31 Weeks

I am completely scatterbrained today. I also feel exceptionally anxious and full of nerves. I don' know what my problem is. My brain is very much, "YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO DO! DO IT ALL NOW! ALL AT ONCE!" and then I just end up sitting here with like 7 projects open, accomplishing nothing. Bleh.

This Saturday is the first of TWO baby showers that some of my favorite people are throwing me. I am so blessed! I am really, really excited about the whole experience. Plus cake.

The time is drawing near for the beginning of my maternity leave. (Actually, that's one of the things I'm juggling today - choosing a start date and all that.) The date I am looking at is just over six weeks away. SIX WEEKS?! Is this some sort of joke?! Soon we will be starting our birthing classes, then a breastfeeding class, and then it'll be time to cross the really surreal things off our baby to-do list, like installing the car seats and washing all the baby clothes. It is so exciting, so unbelievable, and tends to cause ridiculous amounts of butterflies to flit around in my stomach while Bean dances away.

How I'm Feeling

Well, aside from all that up there, I am feeling (physically) both great and not-so-great. I can still do my makeup while sitting on the floor and can stand up all by myself, but for some reason rolling over in bed is basically the equivalent of climbing Everest with a panda bear riding on my torso. My aches and pains seem pretty balanced for now, so I'm praying that the balance lasts.

What Bean's Doing

(taken from baby-gaga.com)

Your not-so-little-one is just a bit closer to their birth weight and height at around 4 pounds and 17 inches. With each added layer of baby fat, your baby's skin starts to look more and more like it will when they finally get to see the light of day. The heavy news: you can expect your miracle-gro muffin to gain about a half a pound of weight per week from now until about two weeks before birth. Great. That's just what you needed. Even more weight to carry around!

Your baby's still-developing immune system has gained substantial strength over the past few weeks getting them in full gear to face our disease-ridden world o’ wonders. Obviously, a large majority of your child’s immune strength will be derived from exposure to breast milk as well as the outside elements. Their cute little noggin’ (which could already be covered with luscious locks or just purty peach fuzz), is still soft because the skull bones have not yet fused together. As much as that sounds a little too vulnerable, their “skull softness” allows for a much smoother passage through the birth canal during labor—something both you and your little swimmer will appreciate when it’s finally time to “go!” Also, some babies will have that “soft spot” on their head for up to one year after birth.

Cravings

• Caramel frap from Starbucks
• Chocolate covered strawberries (which my mom somehow KNEW and brought me some!!!)
• Lemon bars
• Round Table pizza
• Twizzlers
• a dessert I used to order from Macaroni Grill. It's called like "Zamboni" or something. Or is that the giant truck that smoothes the ice at a skating rink?

30 Weeks

10 weeks to go! (Or 7 until I am considered full term.) This is really it...It truly seemed like this time would never come, but here it is!

This past Sunday we attended Jacob's parent's church's grand opening of their new building. The building is GORGEOUS, and the service was fantastic. It was so neat to see the finished product of something that had been going on for so long.

I am getting prego pics taken by the glorious Betsey this Friday. I can't wait! I am trying to find inspiration through other maternity photos, plus decide what I'm going to wear. I'll post some of the pictures here when I can.

How I'm Feeling

Tired and clumsy! I lose my balance when I stand up - it's ridiculous. Also, I drop EVERYTHING, which has made me extremely scared of our super sharp kitchen knives. (I almost dropped the huge butcher knife on my foot earlier this week.) My body is still fighting the pesky cold Jacob and I both came down with last week, so I think that is contributing to the tiredness and all that. I am getting super excited, though, and have big, productive plans for this weekend.

What Bean's Doing

(taken from parentsconnect.com)

Big news for baby's brain this week: It's starting to wrinkle and fold and looks like something that grew in the back of your fridge. This is due to the rapid growth of your little genius's brain cells. Other highlights this week:

Fingernails and toenails are finally finished—causing his or her parents great fear and anguish the first time they try to cut those little daggers (it gets easier, we promise)! Plus, the bone marrow is completely in charge of red-blood-cell production now. Trust us, this is a good thing.

Baby is starting to shed his lanugo—the downy hair that was covering his skin. Now that he's chubbier and better able to regulate his body temp, he doesn't need to sport a fur coat 24/7.

"I spy an umbilical cord and the inside of my mom's uterus!" When your baby is awake, his eyes are now wide open and he's whittling away the hours looking around, checking out his rather dark, limited environs.

