31 Weeks

31 Week Belly Bump

I really contemplated cropping my head off in the last 3 pictures. I've never seen a pregnant woman that looked more like a chipmunk than yours truly.

Girlfriend's gonna have some work to do in about 9 weeks to get rid of that immediately.

How far along? 31 weeks...9 weeks left at the most!
Total weight gain: 20.5...eek
Baby is the size of a:  Pineapple
Maternity clothes? Most definitely. However, I am still wearing most of my pre-pregnancy dress pants and getting by.
Stretch marks?  A few more popping up in previously disclosed location
Sleep: Can't complain here yet...still absolutely loving the house being in the 60s at night! (Sorry, Daddy!)
Best moment this week:  Unpacking the carseat from Grandma and Grandpa Matthes - it definitely made this all seem real again!
Miss anything?  A flat(ter) belly
Movement: A little more, actually. This week Baby Girl officially found vacancy in the top part of my uterus. Up until this week I have wondered why everyone always complained about baby being in their ribs...now? Now, I get it. I think it would be more comfortable having a broomstick jabbing at your ribs then multiple baby limbs. Also, I'm not even sure if babies have startle reflexes at this point, but I had a really loud stomach bubble and I swear that she jumped because it startled her, and happened to be looking down and watched my entire belly move. It was pretty cute!
Food cravings: Sweets!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Steak
Gender:  Girl :)
Baby Name: It's pretty much decided
Labor Signs: None. No braxton-hicks to speak of either!
Symptoms: Heartburn - It's at an all time worst right now. I've aspirated stomach acid 3 times this week which then leads to asthma problems the rest of the night trying to sleep. Thinking it might be about time to get my hands on some prescription strength antacid. Starting this week I have also had some mild swelling of my hands and feet, and even legs. I have more of a cankle than I ever have. Also, just starting to finally feel like I'm in the 3rd trimester as far as tiredness. Nothing terrible, just feeling like I don't have as much "spunk" as I have before.
Comments Solicited from Others: Just another patient who said she could tell I was carrying a girl
Belly Button in or out? Flat as a board
Wedding rings on or off? On, but getting more and more snug every week now.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Just pretty content right now.
Looking forward to: Possibly having another ultrasound sometime this next week...and I can't even wait! I can't believe I have survived 2 whole months without seeing what is going on in there. Anf finally, looking forward to our last 2 baby showers on November 3rd and 9th! I'm definitely anxious to get the nursery closer to being set up and done so I can stop worrying about that at least.

In other news, I was offered a job this week and am praying extra hard for God to make his plan clear in all of this. By the time I would start I would be down to less than 7 weeks at the most and I'm not sure how I feel about that being that close to baby. Any prayers would be greatly appreciated as we seek his direction for what is best for our family at this time.

Baby Girl - 2 more months....2 more months until we get to meet you. I can't even believe it! Daddy and I felt your tiny little head and spine at our doctor's appointment this last week, and you are head down...so let's just hope you stay that way! Your heart rate was 175, which was after we had all been poking and prodding on you. So far you have been a nice healthy little girl, so I'm praying you stay that way.

Daddy doesn't even get mad anymore when I get a new headband (or three) for you, and I didn't even have to ask if I could purchase you a pair of football baby legs that I had been eyeing the other day because he was already carrying them up to pay. He is either becoming a big softie when it comes to his baby girl, or he has given up trying to remind me that we don't neeeeed things like that. Regardless, it's pretty cute. The other night we were getting ready for bed and he was in the bathroom while I was washing my face, and out of the blue he said "I'm just so pumped for Baby Girl!" It just melts my heart when he says things like that. I also get weekly text updates from Aunt Kilah, so I know she is counting down just as much as we are. The first thing Grandpa Lennie asks when he calls is how Baby is doing.

We love you so very much, Sweet Girl!

Love and Prayers in Week 32!

The Final Countdown: 10 weeks

30 Week Belly Bump

How far along? 30 weeks
Total weight gain: 19.5
Baby is the size of a:  Cucumber - At night when she is most active I have definitely been feeling her lots on both ends of my belly at the same time, so I'm really not surprised at being about this length!
Maternity clothes?  Most definitely
Stretch marks? Nothing new here
Sleep:  Much, much better now that it is cooler out. It was 62 degrees in our house this weekend and I was LOVING it!
Best moment this week:  Our 1st baby shower - we got so many great gifts and it has been so much fun putting it all away!
Miss anything? I've been pretty content this week
Movement: Still about the same
Food cravings: Sweets!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Steak
Gender: A sweet baby girl
Baby Name: It's pretty much decided, but I'm still not calling it a done deal yet
Labor Signs: None
Symptoms: Heartburn, frequent urination, unrelenting acne
Comments Solicited from Others: Nothing interesting, suprisingly.
Belly Button in or out? Flat as a board
Wedding rings on or off? On, getting a bit more snug.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, and excited!
Looking forward to: Being another week closer to meeting our baby girl.

