30 Weeks

I guess I can start to really think the delivery date will come sooner than later. It has been weird in the 20-some weeks range. It just seemed like way more time than it was. Now at 30 weeks things seem to be a bit more real and winding down. Winding down time wise, definitely not "symptoms" wise.

She is moving around a lot most days. I have noticed on days that I am home alone for the duration of the day she moves with less frequency or intensity. But as soon as Paul gets home and I am talking to him or him to me she moves a lot more. I guess she just likes to get her sleep in while I am not bugging her. At this rate though I should be able to yell at Stella all I want when she comes and she won't bat an eye.

Speaking of Stella she has become even more clingy. When we are sitting down watching tv she almost always has to be touching me in some way, even if it is just a paw against my leg. I have started to not even realize that she is touching me until I am sweaty and hot and I realize there is 60lbs of dog laying against me too.

My "favorite" symptom has been that after dinner at night I have to lay down because there is no room for the baby and a full stomach. It causes my ribs to ache really bad. I have to stretch out so that she can stretch out away from my ribs.

I feel like I should try to nap most days but then I just think that I am still going to be tired when I wake up and I never feel refreshed from a nap. I may not have a choice though.

These poor, poor people

Sure growing up we all say that when we get older and become adults we can do whatever we want, be whomever we want. Then some of us begin to realize that those things come with a qualification...it has to be with in reason of what you can do and what is best for you.

By now anyone that is going to know about it or see it has seen the train wreck of Miley Cyrus last night at the MTV VMA awards. People with a little more time on their hands may end up checking out her Instagram feed as well. If you do happen to check that out you will see a storm of bickering in the comments. None of course by Miley herself.

Yes, she is an entertainers and with that comes a different level of trying to gain attention in a world where everyone is looking for attention. But if you read the comments you find people saying that no one can give her crap about her performances or photos because she "is just being herself", that she is and entertainer, and finally that people should stop expecting her to be Hannah Montana. I'll give you the last one.

People grow up. I am not the same as I was at 12 and she isn't either. But do I think she is being herself no. She is being a version of herself that will get her talked about. Is that girl on stage the same one that goes to Christmas dinner with her grandparents? I surely hope not. So why is it that her public persona has to be that that says you can wear your bra and underwear out of the house (sometimes she skips the bra all together, okay most of the time) and in the name of "being you" can do whatever makes you feel "free".

There is society. I would be fired today if I stripped down and dry humped a coworker while making out with a teddy bear and doing lewd things with a foam finger. Yep, I am not a singer or performer but neither are 90% of the people she is advocating living how ever you want. Nope she isn't a role model and she may say she doesn't want to be, then stop throwing out advice. There are parents in this world that are actually trying to teach their kids what the world expects of them and this trash she puts out is 180 degrees different.

We don't have to be sheep, but we all must live and work with each other daily.

Lessons learned in pregnancy photos

Over the last 29 and a half weeks I have come to realize a few of "rules" in taking photos of a pregnant belly.

The first is the only one that bugs me really. The younger you are the more "okay" it is for you to put on a pair of underwear and MAYBE a bra, take a 'selfie' in the mirror and then post it to the internet. I am afraid that my computer has been flagged for inappropriate photos because of teen mom's disregard for clothing.

Next is that apparently there is a purpose for boudoir pregnancy photos that I am missing. I mean do you hang them up? Do you save them in a drawer your children don't know about? I just imagine that day in 50-75 years when your kids and grandkids are going through all your things after you pass away and there these photos are, mom in a white thong and dad fondling her. They will laugh but who has the heart to take them or throw them away?

 Finally I want to say, yes if you put your hands together in the correct way they can make a heart. Hearts mean love and you love your baby and your significant other. But could we find a new trend that isn't heart hands over the stomach? Taylor Swift, and any tween with an Instagram, posts at least one a day. I don't fault anyone for jumping on the trend. And I am sure that there are infant photos that I will copy we just need to keep things fresh from time to time also.

