Entering the Home Stretch

I can’t figure out if my belly looks like it dropped in this picture or its the stripes of my shirt throwing off the visual.

As of today, the maximum amount of time I have left carrying this little baby is ten weeks, and I hit full-term in just six weeks. I already feel like those are such small windows of time, but I think they will go even more quickly because the holidays will be in full swing as of tomorrow! Pregnancy is still going fairly smoothly. I have trouble sleeping sometimes because my back or hips ache and I have to constantly flip to my other side. But there are other nights where there is no pain at all, either way I still get up about four times to use the bathroom. My back hurts the most when I sit on our couch, I think because it’s too soft and doesn’t provide enough support for me. I often ended up sitting on the floor. That is until I found this super awesome wearable heat pad.  I warm up the included pack in the microwave and it makes my back feel so much better! I had my glucose test last week and no gestational diabetes here! I was a little nervous. The stretch marks have come in full force, I guess there really is no escaping them. I have two patches of multiple marks on either side of my lower belly, they seem to be low enough to be hidden by my pantline.  Either way I keep hydrating with my oils and creams so hopefully they wont become really severe.  With my preparation time dwindling, my to-do list this weekend involves getting my hospital bag together. I made this list of things I think I may want/need:

chapstick

warm robe

slippers

(3) warm socks

(3) undies

My coming home outfit

premie size baby outfit

newborn size baby outfit

baby beanie

Nikon camera & bag

extra batteries + charger

(2) phone chargers

pads

face wash

face lotion

shampoo, conditioner

hairbrush & hair bands

body soap

lotion

toothbrush

toothpaste

makeup remover wipes

makeup bag with essentials

Any input on things I might be missing? 

This past weekend Michael and I put some more decorative touches on the nursery. It looks done, but I am honest enough with myself to know that no room is ever done being decorated in my house! I have a lot of ideas I’ve been toying with in my head; for now I’ll call it functionally finished and ready for occupancy.

I am thinking about removing the slender door that you can see next to the hippo. Behind that door are some deep built in shelves. I think they would look great exposed with colored baskets for organizing blankies, clothes, books, anything really! I’d also like to get this breathable crib liner.

I also want to put some small book ledges above the glider for easy access to bedtime stories. I love these from Ikea, I have seen them used a lot for books in kid’s rooms although they are made for spices. We just need to make the hour long trip to Ikea to pick some up. Luckily there are some amazing taco trucks that operate right across from Ikea that make the trip totally worthwhile.

We spent all day Saturday making the star baby mobile together. The majority of time was spent painting multiple coats of paint and glitter on each star. After that, the assembly was fairly quick. We used a wooden embroidery hoop (two pieces) and wooden stars from Michaels. Each star is hung with a stretchy jewelry cord instead of fishing line. I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get the kinks out of fishing line since the stars are fairly light and the line wouldn’t really stretch out straight. I plan on tying purple tulle all the way around the embroidery hoop, I got too anxious to hang it up but I think it would look better with full tulle coverage.

Here is a little closeup of the Maddie portrait I talked about months ago. I finished it a long time ago and never posted a picture of it! I love the colors, it’s one of my favorite things in the room.

Here are my stats for this week:

How far along? 31 weeks
How big is baby?  A coconut! 16-18 inches long, weighing in at over 3 pounds
Miss Anything? The ability to zip up sweaters/jackets. Wearing normal clothes.
Sleep: Hit or miss, having to drink water throughout the night or I feel like I’m dying of thirst
Movement: Super strong kicks and punches, she seems to be on a regular sleep/wake schedule
Food cravings: Fresh fruit and yogurt (mixed together)
Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of garlicky tomato sauce when washing the dishes from dinner.
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: Had my first non-exercise induced Braxton Hicks, kinda freaked me out
Symptoms: Severe heartburn
Belly Button in or out? I miss my old belly button. This one is looking really strained, it’s also lopsided.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood: Happy! Really giggly still, don’t know if I’ll ever be the same…
Looking forward to:  Still awaiting baby’s best friend to be born! Her due date is tomorrow.
Upcoming appointments/events: 32 week checkup next week

