Week 22

Caleb's looking more and more like a little newborn every day. He's probably passed the one pound mark and should be around 11 inches long now, head to toe--about the size of a spaghetti squash. His eyes, eyelids, eyebrows and lips are more distinct and his irises have formed, though they won't have any pigment until closer to his arrival. Also, tooth buds are growing under his little gum lines this week. His pancreas is developing this week and his skin is still pretty wrinkly, and will remain so until he starts to bulk up in the last few weeks in the womb.

Following in his big sister's footsteps, little Caleb is proving to be a very hiccupy baby as well. It's a strange feeling to have someone else's diaphragm having spasms inside you, but I imagine hiccups are a pretty full-body experience for someone that small, so I can't blame him if he gets a little aggressive when they attack. His movements are definitely getting more frequent and I'm beginning to notice predictable patterns of wakefulness and restfulness as his movements get stronger and more discernable. Caleb's a strong boy and Justin is often amazed at the strenghth of his kicks!

The sciatic nerve pain has continued to bother me, although for the most part I'm starting to get used to it. Caleb does occassionaly move off of that nerve now, which provides me minutes or even sometimes hours of relief at a time!

As my belly continues to take on more of its maternal shape I'm realizing that this baby, like the first, is going to ride low and large, prompting well-meaning baby prophets everywhere to start telling me as early as 34 weeks that I've "dropped" and "it could be any day now." Actually, my babies just seem to like riding as close to my knees as possible. Though this womb position is pretty annoying (both a baby and a bladder don't fit in that space, trust me), I figure it should make the delivery go quickly again since he won't have as far to travel. (Special thanks to my babies for not growing high up under my lungs...it seems this is what I did to my mom, and I'll take frequent trips to the bathroom over not being able to breathe any day.)

Please continue to pray for relief from my back and leg pain and for Caleb's continued healthy growth inside the womb for the next four months!

Week 21

Caleb's probably almost a pound now and should be about 10.5 inches long, about the length of your average carrot. His movements are much more pronounced now and he's getting big enough that I'm often able to tell where in the womb he's hanging out at a given moment. He's definitely following the standard fetal pattern of sleeping when I'm up and moving around when I'm still, which is making getting to sleep at night a little bit of an adventure. It's hard to go to sleep, no matter how tired you are, when there's a baby doing karate in your belly. His eyebrows and eyelids are developed by this point and his face is beginning to settle into what it will look like when he makes his big debut.

I'm definitely getting larger, though not so large as to make things like washing dishes and doing laundry uncomfortable yet. I'm just large enough, in fact, to make carrying Abby on one hip inconvenient, but she and Caleb usually have a fun time seeing who can kick the other the hardest through my belly whenever I have to carry her around somewhere.

There's only so much room in this little (growing) belly of mine, and unfortunately for myself and pregnant women everywhere, babies and normal-sized bladders do not coexist well. Frequent trips to the bathroom, small meals and constant snacking are a big part of my life now as Caleb declares his dominion over what was my abdomen.

And, like his big sister before him, this little guy is perfectly content to spend all of his time doing jumping jacks on my sciatic nerve. With Abby, this resulted in a left leg that was, for the most part, numb for the last 4 months of my pregnancy. Caleb has kicked off his attacks on my sciatic nerve much earlier, leaving me with residual pain that resonates from my left hip down to my ankle and feels a little like someone trying to drill a butt-cheek-sized drill into my left butt cheek. I've not yet found a position--either moving, sitting, standing or lying down--that offers any relief. (Moms who've been there....any thoughts?)

Please pray with us this week that this nerve pain would ease up, and that if it doesn't, I would at least be able to go about my day normally. And as always, thanks for your continued prayers for a healthy baby boy and his continued development over these last 5 months!

Week 20

Poor little Caleb...it can't be comfortable to be the size of a banana (he's probably about 10 inches long now, head to heel) and be squished inside this little belly of mine. Thankfully, we're at the halfway point, and thankfully, my midsection is doing its part to make room for our little boy.

It's nearly impossible for us to believe we're halfway through with this pregnancy already! The time really is flying by...if this last half can go by as fast as these first few months have, you might get to see the big-bellied version of my happy dance.

Since every pregnancy is different, I think a concise side-by-side comparison of Abby and Caleb's gestation periods is in order. Sort of a halfway-through-the-pregnancy review.

So here are my 20 weeks stats:

	Abby	Caleb
total weight gain:	7 lbs	10 lbs
belly circumference:	34.5 inches	35 inches
maternity pants:	optional	necessary
fetal movement:	faint	strong

So it's true for me as well...things happen more quickly and in greater degree with successive pregnancies. I'm carrying this baby low just like the first one, and am attributing the necessity of stretchy waistbands (in spite of the only half-inch difference at this time from my first pregnancy) to the fact that my hips just aren't as close to each other as they used to be.

Caleb's movements are getting much more discernible. Unfortunately for me, they come without warning and tend to stop me in my tracks or make me jump. He's a strong boy! Please pray for his continued strong and healthy development, and for a healthy last 20 weeks in the womb.

What's in a name?

A lot actually. We've thought long and hard on this one to make sure we'd be packing a pretty good punch with the name we chose for our son, so we're very pleased to announce that Peanut is now officially...

Caleb Steven Fisher

Caleb comes from two Hebrew words meaning "of the heart" or "faithful." God has indeed shown His faithfulness to us in this pregnancy in healing my uterus and allowing this baby's development to continue unhindered, and we'll be reminded of His grace every time we speak our son's name. It was Caleb who, when Moses sent out his twelve spies to survey the promised land, returned and reminded the people that though it seemed a daunting task, God had promised them the land and they could indeed occupy it and overcome the "giants" that lived there, because God was with them. It was Caleb (along with his faithful friend Joshua) who was promised entry into the promised land when the rest of their faithless generation turned in fear and refused to occupy the land God had given them. Our prayer for our Caleb is that his life will be shaped by such a bold faith and that He will walk confidently in the Lord.

Steven is a tribute to Justin's dad whose own faithfulness and leadership of his family will echo down through generations to come. God has used Justin's dad mightily in the life of his own three sons, teaching and training and guiding them as they've grown in a knowledge and understanding of the Lord, and we will look forward to telling our son about the Godly heritage his grandfather has given the Fisher family (and probably share some of Steve's jokes while we're at it).

Yep...these are big shoes we're giving our little one to fill. Can't wait to meet our precious little Caleb!

Week 19

It's a boy!

This week's much-anticipated ultrasound showed that everything's looking good with little Peanut's development, and revealed that we'll be welcoming a son into the world in January! He's a big boy and showed off a pretty full belly when he had his picture taken on Tuesday. The technician told us he must like to eat (seems to be a common theme for our kids). He's weighing in at about 10 ounces but we weren't able to get a length for him, so we'll just guess that he's on track at about 6 or 7 inches long (head to rump) this week.

Peanut's been moving like crazy this past week, kicking, squirming and--our ultrasound showed us--head-butting my upper abdomen. Justin's able to feel the firmer kicks now, but much of our son's rolling around is still only discernible to me. He was a sleepy little boy during our scan on Tuesday, yawning, stretching and sleeping through most of the one-hour exam.

His sensory development is beginning to take off this week and his brain is designating special areas for his senses. Peanut can hear us now, and unless he's going to be a baldy when he's born, the hair on his head should be sprouting around this time.

Please pray for us as we prepare for the awesome responsibility of welcoming a son into the world and into our family. Just when we thought we had this girl thing figured out, one of my friends pointed out that now we get to relearn everything! We know God has a plan and a purpose for our little boy...pray that we would be up to the task of raising this precious gift up to know and love his Creator!

No names yet...but we're getting close!