Cool but Cranky at 28

So the weeks continue to just fly on by it is hard to believe we are 2 weeks away from the 30 week mark! AHHH! Now given how quickly baby Eli is approaching we are making preparations for his room. Given that I can not help paint all of this prep has been left to poor Nick, and he has been working hard. We (I mean Nick) have installed a new ceiling fan (not the easiest one he has ever put in), painted baseboard, repaired the wall, and now he is all ready to paint the walls. So excited! I on the other hand have been bust online shopping for room décor. I have been looking at curtains, wooden letters to spell out Eli’s name, and various other things. All of which are VERY important and VERY cute! I do think things are moving in a very good direction in our nursery Now I am not sure if this is the nesting kicking in or not, but I am also kinda worried about getting things cleaned, straightened and organized in the rest of the house. For example, I actually scrubbed baseboards over the weekend. This I am sad and somewhat ashamed to say might have been there 1st thorough cleaning since we painted and installed them (we have replaced most of the base in our house). Go ahead and judge my house cleaning! This weekend I am hoping to go through and organize our kitchen and clean the cabinets and then tackle re-organizing the linen closet. Lofty goals I know, but I am trying to seize the nesting moment.

Now on to the bump picture . . .Please overlook my hair it was kind of weird looking this week

Week 28

Size:  Still an Eggplant baby- not sure when this changes but I think this has been 3 weeks in a row now! 13.6 in to 14.8 in, weighing 1.5 to 2.2 lbs.

Physical Features & Development: Some very reassuring news in this section-  Eli's lungs are mature enough that, if born right now,he has a good chance of surviving (with help from medical technology). His skin is still pretty wrinkly (one byproduct of living in amniotic fluid) but will smoothen as fat continues to deposit.

Baby Movement:  I have been thinking of changing this category, but I love feeling him move and talking about it. I hope my blog friends do not get bored with it. Eli has still been very active and I have actual seen a few ripples and nudges from the outside now. Eli did have kind of a sleepy day last Saturday not a whole lot of noticeable movement, which was a little concerning. I was actually poking him and shaking waking him up. (That did work by the way).  However, it seems that was a just a down day he was right back to the normal swimming on Sunday.

What I Miss:  A moment with out back pain and being able to workout like a normal person. I know it seems weird to say I miss working out but it honestly kind of hard to face not being able to do something you have always done. Sadly, I think I attended my last pre-Eli Zumba class this week. I went this week and did what I call “Pregnant Lady Zumba” which involved a lot of marching in place, and the next day I literally hurt all over. So I think I will be on the treadmill only till Eli makes his glorious debut.

Cravings: Over the weekend I literally say a pic of some Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream in a magazine and decided that I had to have some. I did manage to get some ice cream and it was just not as tasty as it looked in the picture.

Overall feelings: I guess you could say CRANKY, especially today! I have been suffering a few physical problems this week that have me a little down. I also have been having quite a bit of back pain, which I know is to be expected, but still makes it no less comfortable to deal with. I also have apparently officially hit the point of “having trouble sleeping.” Poor Nick and my work family has had to deal with a whiney pregnant lady. I know that I am extremely blessed and I need to focus more on the positive. If I lean on my faith God will see me through this small painful patches.

Appointments & Coming Events: Plenty of exciting stuff coming up as always. My dear sis in-law Nicole and I will be taking a road trip next Sunday to attend a baby shower for a good friend who is due 2 weeks before me. Very excited about that! We also have our appointment on 8/15 where we get an Ultrasound to measure the little man’s growth.

Too muc to be excited and thankful for to be CRANKY!

We Love you Elijah Nicholas!

WHOA it is the 3rd Trimester!–27 Weeks

WOW . . .So we have reached the 3rd trimester. This is going by WAAY to fast! AND this also my first officially REALLY late blog and for that I apologize. But hey I am still writing it so that should count for something.

Lets start this one out right with a bump pic . . .

Here we are! Looking pretty good I think. I do ask Nick every week if my face look face (not that he or anyone else would ever say YES). Also I am proud to report that my belly button is still an “Innie” a massive crater of an “Innie” but still an “Innie.”

