38 weeks

how far along: 38 weeks!

total weight gain: 36 lbs, which is where i think ill be staying... my belly hasnt grown in almost two weeks and i actually lost a pound and a half between my last two appointments (that were only 5 days apart). this is semi concerning to me (and my doctor) but they are monitoring things and we will see if anything has changed at tomorrows appointment. the doctor said they need to monitor the growth on a two week basis, so next tuesdays appointment if i havent grown or gained any weight, or if the baby isnt growing then she will induce me. but she for some reason doesnt think i will make it to then (im thinking if im not growing and the baby continues trying to grow, my water will inevitably have to break, right?)babys size/development this week: baby should be almost 7 lbs and 19 inches long, approx the size of a leek. i love what the description says on baby center: "we know what youre thinking- 'theres no way my baby is the size of a leek, i feel ginormous!' well as much time as we spent at the farmers market and on the USDA site, it wasnt easy to find the perfect produce for every week of development. the leek is just an approximation". no kidding... seeing as how i have no idea what some of the produce is youve compared my little one to along the way. unfortunately (or fortunately for my lower body parts...) hank is only measuring just over 6lbs. along with my weight loss/no belly growth, hank only went from approx 6lbs at my 36 week appointment to 6lbs 4oz at my 37 week appt (5 days later). the ultrasounds at this stage in the pregnancy can be off by 15% or more, so that weight difference could be greater or less than they say.   
maternity clothes: yeah im still wearing them, nothing new... this question is getting old. i cant wait to NOT wear maternity clothes anymore (i dont have a lot of options and im not going to buy anything else). everything at the stores is so cute right now and i just want to shop!
miss anything? i miss a sense of normalcy.... which i know will never return to what it was, but im excited for the "new normal".
food cravings: im not craving anything, including food. im not hungry, i cant eat much without feeling full.
anything making you queasy or sick? no
sleep: im not sleeping very well... still not needing to pee at all times of the night (although i was awake at 3am the other night and decided i would go to the bathroom... didnt wake up because i had to pee though). i wake up and find myself sleeping on my stomach (how is this even possible?!) and then i get scared that im squishing hank. i toss and turn, and am most comfortable on my back, although i know thats not great either. every night i fall asleep hoping ill get a good nights sleep, and that my water will wait to break until the am so that im not exhausted for labor haha.     
best moment of the week: we had a high risk ultrasound last monday. sorry for the vagueness... ill write more about it in another post at some point (everything is ok). after meeting with three doctors that day, we got a lot of good news that relieved our anxiety. last weekend into monday was a roller coaster to say the least, but it was by far a really great day overall.
nursery: ready and waiting
weddings rings on or off? back on. hands feel less swelled than usual. 
movement? a little less than i am used to but i know there isnt much room for hank to move around so its understandable. i get nervous when i dont feel it move for awhile and relieved when i finally do.
labor signs? nothing substantial. doctor checked me last monday and i was "thinning" and 1cm dilated. a lot of pressure and some cramping, but no real contractions. braxton hicks contractions started again though which i havent had in a few weeks. 
weird pregnancy thing of the week: ive been getting hot flashes around noon/1pm every day. a wave of heat just comes over me and my face turns bright red and i get hot and sweaty. fun stuff.
daddy is feeling: "old". today is daddy's 30th birthday, happy birthday! apparently hank didnt care to make an appearance today, which is nice since daddy was a little bit hungover.
mommy is feeling: as always im anxious... im ready to meet this little person, excited to find out whether hank is a boy or a girl (i still think girl), ready to figure out what this new way of life is going to be like! our bags are all packed and ready to go... i just hate this whole unknown/waiting game! lets get this show on the road haha.
workouts this week: just more walking this week. havent been back to the gym since before the boston marathon (im pretty sure the lady that works the desk M-F mornings, who by the way is obsessed with my baby, probably thinks i went into labor). i might go tomorrow am before my doctors appointment, but its been so nice in the mornings that i have really loved just walking. i also mowed the lawn yesterday, which ty and my mom werent all too pleased with (and yes, it was a push mower). i dont feel like i need to restrict myself if things feel good. sometimes walking is uncomfortable with all the pressure and the random jabs on whatever nerves run up and down my insides at times, and if i get uncomfortable or feel pain i stop. i dont think im pushing it, and im not going to just sit around on the couch all day just because im pregnant. but yes, i still told my mom that the dog moved his dog crate down to the basement before the birthday party, and i purposely asked my father in law to reach on top of the cabinets to get a bowl down so that my mother in law wouldnt freak out about me climbing on the counter to get it myself. i do a lot of things i shouldnt, whatever.
looking forward to: another ultrasound tomorrow am (were having weekly ultrasounds from here on out). my doctor wants to measure my amniotic fluid level and if it is low we just might get to meet hank sooner rather than later!

37 weeks- full term!

whoa.

how far along? 37 weeks
total weight gain: 35 lbs
babys size/development this week: at wednesdays ultrasound they said hank weighs just at about 6 lbs (right on track). my belly is still measuring about an inch or two small. babycenter.com says hank is the size of a stalk of swiss chard... back to the unknown vegetables. ill go with tiffanys comparison- a watermelon! yum! and large. my belly definitely feels heavier to carry around and is constantly hard.
maternity clothes: yup. and im running out of options of things to wear but im not going to buy anything else. i cant wait to get back to my closet full of spring/summer clothes!
miss anything? being able to bend over and comfortably tie my shoes (glad im mostly wearing flip flops and clogs now), my ankles... yup, swelling started this week (as the weather has gotten warmer and walking around a lot more)
food cravings: avacado and coffee!
anything making you queasy or sick? the noro virus made me very sick last sunday night. gross.
sleep: sleeping with my legs/feet propped up now since the ankle swelling began. oh the joy (but i am comfortable sleeping on my back, which i probably shouldnt do but whatever, doing it anyway)
best moment of the week: both my work and tys work threw us surprise baby showers on the same day!! mmmmmm cake. and being able to see hank moving all around on the 3D/4D ultrasound... kept moving the hands in front of the face like it didnt want us to peek in on him/her, but we got a few squished looking pics, and i fell in love with the fat chubby fingers.
nursery: all clean and ready!
weddings rings on or off? wedding band on, sometimes
movement? theres not a whole lot of room for hank to move around anymore so any and all movement is magnified by a trillion. a lot of it is now pretty uncomfortable.
labor signs? other than the contractions a few weeks ago, nothing new. and i definitely dont think i have "dropped" yet. doctor said i am about a fingertip dilated on wednesday, didnt say anything about efacement, which is fine since i dont really know what that is anyway.
weird pregnancy thing of the week: i know the ankle swelling isnt abnormal at this time but my right ankle is definitely more swollen than the left. so i think thats weird.
daddy is feeling: "ready.... for now. that will change once the baby is here im sure".
mommy is feeling: anxious, excited, nervous, ready to be done.
workouts this week: is violently vomiting a workout? i say yes! burned calories and got rid of everything in my body. win (barf, quite literally). i walked a little bit this week but with the swelling in my ankles towards the end of the week i decided to stay off my feet and eat pop tarts. heh.
looking forward to: tomorrow.

36 weeks

(post originally written on sunday afternoon)

complete with chips photo bomb

how far along? 36 weeks
total weight gain: i had mini pumpkin muffins for breakfast, mac & cheese for lunch, ice cream for snack and french fries for dinner... im kinda afraid to look. (related: so healthy)
babys size/development this week: baby weighs almost 6 pounds (we will find out for sure wednesday), and is gaining approx one ounce per day. at the end of this week baby will be considered full term!
maternity clothes? nothing is comfortable anymore. id love to spend the rest of this pregancy in a baggy tank top and sweatpants.
miss anything? this list keeps growing and growing... but mostly now i just miss my pre baby body (and mind)
food cravings? i think im just craving food in general right now.
anything making you queasy or sick? nope
sleep: ive been going to bed way too late this week and waking up at 6am on my days off. rude.
best moment of the week: finding the assholes that bombed the boston marathon finish line
worst moment of the week: (new question, hopefully only for this week) see add on note below
nursery: all clean and ready for baby!
wedding rings on or off? i took off my engagement ring and am wearing my wedding band (so i dont look like a single pregnant lady haha)
movement? i consistently have a foot protruding out the side of my belly. its fun to watch this amoeba squirm all around in what little space he/she has left (how about you just jab that leg hard enough to break my water sometime soon... k thanks)
weird pregnancy thing of the week: (this might be weird tmi, sorry) a few months ago i had a weird small skin tag develop under my arm. it got kinda painful at times because it would get stuck and feel like it was going to get ripped off. anyway, i noticed in the shower a few days ago it was gone. im kinda grossed out its like in my bed or something. pregnancy is so weird.
daddy is feeling: hungover. he and jamie had a little too much fun last night. (dont get me wrong, i like to have some drinks and have fun occasionally, but i dont miss that feeling AT ALL)
mommy is feeling: im actually feeling like im kinda hungover from the past 8 plus months. its so strange thinking back now on all of this... august seems like such a long time ago, while at the same time it seems like it has gone by so fast. im anxious and nervous and excited and and and.... and im definitely nesting. who vacuums the cement basement floor? and irons curtains...
workouts of the week: just a lot of walking this week
looking forward to: having our last ultrasound on wednesday... i cant wait to see the baby one last time before he/she arrives! also, only 12 days (or less) of work left!

ok so back to the "worst moment of the week": sunday night as we went up to bed i started to feel kinda sick. i had told ty i felt like i was holding back trying not to throw up (i hate being sick. despise it, so i try and try not to let it happen). i just tossed and turned til about 10:45pm and then finally figured i was going to be sick and pretty much spent the next 5 hours in the bathroom. (the only positive is that i got rid of all the junk food i ate sunday, win!).

i would return back to bed and shake uncontrollably. i think i was more scared than anything. baby was still moving a lot but i didnt know how/if this was going to affect it. at 3am i called amanda at work and asked her to check in with the L&D girls to see if i should go to the hospital for fluids. amy said wait and call my doc in the am and see what she said. so at 8:30am i called the nurses at the office and told them what was going on and they said try to drink some fluids other than water, eat something bland, and see how i feel towards lunch time. i took a nap, continued to be sick, and when i woke up my feet/toes were numb and i couldnt really move my fingers. i knew this wasnt good, so i called the office back and they made the decision to have me go to the hospital.

i called ty at work and was crying but i didnt have any fluid for tears. he came home and we headed out. i didnt have to go through the ER which was awesome (we'd probably still be there), just checked in at the desk for labor & delivery and headed to the floor. they made ty show his drivers license at the desk and get a visitors sticker to wear. when we got to the floor, a woman (didnt introduce herself/didnt ask who i was) came over to us and put me right in a room and then we waited til the nurse came in. it was a very different experience being a patient than working in the hospital... i never showed my ID, i wasnt given a bracelet (although i did ask about this and they had one for me, just didnt put it on me?), i was never asked for my name or date of birth (got blood drawn, an IV and was given two meds)... just seemed interesting since we are very much pushed to make sure we have the right patient all the time at my work.

but anyway... the whole experience was great and i started feeling much better within a very short amount of time. i ended up getting two bags of IV fluid (i hadnt peed since sunday night and still didnt really feel much like i needed to go), some IV zofran, and immodium (which i now figure we should have just bought at the store, ill probably spend $100 on it from the hospital haha). ive never been in the hospital before so it was all new to me but was a good dry run and gave us some insight for the next few weeks (remember to bring snacks, things to occupy ty, and bring some socks! brrrrr). the iv itself didnt hurt but the fluid was very cold! and for the second bag the nurse had to reinfuse the vein and that kinda hurt a little bit. im sure things will be very different the next time im there, but overall im so glad that i went. i have a bit of a headache today and still feel kinda weak but sooooo much better than i felt yesterday. and this morning mom stopped by to bring food: chicken noodle soup, goldfish, bananas, bagels, cracklin oat bran, and a roll of paper towels. what would we do without moms?! xoxo

also, i told ty i wanted to bring some windex and paper towels so we can clean the windows when i go to the hospital to have the baby. the streaks were driving me nuts! nesting much??

i am a runner.

prior to this post back in november, my blog was all (well mostly all) about running. i am many things... a strong woman, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a soon to be mother... but i also am, and forever will be, a runner. i havent been able to run in over a month, and to say that i miss it would be a huge understatement. the strength i have gained from running... physically, emotionally, mentally... cannot be measured. ive toed the start line of over 80 races, 8 of which were a distance of 26.2 miles, and have certainly spectated many on top of that.

i was not physically in boston on monday for the 117th running of the boston marathon, but i was there in spirit. i knew many people running, and many more spectating. ty and i had gone down to the sox game sunday, but i figured that monday would be too long of a day on my feet being 8 months pregnant, and decided against staying. instead i worked and had text updates coming to my phone about friends running, reaching marks along the course. sarah and i had gone down in both 2010 and 2011 to spectate, both times standing at mile 26.1 on the left side of boylston cheering on thousands of runners just prior to the finish line.

i have a lot of thoughts and feelings that i havent quite figured out how to process yet. there are a lot of "what if's" running through my head. what happened on monday is an unthinkable tragedy that hits too close to home. never once in any of the races i have run have i ever felt unsafe. it sucks to think that nothing is safe anymore. i still cannot wrap my head around all of it and what kind of world i am about to bring my unborn child into.

but i will not stop running. and i will not live in fear. the heroic stories help remind us that the good still outweighs the bad. i have never run boston, and it actually hasnt been on my "bucket list", believe it or not. but i cannot wait to train for and run my next marathon in october. as part of a community, us runners stick together and rise above when things get tough. we pick each other up when we are down, and we never give up. running a marathon, or any race distance for that matter, is an incredible feeling of accomplishment, and it is something that i will continue to enjoy, yet never in the same way again.

my heart goes out to all who ran the race... those who finished, those who didnt finish, those affected by the explosions, and those who lost their lives/family members that day.

35 weeks

i feel like my face looks so distorted in this pic. hrumph.

how far along? 35 weeks
total weight gain: only gained 2 pounds in between the last doctors appointment (2 weeks) so im feeling good about that. 
babys size/development this week: baby is growing fast and is just over 18 inches long (probably 20 in my case) and probably just at or slightly above 5 pounds. another week of a fruit that i know to compare to... a honeydew melon! kidneys are fully developed and the liver is starting to process some waste products. most of the physical developments are complete now and it will just spend the remaining weeks gaining weight (hopefully not too much!) and as my father-in-law nicely said, the next few weeks are for the head to keep growing. thanks john!
maternity clothes: i got a couple of tops from old navy (buy one get one free!), a tank top from the gap, and the long and lean maternity jeans at gap were on sale from $70 (who actually pays that?!) to $35, and then rang up at $24. win. also, i went from a size 6 back to a size 4. double win. (still not trying on my pre pregnancy jeans until... october?)
miss anything? sleeping on my stomach... sleeping in general... being able to tie my shoes... 
food cravings? got back on a BLT kick for a few days but that has subsided. i just still kinda want what i want when i want it (which isnt much different than when im not pregnant). i had the most amazing turkey burger with avacado today and really awesome french fries. wish we had a yard house closer by!
anything making you queasy or sick? nope
sleep: still havent been needing to wake up and pee at night, but im also still not sleeping well. just lying in bed, thinking i guess. was also rudely awoken at 4am saturday morning by a contraction which sucked big time. that whole natural child birth thing might have to be rethought. (alright it wasnt that bad, but it did hurt. and i wasnt expecting it, nor the one that followed about an hour later). the best part of this whole thing was that i texted my mom from the gym later that morning and she called all in a panic asking when she needed to come to the hospital. mom- if im in labor i will call you, not text you haha. also then rudely awoken this morning at 3am by chips puking up hairballs on the bedroom floor. which then turned into duke wanting to go out after hearing the commotion of us awake upstairs. awesome. were in for a fun/sleepless summer i think.
best moment of the week: watching clay make it to the 7th with a no hitter and singing sweet caroline with great friends at fenway!
nursery: still just organizing more and more... got the changing table all prepared, clothes are washed and put away, bed is made. also started packing the hospital bags... i cant decide what i want to bring for the baby so there are currently about 20 pieces of clothes set out that we need to pick through.
wedding rings on or off? on
movement? still moving a lot. apparently the head has made its way down, according to the doctors feel anyway (yay!), and they will confirm it at next weeks ultrasound just to be sure. im much more comfortable than i was when the head was up, but having the head down makes for a whole new/different way of being uncomfortable. im pretty sure i have never peed so many times in one day before.
weird pregnancy thing of the week: the hormones seem to be shifting again and im crying a lot more. the other night ty mentioned something about bringing duke to see the lady that we bought him from to show her how big he has gotten. then ty was like "and he can hang out with/play with cabela!" (dukes mom). i started crying thinking of how sad it is that we took duke away from his mom and that his mom had all her puppies taken away from her. good lord.
daddy is feeling: too busy playing candy crush saga to answer (he asked me to show him how to play one night and i found him the next morning obsessively crushing candies. we both love to hate that game.)
mommy is feeling: more and more anxious. seems weird to say that if i have the baby on my due date i only have 15 days left of work... maybe even less! (im scheduled to work the day before my due date)
workouts this week: 6.1 miles walking, 18 miles biking, 5 miles elliptical
looking forward to: a fun upcoming weekend with friends, and looking forward to meeting this little wonder ive been growing!

34 weeks

how far along? 34 weeks
total weight gain: ill find out tomorrow. i had a lot of coffee cake this weekend.
babys size/development this week: approx 4 and 3/4 pounds... about the size of a canteloupe!
maternity clothes: wearing them? yes. anything new? no.
miss anything? all things prior to being pregnant. 
food cravings? nah.
anything making you queasy or sick? nope, although i just feel kinda blah all day, every day.
sleep: still having difficulty falling asleep, and now waking up and not being able to get back to sleep. lovely.
best moment of the week: my baby shower! hank is so very very loved (and mom is so very very overwhelmed!) it was so great to see so many family and friends (many i havent seen in a very long time!)
nursery: my project for today and tomorrow... getting all the baby shower gifts organized and put away! 
wedding rings on or off? on
movement? i have had elbows to the ribs all weekend. fun.

weird pregnancy thing of the week: nothing really weird this week
daddy is feeling: he continues to say he is excited... and i really think his face in this pic genuinely shows that.

mommy is feeling: im excited and like i said, a bit overwhelmed. and a little scared. but i know that this baby already has a ton of love and support from friends and family and im just really anxious to find out what is squirming around inside me and start the next part of this journey. 6 more weeks!

workouts this week: not really as much as i had wanted to do but i got some really good elliptical workouts in... pain free! 35 miles for the week with biking, elliptical, and walking. i chose sleeping and resting over a few workouts and im ok with that.   
looking forward to: heading to boston and seeing the red sox game next sunday!!!

33 weeks

how far along? 33 weeks
total weight gain: dunno, no scale this week. everything still fits (ah, the joy of stretchy clothes) but my belly is getting larger (and heavier!)
babys size/development this week: the size of a pineapple! i know what that is! baby weighs a little over 4 pounds and has passed the 17 inch mark (whoa). "he or she is rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look" haha. babys immunity system is almost ready to fight against infections, and fingernails are almost complete.
maternity clothes: i love the tshirt and tank top i got from old navy, and my dress for the shower should be here soon. and although its not really maternity, my mom bought me a pair of sandals for the shower and i love love love them!
miss anything? this stuff...

movement? yup, constantly. 
food cravings? all the food. minus pickles.
anything making you queasy or sick? nope.
sleep: slightly better than last week... having an easier time falling asleep but now im waking up multiple times a night. not to pee or anything, just waking up and falling back asleep. a friend told me about a little trick to help with the charlie hourses... anyone ever heard of putting a bar of irish spring soap in a sock and placing it under your fitted sheet? sounds crazy but im gonna try it! (thanks heather!)
best moment of the week: got a lot of house cleaning stuff done, and mom brought easter dinner (meatloaf wrapped in bacon, mmmmmm bacon)... and this little guy

no bunnies were hurt in the taking of this pic. 

duke just thought he might need a bath before baby comes.

weird pregnancy thing of the week: i put my belly button ring back in just to make sure the hole stays patent (i think i still want this thing after... we'll see. id at least like to have the option without having to go get it pierced again)... and ill save you the pic but the placement is not even close to my belly button anymore! very weird.
nursery: clean and organized! 
names: i wanted to tell at least the first letter and ty said no. boooooo. 7 more weeks!
wedding rings on or off? on
mood: i had been feeling like i was really done with this whole pregnancy thing and just wanted to go into labor... then i got some news about an old college friend this weekend and decided that i am fine with the 7 week wait to meet our little one.  
daddy is feeling: uncreative with his "how are you feeling" responses. "im excited". what i think he means is "im really pumped for this weekends shower where we will get a lot of stuff that will clutter up our house (half of which i dont know how to use/what it is), and i am really looking forward to learning how to change a diaper and try to live on 2 hours of sleep a night! woo hoo! also, i really enjoy the amount of ice cream we keep in the freezer."
workouts this week: we will just call this "bike week"! (about as exciting as shark week, right?) 62 bike miles and a 1.5 mile walk (with about a quarter mile run) with NO weird/uncomfortable pelvic pain. win!  
looking forward to: my shower this weekend and this beautiful spring like weather!! (despite this mornings rain, booooo... but all the snow is finally gone!)

hey, its OK

hey, its OK...

... to steal this idea without asking (...christy... hi!)

... to listen to the new goo goo dolls song on repeat. so many times. "alive is all i wanna feel tonight..."

... to knowingly make the wrong decision/do things you know arent "right".

... to cry at the gym. or at work. dumb pregnancy hormones.

... to send gifts, cards, support (etc) to people youve never met.

... to drink too much coffee.

... to have way too many articles of vera bradley

(plus a lunch box that matches the checkbook cover. ridiculous)

... to have a bunch of boxes full of crap you dont even know whats in them but refuse to go thru/clean out.

... to feel totally, completely, utterly overwhelmed.

... to listen to many acapella versions of your favorite songs

... to have 5 different flavors of vodka in your liquor cabinet... and not really even like vodka all that much.

... to not yet be done reading all 7 harry potter books (still midway thru book 5)

... to ask for help.

... to group text pictures of cats on a daily basis.

... this, for a coworker/someone you know/anyone (although its probably me haha):

... to have ice cream for dinner.

... to screen your phone calls....

... and not listen to voice mails. for days.

... to put things on your to-do list that youve already done just to feel the accomplishment of crossing them off.

... to forget youre wearing your slippers when you leave the house for your doctors appointment.

... to leave clean laundry in the dryer for a couple of days.

... to eat a ham & cheese sandwich when youre pregnant without heating up the meat (much to the husbands discouragement)

... to have gone over 7 months into pregnancy without eating a pickle.

... to learn some things the hard way.

... to have regrets.

... to get over it.

32 weeks

how far along? 32 weeks
total weight gain: 30 pounds. no weight gain this week. but i dont suggest to any pregnant woman to try on their pre-pregnancy "fat" jeans at 32 weeks "just to see" if they fit. 

babys size/development this week: "by now your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a jicama)"... a what?!? seriously. almost four pounds. growing growing growing. 

maternity clothes: ty ordered two tops from old navy which should get here this week. will be looking this week for something to wear for my baby shower (maybe i should have asked for a pajama party!). and i did find a bunch of baby clothes at the consignment store, including this for ty (well not for ty)- 

miss anything? that "i feel really awesome/this pregnancy is great" feeling. come back!

movement? yup, constantly.

food cravings? not really, but i made an amazing banana/blueberry/almond milk/kale smoothie the other day, which im not obsessed with. yum!

anything making you queasy or sick? washing the dishes friday morning made me want to gag (mostly tys salad container... balsamic vinegar dressing apparently). 
sleep: sleep? what is that? for maybe one of the first times during this pregnancy, i slept like crap thursday night. and then again friday night. oh, add saturday to that list as well (although a little more than the previous two nights). i am usually ready for bed at 8pm (or earlier!) and im asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. thursday i tossed and turned and watched the clock until midnight! friday i saw 1:30am, and was awake off and on til i got out of bed at 6am. awful. last night was a little better but i need a good nights rest here again at some point.

best moment of the week: tension relief foot soak and head/neck/shoulder massage at soakology on friday. i had gotten a gift certificate from my mom for xmas and i surely needed it. i dont know what she was doing to my shoulders but holy cow i could feel that i was tight. surely i hold all my stress and tension there. (not to mention my posture is horrible, which im sure doesnt help. add on an extra 30 pounds, not being able to run...)

weird pregnancy thing of the week: i guess its not so much weird as it is just truly miraculous but the constant movement just kinda makes me feel funny. i know its amazing what my body is doing... and i cant wait to meet him/her but when i start to think too much about whats really going on it just boggles my mind and makes me feel kinda sick to my stomach every now and then. as much as i dont want to go into labor today with this very little miracle, im ready for it to be may. ive really enjoyed being pregnant for the most part... however i do not want to do this again for a while, and i wish pregnancy only lasted 7 months haha.
nursery: i cleaned! i cleaned! (just dont look in the dresser drawers yet...)

still not 100% sold on the green curtains... i might buy yellow and see if i like them better

names: oh i just want to tell the wooooooorrrrllllddd!!!! i also want to monogram everything (which is weird cuz im really not a monogram person), but since i dont know if we have a hank or a hankerella, its all gonna have to wait. unless of course we decide at my 36 week ultrasound to just have them tell us what he/she is.... hmmmmm (yes we've talked about this, no were not doing it)

wedding rings on or off? on, but they definitely feel a little tighter when i wake up in the morning, despite feeling severely dehydrated every am

mood: my mood this week was much better than it has been (i obviously wrote that before the whole sleep deprivation thing). although my thoughts and emotions have been all over the place, ive really come to realize i do not know what the future holds for our lives, our sanity, my body, etc... whatever happens will happen. and i need to accept it all and be willing to make sacrifices. my life isnt all about me anymore.

daddy is feeling: "ty how is daddy feeling this week?" "good!" "youre so lame." "sorry."

workouts this week: got in some quality bike miles this week which made me feel good, including a 22 mile ride on day 1 of march madness. helps the time go by, thats for sure. 

looking forward to: lots of maple syrup today (maine maple sunday!), day off and doctors appointment tomorrow (always love hearing the heart beat)

house makeover projects

in june 2011 we moved into our first home. excited doesnt even begin to describe how we felt... apartment living was getting old (not to mention crowded) and since we were married and all we thought we might want to start gaining equity instead of just throwing money away every month (granted our rent was a LOT less expensive, but anyway...)

house hunting was a scary, frustrating, and strange experience as neither of us had done it before (nor do i want to really do it again, but i know we will eventually...) and its tough when your husband is 6'7" and doesnt fit into many of the houses we looked at.

5 different houses

but eventually we found one... was it perfect? no. but it was perfect for what we needed/wanted at the time, and will work for us (and our rapidly growing family) for the next few years. when we moved in it was a shell, which was great since we could pretty much do what we wanted (for the most part). but ill fill you in on a little secret: a brand spankin new house doesnt come without its issues. ill just leave it at that. (dont worry, nothing major. but nothings perfect, despite its newness).

there are many things that we have done to make the house our "home", but i feel like we have a lot more to do. i am not willing to put a ton of money into this house since we wont be here forever, but i feel that what we have done will help it sell in the future to a family like ours looking for a good starter home in a nice neighborhood.

we started by staining the deck white, growing grass, and planting

we added a deck... so as not to have a death trap when opening the back door

stainless steel appliances and over the island lights
(i really wish our cabinets were white but the painting is just too much)

downstairs bathroom paint

upstairs bathroom paint and cabinet stain

and of course my favorite... office turned nursery

the whole house is/was painted that brown tan color and im sick of it everywhere. (minus the master bedroom, which was painted when we moved in... not really sure why, but oh well. i like it)

there are many more things i want to do (sooner rather than later) but i know we will be slightly busy this summer so we'll see when (if) things get done. (anyone willing to come help? ill bake, you work hehe) pinterest is terrible and keeps giving me more and more ideas (that typically arent cheap). 

wish list: 

- a fence for the backyard

-staining the back deck/restaining the front porch (i want the back deck to be white like the front, ty doesnt... ill win? i just think it will look nicer/match...)
- gutters (never knew how much they really help... til we both go out on the deck and almost slip and fall when the dropping water turns to ice every morning) (and who builds a house without gutters?! ugh)

- paint the upstairs hallway (again, boring brown tan... so sick of it)

- redo the whole guest room (ugh, its a MESS)

- add a living room entertainment center with bookcases

something like this

and then theres the basement. dont even get me started... id actually like someone to just come and just empty the whole thing. i havent gone through most of the stuff down there since we moved in, clearly i dont need any of it! oh which reminds me, i want to do something with the laundry section of the basement. shelves or something. ty has his work cut out for him... ive done this whole "growing a human thing" for 7+ months now, he can do all the housework!

31 weeks

happy st patricks day!

how far along? 31 weeks 1 day
total weight gain: approx three cases of beer im thinking.... mmmmm beer

babys size/development this week: measuring over 16 inches long, approx 3.3 pounds (the weight of 4 naval oranges)

maternity clothes: bought a new pair of scrubs the other day and ty ordered me a tank top and tshirt for hopefully some warmer weather (after this weeks dumb snow storm coming tomorrow. wtf.)

sleep: still sleeping pretty good but i feel more tired during the day. also leg cramps woke me up early this am... those really suck

miss anything? i pretty much miss everything i cant do right now, as simple as comfortably walking around and not peeing every 5 minutes

movement? moving all the time. i love it.

food cravings? the other day i had a craving for fettucini alfredo... i didnt get it and i didnt die from not getting it (but i still want it... hmmmm maybe dinner tonight haha)

anything making you queasy or sick? nah

best moment of the week: we had our birthing class at the hospital on saturday... much of it was pretty obvious stuff but i liked hearing about the meds and taking the tour. 

weird pregnancy thing of the week: i almost passed out during rounds at work last week so that was exciting. 

nursery: alright im really going to (try to) clean in there this week... 

names: everyone wants to know!

wedding rings on or off? on

mood: i feel pretty run down, but some days are better than others. im not entirely ready for the baby to be here right now but i sometimes wish pregnancy was only 8 months instead of 9 (or really 10). up until this point (or a few weeks ago id say) i was all into this whole being pregnant thing. i still like it but im ready for the next stage.

daddy is feeling: he says he is excited... was very into the birthing class (other than the videos). at one point he turned to me and said "this looks so awesome, good luck". haha, so supportive!

workouts this week: on paper i had a pretty good week last week of working out, but since my doctors appointment ive been put on a semi exercise restriction due to a soft cervix and pelvic pain (limiting to 30 minutes of walking/upright exercising 3 days a week). i can still bike which is good. biking: 34 miles, walking 3.5 miles, ran 1 mile, stairmaster: 1.5 miles

looking forward to: hopefully this being the last week of snow, warmer weather, march madness (!!!!) and maine maple sunday this weekend!

30 weeks

how far along? 30 weeks
total weight gain: getting close to 30lbs. whatever. (fun fact: a girl at work just came back from maternity leave and told me she lost 26 pounds just delivering/before leaving the hospital... so im hanging onto that hope for myself!)

babys size/development this week: measures about 16 inches in length, weighs just over 3 pounds, about the size of a head of cabbage. if hank were to be born today (lets hope not, we still dont have a car seat!) he/she can breathe, see, listen, remember, and learn.

maternity clothes: im just going to resort myself to sweatpants and an oversized hoodie i have from college. ty thinks im so sexy im sure. (havent bought any new maternity clothes, but i have the day off today and tomorrow so that could very well change)

sleep: knock on wood im still sleeping through the night... however this past week ive woken up every night between 1am and 1:30am. i can fall right back asleep but i just open my eyes and look at the clock and its always during that half hour. im thinking its hanks way of saying this will be the time im born and will always wake up hungry once im here. and today i slept til 8am. so awesome.
miss anything? where should i start... 

movement? crazy movement all the time, especially now that hank is getting bigger. my new fun thing to do is lay on the couch next to ty and just watch my stomach. cant quite pick out what body parts are moving but my stomach will be all stuck out on one side and then you can literally watch it move. music still makes hank dance all around.

food cravings? nothing new, but im happy im over the whole oreo obsession.

anything making you queasy or sick? i dont know what it is but since last wednesday i have not felt well every morning. continuous nausea and exhaustion. wasnt this supposed to happen a long time ago? i want to feel good now!

best moment of the week: buy one get one blizzards that the 4th floor nurses coordinated yesterday at work.... and dr sherman bought mine. win. got my haircut for the first time since last june (hello haircut anxiety at its finest). also got the bathroom painted (before/after pics will come once its totally done). i love it! and in the process i found out something i never knew about ty...

apparently not a professional painter.

weird pregnancy thing of the week: without going into great detail, ill just say that walking/ running/ exercising is becoming quite uncomfortable due to my pelvis adjusting. i thought they were contractions at first but now that ive reached out to my good friend google, ive learned a little more about what is really going on. i guess i should probably start reading "what to expect when expecting" again. 

also, this:

seems like a good use of $30 to me
(seriously?!)

nursery: got the decal on the wall and we love it! going to hang the first initial in the middle (babies r us has white lettering that will match the crib nicely) but we will have to wait to buy it/hang it until we know if hank is a girl or a boy! (the names we have do not start with the same letter)

names: speaking of names... we asked the god parents if they would in fact be hanks godparents a few weeks ago (of course they said yes, why wouldnt they! we may or may not have had to bribe them) and then we told them the names. at first they didnt want all the pressure of being the only people knowing the name, but we had to get it off our chest! they seemed to like the names we picked out (probably scared we would take away god parent-ship rights)

wedding rings on or off? on

mood: because of not feeling well i just feel blah. i hate being a downer and feel bad that i just kinda lay around now saying "i dont feel good" while ty takes the dog out and tries to be sympathetic to my needs. i want to enjoy these last 10 weeks with me and him before our world turns upside down. im trying.

