Pregnancy Update: 26 Weeks + Babymoon

Hey, everyone!  How are you doing?  Sorry I didn't check in yesterday, but I have a good reason...

Joe and I were traveling back from visiting Dubai!  We left last Tuesday night and came back home yesterday afternoon.  I didn't let y'all know before leaving for safety reasons, but luckily I was able to line up some posts last week while I was gone so it appeared all was normal.  Tricky, tricky :) 

With that being said, today's pregnancy update is going to have a little bit of a different format.  Let's get started with the Baby Fish Feature!

Baby Fish Feature: Babymoon!

I mentioned way back in February that we booked this trip to Dubai, but we didn't know it when we booked that we were actually planning our "babymoon"!  Never heard of a "babymoon"?  It's a recent term referring to a trip a couple takes before the baby is born.  My friend Ashley highly recommend that Joe and I do a "babymoon", and when we had to reschedule our original booking for Dubai (the original date conflicted with Joe's national boards), we decided to still do the trip before the baby was born.

I will be doing a series of posts fully reviewing our trip, but for now I will say that we had a GREAT time.  It was so cool going to a new-to-us country on a new-to-me continent, and we definitely recommend that you check out the United Arab Emirates if you are looking for an exotic, interesting place to visit on vacation.  

Pregnancy Update: 26 Weeks

Now it's time to talk about the pregnancy!  Much of this week's update will have to do with how I was feeling while traveling, considering that was the big deal this week.

How far along? 26 weeks (and two days)

Baby Bump progress: This week's picture is extra special because it was taken in our hotel room in Dubai!  

Plus, I feel like I popped out a little more on Sunday when that picture was taken.  The people on our tour group noticed the same thing, too!

Baby's Size? a head of lettuce! About 12-13 inches and weighs between 1.5-2 pounds.

What's happening this week?  

• Eyes are developing and beginning to open, and the eyelashes are growing
• Immune system is developing by soaking up my antibodies
• Taking breaths of amniotic fluid to practice for breathing for real
• Baby is now reacting to light and sounds

Total weight gain/loss: not sure of the official number at this point, but as of last Monday's appointment, 13.5 pounds since the beginning of the pregnancy

Stretch marks? no new ones, thankfully!

Sleep: This week really wasn't the best on the sleep front, but I'm assuming that's because of the jet lag from traveling.  There was one night, though, that when I rolled to each side, Baby Fish decided to kick on that side.  It kept me up for a little bit and was a bit annoying!  I'm hoping that won't happen much in the future because it was just not fun!

Best moment this week: enjoying our fun trip!  

I think I was most excited that the flights there and back went well and I wasn't uncomfortable during them.  Good stuff!

Miss anything?: not going to the bathroom all the time, being able to see past my stomach, alcohol (there were a few times we got vouchers for a free drink at dinner that I couldn't partake in), participating in "high-impact" activities (I couldn't go dune bashing or skiing during the trip--more on that in my recaps!)

Movement: Baby Fish is quite the active one lately!  He/she was certainly reacting to the seat belt on the plane and the waist bands of some of pants by kicking against it.  In general, though, I'm feeling the movements quite a lot!

Food cravings: nothing specific this week.  Luckily I had no aversions as I was trying foods that were new to me while traveling!

I particularly enjoyed all of the kebabs we had, as well as the variety we had thanks to lots of dinner buffets.

Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!  Which was especially awesome considering we were in a new place with different kinds of foods than I was used to eating.  woo hoo!

Gender: We'll find out when Baby Fish is born :)

Labor Signs: none (thankfully!)

Symptoms: 

• swollen feet/ankles
• frequent bathroom trips
• mood swings/getting very impatient rather quickly

Belly Button in or out? in, but definitely not as deep as it was

Wedding rings on or off? on!

Happy or Moody? I was mostly happy, but I had a few more mood swings this week than before.  I'm sure that was due to being somewhere new with new people, but I'll blame it on the pregnancy :-P

Funny moments this week: On Sunday, we visited the city of Abu Daubi in the UAE.  Our first stop was at beautiful mosque, and before going, there were many rules and guidelines about dress we had to follow out of respect for the religion and the holiness of the mosque.  One of the rules was that men and women could not touch.  Joe and I were taking pictures in the mosque at one point, and we both forgot and put our arms around each other.

Well, a security guard at the mosque came right up to us and told us not to touch!  I was so embarrassed as I was trying ultra hard to be respectful the whole time, and we messed up right at the beginning of the visit at the mosque!  Well, don't worry, because after that I made sure that when Joe and I took a picture together, we were not touching AT ALL.

Not getting in trouble for that picture!  Thanks, pregnancy brain, for getting me in trouble at the mosque!  The funniest part was that Joe kept trying to put his arm around me, and I was the one that remembered after that first picture.  Funny funny!

Looking forward to: RELAXING today before all of the excitement of Christmas!  After spending about 27 hours of traveling from Sunday night to yesterday, I am READY for some relaxation!

Exercise this week: I must say, there wasn't much exercise this week due to traveling to Dubai.  I did get in a 5K run workout on the treadmill at the hotel on Saturday morning, but other than that, the only exercise I got was walking around on our tours.

Question for you: For the moms or moms-to-be: did you/are you doing a "babymoon"?  Everyone: have you been to the UAE?  What's the furthest away place you've traveled?