Well, I am sure most of you are wondering how the dreaded 3 hour glucose test went that I ranted and whined on about last week. I guess I can describe it in on word . . .BAD! Now in order to complete test you have to fast over night, which means I woke up very hungry. I should also say that I have a lot more trouble with giving blood and fainting when I have fasted. So I arrived at the Lab at 6:45am feeling a little nervous but just ready to have it over with. We got in the little room with some reclining chairs and a TV, I explained to the lab tech that I have to lay down to have blood drawn, and she drew the blood to get a baseline. I was feeling pretty good, thinking I made it through the first one. SO I start flipping through the TV channels, and then it all went very badly. I told Nick I was going to pass out and he should get someone, and then well I passed out. Nick could give a complete description of the passing out, which sounds almost like a seizure, but we will skip through all those details and just say . . . . I passed out, got taken to the ER, threw up, and finally got released to go home. Eli was fine they took his heart beat and it was 154- Praise the Lord! I on the other hand had a glucose of 75 and my blood pressure was really low, which the low bp is not unusual for a passing out scene. While at the ER I got some food (which stayed down) and the ER doctor declared that there would not be anymore glucose test. So after what was a fairly traumatic couple of hours we went home and rested for the rest of the day.

So now where do we go from here? Well, I have yet to her from my Doctor about the test or next steps. Nick and I have both decided that we will not go back for the 3 hour glucose again to much stress and scary passing out. They can either figure something else out or just assume I have gestational diabetes and I will do the diet and monitoring. AND yes we are prepared to argue strongly with my Doctor. So I will keep you posted.

Now the weekly update . . .

WEEK 27

Size:  Still and Eggplant baby! 13.6 in to 14.8 in, weighing 1.5 to 2.2 lbs. (This is the same as last week)

Physical Features & Development: Baby's lungs are going through some major developments these days, which (combined with the opening of previously plugged nostrils) means Eli’s now able to practice inhaling and exhaling.

Baby Movement:  The coolest thing on the baby movement front is all the movement at night. Nick usually comes to bad after me at night and he then feels Eli moving around while I sleep. I don’t feel any of these, but apparently he is having a party in there.

What I Miss: This is kind of weird but the last couple of weeks I have had a hard time enjoy pregnancy because I have been to worried about all this glucose testing, etc.  I am ready to let the stress go and get back to enjoyment and fun. We love our Eli and can not wait to meet him!

Cravings: Apple Dew’s! You may never have heard of these but they are kind of like an apple filled pastry. My Mom has made them before and they are super yummy! I now have the recipe and I am ready to make some of my own.

Appointments & Coming Events: Well, we still have the Doctor’s appt and ultrasound coming up on August 15th. AND I also have my first Baby Shower coming up on August 2oth! Can not wait!!!

Ups & Downs at Week 26

Oh wow, where to start with the week 26 update. This is really one of those blogs where I could truly break it down in a Good, Bad, and Fabulous. So much to say. So lets just jump right in with the update on Eli and some pictures. Well, we got to have an ultrasound on Monday where we got to see our wonderful little man again Always so exciting! If you will remember one of his little kidney’s was kind of full at the anatomy scan so they scheduled this ultrasound to get a 2nd look at it. AND I am happy to report that Eli’s kidney was just fine! PRAISE THE LORD! Now what I am sure most of you have been waiting for . . .Eli pictures!

Little Eli hanging out! He was actually pretty active at this ultrasound according to the tech. He also opened and closed his mouth the whole time. Nick said “Oh no he is talking already!”

And yes we got a few 3d images this time In this one he has his little eye open! How sweet is that!?

It was so good to see that Eli was doing well! Such a blessing!

