A Few Belly Photos...

31 weeks

31 weeks

30 weeks

Week 31

I thought I'd post more over break, but I've been kind of busy.  Busy getting things done around here.  I haven't quite gotten around to cleaning out the closet in the baby room yet, but we did get all of the wall decorations up!  I'll have to post some pictures later on.  We got the car seat ordered and on its way, registered in the Target store, found a pediatrician, got the Christmas stuff taken down, joined Costco, among many other things! 

Christmas was great, but went by so quickly!  I got some awesome gifts such as a Flip video camera, tickets to Rascall Flatts in January, a few pairs of shoes, some scrapbooking software for when I have baby pictures, a portable hard drive, gift cards, etc.  And the baby got some cute clothes, some feeding supplies, and a giant stuffed panda bear which will be much bigger than her for about 3 years :)  I'm still looking at photographers, but I think I found one that will work.  I'm planning on doing maternity photos as well with our wedding photographer who will do the session for free since we used her for our wedding.  I just don't think I have anything cute to wear for the maternity photos.  I'll have to scour photographer websites to see what looks best on other people. 

In the meantime, I am just now starting to get extremely uncomfortable.  I cannot stay in one position for more than a few minutes, lying on my back is now very uncomfortable, I always feel out of breath, and I'm starting to feel like I'm getting heartburn which is no fun.  But I still enjoy watching my belly move all over when the baby is awake!  I think these next 2 months back at school are going to be tough as far as comfort goes, but if I can hold out till the beginning of March, I'll be so much happier NOT having to worry about leaving the baby for a few days or weeks in May to go back to work.  Even though she'd be with family, I know that I'm not going to want to leave her all day.  I have a few more days left of break and plan to relax as much as possible in that time before things get crazy again!

Week 29

Well we had the 3D ultrasound the other night (earlier than I originally scheduled because the technician wasn't going to be able to do it the night I originally planned).  So we went and Baby decided to just squish her face up against the placenta and refused to move enough to get any good pictures!  We just got one kind of decent one but I'm not posting it because we might know what we're looking at, but it's not easy for anyone else to see!  Due to her squished-ness, it looks like she's missing part of her lower face (she's not, I promise)!  It was a little disappointing, but I suppose I knew that would be likely to happen, so I guess she's determined that we won't really get a good look at her until she's born.  It doesn't help that I have an anterior placenta, but that doesn't always interfere with ultrasounds as long as baby moves around so they can get a good view.  I think the 2D ones were actually better than the 3D ones.  Anyway, I wish I had some perfectly adorable pictures to post, but I don't :( 

In other news, just 3 more days of school left until my much-needed Christmas break!  2 days with students and 1 in-service day.  This 3 day week is going to seem like it takes forever... I feel like there's a lot to do over break in addition to the cleaning out of closets that I want to do and decorating the walls in Baby's room.  I need to get report cards and comments done (that takes forever) and go up to school and spend some time organizing stuff for my long-term sub since there won't be a lot of time once January comes before the baby actually arrives and I have to leave work.  Ick!  Neither of these chores sound appealing AT ALL, but they need to get done. 

On Thursday this week I will go back for another appointment.  I can't imagine what they'll need to do other than weigh me, take my blood pressure, and listen to the heartbeat.  I assume it'll be a quick appointment.  Hopefully they don't need to draw anymore blood because last time they had to poke me twice in each arm and STILL couldn't get the blood to come out!  They got just barely enough to check my glucose levels and iron. 

I am watching Deliver Me on Discover Health right now.  I actually really enjoy watching these shows - they don't scare me like they do some people.  I think it's amazing how many of these women have such problems and even deliver quite early and their babies turn out just fine.  Apparently by 29 weeks gestation, the baby has a very high chance of survival with little chance of long-term affects.  That makes me feel good!  Of course I'd much rather her wait in there until March still :)

28 Week Photos

Week 28

I've made it to the 3rd trimester - yay!  Looking back at my earliest posts, remembering how nervous I was about whether this baby would make it what with the super low progesterone levels and all the bleeding, I am so happy to be at this point now!  I had my doctor apt. on Friday last week and luckily, all of my blood work was normal, so no gestational diabetes and NO anemia.  I also made an appointment today for a 3D ultrasound next week :)  We weren't going to pay the extra for it, but Sean has really wanted to try to get one done, so we're going to use a little of our Christmas money for it.  I just hope we can get a clear picture of her face that day so we don't end up paying for nothing!  I've already talked to her about cooperating on that day and to show us her cute little face :) 

