28 week update

I'm actually posting this bump update on time this week - woo hoo! I'm actually on top of things for once!

It's been a busy week with getting things in the house ready for Hunter's arrival in 12 weeks - WHAT?! So we got the schedule for the hardwood floor guys who will be refinishing the mainfloor hardwood and ripping out carpet upstairs and installing hardwood and staining that. Also, they'll be sanding and staining the stairs the Nick built. Those guys are coming on Monday which means that we have to get all of our closets cleared out (HUGE task on it's own) and get movers to come in and move all the furniture to other areas of the house.

So one thing down and on track to finish by next week, FINALLY! Since the dust and stain fumes are not good for anyone, much less someone pregnant, we're going to go stay at my parents house for the week next week who live 40 minutes away. We'll be staying in my old basement bedroom (weirdness), but it's nice because it has a walkout to the backyard which is good for the dogs. My parents have cats and my dogs might attack if they saw them around the house, so my pups are going to be confined to the basement.

Meanwhile, the electrician is coming today, and should have been here by now to install a chandelier we have for the dining room, recessed lights in the family room (we've been living in darkness with 3 lamps for 4 years!), and a ceiling fan in our room and in Hunter's room.

We also have a painter coming today to give us an estimate because the guy who does the electrical work doesn't patch up holes in drywall or paint where he does his work, so we'll need that fixed.

Things on the house front are coming along!

Things on the baby front are also coming along great as well. I've decided to not go with the doulas associated with my midwives because there is a chance of me having 1 of 4 doulas and if my labor goes long they would switch. Also, they wouldn't come to my home and I plan on laboring at home for a really long time before going to the hospital. I really wanted personalized attention and I wanted to find someone I connected with, not use someone connected with the midwives. So we've decided to find a doula outside of the MW practice. I've found 3 that I really like and who have been recommended by my Bradley teacher, so I'm interviewing all of them in the next several days. What's great about them is they'll give me 2 prenatal in person appointments, I can call and email as much as I want prior to my due date. They're "on call" for the 2 weeks prior to my due date (and up until I give birth) and she'll come to our house and help me labor at home, will be with me through my entire labor at home and in the hospital, will help with breastfeeding and will do a post partum appointment. That sounds MUCH better to me than a less personalized approach. Doulas aren't cheap, but Nick and I talked about how this birth is something that we'll remember forever and I want it to be an almost spiritual experience and I want to be set up for success and a doula will be critical to that. I'm super excited to meet them and find someone.

Other than that, I've been going to the chiropractor for my back issues and she's helping there, I've slowly been ordering things for Hunter's room and I'm getting excited for our first baby shower and maternity photos in a couple of weeks!

Now, after another long rambling blog post, my picture and update!

Man has my bump grown since last week!!

How far along? 28w2d 

Size of Baby: Eggplant

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +11 lb

Maternity Clothes: Oh yes, mainly tanks and maxi skirts or skirts during this hot weather we've been having. It's finally gotten more comfortable, but that's my signature maternity summer wardrobe. 

Sex of Baby:  BOY!!

Belly Button In/Out: In, but getting flatter by the day

Stretch Marks: Nope

Labor Signs: Well I did have those contractions last week, but labor is no where in sight, thank goodness!

Movement: Yes SO much - Hunter is such a little mover. He's constantly shifting or kicking. This morning I thought he was trying to escape, my whole belly was undulating and he wasn't letting me sleep past 6:30 a.m.!

Sleep: Still bad, I toss and turn and get up to pee a lot (like 5x a night a lot - it's BAD) 

Cravings/Aversions: I'm all about the ice cream right now, oh and ICE cold water, with TONS of ice in it - I love it! 

Symptoms: Braxton Hicks, back pain, hip pain, fatigue

Feeling: So excited to be in the 3rd trimester and so excited to see Hunter's little face!

Best Moment this Week: I love feeling him move and shake and he just seems so strong in there!

What I Miss: SLEEEEEEPPPPP

What I am Looking Forward To: Getting this electrical work done and the floors done next week!

Milestones: 3rd trimester!!

Baby Milestones: Hunter is now about 14.8 inches and weighs about 2.2 pounds! His brain is developing its folds and grooves and he continues to add layers of fat to his body (get fatter little man!). His muscle tone is also improving (tell me about it!) which means increased movement which might wake me up at night. His testes are descending this week as well. 

Next Appointment: August 8 - regular midwife appointment

27 weeks - sorry I've been MIA

LONG BLOG POST AHEAD!!

Oh man, it's been a REALLY long time since I've blogged. We've had several really crazy weeks and I feel like things are finally settling down a bit.

Right before our wedding road trip extravaganza - like literally the Monday before we left, the woman who was supposed to cover all my work while I'm out on maternity leave submitted her 2 week notice - cue major freak-out/breakdown. So basically I needed to find someone to replace her, then get them trained and up to speed for their permanent role, then train them to take over my lead position and also hire someone temporarily to take over the position they would be vacating for several months. Essentially it's an extremely stressful situation. All of this happens right before I'm going to be out of the office for 12 days - GREAT timing.

