26 Weeks

Week 26

Size of Baby Walker 1.7 pounds = size of an artichoke! 

Symptoms  Oh man, she really likes to be up in my ribs.  It's been hard to actually sit some times.  I can't really bend my torso when she is like that.  I have to sit straight up like a board.  It almost hurts because it feels like she is both stretching out my muscles and sitting on my organs... 

Cravings/Aversions  Traveling and the holidays this week has not left me with the best eating habits.  I still really want sweets after a meal, but again, I think that's more because of the holiday vs being pregnant.   

Exercise  Honestly, this week has been really bad.  The holiday left no time for exercise and most of our time has been spent traveling, which means I've been sitting on my bum a lot.  I am ready for a little warmer weather and being able to be outside. 

Sleep  I've been pretty tired this week.  I was exhausted on Christmas eve and don't think I even made it past 10 PM.  I know it's bad when I fell asleep watching Elf (the best Christmas movie).  Traveling and not sleeping in your own bed is always hard too.  We got home early Monday morning, and I did not want to get out of bed at all that day.    

Best moment of the week... This week is really hard to pick one because of Christmas (which I always love) and having my first shower with family and friends in Kansas.  More than anything, the best part about this week was taking some time off to enjoy visiting family and friends that I don't get to see very often.      

Changes I'm excited (which this is kind of a 'looking forward to' post) to change my view of birthing with the start of our Hypnobirthing classes this coming Sunday.  It's the method that my doctor suggested and the more I learn about it, the more I get excited to really dive in to this type of birthing with our baby girl. 

Looking forward to 2014 and bringing in the new year this evening!  I can't believe that 2013 is over.  I said it in January this past year, but 2013 really was the year of change for us.  So many amazing things happened for us this past year, and I can't wait to see where 2014 takes our growing little family.  

25 Weeks

Week 25

Size of Baby Walker   1.5 pounds = size of a mango! 

Symptoms  She has been pretty darn active this week!  She also really likes to both kick low in my bladder and then gets (what I think is) her bum up high on my stomach.  It feels like she is trying to stretch out my belly button! 

Cravings/Aversions  I still really enjoy a good bowl of soup, something more warm and comforting. Since work has slowed down a bit, I've been able to cook at night more.  I've really wanted sweets after dinner, which I need to work on, after the holidays of course!  

Exercise  Yes, I finally went to prenatal yoga, and it was wonderful!!  It was nice to really stretch out and really just knowing some moves they recommend, so I can do the exercises at home.  I have done some yoga before, so these are similar moves with just a few adjustments to make sure you are supporting yourself and the extra weight.  They did have us do some hip movements, which is always great with a room full of pregnant women, lol.  

Sleep  Is lovely.  Still the same schedule of going to bed early and waking up before 7:30 AM most days.  I had a few nights where I couldn't go back to sleep for an hour or so.  I probably don't help the situation when I check my phone, but I hate just laying there doing nothing.    

Best moment of the week...  The hubs bought a new car!  It was pretty exciting to get him an upgrade.  His poor little Honda Civic was wonderful while it lasted, but at this point had no AC, horn, automatic locks and was a 2 door.  It was time for a family upgrade!  He got a new Mazda 6, and I'm pretty sure doesn't know what do to with the upgrade.  We also had the 36th Street holiday party, which was lovely.  I adore the holidays and just spending quality time with those I love.    

Changes Wow, it's crazy to think that I'm now done with 25 weeks and almost in my 3rd trimester!?!  I had that realization this week, and it was a kind of an eye opener!  I also had work friends that both delivered at 35 and 33 weeks with their first, and both girls, which also kind of blew my mind.  I know there is always the possibility, but I feel like I have nothing done and really need to start preparing more!! EEK! 

Looking forward to Christmas Eve tonight.  Having some time to step away from the computer (after this post) and just enjoy my pups, having the hubby around, family traditions, baking and Christmas Eve dinner.  We head up to Kansas this week, and I'm so thrilled to see family and friends this week.  It's going to go by way too quickly, as this whole year has!  
Hope you have the Merriest Christmas!!!! 

Paris & Versailles ... Day Seventeen

I love waking up in Paris.  We started the day at one of my favorite places we found in Paris called Paul.  Breakfast consisted of espressos, quiche lorraine and two croissants.   There actually was some rain in the forecast, but we decided to make the best of it.  We made our way to the metro and headed out to Versailles. 

