30 weeks!!

During Thanksgiving when my sister and brother in law came to visit, she was 30 weeks pregnant. I remember thinking, "Wow, 30 weeks!!" Now I'm there... so crazy! I can’t even believe how quickly the time is flying…. We have just over 7 weeks left (since they won’t let me go past 38 weeks)… It’s so crazy to think about. Crazy is really the only word I can use right now to describe it. Maybe surreal… insane….and completely amazing!! I can’t wait to hold this little girl in my arms…I can’t wait to kiss those feet that have been jumping on my bladder…. And I can’t wait to look into her eyes and feel all of the things that every mother feels the first time they look at their brand new baby. Chills, chills I tell you!

My mom flies in a week from tomorrow! I can’t wait to see her!! Our friends from Canada are driving down next Friday as well to spend the weekend with us too! I can’t wait to see so many loved ones in one place… it makes me feel so overwhelmed when people take the time out of their days just for me… it makes me feel so loved every time my mom tells me there is another RSVP confirming that someone else is attending. The thing I hate about showers is opening up presents in front of everyone. It makes me feel so uncomfortable. I feel undeserving and I hate when all of the attention is on me. I always feel like “Thank you” isn’t deep enough to express my gratitude for gifts from people… I feel like I can’t say thank you enough so I keep saying it over and over again in hopes they understand how much their thoughtfulness is appreciated. I’m really looking forward to the shower though, it’ll be great to see my house full of people I love!

So I’m well into my 3^rd trimester and I feel like I’m back in my 1^st trimester. I’m not AS tired as I was in the beginning weeks of my pregnancy, but lately my body just feels so… pregnant. Today I was feeling my stomach just stretching. I know that’s what it’s supposed to be doing, but my skin feels so tight, I’ve never been able to feel my stomach actually stretching before. Could be the pants I am wearing today though. I think I officially have to retire these jeggings… they’re not maternity, but they’re stretch jeans that have fit me up until now. They’re pretty tight and sitting at my desk all day I feel like they’re about to bust open. With just 7 weeks to go I’m not sure I want to buy another pair of jeggings, but they’re the only skinny jeans I have that fit with boots… we’ll see. Maybe I’ll find a good deal on them.

I’ve started to develop sciatica as well, at least that’s what I think it is. When I’m standing up for long periods of time or even walking around, the upper part of my right leg starts to go numb.. the first time I felt it I was standing in line at Pier One and it felt like I had something heavy in my pocket. Thinking it was my phone I patted my leg to see and I couldn’t feel my hand touching my thigh. It scared the ever living out of me, let me tell you. It doesn’t happen all the time and it’s not SUPER uncomfortable, but I am going to bring it up to my doctor when I see her next Tuesday.

This week baby girl is the size of a cucumber... I'm guess length?

Your Baby: Week 30

At 30 weeks, she’s not just moving a lot, she’s also plumping up. And as she continues to put pressure on your digestive system, you’re going to feel the effects: hemorrhoids, heartburn, pelvic pain and frequent urination are all common at this stage in the game.

Check...check...check...and check....

Symptoms: Back pain, hip pain, peeing every hour, heartburn, pelvic pain, CONSTIPATION is back with a vengeance, hemorrhoids (sorry, TMI) and holy crap am I feeling a TON of movement! I mean like constant... and my belly is showing it all the time now... I love it!  

Food Cravings: Nothing really sticks out...

What I'm most excited about: My baby shower!

Something I've done to prepare for baby: Nothing really new this week... although my parents are starting to look up plane tickets to come to see me when she's born... how exciting!!

Here is my 30 week bump:



29 weeks!

Sorry, sooo late again this week. I've been so busy at work that when I come home, the last thing I want to do is stare at THAT computer screen.... so you'll get two updates this week. This one and my 30 week (probably a little later this week.)

My mom comes into town in 10 days for my shower! Which means my shower is in 12 days... ahhh! Insane that it's close!! That dress that I had previously mentioned was finally delivered and it was so not the color that I was anticipating. It was called rave red, but in the picture it looked like a dark coral, which is kind of what I was going for. However, when I opened the package I was shocked to see BRIGHT red... so not what I was going for. So back to Target it went... I ended up going a different route completely.... you'll see eventually.

Also, initially I had planned on forgoing maternity pictures, but I think what I might do is get ready super early for the baby shower and have my mom take some nice pictures of me in the nursery and outside in the backyard... just a few really pretty pictures to have to document this awesome time in my life. The only thing I really have are my weekly self portrait iPhone pictures, haha. I think she'll be happy to do them.

