~Week 35…36~

80's day…no really, my mom wore this shirt in the 80's.

Yeah, I'm past 36 weeks now. So at this rate, the next post will probably involve a newborn baby! Yay! (sorry my head is cut off, I still don't have a good mirror situation)

The past few weeks have been great. Last month my BFF threw me an Up North shower (despite being a newlywed of only 5 weeks!) which was so much fun! It had a baby bird theme, and while I don't have any other pictures at the moment, I do have a picture of the cake topper before I tried to eat it…so cute!

Then I finished up my last few days of work…such a relief, the last couple months of working were so stressful and painful! My hip/back pain has decreased dramatically since quitting! 

My husband's crazy, busy, month-long job finally ended at the end of August. It's been fantastic just being able to spend some time together, and finishing some baby projects that I couldn't do by myself. (who am I kidding, he does most of the work when it comes to projects... I "help")

Then just this weekend, I had another shower here in Lansing, put on and attended by the coolest ladies ever! 

Baby shower #2! (Sorry shower #1, I don't have any pictures of you)

They went with the "Woodland Creatures" theme that I'm doing for my nursery. Speaking of, here's a picture of my pretty-much-finished wall of birch trees!

They still need a little bit of touching up, if I ever get around to it. Right now I have more important projects to give my attention to. Like staying sane.

This active little bird is around 20 inches long, and over 6 pounds now. My belly definitely feels the difference, too. It hasn't gotten a lot bigger, but it's a lot more cramped in there. In fact, I might have to stand up right now because she just stuck a foot up in my right lung. The best news though, is that she's head down and ready to go! The doctor told me it didn't feel like she was going to flip…not sure how he could feel that, but I'll take it. 

Only 4 more weeks!!!

Total weight gain: 28 pounds. I didn't gain anything in like a 3 week stretch…then went up 3 pounds in one week! Hey there, stretch marks.

Cravings? Some of that raspberry pie left over from my shower ;)

Miss anything? Sleeping straight through the night. HAHA that won't happen again for years!

Movement: Random bouts of hiccups, day and night. When she stretches out her arms, it almost feels like a hug :)

Highs/lows: Baby showers, feelin' the love, not working, getting stuff done finally/Being wide awake in the middle of the night, random emotional outbursts.

Looking forward to: This little girl making her first appearance! Hopefully not for a few more weeks, but I'm getting anxious to see her.

~Week 30~

Ok, so it's actually 31 weeks! Slacking. But hey, I only have to post maybe two more of these 5-week updates! Yaaaaaaaaay! Also, AAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Are you kidding me? This is ridiculous, I'm so not ready yet. My picture this week is so terrible because we moved (!) 4 weeks ago and both my mirrors are still in the spare room. How can I have a baby if my mirrors aren't even hung??

Haha, I'm just kidding. Kind of. I know there's probably still going to be a lot unfinished two months from now. I just hope most of it's done by then.

Alright, down to business. As always, my resources are very inconsistent, so I'm just going to guess…Baby Birdie is approximately 16 inches long and a whopping 3.5 pounds! And she's been throwing her weight around the last few days. It's quite jolting, I think she's getting cramped! "Let me out!" It's crazy how big she's gotten in such a short time, and how much bigger she still needs to grow. In 9 weeks no less. Goodness.

Whew, I am hot right now. It's about 80 in here, and no AC yet :/ We put a fan in the window at night to blow in the cool air, which keeps the house pretty comfortable until about 3pm. Thankfully we haven't had very many super hot days yet!

Total weight gain: 23 pounds.

Cravings? Not really. I just always want to eat, but already feel full!

Miss anything? Being able to get up from the couch without an act of Congress.

Movement: BIG TIME. Kevin has felt her several times, but she won't kick for anyone else. Stinker.

Highs/Lows: My BFF's wedding a few weeks ago, having awesome friends to throw me baby showers, not having GD, still sleeping fairly comfortably/My great-grandma's funeral, Kevin is working every day for a straight month, getting oh-so tired even though I'm sleeping fine.

Looking forward to: Baby showers! And August 25th, my LAST DAY OF WORK!!!!!

   

(99)

~Week 25~

What, another 5 weeks already? We're almost to the 100 day countdown! 

Baby Birdie is apparently in the cauliflower/eggplant category now. (The standard measures for babies in the womb are fruits and vegetables, in case you weren't aware.) Some resources say she's about 9 inches long, others say as much as 14 inches, so it's really anyone's guess. They all are pretty consistent with weight though, at about 1.5 pounds. Only 8.5 to go. (I'm just mentally preparing myself.) 