The train ride out was super easy and only took about 30 minutes.  I took so many pictures in the Palace of Versailles.  It is such a gorgeous chateau, filled with beautiful furniture, paintings and replicas from the era.  You can see from a distance that it is going to be overly lavish and wonderful.   

I mean come on, why wouldn't you need a stunning gold entrance gate?   Our tickets, which we got before arriving at the palace, included an audio guide, which was amazing!  I highly recommend getting the audio when/if you visit.  In each room there was a number you'd punch into the device and it would tell you about the history of that space.  These were just a few of my favorites spaces we saw:

The Palace Royal Chapel:

I'm calling this the Hall of Statues:

Exterior facade:

The Hall of Mirrors:

Kings Chamber created by Louis XIV in 1701:

These are two famous paintings that are placed in the same room.  The one directly below is the Crowning of Empress Josephine that was commissioned to show the mother in attendance, which is the main figure in the blue seating area.  However, she was never actually there.  She refused to attend, which makes me laugh.

Army swearing allegiance to Napoleon:

After seeing this amazing palace, we walked out to the gardens.  Sadly most of the greenery was dead and the fountain/statues were covered up or off.  We still walked around the space and just used our imagination and laughed at how beautiful it would have been, given it wasn't still dormant.  Once we had our fill of beautiful Versailles, we took the train ride back into Paris.

Have I told you how sweet my hubby is?  Well he did have to make up for not getting me my favorite sweet treat the first round.  He decided we should stop at the Eiffel Tower, and I could finally get some of the large amazing cotton candy... and amazing it was! 

It was so good and totally worth the wait, since I didn't get it the night we were there.  We walked along the river, and I even let him enjoy some of it with me.  We ended up walking to the Champs-Elysees again to go do some shopping.  Then, because I hadn't had enough sugar, we went to Laduree again for macaroons.  I got a large pistachio and cafe, and I was in a sugar coma of heaven.

We sat outside on a bench and enjoyed the treat and the people watching.  The sugar didn't give us the energy to walk home though, so we jumped on the metro back to our little home in Paris.   We finally got some lunch/dinner at this Indonesian cafe around the corner from our studio.  Who doesn't love a good shawarma?

Then, because it was a beautiful night, we decided to walk to a bar called Wine by One that we had found online.  I thought the set up was pretty unique and nothing I'd seen in the states (yet).  You have a membership card that you load with any dollar amount you'd like.

 

Then they allow you to go around and pick which wine you'd like to try.  You could try a really expensive bottle, which was charged to you by the ounce you choose, 2, 4 or 6 ounce pours.   It was really neat to see, but I definitely think it's over priced.  We spent 30 euros there in too short of time and then decide to head back since we were exhausted from the day.

We got upstairs and ended up drinking the small amount of wine still left in the bottle we had and of course wanted more.  I went out and grabbed some wine, cheese and crackers while D stayed to find us some entertainment.  We ate cheese, which was one of the stinkiest cheeses I've ever experienced, watched a few shows and drank wine in our undies.  It was the best end to the evening.

24 Weeks

December 10, 2014

Seventh Doctors Appointment

We had our 4 week appointment today.  I wasn't going to have D come to this one, but he decided to anyways.  It also allowed us to go up to Ikea that afternoon.  The appointment was really quite easy.  This was another standard visit where nothing major happened.  I went in and did the usual weight measurement (gained about 10 ish pounds, depending on the time of day) and peed in a cup.  Iron is great and so was heart rate and belly measurement.  This was the first time she measured my belly!  She then prepped us for the next appointment where I get to have my blood sugar tested and get my whooping cough (so does D) shot.  

Week 24

Size of Baby Walker   1 pound = size of an sweet potato! 

Symptoms  I did notice that at my event I had really bad posture!  I guess that's what happens when you are standing for 11 hours, but I was definitely sticking my belly out more by the end of the night. I think that might have been a reason why I couldn't sleep very well that night. 

Cravings/Aversions  Still no major cravings.  I've noticed that my appetite is rather large lately.  I get full, but I usually can keep eating if I wanted to.  I think it can be a slippery slope, where I need to stop before getting to the uncomfortable stage.  Still wanting something sweet after most meals.  

Exercise  Yoga next week??  I have it on my calendar, so we will see if it happens!  We were able to get out with the pups more, and I've been trying to take them on a brisk walk at some point (given the weather) through out the day. 

