Bump Update - Week 30 & 31 on the East Coast!

It would be really silly to try and elaborate on how amazing it was to visit the east coast. There just aren't adequate words for how perfect it felt. I'm just going to post some pictures and hope it captures how grateful I am to be able to visit home, to have Ed in great health, to have such an amazing family and to have friends who are so generous with their lives and share so much time with me. I came home feeling very humbled and thankful for all the moments I had with those that mean so much. I know, I'm a huge sap, and I wish I could blame it on pregnancy, but no, I'm just completely in love with my friends and family! :)

Dinner in Alexandria, picture stolen from Michelle :) 

Emilia's first visit to Omi's house

Next photographable moment was the baby shower. There were several pictures of me opening presents and of the group but I feel like this one present represents my general struggle to open gifts with my belly and the table in the way. It was a wonderful brunch. My friends are way, way too generous. I'm very thankful. Also, I may or may not have had three servings of french toast. We are talking small plates here... but still... I could've eaten another 2 plates. :)

 Ken's birthday was up next! He got some fun things, one of the best being a book for him to read aloud to Emilia and my baby. We were all singing along when prompted, of course.

And then Christmas was upon us before we knew it...

Somebody loooooved her uncle. If ever I felt her fussing, I just walked over to Ed and had him say nice things to her. He seemed to know exactly what to do. Bodes well, yes? :)

Those pictures leave out so many other wonderful moments: karaoke, dinner with Carolyne's close friends, dinner with Ed's close friends in VA, a massage from Laura, Ken's birthday lunch, lunch with Lizzy, dinner with Michelle.... just little moments that didn't get the camera out but were unforgettable nonetheless. I could go on, but this would be the world's longest post. So let's skip to the baby stuff and leave the pictures with a huge, ginormous thank you.

Bump updates! Two weeks in one... 

How far along? 31 Weeks today

How Big Is Baby? Baby feels huge! Simultaneously bumping the top of my belly and my hip joint. Last week we were a 15.7 in cabbage and today we're a 16.25 in group of four navel oranges. I have no idea how they come up with this stuff. My midwife said baby is due for a growth spurt. I don't know where the room is gonna come from....

Sleep: Still waking pretty regularly thanks to bathroom breaks and joint/muscle pain, but I'm mastering this whole zombie functioning in the middle of the night. Guess this is sleep training. May need to invest in a biiiiig body pillow. Poor Ed is getting less and less space as I get bigger and acquire more pillows!

Best moment this week: Just being with family, seeing friends and having people feel my belly. It never happens here so I love when I get my belly rubbed. Seeing Carolyne's face when the baby moved around was just amazing - but seeing Omi's face when she met Emilia was 10 times as amazing.

Movement: What a wiggly worm! Seems the visit home was well timed, because this baby was really ready to show off for everyone. It took awhile at some points but mostly baby was plenty happy to show everyone wiggling talents. All arms and legs in there apparently.

Symptoms: Heartburn has taken a break! Yay! Other than that, I'm just really tired, very frequently. I'm swelling a bit for the first time. My feet were like hot dogs on that flight home. I've been instructed to take more epsom salt baths which should help, and to generally rest. I can get behind that protocol!

Food cravings/aversions: Ice cream. Ice cream of all kinds. All the time ice cream. No aversions anymore but I'm still mostly avoiding pickles and 'stir fry.' 

Gender: Can't believe how soon we'll all find out. 9 weeks is not very long, especially when you consider some women give birth around 38 weeks. That'd be the week after my birthday. Yeesh!

Belly Button in or out? Surprisingly, no developments here. I thought for sure we'd be out by now, but it's still pretty normal looking until I'm on my back.

What I miss: Being able to sit quietly. Lately, no matter what I do, this little one is active all the time and makes it hard to just sit and zen out. If the constant waking during the night is sleep training, this is definitely life training.

What I am looking forward to: Our childbirth prep class starting this week. I feel pretty ready and positive about the whole birth experience, but I also feel like there's an experience worth having in taking a prep class.
 

Funny moment of the week: Walking into moms house with Ed and all my high school friends... so weird to think of us all doing the same thing some 10 years ago for game nights and random get togethers.

Labor Signs: Very infrequent braxton hicks. So weird when those come up... it's like my belly turns into cement!

Weekly Wisdom: If you're lucky enough to have an amazing family and a loving group of friends, do your best to thank them and tell them how much you care for them. Hug them often and never take for granted they know how you feel.  

