35 weeks

Seriously somebody pinch me.
HOW far along are we?!

In all seriousness, I feel maybe 25 weeks pregnant... Physically, mentally, and just based on how quickly the time has gone by. I can't believe we get to meet our daughter so soon! Beyond excited.

I have been feeling super great, as always. SO blessed in that regard. I weigh in at 182 pounds this week, which puts me at a 29 pound gain since pre-baby . No swelling, heartburn, or other issues that I thought I'd be experiencing by now. I got the teeniest of uncomfortable pressure in my low back yesterday, started in the car and continued while I was shopping... Felt similar to cramps, but it totally vanished at some point during my yoga class (I taught). I have been experiencing some practice surges on a pretty regular basis, just mild tightening and pressure. They don't last long and are very spread apart.

We had our 3rd HypnoBirthing session with Melissa on Monday and I met with Sherry yesterday. Both went great! Sherry is recovering well from her broken leg... She is in a boot and uses a knee scooter to maneuver with. Still no weight bearing for, I think it's at least 7 more weeks. We laughed yesterday about how she's going to crawl/fly up the 2 flights of stairs to our third floor apartment where she can again use her "horsey" scooter, I think she'll just be carried. That makes the most sense to me! Either way it will all work out. She has some great birth assistants and there will be plenty of folks to help with things.

Here we are:

31 weeks

How far along: 31 weeks!

Weight: 175 pounds. Pre-pregnancy weight was 153ish.

Size of Baby: Head of Lettuce (19 in, 3.9 lbs)

Midwife Appt: We still need to schedule one with our midwife's assistant, Traci, because Sherry is getting surgery this morning. Hope everything goes well and she recovers quickly!

Stretch marks: Found a new line or two on my chest (like I need any more there!)... No marks on belly, and no new marks anywhere else.

Sleep: Sleep has definitely been interesting. Shasta has been having some tummy troubles, which means some serious bathroom issues. Yuck. When I'm not cleaning up messes, I am up worrying that she's going to need to go again... Every hour! God is definitely helping to prepare us for our little one through these horrendous few days, I know it. Dear friends have often told me to just prepare for no sleep during the next year. Bring it.

Food cravings: none

Symptoms: I got pretty dizzy during a massage session once this week, I think I just needed to eat though. Hmmm, a little heartburn here and there, and the pelvic pain returns sometimes (mostly when I roll in bed... And my pelvic joint pops. Weird!)

Movement: I love this kid's movement. :) there is something surreal about not looking THIS pregnant, but seeing and feeling a large, boney object stick out of your stomach and move around. It's crazy! (When did she grow to be so big?!) Yesterday, I found a really hard lump about 2 inches above my belly button. I realized it was small and hard, so I pushed on it... And then it moved up and to my left side!! Definitely think that was a foot.

Belly button in or out?: Top half sticks out.

Best moment of the week: THIS WEEKEND WAS AWESOME! Had the best 21st birthday anyone could ask for ... And on the same day got surprised with a crazy beautiful baby shower with a ton of friends and family. I honestly had no idea. :) so sweet. Norah is SO loved already. I will put details of this weekend on here as soon as I get a chance to. Also, we are almost finished putting the tree decals up on the Nursery Nook walls. It looks fantastic!!! Jenna and mom are coming to help finish the leaves and birds today. Can't wait. :)

Here's what we have done (thank you Kristin, Johnny, and mom for your huge help so far):

29 weeks.

What. Only 11 more weeks to go until the due date!? Goodness gracious, that's not that much time. I AM SO EXCITED. and nervous. and anxious. and scared... and all those feelings that everyone is telling me will only increase until she arrives. Most of all, I am really looking forward to being a mom (and meeting this wiggly baby)! 

How far along: 29 weeks! 

Weight: 173 pounds. Pre-pregnancy weight was 153ish.

Size of Baby: Butternut Squash (17 in, 3.1 lbs)

Midwife Appt: We will meet every two weeks now, instead of once a month. Next one is in about a week. 

Stretch marks: Nothing new. No marks on belly, and no new marks anywhere else.

Sleep: Lovin' my naps! 

Food cravings: Haven't had any cravings recently.

Symptoms: I honestly don't know what to put here. I just sorta stared at the screen for a while, because I feel great still. I am just still happy and healthy from what we can tell - and that's good enough for me! I'm not experiencing the pelvic pain anymore (woohoo!). Now, I'm fighting with the occasional left hip pain/burning sensation in the middle of the night (only when I'm on my left side). Luckily, I have a massage therapy ball (sorta like a foam roller) that totally takes care of that when it starts acting up, and I try and work it out before I lay in bed now.

Movement: Lots of hiccups. :)

Belly button in or out?: It's kinda flat now most of the time, but sometimes I can see it poke through tighter shirts. 

Best moment of the week: Finalizing what is going on our nursery wall (which is in our bedroom). I LOVE IT SO MUCH. We decided on a vinyl wall decal thing instead of painting. It is beyond adorable... being shipped now! Can't wait to put it up on my birthday weekend (with a little help from loved ones). Also, we got confirmation that the Hypnobirthing course will start on March 20th - we still need to officially register, but everything is working out great with that. 

I thought that I should start including front and side shots now, considering I'm growing pretty quickly these days. :) I may want these at some point in the future.

Butterflies

I definitely feel baby. No doubt. Yes, I KNOW it is early for baby #1, but this is no stomach rumble. Even right now, as I sit here at work between clients, I feel the butterflies about an inch below my belly button. :) It makes me so happy! Best feeling ever!

To be honest, sometimes it feels like a flock of geese got trapped in there...

Update at 16 weeks:
Baby is as big as a turnip as of yesterday. Turnip baby!