Your baby hasn't gained much weight or height this week, as most of his energy's been channeled to the brain. He weighs about 3 pounds and is approximately 15.5 inches long, about the size of London, not the city, Britney Spears' Yorkie terrier. Of course your baby is less hairy and way cuter!

Cravings

• Lemon bars
• Chicken and dumplings
• Crepes

29 Weeks

WOW. Next week will begin the countdown. At the beginning it totally seemed like I'd never get to this point. Now, I look back, and it has truly flown by. Time is so weird.

Our friends Tim and Elaine welcomed their new daughter Daphne yesterday...Or the night before yesterday, I'm not sure. I am DYING to see pictures. Congratulations, Tim and Elaine, and welcome baby Daphne Grace!

Jacob's first father's day was fun. We cooked corned beef, cabbage and carrots, and my mom cooked some yummy potatoes. I also baked a ridiculous amount of chocolate chip cookies. Jacob's dad came over, as did Beth, Seth and the boys. We ate lots of food and then, after everyone left, I crashed. I think I went to bed at like 8:30. It was a great day, though!

How I'm Feeling

For the most part I feel pretty great. My short time of having energy is coming to a close, though. I'm still able to stay up later (10:30ish) but mornings are KILLING me. The aches and pains are becoming more frequent as well, which has been fairly annoying. I don't really like making pained noises every time I move, but that's just the way it is, I guess.

What Bean's Doing

(taken from babycenter.com)

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his 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.

(I also read that, in the correct light, Bean is able to see shadows/silhouettes. Crazy!)

Cravings

• Popcorn
• Quesadillas
• Pina Colada Icees

28 Weeks

Thought this was weird - according to my buddy group ticker:

2 months 22 days until Bean is due!

2 years 2 months and 2 days since Leanna and Jacob tied the knot!

No matter who you ask, I am officially in my third trimester. THAT IS WEIRD. It really hit me last night. 12 weeks until my due date. Very, very soon, we will have a little baby in our house. A little baby that is OURS. I can hardly even put it into words. Needless to say I am pretty emotional today. It's just so huge and amazing.

We got to see my brother and sister in law yesterday. It was awesome! Larissa is about a month behind me pregnancy-wise, which has been really cool. We took some cute pictures - I'll try to get them posted here soon.

How I'm Feeling

My energy levels are definitely declining, but my desire to be productive is on the rise! I find myself compelled to tidy up and to exercise - two things I did NOT enjoy until a couple days ago. Sadly, my body is not as good at being active as it once was, and I find myself pushing too hard and ending up in pain. So, I'm trying to take it slowly and remind myself that even though it feels like I'm not working hard enough, I am!

I finally had a truly uncomfortable morning with intense abdominal pain. (Nothing to worry about! Nora said it was probably just trapped gas. Attractive, no?) I've sailed through so easily until this point in time that I have a hard time being annoyed that this morning sucked so much, though.

Oh, also (TMI warning, boys look away), I am producing colostrum! It is bizarre. That is all I'll say about that.

What Bean's Doing

I got some majorly different info from a few different sites, so I'm just going to throw up the highlights this week.

• Bean has eyelashes
• The folds and creases of the brain are forming
• Hair is growing longer and thicker
• Fat is piling up and smoothing the baby's skin out
• Bean measures anywhere between 14.5 to 16 inches long
• Bean weighs anywhere from 2 to 4 pounds
• The baby is in the process of flipping into a good, head down birthing position (hopefully)

Cravings

• Tacos (I have decided that tacos are my favorite food)
• Cotton candy (this happened after EVERYTHING smelled like cotton candy to me for about a day)
• Coffee/espresso drinks

27 Weeks

According to some, this week marks the beginning of my third trimester. However, I've also heard that trimester 3 doesn't start until week 28. So, who knows. Either way, it's getting really close to my due date!

Next Monday, my brother and sister in law are coming to visit. I am super crazy excited to see them and take prego pics with Larissa! Although, she is a tiny and cute prego. I could probably eat her for lunch.

Also, I think I finally felt Bean have hiccups! It doesn't feel like hiccups, though - it feels like Bean is having a seizure. I asked around, though, and that was the answer I got. Plus all the prego websites say that hiccups usually start around now. The other suggestions I got for the weird shaky sensations are that Bean is dreaming, stretching or just jittery because his/her nervous system is still underdeveloped.

How I'm Feeling

Still pretty fabulous, although it seems as if my few weeks of energy are coming to an end already. I don't know if I'm tired from Donner Lake, tired from coming down with a pesky cold, tired from anemia or tired from basic pregnancy. Whatever it is, it's there. Thankfully, I am still sleeping well!