Nursery Sneak Peek

I’ve put so much thought on the design of this nursery. From color schemes and art work to more ambitious projects like ruffled crib skirts and baby mobiles, Pinterest has been faithfully by my side providing endless DIY ideas. Some of these I’ve wisely chosen not to go ahead with, not saying I didn’t think about making a ruffled crib skirt myself while constantly thinking about the $140 option that kept rearing its ugly, over-priced head on every nursery decor site I clicked. $140 for a crib skirt, seriously? This may be my first biological child but I am well aware that kids like to employ a cruel and unusual punishment in the form of a poo filled diaper flung across a room which inevitably leaves a spatter of that poo on everything in its path. I’ve even heard stories from my own friends who as babies smeared their own feces all over themselves, their crib and sheets. Pretty sure I would never pick up my dog’s turd with a wad of $100 bills nor will I let my baby smear their poo on the $140 crib skirt I was stupid enough to buy. Enough about poo for today, back to really cute nursery things! By the way, I haven’t even bought a crib skirt yet.

We are not quite finished with the nursery, but one side of it is at least presentable! Minus the fact that the little dresser still needs a changing pad to reach its full functionality potential, you can get a good idea of the direction this little girl’s nursery is headed.

The glider still has a tag on it being that we had just moved it into the room about ten minutes before I took this picture. But, honestly I still haven’t taken the tag off and it’s been like a week. I chose grey for the paint color because I wanted a nice neutral and I might be obsessed with grey overall. The dresser I found on Craigslist, which I posted about here, it was perfect because it was the exact hue of blue I wanted to include in the nursery regardless of if the baby was a boy or girl. We originally didn’t want a lot of pink in the nursery but I’m happy with the pops of pink the art work and some accessories have brought in. That will be the extent of that color though. Michael and I agree that we don’t want our girl drowning in a sea of pale pink that every “girl” baby item is made of. I’m sure you are wondering why the glider has been strategically placed in front of a door. Luckily that is the entry to our attic which we rarely need to access, and the glider is very easy to slide across the carpet if we need to get to the third floor. The real doorway to the nursery is the one to the right of the dresser. The rest of the nursery will be revealed as soon as we have a crib mattress and sheets! That along with a few more accessories and wall art, the space will be ready for move-in day whenever baby wants.

I am officially 7 months along or 28 weeks. I am really excited to be getting closer to my due date but my excitement was abruptly deflated last night when I discovered three tiny stretch marks. I’m still thankful to my Mama Mio tummy oil because I’m positive without it my stomach would be absolutely covered with jagged, red lines. I’m not sure when these marks popped up, I barely noticed them because they are on the bottom part of my belly which is hard to see; sad but so true. They are fairly small so I’m hoping with my continued oil and cream routine their size and overall number will stay minimal. I’m also kicking myself because I knew I hadn’t been staying as hydrated as I should be these past couple weeks. I’m back on track though and peeing five times a night to prove it.

How far along? 28 weeks
How big is baby? Eggplant; roughly 2.5 pounds, measures about 13.6 to 14.8 inches
Miss Anything? Being able to lay on my stomach or flat on my back
Sleep: Sleeping pretty well, just getting up a bunch of times to pee but easily falling back to sleep.
Movement: All the time
Food cravings: Not much of an appetite lately, the only thing that sounds really good is root beer, as usual.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing so far this week.
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: None this week
Symptoms: Really bad acid reflux, lower back pain
Belly Button in or out? Still in but stretched real tight!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood: Happy. Still getting the uncontrollable giggles.
Looking forward to:  Baby’s BFF who may be born any day now!
Upcoming appointments/events: Glucose test next week, 9/22: 30 week (Holy cow!!) checkup