I added a bunch more to our Babies R Us registry this weekend, and made some changes as well.  We ordered the vinyl wall clings for her bedroom and I just wasn't digging the lavender colors they had available and I kept thinking about how I wanted  her room to be pink.  So I took the lavender bedding off the registry (even though it was really cute!) and opted for a pink bed skirt, sheets, and a breathable bumper for now.  I figure we wouldn't even use a comforter anyway, so what's the point in ordering a full bed set?  The wall clings should be here sometime over break, so Sean and I can attempt to hang them.  I sure hope they aren't too difficult to put up!  I also hope that the colors we ordered look nice on the walls since it's always hard to tell exactly what colors will turn out looking like when you order on the Internet.

I am soooo looking forward to Christmas break now!  I hope to get the closet in the baby's room more cleaned out and ready to go, the wall clings up, and some other random cleaning done around the house.  I'm also looking forward to the annual cookie baking extravaganza with my sister!  I was telling the baby all about baking cookies and how next year, she will be able to put some frosting on a cookie too!  Hey, she will be 9 months old at that point, so I can give her a little frosting to smear on a cookie so she can participate :) 

Well, I will try to get some updated belly pictures posted this week and then next week, hopefully a good 3D ultrasound picture!  Hope for some good pictures for us!

Week 27

Littlekins has some fun new things!  On Thanksgiving, I ordered some newborn pajamas and pants from Kohl's.com because they were on mega-sale.  Then on cyber Monday, I found the bouncy seat and swing from my registry on sale at WalMart.com for a really good price, so I ordered those and they will be Christmas gifts for me from Sean's parents.  We also got a stroller from Sean's sister that she doesn't need anymore, so some of that big stuff is out of the way.  My due date is exactly 3 months from today! 

This weekend we spent some time with friends that both have babies and they make it seem easy because their babies are both very calm and happy.  It was fun to get to see them and see what types of toys they actually enjoy at the different ages (one is a year and one is about 5 months).  Also this weekend, we put up our Christmas tree and decorated around the house.  We ended up buying a fake tree this year to make it easier on ourselves during the next few Christmases.  It's nice because it came pre-lit, so we didn't have to worry about stringing the lights (my least favorite part).  We did not decorate outside this year because last year with all of the heavy snow, many of our lawn decorations didn't survive the winter.  I figure we can look for some new outdoor decorations at the end of this season when they're on clearance and then have them for next year.

This Friday, I'm scheduled for my 28 week appt. which includes a blood test to see if I'm anemic (I'm suspecting yes on that one) and also the glucose test (which I'm guessing will be fine).  I'm not looking forward to the weigh-in portion of the visit and the part where the doctor tells me to go easy on desserts during Christmas.  I can go easy on desserts all year until the holidays... then I just can't.  It would be cruel to deny myself cookies!  I'm still not concerned with the weight thing because I don't feel like I look huge or bad... I just don't appreciate when other people make me feel like I shouldn't be eating anything with their comments.  I'm not sure I've EVER been completely happy with the way my body looks, but right now is probably the least I've ever cared because I like my baby belly!  And I know that I can get back into shape once she's born.  The last few times I've tried exercising though, I have had major trouble breathing.  I think the baby is already kind of pressing on my lungs (or diaphragm) which is causing me to be unable to breathe deeply or normally. 
Well, I will post again next weekend after my doctor appointment and hopefully I won't have to be started on iron supplements (ick!)

Week 26 Pics

Week 26

Today starts week 26 and I kinda wish that instead of Thanksgiving break, we were on Christmas break!  I would love a few more days off and more time to do some relaxing shopping on the Internet or bake cookies and watch movies.  I'm also getting more and more eager to see what this little one looks like!  I know the rest of this pregnancy will go by fast, but I'm just excited to see her! 

Mom went out and bought some early gifts from the registry this weekend.  We got a high chair, a cute teddy bear blanket, a diaper caddy, and a baby sling.  Fun!  I love getting baby stuff :)  I can't wait until I have showers!

