31 weeks

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

That's no joke, he definitely does move a lot and I love it! I think I'm really going to miss being pregnant. I love having him with me all the time and I love that I can feel him kick and it's just between us. I'm excited to meet him and see what he looks like, sounds like, his disposition, etc but for now, I'm happy having him all to myself.

Next doctor's appointment is next Monday so I'll have an update on next week's post.

New Year's Eve is tomorrow. I can't believe what a year it's been! I've been seriously beyond blessed. It's been exciting and I can't wait to see what 2010 brings for our new little family. I know after all the blessings we've received this year that God will get us though whatever next year brings.

We generally celebrate low key, at my parents house with lots of snacks and just hang out. Perfect for this year! Nick is sick so even more fitting that we stay in and take it easy.

30 weeks!

Wow, only 10 more weeks - 70 days to go!!!

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

As for me....

I'm feeling fine still, no new symptoms this week. All ready for Christmas! We're spending Christmas Eve with Nick's dad, Christmas early morning at our house, Christmas later morning at his mom's, and Christmas afternoon/evening with my parents. Whew. I'm glad I booked a prenatal massage for Saturday! It will be my first one, I need it so bad and I'm so excited.

Sunday we'll do the outdoor maternity pictures. I saw some proofs from the indoor session, they're okay, it's me, not the photographer - I'm making some ugly faces in some of them. But I'm really excited to do some outdoor candid ones, hopefully it's not too freezing!

Snow day!

We got major snow on the east coast today. It originally put a kink in my plans but we rearranged and I loosened up :). We were going to have maternity pictures today, finish Christmas shopping and then put up our tree. Instead we rescheduled the pictures for next week, went Christmas shopping last nigh. So we put up the tree today and I made cookies.

Nick's last measurement at 6 pm was 18 inches. It's now 7:30 and STILL snowing. It's been snowing for 24 hours.

First, here's the snow!

This is Nick's car covered with snow, all you can see is the mirrors sticking out. You could still see a little bit of mine. This was at 4:00 or so...

And then our tree! Normally it's more full but Nick was in charge of what was going where and he evenly dispersed them better than me and cut me off when I wanted to put more. I'm happy with it though b/c they're the ones that are most special to both of us (most of the ornaments we didn't use were ones from me growing up - mental note to get some from his parents!)


So that was our snow day! I really don't see how it will get all cleared out for work Monday! I've got one more present to buy - for my BIL, I need to wrap 2 more of Nick's and my dad's and I'm ready! I can't believe it! It all came together last night really.

Recap

This was posted on the third trimester board of The Bump and I thought I'd do it here too.

At more than halfway (72% I think) pregnant, here's a recap of where I am so far and how I got here. Still a ways to go I know, and I'm happy for him to stay inside until week 40!

I'm currently: 29 weeks, 2 days pregnant!

When did we find out I was pregnant: June 27, 2009 at 4 weeks 3 days pregnant. I tested the day after our 11 year anniversary of being together. I just knew it was going to be positive because I had been charting but still couldn't believe it was real. It was the first pregnancy test I had ever taken. (See very first post in this blog!)

How long before we got pregnant: I stopped taking my BCP at the end of March, we were pregnant two months later!

How I told DH: I tested very early in the morning, about 6 am or so. I got back in bed, woke him up saying "hey, look" and showed him the test. He sleepily said "yay!" He knew I was testing so it wasn't a total surprise. He thought it was funny that I did it so early.

Weight gained to date: Honestly, I don't know - I haven't asked how many pounds. The doctor today said I was doing great with my weight though.

Any Contractions? Have had Braxton Hicks for several weeks now - since like week 20 or 21.

Any Stretch Marks? Only on my butt so far! Which I'm kind of okay with because no one other than Nick will ever see that!

Belly Button: Barely passes as an innie, mostly flat. It flattened out much earlier than I expected. I'm dreading when it pops out. I'm pretty sure I'm going to put a bandaid over it. Very weird since I've always had an innie and I've read it takes a while for it to go back in!!

Best part of pregnancy: Feeling Campbell move, he moves soooo much at night when I'm relaxing. I will certainly miss that.

Worst part of pregnancy: Hip pain, not being able to sleep on my belly.

Complications: None yet!

Nesting: I wouldn't call it nesting, mostly stressing that things aren't done. I think after the showers I will be able to next more, there will be things to wash and get set up.

