{Catching up} The Bump Slideshow!

Put together this quick little thing.  We got a little lazy at taking pics towards the end, and the last two are completely different.  But that's okay.  Here's me growing with Asher. =]

31 weeks

How far along: 31 weeks (!!!!how??!!!)

How big is baby: 3-3.5 lbs, about 16 inches

Total weight gain: Oh, some.  Leave me alone.

Maternity clothes: Are evil.  Am I the only one who has to constantly pull up maternity jeans?  It's like, I wash them and they fit okay for 2 hours, then they get all baggy in the legs/butt and I'm just pulling on them every 5 minutes.  I've kind of just switched to leggings as much as possible.  They stay up. =]

Sleep:  It's been good lately.

Best moment of the week: Nothing profound really, just enjoying the little things of pregnancy that I'll miss.  Such as a little random bulge sticking out (foot? knee? elbow? 

bum?) and me gently pushing it back into place.  =]

Food cravings:  Nothing really.  I do love me some dark chocolate daily though. 

Food aversions: Nothing.

Symptoms: Been a bit sore recently.  Trying hard not to complain. =]

Movement: Oh yeah.  Sometimes I'm worried that my skin/uterus won't stretch enough and he/she will punch through.  This kid is strong!

Gender: Surprise!

What I’m looking forward to: Newborn snuggles.  And birth.

What I miss: My normal person jeans.  Could be awhile. ;]

Next appt:  Next week.

Reading: Not childbirth related, but child related; Give Them Grace.  Reading slowly, along with the hubs, then discussing the chapters.  So far, it's good.  And a little intense.  Child-rearing is not for the faint of heart.

28 weeks

How far along: 28 weeks!

How big is baby: Something like 2 - 2.5 lbs.  Aww. 

Total weight gain: 24 lbs.  I did guess about my pre-pregnancy weight.  Let's hope the guess was low. ;]

Maternity clothes: Jeans absolutely.  I also *heart* leggings and tights.  And of course the maxis.

Sleep:  Getting a little harder to get comfy.

Best moment of the week: We think we have a name for both genders.  No, we're not telling. =]  Also, learned that babe is head down!  Woohoo!

Food cravings:  Meh.

Food aversions: Nope.

Symptoms: Just feeling heavy I guess.  I know, I'm going to get heavier!  Haha.

Movement: All the time.  And most recently my hipbones have been sources of enjoyment.

Gender: It's either a boy or a girl.  =P

What I’m looking forward to: Newborn snuggles.

What I miss: Putting on shoes & socks with ease. ;]

Next appt:  November.  And all my appts from here on out are scheduled.  We're getting so close!

Reading:  Baby Catcher, and I'm so enjoying it!

23 week update!

How far along: 23 weeks!

How big is baby: Um, pretty big.  But not nearly as big as he/she will get.  =]

Total weight gain: We shall see on Monday.

Maternity clothes:  My jeans that I wear most days are getting tighter.  Especially after stuffing myself at birthday parties.  I might have a couple more normal pairs in my closet that are bigger from postpartum shopping last time. ;]

Sleep:  Love it.

Best moment of the week: Still just loving the movement.  Baby is so dance-y.

Food cravings:  Nothing related to pregnancy, everything related to it being fall.

Food aversions: Nada

Symptoms: Got a pretty lame leg cramp the other night.  Luckily my hubs helped me stretch it and we put a hot rice pack on it.  But, ouch!

Movement: Yesyesyes!  And for the record, 2.0 is a big fan of pumpkin spice coffee, just like mama.

Gender: It's a mystery.

What I’m looking forward to: I'm excited to reach 24 weeks. (Viability.)

What I miss: Okay, bending at the waist without grunting.

Next appt:  This week!

Reading:  Same as last time.  And of course the occasional flip through of '20,000 Names for Baby'. =] 

21 Week Update

My lack of posting on here lately is so unfortunate.  I so enjoy blogging, and I hate getting into these slumps where I just feel like there's nothing worth writing about.  I have a few ideas jotted down on a sticky note on my desk, so I can tell you that a few posts will be coming at least! =]

For now I'll give you a quick pregnancy update.  And, as usual, I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going.

How far along: Today I am 21w5d.

How big is baby: I'm not sure if this is when baby weights begin to vary?  One thing I read said 7 oz and another said 11 oz.  The fruit is a banana.  Hehe.  About 7 inches long. 

Total weight gain: I think about 12lbs.

Maternity clothes:  Mostly just wearing versatile clothing.  Flowy maxi skirts/dresses, leggings, low-rise jeans and stretchy knit tops.  My 2 pairs of maternity jeans still don't fit quite right.  My butt doesn't fill them out... yet. =/

Sleep:  Quite good!

