33 Weeks

I hit 33 weeks, and according to the books, the baby is close to 17 inches long and almost 4 pounds now. So within the next seven weeks she will grow a few more inches and almost double in weight. Supposedly she is going to move less and less because she is running out of room, but I haven't noticed that yet. I feel like she is moving more, maybe it is because I notice her up under my ribs now. I have to tell you I would be okay with less moving if it meant that she would leave my rib cage alone. That is the most uncomfortable thing.

I had a prenatal massage on Monday, thanks to Shawnee, Nikki, Judy and Stan, and it was awesome. So relaxing, and I feel like since you have to lay on your side you get a bonus back rub because she rubbed my back when I was lying on both sides. The lady was quite informative and thorough. She seemed to know a lot about prenatal massages and what not to do. Wish I could have one of those every week!

Everything else seems to be going well. I am eating just fine now, probably too fine, with all the yummy pumpkin pie, chocolate, and holiday yumminess. My only issue now, besides the rib kicking, is that this weather is so freaking dry and so I keep getting nose bleeds. My doctor says that they are quite common for pregnant women, so that is a relief, but my nose is so dry that it burns sometimes. I need to get a humidifier, but the last one I had would soak the windows and sheets by the morning. I don't need all that, so I have no idea what to get.

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for, mainly for the little blessing growing inside my belly. Pete and I did a quiet Thanksgiving this year with just the two of us. I am okay with cooking that meal for two cause that means more leftovers!!! I did miss my family though.

I am extremely traditional when it comes to my Thanksgiving dinner. We had the turkey, of course, which I do a yummy brine for and it comes out so amazing every year! Then we had the mashed potatoes, stuffing, with Stove Top, of course, cause frankly I have never had a home made stuffing that I like as well or at all really. Green bean casserole, a must, then some rolls, cranberry sauce, gravy, and of course, Martinelli's Sparkling Cider. My favorite. I forgot to heat up the corn this year, which seems to be the case every year that I forget something, but it will definitely be utilized in the leftovers when I make what I like to call slop. I am sure you can all guess what that entails. Since it was just Pete and I, we kept it pretty simple. It was so delicious.

It is nice that even with a big ol' belly you can still fit into an apron! And believe me, I needed it, it is amazing how many more food bits are attracted to a stomach that is sticking right out there.

For Pete's second helping he decided to make himself the ultimate pileup. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and a crescent roll. One delicious sandwich. He was very proud of his creation.

And of course, we didn't forget about Audrey. She got her own bowl of Thanksgiving dinner. She was a good girl and stayed out of the kitchen while we ate, and she waited patiently as we loaded her bowl up with yummy goodness. She came back to lick the bowl three times after she finished it so I think she liked it.

32 Weeks

I had my doctors appointment and everything looks and sounds perfect! That is always good news. I love to hear that little heartbeat. She is getting the hiccups all the time now, mostly in the middle of the night. Doctor says that is a good thing. It is pretty cute, which is weird cause my hiccups annoy the crap out of me. Belly is, of course, getting bigger and bigger. I am trying to be diligent and lube it up with my belly potion at least once a day now. I know it probably won't prevent stretch marks, but it makes my skin feel better.

She is a little stinker these days because she likes to get up under my ribs on my right side. It is a very strange feeling and one that I am not all that happy about. It is like a tickle (the annoying kind) and a jab at the same time, and it isn't always instant, sometimes she just chills there for a while. I try to push her down, but it doesn't always work. I've noticed that overall she seems to prefer my right side, which makes for it getting sore a lot. Doctor says that is common because she is pushing on my floating ribs. Not so pleasant. I'm constantly stretching my torso to the left to take the pressure off. I'm sure it is only going to get worse as she gets bigger.

The nursery is coming together a little more all the time. Once I get some more done on the walls I will post some pictures. I've been doing the laundry for everything baby lately, which is the only kind of laundry I enjoy at this point. I am sure once she is born that feeling will fade fast. I got the stroller and the carseat out and washed the covers for them so they are all ready to go. In the process Jack found yet another spot to occupy.

