Belly Shots!

My amazing friend Stacy took some belly shots of me last month up in Santa Barbara. It was an 80 degree day up there, which was crazy being that it was in the middle of December! However, it made for some fun shots in the park and on the beach. Here are a few of my favorites.

I'm so glad that we were able to get some of these shots so that I can remember this amazing time in my life. Thanks so much again Stacy!

37 Weeks

Well I am heading into the home stretch. I am now considered full term, which isso exciting! I can't believe it has gone by this fast. My belly is ginormous now. It is amazing how much your skin can stretch to accommodate this little one in such a short period. My tank top that I wear for these pictures no longer completely covers the bottom of my belly, but I am surprised it made it this far being that it isn't a maternity top.

I am still doing quite well going into the ninth month. I do get winded a lot easier these days and I definitely get sleepy early in the evening and I try to sleep in in the morning. Although I usually have anywhere from one to five hour stretches in the night that I can't seem to get comfortable or fall asleep. That is a bummer, but I suppose it will prepare me for the complete lack of sleep I will be blessed with once she is here.

My ligament pain comes and goes, but it has been a good five days since I had my last bought with it. I keep waiting to get the Braxton Hicks contractions, but so far nothing like that. My doctor told me that Baby is happy in there, so that is why. So other than the normal uncomfortableness from having an extra 20lbs hanging on the front of me, I am pretty lucky. I've heard a lot of horror stories of heartburn, acid reflux, constipation, water weight gain and stretch marks. Thankfully I don't have those...yet. Now that I say it, it is probably going to all plague me at once.

Christmas

Christmas this year was a bit bitter sweet. I had a great time opening presents in the morning with Pete and Danny, watching Elf, then heading out to our friends Bill and Becky's for dinner, but I so missed spending it with mine and Pete's family. This time of year is really hard to be away, and I think being pregnant makes it worse.

We did a small Christmas again this year, and we got some pretty great gifts. Mom got us a Flip Video, which is going to be so great to keep everyone updated on Baby Heikes. Momma Heikes painted us a beautiful Tuscan themed picture, which I love, and Pete got me Mario and Sonic Winter Olympics for the Wii. I love that game. We also got some great gift certificates and of course, the gift that everyone loves, cash! Baby Heikes got some cute outfits and bath stuff as well as a sheep skin from my Aunt Sally! I am so excited about it. It is going to be so great, especially for taking pictures on.

Pete's birthday was today and before we went to dinner I asked Danny to take our picture because besides the one with ugly Christmas sweaters, we don't really have any.

Aren't we just cute? Danny and Pete were messing around so we have those giant laugh smiles going on. Only a little while longer and that belly will no longer be that huge! There are definitely things I will miss about being pregnant, but I am so excited to see our baby girl!

36 Weeks

About a month to go and I can't even believe it. I had my doctor's appointment on Tuesday and everything is great. Baby is head down, which is so good to hear and my cervix is starting to soften. Baby is still really active, she even kicked Dr. Murphy while he was measuring my belly. He said her heartbeat is really strong and fast because she is so active.

My belly continues to grow and it is rather hard most of the time. I find that when I have been sitting for a while when I get up I walk kind of funny for a few steps until my belly stretches out. I have moments of uncomfortable these days either from eating too much and feeling too full, which happens quickly since my stomach doesn't have much room anymore, or my round ligament pain, or from just not being able to get comfortable if I'm sitting or laying. Pete and I were worried that I would have a lot of back pain because of my scholiosis, but I have been pretty lucky on that one. I only get back pain every once in a while, at least at this point. Overall, my baby girl has been really good to me, and I hope that continues through labor and delivery, and of course, beyond.

I went to Babies R Us yesterday and picked up a couple sleep sacks for her. Everyone says those are so great for babies during the winter months and I don't have very many. They were having a 50% off Carter's sleepwear sale, so I got a great deal. Unfortunately they don't have very many so I was limited.