Love and Prayers in Week 31, Little Miss!

A Letter from Mommy

To the One who will make me a Mama,

It is just a few short months until I get to hold that tiny hand that we first saw on ultrasound a couple months ago. In just a few short months we will be seeing your eyes and holding you so tight for the very first time. I can’t wait to kiss your tiny toes and squeeze your tiny cheeks. You have been one of my first thoughts every morning, and the last thought before I fell asleep for the last 7 months. I cannot even fathom what it is going to be like to see you for the very first time. To hear your first cries will be surreal. Seeing your Daddy’s eyes light up when he meets you will be magical. To finally have a purpose in this life that is mine, all mine—being your mommy. We are thrilled!

We cannot wait to meet you; what joy you will bring to our family. I love to sit and dream about what you will look like and what kind of personality you will have. Will you have your Daddy’s nose? Will you have my eyes? Will you be stubborn like me, or will you be patient like your Daddy? Will you be athletic like your Daddy, or not-so-athletic like me?  

My heart was elated to find out that we were going to be blessed with a baby girl as our firstborn. For a short 16 years of my life, I had something very special with my mom. There is something about a relationship between a mommy and her daughter that I have been longing for since your Grandma Ann passed away almost 10 years ago already. My heart has longed every day since losing her for that relationship and special bond, and I can’t wait to have that with you, Baby Girl. We will have tea parties, play house, go on walks, and eventually we will have late-night talks and shopping dates. We will make the most out of every moment we are given—that is a promise.  Grandma Ann would be so excited to meet you, and it brings tears to my eyes that she won’t be here to witness all of these special moments with her first grandchild. But I do know one thing, she is watching over us from heaven, and we will all meet again one day soon.

I have been praying that God would prepare me for what is about to change in our lives, and that I can be the best Mommy to you possible. I never want to take a single moment for granted that you are ours, because I know how short this life is. You are such an amazing gift from God, and we thank Him every day for you. You will be perfect, Baby Girl, because you are fearfully and wonderfully made by a God who is so much bigger than life itself. We promise to raise you in a household who knows and loves the God that created you. You will always know your purpose in life; that is my greatest prayer for you.

I promise to nurture you and to love you with all of my heart, and to be there for you mentally, emotionally, and physically every day of your life.

Baby Girl, I love you with all of my heart and can’t wait to finally hold you in my arms.

Love and Prayers,

Mommy

Grandpa's 75th Birthday Party

After the baby shower, I came home and unloaded all of our exciting gifts and then we left for my Grandpa's suprise 75th birthday party in Grand Island. Not a whole lot to document other than pictures. We all had a great time, and I think he was quite surprised!

 

Grandpa and some of his friends

Grandma with the Hunnicutt & Werner's

The rowdy table - especially the 2 on the right!

They enjoyed the evening, as long as they had a decent view of a TV
in the distance :)

 

Don't get to see this sister near often enough. Goodness do I miss her!

 

Kilah with the Birthday Boy

Hubby and I

 

A little blurry, but I like this one



The Deaver girls with our Grandpa Wert

We love you, Grandpa! Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!

Baby Girl's First Shower

On Saturday, October 6th, Aunt Alyssa hosted our very first baby shower. I had such a great time and received lots of great gifts. And of course, it is always so nice to see everyone. Here are the pictures from the morning....beware of picture overload! I just put a few pictures of the many gifts that we received.

The beautiful table, with all of the gifts tucked back behind.
What a great group of friends and family to support us through
these exciting times. We are so blessed!

Great-Grandma and Grandma Matthes

 

Kendra (cousin), Jessie (aunt), Vicki (aunt), Jenny & Loryn (cousins)

 

Our 1st game - each team had to create a diaper out of toilet paper in 2 minutes.
Winner was judged by Loryn and was Great-Grandma Matthes.
Kris (friend), Erin (cousin), and Lois really getting into it!

 

Our 2nd game was creating a bottle out of paper by ripping it behind our backs.
Not as easy as I thought it would be!

 

Grandma Wert thought Baby Girl needed a "Daddy's Princess" shirt. :)

So many great bath supplies from Aunt Marcia and Cousin Valerie.

A baby gate from Great-Grandma Matthes.

 

Play yard from Aunt Alyssa.

 

A girl can never have too many footed pajamas!

An angel from Aunt Kilah - it will sit nicely on her bookshelf.



The boppy, courtesy of Lois Upton.





Grayson and Loryn enjoying some brunch.







Grandma Wert - Thank you for being a part of all of these occasions. We love you!

 

Joyce and I - She never hesitates to make trips to Lincoln for things like this,
and it means a lot to all of us!