What Bean's Doing

(taken from pregnancyhut.com)

The baby is about 14.5 inches long and weighs over two pounds by now. The baby’s skin is wrinkled by floating in water and will remain this way until a few weeks after the baby is born as the skin slowly stretches out. The retina develops normal layers which later help in the reception of light images. These layers receive light and images and transmit the information to the brain for interpretation. The membrane that used to cover your baby’s eyes will separate at this stage to form eyelids. A new visual discovery begins for the baby and the baby’s eyes are mostly blue at this stage which will change into their true color some time after birth. The baby also develops a waking and sleeping pattern which might not be the same as your cycle. Some experts believe that the baby begins to dream by the 28th week. No one knows what they dream about but the brain remains active and the characteristic grooves on the brain surface start appearing with the development of more brain tissues. You might experience the baby hiccupping quite frequently now as the baby’s lungs are maturing and the baby is learning to breathe normally.

Cravings

• Brownies/chocolate (TJ had to stop on the way to Donner to get me brownies - they were AMAZING!)
• Corned beef
• Cake
• Other stuff that I can't remember, but it was probably sugary and bad for me...

A Glimpse Into a Tired, Pregnant Mind

(Yes, mom, minds can be pregnant.)

First, you need to know: The Sims 3 came out on Tuesday. I have been playing it pretty much ever since. One of my Sims aspires to be a chef, and so I spend a lot of time making her cook and read new recipes. One of the recipes she's able to learn is ambrosia. The word/food has stuck in my head for the past couple days, because I think it's funny that The Sims people included a mythical meal in their game. This isn't out of the ordinary; just one of the things I like so much about The Sims.

This morning, "FashionAmbrosia" added me on Twitter. This put the word ambrosia into my head again, which made me think of The Sims, and then made me think of Monk and Mr. Monk's brother. Although Monk's brother is actually named Ambrose, my tired, pregnant mind remembered it as Ambrosia, and I thought it odd that the writers would give Adrian's brother a weird, food name.

This is where it gets silly. For some reason, my tired, pregnant (and hungry, as always) mind thought, "Hm, I wonder if there are any good food names for our baby?" ("Food baby" anyone?) "After all, the Monk writers thought it was a great idea to use a food name for one of their characters, so it must be genius! Let me think..." What cracked me up was the first "name" that popped into mind, and the fact that I didn't think it was crazy right away. It was, of course, something I have been craving every day for weeks. "Bread pudding..." I thought. It sat there for a moment. I then realized the absolutely insane things I was letting myself think, and came here to tell you all about it.

The end.

26 Weeks

My pregnancy brain is in full force today, so forgive me if I forget something cool or say something stupid.

We are heading to Donner Lake this weekend, and I am so excited! I just checked out the weather and it is going to be COLD. I can't wait. :D Also, more exciting news...The Sims 3 came out today! My beloved husband is going to pick it up for me so I can play tonight. YAY!

Bean is currently rolling around my stomach. It's such an odd sensation. Even though I'm used to it now, it is still amazing every time I stop to think about it. I do love feeling Bean from the inside, but I still think it's super cool to feel the movements with my hands.

How I'm Feeling
Quite well! I am beginning to feel more aches and pains, especially in the middle of the night, but they're not too bad. I have developed a little waddle that cracks me up when I notice it. I'm still sleeping soundly (thank God!) and eating like it's my job. Bean is a hungry baby!

What Bean's Doing
(taken from baby-gaga.com)

At long last, your little swimmer can see the womb! Your miracle’s little eyelids have finally separated (they were fused closed previously) and they’re probably having their first moments of sight as you read this (or maybe it already happened while you were brushing your teeth or watching Oprah or something). In addition to seeing their little studio in your belly, they’ve recently acquired the ability to say “yes” and “no” in rudimentary sign language as they can now move their head back and forth. This is also the time where your little super star’s head hair is starting to grow! A cute little cowlick or two may be springing into position right now, getting ready for years of cute-but-stubborn bed-head. Also, their toenails have grown in and you little raisin continues to slowly pile up fat beneath their still-loose skin. Most importantly, brain tissue and neurons are all developing at a rapid pace, increasing their (genius-level?) brain activity and will continue to function at accelerated levels for the first seven to eight years of childhood!

(I also read that the placenta is getting to be as big as the baby. That is SCARY to think about!)

Cravings

• Breakfast burrito!
• Rice Krispies
• Brownies
• Spaghetti with bread and butter or Jacob's amazing garlic bread