A few favorite images from Christmas

The last week of the 2nd trimester!!

This week, the baby is the size of a large Papa John's pizza (which didn't even occur to me as sounding fantastic until I discovered this. Now... wow does it sound great). This week the baby's eyes have fully developed, although her eyelids are still sealed shut. Air sacs are developing in her lungs, and by the end of the week it's possible that she could breath on her own. But my favorite line from this week's developments is: Break out the sparkling apple juice—baby has now completed two-thirds of her stay in Hotel Womb. Wahoo for being done with the 2nd trimester by the end of the week!!

Last week was a hectic week, but a really good one. I was feeling a little sick on Christmas Eve, but there wasn't much that could break my excitement. All day on Christmas all I could think about was how drastically different our next Christmas would be -- and how exciting that was! We were so happy we were able to make it to all our families' Christmas functions and see everyone. It was especially exciting to see Alexis and her growing little baby bump.

The baby even received two presents this year -- a cute outfit from Grandma Kershaw (surprise surprise, the shirt said something about how much she loves her grandma haha) and a recorded Twas the Night Before Christmas book from Grandma Adams and Uncle Eric (which may or may not have gotten me a little misty-eyed listening to it).

Today was my 6 month check up with Dr. Maurus. The baby's heartbeat was really strong and clear -- staying consistent at 150 bpm. I have gained about 2.5 pounds since the last time I went, bringing me to a grand total of almost 7 pounds gained so far. I go back in two weeks from now to get tested for gestational diabetes and a couple other things, but so far so good on the health front.

This week is going to be all about getting the house organized, catching up on some much needed relaxing, and enjoying my time at home before I start the last leg of this school year (just 12 short weeks until I'm done!!)

Week 25

This week the baby is about 13 1/2 inches long -- the length of those obnoxious plastic recorders we all played in grade school. She weighs about a pound and a half. Her hands are now fully formed, and her arms and legs are almost proportional to the length they will be to the rest of her body at birth. The capillaries in her blood are starting develop, so she's finally turning more "human" colored and less translucent. :)

This week was a bit of a stressful one. It was finals week at school, so lots and lots to do there, and on top of everything my left leg was hurting all day long on Wednesday. Because the doctor had specifically mentioned to call if anything out of the ordinary was happening with my legs after all my back problems, I gave them a call. They were a little concerned that the leg cramping and aching might be a sign of poor blood circulation, so we made an appointment for the next day just to check things. The appointment went well -- I found out I am still at the 4 pound mark weight gain wise, which is good, and after checking me over t he doctor wasn't at all concerned about my leg cramping.

We got the rest of the baby's furniture in this week and the carpet came in yesterday, so we moved the dressers and a few other little things in last night. We are so excited about how it's turning out! I'm anxious to get the headboard in and set up the crib to really complete the look, but it's quite the improvement over just the course of a day!

We are very much looking forward to the holiday this week and spending time with our families. It's kind of cool -- I'm 25 weeks pregnant on Dec. 25 this week. Before we know it, we will be in the 3rd trimester and time is going to really fly by. Once school starts, I will be only 12 weeks away from my due date!

this week: a tribute to my alma mater, the land of the corn

Week 24: Week of the corn. This week, the baby measures just over a foot long - about the length of an ear of corn. This week her inner ear has fully developed, and she can now distinguish when she is right side and upside down.

Last week was pretty relaxing, as I had two days off for a conference followed by two snow days. I could get used to bumming around the house in my pajamas all day. Thursday night, however, was another "bad night" as far as my back goes, and I spent most of the night attending a self-pity party in bed with the trusty pregnancy pillow from Molly. Since t hen, I think the baby has shifted to a new area. I don't think she has traveled higher, unfortunately, but I am now getting kicks on the other side of my belly which is kind of cool.

On Saturday, Travis and I watched our two favorite Christmas movies snuggled on the couch with the cats and then decided to venture out and try to register for baby items. That proved to be a bit challenging and overwhelming, but I think we got a good start on things. I think we'll definitely have to have Aunt Molly take a gander at it for us and find all the glaring things we need and don't need on the list. :)

Then later on in the weekend, Travis decided to get the baby's furniture out of the boxes to make sure everything was okay. The wood color is absolutely beautiful -- I am so glad we chose the set that we did. Unfortunately, the company decided to glue Styrofoam to said beautiful wood, so we have to have a bit of an exchange in the next couple days. I'm sure glad he checked before our return period had passed!

