The final countdown...

Well hello there third trimester. So glad you could make it...

Now that I'm officially in my third trimester, I'm beginning to realize this whole thing is inevitable and will be happening pretty soon. It's exciting, but absolutely terrifying. I think Layla is the most shaken up about it.

Yesterday we went and had a 3D/4D ultrasound. Luckily, our doctor's office does these in-house for a small fee, so we didn't have to go to a different location or anything. These things are pretty cool. It allows you to see your baby in much more detail, making everything much more real. When we saw our little baby, it was startling to me how much she now looks like, well, a baby! It seems like just yesterday she looked like a little butterbean up on the screen! Now we can actually make out body parts (without the ultrasound tech telling us what is an arm or a leg...) and facial features. Plus, because we haven't seen our little girl since right before Thanksgiving, it was great to get to see her again!

At the end of it, we were given a CD full of about 50 images. Many of them are very similar, but here are some of our favorites!

 Here's her little foot she likes to kick me with.

 Big yawn. Someone was tired after being awake all night.

 Sweet baby with the chubbiest cheeks in the world.

She quickly got tired of us taking her picture and covered her face.

With these ultrasounds, it's kind of up to the baby how good the pictures are. Our little butterbean insisted on keeping her hands up around her face, so it was harder to get great shots of her. Also, because she was sleeping at the time, we saw less movement than some other people may get. But, all around, I would totally recommend getting this done if it's available and accessible. Like I said, there is a fee involved because insurance doesn't typically cover these, but it was worth it for us!

And now for this week's belly picture!

Here we are at 28 weeks. That means in about 12 weeks, I'll get to see those ridiculously chubby cheeks in person. That's insane. 

And now we're off to the MSU-PSU hockey game! Go Green!

Peace Out 2nd Trimester (2nd Tri Faves!)

This week marks 27 weeks for us on this journey. Which, according to this handy chart from BabyCenter.com, is the last week of the 2nd trimester. WHAT?!?!

To be honest with you, I think the trimesters are broken down as they are, so you'll have a measure of why you feel like you do. For instance, all through the first trimester I felt hungover. Nauseated (or is it nauseous...), tired beyond belief, and with a nagging headache. It was like I had all the repercussions of a night of drinking without actually boozing. Not fair in my opinion.

But then came the second trimester. It was like as soon as I hit 14 weeks my body was like, "OK, here's some energy! And while I'm at it, I'll take away that nausea, so you no longer look hungover while lecturing at 8am." The second trimester was relatively painless. I had energy (relative, of course), even though I wasn't sleeping great. All around, life was good.

Until this morning. I swear I woke up unable to breathe. Which could be in part due to the power outage we suffered late last night, causing us to wake up to single-digit temperatures and snow flurries outside and no heat inside this morning. Still, I have to think it's partly due to our little princess, making herself more than comfortable, cramping my lungs and diaphragm. I'm sure she'll be awesome when she's here, but I wish she could be awesome a little bit lower and off my diaphragm. Selfish, I know. But so begins my trek into the third trimester.

Before I say peace out to the second trimester, however, I want to share a few of the things I have found especially helpful during those 3(ish) months.

Starting from the top-left: Burt's Bees' Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil. I'm kind of in love with this stuff. It's great at helping me with my itching belly (seriously, my skin doesn't want to stretch like this and I need to constantly apply something to keep it from being miserably uncomfortable). I like this oil better than pretty much any other oil I've found because it's light and smells good. You would be shocked at how many oils really smell terrible. I mean like Paul wants to kick me out of the bed, horrible. This one has a lemony scent that makes me happy. Plus, it's pretty inexpensive! And I really like all things Burt's Bees.

Next, Edy's Fruit Bars. I have been craving sweets pretty much this whole pregnancy. These actually help quite a lot. I mean, when I want a milkshake, nothing is going to satisfy that craving quite like a milkshake, I'm not claiming that. But, these are sweet and keep you a bit hydrated, without a bunch of added sugar. Win-win in my opinion! Also, I'll take any excuse to have a popsicle.

Rosie Pope's Mommy IQ. There are tons of pregnancy books out there. It's really overwhelming. I'm also reading The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy, which is OK, as well. But that one tends to be a bit cynical and tries too hard to be funny. I will say, that is the only book that I've read that fully grasps what happens during pregnancy - meaning the insanity that comes a long with it. That chapter alone was worth the buy. But I digress. Back to Mommy IQ. This book is pretty great at breaking down what's happening month-by-month during the pregnancy. I also love that in the back of the book, it has some helpful lists. The baby registry must-haves was helpful for me. The nutrition list, not so much. I'm sorry, but no amount of people telling me how healthy plain oatmeal is will ever make me stop putting brown sugar on my oatmeal. It ain't gonna happen. Anyway, this has been a very long, convoluted paragraph, but basically, this book has been helpful, and aside from the sometimes overly-cheesy attitude, I've enjoyed it.

Body pillow. That's right. I brought this back from Trimester 1 Favorites! Seriously, if you're pregnant, thinking about being pregnant, might accidentally get pregnant, whatever the case may be, get yourself a body pillow (or a fancy pregnancy pillow, if you prefer). Just do it. You will not sleep without it. I promise you.

And finally, THIS cami from Gap. It's a maternity tank, but seriously, you can wear this not pregnant, too. It's great because it's actually long enough to cover your belly and the top of your jeans (maternity or regular). Everyone told me to get the belly band (from Target) and that will help me wear my regular clothes longer and cover up my jeans when I'm trying that flattering hair-thing-through-the-button-hole trick. That belly band sucks. It rides up and in no way helps to cover your jeans if you plan on sitting, standing, walking, or moving in anyway. This tank top was much better at that. I feel very strongly about this, so I apologize if I came on a bit too strong.

That wraps up some of my favorites. Even though I only brought back the body pillow from first trimester faves, I want to emphasize, I still love everything on that list.

Now that I have made this one of the wordiest blog posts ever, I'll wrap things up with a "belly" picture (or two!)...

That's right, our little girl is weighing in at about 2 pounds now! She's quite a hoss if you ask me. I, on the other hand, have stopped keeping track of my weight gain because I find it a little depressing. Last I checked I was up about 18 or 19 pounds.

Also, Layla may be onto us now that something may be happening. She's been even more neurotic and needy than usual. But look how cute she is!

Also, also, now that hockey is back, I may need a new Red Wings' shirt. You know, one that actually covers my ever-expanding stomach.

Heading back to the doctor's office this week (I'm now going every 2 weeks!) for a 3D/4D ultrasound, so stay tuned for those pictures on the next post!

26 Weeks!

I know it's been a little while since I've posted! Classes started back this past week and things have been pretty hectic to say the least! But here I am again, hoping to entertain you once more. I thought for this post I'd show y'all a few of the bigger things we got from the baby showers/Christmas, now that we have them all set up! So here goes!

Starting from the top left...

This is the Tiny Love 3-in-1 Rocker Napper. I'm kind of fascinated by this thing. It is set up in our bedroom for Baby Girl to sleep in the first few weeks. Here it's pictured in the bassinet position. It was easy enough to assemble, and the mattress pad comes out pretty easily to wash it. It rocks slightly and also has a vibration setting (which we haven't tried yet), and an awesome toy attached. It can then sit up a little bit, or even further, for playtime! It's small enough so it fits nicely in our room next to the bed, which should cut down on me having to stumble down the hall (past the stairs) to the nursery in the middle of the night. So while we have no real reviews based on use, I think this thing is pretty cool and I'm pretty pumped to try it!

Moving clockwise, this is the Fisher-Price High Chair we got. We wanted one that would just sit in the chair because we have a counter-height table and I was worried about a traditional high chair being tall enough. (I was also too lazy to take some measurements and figure that out.) Plus, this takes up less space, which is another bonus. This is one of the few things we didn't get in a gender neutral pattern, but honestly, I didn't really like a lot of the other ones Target had to offer. So yeah, it's a high chair, not a lot to say about that.

This is the Graco Trekko jogging stroller. My parents got this for us for Christmas. From what I can tell, I'm going to like this thing. It seems pretty durable, but it's also not too heavy. I love that it's all black, making it gender neutral and also not obnoxious when I'm running in public. It also can fit Graco carseats, which is what we have, so we could potentially put her infant carseat in here as well. The seat also reclines. It has a basket underneath, which I guess is good if you use it for things other than jogging. The canopy comes down and you can pretty much cover the baby. There's also a little window on the top of the canopy, so you can see the baby. Collapses pretty easily (once you figure out what you're doing and stop cussing at it). I will say though, Graco has some of the WORST assembly directions of all the brands we've gotten.

And finally, the Graco Duo 2-in-1 Swing Bouncer. As you can tell, we're big on the multitasking gear for our baby. This can be a swing for baby, or, you can unhook the seat and sit it on the ground for a traditional bouncer. It's nice enough, and it fits in the office. So, while Paul and I are doing work, Baby Girl can sit in her bouncer or her swing. I hear it's not uncommon for babies to not like swings, so this may not work out. Hey, but at least we've still got the bouncer portion!

