35/35!

Yesterday was my 35 week mark. I now have about 35 days (give or take) to go! The past couple of weeks have really slowed down a lot and I'm glad because for a while things were moving waaaay too quickly.

We have been busy preparing for the baby. The nursery is almost finished, just a few things left to hang on the wall. I understand it's a little silly to put so much focus into getting the nursery ready since the baby will sleep in our room for at least the first few months, but I love getting the room ready! All the blankets, burp cloths and cute little baby clothes have been washed and put away. I also have an infant car seat in my car! That just seems so crazy to me! It came in a couple of weeks ago and after pestering Josh to install it so we can make sure it would fit, he installed it and LEFT IT IN! He said it was close enough :) We bought a Britax B-Safe and I absolutely love it! It was a little more expensive than some of the other car seats we looked at, but it has a lot of great features and I'm so happy we splurged a little to get it. I was able to use a coupon and buy it on sale so I did save some. There's still a few more things we need to get, but ultimately we have most of the major stuff and we're pretty prepared for this little one's arrival.

I've also been cooking meals for the freezer for after the baby comes and I don't feel like cooking. I have several batches of homemade spaghetti sauce, Mexican rise, several batches of muffins, 7 meals ready to be "dumped" into the CrockPot, 2 frozen homemade chicken pot pies, and lots of other random odds and ends. I'm hoping all of this will keep us from getting take out whenever the baby gets here, I'm planning on fixing a few more things if I feel up to it.

How Far Along: 35 weeks, 1 day

Due date: March 6th

Gender: No idea!

Names: Not sharing until we are 100% sure- we're about 99.5% sure now!

Weight Gain: 24 pounds-after a big growth for a few weeks, my weight gain has slowed to about 1/2 a pound a week. I think things are evening out.

Maternity clothes: I have a decent sized maternity wardrobe that I wear around, if you drop by my house unexpectedly I promise you will find me in pajamas :)

Stretch Marks: Yes :(

Sleep: Sleep is becoming more of an issue. I wake up a lot and it's hard for me to get comfortable. I'm feeling a little more tired than I was, but it's nothing too bad.

Movement: The baby is still moving a lot. My midwife checked the baby's position the other day and the baby is head down. She was listening to the heartbeat on the doppler and the baby got the hiccups--it was so awesome to feel and hear the baby hiccuping at the same time!

Missing anything: Sitting comfortably at a table, my belly is making it a lot harder.

Food cravings: Nothing really.

Food Aversions: No food aversions!

Symptoms: Nothing new!

Baby Shower and Appointment Update

My baby shower was a huge success! I had a really good time, there was a big turn out and it was so nice getting to visit with everyone. I hope everyone that came had a good time as well. We played the "Don't Say Baby" clothespin game and everyone played gift bingo, which had the guests fill out a card about the gifts they thought I would get and then play bingo while I was opening them. I think everyone really enjoyed that!

I took a few pictures, and even though it felt like I was taking a ton, I didn't take near as many as I thought I did!

My sister and I with our bumps! I am due 8 days apart. I think this dress makes it clear that this baby is front and center!

My Mom with her two pregnant daughters!

There was a lot of yummy food, which was great news to this pregnant lady. Broccoli cheddar soup, vegetable beef soup, chili, pimento cheese sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, hot ham and cheese sandwiches, a vegetable tray and chips and dip. We ate very, very well!

 The punch was delicious! It was blue and the duckies looked so cute floating in it. 

I also had an appointment today and it went well. Everything is checking out great, my midwife said I was very boring, so I take that as pretty fantastic news. Since I am getting closer to my due date, and because I've noticed movement in different places, I asked my midwife to check the position of the baby. She had me lay down flat and had me feel where the back, butt, knees and legs were. The good news is that baby is head down! It's still early, and she made it very clear that the position is subject to change, but I was happy to know that baby is head down so early!

Today is the day of my baby shower! I am super excited and it's going to be so much fun to spend time with everyone. I am bringing my camera and plan to take lots of pictures. I've seen the cake and a few of the decorations and it's going to be so cute!

Josh and I took a little "babymoon" last weekend. We went to Nashville and stayed in the Courtyard Marriott in the Cool Springs area for a night. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to spend a little bit of quality time together before the baby gets here and our kid-free time is limited! We ate for the second at Stoney River Legendary Steaks...it's a really nice restaurant and the food, as well as the service is just awesome. We spend the next day shopping at the mall and browsing at different stores around Franklin. I even convinced him to stop for ice cream on the way home. :)

How Far Along: 32 weeks, 3 day

Due date: March 6th

Gender: No idea!

Names: Not sharing until we are 100% sure.

Weight Gain: 21 pounds-I got a little worried because I gained 6 pounds in 3 weeks! I talked to my midwife about it and she's not worried at all. I am retaining a little bit of fluid, you can tell because my ankles are slightly swollen and she's also not worried because I gained so slowly in the beginning. I just hope I don't keep with this pattern of 2 pounds a week for the rest of the pregnancy!

