Loss

On December 26th, we lost a dear family member in my amazing Aunt Trudy.

Words can't express how much sorrow we all feel over this. She was a funny, smart, hard headed woman who loved this family so very much. Her children and husband are of course devastated, and it is so hard to watch them trying to cope with this.

For me personally, the hardest thing is knowing that she did not get to meet Henry. This woman loved children unlike anyone I have ever known. Babies were such a joy to her, and her excitement over Henry was palpable. She had a surgery upcoming that would have been very risky, but she said she had to live because she "had babies to hold," - mine, a cousin of mine expecting twins, and another expectant mom on her side of the family. It's devastating to know she didn't meet that goal when these babies are expected in January, February, and March.

My thoughts of consolation are this...

No longer is Aunt Trudy in pain and forced to fight against a body that made her struggle daily.

While I'm not much of a believer in God, I know she was. I hope she was right. If so, I know she would be meeting Henry now before we get him here in our arms. I'm sure if it is at all possible in this world, she'll be watching out for him.

At our shower, she gave us this hand made teddy bear crafted by her friend. It was thoughtful at the time. Now I am so very grateful to have it as a memory of her love for my growing family. We will treasure it always.

We will have to always remember to tell Henry about his Great Aunt Trudy who loved him though she never met him.

32 Weeks!

How far along:  32 Weeks
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and I love them and even some of THOSE shirts are getting a little short over the belly.
Stretch marks: Yes. Linea negra getting worse too.
Sleep: I've become a true furnace. I'm so hot I'm sleeping in cotton shorts, a tank top, and no covers. And I still wake up hot.
Best moment of the Week: Spending Christmas with my family. We are loved and very lucky. I can't wait for Henry's first Christmas next year - we already got his matching "H" stocking to go with ours. It will be really fun, too, since he'll be a 10 month old and able to at least enjoy ripping paper even though he won't know what else is going on! 
Miss Anything? Not school. Winter break is a godsend. Every day gets a little tougher on the body front, so this break is a welcome relief.
Movement: Lots. He particularly likes to shove his head (I think?) up in to my ribs on the right side.
Food Cravings: Not so much.
Queasy or Sick? Nope! PLEASE let me avoid this flu outbreak....
Have you started to show?  Yes. More and more people are getting surprised I have "so long to go."
Gender: Henry.
Labor signs: No. Hospital bag almost totally packed, though, and car seats probably getting installed next month. Oy.
Belly button in, or out? In! Shallower, but IN.
Wedding rings on or off? Off. 
Happy or moody? Happy! This kid is nearly here.

31 Weeks

How far along:  31 Weeks, 5 Days (I continue to slack. I blame holidays and being wiped out.)
Maternity Clothes: Yes, and I love them.
Stretch marks: Indeed.
Sleep: Ugh. My hips are destroying my sleep right now. No matter what side or what pillow, I wake up all the time with horrible hip pain. I guess they're really "making room" for baby.
Best moment of the Week: All of the lovely gifts from my students for Henry. I normally get Christmas gifts from my kids, but this year there was a clear baby theme! We got some adorable onesies, shoes, pacifiers, and toys for the little guy. The kids are so excited, and it is genuinely so sweet.
Miss Anything? Still my shoes. DO YOU KNOW how bad I want to wear my boots? Ugh. It's not worth buying new because I am HOPING that my ankles/feet go back down to normal post-baby, though I know there is a chance they won't.
Movement: He is a mover and shaker!
Food Cravings: Not really! I've been having too much fun with holiday food :)
Queasy or Sick? Nope! So lucky.
Have you started to show?  Oh goodness, yes! And only going to get bigger...

Christmas Bump - 31 Weeks!

Gender: My boy.
Labor signs: No. But I am using my break to prep hospital bags. HOSPITAL BAGS. WHAT THE WHAT?
Belly button in, or out? In! How long can this hold?
Wedding rings on or off? Off. 
Happy or moody? Happy! A little overwhelmed at how little time we have to go and how much we have to do, but it's all exciting!

30 Weeks!

How far along: 30 Weeks 4 Days (I am seriously slacking these days - and also WHAT how am I down to LESS THAN TEN WEEKS?!)
Maternity Clothes: Yes. No way around it now, and I'm starting to really "fill out" the shirts.
Stretch marks: Yup. But they're holding steady for now.
Sleep: Quality comes and goes. Some nights I am SO ridiculously wiped out that I sleep great. Other nights I'm up all hours due to pain or potty breaks.
Best moment of the Week: Definitely a low key week here on the baby front. So I guess the best "moment" is really just every opportunity we have to check off things from the "baby to-do list." My breast pump came, my FMLA paperwork is in and approved, we got a new chest freezer to store freezer meals (need to start working on those over break!) and breast milk. It's not too exciting but it is all stuff that needed done. Now to finish the other million things on the list. Oy.
Miss Anything? All of my shoes fitting. I want to wear my cute boots. My ankles do NOT want me to wear my cute boots :(
Movement: Indeed. Today while listening to student presentations I actually laughed out loud because he kicked my hand so hard it startled me.
Food Cravings: Mashed potatoes. Having them tonight. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeees. 
Queasy or Sick? Nope! 
Have you started to show?  For sure. In fact I've "popped" again which has led to DELIGHTFUL commentary by some that I am sure to go early or must be having twins because I am "so big." Yeah, no. Measuring right on time, thanks.

30 Weeks, 1 Day

Gender: Henry :)
Labor signs: No. And the fact that now we are in the part of this pregnancy where that is a real possibility and I need to start thinking about a freaking labor bag is INSANE and TERRIFYING.
Belly button in, or out? In! And not super flat or anything. Do I have an extreme innie?
Wedding rings on or off? Off. 
Happy or moody? Happy, and also kind of stressed. So much to do before this kiddo gets here. Can we really be "ready" on time?

The More You Know!

Who knew that the baby's name was SUCH a family name? Not us!

When we decided on Henry George, we were putting together a name we fell in love with - Henry - with a family honorary name - George. George is A's grandfather, and as the baby will be the only boy carrying on the family name, we thought it would be a nice gesture to him as the patriarch of the family.

Well, we just found out today that A's Great Uncle Peter (George's brother) isn't named Peter after all.

His real name is HENRY.

Yup.

So unintentionally we named the baby after both brothers!

What a fun little surprise!

November Showers Bring February Babies!

I don't really know where to begin in recapping my amazing baby shower experience!

I had no idea going in to Saturday what to expect, other than that my awesome family had worked really hard and were VERY excited for their chosen theme. The big reveal as A and I walked in was wonderful. No, really . . . "WONDERFUL Wizard of Oz," of course!

The Oz "Welcome to Munchkinland" shower was just perfect. The big day combined so many of my favorite things in to a loving and exciting celebration.

First of all, LOOK AT THIS AMAZING STUFF!

The invitation, and handmade art for Henry by Aunt Kelly!

Aunt Amber made these adorable signs for the room, including this lollipop!

Aunt Maria made this adorable diaper cake, complete with a yellow brick road!

Welcome to Munchkinland - OH MY!

Yes. This is a knocked-up Dorothy. Personally? I suspect the Scarecrow...

The yellow brick road for the mama-to-be, including ADORABLE ruby slipper socks!

Just two preggys...

My mom! She put in so much work on this shower!

My sister, who also worked so hard all the way from TN!

A's side of the family - I love this family portrait!

My family! So happy to have them all in my life.

Obviously this was just THE BEST. We were truly showered with love from our friends and family, and when we left had two full car loads of gifts for Henry! Somehow we found homes for most of it, though we have a lot of BIG boxes in the basement just waiting for a certain someone to show up and use their contents! I was honestly so overwhelmed by the generosity of the people in our lives.

We are so loved, and it was thrilling to see how many people are excited to meet this little guy. I welled up with tears quite a few times during the shower, and I'm doing so now. How can you not be emotional when shown so much love? 

We are incredibly, incredibly lucky.

29 Weeks!

How far along: 29 Weeks 4 Days (so much going on, sorry to be so LATE on this one!)
Maternity Clothes: Yes! And I just scored two FREE sweaters using Kohl's cash. Woo!
Stretch marks: Yup.
Sleep: Well, I have been so entirely exhausted that I've actually been sleeping with only ONE middle of the night bathroom break. It's a miracle. And also indicates the intensity of my sleepiness.
Best moment of the Week: Baby Shower! A follow up post is coming on this, so I will gush there!  We did have a WORST moment this week, also. Thankfully all is well. Saturday night after decorating for Christmas, I noticed I had a small amount of spotting. I called the doc line as instructed for anything out of the ordinary thinking I'd be told to rest and call back if it got worse. Nope. I was told to come STRAIGHT to Labor and Delivery for evaluation. What? So off we went in the middle of the night to the hospital. We got there and were relieved to learn all looked well and that there was just some superficial irritation going on . . . but apparently I was a little dehydrated so they wanted to monitor me to ensure I wasn't having contractions. Spoiler alert: I wasn't having contractions. Five hours later we were released (that's 5am at this point) with a clean bill of health for both Henry and me. I am so grateful things are good, and I'm also certainly happier to be safe than sorry, but it was a really stressful thing. Even though it was all precautionary, being hooked up to the monitors and being told it's not safe to go home was super scary and anxiety inducing. It certainly threw me off for a few days, but I'm feeling back to normal today and chipper! Hey, at least we had a "dry run" for actual Delivery-Day.
Miss Anything? Reaching things. I have short arms anyway, so put me FURTHER from stuff because of a big ol' bump and I become a t-rex struggling to reach ANYTHING.
Movement: Lots! I've also had a ton of hiccups from little man today, right under my ribs.
Food Cravings: Nothing in particular this week.
Queasy or Sick? Nope! 
Have you started to show?  Oh, yes. O, Henry!

Mom and Dad at the baby shower - 29 Weeks, 1 Day!

Gender: Little Man
Labor signs: No, thankfully. And CONFIRMED by the hospital! 
Belly button in, or out? In! 
Wedding rings on or off? Off. 
Happy or moody? Happy, and also in disbelief. I will be THIRTY WEEKS on Friday. HOW?

Things I Owe You...

HOLY COW what a busy time I've been having!

Coming soon (and unfortunately LATE, oops) are posts on my amazing baby shower last weekend and hitting 29 weeks!

28 Weeks!

How far along: 28 Weeks!
Maternity Clothes: Yes. Looking forward to trotting out one of my new dresses for tomorrow's baby shower!
Stretch marks: Since super early on. No worse as far as I can tell, though.
Sleep: Okay. Up a lot in the night for bathroom visits. And now I kind of have to roll out of bed, which is weird.
Best moment of the Week: Hard to say! Best moment number one was all the work on your nursery! It is now painted AND has a crib and dresser in it, mostly thanks to A busting butt in there. I did help, and I also made the crib skirt. Hard to see, but the crib skirt is a light denim fabric with red embroidered anchors!  

Henry goes here. Ah!

So many little clothes can fit in this thing!

AND I also ordered navy blue blackout curtains with white sheer accent curtains and hardware, plus this ADORABLE rug! Thanks, Black Friday online deals! I got the curtains, hardware, and rug for all under $300 which is a steal, I think.

Ocean waves for a Nautical Nursery!

The other best moment of the week would be Thanksgiving with the family yesterday! It was so nice to have all of us together in one place to enjoy each other's company! 

Miss Anything? Moving around better. Sometimes I was more a hinderance than a help trying to assist A with the furniture putting together.
Movement: Yes! Mostly in the mornings or at night. He is much quieter when I'm active and running around.
Food Cravings: Not much. Still eating tons of cereal, which is fairly abnormal.
Queasy or Sick? Nope! Can I say I seriously am so grateful for the easiness of this pregnancy? I see so many ladies suffer
Have you started to show?  Yes! Definitely pregnant to all who see me.

Thanksgiving - I swear I didn't eat the whole turkey.

Gender: Sweet boy.
Labor signs: No, thank goodness.
Belly button in, or out? In! Though I did have some pulling pain right at my belly button the other day. A sign of things to come? 
Wedding rings on or off? Off. 
Happy or moody? Happy! And excited! And very, very thankful.

Thanksgiving

O, Henry! (ha)

As I sit here sipping coffee and eating a bagel, waiting for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade to start, it's hard not to think about all of my long list of blessings.

The first one that comes to mind, of course, is you, little guy. You seem to be enjoying our relaxing morning, kicking away at me now and then. I love when I sit very still, because it means I'm more likely to notice your ninja moves than when I'm running around and getting things done. Not only are you healthy and right on track, but you already make me slow down a bit and appreciate small things. You aren't even here yet, and you already are shaping the way I look at things. I am also so very grateful you've been such an easy baby on me, and so healthy and normal at every appointment. Every time we see the doctor, she tells us she loves what boring patients we are. I love that, too.

Your dad is amazing. He has picked up so much of my slack and is so protective of you and me. He has kept our house running and clean, and has hit full on Daddy-Nesting mode. Even though it stresses him out with the loooooooong to-do list, it's a pretty heartwarming thing. He wants things to be perfect for you by the time you make your grand entrance. Last night, he spent hours putting together your crib(!) and is about half way done your dresser. Last weekend he painted your room with Grandpa C. You have a real room, baby, and it's all thanks to your dad. Once those things are done I can start going through all of the clothes we've been given for you and organizing your room!

Your grandparents are all so excited for you. Grandpa C has been around helping prep your room with painting and buying you nautical decals. Grandma C has been shopping up a storm for your nursery, sending me pictures of all of her finds. Gram G helped up pick up your crib and dresser, and got to see your ultrasound earlier. PopPop G kept Mama on the road when her car was breaking down the other day.

Your AUNTS are so excited for you, too. Aunt Amber and Kelly have been flooding us with toys and clothes and things from your cousins for you to use, which is such a big help. They both have boys and they have amazing advice for us. Plus they have both worked so hard along with Gram for my (your?) baby shower this weekend. I don't know much about it, but I DO know it's a labor of love from these ladies who are all anxious to celebrate you.

Friends and family have been sending us gifts and well wishes for you. We have a huge pile of things in our living room, and even though it's cluttered at the moment, it's a reminder of how thankful we should be for so many people to care about us all, even you, who they've never met.

Add on top of these wonderful people in our lives, we have a beautiful home for you to come to, jobs that are secure and keep us living the way we do, and lives full of more good than bad.

Happy Thanksgiving, Henry. It's a good day. And it's a good life.

27 Weeks!

How far along: 27 Weeks, 2 Days - WHAT? THIRD TRIMESTER!
Maternity Clothes: Yes! Do you know how pumped I am for Thanksgiving in elastic pants?
Stretch marks: Yes. And a very very faint linea negra, also.
Sleep: SO MUCH BETTER since I started seeing a chiropractor this past week! I had no idea what magic that would be. I am still up a lot for bathroom visits, but I go right back to sleep instead of tossing and turning in pain.
Best moment of the Week: Aunt Kelly, Uncle Jason and the cousins are in town for the holiday and the baby shower!!! Ah! So exciting to see them yesterday, and sweet to see how excited they are to see the bump. They haven't seen me at all since I started showing, so I guess it was a pretty big difference from a few months ago! Plus it's awesome to see the kids excited about baby cousin. It's adorable. Hopefully Miss Lilah doesn't mind some new baby stealing any of her February thunder, not that I think ANYONE could take the spotlight off of her when she wants it :)
Miss Anything? My shoes. Oh, this has been a tough one for me. Most of my shoes . . . my BEAUTIFUL SHOES, are painfully tight. I can't tell if it's my feet growing/widening from ligament stretching or just from swelling, but they seriously are so uncomfortable right now. I literally have two pairs of shoes that are comfortable right now. And they're both boring and basic. COME BACK TO ME, GORGEOUS HIGH HEELS - not that I'm too sure I could rock them now if I wanted to.
Movement: So often! I think I have also had "hiccups" though I didn't realize it at the time. Also, Gaius has taken to snuggling up to my belly and purring up a storm. Yesterday when he started purring Henry started kicking! He already loves his kitty!

Big brother Gaius says, "Henry is an awesome pillow!"

Food Cravings: Not really. More aversions. Still not loving most red meat most of the time.
Queasy or Sick? Nope! Can I say I seriously am so grateful for the easiness of this pregnancy? I see so many ladies suffering through and mine has honestly been a breeze. I think I will really MISS pregnancy since I didn't deal with much awfulness (yet, anyway).
Have you started to show?  Yes! I don't think you could miss it, now. PSA, by the way: When you work for a high school and wear spirit gear with the high school's name all over it and a big cheerleading bow in your hair out in public after work whilst being almost seven months pregnant, you get an odd mixture of looks, ranging from sympathy to disdain. I just smile and resist the urge to yell "I AM 28 YEARS OLD I AM JUST APPARENTLY YOUTHFUL IN APPEARANCE AND SPIRITED ABOUT MY PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT," but what can ya do?
Gender: Henry George
Labor signs: Nope!
Belly button in, or out? In! Maybe I can skip this part...
Wedding rings on or off? Off. 
Happy or moody? Happy! And lucky.

Comparisons

Thinking about how far this pregnancy has progressed from the start of second trimester to the start of third trimester is INSANE.

Some things for comparison....

13 Weeks

26 Weeks

At the start of second trimester, the baby was less than four inches long and around 1.5 ounces. Now? Over a FOOT long and pushing three POUNDS.

17 Weeks

26 Weeks

Look at that hand growth from the MIDDLE of the second trimester to the END. WHAT?

18 Week Bump

26 Week Bump

Yeah. That whole three pound baby sure is making himself seen these days. I don't feel like I'm that much bigger day to day, but wow can you see it here.

12 Weeks

20 Weeks

And my personal favorite difference - my boy himself! Look at that profile! We haven't gotten to SEE him since our anatomy scan, but I'm sure he looks even more like a real live baby at this point. Maybe we will do a 3D u/s to get an extra peek soon!

So.

We have come a loooooooooooong way.