We've ordered a dresser for the nursery, which I think will come in later this week. I'm hoping to finish getting the nursery set up. Right now it's kind of a disaster zone with all the stuff we got from the baby showers just haphazardly strewn about the room. We also got a little bookshelf thing for in the closet for added storage. Once I get the nursery a little more presentable and the dresser is in, I'll take some more pictures and show y'all that.

Until then, here is this week's "belly" picture!

I apologize for looking a little rough here. Well, more than a little rough. But I had just returned from a run, so this is what you get. I could've showered and made myself presentable, but after seeing how cute Layla looked in this picture, that was no longer an option. I mean, c'mon, look at her! She's totally posing!

Anyway, we're only about 3 months out from Baby Girl's due date. That is terrifying. This past week I went to the doctor's office and had my gestational diabetes test. This is the one where they make you drink the really sweet drink, then hang around for an hour before they draw your blood. I kept hearing how terrible this test was, and other than it being a pain in the ass to wait around that long, it really wasn't so bad. The drink tasted like sweet orange soda. I mean my Nanny's sweet tea is sweeter than that stuff! The visit went well. I don't have any concerns about having gestational diabetes, but I guess I'll know for sure next week. Also, I'm up about 17 pounds at this point.

In case you're wondering, Baby Girl is a little over a foot long at this point and weighs almost 2 pounds. So, if you're wondering what that would be like, according to all of the pregnancy apps I have, it's somewhere between an eggplant and a head of lettuce. Which are both terrible descriptions, because they both vary in size so much. Instead, I like to think of Baby Girl as being about the size of a 13 inch Italian sub from PennStation. And now I'm hungry.

Alright, that's it for now. I'll be back in about a week with more updates!

24 Weeks and a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2013. I hope your 2012 was as amazing as ours. I've been looking back on the past year quite a bit, which seems appropriate given the holiday. Last year, we rang in 2012 celebrating with my brother in Tangier, Morocco. I know. Pretty badass. It was all downhill from there. (No, not really, but when you start off your year in an exotic country, it's hard not to have a bit of a New Year's hangover once you return. I mean I rode a camel there.) 

With my brother at the Chellah ruins in Rabat, Morocco.

This is on the beach in Tangier, Morocco. No big deal, just riding a camel.

The majority of last year was spent like any other year, spending time with friends and family. I spent some time today looking back through pictures from the past year (a great way to procrastinate from doing real work). Most of those pictures would not be appropriate for the blogosphere. (I foresee a lot of "do as I say, not as I do" lectures in my future.) But we had fun!

Probably Most definitely the highlight of the year, was finding out we will be welcoming a new addition to our little family. This past August, Paul and I were fortunate enough to spend some of the most stressful weeks of our lives waiting to find out for sure. I've never been so excited/anxious/nervous/ecstatic to see pink lines in my life.

A few months later, surrounded by our grad-school family and Skyping with our parents at Thanksgiving, Paul and I found out our little Butterbean is a little girl. Overwhelming does not begin to describe it. I can't wait to have a little girl. She's going to be so cool. And probably more than a handful (if she's anything like her Mama).

 Our gender reveal cake!

 

It's pink!!!

In December, two baby showers were hosted for my little girl. I cannot fully express my gratitude for these showers and everyone who was a part of them. This little girl is already so loved it's ridiculous. (She's also already so spoiled it's ridiculous.)

Per usual, New Year's Eve was spent with great friends. I'm disappointed I don't have any pictures from the evening to share here, as I actually put on a dress and heels and looked presentable. Maybe next year? (Probably not.) Perhaps taking more presentable pictures should be my New Years' Resolution.

Anyway, onto the present! 2013. The year when I become a mama! If that's not terrifying, I don't know what is. I mean, I'm sure it'll be fine, but still... This year has all the makings of being an awesome year.

I won't leave y'all hanging. Here's this week's "belly" picture!

24 weeks! At this point our little girl is about the size of an ear of corn and weighs over a pound. She sure packs a punch as well. I'm feeling her more and more each day. Throwing elbows and whatnot. Also, while I know other people are having babies this year as well, I refuse to acknowledge this as the year of "Baby Kimye." Man, pop culture can be annoying.

You may have noticed in the last picture our sentry was "standing guard." Here she is, keeping an eye on things. We're so lucky she's so normal and not crazy at all. (She's insane. Like certifiably nuts.)

 But sometimes she likes to give her sister hugs. :)