These are just observations not an effort to change the world. I first and foremost hope that everyone does what they need to enjoy their pregnancy and make it memorable. Today for me that includes trying to get this spastic little girl's movements on video. She has been crazy active and has had the hiccups numerous times. From todays movement she is still laying across my stomach. The video is not working to upload right now :(

Well, that could have been bad

It isn't fun to watch your body pass a weight that you had always said you'd never see again.

My view for the 5 minutes of actual relaxing

Then most days you feel your little girl kicking around and it is okay. Then there is the day you think you broke the bath tub.

I am on day 2 of getting a progressively worse stiff neck as the day goes on. According to Dr. Google it is my body's weight shifting to being more in my stomach. I get that. I also get that a warm bath is going to help it, even though I hate taking a bath. You know bathing in your own filth, it is boring, etc. Paul tells me that yes a bath is a good idea to loosen up my neck. He is a big proponent for a bath.

So, I get my work I had done and I wrangle Stella up the stairs and start filling the tub. All is well and I get How I Met Your Mother going on Netflix on my Kindle. Finally, I figure I should get in. Stella is sitting tub side staring at me. She always thinks she wants to jump in the tub. I get myself as comfortable as a pregnant woman who floats can get. I am finally paying attention to the show and I am confident Stella isn't going to jump in on me.

Then there is a loud pop, Stella freaks out and acts like she is going to jump in and rescue me. I checked to see if it was the stopper popping out of the drain, no. I look to my left and it looks like the caulking detached from the wall. Hell no. I jump up and rant to Stella.

I end up calling Paul, thankfully he didn't answer when I first called him because I was on the verge of tears that my fat ass was collapsing the tub. When he called back he told me that the caulking has always looked like that. He wasn't sure what the noise was but I didn't break the tub.

I guess I'll track down the heating pad and have a less relaxing experience than a bath.

28 weeks but measuring at 30

I had my 28 week appointment on Monday. I also had to do the glucose testing. First thing's first, it was not torture. You are allowed to eat with in the few hours before the test and you don't have to chug the juice, 5 minutes is plenty of time to drink that little amount. If you don't make yourself fast then it really isn't bad. Though maybe if you are severely diabetic it could effect you a lot worse. That is to say I tested with in normal range! And my
blood panel was normal too. So my bruising is just normal me.

The doctor kept the Doppler on my stomach for a little longer than normal while she talked to me so it was nice to get to lay there and listen to her. When she measured my stomach she said that she was measuring just over 2 weeks ahead of her age. She asked if her father was tall (yeah I know it doesn't look like height would come from me too). I said yep he is tall and so are her aunts and uncles and grandfather. I definitely hope she is going to be a tall girl. I loved outgrowing my mom.

In other "exciting" news our stroller and car seat came in last night and I got it put together today. Put together is a strong word to use though. From the size of the box that they came packed together in I figured there would be more assembly to the stroller. The car seat of course was just in one piece. Upon opening the stroller box I found that I just had to snap it open and snap the wheels into their places. The directions say that only adults should put together the stroller. I'd be scared if a child couldn't figure it out. And despite people complaining that their one handed fold down stroller really isn't easy this one is beyond simple to one handed fold. Now I see why the Dutchess and Duke bought this for Prince George who needs super expensive when this is justas good. I of course picked out the red one though.

Glucose testing

Today is my glucose testing. Just the one hour one but I am still nervous for it. I don't have anything that leads me to believe that I should be worried but it is just one of those things that I really don't want to deal with. And then there is the fact that I have my normal appointment in the middle of the appointment and I will get weighed. Seeing those numbers sucks. But after that is done I get to go in and hear baby girl's heart beat so that is a very nice thing. I wonder if it will be any different since I will have just drank the glucose drink. I am pretty sure that I won't be getting any more ultrasounds but I really wish I was. It is a long time to wait from 20 weeks to 40 weeks/birth day to see her again! But after the crap that has happened with the car there is no option of going to get the elective ultrasound. Oh well! Patience. Mine are almost getting better now. I was hoping that pregnancy would help me with how bad my patience is and I think it has so far.

