29 Weeks

Size of Baby: Baby James is the size of a butternut squash.

Maternity Clothes: Yes. I am so over my summer maternity wear. Since Claire was born in January, I have a ton of fall/winter clothes that I'm really looking forward to wearing. Come on cooler weather!

Sleep: I'm exhausted and sleeping pretty hard these days.

Movement: Yes, he is moving a lot. Cam finally got to feel it while we were at the coast! Yay!

Cravings/Aversions: I'm still craving sour blue raspberry slushes with nerds from Sonic! They are so good and I can't stop thinking about them! 

What I Miss: I miss being able to wear my real wedding rings. The fake eternity band I've worn both pregnancies is starting to look pretty ghetto. Can't wait to be back in my real bling!

Gender: Sweet baby boy James.

Mood: Fine...up and down! I'm reaching the point where I'm kinda ready for the pregnancy to be done, but also trying to treasure it because I know I'll miss it.

Symptoms: The main issue I'm having right now is swelling in my feet and ankles. It was pretty bad when we were out of town and after the car trip home, but it's looking better now. Otherwise I'm just uncomfortable. It's not unbearable or anything, but I'm feeling it! 

Best Moment this Week: We had a wonderful trip to Crystal Beach/Galveston with Cam's family. It was great fun to get away and spend time with family in such a nice, relaxing place! 

What I'm Looking Forward to: I'm looking forward to the long weekend and to my appointment next week. I'm also looking forward to August being over...come on Fall!

28 Weeks

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a large eggplant.

Maternity Clothes: Yes indeed!

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty well overall. Whether pregnant or not, August is always a hit-or-miss month of sleep for me because it's too hot to sleep. Come on Fall!

Movement: Yes. I feel like I don't spend quite as much time thinking about being pregnant as I did the first time, so those kicks and hiccups are such a sweet little reminder. "Hey ma, I'm in here!"

Cravings/Aversions: I'm craving lemonade and the new slushes from Sonic with nerds candy in them (yes, I'm a five year old). 

Gender: It's a boy...James!

Mood: Pretty good, if not a bit hormonal at times. I'm very excited about all that's coming up in the next few months, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about having two kids under two!

Symptoms: I'm feeling good....just hot, hot, hot! I really hate the month of August, and being pregnant has intensified that. Overall it's been a mild summer, in terms of June and July being less hot than recent years, but the August heat has definitely set in. At a party this weekend a woman and I were talking about how hot it was, and she asked me how I was handling it with being pregnant and my answer was very blunt: baby powder. Seriously...thank you Lord for baby powder. 

Just like my pregnancy with Claire, I did not pass the one hour gestational diabetes test I took last week so I spent Thursday morning doing the three hour test. Thankfully, I passed! I'm very relieved. I'm lucky because the test didn't really make me feel sick or weird. There was a teenage pregnant girl doing the test at the same time I was and she got sick about halfway through...they made her stop and come back another day to do the entire test over again!!!!!!! With Claire, a couple of my three hour test results were borderline so they told me to watch my carbs, but this time around I was well under the limit. 

Milestones: We've reached the third trimester! We're 2/3 of the way there...hard to believe somehow!

Best Moment this Week: Cam and my Dad painted the nursery this weekend. It turned out great and we love the green color! Last night Cam put the crib together and it looks really nice in the room. It's fun seeing things come together! I took pictures tonight and I'll post them soon. 

What I'm Looking Forward to: We're heading out of town on Friday to spend a long weekend at the coast with Cam's family. I can't wait to play with Claire at the beach and eat some fried shrimp!

27 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: I've gained 19 lbs as of yesterday morning.

Size of Baby: Baby James is the size of a head of cauliflower. At my appointment yesterday, I found out our boy weighs 2 lbs, 7 oz.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, everything but t-shirts is maternity.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good!

Movement: OMG, yes. He is so active these days! It's getting to the point where it's almost a little uncomfortable, but I'm trying not to take it for granted. Poor Cam still can't feel a thing!

Cravings/Aversions: I'm craving peanut butter & jelly. After seeing that picture above, I'd have to say cauliflower is my current aversion. Yuck!

Gender: It's a boy!

Mood: Pretty good these days! Getting really excited that Fall is coming!