Aside from these things, this week I've really been thankful to God for each healthy day we have. It seems like all around me, people are having hard times with pregnancies, babies, and deliveries. A guilty pleasure of mine is the TLC show 18 Kids and Counting, and I've enjoyed following Michelle Duggar's pregnancy this season because we are only about two weeks apart in due dates. Seeing the news that she delivered her baby last week totally stunned me -- a 1 lb 6 oz baby that was born now only 6 days older than our own baby. The fact that both mother and baby are still doing well proves that God really can work miracles. Travis gives me a hard time for getting so wrapped up in the lives of people I've never met, but I feel like there is some sort of unspoken connection between all pregnant women -- reality TV celebrities and country high school English teachers alike. My thoughts are with them.

This week will be all about surviving and getting to the end -- where Travis has some vacation time and winter break finally begins for me! I am looking forward to some lazy sleeping in mornings (I know they won't always be there for me in the near future) and spending time together getting some last minute things ready for Christmas!

Harry Potter week

This week, the baby is roughly the size and length of a Harry Potter book (she's about a pound, so I'm thinking one of the bigger books like Half Blood Prince). Her sense of movement is well developed now,so she's very well-attuned to my walking around and such. She is also getting familiar with the sounds she hears often from the outside, recognizing familiar things like Dad's voice and in our case, most likely the purring of cats.

This week hasn't been too full of big events. The baby is kicking stronger and more often. Travis has finally gotten the big strong kick he's been asking her for. I have been really hungry lately so I finally feel like I'm eating for two, as the saying goes. The walls in the baby's room are finished, the furniture is in, and the carpet is ordered.

Last night, I finally broke down and bought my first "girlie" outfit for the baby. I was in St. Charles for a conference, so we went to the outlet mall to do some Christmas shopping last night. Osh Kosh B'Gosh had the cutest little brown corduroy dress on clearance and I just couldn't resist. So now on top of some onesies from a few different people, the baby now has her girlie outfit and her Chicago Bears tomboy outfit :)

Other than that, not a whole lot of new things to report. Things are going well, I'm feeling well, and I couldn't really ask for much more!

Today was our day...

The week we found out we were pregnant, we noticed a sign in the HyVee parking lot for expecting mothers and immediately made it our mission to park in those spots as often as possible. Unfortunately for the last five months, the spots have always been filled (and usually, we see as we walk out to the parking lot, with women far more pregnant and miserable looking than me. So I always feel bad for cursing them for taking our spot). But then today, the magic of Christmas descended upon us in the Best Buy parking lot. And the angels rejoiced.

Belly and Wall Improvement

As per request, here is the latest belly picture. Here we are at 22 weeks, 6 days pregnant :).


This is what the baby's room looked like when we moved in. It didn't take us long to decide that the walls and carpet had to go asap.

So, Travis has been working diligently getting it all ready. He primed the walls (a few times) and tore up all the carpet getting ready for the new. Hopefully by the beginning of the year, we will have a freshly painted room with nice, new carpeting!

5 Month Dr. Appointment

It's hard to believe, but I have now been pregnant for over five months! The baby is due to come in four months and 3 days. Today we went in for my monthly doctor's visit. I have now gained just under 3 pounds, which is good news still at this point. This time the baby's heartbeat was really cool to hear -- very strong and loud around 150 bpm. The results of our sonnogram came back with no health concerns so that was a nice sigh of relief. We talked for a bit about the back pain I wrote about earlier this week, and he told me to keep a close eye on it and let him know if it gets any worse. He prepared me for the chance of bed rest if it gets worse and time goes on, but assured me at this point I didn't have anything to worry about. We also asked him a few questions about the labor process, just a few things I have been wondering since our visit to the NICU last week. He also put our minds at ease with that talk, assuring us that at this point in the pregnancy and with the health the baby and I are in, there is a less than one percent chance of things not going smoothly on the big day. We like those odds.