I think I had mentioned before that we had 2 out of town weddings 2 weekends in a row which was crazy enough in itself. But what's even crazier is one wedding was in MN and the other wedding was in WY and we decided it would be a good idea to road trip to MN, go to that wedding, then road trip out to WY with a stop at Mt. Rushmore one night and then hit up that wedding in WY (that I was a bridesmaid in) and then drive all the way back to Chicago.

Phew! Are you exhausted reading all of that? Because it makes me super exhausted again just thinking about it. So I'm 25 weeks pregnant as all of this is occurring, approaching 3rd trimester and I'm EXHAUSTED. Let me tell you, all the driving and the staying up late for weddings and all the freaking wedding activities my best friend packed into a 4 day weekend really did me in. But here are a couple pictures from the MN wedding and the WY trip and wedding I wanted to share. Then I'll talk about the excitement/scaring the shit out of me stuff that happened this week.

Before the wedding at 24w5d

Before the ceremony with Nick

Brother and SILs - and my nephew

At the hotel before the wedding

Mt. Rushmore at night

In Front of the Grand Tetons at 25 weeks!

Jackson Hole Town Square

The Tetons

Prom pose in front of the Tetons

After the exhausting wedding week, I get back to work to have 1 final week with the woman leaving. Luckily we found someone to replace her quickly and started her transition, but it's still really stressful only have a limited amount of time to get her up to speed before I'm out for several months.

So that was last week. Then this past weekend, I start freaking out again because we still have a LOT of projects on our list and we decided we were finally ready to get the nursery furniture and glider orders. Cue another anxiety/panic attack when I learn that the nursery furniture isn't going to be delivered for 10-12 weeks and the glider won't be delivered for 10-14!!!!! REALLY PEOPLE?!?!?! DO THEY NOT UNDERSTAND PEOPLE ORDER THESE THINGS WITH A DEADLINE IN MIND?!?!?! Now I know Hunter's room doesn't need to be ready before he comes since he'll be sleeping in our room for the first couple months, but I really wanted everything set up and organized BEFOREHAND. So I start to spaz out about that a bit and Nick suggests we go for a nice relaxing walk at a local park with a lake for me to calm down. So we do and it was really nice, but we walked a LOT, like almost 4 miles and it's really hot here in Chicago right now. Then on Sunday I decide I want us to go figure out closet organization for Hunter as well so we were out and about all day Sunday and then had to get the house cleaned and picked up for the cleaner, so we were really busy.

Then Sunday night rolls around. And I start feeling a bit weird. Hunter really hadn't been moving a lot on Sunday and I was already worried about that, saying I was calling the MW in the morning, then I start feeling period type cramping and then tightening. And I knew what was happening. I was having contractions. GREAT. I was thinking they were just Braxton Hicks, so I went to bed Sunday night thinking they'd go away by Monday morning. Unfortunately I got woken up at 5am Monday morning with another contraction and I knew something wasn't right. I waited about 20 minutes and when I felt another one I called the MW. The MW told me to drink some water and eat a light breakfast and if the contractions didn't go away to head straight to L&D. Of course the contractions didn't go away so off to L&D I went. Nick couldn't come with me because he had a surgery that morning so I was all alone. I could have called my mom but it was really early and I wanted to see how serious it was before waking people up.

I got to L&D around 7:30 a.m. and got hooked up to monitors and it was confirmed that I was having contractions. The good thing was that Hunter sounded great and was moving around a lot. Now the big question was, are those contractions doing anything to my cervix. About 20 minutes later the MW comes in and we chat. She wants to do an internal exam and do a test called the fetal fibronectin to see if I'm going to go into labor in the next 2 weeks. I go in for the exam which was SUPER uncomfortable but it was confirmed I wasn't dialated at all - GREAT news! Now we just had to wait for the results of the test. In the meantime I'm still contracting, but the contractions aren't intense or strong, so I don't really feel them at all. The test luckily comes back negative and I'm told I might just be a contractor during the 3rd trimester and this might be my norm.

All in all, I was in L&D for about 7 hours. It was NOT fun and I don't want to go back for another 13 weeks. The contractions stopped Monday night and I haven't had any since. I've been told to take it really easy - so no more 4 mile walk
s and no more stressing out about house projects, nursery furniture or work. I have to keep calm to keep cooking my little boy.

So after that crazy beginning of the week, here I am. 27w3d pregnant (officially in the 3rd trimester) and we're crossing more projects off our list. The electrician comes next week, we're signing a contract to get the hardwood floors started on and are contacting painters.

We also scheduled our maternity photos to be taken on August 11 when I'm 30 weeks and that's the same weekend as my first baby shower.

Things are looking up and Hunter is getting bigger and stronger and kicks me every single day. I'm so in love with him, and I haven't even met him yet.

Here I am at 27 weeks. I'm not going to do my update since this post is SUPER long already. Congrats if you've hung on this long!