32 Weeks: 8 Months Down, 8 Weeks to Go

Oy! This is definitely going faster than I'd previously thought.

Could be because we've been relatively busy the last week (camping! yay!) but also because the reality is setting in that there just isn't that much time before Peanut arrives. I was telling Jeff just today that there are all these things I want to do this summer now that we're back in Oregon, but I'm starting to realize our baby-less weekends are limited in number, and the second half of our summer in Southern Oregon is basically shot with a newborn. So much to do, so little time!

Perhaps my eagerness to do some of these things is contributing to my fabulous attitude (yes, I said it, I had a fabulous attitude) about things like going camping 31 weeks pregnant. Not a lot of women would sleep on an air mattress in a tent in the woods when they're as pregnant as I am, but I am so excited to be back in Oregon and be able to do these things I've grown up loving to do, that I really can't complain. Here are a couple photos from our camping adventure this past weekend at Lake of the Woods, courtesy of Jeff:

We had SPLENDID weather the whole time, which is pretty unusual when camping in Oregon, especially this early.

(Yes, June is "early" in Oregon for summertime activities. The water is still waaaaaaayyyy too cold to swim in, and it still gets pretty cold at night. Late July/early August is the ideal time for outdoor activities.)

We're hoping to get in at least one more camping trip before Peanut comes, if we can find the time. And if we feel inclined, and think we can make it work, we may try to take her once after she's born. That's a big MAYBE though (I can hear my mom laughing at my naive intentions...)

In other news, as of yesterday, we're officially 32 weeks pregnant, or eight months, by my math. That means we've got eight weeks left.

Eight. Weeks.

That's 56 days. IF she makes it to her due date.

Wowzer. It's coming faster and faster. Here's the 32-week pic:

I feel freakin' HUGE and I know I don't have it quite as bad as those smaller girls with smaller torsos (yes, Tiff, that's you).

I don't expect my shape to change too much more, but I'm sure the bump will get a bit bigger. At roughly 17", Peanut is just about at her birth length, but still has another few pounds to pack on. Hopefully not the additional 4.5 my mom is predicting. I don't want a heifer for a baby, for obvious reasons.

This Sunday will be Jeff's last Father's Day before he's a "real" father (his words, not mine) and I think he's excited. He'll be the best Dad, and I'm excited for our Peanut girl to have such a great Daddy.

Not much else in terms of updating, I'm scheduled for my ultrasound next Wednesday at the 33-week mark, so I may have some more accurate measurements of our little nugget after that. Right now, it's pretty much just averaging what all my different books and phone apps tell me in terms of her stats. It'll be nice to know for sure. I'll try and post a pic of the ultrasound too if they give me one. Just seven weeks before her due date, I imagine she'll look pretty baby-ish. We shall see.

That's probably about it for today, if I think of anything else exciting to share with you, I'll come back with another post!

Happy Thursday!

31 Weeks!

It's Friday, and today is a big day for a couple of reasons.

First, time to post the 31-week bump photo! Jeff and I were looking back last night at my 28-week photo and noting that I'm quite a bit bigger just four weeks later. I expect this rate of growth to continue, as Peanut packs on her last few pounds (I'm told about half a pound of fat each week) and stretches out her last few inches.

Here's this week's photo:

Another reason today is a big day is that it's June 6th. Peanut is due August 6th. That means we're basically just two months away now from meeting our daughter. It feels like it's coming up so quick (how will we ever be ready?) but at the same time, I'm excited to meet her and see what this little girl is all about.

Her nearly-constant movements in my belly make me think she's a spunky little thing, but she could just be annoyed that she's running out of room. How big the world will be when she's finally here! I bet she'll want to be back in her warm quiet space. Hopefully lots of cuddles can remedy that.

We visited the doctor again for our "30 week" check up which was actually more like the "32 week" check up. We won't see her again until 34 weeks, and then again at 36, when we'll start going weekly for the last month.