Favorite Ultrasound: I've had 3. Many women only get 1. But my favorite was probably the first one. What a relief to see and hear that little hearbeat and see the blob that would be Campbell. It was like I could let out a breath of relief b/c I knew this was real!

The Name Game: Campbell is Nick's paternal grandmother's maiden name and James is my dad's name - it's also my MIL's father's name. Nick's step mom thought of using Campbell, I suggested it to Nick and he said, "Okay, Campbell James" and that worked for me!

Some of the most surprising things about pregnancy: 1) friends who have been pregnant NEVER tell you all the annoying symptoms. You really only ever hear about morning sickness - they don't tell you all the other crap and I'm not buying that it's because they forget it existed. 2). The original poster mentioned this too, but that the pregnancy "waddle" is more from the pain and not the weight! 3). Strangers and coworkers really are more willing to do things and cater to you than you would think.

Rules

I recently read an article in Pregnancy Magazine by a dad who I think maybe wrote a book, not sure if he actually published it though, but it's something like, Rules for My Unborn Son. They had a couple exerpted in the article and one was numbered 300 and something, so he had a lot but I was thinking it was a really cute idea and want to do something like it. I figured this is as good a place as any so I'll occassionally be posting them here, as I think of them.

They range from serious to silly, one that he had that I loved was "always make time for your mom on your birthday, it's her special day too." So true, I give my mom a little present on my birthday just to say thanks for having me! :)

Another one was "when in doubt, wear a tie".

If you have any good ones, let me know!

29 weeks!

How your baby's growing:Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

For me:

I had my 29 week appointment today, it went great. Campbell is measuring right on track for now, which is great! I was also told that I do not have gestational diabetes (I had the 3 hour test earlier this week because I failed the 1 hour test) - very good news!

I also had a couple of maternity pictures taken, they were indoors, just me - Nick will be in the outdoor ones (which were rescheduled for next weekend because of a major snow storm we're getting this weekend). I'm anxious to see them, I'm sure they're better than the ones I post here! I'm not super excited that many of them are bare belly (I don't think my bare belly is cute) but I wanted them done to document the time and how I looked.

28 weeks!

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels. He can blink his eyes, which now sport lashes. With his eyesight developing, he may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. He's also developing billions of neurons in his brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

As for me, I found out Friday that I failed my 1 hour glucose tolerance test (slightly elevated numbers) so I have to take the 3 hour test. I really was kind of surprised that I failed so I'm a little mad. I'm positive I will pass the 3 hour test, thinking positive here! So on Tuesday I'll be sitting in the doctor's office for 4 hours with no food :(. I'll bring my laptop so I can do some work.

Friday I'll have my next appointment since I go every two weeks now. Saturday we're having maternity pics! I'm very very excited! We're getting an amazing deal, a friend who has started a photography business is doing them, she charges very little because she does it as her passion and she does good work! I can't wait to see how they turn out. A lot of people suggest doing them later (I'll be 29.5 weeks) but I didn't want to take the chance of being too uncomfortable, unhappy with my looks, too much colder, etc so we're doing them now. I should get the proofs back the first week of January so I'll definitely share them!

Here are my pictures for this week. NOW, note that I had just woken up from a nap after work when we took them so I look terrible!

27 weeks!

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

As for me, not much change. We went for my monthly check up and had the glucose test, let's hope everything comes back normal and I don't have to go for the 3 hour test! We also learned that I'll now go every 2 weeks! I can't believe we're at the point now! Its kind of nice though, I know I'll be more closely monitored, it feels like I have a new question or symptom right after my monthly appointment.

Still having Braxton Hicks and heartburn but it's all manageable. The BH are scary but I try to be rationale.

We got the nursery furniture delivered, we just have to put it together and we got the mattress and everything so we're ready to get it set up! Have to paint and clean the carpet first though...

I had a realization that while it's surprising this is happening so quickly and there's a lot of work to be done around the house (finishing a bathroom, setting up the nursery). I'm definitely ready for the change this will bring to our lives. I was reading some posts on the Nest and the majority of the ladies were talking about how they didn't want to give up their freedom and I realized, I DO! I want all the changes that this baby will bring to our lives. I know I'll miss some of the get up and go mentality but we aren't really like that anyway. It was just really comforting to come to that realization; I've been waiting to feel like I'm giving something up (and other fears that people have before having kids) and realized, I should stop waiting because I know I'm not going to feel that way, we're ready! (thank goodness, right?! He's coming anyway!).

I got up at 5 the morning this was taken, this was like 6:30 or 7:00 so cut me some slack.

I look crazy in this one...