30 weeks

Hellooo!! I truly can't believe I'm 30 weeks along already. Time needs to slow down just a teense!

I wanted to start off the blog post with a not so bright and cheery update. I'm sharing this not to scare you, but only to let you know these things happen and they are normal {and in the end everything turned out to be okay}. On Friday morning when I got into work, I went to the restroom as I usually do these days (can't make it an hour without!) and found some blood. It was a tiny amount, so I had to double check that I was seeing things right. I called my doctor immediately, as I know blood is never a normal sign in pregnancy. The nurse asked a few questions then had to speak to the doctor that was in the office at the moment and call me back. When she called me back a few minutes later, she told me I needed to go to the hospital. I immediately burst into tears and she gave me instructions on how to get to the hospital (our tour is not until next month!) and what to do when I get there. I called Matt and he picked me up and drove me to the hospital... thank goodness he only works a few minutes from me. I was panicking and crying and a million things were running through my head... {Is he okay? Am I losing him? What will I do... how will I emotionally and mentally handle this?} We got to the hospital and I checked in and finally saw a nurse who placed a heart rate monitor on my belly... we heard baby's heartbeat almost immediately. Phew. So he is alive. The nurse asked some questions about my symptoms and then had to get the doctor... We waited a long time. I started thinking, what if I am going into early labor? We are not ready for him... he is too small... will he survive? So stressful.... The doctor finally came in and checked my cervix which was a normal measurement, then she swabbed inside me and found dried blood - so there was no active bleeding, but I had bled. She checked on the ultrasound to see the location of baby and the placenta, which were both fine... everything was completely and 100% normal. She had no explanation as to why I bled, other than sometimes it just happens. SUPER frustrating and confusing, but she reassured me multiple times that both baby and I are just fine and to keep an eye on things. I'm happy to say that I haven't had any bleeding since then. I have to tell you this was a terrifying experience. Even though I've only known him for 6 months and have never officialy met him, to think of losing him was gut-wrenching. I hope to never go through this again.

On a lighter note... we had our first baby class at OSU on Monday night, "Baby Basics". We watched a video and went through power points with an OSU nurse and participated in some interactive demonstrations. Matt even learned how to swaddle!

We learned about bathing and diapering, some common health concerns, feeding, sleeping, clothing... lots of information! Overall, it was helpful but I was kind of hoping for a bit more information... chalk it up to the over-achieving wanna-be mom in me :) In the end I'm glad we took the course because I'm feeling even more prepared for his arrival. Next up, taking the childbirth class!

This past weekend, we had a wedding in Columbus at the Taylor Mansion. Matt was in the wedding party so we had the rehearsal dinner on Friday evening and he had to be at the venue for pictures at 3:45pm. The ceremony and reception were both outside and it was 89 degrees on Saturday... I was miserable! It was a very pretty wedding but I'm truly glad it's over and that it was the last wedding until we have baby boy... my feet can't handle any more weddings!

I have my first shower this weekend and I am super excited! After the shower, I'm going to start hanging prints/decorations in the nursery and making sure the furniture is all where I want it. All we need now is the glider (which I'll be purchasing with my registry discount from Amazon) and the nursery will be close to ready!

I'm feeling more uncomfortable sitting and laying down these days, and getting used to my permanent cankles. This heat and my job are not helping my swelling! I go to the bathroom what feels like 39479 times a day and I have to say the most frustrating thing is that I feel like it's urgent but then it ends up I hardly have to go. Baby boy is super active and looks like an alien moving inside my belly. It makes me laugh out loud sometimes! At this point he's almost 3 pounds and is apparently dreaming while he sleeps... hopefully of me :) I read that his vision right now is 20/400 and remains very poor for a few months after delivery.

How far along? 30 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yes and yes. Thank goodness for maternity maxi dresses when my feet are swelling like crazy!
Stretch marks? Not yet {that I can see!}  Lotioning the belly every morning
Sleep: Different every night - sometimes I fall asleep quickly and sometimes it takes me a bit. The pregnancy pillow is oh-so-comfortable but makes me hot throughout the night.
Best moment of the week: Taking the baby class and becoming super parents!
Miss anything? Being able to wear shorts and sandals without worrying about cankles! :/
Movement: Yes! He loves to wiggle around in there
Food cravings: I had a craving for fish sticks last night! So random
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yep, it's pretty obvious at this point
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: None
Belly button in our out? In, but getting flat
Rings on or off? Off - wearing my fakie
Looking forward to: My baby shower this weekend!! :)

See you next week :)

29 weeks

Whyyy does the weekend always go wayyyy too fast?!

Well I wanted to give an update on our pediatrician visit on Tuesday. It went really well! It's a group practice right in Gahanna, recommended by my coworker. They seem to be fairly flexible and a nice facility. The doctor herself was very nice and went to OSU for medical school so automatic brownie points. She has more of a relaxed approach to parenting and told us she takes everything one step at a time. What's nice about a group practice is if little man is sick and I have to take him in right away, there are other doctors that can see him. They also offer a free breastfeeding class so I'll be taking advantage of that next week! I'm glad I have another thing checked off our baby to do list.