Now here comes the beginning of the bad. At this appointment my Dr. also asked me to go ahead and complete my one hour glucose test. I had no idea this was coming at this appointment! I knew it would be done soon, but I thought they would schedule another day for me to come in and drink the icky stuff and do the blood draw. We were finishing up the appointment when the Dr comes back in and asks if I had an hour to do the test, and I figured “Why not, I am already here!” Time to take on the dreaded gestational diabetes test! So I chugged the orange drink on the advice of the nurse. Nick cheered me on the whole time. The drink was actually not too bad going down- it tasted like Sunkist without the fizz, just very syrupy. Then came the anxious hour wait. For those of you who do not know I am a known fainter/passer outer when it comes to just about anything to do with blood, and blood draws are one of my biggest challenges. Luckily, I had Nick with me and he talked to me during the draw part and I survived. The worst of the whole experience was feeling like I could just throw that orange stuff up while I was sitting in the lobby. So we left the office and I thought, Hey I have got this behind me! We are all good. WELL that was not so much the case! Yesterday right before lunch I got a call from the Doctor’s office informing me that I had failed the 1 hour test. They like for your glucose to be at 130 and mine was 157. So now I have been scheduled for the dreaded THREE HOUR TEST! For those of you unfamiliar with that, this time I get to drink the icky drink once an hour for 3 hours and have my blood drawn once an hour for three hours! Needless to say when I found this out I just kind of lost it. I called Nick crying telling him what we had to do and how worried I was that I could indeed have gestational diabetes. He of course assured me that everything was going to be okay and he said he would go with me to the test, which I was very thankful for. I won’t bore you with all the crying details of my day yesterday, lets just say I was an emotional bag that had to go to bed early. I would like to say it was not just the test that I was upset, but the possibility of failing this test as well and having to deal with gestational diabetes. I of course spent way to much time on Google yesterday (this did not help my emotional state), but GD can be very dangerous for me and the baby if not treated correctly. I spent most of the day thinking “What could I have done wrong?” All that being said I actually have had several good friends fail the 1 hour test and have to go for the 3 hour test,  where they passed. I know this is not the worst thing in the world that could happen to me, and it will all be okay. It took me a day to get to this state of mind, but I am finally there. The Lord has blessed me with this wonderful baby and I am just going to have to lean on my faith to get me through. That being said I am asking for your prayers. I am going for the 3 hour test next Wednesday and I am praying that I pass and Eli and I continue to be healthy.

Okay if you are still reading at this point we are moving to the actual update . . .

Week 26

Size:  Still and Eggplant baby! 13.6 in to 14.8 in, weighing 1.5 to 2.2 lbs.

Physical Features & Development: Eli’s eyes are forming and soon he will be practicing his blinking. According to our 3d ultrasound it looks like he is doing that. Also Baby Eli is flexing some of his feeding muscles this week, including a very strong sucking muscle. Maybe this is why he was opening and closing his mouth so much at the ultrasound? We actually did see him kind of lick/suck on his hand. So exciting how much is going on in there!

Baby Movement:  Eli is still on the move! Like our ultrasound tech said . . .He sure is active. And yes he is! He never does anything overly painful but he is not shy about letting me know he is there. Nick also gets to feel him quite often, which is very sweet.

What I Miss: Unsure right now . . .

Cravings: I honestly had been wanting a Peach milkshake from Chick-fil-a. They are so good! BUT I will now be waiting for the outcome of my gestational diabetes test before I have one.

Overall feelings: Well, besides being somewhat of an emotional/hormonal mess yesterday (Big thanks to everyone for dealing with me on that.) I am feeling good. I actually had a great massage on Saturday that was wonderful and I do believe Eli enjoyed it as well. I honestly have no complaints, at this moment I just feel blessed.

Appointments & Coming Events: Prayers for the 3 hour glucose test on Wednesday, July 20th. We also have another appointment scheduled for August 15th where they will be doing an ultrasound for growth. Plenty coming up to look forward to!

And I will leave you with the weekly bump pic

Here we are at Week 26! Just keep us in your prayers!

25 and Anxious

So it is safe to say that I got a little anxious this week about the little ways off but still close arrival of our little Eli. 2 thoughts hit me this week- What do I know about babies? and Eli has to come out eventually! Now mind you I did think about all this before I got pregnant, but have found up till now that it is easier just to put these thoughts in the back of my mind. AND just assume that the stork was coming. With my wonderful friends bringing there babies into the world last week it was time to re-address these anxious thoughts.What can I do about any of these concerns? Well, I did do some reading up but I know ultimately that I will have to trust God and pray that those motherly instincts will kick in. I know they will. As for getting him out I just need to pray and not worry. Worrying will not help anything!