Pete will take him on walks through the house when he gets in there. I don't think he likes that part too much, though. He is more about lying in the stationary areas of the house, but it is quite funny to watch. I think he much prefers using one of my body pillows instead. It looks way more comfortable to me anyway.

31 Weeks

I can't believe that I only have less than ten weeks to go (give or take). It is going by so fast. I am trying to enjoy every minute. Mom says that I am still tiny for how far along I am, but I am starting to feel like my belly is quite huge.

I had my first experience feeling her with hiccups. It was so cute. I woke up at midnight last night and as I was trying to fall back asleep she started these rhythmic movements. It only lasted a couple minutes, which is good for her, cause when I get the hiccups they usually last at least thirty minutes or more.

Mom was in town this last week and we made some headway on turning the guest room into a nursery. Mom painted and we built the dresser and crib and got them moved into the room and the bed moved out. Now I have to work on dressing up the walls and organizing all the stuff now that I have places to organize it all. Here is what it looks like so far.

Mom made the bumper, which I absolutely love. It is perfect. I found that giraffe material and just had to use it for that purpose. It is the softest stuff ever! In our bedroom I took out the Pack n' Play that Pete's sister gave to us to see how easily I could set it up with the bassinet part in it. Looks like if the baby doesn't use it, someone will.

My little Jack loves to test out any box, basket, or soft item of any kind. If this little bassinet can hold his 15 pound ass jumping in it, then it should be good to go for Baby. He has attempted to jump in to the crib too, but that is definitely a Jack free zone and he is immediately thrown out of it. Fortunately, he seems to adopt a spot for a while then moves on, so I am letting him get his love of the bassinet out of his system. He looks quite cute when he is curled up in it, so it is hard to throw him out of it now.

30 Weeks

I'm now in my 30th week and it seems like time is flying by. My belly is so round now it seems to get noticably bigger by the day.

I fear that now I am going to quickly start to run out of clothes that fit me. At least I can still wear my comfy sweatshirts. Now that it is starting to get cold, I am sure I will be in those a lot anyway. I can't believe that my stomach even has the ability to get any bigger. Sometimes it seems like it should be bursting.

The other day I was floored to have Pete tell me that he wanted to go to Babies R Us with me to see what that place was all about. Of course, he was probably bored within ten seconds of being there, but at least he cared enough to want to go. We did a bit of a shopping spree with the gift cards and baby cash we got from the showers. Now the soon to be nursery is overflowing!

I'm still not totally sure where I am going to put it all, but it will eventually find its place once we get the nursery set up as a nursery and not a guest room. It is amazing the amount of crap that one tiny human "needs", and this isn't even all of it.

Baby Showers

I had two amazing showers, both of which were so completely different from each other, and both of which were so much fun!

First I flew back to Vancouver to see all my family and friends up that way. My brother hosted more of what you would call a party as opposed to a shower and his house was just perfect for the occasion. There were a ton of people and the food was so unbelievably delicious!

I was definitely a happy girl!

Everyone was so sweet and Baby got a bunch of great gifts from the small to the giant.

It was such a great time and so good to see everyone that I miss so very much living down in California. Thanks to Nikki, Shawnee, Judy, Shelby, Matthew and Mom for making everything so perfect!

Last weekend two of my amazing friends, Megan and Amy threw a slightly more traditional baby shower with a group of some of my favorite girls and of course, Josh as well. I'm definitely not your traditional shower kind of girl, however, it turned out so perfect. Everything was so beautiful and I had such a great time. It is really hard not to with that group, though. Megan did an amazing job with all the decorating and little details.

We played a couple games, which was great for me, since I was the judge and just got to watch other people making a fool of themselves all in the name of fun.