Recently I decided I should attempt to put the carseat in my car now so I can make sure it is ready to go should we need it early. I decided to put it in the center, but I have a feeling I am going to want to have it on the side, cause it is kind of a pain to climb in and pull the seat up and out when it is empty, so I can only imagine when there is a baby in it. We will see I suppose. Everything fits; the front seats can't go back all the way, but there is still a decent amount of room. Eventually we will be getting me a new car anyway, but mine will work great for now.

35 Weeks

35 weeks along now and I can't believe how close it is getting. I'm starting to feel somewhat uncomfortable more often these days, especially if I get that awful ligament pain that lasts forever. But overall I'm still doing quite well. Pete and I went to our friends Ugly Christmas Sweater Party over the weekend, which was such a good time, as always. Baby got a lot of love from everyone.

My sweater was perfect because baby made the tree look somewhat three dimensional. I swear I can actually watch my belly getting bigger now. Just when you think it can't possibly get any larger you wake up, and it has.

She has been a little easier on my ribs these days, which is so nice, and she gets the hiccups all the time, which is so cute. I wish I knew how she was situated inside there so I knew what it was that was moving around. I think my doctor said at my last visit that she was head down, but I don't know if that means she will stay that way or if she is still moving all over.

My friend, Stacy took some pictures of my belly up in Santa Barbara over the weekend in the gorgeous weather we were having. I think she got some really cute ones so I will be posting those up as soon as they are ready. I can't wait! Thanks so so much Stacy!

34 Weeks

I have hit the 34 week mark and with it has come some pain in the form of round ligaments. Now let me tell you, these pains suck! I literally thought I had appendicitis because the pain was pretty intense and it was so concentrated on my lower right side. Fortunately, no appendicitis just painful round ligaments. Apparently this is the number one complaint of pregnant women, so I am not alone. It hurt for 12 hours straight last night, so between that and my worry that I was going to have to go the emergency room I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Now if the pain hadn't been concentrated on my right lower abdomen, I probably wouldn't have worried much, but since it was and I take after my father, who is quite the worrier, it freaked me out. Fortunately today was my usual checkup and Dr. Murphy put me at ease. He is so great.

Other than that everything is going quite well. I got Baby a Christmas present. A baby swing! It is too cute and I hope she will like it. I got a smokin' deal on it on cyber Monday on Amazon. Regular $160, I got it for $89 shipped and no tax either! Woohoo! How I do love Amazon.

I've got the house all decorated for the holidays now, which I love. There is something about the glow from the little white lights on a tree that is so cozy. The tree was quite difficult to decorate as it is so full, but I definitely got the important ones up. And Pete got the outside lights up too, which I love cause the half of our street that we live on doesn't really do lights, so I like that we break the mold and are the only happy house!

I'm excited because this weekend my friend Stacy is taking some belly shots of me! I wanted to make sure I got some before it was too late, so I will be posting some in the next week or two. Hopefully they will turn out cute.

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.

28 Weeks/Visit Back Home

Well I am back home now from my amazing trip up north to see family and friends. I still can't believe that 28 weeks have already gone by and I'm now in my third trimester! Crazy. Pete said he could definitely tell that my belly got bigger in the week I was gone. Baby had her first experience on a plane and she seemed to really notice when the plane was taking off and landing. I hope that it didn't bother her little ears.

The shower was so much fun. Very informal and just a bunch of friends and family. She got quite the mass of cute things, one of which was a five foot tall stuffed giraffe!

I so wanted to take her on the plane with me, however, she will have to wait to come down with the grandparents when they drive down in March. Hope they have a sunroof! I haven't taken pictures of some of the other amazing gifts yet, but I will definitely be posting some pictures soon. This baby is so extremely loved and she isn't even born yet. Thanks to everyone who was able to make it out. It was so good to be together with everyone.