Milestones:  Ed returns to work this week! He'll be taking it slow but I know he's very eager to try to get back to normal. Most of the visit home felt good for him, aside from standing or sitting for elongated periods, but now he knows he'll need to be aware of that when he's at work and manage his energy accordingly. I'm very happy for him but sad to lose my company here at home. The kitties and I will miss the companionship... and help getting off the couch. :)

Bump Update - Week 29

This week? Packing and shopping and preparing for our visit to the east coast. It might be a good long while before we're back again so we're determined to enjoy this trip as much as we can. Christmas music, family and good times out the wazoo!

Ed is maintaining (therapy, treatments, stretches and now some light regular walking), and I am doing the same (walking, swimming, stretching and maybe back to yoga after this vacation). I just can't believe how quickly time is going by. He's been showing off his gourmet skills - homemade pasta for lasagna and roasted duck. I know, I'm spoiled. :) I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the duck but that turned out really well. Nothing like the fireball that happened the first time we tried to make duck several years ago...

One for me and... two for me? I think Ed probably only got half of one :)

In our group prenatal session this week we discussed what surprised us about our pregnancies. My surprise? How great this experience has been. I do not feel like I've been 'pregnant forever.' I'm grateful for that. Another thing I'm grateful for is my determination at the start of the year to get in better shape for this big life change. I am currently about 10 lbs lighter than I was a year ago. 10 lbs lighter! Isn't that crazy? There are some articles of clothing I was wearing a year ago that fit me up until last month. Put another way, a year ago I was as large as a woman 7 months pregnant. That boggles my mind. Scale numbers don't mean everything, but you guys saw my other numbers and how much has changed. I am hugely proud of myself for finding the motivation to finally get a grip on my health so I could have this enjoyable experience. I can't even imagine how much worse my back problems or endurance would be... let's not even speak about blood sugars and cholesterol! Thank you for all of you that cheered me on before, liking my runs on Facebook and sending me encouraging messages. Look at how much you've helped me accomplish! :)

I do miss working out and breaking a serious sweat. We received our bib numbers for the 12k on Angel Island that would be this past weekend. Sadsville. Hopefully next year! I don't miss running per se - It's more that I miss being able to really exert myself. Being winded from a flight of stairs or doing a load of laundry does not feel as awesome.

Tomorrow we fly and I could not be more excited to see all those lovely faces :) Fingers crossed for an easy flight and a wonderful trip. I'll try to post when we're back on the west coast, if not right away, certainly by the normal Tuesday bump time. In the meantime Dad and Debbie are coming to keep an eye on the house and the cats. We're deeply appreciative. I'm sure they'll be partying here the whole time we're away! Hell, I went swimming yesterday. Outside. I don't think that will be happening in MD. I'll be a bit envious of them in the pool and hot tub!

Bump Time...

Running around packing and cleaning today so this selfie will have to do for now!

How far along? 29 Weeks

How Big Is Baby? 15.25 inch butternut squash... I'm starting to feel pretty big!

Sleep: I'm waking up about every 2 hours. It's not so bad, at least the times I'm out are restful. Still having crazy dreams, and tossing and turning, but it could be worse. 

Best moment this week: Sending off a couple in our prenatal group at the midwifery. The mother is from Towson, MD and it was so exciting seeing them off, knowing that any day now they'll have a brand new addition to their family. Hope to keep in touch with them.

Movement: Still training for the Olympics! I feel it most at the top of my belly and my right side. This baby isn't much of a 'flipper'... more of a kicker and puncher.

Symptoms: Heartburn, round ligament pain, fatigue... Nothing new here. A greater feeling of readiness? I have aches and pains but I really do feel pretty amazing overall.

Food cravings/aversions: Oddly not as hungry these days. I was just noting to Ed how I around the midpoint of pregnancy I was eating two breakfasts - one when I woke up because I was ravenous, and then a second breakfast about an hour and a half later. I'm back down to a bowl of cereal or an egg on toast and not feeling nearly as crazed.

Gender: Should we start taking bets? Maybe we should start working on names for future kid #2... I still like Duncan Donat Mitchell but I don't have anything as amusing for a girl! :)

Belly Button in or out? When standing or sitting, it's still in, but if I lay down, we're talking full on poking out.

What I miss: Less frequent aches and pains and life without heartburn. I never had that problem before so I'm hoping to go back to that status after this baby arrives.

What I am looking forward to: Seeing friends and family so ridiculously soon!

Funny moment of the week: 

Labor Signs: nah

Weekly Wisdom:  Cherish sleep. It's been elusive to me lately despite my fatigue! One trick I've been using lately to fall back asleep - trying to remember the floor plan and my walking route at every home or apartment I've lived in AND every school. Next task will be trying to revive my memories of my class schedules for each year of middle and high school. 

