Third Trimester

My third trimester starts Monday. Can you believe it? Only 1/3 of the way to go! People keep telling us it's almost here and we feel like we have so much to do! I am sure it will all come together. We have bought several things for Little One and for Little One's room, so I will take pictures this week. Jory is putting the second coat of paint on the nursery this weekend.

I have gained exactly twenty pounds and I can no longer see my feet. Well, I can if I lean back and stick my neck out, but it's a pretty unstable position for a pregnant woman.

Jory bought me a Snoogle. That's a crazy pregnancy pillow that comes with an instruction page! It's awesome. Really. I slept much better than I have in a while. I still am not the best sleeper right now, though. I have very vivid dreams and it seems like they keep me from the deepest of sleep.

Overall, everything is well here. We have our doctor's appointment Monday and I have my glucose test. I'm nervous about that, so say a prayer, please. We also have our next meeting with the Pain Management nurse Monday night.

Little One seems very healthy. Little One is definitely active! And the kicks are starting to gain enough strength to hurt every now and then! I am SO grateful to have constant reminders that all is well, though!

Is this normal?

Here's something no one told me about pregnancy. People critique your body. Closely. Often. Several times a day someone I know will have me stand up, turn around, turn to the side, etc. That person will then discuss with a companion (out loud in front of me) the size and shape of my body.

This actually doesn't bother me, I just find it phenomenal how much boundaries shift when someone is pregnant. Could you imagine doing that to any non-pregnant woman?

To be fair, almost everyone who does this has said that I look great. A few people even go as far as to say I'm small for how far along I am. (Those are really sweet people who believe in lying to protect feelings.) However, for your amusement, I am including the following direct quotes that I have been told over the last two weeks:

1. Oh my gosh! Sara! Your stomach is huge!
2. I can definitely tell that your legs have gotten bigger since you've been pregnant.
3. From the front, you look really small for as far along as you are. But from the back? Wow. Are you carrying this baby in your back? Your rear view is much bigger.

Update

There really hasn't been much to report. We went to see the Pain Management Nurse this week and continue to gather information about having a natural childbirth. I had a Sunday School Women's Dinner last night, so Jory spent the evening in the nursery. He's got the room taped so that he can start painting and he put up our pack n play. Ann found us the pack n play (in the box) at a consignment sale for maybe $15! It's wonderful!

I am getting very excited about Christmas. I am going to start on Christmas Cards this weekend. We are going to Ohio for a week over Christmas and I can't wait! It's been too long since I've seen the family and those precious nieces and nephews! I will also get my very first baby shower while I'm in Ohio!

We are flying to Ohio on the 20th (A day of traveling for my birthday!) and then we are driving a U-Haul back after Christmas! We are SO blessed that we can do that. We have a piano I need to get from my brother's house and we were renting the U-Haul for that. THEN, people started offering other goodies we could load up! My friend is giving us a crib (!) and a travel system stroller. My sister-in-law has the bassinet I was in as a baby AND Dad and Sheri have several furniture pieces that are going to be awfully handy. One of them is a TV. Ann - you will appreciate this - I am pretty sure that you can turn theirs off when you are done watching it!

The drive back will be a long one, especially at seven months pregnant, but I'm actually looking forward to it. I think Jory and I will enjoy the alone time. And Mindy has reminded me that she made the same drive (both ways!) when she was eight months pregnant and had two other kids in the car!

Decisions

Meg, who is having a baby right before I am and who I just LOVE commiserating with, got her coming home outfits from a place called Janie and Jack. I had never heard of it, but have now fallen in love with it. There are a lot of very comfortable, affordable choices.

Jory and I both really like this.

I fell in love with it right away and he liked it too, but here's my problem. This would be the girl's outfit, but it's not pink!?! I don't know if I'm okay with that or not. By the way, those are little deer on the outfit and it's made of velour. How sweet?

Jory and I also like this:

It looks super soft and it has a matching hat AND you can get it monogrammed! How great is that? They also have it in blue.