27 Weeks

Sorry I have fallen behind on my updates. I was in Vancouver visiting friends and family so I didn't have time to work on my blog. I hit the 27 week mark last week. I also had my glucose screening done and thankfully I do not have gestational diabetes! I am however anemic, so I have to start taking my iron supplements again. They told me early on that that would probably happen since I was going into pregnancy and usually around this time the body is producing so much more blood that it is very common to become anemic. No problem though. I am used to the supplements and fortunately since my nausea is gone taking pills isn't a problem anymore.

I'm loving the size of my belly right now. It is like the perfect budda size for everyone to rub for good luck! Fortunately I haven't had strangers come up and rub it, that could be weird, but it doesn't bother me when friends and family do it. I think it is good for Baby.

26 Weeks

26 weeks along now, and this is the week I have to go in for my glucose tolerance test. Not looking forward to drinking a giant glass of nasty sugar water that has been described as drinking flat orange soda. Mmmm...so excited. The northern gang left on Monday and baby has been so crazy active ever since. My stomach looks like something out of a science fiction movie. It is so cool to watch. Of course she would start with the crazy movement after the company leaves. At least I will be up there for a visit in a week, so hopefully she will keep it up.

Now that all of our visitors have come and gone, Pete and I can really start on putting the nursery together. I am so excited. Nikki's mom got us a magic spinning lantern with little teddy bears on it, which will be so cute in the nursery.

First project is going to be to put together the crib. Right now it is sitting in a giant box in the garage, so that should be a fun project. I can't wait until it is finished.

25 Weeks

Last week I hit 25 weeks, which now puts me into my sixth month. That is so crazy. I'm a little late on getting my post up because I had four of my favorite people from up north visiting last week. Both Nikki and Shawnee got a little baby kick on their hands, which is always exciting. She always seems to stop kicking as soon as someone puts their hand on my belly. She is a little punk that way, just like her daddy. My belly continues to grow, and according to the books my uterus is the size of a soccer ball, which seems about right.

I had my first real experience with acid reflux the other night. Man is that unbelievably more painful than I ever would have expected. It woke me up in the middle of the night and after realizing I wasn't having a heart attack, a panic attack, or some life threatening issue, I figured it out that it must be acid reflux. So I propped myself up a bit and eventually it faded away. I couldn't believe that some stomach acid in your esophagus could feel like that. It is like your chest is going to implode. Glad it was pretty short lived though. Hopefully that won't be a regular occurrence during the last four months.

24 Weeks

I am 24 weeks along this week and I definitely feel like my belly is very much pregnant now. It is quite round and hard as a rock most of the time. Baby is still moving and kicking a lot. I think she likes to mess with her Daddy because every time she is kicking and he puts his hand on my belly she will stop. I tell him that it she is probably just so comforted by his touch that she calms down when he is close.

So I have found that watching food commercials is dangerous for a pregnant woman now that I have my appetite back. I was sitting there watching tv and a commerical came on for Pillsbury advertising not only their delicious Grand's biscuits, but also there yummy, gooey cinnamon rolls. It was like torture!!! I find myself easily swayed by what they are advertising, well, unless it is a commercial for something like that nasty double chicken breast with bacon and cheese thing they have at KFC. Are you kidding me? That thing looks so disgusting; I don't even want to imagine how gross it is when you order it, considering things look their best in advertisements.

To all my favorite people up north, I have booked a ticket to come home for a week in October!!! I will be there from Wednesday the 20th through the following Wednesday. There will definitely be some good times to be had, so try to keep that weekend open! =)

23 Weeks

This week, in addition to being my 23rd week pregnant, it is also my 1664th week since birth. Happy birthday to me! That is a lot of weeks. As I take these pictures I feel like my belly looks bigger than it does, however this could be because I usually see myself from the front, and not the side. Perhaps I should start putting a full frontal picture up, of course, for everyone's benefit I would be dressed, so not to worry.

