Baby K - 41 Weeks!

August 15, 2016

Well, friends, we are officially a week past due! My app no longer gives me any useful information or even a cute animal, so nothing new there as far as baby development. Baby is just growing at this point. We had an ultrasound on Tuesday to take a look at Baby K and make sure everything looks good and it's still safe for baby to stay put for now. I was happy to see Baby K and find out that it's safe to keep baby inside until our induction date, but our ultrasound wasn't a great experience. The ultrasound tech made sure we knew she did not support our decision to go past 41 weeks. She kept making comments about baby being too squished to see anything. It wasn't necessarily what she said, but how she said it. Josh asked a question about the umbilical cord and her response was - "Well, I really can't see anything and this baby should have already been born by now, soo...". Then, when she said the estimated weight, which was 8lb 14oz, then 8lb 11oz - My eyes got a little big and I asked her how accurate that was. She said - "Yea, that's what happens when you go this far over, this baby is definitely going to be over 8lbs." Then the Dr stepped in and asked about the fluid level and fetal movement and she said she got some movement and there was SOME fluid left, then she made sure to remind us that if our fluid levels had been low, they definitely would have induced us (at this point, I was ready to punch her. Ummm...no shit, that's the whole reason we have this appointment. I don't need you to remind me that I would be induced if it was not safe to stay pregnant, I just need to know IF it's safe to stay pregnant). She finally left and we waited for the Dr to come back. He said everything looked good and to just keep a close watch on Baby K's movements and stay active.

We had an appointment at the birthing center on Friday afternoon. We were had our nonstress test and I got my first internal check and a membrane sweep. I was a bit nervous about this appointment. When we got there, I heard a laboring woman, which reminded me of what I was going to be going through any day now. At first, the woman wasn't screaming, but she was definitely in some pain. Before we left, she was screaming. Yep, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Anyway, Baby K wasn't as active as the midwife wanted to see at first, so she brought me some juice and had me eat a snack. Movements picked up and we passed the test fine. She checked my cervix and I was 3cm dilated and 50% effaced. Baby K was still high. My blood pressure was high, and not just a little high like it had been several other times. It was high enough so that if it went any higher, I would be transferred to the hospital for delivery. It was important to get it down. I was confident that it was because I was so nervous about this appointment though.  I got the membrane sweep as well. The cervix check and membrane sweep were a little painful, but I was excited to hopefully see some progress soon! I was instructed to call the on call midwife the next day and I would go in for a blood pressure check and another membrane sweep if necessary. There was an open house to meet the attending OBGYN. Since he would be overseeing my induction if it was necessary, we decided to stay behind and meet him and his partner. We asked a few questions and he asked a little about us. After meeting with him, I felt a little better about the possibility of being induced. I found out that he had midwives on his staff during the week, so there should be one at the hospital on Tuesday when I was scheduled to be induced. After we met with the OB, I ran into my favorite midwife and my heart sank a little. She was on call on Friday, which made me confident that she wouldn't be on call for the rest of the weekend, so if this membrane sweep worked, she probably wouldn't be catching our little one. All of the midwives at the birthing center were great, but Josh and I both connected well with her. She had just the right mix of tough love, compassion and encouragement that I thought I would need during labor. Oh well, as long as Baby K came safely, I would be a happy mama. She gave me a little pep talk and told me it was all in my head. I needed to get myself together and relax or I was going to put myself in the hospital for this labor. She told me to go home and have a glass of red wine, so that's what I was going to do. Soak in the bath, have a glass of red wine, and watch a funny movie with Josh. We stopped at CVS to check my blood pressure again on the way home and it was already down to 122/70. Great! I didn't even really want the glass of wine, so we just  picked up Taco Bell for dinner and watched a funny movie. Between pee breaks and us chatting (we were very excited that labor could start any time!), we ended up not getting to bed until midnight. I didn't have any noticeable contractions, but I had lots of bloody show...a good sign!

As far as me, I've been great this week, physically. My bladder is literally taking a beating, but otherwise I'm pretty good. I'm slow getting things done, but I'm quite large, so that makes sense. I have more energy than I thought I would at this point. From what I've seen/heard from other people, I didn't think I would be good for anything at this point. I still cook and clean (maybe not as efficiently as I did before I was carrying around all this extra weight, but I feel good about what I've been able to do this week and I have no desire to become a couch potato right now). I'm still not miserable being pregnant - nope, not even in August. I think this has a lot to do with my mindset. I've been told since the beginning that I was going to be completely miserable come July and I told myself then that I didn't want to be that cranky, miserable pregnant lady. I wanted to get pregnant and I was looking forward to growing our little human. I'm very thankful that we were blessed enough for it to happen quickly for us and I'm very excited for our little summer baby. Do I get cranky faster? Hell yes, I do, but I'm tired and hormonal, so I guess that is to be expected. It also doesn't help that people just have no filter and they think they have a free pass to comment on my appearance or just because I'm pregnant. Despite some of the less than nice comments I've gotten, I still feel like a pretty cute pregnant lady. Heck, I'm 41+ weeks during the hottest time of the year, I look a lot better than I thought I would! Yes, I'm huge, and I'm by no means "all belly", but I do feel like I'm mostly belly and I love my bump!

Emotionally, I've kind of been all over the place. I'm fine going past my due date. I've assumed that I would from the beginning. I just don't want to make it to our induction date. We still have plenty of time, so you would think that wouldn't be a concern yet, but honestly, other people make it very difficult. I've been getting "Still no baby?" comments for a while now - like since a couple weeks before my due date, (has it seriously become that uncommon for someone to actually be pregnant for more than 40 weeks?) but I was able to brush them off and not let them get to me until this week. When I'm trying to stay optimistic that my body and baby will do what needs to be done naturally, the last thing I need to hear is "I can't believe you're still pregnant!", "Ugh, I know you're just dying to get that baby out", or "Hurry up and have that baby, would you?". I know people don't mean any harm and they might even think they're being funny, but it's not funny at all. I'm hormonal. This is my first baby. I'm 41 weeks pregnant and my baby has to come out at 42+1. I feel very strongly against being me being induced as long as baby and I are safe, so I obviously want the baby to come soon too. I don't need you telling me how YOU can't wait to meet my baby so I need to hurry up and have it. Seriously, people, WTF?

Josh is super ready for baby to come. He's been talking to Baby K at night, telling him/her it's time to come out. First stern talking to from Daddy. Haha.

Baby K - 41 Weeks!

