29 Weeks

Well, I've officially been in the third trimester for a full week and not much has changed (which seems like a good thing!).  I have been counting kicks each evening between 8:00 and 9:00 and this baby is definitely a mover.  It has yet to take more than 12 minutes to record 10 movements and the goal is to record 10 movements in an hour.  Fortunately, this indicates that Chocolate Chip is well and active.  Unfortunately, this wellness and activity has prevented me from falling asleep several nights.  Unless his or her waking and sleeping schedule changes, I don't forsee that getting better anytime soon.  

This week the baby is the size of an acorn squash (or a head of cauliflower).  He or she is about 15.5 inches long and weighs 2.5-3 pounds.  This week the baby can begin to smile, especially while sleeping (although judging by the movement I feel I'm not sure this baby ever sleeps).   It may be possible to feel hiccups soon.  And the baby is quickly running out of room in there, so each movement will feel harder and more pronounced.  I can verify that this is true.  

One night this week, Eric and I sat down to discuss names (again).  Using popularity data, meanings, and our own associations, we narrowed our lists to three contenders for each gender (with two alternates because I'm indecisive and can't even commit to a top three).  There are still some things to decide - like final spelling decisions - but it feels good to have made some progress on the name front.  We might take 6 names to the hospital instead of 4 names this time.  We'll see...  

Tonight is New Year's Eve, so we're saying goodbye to 2021.  We lived a lot of life this year (Eric went back to Wells Fargo, Gavin started kindergarten, Elsie turned one, we transferred our last embryo) and avoided major tragedies.  But 2022 will bring the arrival of our final family member, so we are looking forward to the next 12 months!