I scheduled the ultrasound for December 8. Sherry (our CNM) passed along a Living Social deal to Stork Vision that gives us 50% off! So awesome! We were going to use them anyways, so it worked out perfectly. She is so great. Our gender reveal party will be one week later. CAN'T WAIT. 

 And I've come to a conclusion. If this child is anything like his/her parents, sleep and playing card games will be their favorite activities. 

BUMP!

Halloween has come and gone, and we had a great time! Here is our homemade construction worker costumes ... and official baby announcement! 

...complete with work boots and baby tool belts. :) We made the signs by cutting and painting 'crafting' sheet metal, then writing the letters and borders on. What a fun project! 

So I am officially 14 weeks pregnant as of these wee hours of the morning, and it just so happens to be election day. Oh joy. I am so so excited to say that we HAVE decided to find out our sweet little one's gender, and can do so in just 2 weeks! Ah! We will have the technician write it down or hide the evidence in some way, so we can find out with EVERYONE at a gender reveal party we will be throwing. I am really looking forward to sharing this special time with our dear friends and families. More planning on this will come later, I'm sure. :) The ideas rolling around in my head are oh-so-cute.

How far along? 14 weeks!

Total weight gain: I still weigh the same, about 154. (Give me a break, I'm 5'9!)

Maternity clothes?! Absolutely. Luckily, I work/live in "yoga clothes", or basically upscale sweats. So that is definitely considered maternity clothes. Everything stretches, thank goodness. My jeans... not so much.

Stretch marks? I'm lathering in body butter and such whenever I think about it, about twice a week. I know I'll apply more when I get bigger, but I doubt I'll be able to keep the stretchies away. Battle scars, right?!

Sleep: Sleep is ok, but could be better. I know my problem is having to wake up and pee... 3-4 times each night. I drink SO much water in the evenings, and even though I try and space it out throughout the day, I find myself creating the bathroom issue. Whatever, I love water!

Miss anything? I miss being able to walk up a flight of stairs without feeling like I just worked out. And red wine... the smell drives me crazy! It was such a treat, and now it has been added to my reward list that I'm looking forward to in the future. And Mike's hard lemonade. 

Movement: Maybe? I don't exactly know what I'm supposed to be feeling for, but I think the other day I felt an interesting bubble thing in a weird place. I know the first kid isn't as obvious as the others, so it was probably just a tummy bubble.

Food cravings: Cheez-its, apples and peanut butter, celery and peanut butter, cashews, green olives, salads. I just now realized that I'm a salty craver so far! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope! Not really any morning sickness, I know I have been so blessed in that. If I do feel queasy (usually due to hunger), my body VIOLENTLY sneezes twice and then it's gone! I read somewhere that it is just a symptom of irritation of the Vagus Nerve (connected to stomach).

Gender: Don't know yet. We were originally going to wait until the birth to find out, but now we want to just get it over with! Tell us already!  Hoping to schedule an ultrasound around 16 weeks to find out if there's a baby girl or baby boy in this tummy!

Labor signs: No way. 

Symptoms: Higher energy levels. Sore back earlier this week, probably from me compensating from the little bit of round ligament pain I'm having, but it's not too bad.

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or moody most of the time: My sweet sweet husband may say otherwise, but I feel the best I have in a long time! I love being pregnant so far. So excited what God has done here and I can't wait to meet this little thing (I reeeeally feel like it is a boy, don't know why!) 

Looking forward to: Our next visit with Sherry, our midwife, tomorrow. Oh, and finding out the gender in 2 weeks!

videos

here's the heartbeat video, like I promised:

and another one TOTALLY worth watching. Best pregnancy video I've found yet... so informative on what is happening right now. :)

how we roll

I am open minded about a lot of things. I like to do my research, and look at several options, but once I decide... I decide. Because of this, I am finding myself more and more on the homeopathic side of life. You know, drugs versus herbal remedies, unnecessary surgery versus just taking care of yourself, cortisone shots versus massage techniques.

 doctors versus midwives ...(yup, I said it).

...especially when it comes to the birth of this baby. (To each her own, right? I am passionate about this topic, and for OUR FAMILY I know what we are aiming to do. Everyone has their own opinions.) Why in the world would I put myself (or my husband, and my baby) through a traumatic experience when it isn't medically necessary? I trust the way God made my body for this beautiful process. And it honestly freaks me out knowing that 150 years ago when DOCTORS STARTED handling birth - for the first time, ever - they needed something else to do and intervened when it wasn't necessary. Then, by 1900, physicians were attending about 1/2 of the nation's births, including nearly all births to middle and upper class women. Midwives took care of the women who could not afford a doctor (which they were then mocked for). That just seems so weird to me knowing that midwifery had always been viewed as a highly respectable profession, even warranting the highest priority on boats to the colonies! I don't trust that system. Please watch The Business of Being Born (on Netflix) if you haven't seen it already. SO much information.

We have selected an amazing Certified Nurse Midwife, Sherry Oldfield, to coach us and take care of us through this process. She is handling all of my checkups and prenatal care, and will catch our sweet child when he/she arrives in May. She is educated (at an insane level... the information she knows seems to be limitless), experienced, and most importantly more in tune with ME than any social status or "norm". The hospital norm is actually really really stupid. It doesn't make ANY sense to me anatomically (drugs, timing, labor inducing, fetal distress that THEY cause, c-sections that THEY often cause, what you are allowed to do in labor, birthing position...etc). 

God willing, I will HypnoBirth in a birthing tub. In our home. With dim lighting, quiet music, no screaming or hollering, and just peaceful joy. Ahhh, yes.

On a side note, I heard my baby's heartbeat for the first time yesterday. I'll post a video of this soon.

It was absolutely amazing.