26 weeks

Weight and height estimates: 1 2/3 pounds, 14 inches. Sea Monkey's ears are sensitive enough to hear both Zach and I talking now. Also, all 5 of his/her senses are fully developed. =) S/he's also practice breathing, which is very, very good. His/her chances of survival without me are at 80%. So that's pretty exciting.

This is sort of the last week of my 2nd trimester. Depending on which books you read. Some say it starts at 27 weeks, some say 28. I think the oh-so-accurate spinning wheel due date calculator thing they have at doctor's offices says 28 weeks. When I was volunteering/doing my internship at the pregnancy resource center, we had one of those wheel-spinny things. I was always anxious to start the 3rd trimester lessons; I always thought they were the coolest. Those videos were lame, though. The first trimester video had this really goofy segment in it about exercise, and the main pregnant lady was wearing hot pink spandex and they were dancing around for their exercise... It was pretty hilarious. I cracked up the first time I saw it, and snickered quietly every time after that.... not that many of you really have any idea what I'm talking about (but Michelle does!!). But trust me. Really lame videos.

Apparently from this point on, I'll be gaining a 1/2 inch in belly/fundal size every week. And... that's a lot. So I may very well be saying goodbye to my comfy jeans soon. And if I'm normal, I may be getting very, very uncomfortable soon. Which doesn't really bother me right now, I'm kind of hoping for something normal pregnancy-wise, because this whole thing has been ridiculously easy, and when you're a slightly paranoid pessimist, that's just downright unsettling. I keep waiting for something to happen to make this seem more real, because everybody knows pregnancy isn't real if you don't hate every minute of it (ha!). I hear so many women talking about how uncomfortable they are already, or how they have so much hip/back/sciatic pain, and I feel like I'm just breezing through. I have pains, but they don't seem like a big deal. Annoying, sure, but not the end of the world. I still got down on my hands and knees to scrub the toilet the other day, despite having back pain. So... there's that.

I've spent the past couple days rearranging and organizing and cleaning our office (I don't know if that counts as nesting or not). So for those of you who have ever had to stay with us, or ever plan on staying with us while we're living where we are, rejoice! There is now enough room for both the air mattress AND for you to walk! Hooray! (Some day we'll have a guest room)

Have I mentioned Mali's new-found love for Sea Monkey's dresser/changing table? It's both adorable and depressing. She loves to jump up on it and sleep all snuggled up with Sea Monkey's bear, and it's pretty much the cutest thing ever, but she's not supposed to be up there. It makes me sad every time I catch her up there. I keep trying to leave things in the way so she doesn't have room to sleep, but she just knocks them over and curls up. She seems to think that if it's covered with a nice, soft blanket, it's suitable for her to sleep on, and she gives me this horribly sad "what did I do wrong??" look when I try to scold her for getting up there. Poor kitty. We're hoping that if we just take the blanket off, she'll lose interest, since it's not nearly as inviting without the nice soft blanket on there. We may have issues with her when we get the co-sleeper, so she may be getting kicked out of the bedroom, and that will be very sad indeed (I'm very attached to our cat). I don't think Mali will bother hopping up on Sea Monkey's bed or anything once s/he is here, because she's a little leery of small ones (she's generally content to sniff them and amble off to stare at grass); it's just difficult trying to keep her from making it a habit of sleeping in Sea Monkey's spaces.

Also: my belly button is getting very shallow. It's freaking me out. Belly buttons are just one of those things for me. They're oddly creepy. And gross.

My little sister is in Greece right now. I'm so jealous. Except for the whole unpleasantness they've got going on over there... but aside from that, Greece. Whoah.

Childbirth class #2 tomorrow.

And we're down to double-digits for the due date countdown (98!). That's pretty darn exciting. Even if I do go late (on average, first time moms go a week late, putting me at September 10), it's still exciting.