oh yeah... we did some holiday stuff at the end of November

Brian and I had a fun day of putting up the initial Christmas decorations at the end of November before Thanksgiving! We took it very slow this year, doing a little at a time because things tend to overwhelm me in large amounts lately. It was fun... we got snacks, made cookies and just hung out together, and he even put up with watching the Holiday again for me! The cats enjoyed themselves too.



Ah, what is Christmas without an up close picture of lights?



This was so yummy, although I recall feeling not so good the next day. lol.



A little cookie for the baby (or an excuse for me to eat more)




Tycho & Zelda checking out.




Then we spent Thanksgiving in Maryland with Brian's family. I didn't take enough pics of us all, I hope to do some more over New Years. Here is my wonderful Thanksgiving plate. It was so good. Thanksgiving is truly the best meal of the year, in my opinion.

Brian's grandparents, John & Anne asked me to get a good picture of them that they could send to some people. It turned out so nice, we love it and got a print for ourselves. I think Beth (Brian's mom) might even paint it!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year everyone! Pics from Christmas New Years and my first baby shower will be coming in a few weeks :)

29 Weeks

Almost hitting 30 weeks - I seriously don't believe it. I know I say that so much but it's true! I'm feeling tons of movement these days - a few times a day at certain times she seems to be much crazier, sometimes I think she must be pedaling or kicking right against me, other times I watch my belly bounce up and down. It seems like whenever that happens no one else sees it though, I try to pull someone over to watch or feel and she stops. Argh! lol. Sometimes the movements seem like she's having little spasms. lol... I assume it's normal.

Symptom wise, still having upper abdomen and rib cage pain on the left side. I think this will be with me till the end of my pregnancy. It is very sucky and sometimes stops me from doing some things. I'm trying to start exercising a little bit too because I'm feeling sluggish and I feel like my body isn't prepared to support the rest of this baby's weight sometimes. I can't believe how much bigger I'm going to get... sometimes I think about it and I have heart palpitations. lol. I've also started having some pain in my hips and joints - I've heard this is pretty normal. Sometimes I have trouble walking. So, I'm probably going to be waddling soon. I've also started to get my RLS symptoms back (restless legs) which had sort of disappeared for a while. FUN!!!

29 Weeks

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 - 3 pounds (like a butternut squash) and could be 15-17 inches long from head to heel. Though she's getting pretty close to her birth length, she still has to chub out a bit. In fact, over the next 11 weeks, she'll more than double — or even come close to tripling — her weight. And as she grows and room in your womb gets tighter, you'll be less likely to feel those big kicks and more likely to get poked by an elbow or jabbed by a knee. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her 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. She is able to use all five of her senses, hearing sounds and seeing bright lights in her mother's environment, and tasting, touching, and even smelling the amniotic fluid surrounding her.

28 Weeks & a passing test result

28 Weeks:

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

See what your baby looks like this week.

I also need to start counting kicks this week.... crazyness.

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It's hard to believe how big I am already. I gained a lot of weight in the 6th month, which was a little hard to accept. I had a doctors appointment today and everything was good - the baby actually had hiccups when she was listening for the heart rate! So cute, and the first time I've heard that. And ... I PASSED MY GLUCOSE TEST - I DO NOT have gestational diabetes. That was great news! I still am going to try to watch my sweet stuff, it is certainly my weakness!! :-) I had her examine the area where I'm having the pain and burning below my bra and over my ribs on the left side. Really still no explanation for that. Bah. I really really hope that it starts to let up soon, if anything it's been getting worse. I was wrapping presents last night in some serious pain.

Here's the belly at 28 weeks. so big already... of course sometimes I look way huger depending on how I stand too. I'm so excited!! Been rocking her in the rocker at night. It's very surreal.

A glider!!

Brian is so flippin sweet, and always manages to surprise me with SOMETHING at Christmas time. We agreed we weren't getting each other any presents for Christmas - money is tight, and any money we have, we want to put towards baby stuff we needed. We wanted to get the a nice glider/ottoman combo for the nursery, but had put it aside because we didn't think we could afford it. Well, we put some Christmas money we were given back into our budget and walah - a beautiful brand new glider, that matches the nursery furniture so perfectly I want to scream. And he even got it on sale which makes it so much better. He got it home in his car and put it together in an hour so that I could see it. He led me up and played Christmas music in the room and put bows on it. So so adorable.

I also got myself this ring for $13 to replace my wedding rings which have a lot of welding and extra fitting on them that are getting too tight for me. It's fakey but I love it.

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The 3-4 hour glucose test went "eh" this morning. It definitely wasn't fun, but I just hope my results are normal. I got a bit weak about halfway through but it's over now. I just have very bruised up arms from the 4 blood draws. Thank the Lord for my cell phone, twitter and 3G networks. I don't know what I would have done without it! haha.

1 hour glucose screening

Looks like I just barely failed my 1 hour glucose test for gestational diabetes. They said the cut off is 130 and I came in right at 130. :( So I have to go back for the 3 hour test mon morning next week.

i'm sad and i feel like its my fault somehow. :(

27 weeks - third trimester!

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.

See what your baby looks like this week.

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It's a shock to be entering my third trimester. I'm starting to deal with a new set of fears - what if the baby is born too early, what if something happens to her in the womb, what if I mess something up, how the heck will i get through delivery, the pain, etc. Is my grandpa going to make it to see her born? Just praying for fear control at this point and God's comfort. I have a lot of questions for next weeks appt... Brian and I are also going to start a childbirth class in January and my mom is planning my baby shower. It felt like this point was so far away, and now it's rushing on me. I'm 27 weeks - in a week or two I am going to start doing kick counts --- It is freaking me outttttt.

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Brian and I got our crib in! We were so excited we set it up at 11:00 at night... it was actually super easy to set up. We still need a mattress though. haha. Anyway, here are some pictures of the baby's room so far. I originally didn't want to show until it was done, but it's probably cool to remember the process. Plus we might move the furniture around... not sure.

I plan on putting up pink curtans and removing those blinds with long cords (of course) and putting her name and some art up above the crib. The white wall will have some sort of mural which my dad and I will hopefully paint. I tried to keep the paint colors something that could switch if our sonogram tech was wrong and it happens to be a boy. haha!

So here is the nursery so far!