On a lighter note we have officially begun preparations for Eli’s room. Nick cleaned all of his stuff out of the closet in there and I hauled off several trash bags of stuff that needed to go to Goodwill. We have a little more cleaning out to do, which I hope to do before the weekend. Then, Nick can start painting and install the new lighting this weekend. It feels so good to have his room underway and I can not wait to have it finished. AND finally have the crib up! Speaking of cribs we still have to order a mattress. Anyone have any recommendations on that?

Now on to the main events . . . .

Weekly Bump Pic . . .

Here we are at Week 25!

Week 25

Size:  EGGPLANT baby! 13.6 in to 14.8 in long and weighing in at 1.5 to 2.2 lbs.

Physical Features & Development: Eli’s sense of equilibrium is kicking in and he is learning to distinguish right side up from upside down. Baby Eli’s hands are now fully developed and he is exploring.

Baby Movement:  Well, I can definitely tell that Eli is in explorer mode. Giving my expanding belly I actually felt him up a little higher a couple of times in the last week. I can also tell that he can hear sounds. He had a pretty good reaction to the fireworks Nick set off at a friends house last night. The best, thus far, was his reaction to Dr. Enuf.I had decided to try out some Dr. Enuf to help my continuous calf cramp. So I went and bought some not knowing the caffeine content or that they made it caffeine free. Dr. Enuf actually has more caffeine than Mellow Yellow, I drank 1/2 of a 10 oz and Eli went kind of crazy in there. Granted it was around one of his normal activity times, but his movements were definitely heightened. Needless, to say if we try Dr. Enuf again we will be searching for the caffeine free

What I Miss: Being able to eat tomato based foods and sauces without getting heartburn!!!

Cravings: Movie theater popcorn was kind of a biggie over the weekend. I literally just wanted to go to a movie to get the good popcorn. So Nick being the wonderful husband he is took me to see Pirates 4 and ordered a large popcorn. It was wonderful- the popcorn that is. The movie was okay. I am also still into watermelon pretty heavy and have taken to eat some red raspberries! I am going to seriously miss berry and fruit season when it is over. Ohhh and I have had an up tick in my appetite in the last few days, Eli must be growing!!!

Overall feelings: I know I say this every week but I honestly feel blessed! I still feel good, I do have some issues, but really it is all just a blessing! In the last week I did feel anxious about Eli coming but I think that is normal for any mom to-be.  My heartburn and indigestion did seem a little worse this week. I have also had some issues with leg/calve cramps as mentioned above the movement section. Congestion in the morning has also been a bit of a problem but it is hard to tell if it is pregnancy or just allergy. I know this sounds like a laundry list of problems but I really feel great!

Appointments & Coming Events: Nick and I both are very excited about our Ultrasound on Monday. Can not wait to see Eli again, praying for a happy/healthy baby! So make sure to check us out next week we should have new pics of Elijah Nicholas.

What Did Eli do on Vacation?

So I am still working on the official “Vacation 2011” blog. I always find it hard to blog big trips and keep it interesting so I think for this one I am going to break it down into several smaller blogs.  Starting with Eli’s part of our vacation! So of course Eli went everywhere that we did, and we did try to capture a pic of him everywhere. I mean we had to have proof that he did go to Disney World! Here are the pics . . .

Eli was in a Wedding

Eli went to the Magic Kingdom

Eli (and some other random people) at Cinderella’s Castle

Eli went to Epcot

Eli rode the Nemo ride

Eli went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Eli got to meet Flick at the Animal Kingdom

 

So not only did Eli get to see and do stuff he got some souvenirs as well:

  Tigger Onesie (back &front)

Something for our Future Nerd!

A Safari Tigger to go with our onesie

There were so many things we could have gotten Eli, but these were our favs! Particularly the Tigger Onesie, Nick loves it! Can not wait for Eli to play with it and wear his stuff.

We had a great time on our trip and can not wait till we can take Eli again when he is on “this side” so he to can experience everything! So exciting to think about!