Milestones:  My first big trip as a much rounder pregnant lady! Fingers crossed it goes smoothly!

I get to see this face so soon!!!!

Bump Update - Week 28

Nothing exciting to report so here goes a basic recap of the normality...

Christmas shopping is DONE!

Hello Target during holiday season, I almost forgot you are a nightmare.

I don't know why I was so worried this year... maybe because we've had such extraordinary kindness sent our way by so many people. We both feel so indebted to so many family members, friends and coworkers, who were hugely helpful over the past couple months. Family and Ed have been asking me what I want for Christmas and for the first time, I'm struggling with picking stuff for me. All I've had on the brain are house and baby things we could use. If you were to pull up my Amazon homepage, you'd see it littered with deals for the following: cat food, biodegradable trash bags, bulk white vinegar, recycled paper towels, baby onesies, workout clothes (from when I was running) and board books for baby. Lots of really exciting things as you can see. 

Things are really good... same old, same old for these days. Ed's having his treatments weekly. We're both trying to spend regular time in the gym. It's been tooooo cold for swimming lately. Nothing new to report on the health front, everything is still amazingly calm and normal. Thank goodness. 

I've been making progress on my reading goals, total of 65 now... the odds are very slim that I will make the goal of 70... I did finish Visitation Street and The Night Guest, both very interesting and enjoyable reads. Visitation Street in particular made me almost miss Maryland summers - sticky, oppressive and thick with noise. Summers are too quite out here. No cicadas, no crickets, and no fireflies decorating the evenings. I'll let you know if any of the other books jump out at me. I've added in a rotation of parenting books now too... I won't bore you with even one sentence reviews of those!

Christmas cards are mostly sent out. Thank you notes are halfway done. I've written them for gifts we've received so far but I wanted to decorate them myself with tools I left at Mom's in Maryland, so I have to wait a liiiiiittle bit longer for those to be sent out. I love writing notes. I need to get back into the swing of writing letters, but I cover so much in here and have so few people who also like writing letters... Such a shame.

Now for the bump!

How far along? 28 Weeks

How Big Is Baby? 14.8 inch Chinese cabbage, about 2.25 lbs (Where on earth is this app getting this crazy specific numbers?!)

Sleep: I've been doing this new thing... well, it's not new, but I only just became aware of it... I make these loud sudden noises as I'm falling asleep. It's like a closed mouth yelp. And it's really loud. It makes Ed jump and it's even starting to spook me. I have no idea why I do it, but it's getting pretty consistent. I usually do it falling asleep but the other morning I actually woke myself up making the same noise. Poor Ed. Between my tossing, turning, weird yelping, and general inability to move in a graceful way, Ed's a real trooper. :)

Best moment this week: Ed hit another milestone in therapy - a little jogging! We're not talking anything crazy or sustained, but for a few moments Ed got a light jog happening. He's still far from running or jogging like I was when I was out there... but hey, it's an exciting step forward!

Movement: Like whoa. Tons of moving all around, and because baby is so big, I'll get a kick in the ribs and a stomp on the bladder all at the same time. Yay! :)

Symptoms: Round ligament pain. Not. Fun. It doesn't seem to like me walking, even though I'm walking so slowly. Oh well. Just trying to drink water and stretch to get things to relax. 

Food cravings/aversions: I am not enjoying salty foods at all. I feel like everything tastes salty these days. I'm craving fruit a lot and plowing through apples and clementines like it's my job.

Gender: It's amazing how people will guess what I'm having based on the way I'm carrying. And they get it right about 50% of the time! :-P 

Belly Button in or out? Same weirdness, every day a little shallower!

What I miss: Sleeping for longer than 2-3 hours before waking up with that stiff achy feeling when you are in one position for too long.

What I am looking forward to: One week until our trip to the east coast! I'm bouncing off the walls with excitement. Next week's post will be very short because the following post will be cram packed full of holiday stuff! 

Funny moment of the week: Along with the sleep noises are some craaaazy dreams. In one I gave birth to a half bird/half human baby 3 months early. In another Ed and I were in a version of the amazing race. In another I was on Glee, got in a fight with Unique and ended up smashing an avocado in her face. (I have no idea, people). Ed says I'm adding in words now too. The other night he swears I called out 'Northman!' Alas, I couldn't remember Eric Northman making an appearance - that dream is lost to me. I'm sure Ed is not as disappointed as I am. :)

Labor Signs: nah

Weekly Wisdom: Naps are for winners! I'd been going without naps the past month or so but suddenly it seems absolutely necessary that I go down for 30 mins around 3 pm everyday. I am going to enjoy this while I can. 