Maternity clothes: I'm still wearing a few of my regular clothes--mainly stretchy shirts that were a little long to begin with. I wear sweatpants or pajama bottoms around the house and I have taken to  stealing Josh's t-shirts to wear around the house as well.

Stretch Marks: Yes :( A few more on my lower belly. I will be glad when they fade!

Sleep: I'm still sleeping pretty well. I am still sleeping most of the time in the half stomach/half side position and when I roll over in the night I usually wake up a little, but for the most part I'm still able to get a full night's sleep.

Movement: The baby is still a little wiggle worm, but I've noticed the movements have changed. I feel more tightness and pulling, like the baby is stretching and rolling. It's sure it's because the baby is taking up more space in there.

Missing anything: Generally being able to move...pregnancy makes simple tasks a lot more difficult.

Food cravings: Nothing really.

Food Aversions: No food aversions!

Symptoms: I've started noticing some aching in my hips and upper legs, I'm sure my body is just loosening and stretching getting ready for the baby to come. :)

30 Week Pregnancy Update

First of all can I just say that I think it's completely crazy that I am 30 weeks already! I can't believe I will have a baby in 10 weeks (give or take a couple). This pregnancy has went by so fast, and I know the next couple of months will fly by as well. 

Speaking of going fast, I have NOTHING prepared for this baby! I was putting off any major stocking up/buying anything until we got into our new house. Once we got into the house, we decided to wait until after Christmas before we worked on the nursery. The past few days I've been feeling really anxious about preparing for the baby to come. I woke up yesterday morning with an overwhelming feeling that I HAD to do something. I immediately began stripping wallpaper in the nursery and I had it all stripped in about two hours.

 I feel so much better to finally have started on the nursery. Now I just have to concentrate on stocking up on diapers and wipes. I am also planning on having a huge freezer cooking session in a couple of weeks so I will have meals prepared for when the baby arrives.

How Far Along: 30 weeks, 4 day

Due date: March 6th

Gender: No idea!

Names: Not sharing until we are 100% sure.

Weight Gain: 15 pounds

Maternity clothes: I'm still wearing a few of my regular clothes--mainly stretchy shirts that were a little long to begin with. I wear sweatpants or pajama bottoms around the house and I have taken to  stealing Josh's t-shirts to wear around the house as well.

Stretch Marks: Yes :( A couple of small ones on my lower belly. Thankfully they are pretty light and not deep, so I'm sure they'll fade with time.

Sleep: I'm still sleeping pretty well. I have noticed that I wake up more often throughout the night and it's a little harder for me to roll over. I'm still able to get a comfortable, full night's sleep so I'm loving that for as long as I can.

Movement: The baby is still a little wiggle worm and several people have been able to feel the baby move from the outside.

Missing anything: Being able to get off the couch easily--it's gotten to be quite a workout!

Food cravings: Nothing really.

Food Aversions: I really don't have any food aversions any more, and I actually bought a yogurt parfait from the grocery store today all on my own!

Symptoms: I still have mild heartburn occasionally and the past 3-4 days I've notice some sciatic nerve pain. I have also still been getting charlie horses like crazy. I get them in my calves, feet and toes and they are absolutely terrible. Besides that nothing really worth mentioning.

28 Week Pregnancy Update

This is me at 27 weeks, 1 day.

So it's been a couple of weeks since I've updated! Let's just say I've been super busy. Between getting ready for Christmas, work, settling into the new house and FINALS (ugh!), I haven't really had much time for blogging. Thankfully I finished my last final last night and I have a lot of Christmas shopping done, so hopefully life will calm down a little bit.

I had an appointment on the 4th and everything went pretty well. We had to take the 1 hour glucose test which involved drinking FIFTY GRAMS of sugar and having your blood drawn an hour later. I didn't eat anything the day of the test, but I had went a little candy crazy the day before and unfortunately I failed the 1 hour test. My sugar after one hour was 150 and the cut off is 135 so I had to go in for a 3 hour test. I wasn't too worried because 150 is at the low end of "high" numbers and because the 1 hour test has a lot of false positives. 

I went in Tuesday for the 3 hour test, where I had to fast for 12 hours beforehand. They drew a vial of blood and also tested it with a glucose meter. My fasting number was 82, which is good considering normal is 80-120. Then I had to drink another drink with ONE HUNDRED grams of sugar. I had my blood drawn every hour for the next three hours. They drew a vial each time, but only tested on the glucose meter again at the last time. Three hours after drinking the drink my sugar was 103, which is in the normal range and I personally think is pretty good after drinking 100 grams of sugar. 

How Far Along: 28 weeks, 1 day

Due date: March 6th

Gender: No idea!

Names: Not sharing until we are 100% sure.

Weight Gain: 11 pounds

Maternity clothes: Very, very few of my regular clothes still fit me. Mainly my shirts are just too short. I broke down the other day and bought some more maternity clothes from Old Navy. I love Old Navy for maternity clothes because they are comfortable and affordable. I'm always able to find a sale or coupon to get clothes for a good price. I'm waiting anxiously for them to arrive!

