Week 32

Yes, it appears someone is smuggling basketballs out of Sports Authority these days! People keep telling me I look small -- but I feel huge! Notice I'm wearing the same outfit I wore the first time I posted a bump photo (14 wks or so). What a difference! I also attached a picture of the tissue paper poms I've made so far for the nursery that hang near her crib!

How far along? 32w 6d

How big is baby? Not sure if my bump fruit ticker changed this week or not. My iPhone app tells me she is as big as a large jicama this week - whatever that is. She probably weighs close to 4 lbs. In the next 7 weeks, she'll gain a third to half her birth weight!

Maternity clothes? Still getting by with what I've got.

Sleep? I'm still sleeping fairly well but I'm waking up more frequently in the middle of the night either to use the bathroom 50 times or because my back is KILLING me! I'm not really supposed to sleep on my back for long periods of time, but sometimes it's absolutely required (says me)! Sleeping on my side sometimes gives me terrible pain in my back and I can't get back to sleep. I can't WAIT to be able to sleep on my tummy again!

Best moment this week? Had my baby shower and it was a wonderful success! My mom and co-worker put it on and did a fantastic job! Pictures to come! This little girl is already incredibly loved and blessed by friends and family!

Worst moment this week? Just the gradual discomfort I feel more and more of every day.

Symptoms? Back pain galore, shortness of breath, heart racing, little diva is still up in my ribs, so those ache almost every day, all day. Yesterday I think I finally experienced my first Braxton Hicks contractions. Not painful, but a very strange tightening sensation. Gerrick worries every time I grab or poke at my belly and asks if I need to go to the hospital! lol. So cute. I try to muster enough energy every day to get some sort of walking in, but it's hard, especially after a long day at work!

Movement? Baby C is an olympic gymnast in the making! She is a VERY active baby! She's very quiet at bedtime and through the night, so I'm hoping that trend continues after birth.

Belly button? Still an outie!

What I miss? Sleeping on my tummy, sleeping in my own bed, cool weather!

What I'm looking forward to? Starting our childbirth classes this weekend and getting my replacement at work all lined up and trained so that I can breathe easier in case she decides to make her debut early!

Week 30

O.M.G. - are there really only 10 weeks left in this pregnancy?!? In some ways it's felt like it's taken forever to get to this point, but then I look at the calendar and begin to have a panic attack. There's still so much to do, and so little time to get it all accomplished!

How far along? 30w 6d

How big is baby? The size of a squash - and she'll remain the same 'food item' (that sounds so wrong) for a few more weeks. No more weekly ticker changes! She's around 16ish in. and weighing in at around 3 lbs. It's hard to believe she doesn't have much more growing to do lengthwise, but she's still got lots of weight to put on yet. She's getting stronger everyday, and that's evident by all of her movement! She's also begun to settle into cycles of waking and sleeping now that she is capable of REM sleep. She continues to open her eyes, but her eyesight is very poor, and will be right after birth as well. Once here she'll have 20/400 vision and only be able to see objects a few inches from her face. (Sounds just like her mom when she doesn't have her contacts in!)

Maternity clothes? Still the same. I have been given a few larger items of clothing (not maternity) to get me by. Thank you!

Sleep? Never an issue! It's amazing to me that I can have the fan blowing on me all night, no blankets, and not get cold at all! Amazing how many things pregnancy changes in your body's chemistry!

Best moment this week? Not baby related - but my Bailey girl got all of her stiches out this week and looks wonderful! Now she just has to grow all of her hair back!

Worst moment this week? Baby in the ribs -- enough said.

Symptoms? I feel like I'm re-living first trimester all over again in so many ways. Once in a while I get moments of nausea but the fatigue is what's killing me. I can't walk as far as I used to because the extra weight is killing my back and I get winded from walking up a simple flight of stairs. It also makes it hard to walk when your feet are often swollen like a couple of sausages. Not very attractive either! She must have a leg jammed into my right rib somewhere and sitting all day in an office chair is not working for me anymore! Wow, I sound like a whiner!