Milestones:  Third trimester! I don't know where the time is going... it still feels like time is flying by. I've yet to hit that 'pregnancy is miserable' mark - here's hoping it doesn't happening until the day before this baby makes a grand entrance!

And here's Emilia with her most dedicated babysitter!

Bump Update - Week 27

Great, great week. Ed is maintaining about the same as last week. It's really nice to be able to say he's stabilizing and to not have such dramatic changes week to week. We'll be on the same path in regards to his health for the next month or two until his treatment regimen changes. 

I'm doing very well, nothing new to report. Still swimming, still trying to sing and talk to baby, still enjoying being pregnant. This second half of the pregnancy is much more in line with what I thought it would be and I'm loving it. Yes, there have been aches and sometimes very painful pains, but... this pregnancy thing is pretty sweet. :)

Also, the news I was saving from last week...

We bought a car! The truck was a bit of a tight squeeze so we expanded a little. I'm not a fan of big cars - I'm a pretty nervous driver and I don't like gas guzzlers - so I tried to find the smallest family car possible, and it looked like the CRV was our best bet!

I wanted to keep it hush, hush for another week so we could surprise Dad and Debbie when we pulled up at their place. That was a big success. :) I'm in love with this car. There's a usb hook up, plenty of passenger and trunk space, and even a back up camera. To be fair, I'm a sucker for Hondas in general but I truly enjoy driving this thing. We haven't named the car yet... I've never been very good at picking out car names.

So we took our new car and drove out to Nevada for turkey day, and it was a lovely drive. The roads were clear but we still got to see some beautiful snow up in the Sierras. 

The visit was really nice and low key. Dad and Debbie had just bought a tree, which was great because we're forgoing a tree this year. I love the smell of Christmas trees... just really brings back a flood of good memories. We had some great meals and caught up. There's a pond near their house and we went down to feed the ducks. 

I didn't take too many pictures of dinner, I was too busy eating it allllll. But I did get a couple table setting and turkey pics!

The turkey was huuuuuge - 17 lbs if I remember correctly. Really delicious. I should have taken a picture when it came out but I was facetiming so I missed my chance. It was a really pretty bird.

Pretty and delicious :)

We all struggled to stay awake the rest of the evening... we watched a family favorite, Trading Places, and just spent time enjoying each others company. I don't know if it's a nesting thing or what but, I'm just so eager to spend time with family and friends and relax. Maybe my subconscious knows when baby comes we'll be pretty hunkered down here so it's trying to get me enjoy our carefree times now!

Beautiful Thanksgiving sunset, with Jackson, the white cat in the middle, making a special appearance.

Bump Update!

How far along? 27 Weeks

How Big Is Baby? A 14.5 inch cauliflower, about 2 lbs according to the app.

Sleep: This is hit or miss again. Mostly it's good, but things are starting to get heavy and unwieldy. If I do sleep through the night, I wake up feeling stiff. If I don't, I wake up feeling tired. Ah well!

Best moment this week: Thanksgiving dinner. So nice to just sit around with family and have a good meal and enjoy happy, quiet moments. 

Movement: So. Much. Baby is freaking out in there. Last Saturday was a day long marathon of crazy movement. Ed gets to see more and more of it from the outside. Unfortunately, baby seems to be a little shy when others come around to feel... hopefully that changes when we visit the east coast! Also, ice cream seems to make baby scoot around a bit more. I'm all for reasons to eat more ice cream :) 

Symptoms: Just general aches and pains, nothing new there.

Food cravings/aversions: Breads of all kinds... rolls, loaves, waffles, pancakes... I can't get enough. Aversions are pretty minimal these days but they still pop up and surprise me. 

Gender: The holiday season is hands down the best time for the kind of baby clothes I prefer. Both genders are all decked out in primary colors, polka dots, stripes... And there's no lack of that bright red that I can't resist. Babies look like little presents! 

Belly Button in or out? In... kinda. Pokes out more and more everyday! But when I'm standing it's still completely in.

What I miss: Waking up without soreness. I think it's just the weight of the belly and things shifting in my body, but just getting out of bed is quite the production.

What I am looking forward to: Every. day. this. month. The holiday season is my absolute favorite and this one is going to be better than ever. Visiting the east coast, a massage, hitting the 30 week mark, squishing Emilia's cheeks, Christmas at Omi's, the baby shower, seeing friends, holiday cookies... There are just so many good things about every single day of December! 