Great-Grandma Matthes and I.

Grandma Matthes, Alyssa, and I. She did such
a wonderful job planning and preparing everything,
with 2 babies on her hips no less!

Aunt Kilah - Thank you so much for coming. Baby Girl is going to think
you are pretty special, just like we do!

We are one fun weekend closer to meeting Baby Girl Matthes. Unpacking all of these fun things into the nursery is going to be so much fun! We love you, and cannot wait for your arrival, Little Miss!







29 Weeks!

Here is the 29 week belly bump!

 

How far along? 29 weeks...cannot believe the countdown is almost into single digits!
Total weight gain: 19 pounds...apparently drinking 100 grams of sugar for that diabetes test made me gain 5 pounds in what seems like 1 week
Baby is the size of an:  Acorn squash (to be precise)
Maternity clothes?  As of this week, I feel really sloppy wearing all of my non-maternity clothes. It seems like the belly band isn't doing a good enough job of keeping my pants up and I seem to be spilling things all over my tops because of the protruding belly, not to mention them not fitting anymore. I'm thinking I'm going to have to re-evaluate my clothing situation here soon...
Stretch marks?  Nothing new
Sleep: Up to the bathroom at least 4 times a night again, but falling asleep right away still. I could get used to this! Last night Dan was watching a movie with bears in it and I rolled over and said I was done watching before I had a nightmare, and he was laughing because he said I had no more than finished saying that and I was literally snoring. He actually thought I was joking because it was so quick. That is not normal for this girl, but goodness that feels so good! 
Best moment this week: Nothing too exciting, really.
Miss anything? A flat belly and my old bladder that was so much less maintenance 29 weeks ago.
Movement: Yes. I read an article about this this week, and I've decided that we have a pretty calm baby. I certainly wouldn't say she is overly active, and most days I only feel her a few times throughout the day.
Food cravings: Sweets!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Steak?
Gender:  A sweet little princess
Baby Name: It's pretty much decided, but I'm still not calling it a done deal yet
Labor Signs: None
Symptoms: Heartburn something fierce! I've also been forgetting to put in here that I have had a petechial rash where my triceps would be if I actually had them on both arms. Asked my MD about it and he said it was probably just a weird pregnancy thing. Some days it's worse than others, but it never really itches or spreads. Can't say I've had much fatigue either....I'm working 10-11 hours most days by the time I add in my 2 hours of driving to work every day and I'm still handling it pretty well I would say.
Comments Solicited from Others: Nothing interesting, suprisingly.
Belly Button in or out? Flat as a board
Wedding rings on or off? On, getting a bit more snug.
Happy or Moody most of the time: I'm still happy that we are smooth-sailing, and I am not taking 1 single day for granted! Praying for a happy, healthy baby girl and an uneventful 11 weeks!
Looking forward to: Our 1st baby shower this weekend, and my grandpa's 75th birthday party!

Love and Prayers in Week 30, Sweet Girl!

The Dreaded 3 Hour OGTT

Monday of the 28th week was the dreaded 3 hour glucose tolerance test. I wouldn't have normally been dreading it because it is what it is, but having a really big interview right afterwards made it a bit more stressful than it needed to be. I didn't quite realize what I could have been getting into when I scheduled them back to back (after spending an hour reading horror stories online), and by Sunday night when I did a little research it was too late to reschedule. With my 1 hour test, I had the lemon-lime flavor (which was room temperature), and for the 3 hour my only option was the Fruit Punch (which was cool this time, so that was very nice). I'm thinking I like the Fruit Punch better because I never really had any problem with it (there were just a couple times drinking the lemon lime that I thought it could come back up).

Before I drank the glucola my blood sugar was 75 so I passed and was able to take the test(has to be less than 95 to continue).

And here are the results of my 3 hour test:
1 hr post drink - 151 (had to be less than 180 - passed it)
2 hr post - 175 (had to be less than 155 - failed it)
3 hr post - 123 (had to be less than 140 - passed this one...phew!)

If I would have passed the first 2 hours I wouldn't have had to do the 3rd hour, but like anything goes, I didn't and had to sweat it out an extra hour. Not to mention, because the nurse was 20 minutes late getting me started, I ended up being late to my interview. Luckily my OB knew the doctor well that I was interviewing with and called him and told them that it was their fault...and they were completely understanding. But nothing like showing up to your dream job interview completely disheveled (this is an understatement) and not feeling the greatest.

I brought a huge lunchbox full of snacks to take immediately after my last blood sugar reading was taken (hint from my dad to avoid bottoming out and feeling crappier) but didn't end up having time to each much. It was a rough 18 hours of fasting/feeling yucky and then having an interview and having to go to work right after all of that!

Needless to say, I survived and PASSED! Thank you, Lord!