Another brand I've heard great things about is Kissy Kissy. Their items are supposed to be SO soft and of great quality. Here are two picks from their line (they have matching bibs, too!):

Jory likes both of those real well...tonight we head to Dallas for our second meeting with the Pain Management Nurse. I am really excited about it. Last time she recommended a book for me to read that was just great.

Paint

Guess where we spent Friday night? Lowe's and Home Depot! Jory spent over an hour pouring over the paint colors to pick the perfect shade for Baby Allen's room. It was sweet. This was his project and I did a good job of staying out of it and just observing the decision-making process. At the end, he narrowed it down to three colors and asked me to eliminate one. I did and that's the one he chose(?). Anyway, it's a precious color and he always does a good job with paint choices so I am anxious to see the end result. I mostly enjoyed just watching him being so intent on making this room perfect.

He is definitely getting more excited about Little One's arrival as we get closer. And everyone asks if the nursery is done. We kind of look at each other like 'is it supposed to be? We've got three months' and then we go home and say, 'we've only got three months! We need to do something'. I think it's all going to come together beautifully, though. The furniture and bedding should be in there by January and that still gives us time to buy decorations, right?

Right now, I'm trying to decide what to bring Little One home from the hospital in. Something fancy? Something comfortable? A dress or outfit that can be used for first pictures and become an heirloom? A sleeper that could actually be used - a lot? Jory has no opinion on this and I go back and forth pretty regularly. There's a baby's clothing store in town that I may check out today.

We're Back

Jory and I got back last night. He had a work conference in Vegas and I got to tag along. We're not Vegas fans, but we were staying at a beautiful hotel and got to have some very nice meals. All in all, we really enjoyed our time there, but were ready to get home.

Little One did not enjoy flying. There was a major freak out on the way out there when I got every limb (and a head) beating on my stomach at once. I felt horrible for the baby! The way back was not bad, though, I think Little One managed to sleep most of the way that time.

Jory has decided to paint Little One's room light yellow. He plans to embark on this project either this weekend or next. After that, we don't have any free weekends until January(!). He's excited to be moving forward on something with the nursery, I think! I got an e-mail from Ann this morning that the dust ruffle is done and that it is very cute! I am so excited! I can't wait to see everything all together.

24 Weeks (Almost)

Monday will be the day for my 24 Week picture, but we are leaving town Saturday and won't be back until Wednesday night, so here it is a few days early. This picture traumatised me because I look huge! I still have 16 weeks to go! I told my husband I wanted to be a cute pregnant woman and I feel like I'm just turning into a BIG pregnant woman! In any case, I do love to rub my stomach and feel the baby move. And this week is a turning point because now, with medical intervention, Little One could survive outside of the womb. It is amazing!

Historic Events

Yes, I am keeping track of the monumental events that occur while Little One is in the womb. And, obviously, with the election of the first non-Caucasian President of the United States an extremely historic event has occurred. Little One kicked every time another State was announced for Obama last night. We are not sure if that was in protest or jubilation. It may have just been that I have managed to breed a political junkie like myself.

In other historic news, the Aggies won two games in a row. Ohio State lost its second football game of the season which is not only historic (at least for recent years), but is the event that ended football season for me in October.

And, finally, my husband will turn 36 years old this week. He is celebrating by participating in a DODGE BALL TOURNAMENT at church. Can we say denial of age???

Doctor Appointment

What a fun doctor's visit! We got to hear a very strong heartbeat. We can't tell you how many beats per minute, though, because every time the Doppler was put on my stomach the baby kicked hard enough to kick the Doppler off of my stomach! That's the first time kicks were VISIBLE. Anyway, the heartbeat sounded great, but the machine was never on my stomach long enough to get a measurement of beats per minute.

My blood pressure is STILL 100 over 50. It hasn't gone up at all during pregnancy. My doctor thinks this is great. It freaks me out.

My weight is within normal ranges to date (16 pounds in 23 weeks). My stomach is the size of a bowling ball, though, and I have vowed to never take comfortable sleep for granted if I ever experience it again.

We have a much better idea of when Little One will be born. My doctor has a policy to induce if the baby is not born one week after the due date. So, Little One will be here by March 10, 2009 - one way or another!

The next appointment is my glucose screen. I don't think that will be as much fun...