Currently, baby girl is the size of an acorn squash... (wtf is that?)

Your Baby: Week 29

At 29 weeks, she’s not just moving a lot, she’s also plumping up. And as she continues to put pressure on your digestive system, you’re going to feel the effects: hemorrhoids, heartburn, pelvic pain and frequent urination are all common at this stage in the game.

Holy hell are they right!!

Symptoms: Back pain, hip pain, peeing every hour, heartburn, a little swelling here and there...  

Food Cravings: Nothing really sticks out... other than chocolate...

What I'm most excited about: My baby shower!

Something I've done to prepare for baby: Nothing really new this week... although my parents are starting to look up plane tickets to come to see me when she's born... how exciting!!

 

29 week bump:

 

 

28 weeks!

I'm late to posting, but it's been a hectic week. We had a friend pass away this week. Our good friend Cheryl that we used to live with was married to an amazing man that was diagnosed with a brain tumor about 10 years ago. Around December of 2012 they stopped treatments because his body was just getting weaker and weaker. His health started to quickly deteriorate and he passed away February 1st. We attended his funeral this week and paid our respects to his family at calling hours the day before. So sad.... he was only 28. A year older than me. Him and Cheryl were the strongest couple I've ever known. She was his rock and vise versa. Even though everyone knew his prognosis, it doesn't make his passing any easier. Cheryl and his family and friends gave him an amazing rest of his life. Rest in peace, Ryan. You are already so missed.

On a happier note, and to prove that the Lord is still working miracles, our baby nephew was born the very next day! Simon William Burns was born February 2^nd at 1:05am. My sister in law was amazing I hear and labored for nearly 20 hours, med free. All the power in the world to her! Lord knows after the first hour this girl would have been hooked up to some meds! He’s adorable, weighing in at 8lbs 9oz…. such a little bundle of joy.

Also this week, I moved out of my office and I am now upstairs in a cubicle on display to all of my employees... so it's a little hard to update at work which is what I usually did. Now I'll have to do it at home or on my lunch break. Boo...

In baby news... my ultrasound results came back and it turns out not only is my placenta still completely covering my cervix, but baby girl is still head up! Stubborn little thing....  I know she still has plenty of time to flip though. They’re talking c-section if my placenta doesn’t move by 30 weeks. The doctor said if at my 30 week u/s if the placenta hasn’t moved, chances are it will not move enough to have a natural delivery by the time I could start to dilate. It’s complete previa right now, not even marginal or partial, so if I start to dilate while the placenta is still completely covering the cervix, there is a great chance of hemorrhaging and having major complications during the birth… Apparently these have caused hysterectomies before, so they like to take the babies as close to 37-38 weeks as possible, obviously being closely monitored for any changes. So there's that.....

Daniel and I went to a newborn care class this weekend as well. It was pretty much all review of everything I knew about newborns. It was funny to watch Daniel give a fake black baby a sponge bath though… and swaddle and change their diaper. There were about 12 couples in the class and 10 of them were having girls… the other two couples were team green so they didn’t know what they were having, but both of them had girl instincts…. So needless to say by the time we got there the girl dolls were taken… we were given a cute little boy doll at first, but the nurse wanted us to practice on a girl so we had to switch with another couple and give them our boy doll and we were given the cutest little black baby doll… not gonna lie, I bonded a little. How could you not when you have to care for this little thing like it was real! Cuddling including….

After the class we were scheduled to go on walking tour/orientation of the hospital. However, because of the huge flu epidemic that is going around they have new visiting guidelines that are in place until the flu season is over.. so weren't able to actually look at the birth center and the rooms I'll be in. We only saw pictures. Right now they’re down to only allowing one designated person (Husband) and two visitors… and these visitors have to be the same two people the entire time I am in the hospital. They all get wrist bands and if they take them off, they’re SOL…. So since my parents are flying in, we chose my mom and dad as our two visitors, but that means that Daniel’s parents have to stay home until I get out of the hospital and wait to meet their granddaughter… and no other visitors. Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand why the hospitals are doing this, it would just be totally weird to have to make Daniel’s parents stay home. Sad! We’ve spoken to them though and they understand, I just really hope these rules will be lifted in time for us so we can go back to the regular visiting guidelines which is one designated person and then 5 other visitors that can interchange with each other…

I got my dress in the mail from Target, I did love it, however it was wayyyyy too big for me and the ruffles that were on the neckline made it look really awkward with a cardigan over it…. So I took it back. I got another one in the same color that was in the maternity category online that has a little different neckline, it’s made out of a different material and it has a little different look at the bottom with the way it falls. If this one fits and I keep it, I’ll post a picture of it. I don’t want to get attached!

