Pregnancy Update Week 32

We finished up week 32 on Sunday this past weekend.  Once again, it was a fairly uneventful week in pregnancy land, but at this point no news is good news.  We had our 32 week appointment with our midwives last week,  and finally got to meet the second midwife in the group.  I'm not sure how we made it 32 weeks into this pregnancy without meeting her, but we did.  Luckily, we hit it off with her and now feel comfortable that we will be in good hands no matter which midwife is on call when we deliver. 

Our little lady was measuring right on track again at this appointment.  Her heart rate is settling in right in the 140's typically.  While they were listening this time she got excited and jumped up to the 160's, but came right back down and settled into the 140's.  They were glad to see her spike and come back down, and assured us this is a sign of a healthy baby.  We only have a couple more appointments at every other week and then right after Labor Day we start having appointments every week. 

I'm still having the same issues with swelling in my feet and ankles; my right is always worse than my left.  I asked the midwife about it again last week, and she basically said it's par for the course when you are pregnant in the summer.  My hands and face aren't swelling and my blood pressure remains low, so they aren't too worried about me at this point. 

I have noticed the "furnace effect" the last week or so.  I normally run pretty cool.  Andrew laughs that I'm the only person he knows who wears a scarf and sweatshirt in the middle of summer.  I haven't been quite that bad this summer, and I have noticed myself walking around in a tank top more often.  I have also been sleeping no covers on most of the night, which is a huge change for someone who is used to sleeping with ten blankets on.  We have the ceiling fan going in our bedroom as well as a fan sitting on the floor, and it still doesn't seem to be cool enough.  I would say this little lady is for sure producing a little extra heat!  Thank goodness we had a pretty nice balance accumulated this year for our budget billing, or I would hate to see what our electric bill might be the next time they review our account. 

Here is the week 32 bump picture.  I have to say, this picture makes my bump look quite large.  Most of the time it doesn't feel quite that bad. 

Last week, I finally finished one of the books I have been reading about natural child birth.  It was an excellent read, and one I would highly recommend for anyone considering a natural hospital delivery.  The book is Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds by Cynthia Gabriel.  The book does a wonderful job of walking the reader though each stage of labor and birth as well as a few tips on what to expect after.  I know I will be using it quite a bit when I sit down to write our birth plan this week.

Something I have been missing during these warm summer months is a nice, refreshing adult beverage. While it isn't quite the same, I picked up a delicious sangria tea at Starbucks this week. I have to say, it hit the spot!

Week 33 is looking to be pretty low key for the most part.  I'm looking forward to my shower on Sunday and spending time with a lot of awesome friends!  I also think I might have Andrew talked into going out to the fair one evening.  I explained to him that I really NEED a bucket of chocolate chip cookies, and a corn dog, a funnel cake, an apple turnover... you get the idea.  I have my needs, and he takes pity on me!  I think the saving grace will be the cool temps in the forecast for this weekend.  On my to do list this week is getting our bedroom cleaned.  My need to clean has kicked into high gear, and I have made lists of everything to clean before October.  Of course, cleaning takes a little longer these days when I have to take a short rest every twenty to thirty minutes! 

Pregnancy Update: Week 31

Nine weeks to go, but who's counting?  Conversations in this house seem to dominated by all things pregnancy and baby these days.  However,  this dog mom is pretty happy to announce that we finally have Buddy off all of his medications he was on from his neck injury!  He is back to taking his heart meds twice per day and a glucosamine supplement in the morning, which are his regular maintenance meds.  I can't tell you what a relief it is to see him doing so well and being able to function without a system full of medications!  At one point, he was taking gabapentin, prednisone, tramadol, and methocarbamol three times per day.  That was in addition to his vetmedin twice per day.  It took us three months, but we were able to get him over the hump and back to his normal self.  He has his old spunk back and runs around like a crazy man!  You would seriously never believe he is 12 years old.  I think back to May and how worried we were that we were going to have to say goodbye to our first furbaby.  We had some dark days when he didn't want to eat and I was hand feeding him wet food.  He is walking proof that canine cervical disc problems can resolve without surgical intervention.  I cannot discount the benefits of acupuncture either.  Between the acupuncture and the medications, we have our Buddy back.  We continue to take him for regular chiropractic adjustments every three to four months and have added in the glucosamine supplement to keep his joints healthy.   