I caved and got little man his first pair of shoes.... how could I have resisted these???

Friday after work I went to a "Corks and Canvas" painting class with a couple of my coworkers. I went to one of these before; they pretty much walk you through painting the original painting, step by step. Here's the original:

And here's my finished product:

It's not spot on but I'm happy with my work and it's hanging in our upstairs hallway. :)

Saturday we ran some errands then decided to check out the Creekside Blues and Jazz Festival. They mostly had food and some arts vendors and had a few stages with live jazz music. Of course they had the typical festival food, and we treated ourselves to a funnel cake - YUM!

Clockwise: festival, interesting festival food, jazz music, funnel cake yumminess.

On Saturday evening I planned a {belated} surprise 30th birthday party for Matt. I really wanted him to have a good 30th and since we didn't really celebrate last weekend I thought this would be a great idea. I had his friends go to the restaurant early and told Matt we were just going for date night. He had said earlier in the week "he didn't feel like drinking this weekend, at all" because he spent the last 3 weekends at bachelor parties/weddings. I managed to convince him to go to dinner anyway and when we got to the restaurant he was SO surprised. He thanked me about a million times and said he had the best time. It was so nice for him to see some friends from out of town and he definitely brought 30 in with a bang. :)

I added some decoration to the nursery this weekend by making a scrapbook paper banner. I traced and cut out the original piece (that I could fold over and glue onto the twine), then traced that onto the scrapbook paper. I got about 10 different patterns that match the nursery bedding.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I like the whimsical-ness (I know that's not a word, just go with it) of it.

In pregnancy news, I'm feeling pretty much the same as last week. Since he's literally laying on my bladder and getting bigger by the day I have to run to the bathroom what feels like a zillion times a day. It's difficult to get comfortable in bed but once I do I sleep pretty well. I'm getting more and more remarks/looks from strangers and thought about buying this shirt:

Via Pinterest

Baby boy is about 2.5 pounds and is about 15 inches long. His bones are beginning to harden and he is going through a major growth spurt. As every week goes by I can't believe how soon my due date feels and I'm anxious and excited at the same time. I have to say this is the most wonderful experience and I really want to keep him cozy in my belly forever but know he will have to come out soon enough. :)

How far along? 29 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yes and yes. Finding I have less and less to wear to work!
Stretch marks? Not yet {that I can see!}. Lotioning the belly every morning
Sleep: Okay once I get comfortable, still having to wake up for frequent potty breaks.
Best moment of the week: Selecting a pediatrician
Miss anything? Being able to bend over and pick things up without getting winded!
Movement: Yes!
Food cravings: Sweets - that funnel cake at the festival was dee-lish
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yep, it's pretty obvious at this point
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: None
Belly button in our out? In, but getting flat
Rings on or off? Off - wearing my fakie
Looking forward to: Another wedding this weekend! This one is outdoors - pray for me

28 weeks

Well I wanted to start off this blog post with some good news! I had my 3 hour glucose screening last Tuesday and I passed - I'm di-ah-beet-us free! Let me just tell you though, that test was miserable. I felt like I was going to puke/pass out the entire time... no fun! I'm just so glad it's over and that my numbers came back really low. Phew, nothing to worry about in that department!

On Friday we drove down to Asheville, NC for our friends James & Erica's wedding. I felt bad that Friday was Matt's 30th birthday and he had to spend most of the day in the car, so I wanted to do something special. I decorated his car as a surprise and created a scavenger hunt to try and make the 8 hour car ride a little more enjoyable. He was a good sport and tried to complete most of the scavenger hunt! He even did #13 and had me cracking up the whole time - photo evidence below. :)

Friday evening when we got into Asheville we grabbed a quick bite at a local restaurant/bar called The Bier Garden. After dinner we met up with the wedding party and the out of town guests at the Thirsty Monk. It had a really mellow atmosphere and it was fun to meet up with everyone!

Saturday morning we walked around downtown Asheville for a bit then grabbed brunch at Tupelo Honey which was recommended to me by Mindy. It was soo yummy!

Park in downtown Asheville

The wedding was at this beautiful castle called Homewood Castle - it was a gorgeous venue! The wedding was small and intimate with only 40 guests, and Erica planned the cutest little details. Our friends Katie and Kristen even sang and played guitar to a Beatles' song during the ceremony - it was so sweet!

Oh hey, hugeness

The reception was at a place called The Orange Peel which is a concert venue, and the reception was held at the bar downstairs. They had the room reserved and it was the perfect space for a wedding reception.

I had a really good time but by the end of the night I was feeling Debbie Downer about being one of the only sober ones (thank goodness for another pregnant guest!) and my feet were SUPER swollen and sore. We drove back on Sunday and I was exhausted Sunday evening - hence, why I didn't blog!