Baby is such a lucky girl. She made out with another mass of generous gifts from everyone! I had so much fun and probably ate way too much of the yummy tapas Megan prepared, as well as the chocolate cupcakes and cookies Amy baked. But whatever, it was a party and I'm eating for two, right?! =)

Thanks again to two of my favorite ladies!

3rd Trimester!!!

I can't believe I am already in my third trimester. Time is flying by. Pete and I did the tour of the maternity wing of the hospital yesterday and it is quite nice. Private rooms for everyone with your own bathroom and shower. They are like hotel rooms. It was recently remodeled so everything is so clean and new looking. Our names were even pulled from the raffle and we won a baby cd featuring songs from composers such as Mozart and Beethoven. I will have to give it a listen, as I do like the occasional classic instrumental music.

Had my doctors visit yesterday as well, and now those visits are going to get closer and closer together. Everything was perfect. I met with Dr. Murphy again and he is my favorite. He is an older guy and he does this sort of humming thing while he works. It is so awesome and it always makes me smile and feel more at ease. He really seems like he cares too, which I like. There are a couple of the doctors I see that don't seem as invested, like they just need to move on to the next patient. So I have my fingers crossed that he will be the one that delivers me, but my luck it will be the one girl that I don't like so much. She is very callused and cold. Not something you want in a person who is going to be around for the happiest moment of your life.

Baby's heart was strong and her growth was right on target. We called her our little Baby Bear because Dr. Murphy said she was not too big and not too small, she was just right. Now that she is moving more and more and you can actually see it, I'm going to try and get some video footage. It is so cool, but it seriously seems like my belly should be in the latest sci fi movie.

Megan and Amy are throwing my shower this weekend with my girls (and Josh), which I am so looking forward to. After that I will definitely be posting pictures that will be more than just my silhouetted self with a giant belly almost popping through my tank top. Pretty soon I am going to have to find a new tank top to wear for those pictures. The current one is really being put to work.

Pete told me that I look more pregnant when I wear maternity shirts than I do when I am wearing just a regular t-shirt or sweatshirt. I'm just glad I can still wear the regular stuff even if it is mostly just to sleep in. Most importantly though, I'm so glad that I am able to wear my jeans with the hairband to hold the button. I don't know how long that will work, but I am hoping when that fails maybe those Bella Bands will work cause I so don't want to buy maternity jeans.

Pregnancy Eating Anxiety

So I find myself getting a slight bought of anxiety based on what foods I am eating or not eating, if I am getting enough protein, or fiber, or vegetables, am I drinking enough water, am I consuming too much sugar or carbs or chocolate, did I remember to take my prenatals or my iron, or my calcium today???????? It is really starting to drive me crazy. Since every pregnancy article, book, or magazine you look at reiterates that eating healthy and drinking plenty of water is of the utmost importance for your growing baby, it makes you feel so guilty if you have a piece of chocolate or some bacon with your breakfast. I truly feel the anxiety it makes you experience has got to be way worse for the baby than anything else. As if we don't have enough issues to be scared, anxious, and unsure about.

Is it okay that since it was just Halloween I have a mini 3 Musketeers or mini Twix during the day? Is it okay if I forgot to take one of my three vitamins today? Is it okay that I don't have vegetables in my every day diet? How much is all of this really going to affect baby? Do they really even know that? I don't drink, I wouldn't smoke even if I wasn't pregnant, I do eat and drink every day, multiple times, and though I have missed a few days with my vitamins I have been quite good about taking them regularly. Is that enough?

Doctor says her heartbeat is strong, she is growing at a perfect rate for how far along I am, and she kicks and moves all the time. So I have decided that based on the fact that she seems to be perfectly healthy I am just going to continue to do what I am doing and not worry about it anymore. Babies are like parasites anyway, they just suck all the nutrients they need from you. I don't know if any other moms get anxiety from the eating thing, but because I am such a worrier, I do and I just had to get it off my chest.