to suddenly appear on my kitchen counter, either! :o)  I try. I try and I try and I try. And at the end of the day, or the end of the month, if I'm gaining weight and feeling teeny baby kicks and, in general, feel healthy, then I guess I'm doing okay. Do I wish I could be one of those eat-the-whole-house moms? Yes. But a leopard can't change her stripes, right?

(wink)

I am committing the classic mom-of-a-second sin, however, and I'm not documenting the pregnancy progress nearly as much as I did when I was pregnant with Mookie. I hope Sprout doesn't hold it against me later! :o)  I think part of it before was that everything was so new and exciting and I had all the time in the world to spend surfing the web, learning what was going on, etc. Now? I'm chasing a toddler.  Also, when I was pregnant with Mookie, I knew my mom was checking my blog 834 times a day hoping/wishing/praying for another update. Another story about her granddaughter kicking me in the ribs. Another story about how her hiccups made it feel like there were little tiny explosions going off in my hind-quarters. Another story about how I was getting nervous, or how we were decorating the nursery, or how I worried the cats would react. Mom was just hungry for information and word on how the baby was treating me. :o)  And believe you, me, she was quick to call me and tell me how long it had been since I'd posted about "The Yipper." :o)  Now, I don't have that...that...pressure.  I know now that it was a good thing, of course. I don't think Mom was doing it so that I would have long-term documentation, of course. I think she was doing it because she wanted to know. I was like her own little personal soap opera. :o)  And believe you, me, she was quick to call my grandma and tell her what The Yipper and I had been up to, too! I'm sure if there had been a live webcam feed on my life, Mom and Grandma would have been tuned in 24/7 and on the phone with each other the entire time! :o)

But, again, I don't have that pressure, that impetus, that guiding force to update my blog and keep track of how I'm feeling as the little Sproutlette is growing inside of me. I get caught up in the day-to-day doings of hanging out with a toddler, and making stuff for my best friend's new baby, and making sure I have eaten that day, and getting out to enjoy the sunshine when the rest of the continent is snowed under. Blogging about kicks and hiccups seems LOW on the totem pole of importance.

BUT (Sprout, as you read this later), I know that I'll be glad for whatever I can record for posterity!  I don't want to forget things like:

• I don't have any particular cravings for food during this pregnancy, same as before with Mookie.
• I am having the same lower-back pain (sciatica) that I did with Mookie, although I think it came on earlier than it did with Mookie. I'm also having other back pain, but that's probably from cutting fabric and sewing, and not just being pregnant.
  
• When Sprout gets the hiccups, I feel it in the front of my belly, near my right hip (rather than near my sit-bones like with Mookie). I find this hiccup-location thing really interesting! I guess it means that they hang out in different parts of my uterus? I HOPE (against all hope) that it doesn't mean that Sprout is going to be in a painful birthing position!! Mookie just slid right on out, I would like to repeat that this time. :o)  I guess we'll see at my next ultrasound.
• I don't seem to be having as many ultrasounds with Sprout as I did with Mookie. I guess that's a good thing because it means the doctor isn't as worried (no fibroids appearing yet...), but it makes me sad because I want to see her again! :o)  Next one is March 1st. :-(
• I think it's interesting how many people have said that Sprout looks "just like Mookie" in her ultrasound pictures. Like, Sprout in utero looks like Mookie at 20 months, if that makes sense...not that they look alike in their ultrasound photos. Although I should go back and check. :o)
• I am having the Braxton Hicks contractions, sometimes more...contracting...than others. Just my old uterus getting into shape, I guess. Uterine calisthenics. Fabulous.
  
• I think I'm going to go off the grid with Sprout's nursery decor. I went Big Box with Mookie's, but I'm not finding anything I adore now. And while I still like what we did with Mookie's room, I wish that I had said aloud "Do I really have to go with a package? Or can I start with a fabric I love, and go from there?" And had someone (in the know) say to me, "Why, of COURSE, Melissa. Don't go with a package if you don't absolutely love it!"  I'll let you know more about my plans once I've run it past Dave. Not that he's (a) gonna care, and (b) have much say in the decision! I learned years ago to buy the paint, then show it to him as I was painting the walls. :o)   (Love you, Honey!)
• I bought the first box of Pampers Swaddlers this week. Gotta get stocked up! I figure if I budget and buy two boxes a month, I'll be in good shape come May Whatevereth.
• I've been talking to Mookie about her baby sister, and she knows there's a baby in Mommy's tummy, but I don't know how much she really understands yet. The other day, we were outside talking to a neighbor, and Debbie mentioned the baby, and Mookie pointed to Debbie's large bazoombas, and said "baby"...tee hee...I felt HORRIBLE!!! Her belly isn't big at all...just her bazoombas. But, to her credit (and my salvation) Mookie pointed to her own tummy and said "baby tummy" and then to my belly and said "baby tummy." So, we're working on who has a baby in their tummy and who doesn't. :o)
• We are going to keep Sprout's real name a secret until she's born - just like we did with Mookie. Dave and I haven't discussed names, yet, so no, we don't have one picked out, but even when we do, it'll be just betwixt us.
  

That last one got me to thinking. When I was pregnant with Mookie, not too much farther along than I am now, I posted this about singing and mind-dancing with my baby girl.  And, reading it for the first time in nearly 2 years, thinking about Mookie AND Sprout, the same happy Mama tears came to my eyes, and the same tearful Mama prayer came to my lips. And it makes me think that I need to be singing this song to Mookie and Sprout as we dance, the three of us, around the living room. Or should I say, the FOUR of us. :o)