Hello Third Trimester

Don’t mind the smudges all over my mirror selfie

Depending on what pregnancy/baby info site you refer to, the third trimester starts between 26-29 weeks. I’m not entirely sure if 27 weeks is  the magic number but let’s just go ahead and say I’m officially done with my second trimester! I just had a small panic attack realizing that “full-term” is only 10 weeks away. The baby room is almost done, we are going to pick up the ultra comfy glider we picked out from Babies-R-Us today! My parents graciously purchased it for us and we are so thankful to get it. That means all the big furniture pieces will be in place by tonight. We just need the add on items now: mattress, crib sheets, changing pad and cover, oh and a TON more clothes, specifically onesies.

The number on the scale is reading 22 pounds higher than normal these days, so I’m pretty sure I’ll end up gaining the max 35 pounds for this pregnancy. I’m not terribly worried about it. I try to focus on the way I look and how I feel rather than the number, while keeping myself in check. I eat pretty much how I normally would with the added bowl of cereal here and there. I always want cereal these days, I think I’ve bought three boxes in the past month and I’m the only person that eats it in our house. (Confession: I just had a bowl five minutes ago.) It was a bit of a struggle to be okay with the number consistently rising on the scale and this chart really helped me purge the thought that I’m solely gaining body fat.

In other news, the nerve pain in my back is gone! I woke up one day and it was magically gone. I can walk, jog, squat, actually move at a normal pace, and SLEEP!  I’m convinced the baby shifted her position and it alleviated pressure from the nerve. I don’t know if medically that’s really how it works, but in my mind, it’s exactly what happened!  I even walked 3 miles yesterday almost 100% pain free if it weren’t from the weird nagging cramp I kept getting in my butt cheek! Don’t ask why, I have no idea. I was still happy as a clam that I could walk normally! Now that it’s taken care of, I love my snoogle. It’s like a big nest and really does keep me comfy all night long now. It also prevents me from lying on my back which is a big no-no after 20 weeks of pregnancy due to the weight of the uterus cutting off blood flow. Do I even need to say that Maddie loves “her” snoogle just as much now as she did on day one?

My next doctor appointment isn’t for a few weeks (the 30 week mark) but after that one I will have a checkup every two weeks. I had a dream last night that I gave birth to a 9lb. 4oz. baby on December 12th, which is full term so that’s great, but that baby weight! I hope that part doesn’t come true. An early baby would be nice though, so that all of our family can meet her when they fly in for Christmas.  She has been kicking up a storm lately, it’s really weird to see my entire stomach move involuntarily. She wakes me up at night and sometimes I lay there for about an hour because she is consistently kicking. I even got kicked in the kidney awhile back and it hurt like hell. I didn’t even know that was possible, but it totally is. Maddie really likes to use my stomach as a pillow and I am waiting patiently for the day she gets kicked in the face. Is that mean? I just want to see her reaction!

How far along? 27 weeks
How big is baby? Rutabaga, possibly my favorite veggie comparison yet.
Miss Anything? I really miss sleeping through the night and not lying awake in pain.
Movement: Strong kicks! I can see my entire belly moving and last night I felt the first distinct jab from the outside. It actually felt like a body part touched my hand through my belly and it really freaked me out.
Food cravings: Root Beer (still!), cereal
Anything making you queasy or sick: If I sit down after I’ve eaten breakfast the lack of room in my abdomen makes me feel like all my food is coming up. It’s terrible.
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: Got my first braxton hicks yesterday on my long walk.
Symptoms: Peeing 3 to 4 times a night, swollen abdomen (ha!), acid reflux super bad
Belly Button in or out? Still in
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood: Currently feeling very sleepy; I rarely have to nap these days but this might just be the day.
Looking forward to:  Picking up the glider tonight! And getting really anxious to meet this baby.