We had a nice Thanksgiving with Sean's family and my mom.  Lots of good food and my first attempt at bringing an actual dish to a family holiday meal went pretty well.  Well people said they liked it anyway and it was a little over half gone.  It was a cornbread type of dish that someone at school made and sent out the recipe for.  I thought it was quite delicious!  I can't wait for Christmas cookie baking/decorating now.  Tonight we're going to eat dinner with the family that are still in town.  Then I suppose I should come back and do some really exciting laundry and ironing.  Less than one month until Christmas so I may also look online for some gift ideas for myself and family. 

This was taken at 24 weeks... I'll have to post an updated one soon.

Week 25

This weekend we got most of the baby's room done - well, at least furniture-wise!  We finally moved the computer desk down to the basement, moved the crib, dresser, and glider where we want them, and put together the changing table.  We still need to get a 3-shelf bookshelf and then move the old light wood one downstairs, but that's easy.  We also think we will get a little toy box or something low to go under the window that we can put her toys in.  Now I look forward to getting some of the bedding and decorative stuff to add some color to the room.  We don't really want to paint the walls, but we're going to do those peel-off wall decals.  I'm thinking maybe her name above the crib with some kind of circle design will add some color to the crib wall, then above the dresser and changing table, I'm not sure yet...

We also went on Friday night to start our in-store registry at Babies R Us.  So we have a bunch of stuff on there now and I also need to get to Target to add some in-store items still.  The feeding stuff is a little overwhelming!  I mean how many bottles do you need?  And what kind of breast milk storage bags are easiest?  And what do I really need as far as washing/drying accessories for bottles?  Now I need to start asking my friends with babies about this stuff because I really am not sure and it's been a long time since I worked with infants in daycare and had my personal favorite bottles and stuff.  There's so much to think about! 

Today I tried going to a pilates class at a place where I'm taking salsa and tango lessons once a week.  I thought pilates would be good to try while pregnant and it would be a good class except that almost everything is ultimately an abdominal exercise that I cannot do!  I don't think I'll be going back to that one.  I also did a prenatal yoga DVD yesterday from Netflix and it was alright but sometimes yoga is just TOO slow and TOO easy.  It felt good, but I felt like I could do something a little more challenging for now, anyway.

Thanksgiving is in just a few days and I'm so excited for a few days off of work!  Not to mention the delicious food!  It will be so nice to not have a full work week this week :)  Then from after Thanksgiving to Christmas usually flies by, so... Baby will be here before I know it!  I start my 3rd trimester in 2 more weeks and I know that pretty much once February hits, I'll just be thinking that she could come any day!  I still want her to wait until March though :)

Week 24

Today I am 24 weeks along.  I went to the doctor this week and everything looks good.  Other than my having low levels of iron and needing to also eat more protein... everything else looked good.  The heart rate was about 153 and she was able to find it right away for once!  I guess the bigger the baby gets, the harder it is for her to hide from the doppler every time.  I get to do the lovely glucose test next time I go in December at 28 weeks, and then, after 28 weeks, I start going to the doctor every 2 weeks!  I think it's crazy how fast it's going. 
I have started registries now at both Target and Babies R Us, but I just started them online.  Target makes it hard, because there are so many things I want that are available online only.  But I know I need to go in the store and find some stuff that's there, because not all people will want to order gifts online.  We chose some bedding finally, too!  I was pretty set on having pink and black in the nursery, but I just didn't find any pink bedding that I really liked.  So instead, I came across some that's lavender and I really like it, so lavender and black it is!  Hopefully I'll like how it looks when we get it too.  It's on the registry at Target, so we'll see when someone wants to get it. 
I'm starting to think about how preparing for maternity leave at work will go... I'm a little nervous about having to write sub plans for several weeks.  In teaching, lessons have to change so much from day to day depending on what the kids are ready for, so trying to plan for several weeks will be hard!  At least we have someone planned for my long-term sub already.  She'll be great, so hopefully the timing of delivery all works out the way I hope.  I guess I'll just plan to be done teaching on March 4th and hope that Baby can wait that extra day!  That's about 14 more weeks of teaching left for the year. 
Little Miss Roly Poly Baby moves so much more now!  At least it gives me a nice little reason to smile in the middle of teaching on a difficult day.  When I'm singing loudly in the car though, she stops moving usually.  So either she's mesmerized by my voice (highly uunlikely) or she's concentrating on covering her ears and thinking about how embarrassing I am already (much more likely)!  Hopefully she can learn to self-soothe so I don't have to try singing to her too much... that may be the least soothing sound ever.  Oh who am I kidding, I'll sing to her anyway :)