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.

26 Weeks!

Uh, this is getting REALLY big, right???

How far along: 26 Weeks, 2 Days - Sorry to be late, Henry! We have had a crazy few days around here! 
Maternity Clothes: Yes! Including some cute new dresses and shirts for celebrations! 
Stretch marks: Yes.
Sleep: Quality of sleep comes and goes. Some nights it's fine, some nights it's terrible.
Best moment of the Week: Quite a busy week and weekend! So here are the very, very good highlights! Poppop (That will be BIG Poppop to you, Henry) had a successful pacemaker surgery Friday night. A and I celebrated our 10 years dating/4 years married anniversary on Thursday, and we went out to a very fancy celebration dinner last night at Volt! Oh, and I realized that THIS COMING FRIDAY we are rounding the final corner and hitting the third trimester. 

Miss Anything? Fancy cocktails! My mock-tail at last night's dinner was good, but it's just not the same thing.
Movement: Indeed! On Friday I even got some kicks up high which is unusual. Looks like maybe he is starting to stretch out in there.
Food Cravings: Not so much. I could inhale another venison dish from Volt, though. YUM.
Queasy or Sick? Nope! 
Have you started to show?  Yes! 

26 Weeks, and a new shirt!

Gender: Henry :)
Labor signs: Nope!
Belly button in, or out? In! Though my linea negra seems to have started.
Wedding rings on or off? Off. 
Happy or moody? Happy! How can we really be almost in third tri, baby? I have had a lovely pregnancy, and I've enjoyed it so much. I am excited for the holidays coming up as a mama-to-be!

25 Weeks!

How far along: 25 Weeks, 1 Day
Maternity Clothes: For sure!
Stretch marks: Yes.
Sleep: I really miss back sleeping. Sleeping on my side is hurting my hips and shoulders, though I understand back sleeping would be cutting off circulation but BOO.
Best moment of the Week: Either finding out I PASSED the Gestational Diabetes screen (who wants to have that over Thanksgiving and Christmas??) or buying Henry's crib and dresser with A and my mom today! It's so much more real to have his actual furniture IN THE HOUSE!
Miss Anything? Scotch. It's getting cold and I enjoy sipping it during the winter. 
Movement: All the time, now! The other day he was being really quiet, and I started singing along to music in the car. Within a few minutes he started wiggling like crazy. Either he really LIKES Mama's singing, or he was annoyed to be disturbed!
Food Cravings: Not really. I was not feeling red meat much, though. 
Queasy or Sick? Nope! 
Have you started to show?  Yes!

25 Weeks

Gender: Sweet boy.
Labor signs: Nope! Let's keep it that way, OKAY Henry?
Belly button in, or out? In!
Wedding rings on or off? Off. Boo.   
Happy or moody? Happy! It's really exciting to be in to real "nesting" at this point. Next project up for Daddy is painting the nursery, next project for Mama is making the crib skirt! I got the sweetest denim fabric with red embroidered anchors on it to use! 

Sunday Fun-Day

Sunday Randoms:

• We picked a color for the nursery - "Sea Frolic" by Valspar - a sweet medium blue. 
  
• We (mostly A) cleaned and organized the basement and attic to make room for Henry and ALL of the stuff that comes with having a newborn
• WHILE cleaning and deciding to keep or get rid of our moving boxes, we decided to keep them because A said, "we need boxes to have to build forts with Henry." Commence heart melting.
• Aunt Amber sent us some sweet pictures from her visit:
  
  
  
  

24 Weeks!

How far along: 24 Weeks, 1 Day
Maternity Clothes: Definitely. I still wear some non-maternity shirts, but they are getting too short.
Stretch marks: Yes, but no new ones in the past few weeks.
Sleep: I wake up frequently. Today I could have easily gotten up at 4:30 for no reason.
Best moment of the Week: Showing off Henry yesterday for school's "Neon Day" for spirit week. My students were all so excited to see his "first costume" and it got a lot of really sweet attention.

24 Weeks - Henry the Dancing Skeleton

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my back.Movement: Absolutely. He's pretty strong and I notice he goes though periods of MEGA MOVEMENT, and then hours of quiet. I guess all that flailing makes a guy sleepy.
Food Cravings: Not too many this week. I HAVE been drinking a ton of milk lately, which is really abnormal for me.
Queasy or Sick? Nope!
Have you started to show?  Certainly. I've been rounding out a lot, which makes sense because apparently my uterus is the size of a soccer ball right now. Holy cow.
Gender: Henry :)
Labor signs: Nope! And while I hope that is a looooooooooooooong way away, I am so pleased to have hit 24 weeks. 24 weeks is "viability" when doctors have a good chance of helping preemie babies survive and get healthy. Obviously the later I go, the better we are, but it's nice to know that we are at our first real "checkpoint."
Belly button in, or out? In!
Wedding rings on or off? Off.  
Happy or moody? Happy!