27 Weeks!

27 weeks...3rd trimester! I can't believe it's here. I always felt like being in the final trimester of pregnancy seemed so far away and now, it's time! I still have a good 3 months left, but when I think about how many months I've been pregnant already, 3 seems easy and it will go by so quickly. I'm really trying to enjoy each day without trying to rush things along too much. The boy will be here before we know it, so it's important to make sure that Jon and I soak up our last few months of being just the 2 of us. After the boy is here, Jon and I will never again have just ourselves (and our fur babies) to worry about. That's a crazy thought! But I am so excited and don't wish for a moment that we could have more time as just us. This baby will be the best thing that's ever happened in either of our lives.

Things are starting to come together. We have a house that we are for sure going to rent, and a lot of the nursery stuff is picked out and ordered. I am dying to move into the house and start decorating the nursery, but I will also be very sad to move out of my parents house. Sometimes I remember how lonely it felt when it was just Jon and I in our apartment, especially when he works late nights. I love having my family around all the time and never feeling alone. But soon after we move out, we will have another little family member joining us and keeping us company in our house, so hopefully I won't feel so lonely!

Speaking of that new little family member, he's doing great! He's growing and kicking and punching and moving and tickling me constantly. The baby websites say that he can open his cute little eyes now! Babies at 27 weeks are on average about 14 inches long and weigh 2 pounds! I can't wait to see what he looks like. He is still breech. My midwife couldn't tell by feeling my belly, but I can tell by where I feel harder kicks and softer punches. He definitely responds to any outside things pushing on my stomach. I was trying to listen to his heartbeat with my stethoscope the other night, and every time I pushed on a different place on my stomach, a little kick would follow.

I'm still feeling pretty well. I really can't complain, because I've had a pretty easy 2nd trimester and am hardly having any of the typical pregnancy symptoms. I've had no heartburn, constipation, leg cramps, tiredness, bloating, swelling, stretch marks, etc. I have been having back soreness every day, but that's because I didn't bother working out and strengthening my back these past 6 months, so it's my own fault. I am getting a cold or having bad allergies right now, so I'm all stuffed up and am more tired than normal. My stomach is starting to feel huge, and sometimes I feel like it's so big that it needs to just stick out more, but it can't. Does that make sense? Jon makes sure to remind me frequently that I'm still pretty small but that I'm definitely going to get huge. His friends at work say so. Thanks, babe. I wear maternity jeans sometimes, but mostly just my normal jeans still. They are more comfortable and I'm thinking of just buying more low cut regular jeans. I still wear all my normal shirts, too. It's funny, looking back to when I was first pregnant, I had NO idea what to expect as far as what I'd fit into at 5, 6, or 7 months along. I remember when I was trying to get pregnant, and was planning on being in a friends wedding. I calculated that if I got pregnant soon, I'd be 4 months pregnant for her wedding, at the most, so I ordered a dress 2 sizes too big, just to be safe. Looking back, I wasn't even showing at 4 months! I guess I thought I'd hit a certain point and not fit into any regular clothes, and I kind of figured that point would be at like 4 or 5 months. However, I think that as long as you're comfortable, it doesn't matter what kind of clothes you wear! Comfort is definitely my #1 priority when it comes to dressing now. As far as weight gain, I've gained about 4 or 5 pounds from my starting weight. Jon is also good at assuring me that his friends at work (who have babies already) say I'll gain a ton of weight in the last month or so. And I'm sure I will. But I don't want to be constantly reminded! Overall though, I still feel great and am grateful that I have a healthy baby and a healthy body.

25 Weeks!

I'm well past the half-way mark now. About 15 weeks to go, and I know they'll fly by. I kind of hope they do, cause I'm so excited to meet this little guy, not to mention, I'm ALREADY getting uncomfortable. Not a good sign since I still have about 3.5 months left. Uh oh. I really need to start exercising, because I know I'm only going to get bigger and bigger, which will put more strain on my body, and I will be better prepared if I'm somewhat in shape. (I think I say that in every post - "I really should start working out and eating better..." Ah well.)

I still can't complain too much though. I still have no heartburn or stretch marks or leg cramps or swelling or anything. I'm sure it's coming! The holidays definitely helped me out in the weight-gain department...great. I don't care if you're supposed to gain weight while pregnant and that it's inevitable - that fact really doesn't make it any easier when it actually happens. Pregnancy is an amazing time and my body is growing a HUMAN and it's an incredibly beautiful miracle! And some women totally embrace it and love getting big bellies (and big everywhere else too). But I'm not someone who feels totally comfortable and loves my growing body. It's hard to get used to and accept. I'm just being honest. I'm so glad that I'm pregnant and healthy and that the baby is growing, but I don't know if I'll ever enjoy the growing-larger-by-the-minute aspect of pregnancy. I've still only gained about 5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight, and hopefully now that the holidays are over, the weight gain will be a little more manageable.

The baby is doing great. He kicks all the time and I love it. When I lay on my side at night, he kicks me in the lower side and it tickles so much. It's like someone poking/tickling you, but from the inside and you can't get away from it! This little boy is already so loved. It's amazing. He's going to be born into a family that adores him and prayed for him long before he was born. My family is incredible and so incredibly generous too. We already have been given or will be given all the big things, like the crib, dresser/changing table, rocker, and stroller/car seat by people in my family. I'm constantly overwhelmed (in a good way) by how kind and giving everyone has been, and the boy isn't even here yet! God has totally provided for us. I'm getting excited to move into our own place and decorate the nursery. I thought I would buy fabric and have my mom help me make baby bedding. My mom is very crafty and good at sewing and I wasn't finding any bedding that I liked, so I figured it would be really fun to pick out the exact fabric I loved and at the same time do a project with my mom. After looking at the fabric store though, I realized that finding the fabric that I was picturing in my head would be harder than I thought. I decided to expand my online quest for bedding to other websites that I had previously ruled out because of cost. I ended up finding the perfect bedding for a reasonable price and I can't wait until it comes!