31 Weeks

This week, Litl B is measuring over 16 inches long. He/she weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. The head can turn from side to side, and his/her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath the skin. He/she's probably moving a lot, too, so there may be trouble sleeping because of the baby's kicks and somersaults.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 31 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 9.5 pounds. Yay! Finally gained back what I had lost a couple of weeks ago plus gained some more.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity now. Looking forward to the days when I can wear normal clothes again.

Best Moment This Week: Getting an (early) special Christmas/birthday present from my parent's and mother-in-law. Thank you!

Gender and Name: Coming soon! ☺

Movement: Lots of elbow and knee pokes this week. Some were actually a little painful.

Food Craving: Still the same, trying to have an appetite.

Sleep: Really rough week. Didn't help that Dayson decided that 3:30AM was a great time to be wide awake.

Symptoms: Due to lack of sleep, I'm feeling a little bit grumpy and emotional. Hoping for a good nights rest this coming week to help with that.

What I miss: Holding Dayson on my lap without him falling right off.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Being one more week closer to seeing this little one.

Wanted to make sure that I got at least one picture of the kids and I while I was carrying their little brother or sister. And no, Dayson isn't that tall, he's just on a step stool. ☺

30 Weeks

It's official! I have made it to the third trimester, let the countdown begin! Actually, I entered the third trimester a couple of weeks ago, just been behind on getting things updated. It's such a good feeling to make it this far in the pregnancy. Even though I've had two previous healthy pregnancies, one always worries about any problems that may happen. If things go like before, I'm probably looking at a week or two beyond the 10 that's left. That depends on who you ask though. BJ thinks maybe this time I'll actually go a little early. We'll just have to wait and see.

Litl B is about 15.7 inches long now, and weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds the baby, but that volume will decrease as he/she gets bigger and takes up more room in the uterus. His/her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after birth, he/she will keep their eyes closed for a good part of the day. When they do open them, he/she will respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he/she can only make out objects a few inches from his/her face.

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 30 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 7 pounds. After my last appointment, I went through a really hard time eating anything. No appetite or desire to even feed myself, mainly due to the coughing and rib pain. Ended up losing two pounds. I'm now almost back up to my previous weight and am working really hard on feeding this little one.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity now. Looking forward to the days when I can wear normal clothes again.

Best Moment This Week: Knowing that my cough is finally passing. I still have it but can tell it's not as deep and really is going away. Yay!

Gender and Name: Coming soon! ☺

Movement: Still feeling frequent movements. Noticing that this little one is running out of room as there's lots more wiggles.

Food Craving: Just trying to eat more, no cravings.

Sleep: If I go to bed late enough (and assuming none of the kids get up), I can actually sleep until the alarm goes off around 6:30. If I go to bed at a decent time, I get up at least once.

Symptoms: The morning sickness is still hanging around. I've unfortunately had to take medicine three times this week so far. Still have some rib pain but it's so much better than when it first gave me problems.

What I miss: Being able to lay down on my stomach.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Baby appointment this coming week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is a great reminder of being thankful for all that you have. God has blessed us greatly with the life that He's given us, even when times seem tough. Lately with all the sickness that we've had go around in our family, I've had to try really hard to find the things to be thankful for. Having that kind of attitude really helps improve the situation. No matter what you're going through or how hard life seems to be, there is always something to be thankful for.

Today, I'm thankful for the little things. Last night was kind of rough with Dayson. For some reason, he refused to go to sleep. After letting him talk and sing to himself for almost two hours, I finally went in to get him out of bed. What did I find when I went in there? He had stripped off all his clothes but fortunately (and a thing to be thankful for) he left his diaper on (that's been a challenge lately). Even though it was late and a bit frustrating that he was still up, I got to spend a few minutes snuggling with him in the rocking chair. This doesn't happen hardly at all anymore so it was a blessing.

Earlier this week, Iyana and I actually got to go out and spend some time together. We did some shopping and walking around the mall looking at things. It was so nice to have some just girl time amidst all the craziness in our lives. I know once Litl B is here, it's going to become that much more difficult to have these moments and so I cherish these times with her.

Since I haven't posted anything for a while, especially about the kids, here's a couple of video's to see what all they have been up to. Iyana had a homeschooling get together recently for Thanksgiving. It was great fun for all. The kids all memorized or read something out loud to practice their public speaking skills. Iyana told a turkey limerick and a verse out of Colossians that she had memorized.

Here was the Thanksgiving finger foods "feast" that the kids had.

 

Dayson has been learning some new songs in Sunday school. Here he is singing with BJ and doing some of the hand motions to one of his favorites, "I'm in the Lord's Army". And if you're wondering about his clothes, these are the ones he picked out and put on. He's into the dressing himself phase. He's also wearing a little heart necklace that he helped make at church which is another thing he loves.



27 Weeks

The closer we get to my due date, the more anxious I am to meet this little one. Some of that could be due to the fact that this pregnancy has been a bit difficult on my body. As some of you know, I'm still dealing with a bad cough. It has now lasted just over 4 weeks. Last night while at church helping watch the little kids, I was sitting on the floor putting a puzzle together when I started coughing. While coughing, I felt (and possibly heard) a pop in my rib cage. After that I had the most extreme pain that I think I've ever felt. I was able to keep it together until church was over and even managed to walk outside. Getting in and out of the car proved to be a great challenge and then once home, getting up the stairs was even harder. I'll admit, I cried the entire way up because it hurt so bad. Iyana was such a great help in taking care of Dayson so that BJ could help me, but she was in tears herself. Poor girl was so scared that something bad was going to happen to me.

We found out this morning that I had popped a rib out of place. My chiropractor was able to work on it though he said it was really tight and would take a while to heal. We're hoping that the pain will be more manageable by tomorrow. If not, I'll go back in to get some more adjustments. I'm so thankful that things aren't worse. I'm also thankful for Iyana helping out and BJ being so kind and patient with me as I've moved so slow.

Litl B is roughly 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and about 14.5 inches long. He/she is sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his/her eyes, and perhaps even sucking on fingers. With more brain tissue developing, the baby's brain is very active now. While the lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he/she were to be born now.

So glad I took this on Saturday.

 

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 27 Weeks + 3 days

Total Weight Gain: 7.5 pounds. I'm at the exact same weight gain that I was when I was pregnant with Dayson. Kind of weird.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity now. Looking forward to the days when I can wear normal clothes again.

Best Moment This Week: Hearing of God's blessings.

Gender and Name: Like with Iyana and Dayson, we won't be finding out the gender until the baby is born and we won't be sharing names until that time as well. ☺

Movement: All this past week, it's like a switch has gone off and this little one is now busy. It's been fun feeling all the movements and being able to point out the hands and feet.

Food Craving: Still no cravings. Makes me thankful in a way.

Sleep: I was finally starting to sleep a little better until the last three nights. Last night in particular was pretty bad.

Symptoms: Um, pain? Besides the pain, I have about one of two days a weeks that I still deal with morning sickness.

What I miss: Feeling normal.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Being able to walk and move around normal with no pain.