August 15, 2016

Well, friends, we are officially a week past due! My app no longer gives me any useful information or even a cute animal, so nothing new there as far as baby development. Baby is just growing at this point. We had an ultrasound on Tuesday to take a look at Baby K and make sure everything looks good and it's still safe for baby to stay put for now. I was happy to see Baby K and find out that it's safe to keep baby inside until our induction date, but our ultrasound wasn't a great experience. The ultrasound tech made sure we knew she did not support our decision to go past 41 weeks. She kept making comments about baby being too squished to see anything. It wasn't necessarily what she said, but how she said it. Josh asked a question about the umbilical cord and her response was - "Well, I really can't see anything and this baby should have already been born by now, soo...". Then, when she said the estimated weight, which was 8lb 14oz, then 8lb 11oz - My eyes got a little big and I asked her how accurate that was. She said - "Yea, that's what happens when you go this far over, this baby is definitely going to be over 8lbs." Then the Dr stepped in and asked about the fluid level and fetal movement and she said she got some movement and there was SOME fluid left, then she made sure to remind us that if our fluid levels had been low, they definitely would have induced us (at this point, I was ready to punch her. Ummm...no shit, that's the whole reason we have this appointment. I don't need you to remind me that I would be induced if it was not safe to stay pregnant, I just need to know IF it's safe to stay pregnant). She finally left and we waited for the Dr to come back. He said everything looked good and to just keep a close watch on Baby K's movements and stay active.

We had an appointment at the birthing center on Friday afternoon. We were had our nonstress test and I got my first internal check and a membrane sweep. I was a bit nervous about this appointment. When we got there, I heard a laboring woman, which reminded me of what I was going to be going through any day now. At first, the woman wasn't screaming, but she was definitely in some pain. Before we left, she was screaming. Yep, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Anyway, Baby K wasn't as active as the midwife wanted to see at first, so she brought me some juice and had me eat a snack. Movements picked up and we passed the test fine. She checked my cervix and I was 3cm dilated and 50% effaced. Baby K was still high. My blood pressure was high, and not just a little high like it had been several other times. It was high enough so that if it went any higher, I would be transferred to the hospital for delivery. It was important to get it down. I was confident that it was because I was so nervous about this appointment though.  I got the membrane sweep as well. The cervix check and membrane sweep were a little painful, but I was excited to hopefully see some progress soon! I was instructed to call the on call midwife the next day and I would go in for a blood pressure check and another membrane sweep if necessary. There was an open house to meet the attending OBGYN. Since he would be overseeing my induction if it was necessary, we decided to stay behind and meet him and his partner. We asked a few questions and he asked a little about us. After meeting with him, I felt a little better about the possibility of being induced. I found out that he had midwives on his staff during the week, so there should be one at the hospital on Tuesday when I was scheduled to be induced. After we met with the OB, I ran into my favorite midwife and my heart sank a little. She was on call on Friday, which made me confident that she wouldn't be on call for the rest of the weekend, so if this membrane sweep worked, she probably wouldn't be catching our little one. All of the midwives at the birthing center were great, but Josh and I both connected well with her. She had just the right mix of tough love, compassion and encouragement that I thought I would need during labor. Oh well, as long as Baby K came safely, I would be a happy mama. She gave me a little pep talk and told me it was all in my head. I needed to get myself together and relax or I was going to put myself in the hospital for this labor. She told me to go home and have a glass of red wine, so that's what I was going to do. Soak in the bath, have a glass of red wine, and watch a funny movie with Josh. We stopped at CVS to check my blood pressure again on the way home and it was already down to 122/70. Great! I didn't even really want the glass of wine, so we just  picked up Taco Bell for dinner and watched a funny movie. Between pee breaks and us chatting (we were very excited that labor could start any time!), we ended up not getting to bed until midnight. I didn't have any noticeable contractions, but I had lots of bloody show...a good sign!

As far as me, I've been great this week, physically. My bladder is literally taking a beating, but otherwise I'm pretty good. I'm slow getting things done, but I'm quite large, so that makes sense. I have more energy than I thought I would at this point. From what I've seen/heard from other people, I didn't think I would be good for anything at this point. I still cook and clean (maybe not as efficiently as I did before I was carrying around all this extra weight, but I feel good about what I've been able to do this week and I have no desire to become a couch potato right now). I'm still not miserable being pregnant - nope, not even in August. I think this has a lot to do with my mindset. I've been told since the beginning that I was going to be completely miserable come July and I told myself then that I didn't want to be that cranky, miserable pregnant lady. I wanted to get pregnant and I was looking forward to growing our little human. I'm very thankful that we were blessed enough for it to happen quickly for us and I'm very excited for our little summer baby. Do I get cranky faster? Hell yes, I do, but I'm tired and hormonal, so I guess that is to be expected. It also doesn't help that people just have no filter and they think they have a free pass to comment on my appearance or just because I'm pregnant. Despite some of the less than nice comments I've gotten, I still feel like a pretty cute pregnant lady. Heck, I'm 41+ weeks during the hottest time of the year, I look a lot better than I thought I would! Yes, I'm huge, and I'm by no means "all belly", but I do feel like I'm mostly belly and I love my bump!

Emotionally, I've kind of been all over the place. I'm fine going past my due date. I've assumed that I would from the beginning. I just don't want to make it to our induction date. We still have plenty of time, so you would think that wouldn't be a concern yet, but honestly, other people make it very difficult. I've been getting "Still no baby?" comments for a while now - like since a couple weeks before my due date, (has it seriously become that uncommon for someone to actually be pregnant for more than 40 weeks?) but I was able to brush them off and not let them get to me until this week. When I'm trying to stay optimistic that my body and baby will do what needs to be done naturally, the last thing I need to hear is "I can't believe you're still pregnant!", "Ugh, I know you're just dying to get that baby out", or "Hurry up and have that baby, would you?". I know people don't mean any harm and they might even think they're being funny, but it's not funny at all. I'm hormonal. This is my first baby. I'm 41 weeks pregnant and my baby has to come out at 42+1. I feel very strongly against being me being induced as long as baby and I are safe, so I obviously want the baby to come soon too. I don't need you telling me how YOU can't wait to meet my baby so I need to hurry up and have it. Seriously, people, WTF?

Josh is super ready for baby to come. He's been talking to Baby K at night, telling him/her it's time to come out. First stern talking to from Daddy. Haha.

Baby K - 40 Weeks!!!

August 8, 2016

Baby K is the size of a Red Panda this week! We don't know how big Baby K is, but the average size for a newborn is about 7.5 lbs and 20 inches tall. I think our little one may be a little bigger than that, but we'll have to wait and see! Baby is fully developed and we're just waiting for it to decide to make an appearance. If the little one is anything like mama, that may take a while. :-)

As I write this, we are officially past our due date! I'm 40 weeks + 3 days pregnant! Somehow, I've come to terms with the fact that I have built an entire human who is just waiting to make his/her appearance! It's interesting - in a way, I can't believe that we'll have a baby at home with us any day now, and an a way, I can totally picture the little one sleeping in the pack n play that has been set up in our bedroom for almost 2 months. We have a lunch date tentatively planned for tomorrow, that way we can have a relaxing evening at home. This way we're better rested if things to pick up during the night. This will be our 3rd "last" date before baby arrives. Haha.