These weeks seem to be flying by.  How is it already August?  How are we less than sixty days away from welcoming our little girl into the world?  Of course, we may still be at the over sixty mark if she decides to stay in the cooker past her due date.  This past week was pretty busy.  So busy that I don't remember most of the week!  Of course, that could also be the pregnancy brain taking over.  I continue trying to get my nightly walks in with the dogs.  We usually get a walk in four or five nights per week.  I can tell Buddy is starting to slim down from the weight he put on while he was sick.  His weight gain probably had more to do with the hot dog pieces we were hiding his meds in, but it was the only way we could get him to take some of them.  I don't know why they can't make all dog meds peanut butter flavored!  

This past Saturday, we made a trip down to the outlet mall.  It was crazy crowded with people parking in the fields.  Luckily, we were able to score a pretty nice parking spot so I didn't have to waddle too far.  We only had a few stores we wanted to shop at, so we were in and out in under two hours.  We were able to score some pretty good deals.  I hit the clearance racks at the Motherhood Maternity outlet where everything was half off the lowest price.  I was able to score some post partum items for a very good price.  On our way out of town,  Andrew wanted to stop at the winery, which was a reminder of how much I'm missing my summertime wine.  I know it will all be worth it! 

After we got back from our shopping trip on Saturday, we worked in the yard for a while.  I have been complaining for weeks that our back yard looks like a jungle.  Our main garden area had weeds growing like crazy, and it was driving me insane.  I couldn't get out there to weed because it has been so hot out.  I think the weeds finally got to Andrew too.  He was doing most of the work pulling weeds, but I was able to help a little.  I try to help where I can, but man do I feel worthless these days.  Andrew continues to be so supportive and understanding.  At least if he is judging me on my lazy days, he is keeping that to himself, which I appreciate.  He is always reminding me to take it easy and take care of my back.  He has been a huge trooper throughout this pregnancy despite have a huge pillow take over our bed, eating Chinese for a week straight early in my pregnancy, and having a less than mobile wife. 

In other pregnancy news this week, exhaustion has set in hard core.  I think I probably overdid it on Saturday because I had absolutely no energy on Sunday.  It took all I had to walk from the couch to the kitchen.  I fell asleep on the couch last night about 9:00 while watching the Olympics.  This little lady growing inside me has become quite active.  It isn't hard to count my kicks like I'm supposed to be doing during the third trimester.  I still haven't had any off the wall cravings.  Although, I will say I can't get enough dairy right now.  I drink a gallon of milk each week all on my own.  Between milk, yogurt, cottage cheese and regular cheese, I'm pretty sure I'm getting my daily allotment of dairy.

Here is the week 31 bump picture (no sweatpants in this picture either):

Coming up in week 32, we will be celebrating my goddaughter's baptism on Sunday.  I can't wait for our little girls to enjoy all sorts of fun times together over the coming years!  I'm also so thankful to have a friend doing the new mommy thing four months ahead of me.  She has been a huge help throughout my pregnancy answering all my questions and giving me tons of helpful tips!  I continue to make lists of things we need to get done before October.  We are slowly crossing things off, which makes me feel accomplished.  I have set due dates for most of the items on our list.  We have a lot of things due September 1st, which will be here before we know it.  This week we also have another check up with our midwives.  We are supposed to meet the midwife we haven't actually been able to meet yet, so we are looking forward to our appointment on Friday with her.  I have several questions I have been stockpiling since our last appointment, so I'm anxious to ask those!  

Pregnancy Update: Week 30

It's hard to believe we have reached the thirty week mark; it seems like four weeks was just yesterday.  I feel like we have crested the pregnancy hill and are on the downward slide at this point.  It's safe to say exhaustion has set in. I told Andrew as we walked into our appointment last Monday that I was ready to be done.  I figure the next ten weeks are either going to fly by, or they are going to crawl.  Luckily, we have some fun things coming up the next few months, so hopefully that will make time feel like it isn't crawling. 