Currently baby girl is the size of an eggplant.

Your Baby: Week 28

At week 28, baby is breathing (it’s amniotic fluid, not air, but it still counts) and even showing brain activity.

Symptoms: Back pain, hip pain, peeing every hour, heartburn, a little swelling here and there...  

Food Cravings: Chocolate chip cookies and most sweets... anything to do with chocolate and sweets.

What I'm most excited about: My baby shower!

Something I've done to prepare for baby: Nursery is about 90% done!

 

Here is my 28 week bump:

 

 

 

27 weeks!

Whoo hoo for the 3rd trimester!! I seriously feel like the minute I hit the 3rd tri, my body was like "Ok, let's amp up these pregnancy symptoms!" For reals... I'm feeling more and more pregnant with each passing day. It's ok, I'm counting my blessings! I'm not complaining by any means, just very surprised that my body didn't waste one second. Kind of funny...

Tomorrow I have another ultrasound to check on my placenta, I'm not gonna lie, I am more excited about seeing our baby girl more than anything! I guess tomorrow if my placenta hasn't moved they may schedule another ultrasound at 30 weeks to check to see if it's moved at all and then from there they'll decide if I am going to have to have an early c-section or not.... I really don't care either way, whatever is the healthiest option with less medical risks!

The nursery is coming along, we painted, all of the furniture is together and in place, shelves are hung and some decor is already in it's place! It looks kind of naked still because the things we registered for obviously we don't have yet... so the crib is without a mattress and bedding, the windows don't have any curtains and there is only a small little cushion on the changer. It's the one that came with it, but we registered for a more plush one. We also have to wait 2 weeks from the day we painted the room to apply the decal to the wall, so once that's up, I'll post pictures. It's really coming along though and it's everything I imagined it to be. I love it!

My mom booked her flight for my shower, she'll be here in exactly 29 days! I can't wait to spend some quality time with her! I am taking a half day on the day she flies in since she gets here at 12:30 and then the next day is Friday which I'm taking off. I can't wait!!

I bought my shower dress today too, I got it on sale at Target with some shoes that were on clearance! I am excited I get to wear sandals! It'll still be pretty cold for sandals, but the shower is in my house so I won't have to worry about it. Sandals are also a good excuse for a pedicure.... something fun to do with my mom too!

Here is a picture of my dress... I plan on wearing either a jean jacket or a white cardigan to go over...

And these are the sandals I got to wear with them.... a total steal at $7.50, and I can wear the heck out of them during the summertime!

Soooo excited!!!

Also, things have started to get rolling with HR at work as far as my FMLA and Maternity leave go... Depending on when I deliver I'll be back to work about mid June. It looks like I'll  be taking some time off to extend my leave too, so that may change to later in June. We already have our first summer vacation planned! We're renting a lake house in the Finger Lakes June 8th through the 13th with Daniel's entire family! I am so looking forward to it! It'll most likely be the first time any of Daniel's family meets the baby since they all live far away! Our new little nephew (who is supposed to be making his arrival Feb 4th) is going to be there also! It'll probably be the first time baby girl meets her cousin outside of the wombs anyways. We'll have to get her a cute little bathing suit! So that'll most likely be my last hoorah before going back to work.. I'm already dreading it and I haven't even left!

This week our girl is the size of a Rutabaga (wtf is that??)

Your Baby: Week 27

At 27 weeks, baby is breathing (it’s amniotic fluid, not air, but it still counts) and even showing brain activity.

• She's practicing inhaling and exhaling with her rapidly developing lungs.
• It's official: Baby's showing brain activity! And her brain will keep on getting more complex.

Ahhh, the homestretch!!

Symptoms: Back pain, hip pain, peeing every hour, heartburn, a little swelling here and there...  

Food Cravings: Chocolate chip cookies and most sweets... anything to do with chocolate and sweets.

What I'm most excited about: My baby shower!

Something I've done to prepare for baby: Nursery is about 90% done!

 

Here is my 27 week 4 day bump:

 

 

26 weeks!

One more week until I'm in the 3rd trimester! Well technically I only have 3 days left as today I am 26w 4d... How exciting!

So last weekend we left for Canada to see our honeymoon friends and their adorable 4 month old, (aka baby girl's future BFF) and about 5 miles from the border of NY and Canada, we got side swiped by a 19 year old girl that wasn't paying attention. She was changing lanes so quickly and apparently wasn't interested in sharing the road with anyone else and she clipped us on the drivers side of my car. Luckily we weren't injured at all and no body work needs to be done, it's all paint. Needless to say we were lucky... she wasn't injured either, although her car did do a 180 spin and luckily landed on the shoulder... otherwise things could have been a lot worse. It was raining that night so the roads were wet, but we're very thankful that it wasn't a downpour or worse, snow.