We are pretty much ready. I would like the house to be a little cleaner - and I'm off work tomorrow, so I will be working on that. Between trying to prep freezer meals, keeping the house from getting less clean, and Josh spending time maintaining the yard as well as he can before baby arrives, we haven't had as much time to deep clean as I would have liked. I'm not as efficient as I used to be and it seems to take me forever to clean the kitchen I used to be able to get nearly spotless in around 30 minutes. I'm pretty hard to satisfy in terms of cleanliness anyway, so it's not surprising to me that I want the house spotless before baby arrives.

As far as symptoms go, I've had a couple of the symptoms that disappeared (or got minimal) a while ago make a comeback. My congestion is worse than it has been in quite a while and my horrible relationship with my toothbrush is back as well. My skin isn't as good as it has been for the last few months either. In early pregnancy, I had lots of breakouts. Sometime during the second trimester, I forgot to wash my makeup off a few times and I didn't wake up with pimples all over (GASP - this doesn't even happen to me not pregnant) - well, those days are over. It's definitely not as bad as it was in early pregnancy, but I'm getting a couple friends on my face here and there now. Carpal tunnel is sticking around, but it actually seems less severe this week. My left foot is numb though and it hurts really bad when I wake up in the middle of the night to go pee (which is happening roughly 3-4 times a night at this point). My side/back pain came back last week, but I went to see my chiropractor on Monday and it has improved a lot since then. 

As far as labor progress, I haven't really seen any. I've been a little crampy a couple times this week, but it hasn't stuck around for more than a minute or 2. We had an appointment on Tuesday and it went well. At the birthing center I'm going to, they don't do internal checks until I'm 41 weeks, so we don't know how dilated or effaced I may be - that appointment is scheduled for next Friday, the 19th, so I may not even make it to that point. I will also get a membrane sweep if I'm still pregnant at that appointment, just to get things going before my induction date. We have an ultrasound appointment scheduled for next Tuesday afternoon, so if we're still pregnant on the afternoon of the 16th, we'll get to see our little one one last time on the inside before the big arrival! 

I'm trying to stay relaxed and enjoy my last bit of pregnancy. My app says that if I haven't delivered, I may feel like I'd sell my left leg for Baby K to move out. I don't feel that way at all. I am anxious to meet our little one and I do feel ready, but I'm by no means rushing an exit. Honestly, I think most of my anxiety comes from the fact that we actually have an induction date now. I feel OK about it since it's not until 8/23, but if we start to get close to that date, I will be very ready to get baby out. Just not for the reasons you normally hear. I'm not miserable. I still sleep reasonably well - not as well as I did before I got pregnant, but I'm assuming much better than I will over the next few months or probably the next 18+ years. Sure, I get tired really easily now, but I'm under no impression that I'll be fully rested at any point in the near future, even when baby arrives. I still feel cute  - not at all like a blimp, unless I see my feet. It is frustrating when I need to get off the couch or something, but I just take humor in the situation and realize it's just temporary. I just don't want a hospital induction. 

I don't feel nervous at this point. Just ready. I don't even know when ready happened, it just did.I look forward to my time off work to bond with the baby, especially since Josh will get to spend some of it at home with me.

Josh is still super ready for the little one to make an appearance. I think he's just anxious with the waiting since he's away from me during the day most days. He said he just keeps waiting for a call or text saying he needs to get home. He still has play time with the baby at night and it's adorable. He reads to the baby and catches a kick or 2 in the side of the head as he lays his head on my belly. For this past week or so, baby has started to be really active during our TV time (I'm pretty sure this has at least a little something to do with the fact that TV time is also usually ice cream time). I get distracted and watch my belly more than I do our shows. lol.

Baby K - 39 Weeks!!!

August 1, 2016

Yay! We made it to August! We're due in less than a week (a matter of days by the time I'll finish this post)! How did this happen?!?

Baby K is the size of a cat this week. Basically, full sized and preparing to make an appearance. We've had a very active baby this week, especially at night while we're watching TV. I got a quick video of the craziness one night, but I sized it down to be able to text, so it's not the greatest. I'm hoping I get to catch another one like this before Baby K decides to make an exit. Either way, it's pretty amazing to see our little one moving like this!

I've watched this so many times. I just love it!

This week has been pretty good for me. I'm feeling and seeing lots of movement and Josh is too! We're just enjoying the last days (weeks?) of Baby K living on the inside! I need naps, but as long as I can sneak a short one in, I'm usually relatively energetic most days. One day this week I even baked banana bread then showed Josh how I make hamburger steak! I've done yoga a few times (still not as many as I would like) and I've gone on walks several days. Josh and I got caught in the rain trying to go for a walk yesterday. As far as symptoms go, carpal tunnel is remaining steady. General discomfort has picked up quite a bit. It doesn't take much for me to hurt these days. Not severe pain, but more than discomfort for sure. Basically, I'll have at least one body part below my lower back that bothers me by the afternoon every day. The exception is my side/back area has started to bother me again (the area that bothered me REALLY bad back around 30 weeks), but not nearly as bad as it did before. I'm at the Tylenol level of pain again for that. Unfortunately, my chiropractor was on vacation this past week. I plan on calling Monday morning to schedule an appointment (why didn't I schedule a just in case appointment when I was there last week?!?). I'm also feeling more abdominal/pelvic discomfort, especially when I move certain ways. Just when I start to think along the lines of "OK, little one, time to get out", I'll start to get a little nudge or crazy movements like the video above, or just hiccups. Either way, my mindset quickly changes to - "OK, little one, don't leave just yet", so overall, I'm in a "I'm ready when you are" state of mind.

Emotionally, I'm back and forth. I'm generally quite happy, but I'm very irritable, so it doesn't take much to change that. By the end of the day, I'm usually generally over humans. Luckily, I'm still happy to see Josh, so I haven't been cranky with him. I've been really good about not taking my frustrations with other people out on him. It sure helps when he brings hugs and Bo-Berry biscuits home to me!

Sleep is an issue on its own - so so like it has been for a while, but I think we fixed my biggest issue (except insomnia)! My sister let me borrow a wedge pillow, which has come in handy when I needed to sleep elevated because of heartburn (which has been rather fierce this week). I didn't particularly like using it for my belly, because it was like having an obstacle course in bed when I woke up in the middle of the night to pee, so we picked up a tiny one for that purpose and it has been AMAZING! It has gotten very uncomfortable, borderline painful to sleep on my side with my belly hanging these days. I used to fix this by sort of laying on my side/belly, but I haven't been into that lately. I was wedging my body pillow under my belly and it was helping, but it lifted it more than I wanted. I really just wanted something to keep it from feeling like it was hanging, not to push it up at all. This tiny little wedge pillow does that perfectly and fits under my body pillow so I don't have a mountain to climb over to go pee! It's also so much easier to move when I want to switch sides!

