June 2019 – Sara Morrison

25 Weeks

Baby Size

Baby Mo is the size of a cauliflower at 13-13.5 inches long and about a pound and a half. I also read that my uterus is currently the size of a soccer ball which seems gigantic!

Highs

Josh and I took a long weekend trip to the beach! Even though I didn’t enjoy the heat and humidity, I definitely took advantage of floating in the pool as well as digging a hole in the sand for my belly, so I could lay on my stomach. If only they made mattresses with sand pits, so I could sleep on my stomach again…

My sacrum/SI issues continue to improve, so I can go for actual walks now! I walked up to an hour at the beach, and then this Monday I walked 4.5 miles. Running is still very uncomfortable, so it’s looking like Peachtree will be a long (very long) walk for me. I definitely have some FOMO about not being able to run as well as some general worries about the experience of walking a 10k (seriously, so long to go walk), but it’s the 50th anniversary of Peachtree and will be my 11th one, and I want to be there.

Everything seems to be going well with the baby’s health as well! I had my glucose test today, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as everyone says. People say the glucose drink is disgusting, but I thought it tasted just like Sprite, maybe a tad sweeter. Baby had a strong heartbeat at 136, and he was quite the wiggle worm after I drank the glucose drink which is fun.

Lows

I have a decent amount of back pain / discomfort not necessarily related to my sacrum/SI issue. I am just generally uncomfortable with staying in any position (whether sitting or standing or laying down) for too long. And I’m only going to get bigger!

There’s also a bit of “time is running out” panic I occasionally get since I still haven’t moved out of the office/future nursery, and we have a number of things to do on top of that. But 15 weeks is still a lot of time!

24 Weeks

Baby Size

Baby Mo is the size of a cantaloupe at 11.3-11.8 inches long and about 1.3 pounds.

Highs

I got to see a lot of my coworkers and Praxis participants as well as former coworkers at a conference last week. It was so fun to meet some people in person for the first time as well as catch up with old friends. A number of the speakers I used to work with are moms, so I got some good advice along the way as well!

A moment that really stood out to me was when I got the chance to speak with Magatte Wade. I am a huge Magatte fan, and she squealed over my belly and dubbed herself the baby’s Auntie. To have someone who is incredibly busy doing amazing things with her life even know I was pregnant ahead of time and say she can’t wait to meet my child made me tear up on the spot.

Another moment of extreme gratitude was toward my mom! While the conference was great, there was a lot of sitting in uncomfortable chairs, and my back was a wreck at the end of every day. Mom drove all the way to Atlanta on Sunday and just rubbed my back for nearly an hour. She did a number of other PT-related things to try to help my SI-related pain, but laying on my pillow fort surrounding my belly (to be able to be on my stomach) and her rubbing my back was just so nice. And it worked! We went for almost a 20 minute walk after that (the longest I’ve walked in weeks), and I didn’t have any pain!

Even though my SI / sacrum issues haven’t fully resolved, the improvement to be able to go on walks has been great! I have impatiently tried running a few times (shocker), but the difference in force/impact is just too much right now. I’m still not giving up hope on Peachtree, though!

Lows

Really this is just some aches and pains and wishing I could run. Diaphragm pain is my newest growth pain, and I know he’ll start invading my lung and rib cage space soon enough. Oh boy!

And even if I can’t run, at least I can do every day life without pain like I was a couple of weeks ago. And there are other forms of exercise! I swam laps one day last week. It started comically bad, and I felt like my lungs had zero capacity, but it’s still an option.

23 Weeks

Baby size

Baby Mo is the size of a grapefruit! He’s about 11.5 inches long and a bit over a pound in weight. From here on out he is expected to “gain weight rapidly.” Oh boy…

Highs

I got another garbage bag of maternity clothes from a friend! There are several advantages to having kids after your friends, and this is certainly one of them. All of the advice is helpful, too. I am particularly excited about all of the tank tops since it’s almost officially summer.

I built my new bookcase upstairs and have all of my books moved out of the office-will-be-nursery. I still have some organizing to do, but it felt like a good step toward moving out of the office (even though I am taking my sweet time since it’s cooler in there than the loft where I am moving).

I had some improvement with my SI pain (more below), but the best was after sitting in a reclining chair at the movies for a couple of hours this weekend, I was pain free for the walk back to the car! When you’ve been waddle-limping for over a week, you take what you can get.

Lows

My SI pain continues. Thankfully I’ve improved to the point that I can walk around the house mostly pain free (huge quality of life improvement), but I still can’t go for a walk without pain, and I certainly can’t run. I saw my physical therapist at the end of last week, and she said my hip alignment looked fine and that my sacrum was rotated, which is what is pinching my SI on the right side. That was a little discouraging because it’s a bit easier to fix a hip alignment issue with some manual adjustment and exercises. I’ve been doing the recommended stretching and exercises for the sacrum issue as well, but it appears to be a harder problem to fix. I also got a new SI belt to wear throughout the day that is a big tighter to hold everything in place.

But – it could be worse! I’m still holding out hope to be able to run Peachtree and have 3 more weeks to get back to running. Cross your fingers for me.

22 Weeks

Baby Size

Baby Mo is the size of a coconut! He’s about 11 inches long and weighs 15 ounces, maybe even up to a pound. It’s a little crazy to think of how much weight he’ll gain in the next 18 weeks…

Highs

I called ahead to the ultrasound office before my regular appointment last week and was able to pick up the pictures from two weeks ago! I’m excited to have them as keepsakes. There’s even one of him sucking on his fingers!

I had a good check up appointment as well. His heartbeat is still strong, and she said all of his kicks and jabs are only a good sign.

Speaking of which, I can feel him nearly every day now! My favorite is when he moves a lot until Josh comes over and then (of course) stops.

Lows

Re-aggravating my SI joint last week has been much worse than expected. Despite stretching and pool running and trying to take it easy (which I am bad at), it still hurts to even walk. Running is out of the question, and I missed out on Global Running Day today. I’m trying to be patient, but I’m in a pretty bad mood at the end of every day since anything other than sitting/laying on the couch is painful.

Thanks for reading! As a reminder, I’m participating in a 10-week fundraising effort for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and there are only 3 DAYS LEFT! Every donation works toward a cure. Donate HERE.