I'm very thankful for air conditioning. All of this increased blood supply/decreased lung capacity nonsense means on the hot days, I overheat just walking from room to room. Ah, summer. Our new house is cooler than this one, but the central air is currently broken (surprise!), so we need to get it fixed ASAP. Hopefully before we move in! 

Time has been going by pretty quickly, but 15 more weeks still seems too long. It's probably a good thing though, I am not at all prepared for Birdie to be here yet! As much as I want to hold her and stare at her beautiful little face, there's a lot that still needs to be done. Like packing, ugh…

Total weight gain: 17 pounds.

Cravings: Lots and lots of fruit.

Miss anything? Being able to interact with strangers without them asking when I'm due, and then saying, "Oh, you have the whooooole summer to go!" Yeah, I know.

Movement: She's rarely not moving. Kevin still can't feel kicks, even though I can sometimes see my whole belly jump!

Highs/Lows: Throwing my best friend's bridal shower. Closing on our house, and starting to see it come together. Planning the decor is really fun! But, Kevin is away again, which is a drag.

Looking forward to: Kevin coming home, moving, Hannah's wedding, and finding out whether or not I have gestational diabetes. Well, maybe not that last one :P

Birdie

This is a little anti-climactic since we've known for two weeks, but…after being so sure that Baby D was a boy…haha gotcha! SHE is healthy and strong and perfectly amazing. I am so in love and cannot wait to meet my little baby Birdie. (that's not what we're naming her, just the nickname that I've had since I found out about her existence. And now that we know she's a girl it doesn't sound weird.)

Our lovely ultrasound tech was able to tell us the gender less than 30 seconds after the wand touched my belly. But after that, Birdie wouldn't stay still! She rolled and punched and covered her face…we were lucky to get a clear profile picture. Speaking of punching, it was so crazy to be able to watch her moving (sometimes vigorously) and being able to feel it at the same time! 

Even though she was so active, the tech and the doctor were able to see everything they needed to see. Her little heart was beating perfectly. Everything was where it needed to be. I am so thankful.

~The best shot~

~"Don't look at me!"~

~Week 20~

Wow, when you compare this with my 15 week picture…it doesn't look that different. I think that one was partially a food baby, haha. But something must have changed, because everyone actually notices that I'm pregnant now, even at work in my shapeless scrubs. And the scale has definitely also noticed.

These days I'm feeling pretty good, unless I'm standing for 8+ hours (like at work) or I decide to purge my house (like yesterday, spring cleaning/moving prep!). Then my back likes to complain. 

Baby D is apparently the size of a banana, about 6.5 inches and 10.6 ounces. I can't believe we're halfway done and he (or she) isn't even a pound yet! You have a long way to go, baby. I'm expecting at least an 8 pounder, probably more if my husband's genetics have anything to say about it.

I started feeling little flutters here and there around 17 weeks, which have turned into lots and lots of wiggles! Can't feel anything from the outside yet though. 

Tomorrow is Ultrasound Day! I'm so so so excited!

Total weight gain: 14 pounds (yikes).

Cravings: Salty snacks, fast-food burgers (which I've only indulged in once), and cantaloupe/peaches.

Miss anything? Some of my favorite clothes!

Gender prediction: The closer the ultrasound gets, the more I waver. Still 85% sure it's a boy though.

Movement: Often.

Highs/Lows: Feeling Baby move more and more, and we also got an accepted offer on a house! Hopefully we'll close in about 4-5 weeks. And my best friend got engaged/is getting married in 2 months! Lot's of good things happening. The biggest lows were getting miserably sick with a sinus cold for 2 weeks, and Kevin being out of town for a week. But I'm all good and he's back, so yay. :)

Looking forward to: The ultrasound tomorrow, and our 2 year anniversary is on Monday!

Oh, Baby

Only one more week! Then we will (hopefully) know whether Baby D is a Little Mister or Miss. My bet is still Mister, though I don't know why. Oh Baby, please please please be cooperative, I'm dying to know for sure!

The gas bubble/flutters have turned into wiggles, sometimes even what feels like a pretty good kick, at least for a half-pound human. It's comforting, even when I'm trying to sleep and it feels like Baby is attempting tiny cartwheels. Little acrobat.

Speaking of sleep, that sounds really nice.

~Week 15~

This baby grew a lot this week! He (or she, I guess) is about the size of an apple - 4.5 inches and 3.5 ounces.

Thankfully my "morning" sickness (which usually happened around 5pm) is virtually gone, unless I go for a long time without eating. I'm feeling a little more energetic too...I can stay up past 9! Sometimes. But I had to trade that for frequent headaches, which usually go away after a nap, if I can get one.

Total weight gain: About 6 or 7 pounds.

