28 WEEKS

We are in our 7th month and started off the third trimester with a busy week!

Sunday after church my sister and I went to Babies R Us to register. It's soooooo much harder than I thought! We both left exhausted and with headaches. The massive amount of decisions you have to make in there is crazy! And I didn't even get everything on there that I wanted. Like a stroller (they don't carry it), baby legs (again, they don't carry them), and the cloth diapers that we need (grrrrr, don't carry). I feel like I'm guessing when it comes to the highchair and swing and all that. Do we even need a bassinet? Pack N Play? I have no idea. I'm sure we honestly don't NEED half that stuff. And I feel really strange telling people what to buy me by putting it on a registry. I'd rather they use it as a guide more than anything. I mean, I don't care what kind of bath tub, but I had to pick one. Same with bibs and wash cloths and most of the other things on there. We weren't sure what to do about a crib but my sis said I might as well put one on there so I did. I hope that people don't think I'm being greedy or expecting them to actually purchase those big items. I'm sure the two car seats are confusing enough. But she'll need a convertible car seat at some point so I might as well add it on there.

Monday I went to Auntie Anne's house to make endless jars of apple butter. My Grandfather has some fruit trees and so far we've already done peaches and now apples. That night I was feeling really sick and had a lot of pain in my belly that radiated around to my whole back. I was sick to my stomach again and getting concerned since it happened twice in a week.

My Dr appointment was on Tuesday and everything looked good. I'm at 186 lbs which is a 3 lb gain from last month and 7 lbs overall. Woot! I talked to her about the swelling in my feet and cramping and she said it's likely I'm just over doing it and need to rest a lot more. She warned me that if I feel contractions more than 5 times a day to call her. I had to do the glucose test that I'm assuming I passed since I haven't heard anything. After that we had our class where they talked about family planning and birth control options. Ugh...more decisions to make and things to discuss. Will it ever end?

I received another gift from my forum friends through our virtual baby shower! This came from the sweet lady that organized the whole thing, Heather (sweetsugarbabie). It really made my day. :)



We also got a package from Mom (Diane) with the most adorable hat and piggy bank that she painted!! It's so thoughtful and we love it! How cute is it that she has a piggy bank already? Hopefully I can teach her to be better at saving than her Daddy. LoL



Thursday we went to UCI for our hospital tour. I probably could have waited until the next one but they only do them once a month in the middle of the day so I thought we might as well go since Steven is out of work. I have no idea what next month will bring so now was as good a time as any. I forgot how strange people in CA are. Everyone is looking for a fight. One dad (white guy) was yelling at the nurse giving the tour because she kept saying "husband" instead of , I dunoo... "baby daddy" or "sperm donor" ??? I thought that was a rather nice assumption than the other options but apparently he finds the term "husband" degrading or something. And some granola hippies were asking every question under the sun about ridiculous things like if they could have a refrigerator to put their own food in. REALLY? You'll be there for two days, I'm sure you can deal. So the tour went much longer than it needed to because of dumb people. The hospital is very nice though and the new post partum rooms should be finished by the end of July so it looks like we'll be in the new wing! I'm very happy that they promote breastfeeding and the golden hour of skin to skin with no interruptions. Baby will be with us in the room the whole time so I don't need to worry about them sticking her with any shots I don't want or giving her glucose water or formula. We'll have a nurse assigned to only us for the delivery and they all seem very nice and supportive. I'm feeling a lot better now about having to deliver at a hospital.

Mom left for her family reunion in New Mexico on Thursday night so I had a very quiet weekend with all three dogs. Steven went racing on Friday and won so he was in a great mood. I've still been sewing on various projects and am spending more time on the couch or in bed. The cramping is picking up and my energy level is dropping rapidly. I think the last trimester is going to be much harder than the first. Steven loves to make me go lay down on my left side and encourages me to sit like a bum all day. I have to sneak loads of laundry in when he's not around.

So here is me at 28 weeks! I really feel like we had a growth spurt. 11 Weeks now and counting!