daddy is feeling: apparently has a lot of work to do today so hasnt answered my text about how he is really feeling, so..... hes so excited for the baby and loves my lazy/sickly days and waiting on me hand and foot. has thoroughly enjoyed me giving him shit about not being able to paint properly, loves to hear my complain in general, and is overall happy.

workouts this week: on paper it looks like i had a pretty good week exercise wise, but i felt like junk which really frustrated me. i was able to workout 5 days, one of which was outside in shortsleeves and capris! (finally a weekend with no snow!) 11.1 miles walked, 10 miles on the elliptical, 12 miles biked. i tried to do some running saturday and i was in too much pain and ended up just walking. 

looking forward to: warmer weather and getting a pre natal massage soon

29 weeks

how far along? 29 weeks, 11 weeks to go (potentially 33 or less days of work...) crazy!

total weight gain: this 26 pound baby sure will make us some guiness world record publicity! 

babys size/development this week: at fridays doctors appointment/ultrasound, they said hank weighed 2 pounds 12 oz! (sadly that means the other 23 pounds is from... oops). approx size of a butternut squash... finally a piece of food i know! baby is breach right now but theres still time (and hopefully still space!) to turn.

maternity clothes: nothing new but im not wearing much of my regular clothes anymore (other than yoga pants/sweat pants). but i did wear my bikini in florida. i cant wait for summer and getting back into my regular clothes.

sleep: rolling from side to side a little more than before but have yet to be up to pee (knock on wood)

miss anything? i long for just one day without back pain.   

movement? still a lot of movement all the time. lots of braxton hicks contractions (i feel like im in BH more than not), some minor real contractions (maybe once a day if that). i love when little legs or arms get stuck in one position and i can feel them... cant wait to hold the little one!

food cravings? i want to eat ALL THE FRUIT! omg, cant get enough. hooked on fresh pineapple, red grapes and strawberries. and i just found a recipe for a pina colada smoothie. mmmmmm (side note: made it today, didnt taste much like a pina colada but was a good nutrient packed smoothie)

anything making you queasy or sick? ty opened up a bag of beef jerky around me and i thought i might vomit. thats a first since i used to love that stuff (gross but true) 

best moment of the week: sitting out in the florida sun felt great. 

weird pregnancy thing of the week: other than the tingling feet during my run (doctor says its most likely due to the increased blood volume/fluids in the body) nothing else weird going on. i have always thought that the 3D ultrasounds were pretty creepy and ty and i had decided we werent going to get one done. well at fridays US, out of no where the tech just put up a 3D image on the screen without saying anything. tears immediately started flowing... im so in love. guess it feels different when its your own (and for some reason i now kinda think it might be a girl when all along ive thought hank was a boy!)

looks so peaceful... and is that hair?

nursery: gotta get that room cleaned up here sometime soon. also got a wall decal today while out shopping, ill take a pic once we get it up on the wall!

wedding rings on or off? on

belly button ring: getting ready to take it out. sad.

mood: last week was actually a mix of good feelings and blah feelings. my back hurts every day and made me pretty uncomfortable throughout vacation. but then yesterday was one of the best days ive had in a long time... felt like i had a lot of energy, my clothes didnt feel uncomfortable (minus still itchy from the heat rash/allergic reaction), had a good day at work (and didnt eat allllll day haha).

daddy is feeling: probably stressed out since now i want to paint the bathroom... add it to the list of projects! (but hes agreed hehe)

workouts this week: lame lame lame. walked twice in florida and went for a long snowshoeing walk this am. 

looking forward to: getting back to the gym with sarah this week, hopefully trying to keep with the 1 pound a week 3rd trimester thing. also excited (weird) for 4am track workouts this summer... speaking of which, some kid was out on the track today when sarah and i drove by shoveling a lane! someone else is a bit more motivated than i am haha but once its cleared i just might have to head on over for some laps!

baby running info:
now that the 3rd trimester has started, i figured i would look back and see how i did in the first 6 months (now that im really not going to be running much til the baby comes). definitely have slowed down a lot and the 2nd trimester took a big hit in the miles, but i still think ive done well and at least havent sat on the couch eating oreos the entire 6 months haha.

1st trimester
miles run: 286.79
races: lobsterman triathlon (10k), smuttynose marathon, mdi marathon, turkey trot 5k, thanksgiving day 4 miler, operation jack 10k

2nd trimester
miles run: 158.95
races: gasparilla 5k

i have no more races planned (yet) for the remainder of the pregnancy, and will hopefully start running again as soon as i safely can once the baby is born. MDI training (18 week plan) is supposed to start 4 weeks after my due date which i know is probably not do-able so im looking to do more of a modified 14 week(ish) plan, starting with walking during the first few weeks. we'll see how things turn out, im just really hoping to be able to come back and get strong again!