My mom is in town this week, which has been fun. I also got a call from Baby Town, and our crib is in and ready to be picked up!! Yay! So as soon as we get the truck back from the shop we are going to head down there and get it. That way we can get started on putting the babies room together. Mom and I got some closet organizers to put in there, because one bar with a shelf is such a waist of space. It will be so much nicer with multiple bars, shelves and some drawers to use. I'm sure there will be lots of pictures to come of the nursery transformation.

22 Weeks

I hit 22 weeks this week and I am starting to love my big ol' round belly. It is still small enough to be cute and big enough to look pregnant. Baby is moving around a lot, as usual, and her movements seem to feel stronger and stronger; I'm guessing because she is slowly running out of space to kick and punch in.

My nausea has gotten so much better over the last couple weeks. I still have some nights where I just don't have much appetite, and I definitely still get those "vurps" as they are called. I do hate those, cause if you aren't careful it could turn into something a lot worse. I'm just happy that a lot more food is sounding good to me. My favorite these days is a grilled cheese with some sort of soup to dip it in. Yum. Now I'm hungry! I hope Pete hurries home with dinner from Panera!

21 Weeks

I hit my 21 week mark this week. I had my monthly doctors check up and he said everything was great. I have started to gain weight, which is good. Baby is very active and we will be able to feel her move more and more as she runs out of extra space in there. Her heartbeat is really strong, as the doctor says it is like a washing machine. My belly continues to grow and it is getting harder to the touch.

Pete's sister's family came down for a visit this week. It was so good to see them, especially the girls. They are so much fun. They had a blast with their Uncle Pete too. He lent them his football jersey's so they could be cool like him. Might take a while before they fit.

We took them to the beach and Ventura Harbor for the day, which was a great time. The girls saw a small pod of dolphins as well as a seal, then we went to the harbor and got ice cream and they got to ride a pony. They were so excited!

I went down to Disneyland with them on Wednesday and we had a great time. The girls got a ton of autographs in their books and were so excited that they got to meet Belle, Cinderella, and Tinkerbell. They both were dressed up in their princess dresses for most of the day, which was too cute.

Lexi's favorite rides were Pirates of the Caribbean and the Mickey's Fun Wheel in California Adventure, which she dragged me on, even with my extreme fear of heights. She even made me ride in the gondola that swings. Not cool! I was freaking out. I think I scared the crap out of baby, because when I got off the ride she was kicking me for a good five minutes straight!

I think Mia's favorite was playing the Goofy Fishing Game in California Adventure because she won a big Mickey Mouse doll. She was so excited! The highlight for me was seeing the new World of Color show. It was like the Bellagio fountain show on steroids!!! Very creative those Disney people are.

By the end of the day, though, my feet were killing me and the muscles in my stomach felt a little worked. Some of that pain may have been from my screaming on the Mickey Fun Wheel. It was really hard to go there and not be able to go on my very favorite rides, being pregnant and all, but I had such a good time with the girls, Kristen and Paul.

20 Weeks! Half Way There!!!

I can't believe I'm already half way there! Baby must have had a growth spurt this week! My belly is definitely bigger and I can feel her moving all the time! It is so cool. It is cute when I watch tv at night with Pete he will sit there with his hand on my belly and if she isn't moving he will shake my stomach, or poke it or cup his hands and talk to her to try and get her to move. Doesn't always work though, probably because she is stubborn like her mom and dad, but it is too cute watching him try.

I have started on the whole registering process too, which can be overwhelming. Which bottles to get, which breast pump is best, what kind of swing will work, does she really need all this stuff... It is all so difficult. And the worst part is I find that I am liking the "boy" type stuff way better. This could be because pink is the color of a medicine you take when you are vomiting, thus, it isn't so much my favorite and everything girl is saturated in pink. Lavender is pretty too, you know!!!! Everyone says that we will have so much fun because there is so much more cute stuff for girls. I beg to differ. Have you seen the adorable boys outfits out there. They are unbelievably cute. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of cute girl stuff, but it all has to be so freakin' pink! It is killing me!!!