26 Weeks 1 Day

I figured I'd give another update today since we've hit a couple milestones in the past two weeks.  Josh got to feel Nora kick for the first time about a week ago!  He's only felt her twice since her most active times are between 2 and 3pm while we're both at work, and around 1am when he's sleeping and I'm lying there wishing she weren't such a night-owl so that I could get back to sleep.  I can now see my belly move when she kicks too, which I find really cool.  You can tell exactly where she is, and I'm starting to be able to tell which body part she is jabbing at me with. 

Last weekend I also started experiencing what I think are Braxton Hicks contractions, although I'm not totally sure.  It's pain in the sides of my belly and sometimes it shoots through to my lower back.  Although I guess pain isn't really the right word, just more of an uncomfortable, tight feeling.  I've read that BH will only last a few seconds to a few minutes, and they get better when you switch positions or move around.  Mine have lasted upwards of 2 hours, and don't really get better until I lay down for a while.  I guess everyone experiences them differently.

Even though she's expected to stay put for at least another 10 weeks, we started writing out our birth plan yesterday, which has got me finally thinking about the "Big, Scary, Inevitable Event".  Although at this point I just can't wait to have her out already, I hadn't really considered labor, or more like I've blocked it from my mind.  I used a birthing plan template that I got off of TheBump.com, and it brought up a number of issues that I'd never considered like, "do I want music played" and "do I want my husband to cut the umbilical cord".  Then it also raised a bunch of questions that I'd rather not think about like, "do I want an enema" and "at what point do I want an episiotomy".  So, how EXACTLY am I supposed to decide that?!  How about NEVER to both questions, and while you're at it, once labor starts just knock me out with whatever method needed and wake me up when she's out.  Maybe I'll approach the issue again once we start our birthing classes next month...

And now for some more pics, taken at 26 weeks exactly.  Is it my imagination or is my bump getting lower and more oblong?