In pregnancy news, I have entered the third trimester!!!! Holy crap, where has the time gone?! Baby boy is becoming even more active and I've been monitoring his movement. I really notice a pattern early morning, early evening and late evening - those seem to be the times he is most active. My heartburn has been crazy bad lately and I'm really hoping this boy comes out with a nice head of hair because this is killing me! My feet continue to swell on a daily basis so I've pretty much gotten used to it at this point. Ok, enough complaining - baby boy weighs about 2.25 lbs and can blink his eyes. Some studies indicate that he can even be able to tell the difference between my voice from Matt's! We are meeting a pediatrician on Tuesday that was recommended by a friend and located right in Gahanna. Hopefully that goes well!!

P.s. I decided to reward myself by reaching the 3rd trimester and committed a pregnancy no-no... I had lunchmeat!! I've been hearing that it's not as big of a deal that people make it out to be and I figure a little splurging won't hurt!

Oh Jimmy John's, how I've missed you!

 How far along? 28 weeks - oh hey 3rd trimester!
Maternity clothes? Yes and yes. Finding I have less and less to wear to work!
Stretch marks? Not yet. Lotioning the belly every morning!
Sleep: Okay lately but I've been waking up for about 2-3 potty breaks throughout the night
Best moment of the week: Dancing with baby boy at the wedding :)
Miss anything? Having ankles - these swollen feet/cankles are just gross
Movement: Yes!
Food cravings: Lunchmeat
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yes - getting remarks/looks from strangers pretty often. Why do people feel the need to stare at my belly?!
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: None
Belly button in our out? In, but getting flat
Rings on or off? Off - wearing my fakie
Looking forward to: Getting some baby related stuff done this weekend - we'll see what I have energy for!

See you next week!

27 weeks

Hi friends! I haven't really had the most exciting week so this post is going to be sort of boring. Sorry.

I will tell you I didn't have the best week in regards to doctor's visits. I had my glucose screening on Thursday, where I had to drink this yummy super sweet tasting orange drink and then get my blood tested at the office an hour later.

Bottom's up!

OSU is super fancy {or maybe this is a common thing now and I just think they're fancy} and my results were posted on my online account the next morning. At first I saw that normal numbers are <150 mg/dL and I thought phew, mine is 135 so I'm good! Then I saw the doctor's note that said "I recommend we do the three hour test." UGH. Are you kidding me?! Not what I was hoping for. So now, I get to go back on Tuesday morning at 8:30am (while having nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before!!!!) and get my blood drawn first thing. Then I drink almost twice as much of the yummy gross orange drink and stay at the office for 3 hours {!!!} getting my blood drawn every hour. Talk about inconvenient, and stressful. This test could go one of two ways 1) negative results, meaning the first testing was just a false positive and I'm good, or 2) I could test positive again and have gestational diabetes. Which is not the best for me, or for baby. I know it's fairly common for women to get a false positive in the first test (like 15-20% of women) so that could be the case, especially since my numbers were not really high and my doctor is just playing it safe by having me test again. So, wish me luck. :/

Other than that, the visit went really well. My eyes were huge when I got on the scale (we're all friends here - 20 lbs gained!) but baby's heartbeat was once again music to my ears and measurements all look good. My next appointment is in 3 weeks.

I got into some Pinterest-ing this weekend and made a knockoff Bonefish Grill Bang Bang Shrimp recipe. It was very yummy! I cheated by using frozen breaded shrimp so really all I did was make the sauce - but if you have ever had Bang Bang Shrimp, you know it is amazing and this recipe was pretty spot on!

I also had some leftover burlap from Angela's baby shower and a bulletin board just sitting in the closet, so... I decided to craft! I rembered seeing this idea from Pinterest so I decided to give it a try. I'm pretty impressed with my skills! I had no idea where to put it at first but then decided it'd go great in the nursery. I forgot to take a before photo, but I'm pretty sure you all know what a bulletin board looks like.

Pin-spiration

Finished product!

I'm definitely feeling bigger these days. I notice I'm out of breath after walking from the parking garage to my work building in the morning and it's getting harder to shave my legs. The heat is not helping my swelling situation either, and my feet were ginormous on Friday night. It was gross. I need to find something better to elevate my feet at work.

Baby boy is nearly 2 pounds at this point and if he were to decide to make a VERY early entrance, he has a pretty good chance of survival with breathing machines. (It's okay baby boy, we're not ready for you yet!! :) ) He's opening his eyes and sucking his fingers and apparently hiccuping quite frequently, although I haven't felt it yet. The doctor said I probably should start tracking his movement at this point, so I'm going to try my best to do that every day.

I have no idea what a rutabag is.

How far along? 27 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yep! Still able to mix in some non-maternity pieces in my wardrobe too.
Stretch marks? Not yet. Lotioning the belly every morning!
Sleep: Inconsistent - usually great but sometimes uncomfortable
Best moment of the week: Hearing his heartbeat at the doctor!
Miss anything? Being able to walk 1/2 mile without feeling tired!
Movement: Yes!
Food cravings: Fruit, again!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yes - had 2 strangers ask me how far along I am this week.
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: None
Belly button in our out? In, but getting flat
Rings on or off? Off - wearing my fakie
Looking forward to: Wedding in NC this weekend. Baby boy's first wedding :)

That's all for now! Have a wonderful week.