The week started off with our 30 week appointment with our midwives.  Everything checked out, and rather than measuring almost a week ahead like I had a couple of times, I was measuring right on track.  Sadly, between the heat and the fried food, I was strongly discouraged from attending the state fair this year.  I'm not sure Andrew was too upset with that news, but I was.  It's not that I can't go, I just have to use common sense if I do.  I shouldn't go during the heat of the day, drink lots of water, and don't eat a ton of fried food (that could be a major problem).  I'm guessing we may have to take a pass on the fair this year, which is slightly depressing.  A spot of good news for me was that I only gained one pound in between appointments!  The nurse told us that the biggest weight increase is typically seen around the 28 week mark and it should start to slow down now.  That was comforting, and I hope hope the trend continues. 

My drama for the week was our car seat and stroller choice.  Before making our final selection on these items, I spent countless hours researching all the options and pouring over reviews.  We knew wanted a jogging stroller, but the jogging stroller we picked to go with the car seat we also picked is being phased out and was only available for purchase on Amazon.  Upon doing some additional research, I realized the stroller might not have been the best option for us in the first place as it was missing a few key features.  Many google searches and online reviews later, we settled on a new car seat and stroller.  Saturday, we went to Babies R Us so we could test drive the stroller I had my eye on.  I wanted to make sure it was going to be a good height for Andrew since he is on the taller side in addition to having all the helpful features we were looking for.  Andrew actually found another stroller he liked better to go with our new car seat choice.  We ended up taking advantage of a sale going on at Babies R Us and got a travel system with the stroller and car seat all coming in one box.  Our final decision was the Graco Modes Jogger with the Snug Ride 35 car seat.  Being thrifty, I thought we would be able to find a better deal online or put it on one of our registries and use our completion discount to purchase it.  However, I learned through a quick online search Graco only made this model for Babies R Us and it only comes in one color.  Luckily, I had a $100 giftcard I won at a work function earlier this summer that we were able to use toward the purchase.  While it didn't cover the whole bill, it made a nice dent in it. 

Saturday night, we got things hung up on the wall in the nursery, which was exciting to get done!  We still have some clean up and organization work to do in the nursery, but we are getting closer and closer to having it ready.  I like to stand in the nursery and imagine our little girl in there in just a few short months.  The dogs have also been getting familiar with the new smells.  They were quite curious when Andrew was putting the stroller together the other night. 

Sunday we had our one hour fast track birthing class.  We were anxious for the class, which included a tour of the birthing unit.  I think it put our minds at ease to see the birthing unit and learn about the process when we show up on the big day.  It made me a little uneasy to learn about many of the things that could go wrong throughout the final weeks of pregnancy and during the delivery.  However, I have to remind myself we have had a very healthy pregnancy with no reason to believe we will encounter any complications.  Our final class is a breastfeeding class, which is right after Labor Day.  

I did well keeping up with my nightly walks last week, which I know Maya appreciates.  She starts to pout around 8:00 if she doesn't think we are going on a walk; I'm not sure Buddy cares either way.  I have also kept up with my healthier eating as much as possible.  I'm trying to stick with eating tons of fruits and veggies and minimizing my sweets.  I also find my stomach is getting smaller and smaller and rather than eating meals, I'm basically eating snacks all the time. In addition to a shrinking stomach capacity, my lungs are feeling quite squeezed these days.  Climbing stairs is no longer an easy task.  This little one continues to rock and roll inside me.  It's funny to see when she it sitting more on one side than the other.  Any time I rest anything on my stomach, she's a kicking fool.  She doesn't make it an easy task to read these days.

Finally, the bump from week 30.  You got another week of me getting dressed in normal clothes and doing my hair!  It's quite an accomplishment these days.  

During week 31, there aren't a ton of exciting things happening.  We are in an off week for appointments with our midwives.  This weekend, we are taking a day trip to do some shopping during our tax free weekend.  Fingers crossed it isn't ridiculously hot this weekend!  We still have a list of projects to get done before October, but we are making progress and getting things crossed off!  Other exciting non pregnancy related things include the start of Packers football season!!!  Ok, it's only the preseason, but I don't care.  Football season has to be my favorite time of year.  I can't wait to curl up on the couch with our newest Packers fan this winter and watch the games!  

Pregnancy Week 29 Update

Did you all survive the heat last week without melting?  I think I spent most of the week inside.  Although, after our 28 week appointment and the weight gain I had from my appointment a month prior, I decided I needed to get my buns moving again and drop the donut out of my hand!  I made it a point to take the dogs on a walk three nights last week.  It was good for the dogs to get out, and I know I needed the extra steps!  As part of our wellness program at work, we each received a Fitbit Charge HR.  I wasn't sure how I would feel about using it or if I would even use it on a regular basis.  However, I have been pretty diligent about putting it on every morning.  While I'm certainly not getting my 10,000 steps in every day, I do try to get between 4,000 and 5,000 in.  A nightly walk with the pups certainly helps that number!  My hourly trips up the stairs to go to the bathroom don't hurt either!  Hopefully with regular walks, Buddy can get rid of the weight he added on from all the soft food and hot dogs he got while he was sick, Maya can burn off her extra energy, and I can keep from gaining too much more weight the last part of this pregnancy. 

There is not much to report as far as changes in symptoms this week.  I have had continued swelling in my ankles.  Occasionally I have some swelling in my hands, but that seems to only be in the morning and goes down as the day goes on.  Honestly, swelling in my hands isn't unusual for me; I link it more to my allergies than anything else.  I have had swelling in my hands related to allergies for as long as I can remember, and it typically starts to flare this time of the year. 

I continue to feel like a stuffed turkey on Thanksgiving.  I have tried to start eating smaller meals more often.  Also since my last midwife appointment, I have tried to do a better job of eating healthier.  I'm trying to get in lots of fruits and veggies.  Thank goodness for sweetcorn, peaches, strawberries and grapes!  I love this time of year and all the awesome fresh produce we get to enjoy. 

I made a couple of fun baby purchases this week.  There were a few books I wanted to pick up for her before she was born.  I picked up the first a couple of weeks ago and bought the second this weekend.  Saturday, Barnes & Noble was having a special where members got 20% off rather than the typical 10% off on books.  We also had a coupon for 20% off a single item to use before the end of the month!  I do love a good bargain.  I bought The Complete Tales of Winnie-The-Pooh and The Complete Peter Rabbit collectible editions.  We hope to add more books from the collectible editions to her collection over the years.  

I endured the heat on Saturday to run a couple of errands.  I have been on the hunt for a couple more tank tops to make it through the summer with.  It seems the heat is here to stay, and we haven't even made it into August yet.  Luckily, I have been able to find some good deals because I refuse to pay full price for maternity clothes.  I found myself at Old Navy and stumbled upon the clearance section for baby clothes.  Unfortunately, it's really hard to know what size this little girl will be wearing by next spring/summer.  I was able to find some sets of newborn and infant socks, which I knew we will use.  I also picked up some 3-6 month pants, a "my first Easter" outfit and a swimsuit that will hopefully fit our little girl next summer!  Her dresser drawers seem to be filling up with clothing, but I'm trying to buy a variety of sizes that might cover her throughout her first year.

We haven't put anything up on the walls yet in the nursery, but we did get the rocking chair moved into the nursery this weekend thanks to my parents!  Other than an ottoman, that was the last major piece of furniture we needed to move into the nursery.  The chair was actually in my nursery when I was a baby!  Now that the rocking chair is in the nursery, we can get everything situated and hang everything up on the walls.

To round out week 29, here is the growing bump.  Yes, I realize I have worn the same sweater now for the past month.  It's the one I wear pretty much every day while working because it is thin, yet gives me enough warmth to sit in our icebox basement all day and work.  Unfortunately, feeling like a heater isn't something I have experienced this pregnancy.   

During week 30, we have our next midwife appointment.  This should be a pretty routine appointment.  Hopefully, the scale will be a little nicer to me this appointment!  We also have our birthing class on Sunday from 1:00 to 6:30 PM with a tour of the birthing unit after.  I'm really looking forward to the class and the tour.  I hope we can get a lot of our questions answered about where to go and what to do when the big day finally arrives.  I know we need to get pre-registered at the hospital here shortly, and hopefully they will walk through that with us this weekend as well.  We have now decided on a daycare.  The place we visited last Tuesday was by far our favorite, and we will be sending in our registration paperwork this week to make sure our little lady has a spot this fall.  As a huge bonus, the daycare is about five minutes from our house.  I'm still working on talking Andrew into maternity photos, but I hope to do those in mid September. 