As I write this, it's 3:30 Saturday morning. I'm 39 weeks and 5 days pregnant and I'm super uncomfortable. It's a mix of insomnia and that side/back pain keeping me up at the moment. Luckily, It's Saturday and I can go back to sleep and sleep as long as I want Baby K will let me. I see possibly multiple naps in my future today. I do plan on getting some cleaning and food prep (for freezer meals) done today, but mostly, I think I'll relax during the day. We decided to go on one last date night before baby comes (unless it's over a week from now, then we might have one more ;-) ).

Josh is super ready for our little squishy to get here! I think it's the cutest. He's trying to "sneak" me spicy foods by making subtle suggestions to try hot sauce on everything. Neither of us really thinks that works, but I'll still probably be eating all the hot things as we get closer to my induction date. Haha. He's still talking to the baby at night and I love how responsive our little one is to Daddy's voice/touch. He's starting to not sleep as well as he normally does either. I'm not sure if it's anxiety over baby's arrival being so close, looking out for labor signs, or just my getting in and out of bed throughout the night. One morning this week, he left early (before I got up) to go fishing before work. He left a sweet note for me and the baby on the milk. That was a night that I slept particularly bad, so it really perked me up in the morning.

As far as baby things, other than picking up around the house and trying to keep it clean, we're prepared. Well, almost. We're still waiting for the print that will go above the dresser to be delivered, but all we have to do is throw it in the frame and stick it on the wall. All the hard work of mounting and leveling has been done. All the baby things have been washed. Bags are packed. Now we just wait. Mama K and Daddy K are ready to go. :-D

Baby K - 38 Weeks!!!

7/25/2016

Baby K is about the size of a Pomeranian this week! I can't believe how big our "little" one is getting already! It's definitely a tighter fit in my belly than it was before, but we're still getting lots of movement. It's funny seeing the different shapes my belly is as the baby moves and trying to guess what's going on in there!

As for me, symptoms are mostly the same. Definitely still lots of peeing, carpal tunnel, my feet swell most days, some lower back pain, trouble sleeping some nights, but I still get decent sleep others (decent is if I'm able to fall right back asleep after each of the 4-5 times I get up to pee. lol). I'm noticing that I'm more tired this week, but heartburn is less frequent. In general, I've been a little more irritable during pregnancy, but that has definitely increased over this past week or 2. I am incredibly thankful that I work from home right now - I just don't know how I would deal with being around people for a full day, even people I really like.

Emotionally, I'm doing pretty well. I'm no longer sad about baby coming out soon, most of the time anyway. People keep saying things like - "I bet you can't wait to get that baby out, aren't you!" And honestly, I'm in no hurry. Sure, I'm super excited to meet our little one and to find out the sex. I'm excited to see whose features he or she has. All of those things. BUT, I will forever cherish the moments I've been able to carry this little one. All of those little movements in my belly, watching my belly move, I'll miss that. Once baby comes out, that's it. It will never go back inside. So no, I'm not rushing it out. I will miss my bump. I know I'm large, but most of the time, I don't feel like a whale. When I do, it's not when I look in the mirror, it's when I have to get out of bed. Haha. I actually still feel very beautiful, despite my once very cute, dainty feet looking like sausages. I know the way I feel about my body will change after the baby. I won't get into that right now, because I want to stay in a good mood and thinking of how my post-baby body may look doesn't make me feel the best ever. I'm uncomfortable at times, but I feel pretty great to be as far along as I am and I would definitely not say I'm miserable.

We had our 38 week appointment and we got to meet the last midwife that may be on call when we go in labor. She was super sweet! She commented on my cute belly and how soft it was, then she asked what I was putting on it. Of course that made me feel good! Aside from that though, she took the time to review when the time to come in is, some quick comfort measures for early labor, what I can be doing to prepare myself for labor now, our meal after baby comes, etc. My blood pressure was really good, baby sounded great and its heart rate was 140. I had blood drawn at my last appointment and we went over that. Everything looks great. She said I'm nowhere near anemic - my iron looks great, so keep eating what I'm eating. Keep eating everything - I think I can do that! Haha. I actually lost a little weight this week! I forgot to weigh myself last week, but I'm down about a pound from where I was at my last appointment, 2 weeks ago. It's nothing to be alarmed about - it's normal for weight gain to slow down or even to lose a little bit at the end. I'm not sure how it happened, because I eat all the time. I am trying to walk more often, which is extremely difficult with this weather we've been having lately! Either way, I'm not disappointed. I'm healthy and baby is healthy, and I MIGHT just stay under the 50 lb weight gain I was expecting! I asked if she could guess how big the baby is and while she emphasized that it was nothing more than a guess, she said she guessed probably around 7lbs. She asked how big I was and how big Josh was and she guessed that the little one would be closer to Josh's size. I expressed my concern of having difficulty pushing out a big baby and she put me at ease a little. She said she has seen some small babies work themselves into awkward positions, so sometimes a big baby isn't so bad. The thought is still intimidating, but it definitely makes me feel better. :-)

Josh is getting more and more excited. I think after we hit 39 weeks, he's ready for baby to come any time! He said he thinks he'll be super anxious just waiting and waiting for it to happen, so he hopes we don't really go past our due date. Haha. We found out he has to take his parental leave all together, and after talking about it, we've decided he'll take all 4 weeks at the beginning with me. If I need him at home while I transition back to work, he'll just work from home some and if we still want to go on a trip at the end of my maternity leave, he'll take some vacation. We both know our parental leave won't be anything like a vacation, but we're both very much looking forward to the time we get to bond with our little one without work getting in the way!!!

Baby K - 37 Weeks!

July 18, 2016

Baby K is getting so close to birth size! Maybe over 6 lbs and 19 inches long! Baby is the size of a skunk this week (I've definitely had more exciting animals than this one!). Baby has good reflexes now and is still packing on some baby fat. I think my app is running out of cool things to tell me since it seems to be mostly repeating itself now. I have noticed baby moving quite a bit when I go outside in the sun after being out for a while, so I think it may be reacting to the sunlight. 

As far as symptoms go - they're pretty much the same. The most predominant ones right now are swelling, carpal tunnel, heartburn, a little lower back pain and LOTS of peeing. I had been sleeping pretty well, then I had 2 nights in a row where I woke up around 3:30 and had trouble getting back to sleep. I'm definitely uncomfortable, but not like I expected to be at 37 weeks in July. I do avoid the heat as much as I can though, so I'm sure that helps. :-) I'm really looking forward to meeting Baby K, but I'm enjoying this last bit of pregnancy while I can.