Her insurance company is taking care of everything and I just picked up my rental this morning and left my car with the body shop to get fixed. I currently drive an '06 Corolla and they put me in a 2012 Corolla... I was joking with my friend earlier this week that they were going to put me in a Corolla, but at least it's 6 years newer... and it has new car smell. I love new car smell! My car will be in the shop for about 5-6 days... take as long as you need! I'm enjoying this sweet little ride.

The baby is fine, I decided not to go to the hospital that night since it was such a minor accident, there was hardly any impact (less than you would feel going over a speed bump) and I felt the baby move all that night and the weekend after. No cramping, bleeding, bruising, nothing... so I was pretty confident in my decision. Well after a few days past and I got a hold of her insurance company, they were talking about wanting my statement saying that I was healthy and the baby was ok and I honestly wasn't comfortable telling them that  information when I hadn't been to the doctor yet... When they told me I hadn't been to the doctors yet, they then proceeded to tell me that if they did find something wrong with the baby at an appointment that was already scheduled before the accident, the company couldn't be held liable for the medical charges. They could only be liable if I made the appointment for the accident specifically and and I had a year to file a claim... so I got my butt in the office and of course turns out, everything is fine. So thank God for that.

Things have been progressing very well and I am totally anxious for the coming weeks. I have to take my glucose test on Saturday (yay for Saturday hours in the lab!) and then another OB check up on the 29th and then another ultrasound on the 31st to check to see if my placenta has moved. If it hasn't, I think they're going to talk c-section, which I am surprisingly ok with.

Also, here are some of the 4D ultrasound pictures that I forgot to upload last week...

Look at that face!! Too bad she was covering most of it with her hands, but  I love what I can see!

Today baby girl is kicking like crazy and is the size of a head of lettuce!

Your Baby: Week 26

At week 26, baby may be interfering with your sleep, messing with your brain (forget much?), and even be giving you a stress headache or two. It’s normal to be experiencing some mild swelling, but around this week, it’s important to watch out for swelling severe or sudden -- it could be the sign of a dangerous condition called preeclampsia.

Symptoms: Back pain, mostly at night and in the mornings.

Food Cravings: Chocolate chip cookies and most sweets... anything to do with chocolate and sweets.

What I'm most excited about: Getting her nursery finalized!

Something I've done to prepare for baby: Well my plans for having the nursery painted by now have fallen through... still waiting for my sweet sweet husband to move the two remaining bookshelves from the room so that I can get to painting. The tape is up however and I am ready to rock and roll... After the paint we will work on getting her furniture together and all of the decorating aspects of it that are now all purchased, just waiting to be used!

Here is my 26 week 4 day bump:

25 weeks!

25 weeks down 14 to go... or maybe less if they decide they need to do a c-section. I was able to schedule another ultrasound today at my check up to see if my placenta has moved at all. I'm honestly not too concerned anymore, I haven't had any placenta related health issues and baby seems to be doing just fine.. doing flips and rolling and 1-2 punches I like to call them.

I wasn't supposed to have an appointment until the 29th for a check up, but we got in a little car accident on Friday night so for insurance purposes, I went in to get checked out today. And I say only for insurance purposes because 1. It wasn't a super bad accident at all, the impact itself wasn't any worse than rolling over a speed bump and 2. because I felt completely ok, no bruising, bleeding, contractions, tightness or anything of the sort to report after the accident. We were side swiped on the freeway by a 19 year old girl that doesn't know how to look before she switches lanes apparently. The estimate cost of repairs on my car is about $1,600.. no body work either, just paint. I get a rental too which I'm kind of looking forward to. I hope I get one of the SUV's on my "Interested in" list... but fat chance of that one. I'll probably get some little Geo Metro. Lol. However, all that matters is that baby is fine, Daniel and I are fine and the crazy teenager is also fine.

In other news.... baby girl is the size of a head of cauliflower today. (According to the bump)

Your Baby: Week 25

Maybe you’re getting nervous about delivery, or maybe it’s your haywire hormones, but you might start to have trouble sleeping around week 25. This is a common complaint of many moms-to-be. Experiment with different strategies for getting some sleep.

Sleep issues... nope! Proud to report that I have none of that nonsense.

Symptoms: Back pain still, but really only when I wake up now… and minor swelling again.

Food Cravings: Chocolate chip cookies and most sweets... anything to do with chocolate and randomly I've been wanting mozzarella sticks and fruity pebbles. But not together... lol.

