25 weeks

Baby is kicking more and harder. It's quite fun to see my stomach shake and quite fun to feel the big stretches where I get booted up high and down low. I don't think I will get tired of this. It's very reassuring.

I have 7 days of work left with the kids and then one more outside of that. I am SOOOOO ready for the summer. It means that the count down to baby is so much closer! The summer will be awesome (but hot) and I can't wait to go visit hubby's family in mid July. Once the summer is over, we're only about 4 weeks away from the baby being here.

I'm so excited to hold and dress and nurse and play with my baby. It's becoming more real. It's not fully real yet, but I'm getting super excited. The nursery needs some more furniture and wall art, but I don't know that I want to do the wall art until I know exactly where the furniture is going to go.

I'm trying to think about what furniture we've still got to put in the room... I'm thinking we still need to put out:

• mamaroo bouncer
• tummy time mat
• swing
• rocker/glider (not sure which is going to go in the baby room)

How your baby's growing

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

Your baby's not the only one with more hair — your locks may look more full and lustrous than ever. It's not that you're growing more hair, but thanks to hormonal changes, the hair that you'd normally shed is sticking around longer than usual. Enjoy the fullness while you can — the extra hair will fall out after you give birth.

You may also notice that you can't move around as gracefully as before. Unless your caregiver has advised you otherwise, it's fine to continue to exercise, but follow a few safety rules: Don't work out when you're feeling overly tired and stop if you feel any pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. Don't lie flat on your back and avoid contact sports as well as any exercise where you're apt to lose your balance. Be sure to drink plenty of water, and make time for both warm-up and cool-down periods. My dr. has said to take it easy. I take that as a lot of sitting and resting and no working out/long walks.

When you have your glucose-screening test at 24 to 28 weeks (27 weeks :( blah), a second tube of blood may be taken at the same time to check for anemia. If blood tests show that you have iron-deficiency anemia (the most common type of anemia), your caregiver will probably recommend that you take an iron supplement.

Have you started thinking about baby names yet? Choosing a name is an important decision, but it should be a fun one, too. You may want to consider family history (Great Grandpa Zeb), favorite locations (Venice, where you honeymooned), or cherished literary or film characters (Greta, Meg, or Atticus, for example). Check out a couple of baby-name books to help you brainstorm, too. Family names - check! Both names are set in stone. Just hoping and praying when baby comes out, he/she fits the name :)