This week was a super productive week for us! I took Wednesday off to get some work done and we worked a little on Friday and a LOT on Saturday to finish things on our to do list. We set a deadline for us to finish projects this week and we pretty much finished them all! We'll still work on things slowly, but we're really going to focus on relaxing more for these last few weeks. We got the garage organized a little more and we put a new chest freezer in there - so yay for more space for freezer meals!!! On my day off, I got the Explorer washed and detailed and I brought it home and thoroughly cleaned and conditioned the leather and floor mats then we installed the car seat! I also got the oil changed and Josh changed the cabin filter, so we're good to go on regular maintenance for a bit. We got the car seat inspected and it looks great! Josh painted and installed the bookshelves for the nursery, which is almost finished. We ordered a print to go above the dresser, so we're just waiting for it to arrive and I think we'll be finished with decorating in there until we get newborn photos done! I'll try to post some pictures once the print arrives. Josh installed the diaper sprayer, so we'll be all ready to start with cloth diapering once the meconium days are over! Yay for progress! We haven't finished EVERYTHING that we put on our to-do list when we first made it, but it was a very ambitious list and we've allowed ourselves a bit of time for enjoyment, so I feel really good about where we are right now.

Sunday was a very relaxing day! I already knew this, but I have some amazing friends! Anna and Kristian treated me to a great day of pampering! They organized a scavenger hunt for me and our first stop was lunch of my choice. I chose Panera and it was SO good! Kristen met us there and hung out with us for a bit! Next, we got mani/pedis, then Kristian, Anna and I went to get a massage! It was a SUPER relaxing day! After our massage, we came back home to meet our guys for dinner. They had built a shelf in the garage, which I am SO thankful for! We enjoyed each other's company and some delicious food!

 Lunch

Pedis!

Baby K - 36 Weeks!!!

July 11, 2016

Y'all - we could have a new baby living in our house in less than 30 days!!! 

Baby K is the size of a chihuahua this week - weighing in somewhere around 6 lbs and 19 inches long! What a big baby! Most of the baby's systems are fully developed at this point, except the digestive system, which will continue to develop through when baby reaches the outside world and begins to eat. I'm feeling the baby up in my ribs more. It's still not painful, just weird feeling.

My symptoms are still staying mostly the same. Some swelling, sore feet, lower back pain, carpal tunnel and not so great sleep. Baby has dropped a little and I can definitely feel that pressure on my bladder more. I try to go pee before I really feel like I have to. If I am sitting and I wait until I feel like I have to pee, once I stand up, there's more pressure on my bladder and it is super uncomfortable. Basically, if I'm near a bathroom, I just make myself go pretty much all the time, just to be safe.

I have a new craving that isn't cereal. Hummus. I have been eating it every day for the past week or 2. I'm loving roasted red pepper hummus and I purchased some individual sized serving packs to bring to the birthing center for a snack. At least it's a decently healthy craving.

I'm feeling so many emotions. I'm excited to meet the baby, but I'm sad that pregnancy will be ending soon. Maybe it sounds silly, but I will miss my bump. I will miss these little kicks and nudges. I know I will have other things in return, like baby coos and smiles (and lots of poopy diapers and cries). I'm sad that I'll get even less sleep than I do now, because I really do love sleep. So, mostly I'm a mixture of excited and sad. I'm not scared yet. Hopefully I won't be, but I'm sure I will be as it gets closer. I'm staying optimistic and regardless of how things unfold, we're both committed to making our delivery and bringing Baby K into this world the best experience we can! 

As far as progress, we've done some decorating and organizing in the nursery. Things are finally starting to come together! We took care of a couple more big (and small) purchases and we have our baby monitor now! We feel confident that we have everything we'll need for at least the first few weeks. Over the weekend, we installed a pallet of sod in the back yard (not baby related - but it was on our must do list before baby arrives). We got my dad to install dimmer switches in our master bathroom and in the sitting room where we will keep the baby in the early days. I think this will make middle of the night diaper changes a little easier. Now, I think we may have him install one in the baby's nursery the next time he visits. That way we will be able to check on Baby K during the night without turning on a bright light. We also caulked the the area where our granite meets the backsplash in our kitchen. This is something that has been on our to-do list for a LONG time, so it felt great to get this done. I organized the area under the kitchen sink (which had become a disaster area) as well. We both feel really good about our progress this past weekend! We celebrated our productive weekend by going out on the boat with Andrew and Kristian!

We've set a goal for ourselves to be finished with projects by the end of this coming week, so Saturday is supposed to be it! After that, it's just supposed to be maintaining the house and such. This will give us the opportunity to relax a bit before the baby comes if I go full term or late. If I end up delivering early, at least we've gotten our must do items done (assuming the little one waits until at least 38 weeks) and it will be a little less stressful for us.

Josh is getting more excited too. He still has daddy time each night with the baby and I love it. It's probably the cutest thing in the world to me. I can't wait to see him interact with the baby on the outside. 

Baby K - 35 Weeks!!!

July 4, 2016

Baby K is the size of a mini lop rabbit - about 18-19 inches long, weighing in somewhere between 5 and 6 pounds this week. Baby's skeletal development is almost complete and baby might be moving farther down my pelvis. If so, it's right on time since this is my first baby. It kind of looks like my belly is lower this week to me. Baby's lungs still have a little developing to do, but they're almost done!

We had our birthing class this week and we learned about transition and different ways to cope with labor pains. I really feel like we're learning a lot in our class and we both feel much more prepared. We have one more class next week. 

Things are mostly the same with me. Sleep is good some nights and bad others. I pee all the time. Carpal tunnel in my right wrist still sucks. My feet hurt a lot more. I have been working out more this week, but I would like to increase it a little more next week. I like going for walks, it's just SO hot and it's hard to get motivated to get up before the sun when I'm not sleeping well. I would love to at least go for a short walk every day and do yoga a couple times a week. That will be my goal for this coming week. I do feel some soreness on my belly. Baby K's movements are quite strong now and it feels kind of like it's bruised.

We checked off some big things over the weekend, including purchasing a recliner for the nursery! 

Baby K - 34 Weeks!!!

June 27, 2016

Baby K is the size of a Quokka this week! Seriously, a SUPER cute animal! This also means Baby K is getting so big - about 18 inches long and around 5ish pounds! Baby's lungs are almost fully developed at this point. Baby is peeing up to a pint a day and I'm peeing WAY more than that! Baby's movements are so strong!

I'm noticing swollen feet more often, although they're still not always swollen, so that's good. Sleep is so so. Some nights are fine, others are awful. Carpal tunnel is here to stay until after baby comes. I didn't have a chiropractor appointment this week, but my back is still doing great considering the extra weight I'm carrying around. We didn't have our birthing class this week, but we pick back up next week and we have 2 more. 

Baby K - 33 Weeks!

Baby K is getting SO big...the size of a ferret this week. We're looking at somewhere between 17-19 inches long and around 4.5 - 5 lbs! There's a lot of variation, so it's hard to estimate at this point. Baby's bones are hardening and the brain is continuing to develop and get ready for delivery day! I can definitely tell our squishy is getting a little cramped. I felt it behind my ribs yesterday and that was a little weird. It was kind of cool at the same time tough. I told Josh the baby was running out of womb. Haha. We actually felt hiccups for the first time this week. It felt a little different than I expected. 

