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! 

23 Week Pregnancy Update

We had a great Halloween! This is a picture of me, my mother-in-law and my two sisters-in-law at my sister-in-law's Halloween party. I was a pregnant cowgirl! Josh dressed up like a nerd!

Rudy was a fireman and he had a great time trick-or-treating. He loved dressing up and asked to wear his fireman costumes for days afterward.

Now for a quick pregnancy update. :)

How Far Along: 23 weeks, 1 day

Due date: March 6th

Gender: No idea!

Names: We are set on a girl name and a first name for a boy, but we haven't really talked much about a middle name for a boy yet.

Weight Gain: 6.5 pounds

Maternity clothes: I can still wear some of my regular clothes but maternity clothes are sooo much more comfortable and actually really cute. I'm wearing a mix of maternity and regular. A lot of my tops are starting to get too short though and I can only fit into two pairs of pre-pregnancy jeans

Stretch Marks: None yet!

Sleep: I am still sleeping pretty good. I can sleep through the night without having to pee and the only issue I have is that my arms and legs fall asleep a lot quicker if they're in a weird position.

Movement: I feel the baby move all the time! Josh felt the baby from the outside last week...it was very exciting!

Missing anything: I still would love a margarita! Today I went to the grocery store and my mouth was watering for a turkey and cheddar Lunchable. I am avoiding deli meat during this pregnancy because of the risk of listeria, but that Lunchable sure looked good!

Food cravings: The previously mentioned Lunchable! I still crave a lot of fruit and I've also been craving chips and salsa.

Food Aversions: I am slowly easing back into eating cucumbers but yogurt is waaaay out of the question.

Symptoms: I'm not sure if it's the hectic schedule I have right now or what, but I have been feeling so fatigued lately. I feel like I can never get enough sleep. I've also had a few "pregnancy brain" brain moments--like the other day when I couldn't remember the word for "peel" an egg. I called it "pre-shelling an egg."

Looking forward to: 24 weeks...also known as viability day. Of course I hope baby stays in there to cook for a while longer but it will give me a little bit of comfort to know that if baby comes early he/she will have a fighting chance.

20 Week Ultrasound

Tuesday I had my anatomy scan! It went well, everything is normal and baby is healthy! Woohoo!

I think I am in for it with this child though. My ultrasound lasted for nearly an hour and a half. The baby was laying transverse but was completely folded up and twisted around, making it nearly impossible for the tech to get the picture she needed. Plus, the baby was wiggling around everywhere and moving like crazy. The tech stopped at one point with the wand just to show me how much the baby was moving--it was insane! I'm  hoping this ultrasound isn't indicative of the future behavior of this child!

The tech had me use the restroom and brought in another tech to see if she could get the pictures they needed. This time the baby had completely flipped around, but was in the same position, if that makes any sense. The combination of me using the restroom and bringing in the new tech did the trick though. At one point they had the wand right underneath my bra line and another time against my hip bone as far as it would go. I asked them if it would help if I did a handstand against the wall! After all of that they were finally able to get all the pictures they needed.

I was 19 weeks, 6 days and baby measured 20 weeks 4 days and weighed approximately 13 ounces. At first they weren't able to tell the sex but during the second round they were able to! They had me close my eyes and look away so I wouldn't see and they snapped a quick picture. I met with the midwife for a few minutes afterward and she put a sticker over the sex on my chart. So now she knows! I was so scared that someone would accidentally tell me so I made sure to tell the techs that I did NOT want to know. I am happy that we made it through the most tempting part of the pregnancy in regards to finding out the sex, I'm pretty confident we can stick to it now.

So, also, my little sister is pregnant. Her due date has been changed around a few times, but I think it's finally settled in on March 11th, 5 days after me. She also had an ultrasound the same day I did and found out she is having a baby boy! I am looking forward to having a son/daughter the same age as my nephew. They will have so much fun growing up together!


How Far Along: 20 weeks, 4 days

Due date: March 6th

Gender: No idea!

Names: We are pretty sure on names, but not 100% so I don't think I'll share those yet.

Weight Gain: 5 pounds

Maternity clothes: I can still wear my regular clothes but maternity clothes are sooo much more comfortable and actually really cute. I'm wearing a mix of maternity and regular.

Stretch Marks: None yet!

Sleep: I'm still sleeping pretty well except I get woken up often from my crazy pregnant lady dreams.

Movement: I've been feeling movement for about 2 weeks now! It gets more consistent/often every day. It's definitely a weird sensation but I love it.

Missing anything: I have been craving a nice cold margarita...that's out of the question for a while.

Food cravings: FRUIT!

Food Aversions: I am slowly easing back into eating cucumbers but yogurt is waaaay out of the question.

Symptoms: I actually feel pretty great right now.

Looking forward to: Finding some fruit to eat ASAP. :)

Pumpkin Patch...and a Bump Picture!

Finally a baby bump picture! This was taken last Saturday at 18 weeks, 4 days. We took a family trip to the pumpkin patch and had such a great time. Here are a few favorites:

We picked up several pumpkins and plan on carving at least one with Rudy soon. We are planning on going back next year because we had such a great time!