Goodbye 2011 {32 weeks!}

This has been a really good year for us, mainly because we are finally expecting our little baby. :) But we think that 2012 is going to be the best year since we got married. There are so many changes coming our way in 2012 and a lot of unknowns but just like we have for the past 5 years, we will get through it together because that is what we do. We are the best team. {I love you bubba.}

The nursery is coming along rather quickly now. We have all of the big furniture in the house... but we have to put together the dresser still. We picked it up yesterday and it was heavy, so we had to open the box from the Audi and carry the pieces into the house and upstairs bit by bit. There are SO many pieces to this dresser and the instructions have 34 steps to put this together. For all those people who warned us about the crib... the crib has nothing on this dresser. I am going to have to buy Brad lots of beer this weekend so we can get it together. Haha.

A million freaking pieces:

Once we get this bad boy put together then we just have the finishing touches to the nursery and it should done. Hooray. It feels like yesterday I was having a breakdown because I couldn't decide where to even start with the nursery. But now it's almost done and that makes me so happy. And relieved.

Today my belly feels bigger than usual. Which I am sure is right because I guess it still has some growing to do. ;)

From BabyCenter.com:
By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Outside of the usual, getting up and sitting down is now getting a little more difficult. I try to avoid going up the stairs in the house more than I need to because I get winded realllllly easily. And our next appointment isn't for another 3 weeks....

So until next week...

<3 Brad, Jenna, & Bean

The holiday season... {30 & 31 weeks}

Looks like I am doing another double week post this week, sorry about that. Unfortunately, both Brad and I got sick last week and although we are still battling the end of the cold, we are both feeling MUCH better.
So let's recap last week...

I started getting sick around two Fridays ago. I stuck it out through the weekend because I knew that there really wasn't anything that I could take for it, but on Monday I went to the OB just to be safe. And naturally they said that they couldn't give me anything but they did give me the rest of the day off from work! So I spent the day in bed, but sleeping without taking any medicine just didn't help me. I went to work the following day and got sent home again. Finally by Wednesday I didn't feel like dying and now I just have some sniffles. Hooray. Last week we also received a handmade blanket from Brad's grandma. We actually have two handmade blankets now, one from Brad's Nana and one from Brad's grandma. They are so cute.

 

And the belly:

From BabyCenter.com:
Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

And now on to this week...
Two Fridays ago I caught a cold. Last Friday, I thought I was going into pre-term labor. Yeah, it's been a pretty exciting two weeks for us. Haha. I woke up on Friday night with really bad cramps, so I went into the bathroom and the cramps got worse. I am already blessed with Braxton Hicks, so I know what mild contractions feel like, but these felt like full blown contractions. After about 10 minutes they went away though and I was able to go back to sleep. The rest of the weekend I just tried to lay low and not move around too much.
Monday we had our OB appointment. I brought up what happened on Friday and the doctor said that I handled the situation perfectly. Only if my contractions continue on a regular basis for an hour then I would go to labor & delivery. Bean is doing well. Her heartbeat was strong and she was moving like crazy at the appointment. The doctor had the hardest time finding and holding her heartbeat and Brad got to see her jabs to my stomach while the doctor was trying. Our next appointment is 4 weeks away, sigh. That will put us at 35 weeks. After that I think we will be seen at 37 weeks, which is technically full term, and then every week after that until she comes. That leaves us with about 5 more appointments to go! Holy moly! And yes, she is staying in there until 40 weeks at least. As long as she is on time or late then I will be happy.
We finally have all of her big furniture ordered and on the way here. We should have her nursery done by the end on January. It looks cute so far and with the rest of the stuff we got it will easily be the cutest room in our house. :) We also got a box from Brad's parents full of stuff for her. Lots of cute clothes and our first package of diapers. Haha.

My belly is growing and growing and oh yeah, growing. It now takes me a few tries to get out of bed in the morning. I imagine that I look like Randy from A Christmas Story when he falls in the snow. "I can't get up!!!" Yup, that's me. Haha. I have some stretch marks but I do my best to keep them lotioned. I know that they are inevitable, but I am hoping to keep them at a minimum. ;)

 

From BabyCenter.com:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

And since we have been sick and busy trying to get ready for the holidays and the baby, we are behind on getting our Christmas cards out. They will be more like Happy New Year cards at this rate. Haha.

Gah, someone reminded me that I wanted to do a progression picture, so here it is!:

Until next week...

<3 Brad, Jenna, & Bean

I feel nakey... {29 weeks!}

Well, we have good news: I got my wedding ring off! Yay!
We also have bad news: We had to have a jeweler cut it off. :(

Now I feel naked. I miss my ring. I wish it didn't have to come to this. And although they can and will be fixing my ring for me once I am done being pregnant and swollen, it's still really really sad. Also, I told Brad that the second we find out we are pregnant again my ring is coming off and going on a necklace. Haha. We are NOT going through this again!

The weeks are flying by and we still have so much to do in preparation for Bean's arrival. Her nursery has a crib aaaaaand that's about it. We have no clothes, no diapers, no changing table. We are pretty behind on all this. Haha. I hoping to have it all done by the end of January. Let's just go with that for now...

I was asked not to reveal Bean's initials... so we will keep them on lock down for now. :) But earlier this week the top 100 boys and girls names of 2011 came out. I am happy to say that her name is not on this list. So if you would like to know what she isn't going to be named, please take a look here: http://www.babycenter.com/top-baby-names-2011.

Bean is still really really active. It's fun. And I am pretty sure that she is going to be really long because I feel kicks at the very top of my belly to the very bottom at the same time. Haha. It's so crazy. This is one of the best feelings ever. I often tell Brad that I wish he could have her in his belly for a while so he can feel her inside kicks. It's just so weird. It will probably be one of the things I miss most about being pregnant.

We finally moved on to a new fruit. From 29-32 weeks Bean is the size of a squash. Only 2 more fruits (months) left. Eeeeep!
From BabyCenter.com:
Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

Our next OB appointment is scheduled for December 19th, where I hope that we will get an ultrasound but I won't hold my breath. I would hope that at 31 weeks they would want to make sure that she was positioned head down... I guess we will see. :)

Until next week...

<3 Brad, Jenna, and Bean

Swollen, but Thankful {27 & 28 weeks!}

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We sure did. We went to a friend's house for Thanksgiving and got to see lots of people who we were stationed with in Belgium that we haven't seen in forever. It was a really nice reunion with great food and awesome company. {Thank you Stacey for inviting us to your house!}
I do just want to mention also that we are so thankful to finally have this blessing in our life. It's been a long time coming, but we are still over the moon excited. <3
Since it was a holiday last week, I kind of skipped last weeks blog (please forgive me). But I will make it up today! So let's start with last week....

We had an OB appointment last Tuesday. It was another quick in and out kind of appointment. My belly is at the correct size and Bean's heartbeat is super strong and fast. After we saw the nurse, she reminded me that I had to get labs done. Greeeaaatttt. This wasn't just normal pee in a cup and take some blood kind of lab. This was a lab to test me for gestational diabetes. So I went to the lab (completely unprepared, I should have brought a book) and they handed me this bottle of sugary something or another that I was told to drink in 5 minutes. Luckily, it actually didn't taste that bad, just like flat Sprite. Then after I drank it, I had to wait for an hour until they could draw my blood. I had no cell phone reception and nothing to read. It was a really boring hour. But it's done now and I haven't heard anything back so I am hoping that no news is good news.
Besides our appointment and Thanksgiving, we just enjoyed our long weekend that we both had and did some things around the house. We bought some things on Black Friday and we got our Christmas Tree. I can't believe that tomorrow is December! Whoa.

My belly is getting large and in charge. And by "in charge" I mean, I keep running into things with it. Like if I take a corner too sharp or turn while standing around people. Hahaha. Yeah I have hit it on people and things. Go me!
Info from BabyCenter.com:
This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

And now on to this week...
We are officially in the THIRD trimester now, which is proof that time is flyyyying by.
Over the weekend we figured out that my wedding ring is officially stuck on my finger. :( We spent most of the weekend trying to figure out how to get it off. We tried soaking it in ice water (brrrr), using butter, olive oil, vasaline, dish soap, hand soap, tugging, pulling, twisting, praying, wrapping dental floss around the swollen part. But yeah, it's not going ANYWHERE. So we are going to go to Zale's and see if they can cut it and repair it for us. If not, we have a friend here who volunteers at the Fire Station that will cut it off for us. I just don't want my hands to get anymore swollen and cause any big problems. Siiiigh. I love my ring.
Bean has been moving around LIKE CRAZY nowadays. I love it. I love every kick and movement. I think it's because she hasn't found my bladder or my ribs yet. Thank you Jesus. Haha. Sometimes I like to play with her and I will push in on my tummy and she will kick back. It's super cute. Brad will sit on the couch with me and put his hand on my belly trying to feel her kicks. But she gets shy around him. I can now even see her move my belly which is realllllly weird. I am cherishing these moments because soon (12 weeks!!!) they will be gone. I really do love being pregnant.