Funny moment of the week: Nothing hilarious, just so amusing having Ed put his hand on my belly and watching it jump up when baby gives a good strong kick. Always makes me smile :)

Labor Signs: nope

Weekly Wisdom: I read a little quotation about gratitude begetting happiness. I've been having some emotional dreams lately - one about Opa visiting me and one where I was very sick - and I wake feeling so grateful for all the good things we have. I'm so grateful for Ed's health, my health, the baby's health, and for all the family and friends we have to love.  

Milestones: Buying our family car! Car seat installed and ready. :) 

Such a happy girl because she has such a good mom!

Bump Update - Week 26

Really quick post this week. Things are all good here. I've been reading a ton, trying to catch up on my reading challenge of 70 books for the year. I'm at 58... last year my challenge was to get to 60. I may have to settle for a final count of 65... fingers crossed! I'm working on Visitation Street by Ivy Pochoda right now.

I'm listening to The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling and I'm hoping to get my hands on Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris. 

I refuse to read his books because while they would still be enjoyable, listening to him read his essays takes it to a whole different level of hilarity.

We went to see Hunger Games: Catching Fire in the theater. It was worth it, good theater movie. I was surprised how much I had forgotten from the books... that being said, I liked each book less and less as the series went on so I really shouldn't be too surprised. 

I've been trying to swim about every other day and that's going well. Makes me feel a bit like I did when I was really into running. My bathing suit is starting to protest my belly's growing size. I'm hoping Ed will let me know before it pops right off of me. Ed's been keeping active as well. He was cleared to try riding his bike a bit and has been testing that out. Small steps, but it's hugely freeing. He's added in occupational therapy to his scheduled therapies so we're out and about a little more. 

We were up to some other shenanigans this week but I'm going to save them for next week's big holiday post. That's about all for now!

Bump time! 

How far along? 26 Weeks

How Big Is Baby? A 14 inch hot house cucumber - I eat these all the time... imagining something that large goofing around in my belly is pretty freaky. When I imagine baby, it's much smaller. So hard to fathom.

Sleep: I'm feeling a bit more of my size when I attempt to turn over in bed. I'm getting a great upper body workout using our bed frame to hoist myself from side to side.

Best moment this week: I'm holding off on this section until next week's post to include in our Turkey Day recap! 

Movement: Baby likes to make a statement. If we're watching something scary it's like baby knows and will try to freak out right at the perfect time to scare the bejesus out of me. Baby has Ed's sense of humor apparently! 

Symptoms: Heartburn, as usual. Tailbone pain comes and goes. I travel with pillows now and I've set up a throne on the couch that involves multiple pillows. It's a bit ridiculous looking but it's getting the job done.

Food cravings/aversions: Pickles and the smell of mole or enchilada sauce are on my no go list. Craving wise? I'm still eating pretty much anything. I was desperate for strawberry cheesecake ice cream this week. Thank goodness for a sale on ice cream :) 

Gender: Can we talk about how adorable all baby clothing is? Boy or girl, we're looking at the most irresistible striped, colorful, patterned craziness and I just do not know what to do with myself! Damn you black friday temptations! Especially Old Navy. You just don't know what you do to me, sale section.

Belly Button in or out? In... but it's starting to get a little freaky. When I'm on my back and try to roll from side to side, it sooooorta pops out. Eeep!

What I miss: Not bumping into things. I'm constantly underestimating my belly and knocking into doorways, chairs, the fridge door, etc.

What I am looking forward to: Heading over to see Dad & Debbie for Thanksgiving! Which means decorating the apartment for Christmas will be close behind. 

Funny moment of the week: Apparently pregnancy has made me very defensive. Ed did a normal 'scare' where he snapped my book shut, startling me. I nearly punched him out. He was pretty shocked how angry I got and I came down pretty quick, but I felt a bit like Amy Poehler on Ellen... she does not like to be scared:

Labor Signs: nope

Weekly Wisdom: It really isn't worth it to beat yourself up when you forget things or say the wrong word or rerun your mistakes over and over in your head. Just sucks the life and joy right out of you. When that rerun reel starts, try your best to wiggle your toes, recognize it's happening, let it go and move on to the next thought.  

Milestones: I've passed the 100 days left mark! 100 still seems like a good deal of days so I'm not feeling any pressure, but when I start thinking it's only a couple months, that gets me a little keyed up. 

And your weekly dose of my crazy-haired, sweet niece: