28 weeks...the 3rd trimester

Yep, now we really are in the third trimester. We hit 28 weeks this past week and I have to say, Sunday was a pretty uncomfortable day. But, since then, everything's been fine as usual (thank goodness!). This week I had a pretty interesting experiencing with the baby. One day, I was sitting on the couch, just watching tv, when all of a sudden, I saw my belly move - without me doing a thing. That might be one of the strangest feelings ever - but it was pretty neat at the same time. She's pretty much been moving it by herself ever since. She's not much of a performer though, so whenever I let Richard know she's bouncing around so he can come check it out, she calms right down. Probably because he starts talking and she wants to listen - hopefully she'll let him see one day soon. Thursday we're headed to the doctor to check on the little one and I get to drink the lovely orange stuff (yay). Hopefully, we won't hear a thing after the test (no news is good news in this case) and we'll be set to go.

This weekend was a beautiful weekend and we tried to spend a lot of time outside. It was a really nice taste of spring and I'm hoping it'll be here to stay soon...but for now, they're calling for snow tomorrow. I never thought I'd be tired of snow, but I think one snow a year is enough for me. 

Here's the 28 week belly picture:

 

 

27 weeks and Baby G's First Baby Shower!

27 weeks doesn't seem to be too much different than 26 weeks - although my belly is definitely getting bigger (baby's growing!). I've noticed a bit of a difference in how I feel her move now. I used to feel kicks and punches and hiccups, which I still feel now, but in addition to that, I'm feeling her move her whole body, I think. Or at least big portions of her body (mainly her feet and legs, from what I can tell). I can also tell where she's put herself - she prefers my right side - and she seems to like taking whole body bounces at times. She seems to have pretty active days and then days when she's not quite as active, just quiet kicks and nudges. I think these days must coincide with when she's growing. Here's the 27 week belly picture:

 

And a close up:

 

On Saturday, Baby G had her first baby shower! Tracy and Sarah Beth hosted it and we had a lot of fun - I had a great time. And even though Baby G slept through most of it, I'm sure she had a great time too :o) .  Since it snowed Friday night (I am so ready for spring!), there was one hairy moment that morning - nothing bad happened, thank goodness, although our punch did not survive. We still got to enjoy delicious Cheerwine though!

The empty punch containers (they took a spill down the driveway):

 

And the Cheerwine that tumbled down with it:

 

Tracy and Sarah Beth made some delicious treats, including some very yummy cupcakes (which Richard got to enjoy as well, when I brought home the leftovers). Here's the food table, with all the goodies:

 

  

Everyone was so generous - Baby G has some great stuff to get her started in a few months. Here is the before picture of all the presents:

 

And after:

 

Opening some presents:

 

  

Me with Baby G's gifts and my best friends (and hostesses!):

 

Me, Baby G and Aunt Katie (holding on to Baby G):

 

Me, Baby G and the Grandmas:

 

After the shower was over and the car was loaded up, Katie and I headed over to mom and dad's house to hang out for a couple of hours, before heading back up to Raleigh. It's always nice to be able to take a little time just to sit around and catch up :o). Once I got home and Richard and I unloaded the car, we (of course!) had to check everything out again - as did Stella and Oz. We put together the fun Boppy Seat and unpacked her bedding and baby bather. Oz is not a fan of the vibrate feature on the Boppy seat - although it's fun to turn it on when he's around to see his reaction!

Even though we don't have the mattress for her crib yet, I did go ahead and put on her crib skirt and bumper, so we could get the effect. I just love the way her bedding looks in her room and I can't wait to see her in it.

Richard playing with the stroller:

 

The Boppy Seat and Baby Bather:

Her cute Princess hamper and stroller (which took us at least 15 minutes to get collapsed again, after we played with it):

 

 Oz and Richard watching me unpack the bedding (with Stella looking on in the background):

Oz and Stella checking things out:

 

 Baby G's bedding:

 

Thank you to everyone who came on Saturday - we are so blessed to have such a wonderful group of family and friends. Tracy and SB - you're right - I will never forget that shower! I had so much fun just getting to see and spend time with everyone and I can't wait to do it again. I also can't wait for Baby G to get to meet all the wonderful women she's going to have in her life. You guys are awesome. 

26 weeks

It's hard to believe we've only got about 13 weeks left...the closer it gets to May, the faster this is going! This week's been not too bad so far, although some of my energy seems to be leaving. I haven't been sleeping as well, so I'm guess that's a big reason why. Luckily, this weekend's a 3-day weekend (yay President's day!), so hopefully I'll get some rest. 

Not much has really been going on this week, so this will be a pretty short post. But, I am very much looking forward to this weekend! Tracy and Sarah Beth, my two best friends, are having a baby shower for Baby G :o) . It's going to be so much fun and I can't wait to see everyone! Here's the 26 week belly picture:

 

And a close up:

25 weeks

Ok, so to make a correction to my last post - we are not yet in the third trimester, our doctor informed us this week. We won't be until we hit 28 weeks, since you're technically pregnant for almost 40 weeks! So far, the second trimester is still going well! We had our monthly check up this week and the belly is measuring right on target for where we are, which both we and the doctor were happy about. I also got the lovely orange syrup drink I will get to have the morning of my glucose tolerance test in a few weeks (let's keep our fingers crossed - no gestational diabetes!). I've heard really great things about how delicious this stuff tastes (insert sarcasm here) and my nurse informed me that, yes, the drink was really all I had heard it would be - but some people say it tastes like Sunkist *wink*. Needless to say, I don't have much confidence that I will enjoy this stuff, but I will be trying to imagine I'm drinking Sunkist that morning. Baby G's (yep, still no name) heartbeat sounded good - right in the 140's, as usual. She did really good this time; stayed pretty still and didn't make it too difficult for the doctor to find her heartbeat. Here's the 25 week belly picture:

 

And since it's been awhile since you've seen a close up:

 

I had it really easy this weekend with the snow - we didn't do much but hang around the house with the pups, watching tv and spending some quality time with the couch - and the snow gave us a great excuse to do it! Although we hung out inside for the good majority of the time, the pups had a great time playing outside as well (as usual!) Stella really enjoys running around like crazy in the snow - Oz would rather just eat it. Here's some pictures of their fun: