Week 25 Update

We are rounding the final corner of the second trimester.  Only a couple short weeks left before we officially hit the third trimester.  Monday marked the end of the 25th week.  Last weekend we helped my parents celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary.  We had a blast, but I was ready to put my feet up at the end of the night.  I have continued with more of the same swelling in my feet and ankles thanks to the heat and humidity this last week.  I was glad to see the highs for this week were back down in the 70's.

We have continued our quest to find daycare.  Realizing there were already waiting lists into next spring at several places, I figured we should really get moving on this.  Luckily, we have some feelers out we hope pan out to some solid options.  We have been looking at both center and in home options.  It's hard to imagine putting our tiny baby in the care of someone else at just six weeks old, but we aren't the first to do it. 

We have also continued working on getting the nursery ready. We plan to spend the long holiday weekend getting it completely cleared out and ready to paint next weekend.  We got the bed from the nursery donated this week, so that cleared up a lot of space.  We still have a few furniture items left to move out, and then we need to deal with the junk we haven't dealt with since we moved.  For the sake of efficiency, I'm trying not to move things more than once.  As a result, the clearing out process is taking a little longer than I would like.  Andrew's project this weekend is to build some additional storage in our laundry area in the basement.  Hopefully, that will create enough additional storage so we are able to get the remaining stuff from the nursery put away.  Andrew isn't thrilled about all the things that have currently migrated into his library and the closet in his library. 

The growing bump from week 25

Pregnancy symptoms this week including the increasing struggle of rolling over in bed.  It's a chore; thank you no abdominal muscles.  I'm grateful for a cooperative baby when it comes to sleeping.  She generally kicks for a short time after I am down for the night, but she's usually pretty quick to settle down.  I have also been dealing with the lovely leg cramps that come with pregnancy.  I woke up with another charlie horse in my calf on Sunday morning and have been hobbling along all week with a knot in my right calf.  Cramps in my calves are nothing new to me, but I don't think I have ever had the knot afterwards last quite this long.  I have been reading to eat a banana and drink plenty of water to help with the cramps.  My lovely husband also massaged my calf where the knot is with a racquetball, which helped quite a bit.  He has been a huge help with this pregnancy, and I'm very grateful to have him around!

Despite the aches and pains, I'm trying to remind myself to enjoy every kick and movement.  We have always talked about having one child, so this might be my only pregnancy and I don't want to take it for granted.  Every time I feel a kick I'm reminded of how soon we will get to see our little girl.  We laugh when we think about whose personality she will have more of, or who she will look like.  For now, she will stay on the inside and continue to grow. 

This week, we are looking forward to our first daycare center visit; we have to start somewhere with the process.  We are also looking forward to the long weekend and getting some projects done around the house.  Things at the house have been feeling a bit chaotic recently with everything in transition, so I will be glad to get some things taken care of this weekend.  Hopefully, we can get the doors completed for the built ins in the basement and get the new shelving put up in the laundry area.  We might try and take some time to relax and enjoy some fireworks along with a corn dog too!

Pregnancy Week 24 update

We are rounding the corner on the second trimester; only a few more weeks left before we are into the final stretch.  This past week we had our 24 week checkup with the midwives.  I already vented about having to deliver downtown as opposed to out west like we wanted to.  We did get our prenatal class moved to downtown.  We were able to change it from a five week class to a fast track version of the class.  We will have one Sunday in July we will attend class from 1:00 PM to 6:30 PM and get a tour of the birthing unit following the class.  I'm looking forward to starting our classes next month, we also have a baby finance class in July.

