WEEK 29: What's Happening

How Far Along:  29 weeks 1 day 

Baby's Size: about 16.5" long, and a little over 3 lbs the size of an Acorn Squash

Total Weight Gain: 19 lbs 

Maternity Clothes? Taking over my wardrobe

Stretch Marks? No

Sleep? Baby let me sleep the night before my baby shower, but the night after it I woke at 230am and didn't go back to sleep until 8pm. :( I was one tired Mama! 

Best Moment this Week: The baby shower! :) It was SO EXCITING to see all of the old faces, and be surrounded by those whose company I cherish. It was SO PRETTY! 

Miss Anything? Sleep! and I missed fish a little bit yesterday. It's hard because though I am allowed to eat a select type of fish - I am not supposed to eat them unless they are farmed in specific regions because of the mercury levels - and instead of asking that stupid question to the servers, I just go for something I know I can eat. (Like a Baked Potato.)

Movement: I could tell she was just as tired as me this weekend - she wasn't moving as much during the shower and the day after... but last night she was kicking up a storm ... (MOM! It's time for BED!) Lol.

Food Cravings: What's funny is I have been craving Carrot Cake for about a week - since Laura said Aunt Cindy baked for her and then I wanted Great Grandma's 24 karat Cake - but was super dooper excited when Jeanna brought out Carrot Cake for the gift opening at my shower. YUMMY! The best treat ever!

What Makes you Queasy: Chicken. Turkey. Really any type of fowl. The thought of thanksgiving makes me a little queasy too right now. Though, I do love the side dishes!

Gender: It's a girl!

Labor signs? None

Symptoms: Baby Bump. Waddle. Sore hips, thighs and legs. Exhaustion.

Wedding Rings On or Off?  Off. But I do sport a Lia Sophia fancy ring in its place.

Mood: Overwhelmed. After the baby shower sitting among the pile of gifts it really SET IN. There is a little person who is going to take over REALLY soon. Though I am excited, now I think the anxiety has begun too. I am glad that everyone (grandparents, etc) seems to be okay with letting us do things our way... it will make the transition a lot easier.

What's the Daddy-to-be Doing? He is tired - he was SUPER helpful during the baby shower. He helped set up, and move heavy stuff and protected the food from flies (he loved this!) and then he helped tear down too. I was so glad that he was there to help, and yet he still seemed to have a really good time. Some of my friends were meeting him for the first time, but he was very relaxed and social. I was quite proud of my little hermit. ;)

Notes to the Little One: HOLY WOW you are loved! Your baby shower was OUT OF THIS WORLD adorable... and everyone that came really enjoyed themselves. You even had a surprise visit from the Schramm girls - (which is funny since they were my wedding crashers, too!) There was so much love and omiword there were a lot of presents! I think we will be pretty set for a time...

My FAVORITE present was from Auntie Rae (Agnes) who saw something and KNEW it would be perfect for your bedroom - and boy was she right! We had been struggling with your theme for some time, but now it is set! Up, Up & Away! Hot Air Balloons and bunting... a soothing neutral backdrop with these beautiful pops of color and whimsy... it is going to be AMAZING! I can't wait to get it ready for you! Your Grandma Brenda is making you a crib skirt when she gets home, and my assignment is bunting. (LOTS OF IT!) I will have to start that soon, maybe I can round up a friend or two to do it with me so I am not as scared of my sewing machine. :) 

WEEK 28: What's Happening!

How Far Along:  28 weeks 1 day 

Baby's Size: about 16" long, and a little over 2.5 lbs the size of an Eggplant

Sorry for the pajama selfie - but I noticed how much my belly's grown since the last pic and wanted to share!