So far, Jeff has been able to accompany me to every single appointment we've had, which has been great. He's been engaged and has been able to participate in the whole process. I'm not sure that will continue once he starts his new training, but I'm glad he's been along for the ride so far. These days appointments are just measuring the size of my belly ("like a textbook" according to my doctor), and checking the protein in my urine (over-share!). She didn't seem as concerned this time around about the preeclampsia, so I'm hoping I'll be able to avoid that. I have a habit of fixing my health issues rather quickly, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm able to stave it off.

I can't remember if I've mentioned this already or not, but we also have an ultrasound scheduled for week 33 to make sure Peanut is the right size. With the doc's concerns about preeclampsia, she wants to make sure that baby is measuring to size (or larger is also possible...oy) and that she's not small due to potential preeclampsia. I'm sure she'll measure up just fine, like I said, she's been textbook so far. But I am excited to see her little face again and get an even better idea of what she looks like.

Finally, today is also a big day because it's ENJJPT Class 14-06's Drop/Assignment Night. I have a few good friends in 14-06, and they were our "changeover" class in ENJJPT, meaning they followed Jeff's class through the program and took over each flight room as Jeff's class moved on to the next phase. I am especially excited for my adorable friend Tiffany, who at almost 38 weeks pregnant is powering through this nerve-wracking and emotional time like a champ. We've been hoping her baby girl holds out until at least after Drop Night, and it looks like that's going to happen, barring any "events" this evening during the program (yes, I'm knocking on wood right now). She's going to have quite the exciting next few weeks, with Drop Night and Graduation, and likely a new baby in between the two. So excited for her.

Jeff and I are headed off on another adventure today, camping this weekend at Lake of the Woods. He's been eager to go camping ever since...okay, he's always eager to go camping, so we're making the trip while he's still got time before training starts (and before Peanut arrives). Lake of the Woods isn't terribly far, maybe an hour or so; it's nice that something so beautiful is basically right in our own back yard. Unfortunately, I won't have WiFi to Skype in for drop night, so I'll have to settle for text messages and phone calls. It'll be nice to spend some time away though, and hopefully catch a couple...fish for Jeff, rays for me. :)

Time to get the car packed up and get on our way! Have a great weekend everyone!

BaBy-Q!

Oh. My. Gosh.

I am so lucky.

Even "lucky" doesn't begin to describe how incredibly blessed I am. Last Saturday, Peanut and I were treated to the most amazing BaBy-Q baby shower ever. My two besties hosted a fabulous party with even fabulous-er food (YUM!!!) and so many of my favorite ladies came to celebrate Peanut.

I'm already starting to get emotional about leaving Sheppard and Wichita Falls, but Saturday may have put me over the edge. The women I've befriended here are AMAZING and have made the "ENJJPT experience" the awesome ride that it's been. Even as I write this, I know that my words are failing to really express just how grateful I am for each and every one of these women. As I looked around the room on Saturday, I was immediately reminded of a fond (and usually funny) memory for each face.

I love these girls.

I will miss them all terribly.

So for those of you reading who fall into this group, don't let me down! Keep in touch once I'm gone, and keep me in the loop on your lives. I promise to hold up my end of the friendship bargain, so please, please, do the same. I will Skype in for Drop Nights and send flowers for graduation. I'll assure you that there's a bigger plan at play when he doesn't get the plane he was hoping for, or it feels like he may never make it to the end of the program. I'll tell you a joke if you need it. We've got a good thing going here, you and me. Let's keep it up.

With that said, let's share some photos from the BaBy-Q!!!!

Cake Ball & Diaper center-pieces!

Decorations!

Gifts!

Delicious food!

Girlfriends! L to R: Tiffany, Victoria, Shelby, & Lisa.

Opening gifts

Canvas art sister made for Peanut's nursery. The quote is from Shakespear's A Midsummer Night's Dream

Friends!

Another shot of my beautiful pregnant friends!

My amazing hostesses, Tiffany and Maggie.

Little Sister made the trip! Wahhhooo!