25 Weeks

Snoogle Maternity Pillow being enjoyed by Maddie

Since my last post I invested in a Snoogle pillow which is basically an oversized body pillow with weird curves on it that are supposed to make you sleep easier in a pregnant body. I thought my side sleeping with a heavy belly is what has been causing my back and hip pain. Apparently, I was wrong. I’ve been informed that my nagging “hip” pain, that is really in my love handle area on my back is actually due to my sciatic nerve. And boy does it suck. Not only has my walk evolved into something similar to that of Lieutenant Dan, my jog is non-existent. Because the dull pain is always there, sometimes I forget about it and attempt a jog, usually going after Maddie, and immediately get a shooting pain that stops me in my tracks and forces me to grasp my lower back with such drama that I should probably be cast in an AARP commercial. Luckily, my good friend Bekah is the one who alerted me that my pain is not from sleeping in a weird position and is because of this big nerve that runs down your back to your toes. The only way to ease the pain is to do physical therapy, which in my case will be provided by Youtube videos of stretches specific to sciatica. I’m hoping I find a bit of relief soon because this is seriously disrupting my sleep and general ability to get around comfortably and not at a snail’s pace. Also, it makes my butt numb.

On the positive side of happenings, my Mom was nice enough to get me an early birthday present in the form of fall maternity clothes, yay! I was most excited to order the coveted Gap Maternity Jean. I had heard great things about them but couldn’t pull the trigger with the $70 price tag, I’m more of a $40 and below kinda girl when it comes to jean purchasing. I have tried on countless pairs of maternity jeans and 9 out of 10 leave you with a crotch that either looks ten times it’s normal size with a convenient “v” wrinkle showcasing its hugeness or an equally flattering camel toe. Couple this with your new mile long and double wide ass cheeks. Up until now I had been rocking my Old Navy skinnies which were comfortable and provided me with a normal looking tush. The only complaint I had was the full tummy panel was too tight and the demi-panel (that I have) cuts my belly in a weird spot that makes me look like I’m carrying a cone head baby. Fast forward to me receiving my Gap jeans in the mail (eek!), I ordered my pre-pregnancy size and they fit perfectly! Normal butt + normal crotch + non-pointy belly = success!

Gap Jeans + Old Navy Maternity Top

I had an ultrasound this morning (officially my last with the specialist!) and our baby has continued on with her beastly growth pattern. According to a few baby websites a fetus at 25 weeks should weigh about 1.5 pounds. Our girl weighs over 2 pounds which is the supposed normal weight (according to babycenter.com) of a fetus between 27-28 weeks. Our friends like to theorize that it’s because I eat so many eggs. Basically our baby is protein loading and pumping iron in there. Seriously though, Michael decided to stop the excessive trips to the grocery store and bought me two 18-packs of eggs recently, I only have three left.
That’s all the ultra exciting news over here! I had better get to my school work and I’ll leave you with some updated stats. I switched up the questionnaire a bit just because I liked the wording better, but its basically the same. Enjoy!

How far along? 25 weeks, 3 days
How big is baby? Just over 2 pounds, about 14 inches long. According to the fruit/veggie comparison she’s a cauliflower.
Miss Anything? I really miss sleeping through the night and not lying awake in pain.
Movement: She is moving all the time, her kicks are strong enough to startle me and get uncomfortable sometimes. Especially the rib shots.
Food cravings: Root Beer, mint chocolate chip ice cream
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing
Gender: Girl!
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Sciatic nerve pain, inability to hold down burps and trouble breathing because she is starting to crowd my abdomen.
Belly Button in or out? Still in
Wedding rings on or off? On, but a little tighter than normal.
Mood: Happy! Sometimes too happy; uncontrollable giggling and laughing so hard I cry.
Looking forward to:  Our baby girl’s friend (she just doesn’t know it yet) being born in the next month to six weeks!

I like to KICK!

22.5 week belly + I need a new phone cover

For those of you that don’t know, today’s post title is meant to be read in the voice of SNL character Sally O’Malley (Molly Shannon). If you have no idea what I’m talking about, click this, even if you do know what I’m talking about still watch the video because you know you want to. My belly is slowly looking more pregnant and less like I just scarfed down a burrito and a few tall cans. This reminds me that Oktoberfest is out and let me tell you that I am really, really sad about missing out on fall beers! I made Michael promise to stockpile some of my favorites so I can have them come January, no shame. Back to the belly! I have been faithfully slathering it with a combination of Mama Mio tummy oil and Palmer’s Stretch Mark Cream. So far, so good! I am almost certain that I don’t have stretch marks yet because of keeping my belly constantly hydrated, I know this because areas that haven’t got the royal stretch mark treatment have started getting the dreaded purplish-red indentations (mainly the boobs), I really didn’t think they would grow so much!

During the past few weeks, kicks from the baby have been getting stronger and stronger. I started feeling light flutters around 16 weeks and now the feelings are undeniable. Earlier this week I was lying down and actually saw my belly button bounce up and down from the baby’s movement; I quickly told Michael to put his hand on my belly and he was finally able to feel his first kick! He was ecstatic.

On Tuesday I had an appointment with my OB and I was really excited because they measured my belly for the first time. I’ve been waiting for them to do that, I think it’s cool because I always see them do it on TV shows combined with the fact that I’m just a nerd. Today I had another ultrasound with the baby specialist as I call him.  At my last ultrasound we did an anatomy scan and baby was fairly uncooperative. I was told during my next echocardiogram appointment they would try again to get the profile view of the face that was still needed. Well, guess who hid their face again? Everything else went well and looked “normal”, so I thought this would be my last ultrasound. But, my doctor wants to schedule just one more to track growth and heart development given my out of the ordinary medical history. At the ultrasound 4 weeks ago our girl was in the 70th percentile and this time she is in the 80th. She is estimated to weigh about 1 pound 4 ounces as of today. After each ultrasound the tech puts up a graph showing the baby’s growth progress so far, and the estimated continuation of growth. The tech left that screen up while she went to get the doctor so I was able to google a grams to pounds conversion and estimate what the baby will be if she is delivered at 40 weeks; 7 pounds, 11 ounces. Not too bad! I was a little worried because she is a bit bigger than normal, but I still feel safe in the 7 pound zone, the thought of a baby 8 pounds or over starts to make me nervous. I myself was 8 pounds, 6 ounces but I was also nearly two weeks late. Let’s hope our little girl comes a bit early!

I start my fall semester next Thursday so this weekend equals getting all my school supplies organized, it’s seriously a lot. When I was a kid my favorite new supply to buy was crayons so imagine how excited I am to buy new sets of colored pencils, sketch books, and paints for my color theory class? I’ll give you a hint, SUPER EXCITED! I had better cut it off here since Maddie is laying on my lap, subtly (not really) groaning and sighing because it’s her dinner time!
xoxo
Baby Bump Stats – I added an extra question, confession of the week because it’s just totally necessary. 

How far along? 22.5 weeks
How big is baby? 1lb, 4oz. About 11.5 inches long–a PAPAYA!
Total weight gain/loss: +12 pounds
Maternity clothes? A few pieces, my favorite is my pair of leggings. I also bought a bunch of long tees (non-maternity) from Target that I looove.
Sleep: Tossing and turning all night to find a comfortable position. I dread laying down at night because it makes my back hurt so much.
Best moment this week: Michael feeling his first kick
Movement: So much movement! It’s the best feeling.
Food cravings: Pumpkin beers, FAIL.
Food Aversions: I was going to heat up some leftover spanish rice but one whiff of it made me feel sick.
Gender: GIRL
Labor Signs: None
Pregnancy Symptoms: Serious backaches at night, making it really difficult to sleep. There is no comfortable position for me.
Belly Button in or out: In, not even close to being out (thank you lord!)
What I miss: Fall beers: pumpkin beers, specifically Pumpking and oatmeal stouts 😦
What I am looking forward to: My friend’s baby shower next week! We’re both having girls about 8 weeks apart.
Upcoming appointments/events: 9/4 with my cardiologist
Confession of the week: I got out of bed last night at 4am to eat Raisin Bran, and then watched QVC christmas sales until 5:30am.