Symptoms: I'm starting to reach the uncomfortable stage, and the heat is definitely playing a part in that. I feel so sorry for women who are 9 months pregnant this time of year...that must be miserable! Otherwise, as the day goes on I have some swelling, although it's much more manageable than my last pregnancy. My circulation is not great - if I sit on the ground, my feet fall asleep a lot and I wake up in the morning with my hands asleep. Coupled with the fact that my handwriting has turned into complete chicken-scratch, I fear the carpal tunnel may be starting to rear its ugly head!

My appointment yesterday morning was an eventful one and it went very well! I had an ultrasound, did my 1 hour glucose test, saw my doctor, and got my Rhogam shot. Everyone's feeling a lot better about things since my last appointment. I lost a pound since I was there two weeks ago. Baby James looked great on the ultrasound! He's in the 71st percentile right now...if he stays on that track, we'll be looking at about an 8 1/2 lb. baby. The fact that he's not super big made my doctor happy. She does think the placenta will be big. They checked out the extra lobe of my placenta and everything looks fine. The umbilical cord is connected to the main part of the placenta, which is very good, and the extra lobe isn't obstructing growth at all. I know some of this is very technical/boring, but it's mainly for me to have a written record of the appointment. Surprisingly, this additional lobe is pretty big. The main part of the placenta measures about 15 cm, while the lobe is almost 13 cm. A few weeks ago I had read some stuff online that freaked me out. After talking to Dr. Orth, I realized whatever I read about was different than what I have, so thankfully most of that info didn't apply. The only real risks here are 1) the cord not inserting into the larger lobe 2) the extra lobe obstructing the growth of the baby 3) the entire placenta not being delivered (like if they didn't know about the extra part ahead of time). Luckily none of these apply in my situation.

Milestones: Yesterday marks three months until my due date! We'll be holding our little guy in three months or less, unless he decides to make a late arrival. Whenever he does arrive, my doctor thinks it will be a pretty fast labor since my induction with Claire went quickly for a first time delivery.

Best Moment this Week: Seeing this sweet little face on the ultrasound yesterday. He is such a precious pumpkin and I can't wait to see him in person very soon.

What I'm Looking Forward to: Hopefully getting good news on my glucose test tomorrow and painting the baby's room this weekend!

26 Weeks

I accidentally titled this post "26 Months"....hahahaha! Maybe an indication of how long it feels!

Size of Baby: Baby boy is the size of a scallion.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, and the regular t-shirts I sometimes wear when I'm bumming around here are starting to not be long enough. 

Sleep: It feels like I'm sleeping very deeply lately. I'm also still having really vivid dreams. Last night I dreamed some people Cam worked with (that he doesn't really work with, if that makes any sense) stole my credit card info and I got a call from my credit card company because they were trying to charge $39,000 to my card! Bizarre! My parents were recently victims of credit card fraud so I guess that's where that came from?!? So weird!

Movement: Yes, he's a very active little man these days, but he will still not allow his Daddy to feel any of it. Stinker!

Cravings/Aversions: I'm craving caesar salad.

Gender: It's a boy...sweet baby James! 

Mood: Okay, overall. My energy level and patience are definitely starting to wane. And I make no apologies for what might happen to the next person who acts totally surprised and shocked when I tell them I'm pregnant when I'm standing right in front of them. Do you really think this huge bump that starts beneath my boobs and goes all the way to my waist is a gut? Seriously? Just, no. That is no different or less rude than the people who ask a woman if she's expecting before it's too early to tell. 

Symptoms: I have been having some charlie horse cramps when I'm sleeping that could wake the dead! It's odd because I used to have foot cramps very frequently but haven't had them for the last year and a half or so, but now they're back and they've relocated to my calves. Worth noting: I just went back and read my 26 week post with Claire and I mentioned having lots of cramps in my calves! So interesting!

I'm continuing my quest to eat better and it's going okay I guess. Good days/bad days...it's hard to completely ignore cravings when you're pregnant! Three days after that appointment last week I had dropped 5 lbs. That just shows how getting weighed at the doctor at the end of the day is a bad idea. I'm a sweller and my weight can fluctuate wildly over the course of one day even when I'm not pregnant. This is why I never schedule appointments for the end of the day, but my appointment last week got rescheduled. Hopefully things will look better at my appointment next week.

Best Moment this Week: We picked out a paint color that we really like! It's a nice green color with blue and gray undertones. I can't wait to see the room all painted in a couple weeks!

What I'm Looking Forward to: Spending the weekend with family in Houston and getting my doctor's appointment next week out of the way.