As for me, I'm doing pretty good. Swelling is becoming more common, but it's not always bad. If I'm on my feet or sitting for too long, I'll start to swell, so I have to try to find a good balance. I'm still experiencing some carpal tunnel - it's actually gotten quite a bit worse. Luckily, it's mostly just my right hand. It's constantly numb and my range of motion is getting worse. Writing and doing little detailed types of tasks is quite a challenge. It does hurt sometimes, but most of the time it's just numb. Luckily, it should go away very quickly after the little one comes! Sleep is still just meh. I'm waking up several times a night for potty breaks. Chiropractor visits have been going well. It has helped my back SO much. We're in maintenance mode now and I don't have another appointment until July 6 unless I start to experience pain again. 

We took maternity pictures last Sunday and we had a lot of fun! I can't wait to share some once we get them back! We had our second of four birthing classes this past Tuesday. Yesterday, we had our breastfeeding and newborn care classes. We've really enjoyed all of the classes so far! We got to take part of the breastfeeding class and the birthing class in two of the birthing suites we could possibly deliver in, so it was nice to get more familiar with them.

We've been pretty productive this week! We got the rest of the carpet upstairs shampooed. Now, we just need to clean the stairs. I've been working on getting baby clothes washed and organized. We've been working on recliner shopping for the nursery, but we haven't found the right one yet. Fingers crossed that happens soon!

Baby K - 32 Weeks!

June 13, 2016

Y'all, it's crazy how fast time is flying! I can't believe we're less than 8 weeks away from our due date!!!

Baby K is the size of an armadillo this week, about 18 inches and close to 4 lbs! Baby is sucking its thumb pretty regularly, which is helping it prepare to nurse and helping with coordination! We confirmed at our appointment this week that baby is still head down - yay! Baby has a head full of peach fuzz and a complete set of fingernails and toenails by now. Baby K is swimming like crazy and we're really enjoying feeling and seeing it!

I am doing so much better since starting to see the chiropractor! Of course, I still experience some lower back pain - I have a small human attached to the front of me - it's to be expected. BUT, it is SO much better than it was a couple weeks ago and I haven't had to take a single Tylenol for it this week! Yay! I'm back to enjoying pregnancy very much! 

We had our 32 week appointment Thursday and everything is looking great! We met a new midwife (we just have 1 more to meet and we've met them all) this time and she's my new favorite! She let Josh use the doppler to find the heartbeat (which he found very quickly) and he showed him how to find the baby's head, so he was able to feel it through my belly!

We've made quite a bit of progress this week. We put the pack n play and the high chair together. I've started to purchase some of the remaining things from our registry and some other things that we will need when baby arrives. There are still some things that we need to purchase soon, like the seating for the nursery. We're pretty sure we've decided to go with a recliner vs the traditional glider. We want to make sure it's something super comfy! Hopefully we will decide on one and purchase it withing the next week or so. Things are definitely starting to feel more real!

Baby K - 31 Weeks!

June 6, 2016

We're 9 weeks from our due date! That's single digits, y'all! How did we get here so fast?!? Baby K is the size of a small-clawed otter (not including the tail) this week! Baby is over 3.5 pounds and will still gain about 3-5 lbs between now and delivery day! Baby is mostly developed now and is just growing, developing the brain/nerves and developing its immune system to prepare for the big day! I'm feeling (and seeing) lots of not so little movements lately!

This week was a HUGE improvement from last week for me. I saw my chiropractor for the first time on Monday. Turns out, I've been doing a lot of things wrong that contribute to my back pain. Being pregnant and having all that extra weight out front just makes it worse. I had an adjustment and she told me some things to do to help, including icing my back 3 times a day. This has really helped! I had been using a heating pad. She said that would help with pain short term, but it would do absolutely nothing for inflammation, so in the long run, it just made it worse. The ice pack doesn't feel as good initially, but it's SO much better than the heating pad afterward. I have 2 appointments a week for the next two weeks to get me all squared away, then hopefully we'll just be in maintenance mode. I've noticed the carpal tunnel getting worse. It's still mostly numbness, but it does work its way up to discomfort and borderline painful at times, so I'll talk to my chiropractor and midwife about that when I see them again. Another thing that is looking up is heartburn! I've been getting better about eating smaller meals and that seems to help quite a bit.

We had our first of 4 birthing classes this week and it went really well! We went over some massage techniques, stages of labor and what to expect during each stage, what to do in early labor, and a few other things. We really enjoyed our class and we're looking forward to the next 3!

My baby shower is this coming Saturday and I'll probably have a separate post about that. I'm really looking forward to it!

Baby K - 30 Weeks!!!

May 30, 2016

Little (or not so little) squishy is the size of a platypus this week! Baby is about 3.5 pounds and is almost 17 inches long! As far as development, baby's eyes are in their permanent place, but they still have a long way to go before the baby has decent vision. Baby's vision will be developing a lot over the next few weeks! The lanugo (the baby fur) is likely starting to fall out as the baby packs on more weight.

For me, sleep is not coming any easier these days. I do seem to sleep better on the weekends for some reason. I'm waking up to pee a lot more often and I'm getting more uncomfortable in general. Swelling is picking up a little, which I expected with this lovely NC heat & humidity, so I have retired my rings. :-/ I have some pregnancy induced carpal tunnel that has picked up this past week. I've noticed it before, but it was very mild. This week, I've noticed it several nights. It hasn't progressed to pain, just numbness, so that's good. I've also made arrangements to start seeing a chiropractor. Early on in pregnancy, we talked about me seeing one toward the end to get some adjustments to help prepare my pelvis for birthing. I've been putting off making an appointment, but the discomfort I've had this week has motivated me a bit more. In addition to the increased discomfort in my lower back, I've started having issues with my right side/back. I've been to see my midwife and we have ruled out a UTI. It's definitely more than discomfort. It's pretty bad pain. I've made it through my first 2 trimesters without taking any Tylenol at all. Not for headaches or general body aches. I caved and took it several times for the pain I've started to have.

I obviously expected some pain and discomfort with me putting on so much weight and carrying it all right in front of me. I knew it would strain my back. I just thought it would gradually increase. It didn't. I literally woke up one morning with this pain in my side. This has by far been the most difficult week I've had so far, so I'm really hoping I can get some relief once I start going to the chiropractor and get a prenatal massage.

Highs: Baby is responding to daddy's voice more and more. I can feel movements getting stronger and daddy is starting to see belly move too, so this provides us with some amusement. We celebrated our 6th anniversary this weekend with some cake from our wedding baker. Baby K seemed to like the cake!

Lows: The pain. All of the pain. And the heat. And the swelling.

Baby K - 29 Weeks!

