Happy 26 weeks!

26 weeks pregnant

Wow! Can you believe baby has eyelashes at 26 weeks? And she’s amping up to start batting them soon. At this point, it probably feels like this baby (who you haven’t even met yet) has taken over your life. She’s interfering with your sleep. She’s messing with your brain. (Forget much?) She might even be giving you a stress headache or two. It’s normal to be experiencing some mild swelling, but around week 26, it’s important to watch out for swelling severe or sudden -- it could be the sign of a dangerous condition called preeclampsia. Notice your belly occasionally feeling really tight? That’s a contraction. Yup, already. Don’t freak out though -- your body is just practicing some tightening in preparation for labor. As long as the contractions aren’t steady or severe, you’re not in labor.

Your baby's the size of a head of lettuce!

She's still growing in the 13.6- to 14.8-inch and 1.5- to 2.5-pound range, and developing her senses, features and talents!

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your baby at 26 weeks

• Her eyes are forming, and his eyes will soon start to open.
• And her eyelashes are now grown, too.
• She's getting her immune system ready for life on the outside by soaking up your antibodies.
• She's taking breaths, too. They're of amniotic fluid, not air, but it's still good practice.

My 26 week belly

I just thought this was funny- the bed specifically has a pregnant lady in it... you could change the softness/ firmness of the bed- it was quite nice (for the first 10 minutes!)

I first must say that I absolutely love Northside, but did not really want to see them this early on. I started feeling horrible last week- nausea like crazy and went to work late Tuesday (I just waited for William to get home then left). I was able to sleep in a little bit but that did not help much. Then, everything just went down-hill Wednesday (horrible nausea, pain and besides a general overall crappy feeling- contractions). At first I thought I was just cramping but I remembered it was a similar feeling to the morning we went to the dr with Logan and found out I had been contracting and was 3cm. SO, I just tried to note things and called the doctor. They say that if there are more than 6 per hour, you have to go to labor and delivery. Well, I didn't technically have 6 until about 4pm. Then I had at least 6 per hour from then on. So, we decided we should better go ahead and go to Northside L&D. The most amazing person ever (GMP) was kind enough to watch logan and let him spend the night so that we did not have to wake him up when we got back, etc. I think we got to the hospital around 8pm but I really cannot remember. We left at around 2ish AM. It was a long night but I did get to watch a TON of Duck Dynasty so that was fun. I felt for William because he only got about 1- 1 1/2 hours of sleep before he had to get up and go to work (I stayed home). They ended up seeing the contractions- they started out about ever 8-10 minutes but by the end of the night they were about every 3-4 minutes. Turns out I have a bad bladder and urinary tract infection (which apparently can cause contractions/ early labor). They started me on antibiotics and supposedly as the meds work, the problem will be solved/ contractions stop. It has gotten better but I am still having contractions every now and then (and of course the pain and nausea and just feeling blah and exhausted). I am hoping and praying this gets better super fast- and I go to the dr Wednesday for a follow-up on the hospital/ this issue so we will see what he says. The good part of all of this is that Liam was fine- he was/ is active and heartbeat sounded great. There is also a TON of stress/ drama at work that is not making anything any better- we are definitely praying for something to give in the work department. So, that is about where I stand- we will see what happens from here!