23 Week Bump Pic

The wait is over! Although at this rate, this is more a 24-week photo than 23, but I'm determined to have a picture from (almost) each week. Can you tell I'm starting to lose creativity about these too? I feel like I've run out of ideas, haha.

Anyway, here's the 23 week bump pic:

Not much new to see here, is there? It's not like it changes much week-to-week (I feel like I say this every time!) but it's still crazy to see the progress over time.

Little girl is definitely getting bigger in there, now weighing in at one and a quarter pounds, and I'm feeling her on my bladder more than anything. She's also, supposedly, the size of a bunch of grapes, but at this stage, who really knows for sure.

For the first time last Thursday, my twice-weekly spin class was uncomfortable. I've been attending this spin class every Tuesday and Thursday (give or take) for over a year, and I love the routine and the cardio. I should have probably heeded the warnings of my other pregnant friends who attend the class, that eventually it would be more uncomfortable, because it definitely was. Luckily (or not, depending on how you look at it) I only have two more weeks of class until I'll have to shift my focus to our upcoming move. I'll miss the routine and the class, but hopefully I can find something to do to stay active once we get to Klamath. I have no doubt I'll be able to get in a walk or two with my little beagle nugget, Bailey, while I'm home visiting my parents. I'm told she loves walks these days, and I need to do something to stay active.

Not much other news to report, the little Peanut bugger is still kicking away. Jeff's had the chance to feel it a few times, but I still can't wait until she gets even bigger and her kicks are more pronounced. It was nice though, the other day he got to feel quite a few big ones. He loves this little girl so much, it's just too cute.

Not that it makes a difference, since we're not sharing, but Peanut girl still doesn't have a name, and the drama continues. Jeff and I came into our marriage pretty well prepared for it. We knew each other's feelings on the important stuff, and have been able to come to an agreement or compromise on everything so far.

But this?

Who knew naming our child would be such a struggle, and find us on such opposite ends of the spectrum? I'm sure we'll find some middle ground somewhere, but I'm thinking we may never be able to settle on a list, like we'd planned. It might be asking too much of us to agree on a short list of names to choose from. One (first and middle) might be all we can come up with. We shall see!

I'm super excited this week, for two reasons. I shared with you last Thursday that my little sister is coming for a long weekend visit, which I am SUPER stoked about. I haven't really spent much time with her in a while, and no real one-on-one sister time since she visited last October. I'm sure we'll find no shortage of fun things to do while she's here.

I'm also SUPER excited for my upcoming BaByQ!!! The weather should be nice enough this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to spending time with my awesome lady friends celebrating Peanut. It should be a fantastic time. Maybe I'll have some photos to share with you afterward.

I did attend a baby shower this past weekend (my 4th so far in three months) and had a GREAT time!! We celebrated our friends Courtney and Kristin and their upcoming little ones. We even got a chance to take a photo of four of us who are currently pregnant:

From Left (due): Courtney (July), Shelby (Aug), Kristin (Sep), Tiffany (June)

Hopefully they don't mind being featured on my blog! What a blessing it has been to travel this unusual and interesting road with so many companions!! I'm never without a friend who understands what I'm feeling; physically, mentally, and emotionally, and it's amazing. These ladies are the best!!!!

One more shower to wrap up the season, at least for now. No other ladies have stepped forward with big news, so for now it's just us, and I'll be the last one. It'll also be a nice little send-off too, one last chance to spend quality time with my friends before I leave. Bittersweet the whole way around.

I think that's about all I've got for today. The 24 week pic is due up in just a couple days, and I'll try to be better about it this time. I cannot believe that roughly six months of pregnancy have gone by already, and there are only four(ish) months until our Peanut girl makes her big arrival. So very exciting.

Take care my loves!!

Halfway There!

Yesterday marked the end of our 20th week of pregnancy, roughly the halfway point. It feels like its drug on and flown by at the same time. Part of me can't imagine that in about 4 1/2 months, we'll get to hold our little Peanut. Another part of me, though, knows how much will happen between now and then, and that makes me a little anxious. I don't think anyone ever feels completely ready, but we're a long way from even being close to ready. It's mostly a conscious decision not to collect a bunch of stuff we're just going to have to move with us in a little over a month, and I think we're also waiting until we know Peanut is a he or a she to move forward with purchasing a lot of stuff. So it's been minimal nesting for me, so far. I'm sure next week I'll go buy a few little things for Peanut. He/she doesn't have much right now, and I feel kind of bad, haha.

Anyway, here's the 20-week pic. I really should try to start taking these earlier in the day when I don't look so darn worn out, but it's tricky when Jeff leaves the house at 5:00 am. So just don't judge my laziness, at least I put real clothes on, haha.

Also probably never wearing that shirt again...haha.

Not much else is new, we're just anxiously awaiting our gender sonogram on Monday. Our plan is not to find out at the actual appointment, but rather wait until later in the day when Jeff and I's reactions can be captured on video. I feel like there's something anti-climactic about sitting in the dark in the ultrasound room and having the tech just tell you what your baby is. So I've put my bestie Maggie Mae in charge of delivering the good news.

I'll inflate two black balloons, one filled with pink confetti, and one filled with blue confetti. Both will be labeled and delivered to Maggie with a note from the doctor about Peanut's gender. She'll return later to our house with the correct balloon, and will record Jeff and I's reaction as the balloon is popped. I'm sure I'll be anxious all day, especially knowing that Maggie knows and I don't. It'll be fun to see our reactions live though, for the first time, and to be able to share that with our friends will be so fun too.

So unfortunately, you probably won't hear anything from me here until Tuesday. You can wait another day, I promise. If I have a chance I'll put something on Facebook Monday night, but I've yet to come up with a clever way to announce it.
"IT'S A ______!" 
just doesn't seem to do it justice. We'll see if my creative brain can come up with something between now and then.

Also in the meantime: spending today and tomorrow preparing for Tiffany's baby shower, staying up way too late on Friday night to go see DIVERGENT (I'm seriously so stoked about this) and then co-hosting Tiff's shower on Saturday. I suppose I'll need to spend Sunday resting and recuperating from such a busy few days, and then bright and early Monday morning we head out to see the doctor!

Eeeeeeee I can't wait!!




COUNTDOWN TO THE GENDER SONO: 3 days, 23 hours, 37 minutes...

Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle

Phew!

I warned you I'd be busy, and I guess I was right. I was a couple days late taking this week's bump photo, and here I am basically three days away from the NEXT photo, writing my actual post. It's been a busy week and weekend!

Here's the pic for this week: (more specifically, for week 19)

Credit for my lumpy shirt and the armpit shot goes to Jeff. He tried to "style" me at 12:45 am after we came home from Assignment Night on Friday. Needless to say, he wasn't completely sober. He at least did a good job of taking a steady photo.

So here's this not-so-little bump, getting bigger and bigger. I'm starting to feel like its "too big" and then I remember that I'm almost five months pregnant and nearing the halfway point. That just seems crazy. Sometimes it's bigger than others, but for the most part, it sticks out like this. Baby bumps...they're so random.

Another random thing: people's fascination with it. I'll be clear here in saying I don't mind when people (that I know) touch it, I just don't really understand why they want to. Peanut still isn't very big (although growing more and more each week), so basically what they're feeling on the other side of a firm belly is my insides (read: GUTS!!!!!). Its also strange because, as I've said before, your body changes so fast that it can be hard to wrap your head around what you look like. People ask me if they can touch my belly, and it's almost as though I've forgotten there's anything there to touch.

Oh! Right! Because there's a baby in there!

Got it.

I don't mind, although thankfully everyone who has touched it thus far has been a friend of mine. I don't know what I'll do or how I'll react when/if a stranger just reaches out and touches me. That's just odd. I'm not stroking your arm, weirdo, quit touching my very-much-still-attached-to-my-body baby bump.

I'm anticipating at least one of these when I make the flight home to Oregon. The bump will be larger and I'll be travelling alone, this feels like a scenario that screams "YOUNG PREGNANT WOMAN ALONE - PLEASE TOUCH MY BABY BUMP!!"

Ugh. I really hope that doesn't happen.

In other and perhaps much more exciting news, I believe I have now identified what it feels like when Peanut is moving, and have felt him/her on and off since Friday morning. Its a strange sensation, movement inside your body totally independent of you, but also a relief. I was starting to imagine the worst-case-scenarios. Jeff was quite excited, but I think it'll become even more real for him when he can feel Peanut in there moving and shaking.

I've got another pretty busy week coming up, and am hosting a baby shower Saturday for my dear friend Tiffany and her daughter-to-be. Prep for that alone will probably occupy most of my time. I'll work on being better about taking my bump pic on time (and posting it on time), but expect a no makeup, frumpy outfit, frizzy-haired mess. That's my standard day-to-day look, haha.

Until next time, my friends!!



COUNTDOWN TO THE GENDER SONO: 7 days, 21 hours, 35 minutes

Happy Friday!

This week I took advantage of an existing outing to take my weekly bump photo. My no-makeup face is not my favorite, and I was already dressed yesterday, so we took our weekly pic. My good friend Tiffany revealed the gender of her baby yesterday, and my guess was baby boy, so I wore blue. I was wrong (as I have been with every gender prediction of an ENJJPT baby) but oh well. So excited she's having a baby girl!! Excited to spoil her with all things pink and sparkly!

Anyway, here's this week's pic:

I feel like this thing keeps getting bigger and bigger!

Probably because it does, duh.

In the last couple of days I've felt quite of bit of soreness and stretching, I think Peanut must be going through a growth spurt. According to my all-knowing pregnancy app, Peanut is about the size of a sweet potato, but I bet I'll like Peanut waaaaay more than I like sweet potatoes...bleh.

Weighing in at about seven ounces, Peanut is rapidly approaching half of a pound. I can't believe that pretty soon I'll be able to track his or her weight in pounds! This little thing grows so quickly!

It'll sure be nice when I can just refer to Peanut as a "he" or a "she" instead of having to use both each time I reference it. 

Talking with Tiffany yesterday about her daughter has me all excited to find out what Peanut will be. I haven't done a very good job of keeping my mouth shut about what I'm hoping for, especially since I shared my registry story. I'm either setting myself up to look totally psychic, or to be the laughing stock of my friends. You won't be too hard on me, right?

We're down to 17 days until we find out! Can't tell you how I'll wait that long, except that I have quite a bit to accomplish between now and then. In the next 17 days I have plans to help my little sister move into her first out-of-town/state/west coast apartment on her own, elbow teenage girls out of the way at opening night of the DIVERGENT movie, attend one baby shower, and throw another. Plus we find out on my mom's birthday; I should probably send her a card or something, haha.

I imagine the next two weeks and three days will pass pretty quickly, but I still wake up excited every day to find out. I've been explaining to Jeff how much I think knowing it's gender will change the way we think about Peanut. We'll be able to start imagining our son or daughter; the activities they'll do, the things they'll like, the people they'll become. So much fun.

Still haven't felt Peanut moving around in there, I don't think. On Wednesday night I felt something that I can really only describe as a tiny elbow sliding down the inside of my belly, but it hasn't happened again, so I don't know for sure. It did feel kind of "fluttery," which is the word all the books use to describe those first few movements, but again, still not enough data to make a conclusion. Let's hope I get more feelings soon!

I watched my friend Jill's son kicking away at her belly from the outside the other day, and it just looks so neat. I'm excited to feel that kind of thing, and to have an idea of what Peanut is doing in there. Dancing? Sleeping? Practicing aerobics? Who knows.

That's probably about it for this week. Hopefully I'll have a chance to write another post soon when I can confirm these strange feelings inside my belly.

Until then, happy Friday!

COUNTDOWN TO THE GENDER SONO: 17 days, 00 hours, 21 minutes