30-ish Weeks

I've been terribly lax in my blogging duties lately. Things have just been very busy. It seems like there's something going on almost every night. Also, I've been traveling for work a bit, which has made it harder to keep up on my duties at work. Lots of stuff has been going on. First, I finally hit the 30 week mark (1 1/2 weeks ago). That felt like a big milestone to me for some reason. I finally feel like we're in the homestretch. I only have 9 weeks to go (give or take for when the baby actually arrives). That seems like nothing when you put it in the context of the full 40. It's also still a long time to wait, though. I'm starting to get impatient. There's still a lot to do to prepare, but the more we check things off the list the more I can't wait to meet the baby.

Now that I've hit 30 weeks my doctor visits are only 2 weeks apart. It's kind of a pain to go in there so often and coordinate it with my work schedule, but it's nice to go and just make sure everything's on track. It's still very reassuring to hear the heartbeat. And then there's the weight gain thing, which I'm trying not to worry about. At my 30 week appointment I had gained almost 20 pounds. The good news is that I had gained 1 pound per week since the previous appointment (which is right on target). The bad news is that if I keep gaining a pound a week I'll gain a total of 30 or so pounds. That's just a bit more than I had hoped for :-( I'm going in to see my dad for my 34 week appointment. Fun!

I'm still trying to get to the gym or take walks pretty regularly. My goal is at least 3 times a week. It's been a bit hard, though, with all of the stuff going on. I've been going to the pregnancy yoga class pretty consistently too. I'm still feeling pretty good. Last night when we got home, though, my ankles were swollen, which I was NOT happy about. I was hoping they would be better when I got up this morning, but they were not. And my fingers were a little swollen then too. I took a walk and drank a lot of water, though, and everything pretty much went back to normal. Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come...

We've been up to lots of stuff lately. Mom and I made strawberry jam Memorial Day weekend. It didn't turn out right because we accidentally doubled the amount of strawberries we were supposed to use... but that's OK. It's still pretty good and it was fun. Here's a pic of the strawberry adventure. Tim's dad and Elaine came to visit that weekend also. We had a really nice time. We went to the Taste of Cincinnati and Findlay Market amongst other things.

Tim and I went with some friends to see the Coldplay concert at Riverbend last Thursday. That was a blast. Although we didn't get home until midnight so I was SOOO tired at work the next day. I'm getting too old for that crap! :-)

Our 5th anniversary was yesterday. I can't believe it's already been 5 years. Crazy! We went out to eat dinner at La Petite France which we've been wanting to try for a long time. The food was great. Service was only OK. Our waiter was kind of a weirdo. He was a nice guy, though, and he actually gave us a split of Chandon to take with us and open and drink to celebrate the baby's arrival. Very sweet!

In other news, I finally got my promotion this week. Very exciting! I'm a Vice President now. It also came with a nice pay raise and an extra week of vacation. It will be nice to be bringing in some extra $ over the next few months in preparation for the baby.

Today we finally painted the nursery. It's green to match the jungle bedding. We both really like it. It's a bit darker than I anticipated so I'm hoping it's not too masculine in the case we have a girl. I'd rather a girl have a slightly masculine room than a boy have a girly room, though, so I think it will be fine. Our furniture has come in also (everything except the double-bed conversion rails). I still have to get the carpets cleaned before we have it delivered, though, so we're going to give it a few weeks and see if the rails come in so we can have it delivered all at once. Once the carpet is done and the furniture is in I will feel a lot better because there's not too much left after that. Just hanging the valance, putting the dimmer on the overhead light, and decorating. Rach and I are going to do the murals in early July (hopefully after the furniture has arrived). I think that will be really cute. I still need to find other decorations, but I think I'm going to wait until after the furniture's in to start getting a feel for what else I'd like to do.

I'm starting to panic about all the other things I need to get also. We'll get a lot of stuff from our showers (the first of which is tomorrow - yeah!), but I'll need to fill in all the gaps afterwards. There's also some things I need to shop for and buy on my own: a sling carrier, a diaper bag, and nightgowns for the hospital. Mom and dad said they would help us buy the glider (which I really want) so I need to hurry up and get that ordered. So much to do!

I'm also starting to freak out a bit about knowing what in the heck I'm doing in terms of caring for the baby when it comes. I keep trying to tell myself that I'll figure it out as I go along, etc. This girl that I work with that is due 2 days after me has been reading all these books about babies and baby care, though, and it's making me feel like I'm slacking! We're going to an infant care class at the hospital this Tuesday so I'm thinking that may help. If I feel totally lost after that I figure I'll pick one book and read it and that will be it. Hospital pre-registration is in a few weeks and our prenatal class is right after that. It's all coming quickly!

The baby's kicking like crazy lately. It almost seems to be on its own little schedule. It starts it's little crazy moving routine between 8:30 and 9:30 in the morning then again mid afternoon (2 or 3) and then at night. It's movements are pretty strong now. Sometimes it positions itself so that I can feel either a butt or a head right on the top right side of my stomach. It's very funny, but a bit uncomfortable.

And last, but not least, here is the 30 week picture. Definitely getting bigger...

28 Weeks (12 to Go!)

Not a whole lot to report on the baby front this week. I'll actually be 29 weeks the day after tomorrow. I feel like 30 weeks is a big milestone for some reason so I'm really excited about getting there next week. I'm officially in the 3rd trimester now. It feels like the last few weeks have been going quickly, but 12 weeks still feels like a long time to wait. Schools are about to let out for the summer and our baby's not due until right about when kids go back to school. That's an entire summer vacation to wait! There's a lot coming up to help pass the time, though. We have some graduation parties and birthday parties, a Coldplay concert, our 5th anniversary, etc. After 30 weeks I start going to the doctor every other week. Plus, I have my first shower in 3 weeks, my pre-registration at the hospital in less than a month, our pre-natal class... Not to mention getting a move on this nursery! We worked on the basement a little this weekend and planted the garden so we didn't get as much done in the baby room as I would have liked. I feel like we're really getting behind, but I'm trying not to get too stressed about it.

Meanwhile, I'm having a really hard time concentrating at work. I just can't get my mind into it and really can't get excited about anything I'm working on. I'm just ready for it to be over! I'm trying really hard to stay on top of being active so I can stay in shape and not gain too much weight. I've been running, walking, and going to the gym fairly regularly (4 times a week or so). I also tried a pregnancy yoga class last week that I really liked (and met some other cool moms-to-be). I think I'm going to go back tomorrow night. I was able to run about 2 1/4 miles on Saturday and felt great. I tried again tonight, though, and it pretty much turned into a walk. The baby just feels like it's sitting so low. It creates way too much pressure when I try to run. Probably not a good thing so I stuck with walking. It may just be the way it's sitting tonight, though. Who knows.

27 Week Update

Belly is definitely getting bigger! I went to the doctor this week and I had a big weight gain month. Hopefully it's that the baby had a growth spurt and not that I'm getting too fat :-)

I also think I may be done running for awhile. I tried to go on Tuesday and just felt SO worn out. Like my legs were concrete. It's just getting to the point where it's not fun anymore because I feel like such crap throughout. I'll keep trying off and on, but I'm not going to push it. Tim and I went for a walk on Thursday instead. I'm just going to have to be really good about making sure I take walks and get to the gym so that I don't get too out of shape. It's hard to stay motivated to do anything other than run, though. I hate going to the gym :-( I think I may try a prenatal yoga class next week, though.

We got two important things done last weekend. We ordered the crib and dresser for the baby's room and I registered. I've added a pic of the crib below. It's a dark wood color. Registering was about the most daunting thing I've ever done. I had no idea what I should get. I tried to do a lot of research beforehand but it doesn't really seem like it helped. Mom went with me, which was a big help. There's so many new crazy baby things, though, she didn't even know what half of them were! Oh well, I figure as long as I start out with the big stuff I'll figure the rest out along the way.

This weekend we're going to work in the yard to get the mulching and planting done. Then next weekend it's time to start on the nursery. There's so much to do: move the furniture out, clean out the closet, paint, get the carpet cleaned, decorate... We only have 8-10 weeks until the crib arrives (and appx 13 until the baby gets here) so I'm anxious to get started.