Stretch Marks: No new ones!

Sleep: I'm still sleeping pretty well. I am very surprised because I am still able to sleep on my stomach. I thought stomach sleeping was out of the question when pregnant, but my midwife said as long as I'm comfortable, my body (and the baby) will let me know if I need to change positions. I don't put all of my weight on my belly, most of my weight is supported by my legs/side. So it's like a half stomach/half side position. It sure saves my hips from aching the next morning!

Movement: The baby all the time! I've been able to actually see the baby move from the outside and the baby seems to respond to things that are annoying, like my computer pressed against my belly by a firm kick!

Missing anything: Being able to bend over easily.

Food cravings: I bought a huge box of tangelos, so my fruit craving has been satisfied. :) 

Food Aversions: I really don't have any food aversions any more.

Symptoms: I still have heartburn occasionally, and I've been experiencing "pregnancy brain" moments more and more lately. Nothing too serious though, I'm still fairly comfortable.

25 Week Pregnancy Update--and a New House

After keeping it a secret since June, I can now share the news that we bought a house! We moved in over the course of two days and we are very excited, even though moving is terrible and overwhelming. We moved a mile up the road into an older house. According to the deed, the house was built in 1896. It still has a lot of the original wood work, doors, hardware, etc. It's 3800 square feet and I'm still trying to get adjusted to living in such a big house!

The previous owners lived here for 32 years and moved to Nashville to be closer to their daughters and grandchildren. They are so sweet and even left us a fruit basket and a frozen pizza for our first night here. Buying a house and moving is very, very stressful and I'm so glad to finally be moved in! I'll post pictures as soon as we get completely moved in. We are also planning on doing some serious redecorating, so expect some before and after posts as well!

It's been about 2 1/2 weeks since my last pregnancy update so I thought it was time to have another one.

How Far Along: 25 weeks, 4 days

Due date: March 6th

Gender: No idea!

Names: Not sharing until we are 100% sure.

Weight Gain: 7 pounds--but I haven't weighed myself since Thanksgiving, that number might be a little higher next time I step on the scale!

Maternity clothes: I'm wearing a mix of maternity and regular. Most of my tops are getting too short and each week my wardrobe is getting more and more limited, I need to do some serious maternity shopping.

Stretch Marks: I have a scar to the right of my belly button that's turned into a little mark and a couple more light marks on my side. I expected them, but I hope they don't get too bad!

Sleep: Sleep is getting harder. It does help with the new house that we upgraded to a king sized bed.  I can sleep through the night without peeing, but turning over is a challenge. I feel like a doll with a weighted bottom, only in my belly.

Movement: I feel the baby moving a lot, especially at night when I'm laying still.

Missing anything: Being able to move quickly. I've noticed in the past couple of weeks it takes a tiny bit more effort to get off the couch and roll over in the bed.

Food cravings: I've really been craving fresh fruit, but this a bad time of year for it :(

Food Aversions: I really don't have any food aversions any more.

Symptoms: I've started to notice aching in my hips and legs. It's not too bad but I can really tell if I push myself too hard. Thanksgiving day we were trying to move as much as we could to the new house. I packed several boxes and was on my feet for most of the day. By night time my feet, hips and back were hurting so bad I couldn't lay on the couch. I also got heartburn for the first time ever! I've noticed the biggest triggers are fried foods, so I've been trying to avoid them.

Looking forward to: The 3rd trimester--it has came so fast! I can't believe I'm almost 27 weeks pregnant!

24 Week Appointment

Tuesday was my 24 week appointment. Everything is still going great! The baby had a heartbeat of 148 and my belly measured 24 weeks on the nose.

The last two appointments I have been to have been a part of the Centering Pregnancy program at the hospital. It's a program that starts around 20 weeks until the end of your pregnancy. You go to your appointment and instead of waiting in the lobby to see the midwife you go straight back to a "group" appointment. The nurse is there to check your weight and blood pressure, and there's a screen up with a big comfy chair for the midwife to check the heartbeat, measure your uterus, and answer any questions that are specific to you. Afterward everyone has all the medical stuff checked out, we sit around and talk about different aspects of pregnancy.

So far we've only had two appointments and they have both been a pretty good time. There are about 8 girls in our group and we're all due late February to mid March. I love that after an hour drive I actually have a substantial appointment instead of just the quick medical stuff. I really feel like everyone benefits from it. The midwives there are very supportive of natural birth as well--which is extremely important to me.

My next appointment is December 4th and after that I start going every two weeks. I really can't believe I am to that point already! Which reminds me...Wednesday I crossed a BIG milestone, VIABILITY! While I want this baby to keep cooking for a while, it's some what comforting to know if baby comes early he or she has a fighting chance. This also marks the point in pregnancy where I start counting down instead of up. Less than 16 weeks left!! It's going by so fast!