What I'm most excited about: Getting her nursery finalized!

Something I've done to prepare for baby: We've started to clear out the office to make room for her... we bought the paint for her room and once the office is cleared out we'll paint, set up her furniture and start decorating! So exciting!!

 

Here is my 25 week bump:

 

 

Catch Up... Weeks 22, 23 and 24...

 Happy New Years!!! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!! I certainly did! The time has literally slipped through my fingers. Going on vacation really screwed me up! I was home for so long and didn’t have any time to take bump pics or update my blog… oh well! I had a super fun time… It was great being home with my family for Christmas while soaking up the warm California sun! It was not that sunny when I returned to Rochester… we got a nice snow storm the day after Christmas which resulted in me having to brush a foot of snow off of my car the morning I had to return to work.

The worst part was, I got sick. Yeah…. The last day in L.A I started to feel under the weather, I had the tickle in my throat that no cough could scratch… and my throat was on fire. I woke up New Years Eve with the full on chest cold…. Not only does it suck to be sick, but it sucks to fly when you’re sick. Man, that was an uncomfortable day. Needless to say I was anxious to get back home and nurse myself back to health. I went back to work after 12 days off, worked one full day, and then took two more days off just to get better. Seriously, the worst cold I’ve ever gotten.

I’m happy to report that I am back to feeling about 90% better and baby is kicking around like CRAZY! I got to feel her kick from the outside for the very first time on Christmas morning. What an awesome gift! I ran downstairs to find Daniel to have him feel too. He sat there with his hand on my belly for a good 20 minutes and felt nothing… of course. This little girl has a sense of humor. He eventually was able to feel it a few days ago while we were at home sitting on our couch watching Moonshiners. Haha….

We had the 4D ultrasound while we were home…. Kind of a waste of money, I’m not gonna lie. It was awesome for my mom, sister, and step dad to be able to experience an ultrasound with me..my dad had to work :(, but we didn’t see too much of what we haven’t already seen from doctor’s offices. She wasn’t in the best position and her face was covered the whole time by her hands. At one point, she actually had her legs up by her face and she was holding her ankles almost like she was purposely trying to hide… Lol… sense of humor I tell ya. I got some good pictures, but I don’t have them uploaded yet. I hope to get them uploaded by week 25 so ya’ll can see.

I did have a doctor's appointment when I got back from L.A I've only gained 8lbs since the start of my pregnancy! I'm very proud of myself, it felt good to get complimented by my doctor too. She did however, tell me that I still have complete Placenta Previa and that if it doesn't move by 30 weeks, they're going to have to do a c-section around week 36-37. (That puts us at the end of March/beginning of April, a whole month early!! Ahh!!) I am ok with the c-section. it actually will work out to be way more convenient than waiting for me to go into natural birth... for more than a couple reasons. One being that my family won't have to play the guessing game on when to fly out here for the birth... that helps too. I am just obviously worried about the health issues that come with PP.... They're going to closely monitor me to see that it moves though, so prayers that it moves at least a little!

My mom and mother in law have started planning my baby shower... I'm so excited and so grateful that they're doing this for me... It makes me feel so humbled. I am very excited to help them plan and get involved with a little with the details. They're thinking the first weekend of March, how exciting!!

I’ve started planning out baby girl’s room and have most of the major details taken care of. We just need to put the plan to action now. My in laws bought us the nursery furniture for Christmas!! What a generous gift… I am so happy to see it in person and get the room in order! Here is the furniture we picked out:

Pretty huh?? And such a good deal… I also ordered this wall decal off of Etsy yesterday to put above her crib… I can’t wait to see it all together!

While we were away, baby girl went from the size of a Pomegranate to a Papaya to a Grapefruit and is now the size of a Cantaloupe! She’s been doing some serious growing while we were on vacation!

Your Baby: Week 24

At week 24, baby’s progress isn’t just about internal stuff, it’s about her looks too. With pinker, more opaque skin, she’s looking more and more, well, like a baby. You might be experiencing some of the discomforts of the later months of pregnancy like leg cramps, backaches and swollen feet.

Check, check, and check.

Symptoms: Back pain still… and minor swelling again. I'm also having times when my upper right thigh will just randomly fall asleep. It's not frequent, but it's happened a few times while standing in line for various places... weird.

Food Cravings: I think we’re back to Clementine’s...really anything citrus.

What I'm most excited about: Getting the nursery furniture in and getting her room all in order.

Something I've done to prepare for baby: Planned out nursery, ordered furniture and some decor!

Here is my 24w4d bump: