Week 28

We've entered the home stretch! Seven months down and into our last trimester. We're getting excited to meet this little one that has become so much a part of our lives. Iyana is totally thrilled about becoming a big sister but has had one request.....that she would please not have to change any diapers. We'll see how that goes.

Baby B. is about two and a quarter pounds now and roughly 14.8 inches long from head to foot. Besides starting to plump up in there, he/she is blinking beautiful eyes that now sport lashes. Muscle tone is improving and the lungs are capable of breathing air.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 28 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 7.5 Pounds (Feels like more this week! Yippy!!)

Maternity Clothes: Pretty much all maternity. There's no more hiding this belly now.

Best Moment This Week: Iyana finished the 2nd grade this week! We now have a little bit more time to relax during the week.

Gender: Is it a boy or a girl.....still waiting to find out! We did ask the baby if he/she was a boy or a girl. No response when asking about that....but when asked if he/she was going to keep it a surprise for us, we got lots of kicks in response.

Name: Got the names picked out but you have to wait!

Movement: The norm here which means a lot of kicks and wiggles. This week it's been fun to watch the baby stretch and see the sides of my stomach become a very odd in shape.

Food Craving: Still nothing serious for now which I think BJ is thankful for.

Sleep: Some day I will remember what it's like to have an uninterrupted night of sleep.

Symptoms: Still having a lot of braxton hicks. Praying that these don't lead to the real thing until it's the right time.

What I'm Looking Forward To: This is our big week for moving! Getting so excited though I've been told I will have a babysitter if I don't behave. No lifting for this mamma.

Mother and Daughter

Iyana and I have been having fun lately taking pictures. We've been playing with the self timer on the camera and seeing what kind of shots we've been able to get. I realized that I don't have as many pictures of the two of us together as I'm normally the one taking them. So, we're working on making up for that. Enjoy!!

With a little help, Iyana took this one. Good job sweetie!

Week 27

As I finish up the week, it's hard to imagine that I will be going into my last trimester. In many ways this pregnancy has just flown by. I'm still in awe and amazement at what God has done in our lives and am looking forward to this next adventure of expanding our family.

Baby B is still around 2 pounds and about 14.5 inches long (can that really fit inside of me??). He/she is opening and closing his/her eyes and possibly sucking on the fingers now. This week is also a week of rapid growth in the brain.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 27 weeks, 2 days

Total Weight Gain: 7.5 Pounds (Hmmmm, having a little trouble in this department)

Maternity Clothes: Pretty much all maternity. There's no more hiding this belly now.

Best Moment This Week: Seeing God's great blessings in our lives.

Gender: Is it a boy or a girl.....still waiting to find out!

Name: Got the names picked out but you have to wait!

Movement: My ribs have taken quite a beating this past week. Seems to be a favorite spot right now.

Food Craving: Really nothing right now.

Sleep: My brain is hitting that stage to where it doesn't want to turn off at night which is normal for me but lately has gotten worse.

Symptoms: Braxton hicks! I'm actually having to monitor how many of them I have in a day since I've gotten a lot lately (does 20 in a day sound normal to you?). Just wanting to make sure that they don't start the real thing. Any tips on how you've dealt with them?

What I'm Looking Forward To: Lot's of stuff happening here in the next couple of weeks. We're moving, Iyana is finishing up school and we're starting our childbirth class. I need a refresher course since it's been eight years.

Appointment

Had my midwife appointment yesterday. All is going very well other than I'm struggling to put on weight. My midwife isn't too concerned though since baby is growing. I'm actually measuring right on time again too so we're thinking that the last time maybe this little one was in an odd position making me look bigger or just hit a big growth spurt. Getting excited! Only about 13.5 more weeks left (give or take a few days). Can't believe how fast this time has gone.

Thank you for all your prayers!!

Week 26

Baby B. is getting bigger and more active. This week he/she is about 2 pounds and 14 inches! As the blood vessels in the lungs began last week, the air sacs in the lungs begin this week. The lungs begin to secrete surfactant which covers the inner lining of the air sacs which then allows the lungs to expand normally during breathing. The network of nerves in the ears are better formed and more sensitive.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 26 weeks

Total Weight Gain: 7 Pounds (I'll find out exactly how much I've gained over the past month at my next appointment which is this week)

Maternity Clothes: Pretty much all maternity now. There's no more hiding this belly now.

Best Moment This Week: Having more energy than normal and being able to get stuff done.

Gender: It's a mystery.

Name: Still a surprise! You'll have to wait and find out!

Movement: Definitely lots. We're getting a morning routine going. After I get up for a bathroom visit and then lay back down, this is baby's time to do gymnastics. I love being able to just lay there and feel all the movement going on and wondering just what exactly he/she is doing in there.

Food Craving: Nothing major this week. The needing of milk has settled down though I still enjoy a glass or two or three throughout the day.

Sleep: Sleep hasn't been anything to complain about. Getting to the point to where my back is starting to ache if I stay in bed too long.

Symptoms: Typical pregnancy backache and lots more stretching up front.

