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.

26 weeks & a couple of nursery updates

I'm late again on posting, but this week I have an excuse since it was a Holiday weekend :) I'm thankful for the day off but most importantly for all those who have served.

Early this week I was channeling my inner crafty nerd and took a sewing class at JoAnn Fabrics. My mom was nice enough to pass down her machine to me so I wanted to figure out how to use it! The class wasn't as helpful as I was hoping, but it certainly brought me back to (7th?) grade home ec, aka the last time I used a sewing machine. I learned the basics of threading the machine and starting to sew, so I feel at this point I can study a few youtube videos and designate myself as a novice sewer! I'm looking forward to some basic sewing crafts like pillow covers, hemming pants, and maybe even baby clothes?!? We'll see! 

My machine & needle holder thingy I made

Wednesday was the worst day of the week... I was in a car accident! I'm totally okay but at the time was stressed and scared. I was not at fault - a guy hit me from behind on the interstate on the way to work. He hit me hard enough to crush his front end but the only damage to my car was the trailer hitch was bent in. I did get checked out by the paramedics since I was scared something could've happened to baby boy, but it turned out he was a-okay. I'm stuck with a rental until they evaluate and estimate the damage. I was able to fulfill my high school dream of driving a Nissan XTerra - wahoo!

My ride until further notice

We had an offsite team building meeting for work on Thursday at the bowling alley. Any excuse to get away from the office is fine with me!! I actually had my best game yet... and had to document the score to prove it!

127!

We made a few updates to the nursery this weekend. I think we're close to being set on furniture except for getting the glider and a Pinterest craft I'm going to attempt by turning spice racks into bookshelves. Other than that, all that's left is hanging the prints I bought.

Monday we went to The Wilds - Nationwide offered discounted tickets so we took advantage! The day started off kind of crummy weather-wise but ended up to be a really nice day. We went on a 2.5 hour open-air safari tour where we had a tour guide drive us through the property to see the animals. It was so fun! We were able to see giraffes, rhinos, zebras, wild dogs, cheetahs, horses, bison, etc. They also have horseback riding tours and zip-lining tours... I'd like to try those out in the future!

I have to say I'm still feeling pretty good. The swelling has gone down with the weather being cooler but the heartburn has gotten a bit worse. I bought one of those belts to help with back pain since I do experience some pain towards the end of the day and after laying down. I hope it helps!

Baby boy's hearing has developed even more and he can now apparently hear Matt's voice (and snoring!!). He weights about 1 2/3 lbs and his lungs and brain are even more developed. His eyes are starting to open and he is able to cry - hopefully he doesn't like crying much. :) 

Thursday I have my gestational diabetes test at the doctor. I have to drink some apparently nasty-tasting juice then get my blood drawn. I'm kind of nervous so please cross your fingers all goes well! I'll update you next week.

How far along? 26 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yep! Living in comfort
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Inconsistent - usually great but sometimes uncomfortable
Best moment of the week: Getting more done in the nursery
Miss anything? Being able to tie my shoes in comfort!
Movement: Yes!
Food cravings: Pizza
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: None
Belly button in our out? In
Rings on or off? Off - wearing my fakie
Looking forward to: Doctors appointment on Thursday

Have a great week!

25 weeks

I somehow managed to blog Sunday night and I am so proud of myself! Another exhausting but fun weekend behind me.

I'm happy to report that this week, I mustered up the energy to make the front yard look halfway decent. I only inherited about 1/16 of my mother's green thumb so I'm not one of those women that get excited about landscaping and gardening... but I like our yard to look pretty so I got some low maintenance flowers and baskets from Lowe's on Monday.

Not too shabby eh? Now if I could just get someone to come and weed the mulch beds for me....

Callie and I went on a walk on Wednesday and found a lone duck in our neighborhood. I'm not sure what he was doing there as we don't have any ponds nearby but I don't think he'll be returning as Callie sure scared him off.

I told you last week that my feet and hands have been swelling. I've been noticing that it's difficult to get my ring off during the day and at night and I read online that some pregnant women have had to go to the ER to get their rings sawed off. That certainly frightened me and at this point I don't want to risk anything like that! I also don't want to look like a single pregnant lady... not that there's anything wrong with that, but Matt probably wouldn't be happy. So, I got myself a fake ring at Target (or Tar-get) to last me through the rest of the pregnancy. I"m just hoping it doesn't turn my finger green...