27 WEEKS! THIRD TRIMESTER

Wow, hard to imagine there is only three more months left! Sometimes it felt like time was dragging but right now it feels like this pregnancy is speeding along faster than I can keep up. :)

This week the baby has not been moving as often but she hasn't let me forget she's in there with the massive kicks I'm getting. Steven was surprised at how hard she kicked me one day when he saw my belly jump and change shape. I've started swelling in my feet every day now. Putting them up doesn't seem to help much. I have an unquenchable thirst but I think that's a good thing. I'm not good at remembering to drink fluids usually. I'm very tired during the day because the bathroom trips at night have increased. I'm up every two hours at least.

Steven had a phone interview that went really well. We're waiting for them to set up an face to face interview. He's very excited about this position so I really hope they follow through on it.

I've been working on some projects for the baby. Mainly burp cloths and bibs. I started a car seat cover as well. I know I said I'd post pictures soon but they will have to wait until next week.

This picture was taken a few days late and I had had a sick day.

26 WEEKS!

Our little girl has been doing some funny things in there this week. I've felt her have hiccups a few times and she has a new thing where she likes to ball up down really low and flip around. I can tell my uterus is getting close to my rib cage because one in a while I'll feel a jab really high. I'm feeling pretty good and managing the heartburn and reflux better. Some days I have a big appetite and some days I can't bring myself to eat much.

The weather is really warming up. I was surprised the temp was only 86 degrees today. I could have swore it was in the 90s. I think I'll need to buy a few more tank tops to get through the summer. One isn't enough.

I've found some motivation to start sewing and it's been really fun. I found all kinds of free patterns on line for different baby items. I'll post some of my projects next week. Now if I could just get motivated to take some pictures. :) I need to start collecting props for newborn pics. I had so many ideas running through my head last night.

On Sunday our friend Ronnie took Mom and I to go see a musical her niece was in. The play was fun (The Wedding Singer) and we had a nice dinner afterward. Thanks Ronnie!

Steven has been getting first place more often than not in his RC races now. It's nice that he's winning because the top three places get gift certificates to use for more racing time or products at the shop. Something always breaks so it's been much nicer on our diminished pocket book. :)

Steven also had an interview this week but the position wasn't a good fit for him. They wanted 90% travel! Insane if you ask me. Hopefully the right job will come along soon. And some unemployment benefits would be nice in the mean time.

Big news of the week: I've been approved for MediCal!!!!! YAY!!!!! It wasn't sure we would qualify and my contact at the clinic said if anything I'd probably get Cal Optima which would mean delivery at a crappier hospital. So now I'll be delivering at UCI in Orange and they just re-modeled it so I hear it's very nice. We'll be going on our hospital tour on the 24Th. Praise God! It's such a huge relief that even though this hasn't gone as I've planned, He's still more than met our needs through my parents and now the state. As far as I understand it we won't have to pay for anything. My contact said I should sign up for WIC also so that's next on the list, along with getting a CA driver's license. I was hoping to wait on that until the job situation was secure and we knew for sure this was it, but for the foreseeable future So Cal is where we are going to be so I better get adjusted to the thought.

I don't think I've grown this week.

25 Weeks!

I'm very late posting this for last week. Not much has happened really. I'm getting more and more uncomfortable which makes for some long days and even longer nights. The little one is still VERY active and seems happy as a clam in there. Her movements are getting higher and higher. I think soon they will hit my rib cage!

Steven met with a head hunter in Newport and seemed to have a great meeting. He came away feeling very confident. Hopefully they'll have some temporary work lined up soon until he can find a permanent placement.

Steven's Dad came over for dinner one night and it was nice for my parents to get to know him a little more. We've been invited to go swimming at his house next. It sounds wonderful! I've been really wanting to swim lately. I doubt that can be considered a craving though. LoL.

Big news around here is that Dare and my Mom's jealous dog, Sugar, have become friends. We've even caught Sugar giving Dare kisses a time or two. It's such a relief to not have to worry about them tearing each other apart anymore. Now it's just the toys that suffer. Our front yard looks like we have a doggy daycare or something with the massive amount of dog toys (and things Bernice has turned into "dog toys") strewn about the yard.

Here's me at 25 weeks and finding it more and more difficult to find clothes that are comfortable to wear.