My Year in Review

So everyone is doing years in review as today is the final day of 2009. So here's mine!

January 2009

1. Brandon loses job and we have to deal with trumped up felony charges.
2. We make do with what we can do by living off our income tax return.
3. Kiera hits 5 months.

February 2009

1. We celebrate Nikki's 5th birthday and angel day.
2. Brandon still cannot find a job.
3. Kiera hits 6 months.

March 2009

1. Month 3 of no income - not looking good.
2. Kiera hits 7 months.

April 2009

1. I turn 30 years old - I don't know whether to celebrate or cry!
2. We start to run out of money. Looking at other living arrangements.
3. Happy Easter! Kiera hits 8 months.

May 2009

1. Decide to move in with my parents.
2. We find out why Brandon is not having luck with job hunting. Start working on deferred prosecution so he can find a job.
3. Kiera hits 9 months old.

June 2009

1. Move in with my parents - Hell on Earth but puts a roof over our heads.
2. Brandon has some great prospects but all fall through on the job front.
3. Kiera hits 10 months old - weans herself off of formula and baby food.

July 2009

1. Month 2 of living with my parents.
2. Brandon still not having any luck finding a job.
3. I find out I'm pregnant with our 2nd child together July 10th! Due March 19, 2010!
4. Kiera is 11 months old!!!

August 2009

1. Month 3 of living with my parents.
2. Brandon's grandmother "Gran" passes away at the age of 83 on Aug 15th.
3. Kiera Rose is 1 year old on Aug 5th
4. Brandon gets a job offer from Dollar General on Aug 18th.
5. We have multiple miscarriage scares but the baby hangs on!
6. Kiera finally gets her first teeth in 2 days after her birthday. She starts walking the same day!!
7. Brandon turns 24 August 26th.

September 2009

1. Brandon starts job at Dollar General on 9/5.
2. First u/s of baby #2 - What a peanut!!
3. Kiera turns 13 months old!
4. Brandon and I celebrate our 2 year anniversary 9/10.

October 2009

1. Happy Halloween!
2. Kiera turns 14 months old.
3. 5 months pregnant

November 2009

1. It's a GIRL! We decide to call our 2nd daughter together Bella Edie after Gran.
2. Kiera turns 15 months old.
3. Happy Thanksgiving!
4. 6 months pregnant.

December 2009

1. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
2. Kiera is 16 months old!
3. 7 months pregnant
4. Brandon gets a promotion at Dollar General with a pay raise.
5. We may have found a potential home for just us that we can afford. Stick around to see if we move or not!!!

I hope everyone's year in review was just as interesting as mine turned out to be!

29 weeks

If you’ve been feeling butterflies moving around in your belly, it’s not just your run-of-the-mill pre-birth performance anxiety. No, it’s your amazing baby with a case of the hiccups: a fairly common occurrence at this point resulting from practicing breathing for their big birthday. In addition, to getting a round of butterfly-like hiccups, your little swimmer has arduously managed to accumulate enough baby fat to account for nearly 3.5% of their overall body weight. Yeah, compared to we adults, it’s not a lot, but when they’re little like that—it’s certainly a healthy (and warming) accomplishment in its way. Another fantastic accomplishment: your baby's spleen is now in charge of hematopoiesis—the 10 dollar name for the process involved in building up certain important blood components. Another fantastic-accomplishment: your little monkey has been peeing into their amniotic sac for a little while now (this is why potty training takes a while) and if you didn’t know, actually swallows it along with the rest of the amniotic fluid. Although the concept is nasty, their urine is sterile and as part of the amniotic fluid base, is replaced several times throughout the day. So if you didn’t know before, now you can tell people, that yes, you drank your own urine—you were still in the womb, but nonetheless, you’ve been there.

28 weeks - Third Trimester!!!!

You know how you’ve been feeling a bit like a barn with legs? Well, that feeling won’t subside before… well, you know, when you finally give birth. For the time being, you’ve got yourself a baby in the business of collecting fat and lots of it! In spite of the dubious joys of being a human-barn, this baby fat business is very serious and you’ve got to put up with it because it’s going to keep your little porker warm and healthy after birth. Other good stuff from inside: their eyes are doing lots of blinking this week because they’re now able to respond to light and dark. Also, their industrious little bone marrow is now a major construction site for developing red blood cells, while their super-cute adrenal glands are actually producing androgen and estrogen—which will stimulate your hormones to begin milk production. Can you say, “Moo?”

27 weeks

Fetal development in pregnancy week 27:

Your not-so-tiny-anymore brilliant baby(about 2 pounds and 14.5 inches long!) is slowly rotating in preparation to “head out.” Obviously, this doesn’t happen overnight, but when you start to feel an unfamiliar pressure on your cervix, you’ll know you’ve got a fully flipped baby locked and loaded for the countdown to their birthday! Even now, at the beginning of the third trimester, their little lungs are already capable of breathing air while the pulmonary vascular system can provide sufficient gas exchange and the central nervous system can generally regulate rhythmic breathing as well as their basal body temperature. For what it’s worth, at this point in a healthy pregnancy a premature child (with intensive care) could easily win on the show: “Survivor: The Early Years.”

26 weeks

Fetal development in pregnancy week 26:

At long last, your little swimmer can see the womb! Your miracle’s little eyelids have finally separated (they were fused closed previously) and they’re probably having their first moments of sight as you read this (or maybe it already happened while you were brushing your teeth or watching Oprah or something). In addition to seeing their little studio in your belly, they’ve recently acquired the ability to say “yes” and “no” in rudimentary sign language as they can now move their head back and forth. This is also the time where your little super star’s head hair is starting to grow! A cute little cowlick or two may be springing into position right now, getting ready for years of cute-but-stubborn bed-head. Also, their toenails have grown in and you little raisin continues to slowly pile up fat beneath their still-loose skin. Most importantly, brain tissue and neurons are all developing at a rapid pace, increasing their (genius-level?) brain activity and will continue to function at accelerated levels for the first seven to eight years of childhood!

25 weeks!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 25:

Your little grower’s physical proportions are evening out at this point and most of their remaining development will largely be weight gain and lots and lots of nervous system development. The good news is: if your child is born premature now they’ll be more likely to survive without too much trauma as their lungs began to produce “surfactant” last week, which means their tiny respiratory system is getting stronger with each passing day. Yes, now’s a good time for a minor sigh of relief and a quick pat on the back. All that hard work and conscientious living is really getting your child prepared for a healthy delivery. Keep up the fabulous work mama! This week they’ll be scootching slowly out of the old breech position and start rotating (already!) into a better position for exit during their birth. Their head and feet are slowly rotating so that the head is pointed down towards the birth canal. Time is short (or really long, depending on who you ask)—just (still!) 14 weeks left before you can go back to being a single-resident human.