Here is Brad trying to feel her kicks. And Kahlua because she loves sitting on my lap. And my belly button which is still an "innie" because I have the world's deepest belly button. Haha.

Info from BabyCenter.com:
By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

I have also read that she can now smell the things I smell, which I thought was really weird.


Our next OB appointment won't be until closer to Christmas. But I think we get an ultrasound at the next appointment. I hope, I hope, I hope! :) And maybe we will even reveal her initals. But we aren't telling her name until she arrives.


<3 Brad, Jenna, and Bean

Double Digits! {26 weeks!}

On Monday we hit the double digit mark on the countdown to our due date. Double. Digits. Can you believe it?! With the holidays quickly approaching, time is just going to continue to fly, too.
On top of the holidays, we still have lots to do with the nursery and really the house in general. We started looking into the classes that are offered at the hospital here, but we probably won't sign up for any until January. We need this info to be fresh in our heads, haha.
We have our monthly OB appointment next week, but I don't think we get another ultrasound for another month. We are thinking about getting another one out in town again in December just so we can see her and make sure she is really still a girl. We have heard too many stories of these things being wrong. Lol. Plus, I would like to know how she is sitting in the uterus because she feels realllllly low. It's weird.
She has been really active this past week. She likes to move the most when I am eating and when I am singing in the car. Haha.Probably because she wants me to stop singing. ;)

She just keeps getting bigger. :)

From BabyCenter.com:
The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. She now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches from head to heel.

Until next week...
<3 Brad, Jenna, & Bean

Time is flying... {25 weeks!}

25 weeks. Can you believe it? I cannot even. But just as much as this pregnancy is flying by, I still feel like it's at a standstill. Like, oh my goodness we still have three and a half months. And then it turns into, oh my goodness we only have three and a half months left! Haha.

This has been a very quiet week for us. Today is my last Veteran's Day as an Active Duty Service Member. That is weird to think about. But I am enjoying my day off with Brad as he works from home today. I have had some annoying pregnancy symptoms this week. Yesterday morning I was awoken by some killer heartburn at 4am. So I got out of bed and had some chocolate milk which helped the heartburn go away. Then yesterday afternoon I had a really bad upset stomach, which is why I didn't get around to blogging. It's always something, right? ;)

This week I went to a "Budget for Baby" class that was offered on base for free by the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society. They did a basic run down of how to make your life ready for a baby. It was all common sense stuff, but the best part was that we each of a bag of free stuff, which included a hand made crocheted blanket and a bunch of baby stuff. I grabbed the yellow blanket and it was full of gender nuteral items, which we prefer, you know juuuust in case. Haha. Plus we aren't a huge fan of putting Bean in only pink.

From weeks 25-28, Bean is the size of an eggplant! She is really getting big!
Info for BabyCenter.com:
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

I think the bump is the same for now, luckily. 

But I have found a few stretch marks. *cry*

 After payday we should be buying more of the nursrey items and hopefully I can get to working on the crib bumpers and bed skirt (yes, I am attempting to sew my own). And then maybe by December we can finally show it off! I am still on the search for a good rocker/glider for her room. If anyone has any suggestions that would be awesome.

Until next week...

<3 Brad, Jenna, and Bean

Kick, kick, kick... {24 weeks!}

For the past few weeks I have been feeling Bean kick, but I didn't want to say anything about it until Brad could feel her too. Luckily this weekend Brad got to feel his first few baby kicks. It pretty much made my weekend. :) Kicks are seriously the weirdest feeling ever. I can't even begin to describe it. But I love it.

 

There really isn't a lot going on right now. I scheduled our next appointment, but that isn't until November 22nd. And we haven't gotten anything else got the nursery. Ooo, I did win a play pen on Twitter! And that came in this week! Other than that, just the same old stuff going on. I notice my belly getting bigger and my fatigue is coming back. I'm still really enjoying the second trimester and I cannot believe that we are almost to the third! Time is flying.

I do have lots of pictures to share this week though...

Bean's first Vans :)

I saw these on Etsy and fell in love with them.

 

From BabyCenter.com:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long, she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Until next week...

<3 Brad, Jenna, & Bean