Total Weight Gain: 17 lbs 

Maternity Clothes? Taking over my wardrobe

Stretch Marks? No

Sleep? Almost nightly I wake between 3 and 6, and am WIDE AWAKE for about 2 hours minimum. Then I am allotted an hour nap before I can't sleep anymore and have to start my day. :( 

Best Moment this Week: Finished deadline and the CRIB & CHANGING TABLE were Delivered! :) I am so grateful for such an amazing gift! (Thank you J, K, C & C!) It's beautiful - and BIG! I didn't expect it to be so large! :) {The standard crib sheet I bought doesn't fit, but It's okay, I fixed my registry to match the dimensions.} They fit perfectly in the space. Can't wait to start nesting and making sense of her room!

Miss Anything? Sleep! I miss sleeping through the night. I miss having my limbs not fall asleep and I miss not having to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes. 

Movement: She is quite the little mover and shaker - every couple of hours I feel her shift - or kick - and then always when I start my evening rest around 9pm, she keeps it up pretty steady until 11 or so. 

Food Cravings: During deadline all I wanted was Bread & Butter. I never actually got it - but it was INSANE how badly I was craving it - my mouth was watering, and I could smell it!

What Makes you Queasy: Chicken. And after this weekends cooking night, Im going to add pork to the list - just for now. LOL

Gender: It's a girl!

Labor signs? None

Symptoms: Baby Bump (it has appeared! and continues to grow - my belly's been aching all week from the new growth spurt!), Tired, Achy, Unable to lift stuff, Too much to do - not enough time to do it in.

Wedding Rings On or Off?  Off.

Mood: I really wish my sleep wouldn't have been so disrupted during deadline - I did my very best to keep my head about me - but by 4pm I was 100% trailing. I could sense my brain start to slow down. Thankfully Angie was totally on her game - she laid out most of the magazine and I think she felt really comfortable - maybe because I was sitting next to her if she got stuck - but I 100% believe that she could do this by herself. She didn't ask for much guidance this time, I just told her my thoughts, or how we had done it in the past, and she went to work - and the magazine looks AMAZING. I can't wait to see it in print! 

What's the Daddy-to-be Doing? The last few weeks he was REALLY stressed about his CCNA (Cisco Networking) exam - he needed it to renew so that he could keep his other certifications or something. He passed with a 937 (out of 1000) and he only needed 776 to pass. I told him over and over that he didn't have anything to worry about - but just to do his best. :) Silly boy! He doesn't plan to procrastinate on his exams from this point forward. He said he was going to take one every year so that it doesn't happen again. LOL. (Thank God - his stress was stressing ME out!)

Notes to the Little One: Your bedroom is starting to take shape... :) It still needs a little fiddling with - but the main components are there :) Your daddy is going to put your blinds up this week, too! After the shower I still have a few things I need to get, like a rug and some curtain sheers - and grandma Brenda is planning to make you some custom bedding :) I just want it to be soothing but fun. Hopefully it turns out! Right now it doesn't make sense - but I plan to fiddle with it this week after work - :)

Your mama is really excited for next weekend - the Baby Shower - where we get to celebrate you before you arrive! :) I get to see so many people that I rarely see these days and we will all share in the excitement. Your grandma is even flying in from Oregon! (She will be back to meet you when you are born, too!)

Well my Little One, your Mama is SUPER tired this morning - once again I was awakened WAY too early. This time with my hands going numb and leg cramps. And then I remembered that I forgot to switch the laundry... (OOPS!) I wish I could go back to sleep - but its time to start getting ready for the day. We REALLY have to work on this sleep stuff, your Mama is a morning person that can't nap during daylight. If you keep this up though, it might be time to invest in blackout shades for the bedroom!

WEEK 27: What's Happening

Violette at 26.5 weeks

How Far Along:  27 weeks 1 day {WE FINALLY MADE IT TO THE THIRD TRIMESTER!}

Baby's Size: about 15" long, and a little over 2 lbs the size of a Rutabaga

Total Weight Gain: 16 lbs 

Maternity Clothes? Slowly taking over my wardrobe

Stretch Marks? No

Sleep? Sometimes, Jeremy had bronchitis this week, so he (on doctor's orders) did not sleep in the bed with me the last few days. Some nights I slept very hard and very deep, and others I barely slept at all. One note, the baby didn't wake me up in the night when he wasn't there... maybe she can hear his snoring, too!

