6 months baby!

I know I've been slacking with my updates, sorry! Wednesday, March 23rd marked the beginning of our six month! The time sure has flown by, but July still seems light years away.

Here is the babycenter.com 24 weeks update:
Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

I have lots to say this time. Zach and I made a long road trip back to PA to spend time with my family and celebrate my mom and aunt Bonnie's 60th birthday. The party was a huge success and everyone had a lot of fun. It was so great to be home and let everyone rub my belly :-) Baby Swanson responded best to my mom and my aunt Bonnie, who both felt a nice strong kick. My sister was able to feel a few little ones, but unfortunately he didn't say hello to Pappy this time. Next time for sure :-) When we are here, Zach always rubs and kisses my belly. Over this trip home, while I was getting lots of attention from everyone else, he seemed to really be proud to be the expectant father of the little one I'm carrying. It made me love him even more :-)

When we got back to Iowa, I registered us for all of the prenatal classes at the hospital that we want to take. We are going to a 5 week prenatal class, a birthing center tour, a breastfeeding class, baby basics, and Zach is going to a Daddy boot camp class also. It seems like a lot, but we're new at this, and the classes are spread out over a few months. Might as well be as best prepared as we can, right?

As for me, I'm feeling great. I'm loving every minute of being pregnant and feeling all the little (and HUGE) baby kicks. Some of them are getting strong and catching me off guard and a little uncomfortable, but that just means that he's growing strong! I am, however, experiencing some pretty bad back pain. There are a few stretches that I do that temporarily relieve some of the pressure and pain. There really is no comfortable sitting position for me these days. All this makes it sound like I'm not feeling great like I said, but really, I am! The back pain is just a little bump in the road, and an excuse for Zach to give me a back rub ;-)

I'm so excited for my baby shower thrown by my sister in May. I had the best bridal shower anyone could ever have, so I have no doubts the baby shower will be just as fantastic. Zach will be coming back to PA with me and will be at his parent's cabin for "warrior weekend" with the guys. I think a baby shower sounds like way more fun :-)

Last thing, Zach read Dr. Suess' Green Eggs and Ham to the baby. We felt a little like dorks reading a kiddy book out loud, but it was really fun all the same. We had some good laughs too. We hope baby Swanson was listening! I forgot to mention that we went through some of my boxes from when I was a kid and brought back some things. Mostly books, but also a wooden cradle my grandfather had made for me when I was a baby, and a handmade stuffed rocking horse made by my aunt Bonnie for me when I was a baby. Mom said that she put me under the Christmas tree in the cradle. It means a lot to be able to have these things from my childhood to share with my own baby.

I think that is all the news for now!