It is easy to feel patient when you don't feel ready in the least. Personally if my due date were tomorrow I think we'd be fine but there is the whole thing that we have no crib or anything yet. I almost have the nursery painted so that is a plus but not exactly functional. But we have 12-ish weeks to go. We'll get there.

I may have patience in waiting to meet her but I don't when it comes to what if we don't have the things she needs. I have this nightmare that I get to our shower and everyone has bought the same gift and we have 50 burp cloths and nothing that the baby needs. I am so excited for what Sarah and Jennifer are planning and getting to see everyone that can make it to the shower. A shower to me is not about being greedy for gifts but the honest truth is that a shower is about celebrating and then about helping out with the new baby. Sure I'd love to be a Kim Kardashian and be able to say 'no gifts just donate to this charity' but that isn't reality for us. Not even close.

*And I passed the glucose test!*

26 Weeks and learning her jump punches

I have been taking a photo every two weeks. Maybe if I actually took one every week I'd see the difference but really I think that two weeks shows it a bit better. Everything is going normally as far as the doctors are concerned and I don't think I am feeling anything I am not supposed to. I still get a little paranoid when I don't feel her moving for a little while. Then I tend to realize it is about the same time every day in like the 8 a.m. hour so I think that is when she finally sleeps. Other than that she is so active. Paul and I are now convinced that she is way more like him in the not sitting still area. I can't quite pin point what this new rolling thing she does is but I don't think it is hiccups because it isn't a steady feeling and it isn't a single kick or punch. Actually maybe she is like me and practicing her jump punches because it feels like a roll then a quick one two kick using both feet.

I have finally had two nights in a row of decent sleep so that has been really nice. I had a few bad nights and I thought that it was going to be a permanent pattern. I don't know that I have really had any cravings yet. I have had things that sound really good but if I don't get them I am fine. Like the other day I wanted the Loft House sugar cookies from WalMart and I found a recipe. The cookies turned out fine but I messed up the frosting by adding too much milk and ended up attempting to make powdered sugar, which worked but I didn't sit in the kitchen with the food processor going for long enough to make it fully powdered it was about half way there. At one point Sarah looked at me and asked if it would have just been easier to go buy the cookies. I have really enjoyed chicken salads of different varieties and they more often than anything else sound good. I could probably eat a fuji apple chicken salad from Panera every day if it was financially responsible. 

Going to give this a shot...again

Hello! I am going to give this blogging thing a shot again. I haven't really publicly done it since I first started to train for 1/2 and full marathons. But now I'd like to share and I'd like it to not be constantly over Facebook. It annoys me as much as anyone but with only having one family member in the immediate area of our house I know that everyone else would like to be up to date.

So, up to date, I am 26 weeks pregnant with a little girl. I have crossed the threshold to having something hurt every day. But also I am feeling her so frequently I tend to ignore a lot of other things until they are unignorable (yep made that up). I am pretty sure that even though 99% of wives tales were true in telling the gender before we saw the gender that the one about carrying high or low is not true. Baby girl loves to hang out very low and that is where the main part of my bump is. She is now responding to pressure so when Paul puts his head on my stomach she will kick it. Stella also enjoys laying with her head on my stomach. She doesn't so much get that she shouldn't stand on my stomach though. So it is in my best interest if people don't try to scare her (Paul) because that is her safe spot apparently. Patti seems to know what's going on but isn't as overly protective or clingy as Stella has gotten. Even if she hasn't been out in the morning yet Stella will stay in the bedroom with me while I get ready for work and Paul goes down to make breakfast. Drives me a little bonkers because a couple times it has lead to me cleaning pee at 6:30 a.m.

I am starting to feel a little rushed just because it feels like we have nothing ready. Yeah I know I only start the 3rd trimester next week, but since Paul is building the crib from scratch and the nursery still has all our random stuff in it, it doesn't feel like I have done much. Also for how sore my feet and back get I would like to get the painting done before I am a lot bigger.

So that's where I am. Tomorrow I'll take the 26 week photo and post it here.