May 23

Baby K is getting quite large! It's now the size of a New England cottontail rabbit. Baby should be weighing in at around 3 lbs and is approximately 16 inches long! Baby kicks are definitely getting stronger! It's getting much easier to see my belly move and feel movements from the outside. Baby is quite active these days, but it does seem to get stage fright if we're around lots of unfamiliar noises. Our MD friends were not able to feel a wiggle because of this. :-/

This week has been particularly hard on me in terms of sleep. It's becoming more common to wake up several times a night to pee rather than just one. A few nights, I woke up at 3:45 am WIDE AWAKE. This is not good. One morning, I decided to just stay up and get some things done. That wasn't a very good idea. I was ready to crash at 6:00 am and the alarm had already gone off, so it was too late to go back to bed. The same thing happened the next night and I forced myself to go back to bed after eating a bowl of cereal. I was still awake at 5:45. Josh woke up and told me to come snuggle at that point (but he doesn't remember doing it). I fell asleep shortly after. We had gotten to bed a little later the night before, so we were sleeping in until 6:30. I didn't hear the alarm go off, so Josh let me sleep until 7. I guess this was a little better than just staying up at 3:45, but I was still completely exhausted! Swelling has also become more common. We had a wedding this past weekend on a hot day. Hot day + being on my feet a lot = serious cankles!

I was pretty productive during the evenings this week, despite being so tired. I guess the instinct to nest is really kicking in. I shampooed the carpet in the sitting area of our bedroom (this is where the baby will sleep until it moves into its room - it is now organized and ready for a pack n play!), washed up a bunch of diapers, washed some baby clothes, assembled a cart we got for diaper organization and put drawer organizers together and put them in the baby's dresser. Not directly baby related, I organized our coat closet downstairs! This has been on my to-do list for months, so I was very glad to get that one checked off!

Highs - Surprise flowers from hubby! Having a productive week!

Lows - Lack of sleep and increased discomfort in general. Shopping - I already dislike clothes shopping. I LOVE having new clothes. I hate finding them. Being pregnant, it's much worse.

Baby K - 28 Weeks!

May 16, 2016

Well, hello, third trimester! I can't believe how fast these first 2 trimesters have gone!!! 28 weeks isn't as long as it sounds!

Baby K is the size of an echidna this week - about 16 inches long and 2.5 pounds! Baby is starting to be able to regulate its own body temperature now, which is very important and increases its chances of survival if we were to deliver prematurely (which are pretty good now). Baby now coughs and dreams. It even has little eyelashes! Baby is producing hormones that will signal my body to start lactating, so that should be fun.

I'm doing really well this week. Emotionally, I'm SO much better than I have been the past few weeks. I've accepted the fact that I'm officially in the last trimester of pregnancy and come to terms to the fact that this baby will be coming out eventually, so that has helped. Haha. I'm still tired and at this point, I'm assuming this will not be improving. I've had a little bit of swelling, but it usually goes back down pretty quickly. I can still wear my rings, but I'm not sure how much longer that will last. Heartburn is picking up, but I know that's normal. Tums are my friend.

Josh is feeling the baby move SO much these days. Each night at bed time, they have their time and I love it. He can put his head on my belly and baby will kick him. He talks to the baby every night at bed time and the baby usually responds to his voice. He will poke at the baby a little and the baby will kick back at him. It's like they have their own play time. It's so precious and I think I will miss this once the little one arrives.

We had our 28 week prenatal appointment and all looks good! I passed my glucose test with no problem! Yay! Baby K is head down, so that's also great news! Baby's fundal height is measuring slightly ahead, but the midwife was not concerned about this. She said it's not unusual to measure a week or so ahead or behind. It could mean we have a big baby, but it doesn't necessarily mean that. My blood pressure was a little higher this time, but still in the normal range.

I wish I would have done this before, but I think I'll start including highs and lows of my week in each update. Here goes for this week!

Lows: Heartburn. I'm getting it most days now at some point or another.

Highs: Good prenatal appointment, got to hear heartbeat again, lots of baby/daddy interaction these days!

Baby K - 27 Weeks!

May 9, 2016

We're 27 weeks pregnant, Our little one is the size of a Fennec Fox (minus the tail) - about 15 inches and over 2 lbs! Baby K's lungs have developed so much over the past 2 weeks and we've hit our second viability milestone! My app says baby can smell and I believe it! This little one definitely knows when I'm about to eat! Maybe there are other hints that baby gets that I don't realize, but it knows! I notice LOTS of movement right when I'm about to eat, especially when I feel really hungry. As far as baby's development is going, most organ systems are fully developed! There's a lot going on with baby's brain development these days, though! 

I'm much better emotionally than I was last week, even though a big part of me is sad that our 2nd trimester is coming to a close. I've been feeling this way for a couple weeks and it kind of surprised me. I'm excited to meet the baby at the end of our 3rd trimester for sure, but I'm sad that this part of pregnancy is ending, because overall, it's been great! Physically, I've been pretty good. It is getting harder to stay on my feet for longer periods of time though. Last Friday, I felt really nauseous out of nowhere for a couple hours. We had been at my favorite park in Greenville, SC and I started to feel sick as we were just hanging out on our blanket. I was hydrated, I wasn't very hungry and I wasn't too hot, so I'm not sure what came over me. I thought I was going to get sick on the way back to the car, but I hung in there. I had some salted almonds and drank a bunch of water. It didn't seem to help immediately, but eventually it went away. 

We traveled this past weekend and it was tough on me. We made sure we stopped about every 2 hours for a bathroom break and a stretch. On the way down, it wasn't so bad, but on the way back, I got really swollen, got a headache and felt a little nauseous. I had been on my feet all day the day before and I may have overdone it a little. I was really tired, so I'm sure those things didn't help. We have a trip just as long coming up next week, so I'm definitely not looking forward to the traveling part of it. I will try to be mindful and rest more on this trip. Josh decided we should drive the Explorer on any upcoming trips since it's more comfortable; hopefully that will help.

This past Sunday was Mother's Day. We were on the road for the majority of the day, and I already said that was tough. We had to go to the grocery store and I felt awful while we were there, so we made it quick. Things were pretty awesome once we got home though! We went to pick up Bailey and Carter. She was so excited to see us! That perked me up a little of course. We dropped Carter off at home and came home. I kind of ruined the surprise for my Mother's Day gift. I was looking on our Babies R Us registry because I was going to purchase something from it and I saw that my diaper bag had been purchased. I tried to un-see it, but that never works. Friday morning, I was cleaning out the car while Josh was working and I went to put some things in the trunk. There was my diaper bag! I shut the trunk and pretended I didn't see anything. Josh realized what had happened once he went to put the suitcase in. He had forgotten the bag was in there. He felt bad, so I told him I had already ruined the surprise for myself anyway. So, yea, I already had my diaper bag. Once we got home Sunday, Josh sent me upstairs to relax and take a bubble bath (which was MUCH needed and appreciated) while he cooked dinner for me. I know after driving all day, there's nothing he wanted more than to pick up a pizza and eat on the couch while watching TV, but he made dinner, set the table and cleaned the kitchen. So sweet!

Josh has been able to feel baby a lot more this week and that has him even more excited for the baby's arrival! We're starting to learn baby's routine, which is pretty much dance like crazy any time there is food (especially ice cream) or sleep. lol. Bed time is probably the easiest time for Josh to feel baby since I'm still and baby is very active.

Baby K - 26 Weeks!

May 2, 2016

Ummm, we're 26 weeks pregnant. That means in approximately 14 weeks, we'll actually be parents to a 2 legged child! That is so hard for me to wrap my mind around! 14 weeks will be here in no time!

Anyway, Baby K is the size of a slow loris - or a butternut squash since no one really knows how big a loris is! It's about 14 inches long and weighs around 2 lbs! We happen to have a butternut squash in our pantry, so I showed Josh how big it was and I put it up to my belly. It's hard to imagine something that size could possibly be inside me! Baby is still putting on some baby fat. Baby's eyes are opening and closing again and it should be able to detect light through my belly! Movements are getting more and more noticeable, so that's fun!

For me, this week was pretty easy physically, but the most difficult emotionally so far. I think it's a combination of things. Hormones, of course. The realization that my second trimester is ending soon. Me being able to experience things with the baby that Josh can't - for whatever reason, that made me feel really lonely this week. I had a pretty rough Sunday night/Monday morning leading into my 26th week. Josh was super sweet and he worked from home on Monday so I wouldn't be alone. I told him to go to work, we both had to get work done whether we were at home or in the office. I didn't want to be a needy wife. He left and came back like 5 minutes later, saying traffic was "too bad". So sweet. He took me to lunch at a little diner we've been wanting to visit and we had the best time. The people there were so sweet. I went to the bathroom before we left and the owner turned around and said "Whoa! Your bump is so cute! I saw you sitting over there and I didn't even realize you were pregnant!" Then she asked me about my due date and told me how much fun I was going to have being pregnant during the hottest time of the year. Wished us luck and congratulated us, etc. It made me smile, so I told Josh we could definitely go back there. lol. We finished work when we came home and just had a low key night. I was super tired since I didn't sleep well Sunday night, so we were in bed by 8:30. I had read this article when I was 25 weeks and I told Josh about it. He decided to give it a shot and he put his ear up to my belly when I told him baby was kicking. Our little munchkin kicked Daddy right in the face! Josh said he heard a little thump sort of sound when it happened, so that was really cool! He heard some swooshing around as well, but who knows if that was baby moving or just digestive juices. Either way, it's pretty cool and it made me feel much better!

I may have experienced some Braxton Hicks contractions, but I'm not positive that's what it was. They were kind of like tightened cramps. I'll see as I get closer and have them more often if that's what it was.

Baby K - 25 Weeks!!!

April 25, 2016

This week, Baby K is the size of a prairie dog - about 14 inches and almost 2 lbs!!! It's crazy to me how huge and how tiny that can seem at the same time! Baby's hair is getting thicker and has a color! Baby's sense of balance is developed enough to know which way is up and which way is down, and is already using this to work its way toward birthing position! Baby is also learning its way around and it has found my bladder! This should be a fun last few months!

This week has been good. I'm starting to experience more heartburn - with more foods (I mean, cereal...come on!) and more regularly. I know this is only going to get worse as baby grows, so I'll have to just get used to the tums. In exchange, I get to feel baby move more! It's having semi-regular dance parties these days and it's pretty awesome!!!

We've made a little bit of progress this week. Josh surprised me by assembling our stroller! I was just getting out of the shower one night and he rolled it into the bathroom. So sweet! Luckily, he pays attention more than I do. I had taken the stroller out of the box and put the box by the garage for trash. Silly me forgot to make sure I had ALL the wheels out of the box. That could have been bad!

Baby K - 24 Weeks!

April 18, 2016

This week, our squishy is the size of an Atlantic Puffin (about 13 inches and around 1.5 lbs)! The puffin exhibit used to be one of my favorites at the Baltimore aquarium, so this excited me a little bit (OK - a lot)! Even more exciting...we hit our first viability milestone this week!!! Baby's lungs are now producing a surfactant that will keep them from sticking together and will allow them to expand once it's on the outside. It would still be an extremely scary time if our little one were to be born this early, but there would be a chance and those chances improve more and more each day! Keep on baking, little bun!

This chart (which is several years old, so hopefully numbers are even better now) shows how quickly odds increase over the next several weeks.

Less significant (but still exciting) things about baby's development - baby is developing taste buds. Our little one will be able to taste some of the things I eat in the coming weeks. There was one study that suggested this could impact baby's food preferences later in life. Who knows if this is actually true, but I'll do my part to try to have a non-picky eater!

As far as me, I'm doing pretty well! Any swelling I had from flying has gone away. Yay! I have noticed that the skin on my belly feels tighter and will sometimes get itchy, so I'm making sure I keep belly butter on it! I'm still getting the occasional heartburn. No real cravings, I just like to eat and I'm hungry pretty often. Now that I'm not on vacation anymore, I'm not sleeping quite as well, so I'm back to being a little tired.

Daddy K had a great week as far as baby is concerned as well! He felt a strong little nudge from our little one! Seeing his excitement melted my heart!

We've made a little more progress with baby things. We got the dresser that matches our crib and we bought a baby swing! Yay!

Baby K - 23 Weeks!

23 weeks 

April 11, 2016

Baby K is growing like a champ! Our little munchkin is the size of a chinchilla this week! It should weigh in at about 1 1/4 lbs and should be just over a foot long. Baby is developing taste buds and may be able to taste some of what I eat within the next few weeks! Here's to hoping I can eat a variety of foods and have a non-picky eater! Speaking of eating - My appetite is definitely in full swing. Probably because Baby K is starting to put on some baby fat! Yay! Now, some of the weight I'm gaining is actually going to the baby!

As far as me, 22 weeks was around the time that I may start experiencing some swelling, according to my app. I didn't notice any then, but when I flew at the beginning of my 23rd week, whoa! I was definitely swollen. I know it's normal to swell when you fly and I usually do some anyway, but I definitely experienced more swelling than I normally do for a flight so short. Another thing that I noticed was different while flying pregnant was recovery time. Typically, I'll feel some pressure in my head during descent and my ears will pop and I'll feel fine. I felt pressure in my head for several hours this time and it took a while for my ears to feel normal. I was also quite congested from the end of the first flight...and I STILL am. I've been quite congested for a large portion of my pregnancy, but this is definitely on the more severe side as compared to what it has been. I'm also noticing my linea nigra (that little dark line) getting darker. So far, it's not bad, just a very faint line. I thought it would bother me a lot, but so far, it doesn't. I've started to have a little bit of heartburn here and there as well.

This week was our babymoon! I'll post a separate post about that soon!