Anxious and Excited!

As we enter into the 17th week of pregnancy I am absolutely dying to find out the gender. I have been slowly building a baby registry, that for now has items for both genders but I plan on making the proper adjustments once we find out if we are having a boy or a girl. There are still nine days until our ultrasound appointment which is primarily an echocardiogram to make certain the baby’s heart is developing normally. A few days ago I seriously looked into going to one of those stand alone ultrasound facilities that charge you about $50 for a 10-minute gender reveal ultrasound because I just couldn’t stand waiting another whole two weeks. Luckily, Michael talked some sense into me and I’m sticking to my original appointment. This upcoming visit will be the first time Michael will see the baby dancing around on the screen. Because of work, he has only been able to attend my first doctor’s appointment which was actually quite boring and consisted of obtaining a medical history and peeing in a cup. Needless to say, his second time should be way more exciting.

We’re also anxiously looking forward to our upcoming trip home to California! There are so many reasons to get excited: my sister’s wedding, seeing family, no humidity, mexican food, sourdough bread, in ‘n out, garlic fries… Ok it’s obvious that we get really excited about eating when we go home but we are SO deprived over here! I mean Connecticut has some goods things to eat, like lobster and, okay that’s the only thing I can think of so I just proved my point. But really the most important part of going home is seeing family and friends. I feel so lucky to see our families multiple times this year! Michael usually doesn’t get the luxury of that happening with his schedule but this year we’re really getting spoiled.

My pregnancy is still going really smoothly and dare I say, easy. My appetite has decreased recently and is pretty much back to pre-pregnancy status. Which is nice because I don’t wake up starving in the middle of the night. I can get by with three meals a day again! The only new symptom is stretching and pulling in my belly as it grows. Sometimes it gets uncomfortable but the pain is more annoying than seriously painful. Usually lying on the floor and doing a good belly massage helps. I didn’t think this was possible but I have to get a bigger bra, again. Thank goodness I didn’t stock up (I only bought two) on what I thought was my new permanent bra size because my body apparently has other plans. I also am the new owner of a belly band. They are so comfy and soft! I’m happy I can wear my old shorts again with the addition of the band. In other belly size news I am happy to say that as of today, I fit into my Maid of Honor dress for my sister’s wedding. I bought it in February (pre-pregnancy) so I have been waiting as long as possible to try it on to properly gauge belly size while still having enough time for alterations if needed.

Once we get back from California in mid-August we plan on getting into full fledge baby mode. I gave us the completion date of my birthday, October 6th, to have everything we need for baby and the room finished. This might seem early but I want to get everything done before Michael starts going out to sea again in the fall. I also want everything prepared in case of an early delivery, and even worse the possibility that Michael wouldn’t be present in that case.

I’ll leave you with a belly pic and my baby stats for the week!

How far along? 17 weeks
How big is baby? Quite a few comparisons this week including: sweet potato, onion or a pear; roughly 5 inches long
Total weight gain/loss: Gained 5 pounds
Maternity clothes? Just a belly band
Sleep: Sleeping okay as long as I have my “pillow fort” consisting of pillows under the belly, wedged behind the back and under the head.
Best moment this week: Brain storming baby names with Michael
Movement: A few very light flutters here and there
Food cravings: Horseradish which was satisfied with cocktail sauce and shrimp. Also mustard and pickles which came in the form of a double cheeseburger from Burger King 🙂
Food Aversions: Watching the hosts eating hot dogs on The Chew today was disgusting to me.
Gender: Hope to find out in 9 days!
Labor Signs: None
Pregnancy Symptoms: Belly expansion pains; if I get up too quickly or make sudden movements it really strains my belly and feels like I pulled or even tore a muscle.
Belly Button in or out: In, but looking really tight as my belly swells.
What I miss: Still beer. Also really sad I can’t drink mimosas with my sister while getting ready for her wedding
What I am looking forward to: The first time Michael sees the baby on August 1 at our ultrasound appointment.
Upcoming appointments/events: 7/30- 18 week appointment, 8/1- Echocardiogram and Ultrasound