What I'm Looking Forward To: We're moving in less than a month (locally of course)! I'm looking forward to going through our stuff and downsizing. I'd love to have everything done by the time this little one gets here so that there are no worries about it afterwards.

Week 25

I've been a bit behind in getting this posted. I've decided for this week to just do an update. Haven't really had time to do a photo and really haven't felt like doing one (sorry). In a couple more weeks I will be officially in my third trimester. Where did the time go? Wasn't I just writing about entering my second trimester and that it seemed so long until the arrival of Baby B.? Now we're getting down to the last several weeks and need to get things taken care of. Here is the latest on what's going on with this little one.
This week the structure of the spine, ligaments and joints are starting to form. The blood vessels of the lungs are still developing and the nostrils begin open. Baby B. is about 13.5 inches and weighs about a pound and a half.

No Photo this Week

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 25 weeks + 2 days

Total Weight Gain: 7 Pounds (I'll find out exactly how much I've gained over the past month at my next appointment which is next week)

Maternity Clothes: Pretty much all maternity now.

Best Moment This Week: Having a special Mother's day with my family. This is the last year with just the three of us, adding a fourth is going to make it that much more special.

Gender: Not a clue. Still kind of leaning more towards a boy, but hey, you never know.

Name: Still a surprise! You'll have to wait and find out!

Movement: The kicks are definitely getting stronger.

Food Craving: Still like my milk. The craving has settled down though to where I'm not embarrassing BJ.

Sleep: Doing pretty good this week aside from a couple nights of being stuffed up with a cold (yes, I did get ANOTHER one......my fourth one to be exact).

Symptoms: I'm running out of room and yet still have 15 (give or take) weeks left to go. My ribs have sure been taking a bruising this week.

What I'm Looking Forward To: We're moving in less than a month (locally of course)! I'm looking forward to going through our stuff and downsizing. I'd love to have everything done by the time this little one gets here so that there are no worries about it afterwards.

Growing up???

What does it mean when your daughter starts to wear your own clothes? Am I really that short or is she just....sniff...sniff...growing up? I found a skirt recently that I had tucked away that I used to wear to work and noticed that it just might fit her in a year or two. Well, this morning, she decided that that's what she wanted to wear to school. I didn't think it would work, but she proved me wrong. Fits perfectly......sigh......what else of mine is she going to start wearing....... :-)

*Disclaimer - The skirt is from the little girls section, I just didn't think she was ready to wear the size that I get when shopping there.

Spring Program

Iyana recently had her spring program for school. There were over 160 kids (1st - 3rd grade mostly) singing and dancing and having a great time. We didn't get the best of seats and so these pictures didn't turn out as well, but you can kind of get the idea. I don't post pictures of other children unless I have permission from their parent's, so these are all of Iyana. She had quite a few parts in this program from singing to dancing. She loved every minute of it.

Square dancing and singing "Letters from War"

After the hour and a half program, boy was she tired.

Week 24

It's hard to imagine that I'm already over the half way point. I have roughly 16 weeks until this little one arrives. Though not trying to get my hopes up, my midwife has said that I'm measuring about two weeks ahead of schedule. She's not going to officially move my due date but has said that if I were to go early, they wouldn't be surprised. This week, Baby B. is about 1 pound, 5 ounces and almost a foot long! Hard to imagine something of that size crammed inside of me, but boy do I feel all the wiggles and kicks. He/she is putting on some padding this week and is looking more and more like a baby. Also, the taste buds are continuing to develope and the lungs are developing the "branches" of the respiratory "tree".

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 24 weeks + 2 days

Total Weight Gain: 7 Pounds (I'm feeling every one of them)

Maternity Clothes: Pretty much all maternity now. I wore one of my regular dresses to church the other day and well, it just didn't quite fit right. For the most part it looked ok, but I could tell that this is yet another item being put away until later.

Best Moment This Week: Finally feeling Baby B. having the hiccups. Poor thing though got quite upset with them and gave me a good thumping.

Gender: Not a clue. Still kind of leaning more towards a boy, but hey, you never know.

Name: Still a surprise! You'll have to wait and find out!

Movement: Boy is this little one a mover. I've noticed that he/she especially likes it when our pastor at church gets up to preach.

Food Craving: Milk! Even though I've been taking my calcium, I must still be lacking. I was ready to open a jug of milk at the store and drink it right there! BJ asked me to please wait until I got home. Guess he didn't want to be embarrassed :-).

Sleep: I had a night that I was able to sleep through without waking up! On top of that, this week hasn't been as bad with getting sleep, so I'm very happy.

Symptoms: Still having some breathing struggles but my latest concern is some pulling and almost tearing kind of feelings I've been getting when I move a certain way. My midwife is having me keep an eye on it and so far, nothing bad has happened. We think that I just have a lot of scar tissue built up that's getting pulled and pushed around. Makes for an uncomfortable period of time but then goes away.

What I'm Looking Forward To: We're moving in a month (locally of course)! I'm looking forward to going through our stuff and downsizing. I'd love to have everything done by the time this little one gets here so that there are no worries about it afterwards.