Only 98 days remaining till my estimated date of delivery – hooray for double digits!  Hopefully that number is pretty spot-on and baby #2 doesn’t decide to repeat his older brother’s performance of going late.

No photo today.  We are all recovering from a GI bug of sorts and I was too tired to get out my camera.

Here’s what has been going on since the 24 week update…

Weight Gain

I’m down another pound, which puts me down a total of 2 pounds from my 22 week update.  The weight loss isn’t intentional, I’ll tell you that.  I think that my weight would have stayed the same or gone up were it not for this tummy bug we’ve been dealing with.  Going nearly 36 hours without being able to keep down food and only small sips of water has taken its toll.  I was so happy at being able to stomach some toast with avocado this morning followed by Jell-O at lunch.  Lets hope it stays put.

Pregnancy Fitness

I learned an interesting lesson this week: don’t overdo it, because you never know what tomorrow will bring.  I took Joe on 2 very long, hilly walks in the sun on Wednesday.  I was feeling a bit puny, and Joe wasn’t quite himself, but we needed to get out.  Joe loves to be outdoors and sitting passively in his stroller while observing the wide world is a great way to keep him entertained when he’s not at 100%.  So, off we went.  We made a stop at his 1st dental appointment and from there the library, then took a long, meandering route home.  That afternoon was another long walk with a stop at a large, shady park.  It’s not particularly nearby but is one of our favorites.

When I got home, I was utterly sapped.  I finished the pizza dough for dinner, put it in the oven for 10 minutes, and propped my feet up.  I fixed the pizza the rest of the way and returned to the couch, where I debated about what to do that evening.  My prenatal aerobics class – normally held on Mondays but moved to Wednesday this week because of a holiday – was in about an hour and a half and I was pretty tired.  I debated not going but the fact of the matter is that I have always felt so energized and upbeat after those classes.  I wondered if I was just being lazy and decided that I should go after all.

Bad idea.  I really struggled through the class and had a hard time drinking water because of feeling queasy + a faulty water bottle nozzle.  When I got home, I took the laundry off the line and then proceeded to be sick every 30 – 45 minutes from just before 9pm – 9am the following day.  I was throwing up so frequently that I started to get contractions and began to worry about being dehydrated, pre-term labour, etc., etc..  Basically, I was working myself into a panic.  I took a deep breath, grabbed a cold washcloth, laid on my side on the couch (I can never lie in bed when I have an upset tummy – I need to be out of the bedroom) and prayed, told myself to relax, and remember that God knew about this baby and had a plan for him before he was even conceived.  I was able to go 45 minutes without being sick and the contractions stopped.

Lesson learned: next time I’m feeling utterly worn out, I’ll skip the class and not give myself a guilt trip about it.

Appetite, Aversions, and Cravings

My appetite is basically a big fat ZERO right now, but I think that’s mostly due to being recently ill.  I’ve got a general aversion to pretty much all food.  Cravings?  I crave an unnauseated feeling!  I don’t think “unnauseated” is even a word, but I can’t think of a better description.

Sleep

I’m pretty tired right now, but that is again likely due to all of us being sick this week.  Chris had it first and I was up with him on Sunday/Monday, then of course up myself on Wednesday/Thursday, and then was up at 1:30am today with Joe.  I pretty much had to give him a bath, poor little guy.  I’m ready for healthy immune systems to return to our house.

Baby Movement

Lots of movement.  I made sure to keep an eye on that throughout being so sick, but my illness didn’t seem to phase him.

Pregnancy Brain and Weird Dreams

Neither at the moment.  If anything, it’s more a sleep-deprived state of mind that I’m struggling with.

Other Odds and Ends

Our house-sitting agreement ends midway through the 1st week of March, which leaves us the month of February to find new arrangements.  I was planning to call about properties earlier this week but with being sick, it didn’t get done.  I was finally able to really hack away at it today and let me tell you, I’m a little discouraged/worried.

We basically only need a 4 month lease.  However, because the rental market is so popular in Auckland right now and because of students returning to university in just a few weeks, most property owners will only consider a 6 month minimum lease.  Argh.  I’ve called about 15 different people, plus sent texts and emails to others.  I’ve left a lot of messages.  Those who have spoken with me have all either said that they can’t do a 4 month lease or that it’s very unlikely that the owner would consider it.

Chris is going to view a furnished short-term property this afternoon, pretty much as I’m typing this right now (3pm).  Getting a furnished apartment isn’t ideal, as we have our own furnishings, but I’ll take what I can get if the price and location are both right.  We’ve moved so many times over the years, and I know that worrying about things in the past has profited me absolutely nothing, so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, keep calling, keep sending texts and emails, and pray that something opens up.