This weekend Matt and I went up to Cleveland to visit my parents' new house in North Ridgeville. It was definitely sad to say goodbye to our Avon Lake house that I spent age 8-18 (and college summers and random Holidays and weekends after) but I'm happy my parents have downsized and found a beautiful home. They have a pond in their backyard with a pretty fountain and it makes for a beautiful view from their deck! Plus, the pond is stocked with fish so my fisherman of a husband was stoked to try it out.

We went to dinner at this amazing Italian place in North Ridgeville called Nino's. They had really good pasta and HUGE portions - I had leftovers for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow!

Saturday evening we visited Lauren and Matt and got to see Adalyn for a bit before her bedtime. I can't get enough of that cutie pie and would love to see more of all of the Petruso's (*wink wink* nudge nudge Lauren!).

Ew, totally bad angle of me but cute of Adalyn!

Baby boy was kicking hard enough last night that Lauren got to feel his movement. I don't know if that helped with her possible baby fever... :)

I don't have many changes from last week other than that I think my belly has finally "popped". Some random lady at work said to me "oh, you don't even look pregnant from behind!" and I guess that's a compliment but I sure hope I never actually look pregnant from behind! It is nice to finally start looking pregnant and not like I just ate a really big lunch.

I've read that at this point baby boy is a pound and a half and starting to grow more baby fat. He's also growing more hair and starting to grasp his hands and wiggle his fingers and toes.

Yes, I know navy and black "clash". No, I don't care. I'm comfy :)

How far along? 25 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yep! Living in comfort
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Still pretty good 
Best moment of the week: Again, watching his movements on my belly :)
Miss anything? Being able to shave my legs in comfort
Movement: Yes!
Food cravings: All kinds of fruit
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: None
Belly button in our out? In
Rings on or off? Off - wearing my fakie
Looking forward to: The long Holiday weekend ahead - will hopefully be productive!

That's pretty much it for now. This weekend I'm hoping to get some cleaning and rearranging done around the house, so I hope to have some updates for you next week. Have a fabulous week!

24 weeks

Sorrryyyyy for being late this week! This weekend was kind of exhausting and I was extremely productive lazy on Sunday so had no time to blog. :)

Matt and I are determined to get into better shape. I mentioned to you before that I got a "new" treadmill... and Matt is doing the Spartacus Workout. We have a nice little setup now in our basement for our workouts. Callie likes to be lazy and watch us!

I went to Kelley's Island this weekend for my friend Erica's bachelorette party. I know what you're thinking... "Oooh, a visit to the islands, how fun and tropical!" Well no. This is Ohio, and in true Ohio fashion, it was 45 degrees and windy as heck this weekend! Ugh.

A few of us drove up early Saturday morning and got to the house around 11:30am. We ate brunch, lounged and played Cards Against Humanity, ate, and drank, and ate... I even had a virgin Pina Colada!

We tried to get motivated to play cornhole and some other lawn games but it was just too cold! One of the girls is basically a Kelley's resident so she took us on a driving tour of the island. We went to dinner at The Village Pump, an awesome restaurant with great seafood and delicious Brandy Alexander's.

The evening was 80's themed, and we were supposed to wear the tackiest dress we could get our hands on. I'm a little challenged at this moment in the dress shopping department, so I was unfortunately not able to find a maternity 80's dress. I managed to throw something together that was in my closet, though!  {Sorry, I don't yet have a picture of the whole group}

Kristen, Erica & Katie in their 80's dresses

We left early Sunday morning to get back to Columbus since a few of the girls were spending the day with their mom. (Don't worry, I'll see mine next weekend!)

In pregnancy news, my feet and hands have been swelling a lot. I'm trying to monitor how much salt I'm taking in and drinking lots of water and elevating my legs when I can... but sometimes my feet just don't want to cooperate and look like potatoes :(. My doctor told me it's quite normal, so I'm not too concerned...it's just frustrating to only be able to wear a few pair of shoes!

Baby boy is still a little wiggle monster. I still love feeling his kicks and jabs... sometimes they feel so strong and it makes me wonder what they will feel like a month or two from now! I read that he's just over a pound right now and at this point about 50% of babies born have a chance of surviving. While that is somewhat reassuring, we are still nowhere near being ready for him! His eyes are also developing and will open soon, and he's continuing to grow hair on his little head.

I know this is sappy, but sometimes I think about meeting him and I just start to cry. The hormones are in full swing but I have been very lucky up to this point with my pregnancy and I am just SO excited to meet our little man. It's just so crazy to sit and think that there is a living thing developing inside of me... and he will soon be here to change our lives forever! :)

Okay, enough of the cheesy talk...

How far along? 24 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yep! Living in comfort
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Still pretty good 
Best moment of the week: Watching his movements on my belly
Miss anything? Turkey sandwiches...again!
Movement: Yes!
Food cravings: Still watermelon
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: None
Belly button in our out? In
Rings on or off? On but fingers (& feet) are definitely swollen
Looking forward to: Working on the nursery some more and seeing my parents this weekend!

That's all for now! :)

23 weeks

I need to stop writing my blog posts on Sunday evening... I am exhausted! The week itself was pretty uneventful but this weekend was busy and lots of fun! :)

On Saturday afternoon, I helped throw a baby shower for my wonderful friend Angela and her husband Brent. Brent's mom had it at her home in Dublin and we had a beautiful day for an outdoor BabyQ! It was a casual couple's shower and turned out to be a great time.

Idea found here: http://pinterest.com/pin/283586107758491534

Idea found here: http://www.iheartnaptime.net/hair-bows-for-baby/

Idea found here: http://www.best-babysites.com/storage/5-bbq-080712.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1344085712048

Idea found here: http://pinterest.com/pin/32721534765165084/

Idea found here: http://pinterest.com/pin/283586107758601076/

Idea found here: http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2012/10/free-printable-whole-alphabet-banner.html

It was such a beautiful day and Angela and Brent are truly a wonderful couple. I am so happy for them and can't wait to meet baby Ava! (One of baby boy's future girlfriends :) )

Today was fairly low key since I had the shower yesterday and Matt had an all day fishing tournament and we were both tired! But, we mustered up the energy to put the crib together. Yes, we! I don't know how he could've done it himself... I was mostly the project manager but had to help Matt hold a few pieces while he screwed them in. I'm pretty proud of us because this is the fist furniture project where there were no curse words! It really wasn't too hard.

Callie helped...

I put the sheets on too... love how it looks! I'm really glad the crib is put together... now I can work on decorating baby boy's room! :)

In pregnancy news, I'm still feeling pretty great (*knock on wood*). I know my mom is going to be mad at me for bringing this up again, but I have to say with it being Cinco de Mayo today, I could really go for a Corono or a margarita. My mom said I sound like a raging alcoholic with all the complaining I do, but this not drinking thing is hard with all the socializing I've been doing lately! Plus, who doesn't enjoy a nice glass of wine after a long day of work? Ok, done complaining mom! :)

Baby boy has been sooo active. His kicks and punches are feeling stronger and stronger and I just love feeling him squirm around. He does seem to enjoy kicking my bladder a lot and that is not the best feeling, especially when it's full! I've started to even notice his movements on the top of my belly...it's so cool! It looks like I have a little alien moving around in there!

I had my doctor's appointment on Thursday and it was just a check up with the doctor. Baby boy is still doing great and his measurements and my weight gain (12 lbs... :/) are all normal. We talked about classes I can look into and he gave me the lovely gestational diabetes juice I have to drink for my next appointment in 4 weeks.

How far along? 23 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yep, and pretty comfy in them
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Still pretty good at this point, hope it stays that way!
Best moment of the week: Hearing baby boy's heartbeat on Thursday, love that sound :)
Miss anything? In the spirit of Cinco de Mayo... margaritas :)
Movement: Yes! Soo active
Food cravings: Fruit
Anything making you queasy or sick: No, still lucky
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: None
Belly button in our out? In
Rings on or off? On but fingers (& feet) are definitely swollen
Looking forward to: Working on the nursery

Have a great week!!