Cravings: Scrambled eggs and a Beach Club from Jimmy John's.

Miss anything? Eating raw cookie dough/brownie batter. 

Gender prediction: Boy! 

Movement: Not even a flutter.

Highs/Lows: Getting to hear Baby D's heartbeat (144 bpm) a couple weeks ago, but then having to postpone the ultrasound because Kevin has to go out of town for work.

Looking forward to: 5/21 is Ultrasound Day!

The 100th Day

According to my Baby Bump app, I've been pregnant for 100 days. 100 days!

For those of you who don't know, a full-term pregnancy is 280 days, or 40 weeks, or 10 months.

Hold up, 10 months? I've been lied to my whole life.

And thus began this wonderful journey of new experiences. Now, it's true that I was required to take the OB/Maternity class and clinical in nursing school, but it was FAR from my favorite. The first day of class, our instructor showed some slides comparing healthy and not-so-healthy placentas, and I checked out a little bit. (Although it might have been the Taco Bell I scarfed down beforehand making me queasy. Who knows.) That being said, I've gained some knowledge that might help me freak out marginally less than other first-time moms, but I hardly consider myself an expert. Thankfully, I haven't had much to freak out about yet!

We found out we were expecting the day before Kevin left for his annual Colorado snowboarding trip. (Flashback: Three years prior, the day before he left on this same trip, I finally agreed to go out with him.) I had been feeling pretty gross all day, and that morning the grocery store was filled with all kinds of overwhelmingly disgusting smells. Which are actually always there, I just suddenly had the world's worst superpower. I guess x-ray vision wasn't an option. So anyway, I had a strong suspicion, and told Kevin that I needed to take a test when he got home. There was no way I was going to find out I was pregnant by myself. I know, people have cutesy pictures or stories of how they told their s/o, but I think these kinds of moments need to be experienced together. And how fun it was…I couldn't stop shaking and Kevin couldn't process. I didn't have another spare test, and he didn't want to get his hopes up until I took another one, just to be sure. So the next morning, I called him after another positive result, and it was like, "Ok, it's real. This is happening!" He's wanted kids since the day after the wedding. I wanted to wait a little while, put my degree to good use, and adjust to my new life before being completely responsible for a tiny human being.

Fast forward about a year. I decided that I wanted to be a mom more than a nurse, but apparently my body had different ideas. After several doctor's visits and and an MRI, I received my first official diagnosis: a pituitary adenoma. It's a fairly common benign mass on the pituitary gland that usually causes no trouble, but mine decided to misbehave, messing up my hormone levels and making pregnancy impossible. So I got some meds, but the dose was constantly being increased, because my bloodwork showed no improvement. As a result, I wasn't optimistic about our chances of having a baby anytime soon. Imagine my surprise, the day before I needed to refill my prescription, and two days before my next blood draw, finding out such joyous news!

We couldn't be happier. And now that the 1st trimester is over and my symptoms are almost all gone, I'm REALLY happy. Honestly, I can't complain too much, the nausea was pretty mild. Pregnancy fatigue is a b****, though.

It's hard to believe Baby D will be here in just 6 months. Or 180(ish) days, whichever you prefer.   :)

All Things

"Bright and beautiful, wise and wonderful, all things are in Your hands."

"All Things" by Aaron Gillespie is one of my very favorite worship songs.  It talks about..well…obviously…how all things are in God's hands. The joyful parts of life and the pain and suffering as well. He orchestrates it all.

Sometimes (most of the time) it's hard for me to remember that I control nothing. No amount of worry or stress will change the future. But also, nothing we do will separate us from being a part of God's sovereign plan. There is always a purpose, and a perfect end result.

There are definitely areas in my life right now that are showing me I need an increase in faith. In the midst of everything, we're looking for a new house, with limited funds and a limited time frame. We've accepted that we probably aren't going to get our dream home, but praying that something good turns up soon.

I have to remember that God is not limited. And that all things are in His hands.

Polar Vortex

These days, it's pretty hard to keep warm. If the temperature outside creeps above 10 degrees, it feels like we should have a freaking pool party. My husband got me battery-operated heated socks for Christmas, but apparently, the blocks of ice that I call feet need nothing less than a roaring fire to thaw. And a roaring fire, we do not have.

I also found out that the cruise control on my car doesn't work when the temps are this low. Nothing like realizing you've coasted down to 40mph on the highway with a semi on your tail. Yikes. 

And the food. All of the foods. Who wants to eat cold fruits and veggies out of the fridge when your teeth are already chattering? Not this girl. I want hot, cheesy, melty, meaty foods that warm my belly on these cold, cold nights. Mostly nachos. I want all of the nachos.