Almost 15 Week Update

It’s been a busy past two weeks. Michael’s dad and brother arrived on June 22nd for a Warrior Dash build in Massachusetts. That night we went to Foxwoods casino for a high roller bowling session which was awesome despite the fact that my score fell in the 60’s (I’m better on the Wii). The boys left for MA the next day, and I had my last day of work on Monday. On Wednesday (26th) morning, I picked up my mom-in-law and niece from the airport and on Thursday we headed to NYC for a girl’s trip! We were lucky enough to see a real broadway show while we were there, Annie, and it was awesome. The actors, and especially such young actors were so talented I really was blown away. Plus, Jane Lynch plays the character Miss Hannigan and she is always hilarious. We spent most of our time walking the city, popping in and out of toy stores and even enjoyed a tour of Central Park via bicycle! We arrived back in CT on Friday for some relaxation and on Saturday I headed to Pennsylvania with some girlfriends to attend a wedding. Arriving back on Sunday I was greeted with all the boys who had finished up the build and subsequent tear down of the Warrior Dash race which was held on the 29th (Saturday). After a few more days of catching up with family, we once again had an empty house as of Wednesday (July 3rd). But don’t worry we filled it up again the next day with a 4th of July BBQ! All of us girls stayed inside out of the heat while the boys braved the sun while playing beer pong and corn hole in the yard. On Friday I dragged Michael and a few hungover boys to the beach where we escaped the heat with dips in the icy cold Atlantic. Which brings us to today, phew! I was going to stay inside and get some laundry and other chores done around the house, but I couldn’t resist the invitation to join some friends at a local Lobster Fest. We braved the 90+ temperatures for some fresh seafood, luckily there was a Dairy Queen in walking distance as we left the festival and you better believe we made the trek.

This week will be a bit more routine, until Friday when we make the trip to Annapolis, Maryland for the second wedding of the season plus a long anticipated reunion with some old friends. We’re even bringing Maddie along with us!

As for the pregnancy, everything is going really smoothly. I feel quite normal and I am really happy that I haven’t gained too much weight yet and my doctor is equally as pleased. This past week’s appointment was standard: pee in a cup, get weighed, listen to heartbeat, say your goodbyes! Easy. In a few weeks on August 1st we have a fetal echocardiogram/ultrasound. I’m hoping they reveal the gender at that appointment since the nurse said it will be a very in depth ultrasound. Even though the first look at the baby’s heart looked normal my doctor wants to take a second look at the more developed baby just to be sure. My belly picture this week had to be headless because the humidity had really taken a toll on my hair, you should really thank me for sparing you.

How far along? 15 weeks on Monday
How big is baby? Almost the size of an apple, about 4 inches long
Total weight gain/loss: Gained 1.5 pounds
Maternity clothes? None yet, but only a select few pairs of pants fit me.
Sleep: I’m sleeping about the same as the first trimester; peeing a few times a night, and sometimes just lying awake for an hour or two. But, I’ve adjusted to it so I’m not as tired the next day.
Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat with grandma-to-be, Linda, on the doppler during my 14 week appointment
Movement: None yet!
Food cravings: Nothing specific; I can’t skip breakfast in the morning or else I feel absolutely starving like I haven’t eaten in days
Food Aversions: Nope
Gender: Hope to find out in the next few weeks!
Labor Signs: None
Pregnancy Symptoms: More thirsty than I normally would be, and I get tired earlier in the evening. Other than that, nothing major!
Belly Button in or out: In!
What I miss: beer, tuna rolls 😦
What I am looking forward to: The first time Michael sees the baby on August 1 at our ultrasound appointment.
Upcoming appointments/events: 7/30- 18 week appointment, 8/1- Echocardiogram and Ultrasound