This week I'm thankful for awesome friends who paved the baby path before us.  We have awesome friends we have been able to get some baby gear from!  This little girl has a growing pile of gear in her nursery.  Last weekend I boxed up a ton of stuff to donate, and we were able to get that out of the nursery this weekend.  We took six boxes of clothing and miscellaneous household items to donate on Saturday.  I tried to be a ruthless this time around when going through my clothes to get rid of.  I had a lot of things I only wore once.  I hadn't wanted to give them away because I kept telling myself I might wear them again.  If I hadn't worn it in the last year, it was donated.  I also donated many work clothes that I hadn't worn in the two and a half years since I started working from home.  There are very few occasions I need dress pants for these days, so I probably didn't need to keep twenty pairs on hand. Slowly we are getting things moved out of the nursery and getting it ready to paint next month.

I have finally reached the point in this pregnancy where I decided it's time to get real and face some facts I have been avoiding.  The biggest thing I have been avoiding to this point is finding daycare.  To be honest, daycare was probably one of the largest factors if not the single largest factor in why we have waited until this point to have a baby.  Babies cost money.... for those of you who are parents, I know I don't have to tell you that.  We started looking into daycare options long before now; we needed to know how much money we were talking about.  I thought I was going to have to pick Andrew up off the floor the first time I told him the rates I was seeing for daycare.  Heck, I was pretty certain we just weren't going to have kids at that point.  I have seen anywhere from $150 per week to $300 per week for ONE CHILD.  I really started to understand why so many people with multiple children have one parent stay home.  It isn't because it's a luxury, it just makes financial sense. 

I emailed one daycare about a month ago and was told they had a waiting list in their infant room through March 2017.  I was seriously confused how they could have a waiting list through March 2017... those children haven't been conceived yet.  That was the end of my daycare search for a few weeks.  I have been asking around for recommendations from people who know providers and centers locally.  We would like to do an in home daycare, but I don't want to go in blindly.  Ideally it would be someone we know or someone who comes highly recommended by people we know.  This has probably been the single biggest cause of stress so far in this pregnancy.  That being said if anyone locally has any recommendations for daycare, please pass them along! 

Other fun pregnancy stuff this week included ankle swelling.  I'm convinced I'm not going to see my actual ankles again until this pregnancy is over.  Thank you summer heat and humidity.  I was also up on my feet a lot toward the end of last week for work, which didn't help.  My sweet tooth is still in full gear, but I'm trying to keep it under control.  Now that I'm back within a few pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight (thank you first trimester morning sickness), I want to keep my weight under control and make sure and stay healthy for the remaining trimester of this pregnancy.  I'll try to keep my ice cream intake under control during the warm summer months

And finally, the week 24 growing bump picture...

I can tell definitely tell the bump is there now.  This little girl is quite active, but Andrew has yet to feel a full on kick from her.  He has been able to catch some little movements from her here and there.  She does tend to favor having her feet on my right side; that seems to be where I feel her kicking the most.  She's typically most active in the morning after I eat breakfast and again at night when I sit down to relax.  Luckily, she hasn't been a total stinker and has let me sleep at night.  I'm also grateful I haven't had any issues with heartburn like so many people have talked about having.  For the most part, my second trimester has been a pretty easy one!  

Week 23 Update

We made it to week 24 also known as the viability point for pregnancy, which means week 23 is behind us.  The weekly excitement in our house was Andrew discovering carpenter ants in our master bedroom window.  I know, not very pregnancy related.  But, it lead to an unexpected visit from pest control.  Hopefully we have our carpenter ant and spider problem under control now. 

At some point last week, we heard rumors that the hospital we were planning to deliver in was closing their birthing unit.  We had an appointment with our midwives yesterday, but I didn't want to wait that long to confirm the rumors.  Our doula did confirm for us that the birthing unit out at the west hospital will be closing effective August 1st, which means we will be delivering downtown.  We weren't very pleased with this news.  We wanted to deliver out west because of the proximity to our house and the smaller labor and delivery unit.  Both our midwives and doula assured us everything will be fine and we can still have the type of birth we planned on.  Meanwhile, we have moved our birthing classes to the hospital we will now be delivering at.  Classes start next month for us!   

Speaking of birth plans, we are planning to have a natural birth without pain medication or other medical interventions.  At our meeting with our doula a couple of weeks ago, she recommended a few books to read.  I ordered them over the weekend, and they came in the mail today! 

 

This week, I also had to break down and buy some maternity pants.  So far, I have been able to get by with only one pair of maternity capris and the maxi dresses I had before I was pregnant.  For the most part, I have been wearing dresses and leggings or yoga pants.  I tried to put some shorts on last weekend that were big on me before and that was a no go; way too tight on my stomach now.  I received a gift card for Motherhood Maternity for my birthday, which I used this past weekend to buy another pair of capris and a pair of shorts.  Hopefully I won't have to buy too many more clothes before October.  I would like to not end up with a completely new wardrobe.  I would much rather spend money on adorable baby clothes!  I have been able to hit a few more clearance racks this last week, but it's hard to stock up on clothing when I have no idea what size baby we will have.  If she's anything like I was, she will bypass newborn sizes and only be in three months clothing for a month.  

 Evidence of the growing bump at week 23 

For a little comparison 

week 12

 week 17

 week 21

week 23

As far as pregnancy symptoms this past week, I was able to keep the swelling in my feet and ankles under control during the heat.  I made sure to drink a ton of water and keep my feet up as much as possible.  I have also uses an ice pack a few times on my ankles.  This little girl is becoming quite active.  She has noticeable kicks now; she was kicking my book last night when I was trying to read.  It's awesome to see and feel her moving around!  I still have a strong sweet tooth; again, nothing new.  This last week I made brownies while Andrew was away for the weekend on a camping trip.  The brownies were quite delicious with ice cream!  I have also had a few microwave smores in the afternoons.  I would consider this to be one of the drawbacks to working from home; instant access to a lot of food.     

There is nothing too exciting happening this next week in the pregnancy world.  Work has me quite busy these next few days, so we will see how my feet and ankles do with heat and humidity! 

Pregnancy Week 22

We have rounded the corner on week 22 of this pregnancy.  From a pregnancy standpoint, it wasn't the most eventful week, but it was still a pretty busy week.

On Sunday, Miss Maya celebrated her 4th birthday!  It isn't a birthday in our house without a pupcake for both Buddy and Maya.  She wanted to take her birthday treat outside and find a nice hole to put it in, but we made her eat it before she dug up half the yard!

 Buddy and Maya's delicious treats from Three Dog Bakery!

 Maya looking for a spot to hide her treat

In addition to celebrating Maya's birthday, we have also had a pretty good week with Buddy.  We even got his collar back on him this week.  It may not seem like a big thing, but he hasn't had it on in over a month.  He has also been able to fully shake his head this week.  We still have room to go with his recovery, but we are getting there.  We have grown used to the yipping when he gets up in the morning and when he occasionally turns the wrong way.  I can't help but look at him and think about how we thought we might have reached the end of his time with us. 

 It may not seem like a big deal, but to watch Buddy turn his 

head around like this to scratch is a major step for us!

In baby news, we had our first official meeting with our birth doula this past week.  It made the whole thing seem way more real to talk about delivery and welcoming our little one into the world.  Hard to believe that is only about three and a half months away! 

week 22 bump

She is moving more and more these days, and it isn't just small flutters I'm feeling now.  I'm feeling more distinctive kicks, and she has even kicked my arm a few times when it was resting on my stomach.  

This coming week, I'm looking forward to the arrival of the curtains we ordered for the nursery; the one main pop of pink we will have in the nursery.  I also hope to work in the nursery this weekend and get some more things cleaned out in preparation for painting next month.  It's going to be too hot to be outside, so it seems like a good weekend to get some inside projects done.  This past week we had a local company come in and blow in some more insulation in our attic.  It has made a major difference in the temperature on the second floor.  The nursery is much more tolerable these days.  

We have our next midwife appointment this coming Monday.  This will be the second to last monthly appointment.  After 28 weeks, we move up to every other week.