Best moment of the week:Being able to watch baby dance from the outside.  Seriously??***Edited to add: Ben felt a kick for the first time this week! =]***

Food cravings:  Nothing really.

Food aversions:Nothing again.  I'm so boring.  Haha.

Symptoms: Oh ya know, just sporting a round belly and peeing every hour or so.  That kind of thing.

Movement: SO. MUCH!  And I absolutely love it.  I'm not sure if I just don't remember with Ziva, but I'm pretty sure this baby is so much more hyper.  I hope that doesn't translate to high strung at birth.  Ziva was the most chill baby, and I'm hoping for a repeat.  A girl can dream, right?

Gender: Still not finding out.  It's kind of fun knowing that we could know now though. =]

What I’m looking forward to: I'm excited that at my next midwife appt she can listen to the baby using a fetoscope (fetoscope /fe·to·scope/ (fēt´ah-skōp)

1. a specially designed stethoscope for listening to the fetal heart beat.)

instead of the doppler.  Baby is getting so big!

What I miss: Nothing.

Next appt:  Mid September.

Reading:  I added this little bullet myself.  =]  It seems like a fun addition.  Anyway.  I'm currently reading The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, MD and Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein.  I'm not very far into either book, but I am enjoying them both so far.  Oh, and not a book, but we did watch a documentary I brought home from the lending library at our midwives' practice.  It was called Laboring Under an Illusion.  It contrasts media childbirth (showing different clips from movies and tv shows) with the real thing, and it was pretty good.  It surprisingly gave us a lot of laughs and was really fun to watch together.  But, a lot of things are really fun when you do them with your best friend. =]

19

19 weeks!  One more week and we're halfway to our due date.  This is crazy to me, I still feel like we just found out we were expecting another little bundle of love.  I also feel like my belly looks the same in every picture, and perhaps one week it will just pop right out!

How far along:  19 weeks!

How big is baby:About 6 inches long and 1/2 a pound!  Fruit comparison is a mango.

Total weight gain:  Not sure at this point.

Maternity clothes:  Not really, a lot of my pants are still low enough to work.

Sleep:  Yes, please.

Best moment of the week: Feeling kicks some. =]

Food cravings:  Nothing really.

Food aversions: It just depends on the moment.  Nothing in particular.  I did buy ground coffee this week when I got groceries though.

Symptoms:Normal stuff.  Haha.

Movement: Yep. =]

Gender: We'll see - when baby arrives.

What I’m looking forward to:  Feeling lots of movement. 

What I miss: Nothing.

Next appt:  End of August.

Mama Time

I'm fortunate enough that my little lady still takes daily naps. Not super long naps, but everyday after lunch she lays down for an hour to an hour and a half.

I try to avoid using this block of time to do household chores. I find that having mama time while she naps leaves me feeling a lot more refreshed and ready to tackle the afternoon when she wakes up. This helps me to be a more gentle, patient, loving mama.

Here are some things I do to relax in the afternoons:

- Write in my prayer journal.

- Paint my nails.

- Read/write blogs.

- Watch hairstyling tutorials on youtube then try them out.

- Read books.

- Knit outside.

- Watch an episode of a show or part of a movie while knitting. I usually choose something girly that I know the hubs would rather not watch.

- Craft something I don't want "help" with. ;)

- Browse Pinterest or chat on Facebook.

- Slowly enjoy a hot drink, while it's still hot.

- Nap. (I did this everyday early in pregnancy - I was beat!) If being woken up makes you grumpy, set an alarm for a few minutes before you expect your little(s) to wake up.

- Sew. A partial project or a simple project that can be done in an hour.

Oh and also, here's my belly.  A few days late, but that's okay!
 

Each Friday I can hardly believe another week has gone by.  This pregnancy is so fast so far.  (Have I said that already??)  We're 3 weeks away from the half-way point!  Amazing!  I still feel like I just found out, and I still forget I'm pregnant some days.  I have been feeling a little movement here and there though, so that helps remind me. =]  Ben is (im)patiently awaiting his turn to feel a kick.  

What do you like to do during your mama (or daddy) time?

16 Weeks

This week I thought I'd include a fun little survey to let you know where I'm at, pregnancy-wise!

How far along:  16 weeks!

How big is baby: Size of an avocado I guess. lol.

Total weight gain:  Something like 12 lbs, but I don't believe it. =P

Maternity clothes:  Some.  I slipped into some maternity jeans this afternoon and it was like, "ahhhh. comfort."

Sleep:  It's alright.

Best moment of the week: We had our 16 week appt on Friday and all is well!  2.0 was wide awake with a hb of 160 bpm!

Food cravings:  Ummm.  Pretty much whatever someone mentions when I'm hungry.  Not always a good thing...

Food aversions:  Haven't been drinking coffee regularly since early on.  I'll have it now and then in social situations and I still like iced coffee but for some reason hot coffee doesn't appeal to me.  Weirdness.

Symptoms: I pee quite a bit.  haha.

Movement: Yes!  I've been feeling it and doubting it for awhile but I'm finally convinced.

Gender: Don't know, and aren't planning on finding out this time.  The differences and pregnancy tells me boy, and we have more boy names on our list so that would be nice.  lol.

What I’m looking forward to:  Feeling lots of movement.  Looking definitely pregnant and not just chubby.  lol.

What I miss: Nothing.

Next appt:  End of August.

last week and this week

This thing is growing!!

2nd Trimester!

So I just figured out that I'm in my 2nd trimester today.  Time is going so fast!  (For now...)  Some folks say 12 weeks, others 14, but I always heard 13w3d so I'm going with that. ;]



Loving my little bump. =]  When people see me in real life, they're all, "Hey!  You don't look as big as you do in your picture!"  I assure you that if I lifted my shirt up you would see the real thing.  I just try not to do that in public.  Why it's different to post a picture on a public blog?  I don't know.  Don't judge me.

So as far as pregnancy stuff goes...  things are going swimmingly.  I'm feeling really great most of the time.  I feel hungry more often, of course, and I get tired more easily.  Growing a baby is tough work!  Overall I'm so very thankful for how this pregnancy is going so far.  I feel absolutely blessed in so many ways.

12 weeks!

We had a midwife appointment today and it was quite lovely.  We heard our sweet baby's heartbeat for the first time.  I had different emotions this time, happy of course, but with Ziva I cried, this time I just started giggling.  I think it had something to do with looking down at Ziva standing on the floor giving me this big goofy grin while our midwife had a doppler on my belly.  So much fun.

After our appointment we took a nice bike ride.  Which was kind of a miracle that it even happened.  Backstory... our appointment was at 9am.  We live 30 mins from the office.  We woke up at 8.  Oops!  It was also pouring rain.  I had given up on the bike and picnic plan, but the hubs didn't!  In the 30 min we had to get ready, I showered, he cooked eggs, I got the girl ready, he put bikes on the car (in the rain) and I packed a picnic lunch.  I was a little proud of us.  ;]

So anyway, nice bike ride, but it was a bit of a workout for this mama!  Then a yummy picnic lunch.  Finished off with a walk around Target and then ice cream on the way home.  Yeah.  We go all out. ;]

Getting Back Into Crafting

It feels soooo good to be back into regular crafting. Why did I stop you may ask? Camp. I know I live at camp year round and it would be very easy for me to walk upstairs to my apt and craft, but I just felt so antisocial. So here I am again, covered in sawdust and paint, and searching ravelry for my next knitting project. =] Bliss.

Also, my mom and I are thinking of starting up a monthly (or bi-weekly) Knitogether. (I came up with that myself. =D) I would so enjoy sitting around with a bunch of ladies, just chatting and knitting and perhaps having some snacks! So that's in the works. I think it would be fabulous.

DH, BIL and I went to the "Maine Farm Days" over the weekend. I kind of just tagged along because there was nothing to do at home... and in hopes of seeing some alpacas. I was in luck! They had two crias (babies) there, and I decided that semi-posing with them would be a good opportunity for a belly pic! So here it is! 28 weeks, 1 day.

Isn't he the cutest??

Last week I was able to visit with my 90 (?) year old great-grandmother and she gave me a sweet quilt for the baby. It was made by one of our relatives and she bought it from her. She is my last living great-grandparent, so it's really special that we got a gift for the baby from her. =] She said the fabric was very old - I am thrilled that my daughter owns some vintage Strawberry Shortcake!!

And of course... fresh off the needles, a bunny hat! =] It's size 3-6 months. And sooo cute!

Maybe I'll make some matching socks to go with it! =]

Birthdays!

Yesterday afternoon I realized that our nephew's birthday is tomorrow and we didn't have a present for him. Now keeping in my tradition of making gifts, I was able to make him this colored pencil roll completely from scraps from my fabric stash. Fabulous!

All rolled up and ready for travel. =]
Ready to use! Of course we bought him colored pencils to go with it and a doodle pad!

Andddd... today we're 18 weeks! I had a trim today, and during the shampoo, babe was kicking away! Evidentally he or she enjoys the shampoo as much as I do. =]

Here's the belly pic! I have a posed one, but I like this one Ben took when I wasn't looking better. It's more natural. I guess posing with emphasis on your stomach is weird other than at times like this! =]