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