Week 28 Pregnancy Update

Sunday finished up week 28 of this pregnancy.  Last week, we had an appointment with our midwife on Monday.  The highlight of that appointment was my glucose test for gestational diabetes.  It was a long twenty-four hours to wait for the results to come back, but they called Tuesday morning and let me know I passed.  Talk about a major relief.  I can't say the drink was all that awesome, like a bad orange soda!

We also attended the first of our classes we signed up for through the hospital; baby finance.  It wasn't exactly what we thought it would be or what we were looking for, but it was good information.  The class was more focused on overall finances such as making and sticking to a budget, insurance, investments, and other savings.  We talked a little bit about saving for college, which frankly isn't on my mind while we are still paying off our college!  We were looking for a class to talk more about the anticipated expenses involved with a baby, budgeting for daycare, etc.  Our next class comes in a few weeks when we attend a six hour birthing course.  I anticipate we will learn about pre-registration at the hospital, what to expect while at the hospital, information about labor and delivery, and finally a tour of the birthing unit.  Our final course isn't until the day after Labor Day, which is a breastfeeding course.  Hard to believe by that point, we will have less than a month until the anticipated arrival of our little girl!

The remainder of last week consisted of working on some more aspects of the nursery.  We got the dresser finished up and put into place as well as the side table going next to the rocking chair.  We also got the rock n play put together; the dogs weren't quite sure what to think of that!  We have made it a point to let them sniff around the nursery and sniff everything as we are unpacking it and putting it together.  They both like to hang out in the nursery with us when we are in there.  Andrew is happy because he finally has most of his library back. There are a few baby items lingering in there, but the big stuff is all out.  Our next step in the nursery is to get things hung on the walls.  We are waiting on one final piece of furniture to be delivered and then we can finalize the room arrangement.  It was fun to hang up a few of the dresses and things we have in her closet this weekend, every little bit makes it seem more real.

These days, she is quite active and is starting to really establish wake and sleep cycles.  Typically in the morning around 9:00, she is up and pretty active and then again sometime around 2:00 PM or so.  In the evening, I generally start to feel her move again around 7:00 and will feel her up until I go to bed depending on what I'm doing.  Last night, she actually kept me up for the first time moving all over the place.  I really hope that isn't something that continues.

This  week we have another daycare center tour, and hope to make a decision about daycare after that.  Other than that, there isn't a ton of exciting baby things happening this week.  I'm going to try and stay out of the heat they have in the forecast for the rest of the week.  I have been trying to get out at night with the dogs and get a quick walk in once it cools off.  I know I need to stay active and the scale at our midwife appointment last week had me a little worried.  I know I'm blowing it out of proportion and by no means have I gained a ton of weight, but I also don't want to get to that point in these last ten weeks.  We go back to our midwife again on Monday for another follow up.  Yes, we were just there, but we have reached the start of every other week appointments.  After Labor Day, we will move to appointments every week until I deliver.

Other than the occasional swelling in my ankles, frequent trips to the bathroom, and general overall feeling of being a stuffed Thanksgiving turkey, I can't complain.  Honestly, I have had a pretty easy pregnancy once the nausea subsided.

As evidence of the stuffed turkey feeling, here is the week 28 bump picture:

 

Week 27 for comparison

You will notice a lack of "dressed up" photos the last few weeks.  Comfort is the name of the game right now.  I put on makeup last week for the first time in I can't remember how long.  Most days, my hair gets thrown into a hair tie and I call it a day.  We have more meetings and things coming up in the next month, so I might have to start putting a little more effort into getting ready.  For now, I'll stick with my yoga pants and t-shirts! 

Pregnancy Update: Week 27

Welcome to the third and final trimester!  The first trimester seems so long ago now!  I was thinking back on my second trimester over the weekend, and it feels like it flew by but it also feels like so much happened during those weeks.  During the second trimester we finally got to share our good news with everyone, we found out we were having a girl, and purchased our nursery furniture.  Of course, those are just a few of the highlights.  Lots of other exciting things were happening in April, May, and June.  

Week 27 was much like the last several weeks have been.  I was able to keep the swelling in my ankles to a minimum thanks to the continued cooler temps.  It doesn't look like the forecast for this week is going to be as nice though.  Baby girl continues to be quite active.  I'm trying to pick up on good sleep and wake cycles for her so I can start counting her kicks during the third trimester.  She is usually pretty active at night when I sit down to relax.  She is still being cooperative and settling down once I am ready to call it a night and go to sleep.  I told Andrew we might have a night owl on our hands though.  The nights I am up later, she is quite active!  Here is the week 27 baby bump photo.  Don't mind the tired look.  We stayed up a little late working on the nursery furniture, and that made for a classy "bags under my eyes" look.  You're also catching a glimpse of what I look like most days while working.  Yes, that is a perk of working from home!

The highlight of week 27 for me was getting the nursery painted.  Andrew and his mom gave up their entire Saturday and were able to get the room completely painted.  No small task when you are tangling with a chair rail, an accent wall in a closet, and three different paint colors!  Sorry everyone, but Andrew says no pictures until the nursery is done.  Our goal is to have the big stuff finished up by August 1st!  Luckily, we have a couple more weekends this month that are pretty open, so we should be able to reach our goal. 

While the painting was taking place, I made a run to Michaels for some craft supplies.  I went in with the intention of buying two things; I think I came out with ten.  For the last several weeks, I have been on the hunt for a cute lamp shade.  I really was looking for something with a ruffle on it in either the mint green color we are using, or pinkish/coral.  The lamp we will be using in the nursery was mine when I was little, so I couldn't exactly switch out the lamp base.  Let me tell you, finding a cute 10" lamp shade is no easy task.  Last week I came to the conclusion I wasn't going to find what I wanted unless I was willing to spend an arm and a leg.  So, I used the plain ivory shade we already had on the lamp and made it my own! 

This was one of my Saturday night projects.  Earlier in the day, I was busy spray painting.  Don't worry, I was spray painting outside and there was a nice breeze going while I was working.  Several weeks ago, I purchased a magazine rack from a local antique store.  It had been painted ivory, but I wanted it to match the green we are using as an accent color.  Luckily, I was able to find spray paint to match almost the exact color of the accent wall we painted.

The plan is to put rolled up blankets in here and set it next to the rocking chair in the nursery.  The other large spray painting project was a small side table I also purchased at the antique store.  It had already been painted black, but the furniture in the nursery is gray, so I painted it to match.  Andrew is pretty happy about my last two projects because it involved using up some of the materials I had stashed in the garage and wouldn't let him get rid of.  Last year when we re-did the bathroom, I kept all the drawers and door fronts off the cabinet.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them at that point, but I knew I would find something.  Yes, they have been sitting around now for almost a year and a half.  They have been relocated countless times, and I'm pretty sure Andrew would have thrown them away by now if he thought I wouldn't notice.  

With this first project, I used up the three drawer fronts from that bathroom vanity.  I painted them with a gray enamel spray paint and sealed them up with a clear coat of enamel.   

The letters looked pretty plain on these all alone, so I improvised as I went and used some of the materials I purchased from Michaels for my lamp shade project.

For the second project, I used up the two drawers from the old bathroom vanity.  They had been hanging out in the guest room closet since we tore apart that bathroom.  More stuff I'm sure Andrew was glad to see go to good use rather than just sitting around!  I put on a quick coat of primer and painted these the same green as the magazine rack.

 

These drawers were a little beat up, so even with a coat of paint on them the edges looked a little rough.  My original plan was to use them with just a coat of paint.  However, I didn't like seeing the edges of plywood.  Luckily, I had just enough burlap and lace ribbon left from lamp shade project to put along the edge of these drawers.  They will be getting mounted to decorative brackets and hung on the wall over the dresser/changing table to store supplies in.  Proof my hours spent on Pinterest haven't been a total waste!   In total, I probably spent about $60 on supplies for these projects.  That includes the magazine rack, end table, spray paint, ribbon, flowers, letters, and mounting brackets for the drawers.  Having tried to price out lamp shades prior to making my own, I know I could have easily spent $25 on the lamp shade alone.  

Looking ahead to week 28, we have a midwife appointment where they will do my glucose tolerance test.  Fingers crossed I pass that without any issue; I'm legitimately nervous about this one.  We also have our baby finance class this week.  Andrew asked me the other night if there was a syllabus for the class!  I sure hope there isn't, I'm not sure my brain can handle that right now.  This coming weekend we also hope to make more of a dent in the nursery.  If time allows, we would also like to finish up a few of our other projects we have started, but haven't had time to finish.  

 

Pregnancy Update: Week 26

I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July weekend.  It was nice to have some extra time off from work, and we were quite productive with the extra time!  This was the first weekend since May we had the entire weekend with nothing planned.  Sometimes you just need a weekend like that.

Andrew had Friday off, and our offices closed at noon on Friday, so we spent the afternoon working in the basement.  After my minor meltdown early last week when Andrew asked me where things from the nursery were being relocated, he humored me and put some additional storage up in the basement.  We had actually been talking about doing it for a while, but it wasn't on the top of our list.  Check out all the extra space it created!!

It may not look like a ton in the photo, but every little bit helps.  That storage on top of the built ins Andrew put in previously have been a huge help.  Before, we were seriously lacking on storage space.  Speaking of the built ins, we also got the doors hung on one wall of the built ins on Friday.  I'm going to brag on my handy husband here for a minute.  These built ins turned out beautifully.  I'm so grateful to have a husband who knows his way around a workshop.  The doors for the other wall of built ins are currently being constructed, but hopefully in the next few weeks we will have them all up.  

This weekend I finally had my phone outside with me, so I could take a picture of our big spring project.  Last year was the bathroom remodel, this year we put up a shed.  The shed has allowed us to get a lot of extra junk out of the garage so Andrew has more work for his woodworking.  We have agreed my car can sit out for short periods of time, but he can't completely take over the garage on a permanent basis.

Huge thanks to all our family and friends who came 

out to help us get this beast up.  

All done... almost.  Don't mind that paint spill we had 

on the ramp.  Eventually we are going to stain that.  

 The potting bench Andrew built 

Andrew had to have the one with the loft. 

Our final project for the weekend was getting the nursery ready to paint this coming weekend.  We wanted to get everything pulled out, patch all the holes up, and sand the walls down.  It looks a little naked in the nursery right now, but I know it's going to look amazing after this weekend! 

As far as the pregnancy progression this week, week 26 was a lot like week 25.  No more cramps in my legs last week, thank you bananas!  I also had almost a full week of no swelling in my feet and ankles thanks to the cooler temps here last week.  Can't say the same about the forecast for this coming week.  Andrew was actually able to feel a pretty good kick out of ms. thang this last week.  I also got to experience her first hiccups, that was a crazy feeling.  It's getting increasingly difficult to bend over, but I have found ways around out.  It stinks not being able to bend over and pet the dogs, but they have no problem climbing up on me any time I sit down.  It's taken some work with them not to walk across my stomach, but they have really been pretty good about it.  

I finally hit my wall last week with this pregnancy and realizing we have a baby on the way.  Yes, it took 26 weeks.  Don't worry, Andrew gave me the deer in the headlights look when I told him this.  He wasn't sure what took so long.  For a long time, it was pretty easy to forget because I didn't feel pregnant.  Now, I feel pregnant and we are getting closer and closer to October.  I'm not sure if it was trying to plan meetings for work a few months out and realizing I might be out on maternity leave at that point, or reading one too many articles on Pinterest that did it.  I was sitting at lunch one day last week though and it just kind of hit me like a ton of bricks.  I feel like I'm finally in the right mental space to move forward with the nursery and getting everything ready for our new family member to arrive.

We continue on our hunt for daycare.  We have a couple more visits with centers in the coming weeks.  I'm still on the hunt for a possible in home daycare as well.  I asked Maya if she could babysit her new sister, but she wasn't going for it! 

This coming week, I'm looking forward to getting the nursery painted.  I'm not actually doing the painting, Andrew and his mom will be working on that this weekend.  I can't wait to see how it turns out!  I really can't wait to start getting furniture put in the room.  I'm also planning to get several of my decor projects done this weekend that I have been putting off.  I really didn't want to do them until I had somewhere to put them when they were done.  I will be working on those while the room is being painted.  Looking into week 28, we will officially be in the third trimester!  We have a pretty busy baby week next week with our 28 week checkup and our baby finance class.  

Finally, here is the week 26 bump picture. This week baby is the size of a head of lettuce!

   Don't mind the t shirt and sweatpants look.  I was doing

some cleaning this weekend as well.