Movement? When doesn't this little baby move? We are now starting to see rolling movements - like an elbow or knee going across my belly. Although it's wonderful that our little girl is so strong, I will admit that it creeps me out a bit. It's almost alien like. The movement has always freaked me out a bit and I'm just not one of those women that thinks it's the greatest thing ever. Don't get me wrong, I like the movement as reassurance that she's okay, but it's something I don't think I'm going to miss.

Belly button? Still an outie. Much easier to keep clean! ;)

What I miss? Running, feeling like a normal person who can do normal things. It's amazing the simple things we take for granted....

What I'm looking forward to? Upcoming baby shower and cooler weather! Bring on fall!!

Week 28 and a Babymoon!

I know, I know, I'm the world's worst blog updater! It's hard when you look at a computer all day long to get motivated to do it when you get home. I'll update with pictures this evening, but thought I would at least get this part finished to get some of you off my back! ;) We headed out on a roadtrip for our babymoon! First stop was Vegas to see a friend and the sights, we were in Laguna the next day and San Diego for the duration. We had such a wonderful time!

How far along? 28ish weeks

How big is baby? The size of an eggplant! She's around 14 1/2 in. long and around 2.5 lbs. Her eyes are now open and she's practicing blinking and she can probably see light that filters through the womb. This probably includes seeing the shadows of our hands because the little stinker kicks away until we touch my belly!

Maternity clothes? Yes, though I don't have too many. I've refused to spend the outrageous prices that they know they can gouge you with. I wear a lot of skirts and shorts with elastic waistbands. I have made many of my old shirts work and now that I'm in the home stretch I intend to keep it that way!

Sleep? Still sleeping wonderfully! As long as I have my body pillow and a nice cool place to sleep, I'm good!

Best moment this week? Getting away with my hubby for a wonderful babymoon!

Worst moment this week? None

Symptoms? Fatigue has set in again for the third trimester. Other than that, we're way past the symptoms portion of things - there's no hiding the fact that this girl is expecting!!

Movement? I have an active little baby! I hope this is not a sign of things to come when she's on the outside....

Belly button? Offically an outie! Very strange to me.....

What I miss? Owning my body. I love the little miracle that's growing inside, but I'm ready to get my tummy back, thank you very much!

What I'm looking forward to? Putting together the finishing touches on the nursery and getting signed up for prepared childbirth classes!

Nesting

Well, now that we know we have a little girl on the way, we've almost completed our registry and have started putting together the nursery....so much fun! It's hard to believe I'm 23 weeks along now. It's even harder to believe that there are only 17 give or takeish weeks left...wow!

So, little diva already has a closet (plus a few drawers) full of clothes for the start of her life. It's sort of sad when this little baby - who isn't even here yet - has a better wardrobe than her mom! Gerrick spent a good deal of last weekend putting the furniture together. I know he didn't have a lot of fun doing it, but it looks wonderful! Now we just have to choose a bedding, paint and get the decor and we'll be on our way! I seem to be --no, I have been -- very ADD about choosing crib bedding. I find one thing I like, then another, then another...you get the idea. The two I've narrowed down to are not my original top two. Go figure. I'm driving Gerrick crazy!

I don't want a bedding that's strictly tied to one particular theme. I didn't want something too 'baby' and something she could grow with. Our current theme is going to be elephants. Feel free to let me know which one you like the best. Enjoy the pictures! We will update with more as we progress....

Week 21

How far along? 21w 6d

How big is baby? The size of a large banana (in length). She is swallowing several ounces of amniotic fluid each day for hydration and nutrition. Her taste buds now work and the experts say that babies can actually get a tatse for what they will like as outside babies based on what mom eats during pregnancy!

Weight gain? No scale so I don't have a new number. Next appointment is June 28th.

Maternity clothes? Yes and very stretchy pants/shorts (think yoga pants and running shorts). I tried to fit into a pair of my old jean/cargo shorts that have ties instead of buttons.....didn't work out so well.

Sleep? Is getting more uncomfortable by the week, but I'm still able to sleep very well through most of the night. I don't think I ever got the 2nd tri energy back so I'm exhausted all the time. Gerrick says he now has a new nickname for me - choo-choo-train. Apparantly my snoring is keeping him up at night. Wait, isn't that usually the other way around?!?

Best moment this week? Finally feeling real kicks and feeling them from the outside! Dad even got to feel them once too!

Worst moment this week? None. I'm a pretty content pregnant girl. :)

Symptoms? FATIGUE, some nausea

Movement? Yes! So cool! I'm starting to learn her sleeping and active patterns. It feels like popcorn popping in my tummy!

Belly button? Pretty much doesn't look like a belly button anymore. I wouldn't call it an 'outie' but it's pretty much even with the rest of my tummy now.

What I miss? Not overheating so easily in the summer! It's terrible, and summer's only begun!

What I'm looking forward to? Getting the crib and dressers for the nursery!

So Excited to Be.......

It was a morning for picking sides - as evidenced by the pictures. Obviously thinking pink worked!!

Of the ten of you that voted in the gender poll, seven of you are smarter than I am! I was convinced from the beginning that this baby was a boy!

It was so amazing to see a recognizable human on the ultrasound screen -- so different from week six when she was just a blob with a flickering heartbeat! She was very active through the whole thing -- squirming around and we even got to see her stick her thumb in her mouth. So cute!

When the sonographer revealed the sex to us, I instantly burst into tears (happy ones of course), then looked at Gerrick and apologized -- he wanted a boy in the worst way. Even so, this little girl has already captured his heart and he can't stop talking about her! I couldn't resist and took the rest of the day off to go clothes shopping with my mom! Finally knowing that we're expecting a girl has made this much more real for me. I love this little girl with all my heart -- and I know she's surrounded by so may people that feel that way as well. What a lucky little lady!

Week 20 (Half Baked!)

We have made it to the halfway point -- how exciting! I can't believe that in only 4 months we will welcome our baby! Four months ago I just found out we were expecting, and other than the sickness, that time has gone really fast!

How far along? 20w 2d

How big is baby? The size of a cantaloupe! Skin is getting thicker, genitals are fully formed and toenails and fingernails are continuing to grow. Baby C can now hear sounds and is able to recognize familiar voices -- like mom and dad's. Familiar sounds of voices and music may be comforting to the baby once it's born. How cool is that?

Weight gain? I was so excited coming out of our anatomy scan, that I really didn't ask my weight -- but I think total is around 9 lbs.

Maternity clothes? Yes! I only have 2 pairs of pants. I'd like to get one or two pairs of shorts but I haven't liked the way any that I've tried on have fit. I wear mostly dresses now at work (maxi, etc.), which are sooooo comfortable!!

Sleep? I still sleep pretty well, but it's starting to get uncomfortable. I'm not a side sleeper....at all. I'm a back sleeper, and that's not an option anymore. I'm also a stomach sleeper, which I can still get away with, but I'm afraid I'm squishing the baby. If I lay on my stomach though, I tend to feel more movement! So needless to say, I struggle. I start out with the best of intentions on my side and wake up on my back anyway. *sigh*

Best moment this week? Finally finding out the sex of Baby C!! (see next posting)

Worst moment this week? None! I've been floating on clouds since Tuesday!

Symptoms? Easily fatigued -- Shopping for baby clothes is hard work!! Nausea if I don't eat right when I feel hungry.

Movement? I feel little clicks and pops, which I know aren't gas so I assume are baby. Found out at the anatomy scan that I have an anterior placenta, which is acting as an extra buffer for me to feel a lot of movement. That also means dad probably won't be able to feel kicks from the outside for a little bit longer.

Belly button? Almost all the way out! It looks so strange to me in the mirror -- I don't even recognize most of my mid-section anymore. Finally broke down and bought a pregnancy belly ring, which is way comfy, but far from cute -- therefore, not really adding to the beauty of the mid-section. :)

What I miss? Energy!

What I'm looking forward to? Starting the nursery!