Sleep  I did not want to get out of bed this week.  I'm not sure if it's the cold or just really wanting to be lazy, but it's been pretty rough.  I got home from my wedding on Saturday, and even after working for 11 hours, I could not go to sleep.  I was restless for a good 1.5 hours before finally falling asleep around 2 ish.  Then of course I still work up around 7.  There is nothing like 5 hours of sleep...  

Best moment of the week...  Love early mornings when D is home and we can lay in bed and snuggle.  Our little girl tends to be sitting really high in the AM, so he can really feel her moving.   

Changes We are working on getting things situated in the home.  I don't think I'm nesting quite yet, but maybe getting there.  I've been trying to get up and clean something every morning.  We also got a new stand (entertainment area) for our living room.  It fits our set up better and takes up space with the huge wall we have.  Also, emotional!  Well not all the time, but at my wedding I totally got SUPER teary eyed when the bride was dancing with her dad.  It was the first wedding since we found out we were having a little girl, and man it got me!  I had to go out of the room for a moment so I didn't look like the crazy bawling girl in the corner. 

Looking forward to holiday parties (which have begun) and seeing family over the break.  There will be some working, but D get's two weeks off, so it will be nice to have him home.  That also means we might be able to start on the nursery a little more!

23 Weeks

Week 23

Size of Baby Walker  12.9 ounces = size of an onion! 

Symptoms  Felt pretty great this week, other than being exhausted from work.  I can definitely tell that I get a lot tired much more quickly than I ever have before.  

Cravings/Aversions  Loving sweets lately.  As I'm writing this, having the hubby get me a few Swedish Fish.  Yum!

Exercise  Still hoping to get to yoga this week.  The weather here has been freezing, so even adventures out with the pups have been less this past week.  I need to get moving. 

Sleep  I have been sleeping pretty good, but mornings are still bright and early around 7 ish.  I usually lay in bed for about 30 minutes and I'm up by 7:30.   

Best moment of the week...  Even though this week was crazy stressful, I had such a great time doing some holiday installations and a baby shower/gender reveal party for a client.  I really do love the holiday time.  I love holiday cards and all the decorations.

Changes We officially started moving items out of D's old 'man' room and making changes for the baby's nursery.  I really can't wait to start getting items and redecorating the room.  I've decided that I'm going for a neutral palette with creams and whites, with accents of golds, blushes and plum.   

Looking forward to having a little more down time before the holidays.  I have one more wedding this weekend, and then I can't wait to make some holiday candy soon.  I must admit that I haven't had any time to start my holiday shopping either, so I might need to get on that as well, oops!  

22 Weeks

***Oops, this one is a day late...

Week 22

Size of Baby Walker  10.5 inches = size of a pear! 

Symptoms  My back has been hurting a little more.  I think this is mainly due to working on so many projects this week.  I am hoping to start going to some pregnancy yoga classes, when ever I get some free time.  

Cravings/Aversions  The holidays are not good for my sweet tooth.  I haven't eaten as well this week, which I don't really like.  Thanksgiving is always a treat, especially with both pumpkin pie and creme brûlée making an appearance.  Still no crazy cravings though.  I wonder if those will still come or if I'm just going to bypass most of the pregnancy symptoms...

Exercise  Well, I can say that this week I was more active than last!  I loved Thanksgiving morning when D and I took the pups on a little jog.  It was nice to get out and get moving.  I feel pretty good running, so it think it means I really should be doing more of it.

Sleep  I think part of my back hurting is that I've been sleeping funny this week.  I've also had some strange dreams this past week.   

Best moment of the week...  Besides Thanksgiving, which is amazing time to eat wonderful food, be around those you love and just relax, D actually felt the baby move this week!  We were about to go to bed and he put his warm hand on my belly and she decided to move around for him!  I think it was the warmth that made her move, because she wasn't before that.  Melts my heart.

Changes Baby belly is out in full force now.  I feel like my skin is stretching sometimes.  I am not uncomfortable yet, but I can't image how it's going to feel 10 weeks from now... I got this amazing oil from a friend and still have been using it for stretch marks.  It smells heavenly and doesn't leave your skin oily.  Pregnant friends, you should definitely get some!!    

Looking forward to finishing the major items on my registry.  I still need to go and have my cloth diapers added.  Yep, I'm going for it.  It might be my slightly 'granola side', but I am super excited to use GroVia diapers.  We got an amazing sale over the Black Friday extravaganza for some of the inserts, but need to add all the items soon.