Best Moment this Week: Jeremy and I went to see Dr. Medrano on Wednesday, (before we knew he had bronchitis of course) and Dr. Medrano said the most amazing thing to me, EVER! He said...

"For being an at-risk patient, you are 

having a SURPRISINGLY HEALTHY pregnancy!"

It totally made my day! :) And the little one FINALLY showed her face! (not on a 3d ultrasound though) but Dr. Medrano was looking at her spine, and she turned her head and looked right at us! She stayed there for a few seconds and then turned back. She moved before he was able to snap a photo.
All I can say is that it appears that she is going to have cheeks like mine. Hahaha.

My sister, Crescent, and Baby Me (with the big cheeks)!

Miss Anything? Since Jeremy was sick he wasn't supposed to be around me, so I missed HIM all weekend. :(

Movement: There is a whole lot of kicking going on! Mostly when I am lying down, the doctor said its because the blood flow isn't being directed to my extremities so its all going to her, and that gives her more energy.

Food Cravings: On Saturday, I wanted a hot dog. So I went to Weinerschnitzel. (and it was DER-licious!) Mostly though, I just crave Vanilla Ice Cream.

What Makes you Queasy: Chicken. And when Dovey kills a fly!

Gender: It's a girl!

Labor signs? None

Symptoms: Fatigue, Soreness, Gaining a bowling ball, Waddling, etc.

Wedding Rings On or Off?  Off, but I have been wearing a lia sophia replacement ring :)

Mood: It was a really rough weekend, with Jeremy being sick I was feeling quite alone - and Disabled! It was like my best friend was on vacation without me, and I couldn't call or spend time with them. And, Once again I had no help to move the heavy things that I needed moved. I even tried to move some of the lighter ones myself, but it wasn't happening. I am growing weaker I think! It's sad - he had bronchitis but I felt like I was the one being punished because I was the one who was quarantined!

On another note, I was feeling very productive when planning this meal session - I had labels and menus and first steps all laid out. But I was feeling a bit more energetic when I made the lists I think, because I was overzealous with the menu - and chose 4 recipes too much! We didn't finish as a result. :( Next time I will do less recipes, but more times. We always have some favorites mixed in - so we can just triple those recipes instead. 

What's the Daddy-to-be Doing? He is feeling better now, he has been taking the steroids for days - he was kind of funny about keeping me healthy, walking around with Lysol wipes, wiping down everything he touched and washing his hands like crazy. The doctor must have scared him with a tale of what could happen if I got sick too, (we go to the same doctor, so Dr. Smietanka knew of course that I was pregnant from the start). I have never seen Jeremy go to such lengths to steer clear of me! It was sweet, but ANNOYING too - Two weekends in a row that I was left husband-less!

Notes to the Little One: You really like to wake mommy up in the middle of the night, don't you? I know that one of the nights it was easy to blame Eva dog - she sat way to hard on you while mommy was sleeping, and you went NUTS kicking her back. But the next night you woke up all by yourself and decided I needed to be awake, too. But I was SO TIRED. I woke up for about 2 hours and then drifted back to sleep finally - and only got an extra hour of sleep. I had to take a 3 hour nap the next day to make up for it. But alas, I survived.

Your daddy and I were SO EXCITED when we saw your face on the ultrasound - :) - it was only 30 seconds, but you definitely looked right at us! It was what we had been waiting for for months! LOL.

This week is my deadline again... (yes, I know... AGAIN?)! It happens once a month but the time between the months seems to be getting shorter and shorter! (Probably because you keep stealing my sleep!) This time Angie is going to do a lot more of the layout, (Angie is the one who is going to do Mama's job for her when  you are born), so we are hoping and praying that everything runs smoothly.