30 Weeks!

Happy Thanksgiving Baby E!

Random Thoughts from This Week: Thank God I have not gotten the flu.........
Maternity clothes? Yes, and it's getting pretty bad. Now I am having to put bigger maternity tanks under t-shirts just to cover my belly. UGH! 
Weight gain? Probably. It's Thanksgiving for God's sake. I have been eating nothing but crap!
Stretch marks? No, but I think I found a sign that I should start spreading lotion on when I got a Bath and Body Works coupon book in the mail... I think I might just take them up on that!
Best moment this week? Catherine is starting to get over whatever it is that pisses her off and is getting to be FUN. She is laughing and running around with James and being goofy. It's awesome. She still gets tired and goes down about 6:00-6:30 p.m. (and sleeps until we wake her at 7:15 or so), but otherwise, she has been awesome. Thank God! 
Worst moment this week? This morning, I thought I was going to go out of my damn mind. The kids weren't getting along, James was antagonizing Catherine, being a big butthead, and we had to put him in timeout a time or two. Luckily, after that, he had an attitude adjustment, but holy hell. Both Eric and I were going to go out of our minds!
Miss anything? Something has gone awry in my left glute. It's almost like I pulled a muscle. Whenever I bring it up to say, take the stairs or something, it kills. Not to mention, getting up from a sitting position is tedious as I have to wait for my hips to adjust before taking a step. Then when I take a step, my lower back kills. I can tell it's because you're sitting so low, because even though I still get out of breath per normal, I can take big breaths with out discomfort, which is interesting. Also, if you look at my belly from the side, you can see how low you're sitting compared to my other pregnancies. In short, this pregnancy sucks ass.  
Movement? Yes. Large kicks about knock the wind out of me.
Food cravings? Yes. Uncle Bucks' turkey wrap, which I am eating TOMORROW. I am so damn excited about it too!
Anything make you queasy or sick? Not this week!

What pissed you off this week? Mmm, my kids. But that's normal. :)  

29 Weeks!

I hope you brought waders, because shit is about to get deep in here!

I had my 28 week appointment, which technically, is my 29 week appointment. Either way, I am officially measuring right on. Which means that odds are I will not be delivering on or even close to the day my dad passed away because my babies like to come late.

There are some sort of bittersweet feelings in knowing this. I have been preparing myself for the day that I give birth to this miracle baby, which could easily come on the anniversary of my dad's death. And in some ways, I want him to come on that day. Childbirth is like nothing else in this world; it's incredibly chaotic, beautiful and so far, the two best moments I have had in not only my life, but in this life with Eric. Giving birth to you on the same day that death took my dad wouldn't necessarily be replacing one memory with another, but it would remind me that my dad is truly always with me.

On the other side, I don't want to give birth on the anniversary of my dad's death, because that one day reminds me that I need to live the three hundred sixty-four other days that aren't bogged down with sadness and grief. Even though those feelings are still deep-seeded, they don't steal my breath like they used to. But when that day comes around each year, I am able to remember and realize how precious life and relationships with other human beings are; to never take anything for granted.

And then, with all that being said, I know this miracle baby will surprise me and make our family complete. So come what may...

In other news, when I finished my check up this week, the doctor said, "Ok, we'll see you in two weeks." I did a double take and said, "Two weeks?!" Since we're technically at week 29, they start the two week appointments at week 30.... so, that would mean that in two weeks, I begin every two weeks until week 36. Luckily, I asked if I could put it off another week and truly come on week 32, and she approved it, so this one will be three weeks. But still. What the hell??? I cannot believe it. I was so shocked. I think because with my other two pregnancies, at this point, I was looking forward to finding out if Baby E was a boy or a girl. Now, at this point, I'm in my third trimester and staring down the barrel of the Holiday Shotgun. What comes right after the holidays? BABY. It's so weird to think like that.

Luckily, our bathroom is almost finished and next will be the kitchen. I made pumpkin bars tonight for our family Thanksgiving this weekend (where we will ALSO be attending the Iowa game. SO EXCITED!) and kept thinking about how excited I was about my new kitchen. I cannot wait. After Thanksgiving, Eric and I will be ordering our cabinets and looking for our counter top. I have been busy pinning the various colors and organizational things I want in my kitchen, and overall, getting very excited that soon, our house will be 90% complete. The whole house. And currently, we have over $80,000 in equity in our home. Which means with it actually complete, we will have much more than that. Which means we are closer to our seven year goal of moving into a bigger house, or buying an acreage. WAHOO! WE ARE MOVING FORWARD!

Speaking of moving forward, on to the update!


Random Thoughts from This Week: I hope I don't get the flu, I hope I don't get the flu, I hope I don't get the flu...
Maternity clothes? Yes, and some of them are about to be retired. So long, brown pants.
Weight gain? Yes, which again, I am trying not to stress out about. From my ideal weight, I am almost 30 pounds. From my typical weight, I am about 23 pounds. From my weight when I first found out I was pregnant, thanks to my anxiety pills (that's my story and I'm sticking to it...) I am only 15. So that's not technically that bad. For some reason, I've really been hard on myself. So I feel a little bit better about it after today's appointment. Although I am really surprised that no doctor has mentioned it, but after thinking about it, this is probably why!
Stretch marks? Nope! I hope it stays that way! 
Best moment this week? We have this thing called "Homeroom" which is like an advisory period once a week where students are assigned to a teacher, and that teacher acts as their liaison, communicator etc. in case the kid feels like they don't have one in the school. This week's homeroom lesson plan was to write thank you notes to people. It was the teacher's choice to whom they wanted the students to write, but most kids wrote to the teachers. I received 13 "thank you" notes from some of my most unsuspecting students. Some of the students that I didn't think I was reaching, I was. It was really incredible. I was shocked, but it was an incredibly humbling feeling. 
Worst moment this week? Probably from 2:00 a.m. this morning until about a half hour ago. The flu has struck my little man down, and being that I'm so far along, I do NOT want to catch it. It's not just the "I ate something horrible" flu, it's the genuine flu, with a fever and everything. So I spent most of last night wiping up puke, wiping James' face, yelling at him to get to the trash can at the side of his bed etc. Eric took the reins and actually got into bed with James to make sure he didn't choke on his vomit etc. while I stayed in our room, but we were up about every hour, either cleaning up puke, cleaning up James, or just guiding him toward the waste basket while I rubbed his back and he puked. I ended up going to a conference today, and Eric took the  day off to take care of him. About noon is when the fever and dry heaves hit, and the poor kid dry heaved and slept off and on all afternoon. I feel awful for him, but Eric smartly gave him a bath about 6:00, which broke his fever and he's been slightly warm, but in much better spirits since.
Miss anything? Not hurting when I move. 
Movement? Yep! You've started your twitchy thing!
Food cravings? I went out to eat with my mom at Uncle Buck's and had a turkey wrap thing. IT WAS FUCKING DELICIOUS. I want to order another one. Every day.
Anything make you queasy or sick? The smell of James' vomit. It was terrible. 

What pissed you off this week? Not much. Surprisingly...  

28 Weeks!

How interesting it is to look back at each of my third trimesters. The first one I was soooo excited about James! The second one, I was sooooo excited about Catherine. This one? I'm just trying to make it through this damn pregnancy with two other small children to look after.

I hurt. ALL THE TIME. It's nearly impossible to walk quickly, or move quickly, or really, do anything like I used to. Being that I'm about the only one who knows what I'm doing when it comes to setting up the sound system in our auditorium, I have setting up all week for the Variety Show. Holy hell, is it a lot of work when you are this far along. UGH!

Either way, I only have three more months until I meet my little guy. I remember thinking with the first pregnancy about how little time I had until I met him. With this pregnancy? Not so much. It seems like February 5th is a lifetime away.

Anyway - onward to the update, of which I took a couple questions from the other pregnancy updates, just for fun and because, surprisingly, I have some time to do that...

Random Thoughts from This Week: I just need the Variety Show to be DONE.
Maternity clothes? Um, yes. Of course.
Weight gain? Most likely!
Stretch marks? Not yet, which is impressive. And my linea nigra has yet to show. Probably because this is the third pregnancy and my stomach is used to stretching this way!
Best moment this week? Not last night, I can tell you that. Possibly the fact that I looked at all my "acts" for the Variety Show and said, "Huh... they are definitely ready."
Worst moment this week? Last night. It was horrible. I was busy with work, Eric was busy with work. Everyone was pissed off. It sucked.
Miss anything? Not feeling like a huge heifer.
Movement? Absolutely. It's been crazy. The other night, I didn't get to sleep until well after midnight because he would not stop moving around! Arg!
Food cravings? Spice spice and more spice. I love it!
Anything make you queasy or sick? Not particularly this week. 

What pissed you off this week? I had a student make a poor decision, and he has definitely been my stressor. Not to mention, his parents. But at the end of the day, he made the poor decision and violated the behavior contract I had him (and his parents) sign, because his behavior warranted it.  

This is my update with Catherine...
How far along? 28 Weeks! Wahoo!
Maternity clothes? Of course. Today I was wearing my brown pants, white shirt, brown flats, and a cute pearl necklace with a floral accent on the side, and a student told me I looked really pretty today. It made my day!!!!!!!! Still have these pants, which I wear regularly. But this shirt that I'm talking about does NOT fit this pregnancy. My boobs are out of control!!! 
Weight gain? I'm pretty sure only the typical 3-4 pounds (Update: I was right on the money with only 3 pounds gained). I stubbed my toe on our scale in the basement moving something else (it's buried beneath God knows what) and decided to step on it. Granted, it has never worked correctly, but I've made it work for the most part. I think I've gained a few pounds since my last appointment, taking me somewhere in the upper 160's, which I'm ok with. Some people my height would have a hard time with that weight, but to be completely honest, at 150, I look like I weigh 130. It's really bizarre, and it's not like when I weigh 150 that I actually have fat on my body. The least I've weighed in my female adulthood was a dangerous 145, and I looked anemic. It was kind of gross. So I'm pretty happy that I've only gained about 18 pounds. My pregnancy calculator said that I should gain about 11 pounds in the third trimester, which would only put me in the 170's. That's only about 20 pounds more than I would normally weigh, so I'm good with that. It's healthy, but not the unhealthy 40 pounds I gained with James! I am right on the mark to gain a little less than I did with James, and more than I did with Catherine. I am trying really hard not to stress about it, but even with all the movement I do every day, plus the fact I truly am watching what I eat, it still doesn't help. I just have to resign to the fact that with this pregnancy, pineapple for lunch every day is just not good! 
Stretch marks? No, thankfully. Still lotioning up!
Best moment this week? Eric's mom came to visit, so we were able to escape for a night out. We went out to eat, and then saw a movie. We're really homebodies and like to be at home, or at someone else's home. We hate spending money like that, but at the same time, sometimes we need that. It was nice to sit across from Eric and talk about adult things, instead of trying to keep James occupied. Not to mention we had a snow day on Monday, so we were able to take some time to work on our master bedroom/closet/bathroom remodel, which was nice. One of our favorite things to do together are home renovations and we've done them all - remodeled bedrooms, bathrooms, our living room and dining room, sided our house, put in new windows, insulated our attic, finished our basement. All by ourselves. Although it was hard to move being almost 28 weeks pregnant, it was also nice to give my husband shit about how he grunts when he's exerting a lot of energy. It took me back to our pre-children days. :)
Miss anything? As of right now, not really. Everything is really falling into place!
Movement? Yes, and only on one side, which is odd. And usually, a ton after I eat (duh) and 9:30 or so at night, which is annoying! You also love to move during the night and wake me up when you're in my rib! This guy LOVES to move at the exact same times. I just finished supper and he is boot scootin' away in there. Not to mention, about 9:00, it's like he strikes up the band in my abdomen. Holy crap. 
Food cravings? This week, it's been sweets. I've been dominating the candy jar at work, and buying candy bars that the post prom committee is selling in the teachers lounge every day. It obviously gives me more energy, but I also am craving sweet things. Which is probably where the pineapple comes in. I need to get back on that track rather than the sweets train I've been riding. But it's so good...
Anything make you queasy or sick? I can't remember what it was this week, but I wanted to puke all over the place. It was something kind of obscure and not something that I run into all the time. But oddly enough, I cannot, for the life of me, remember what it was!!!!! But I just remember wanting to gag in my mouth. And typical to my last pregnancy, someone posted a chicken recipe on facebook, complete with a picture of the chicken breast, and I wanted to barf. So, I haven't had chicken in a really long time!!!
Labor signs? TMI, but tons of mucus discharge. I remember with James at 28 weeks exactly, and the morning of my doctor appointment, I lost my mucus plug. I remember crying when telling the nurse, terrified that labor was starting and I had no idea what to do. She asked me if I was sure it was my mucus plug. YES. There is absolutely no mistaking the mucus plug. After checking me, the doctor assured me that yes, I did lose my mucus plug, BUT the mucus plug usually regenerates if you lose it too early and don't go into labor. Seriously? So I've been looking for that to happen again, but luckily, nothing! Although this time, I'd say I'm much better prepared! 
Symptoms? Pregnancy insomnia is back (shit!). It sucks. Could be a direct correlation to all the sweets I've been eating?? I'm not sure if it's pregnancy insomnia, or the fact that I have small children, but the insomnia is definitely beginning to return. 
Belly button in or out? In, but barely. I'm waiting for it to finally pop!
Linea nigra? Nope! Smooth belly!
Wedding ring on or off? On! But this time, it's slowly getting tighter. I doubt I will be able to wear it much longer! 
Happy or moody? It's been off and on moody this week, thanks to me being so tired.
Looking forward to: TOMORROW! We have our ultrasound, my glucola test, and our 28 week appointment. I'll be anxious to hear what they have to say about the placenta. Hopefully all is well! :)

And this is my update with James...

How far along? 28 weeks

Maternity clothes? My yoga pants rock and pretty much, anything that's comfortable. I love changing into really comfortable clothes when I get home from work!!! Still do... still definitely do. 

Stretch marks? No! Hooray!!! I'm super excited that I still don't have stretch marks. I'm hoping hoping hoping that it stays that way!!!

Sleep? It a little touch a go a couple days ago, but last night, I put a pillow between my knees. Heaven! It worked like a charm and I woke up this morning feeling refreshed! After reading this particular post this week, I tried it again and guess what? It worked like a charm (again) and yesterday morning I felt incredibly refreshed. 

Best moment this week? I saw you MOVE. As in, MOVE. My whole belly moved really slowly! I can tell things are getting tighter in there and you must be uncomfortable, but hopefully the more uncomfortable you are, the sooner you'll come out and join us! :)

Miss anything? Not waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom!!! Once again, this is true. However, I have began limiting myself to water only before 9:00 p.m. After that, I don't drink anything. It has helped!

Movement? A ton! And real movement - not just kicks. I've noticed moreso this week than any other week that you do this twitching thing that sometimes scares me a little bit. It's like when you get an eye twitch, only in my belly! Pretty crazy!!!

Food cravings? Not really. I really like all of it! :)

Anything make you queasy or sick? Not really, although I have been feeling slightly queasy on and off for a week or so. It goes away fairly quickly...

Labor signs? None!

Symptoms? I have an incredible urge to nest!

Belly button in or out? It's in...but my mole has begun to stick out!

Linea nigra? A very faint line on a very stretched, smooth belly!

Wedding ring on or off? On!

Happy or moody? Still ridiculously happy. All the time! Hahaha, how things have changed...

Looking forward to: My baby shower is this weekend. I can't wait to see everyone and get all those great gifts that is going to make this even more real! :)

I love how I have switched from the count-up to the count-down! Only 12 more weeks until I get to hold you in my arms! :) I love you already! Nope, still in the count-up this time around. Haha...

27 Weeks!

I will let this week speak for itself...

Random Thoughts from This Week: For the love of all that's holy, can we just get a cold snap and keep it? This weather makes the kids crazy... both here and at school!
Maternity clothes? Ding ding ding! I still fit into those dresses that are non-maternity, per every pregnancy, but for the most part, it's all maternity clothes from here on out. And most likely, bigger maternity clothes in the very near future... *sad face*
Weight gain? I am going to go ahead and say yeaaahhhhhh...
Stretch marks? Negative. And I have yet to buy my lotion. I think I may slightly still be in denial about this pregnancy...
Best moment this week? My new washer and dryer. They are splendid. I can program special load specifications FROM MY PHONE. That's right, I have a washer app. ON MY PHONE. when my load is finished, there is a lovely little melody that plays. They are QUIET. I love them. LOVE THEM. Also, Eric and I had a great time with our kiddos on Sunday. Playing, hanging out, and just being a family.
Worst moment this week? Saturday. That is all.
Miss anything? Moving quickly. Not feeling my vagina break in half every time I get out of bed. Not getting out of bed every ten seconds to pee in the middle of the night.
Movement? Wowza, yes. The other night, Eric had his hand on my belly for just a little while and he was going nuts. Even Eric was like, "Whoa!" Even right now, E3 is going nuts. And when we goes nuts, it's nuts. He's already in my ribs!
Food cravings? Anything spicy, anything with carbs, and candy. So, that should be good for my figure, right?
Anything make you queasy or sick? Because our school is designed really poorly, the choir room is across from the boys locker room and a coaches office. It REEKS. I even put an air freshener in my office because the stench was beginning to waft from the locker room, across the hall, into my room and then into my office. Pretty amazing if you ask me, as that proves it was one hell of a stench!

What pissed you off this week? My chatty students! Ayeesh. That's why we just need to have to weather change and stay changed. 

Can't believe I am almost 2/3 done with this pregnancy! Can't wait until the finished product! ;)