Third trimester!

Yesterday was the start of my 28th week, which is also the beginning of the third trimester! I can't believe I am in the last couple of months! I have about 12 weeks left until we get to meet our little baby!

Yesterday was a crazy busy day and I didn't get time to update the blog. I had a doctor's appointment in the morning first thing. I set up all my appointments back in October but two weeks ago my doctor decided to start the two week visits this week so I had to add yesterday's appointment so it was in the morning. I am glad I don't usually go in the morning because they were way too busy!

My doctor measured my belly and said I was right at 28 weeks which I am glad to hear :) I haven't gained any weight in the last two weeks but she said I'm ok for now. We listened to the baby's heartbeat which was 140 bpm. That is pretty much all my appointments are! 

Sleep:  We finally bought a humidifier this week and I think that Clint is benefiting from it most :) He has been having a hard time sleeping but the last three days he slept really well! I also am really good we got the humidifier! I can breathe while I sleep!!

Body Changes: Even though I didn't gain any weight the last two weeks I think my belly is a little bigger :)

Food: I have eaten a lot of peaches in the last week!!

Symptoms:Nothing new or different but I have been having a few leg cramps early in the morning lately which are more annoying than anything else.

Movement:The little pipsqueak sure loves to press on my left ribs and my right hip bone! I think he's stretching to his full length just to test out the space. Luckily it doesn't last that long and if I sit kind of sideways (the opposite he is stretching), it gets him to move!

Things We Bought/Did: We received our stroller and car seat in the mail yesterday! It only took a few minutes to get the wheels and the sun shade put on and then I zoomed around the house like a dork :)

Can't wait until there is a little bundle of joy in it!

27 Weeks

 We had our first of two Childbirth classes tonight and I forgot to work on the chalkboard yesterday so just a picture will do this week!

The last week of the second trimester! It felt like the first trimester flew by but the second one has taken forever! Probably because the first four weeks you're pregnant, you have no idea and then the next few weeks, you hardly tell anyone!

I also have good news! I passed my glucose screening! They did say that my iron level is low so I had to get a vitamin to help boost that. My dad said that it runs in the family. 

Sleep:  I have heard that as time goes on it becomes more uncomfortable to sleep, but so far I have been sleeping pretty well!

Body Changes: Not much is new here either!

Food: I have been in the mood for some Raisin Bran a lot the last two weeks...and I even add more raisins!!

Symptoms: I was reading a couple different weekly pregnancy charts and it mentioned a few symptoms I have been experiencing lately - although very mild. One thing I notice at night (usually when I wake up) is cramps in my calf, just below my knee. A good leg stretch helps those out! I also have had the stuffiest nose! Again this is usually in the morning when I first wake up. I have been meaning to get a humidifier to help add moisture to our room.

Movement:The baby has been having way stronger movements this last week! Sometimes they are so big/sudden that they make me jump a little. You can also see the movements from the outside now!

Things We Bought/Did: We registered last weekend, which I wrote about yesterday. While we were registering, we were looking at pack-and-plays and were trying to decide if we wanted to go simple on this item or stick with the one we originally liked. We ended up going simple! So simple that we bought it actually because it was on sale! We don't really need one that has a changing station since the baby's room is on the main floor and the swing we already have has a musical mobile so we skimped on that too. A plain simple play yard is all we wanted.

It has a foresty theme which I obviously love!

Originally I had thought about doing cloth diapers only but I don't know if we could handle it or not. So we are going to try a mixture of cloth and disposable to see what we like. When I first started looking into cloth diapers I though Clint would be totally against it but when I mentioned it, he said "sure". He's still all in with the idea and even discusses the different cleaning methods and styles. Another reason he's a keeper ;) I found a few helpful blogs to get us started and they say you should try a few different brands to figure out what you and baby like. So I ordered several cloth diapers off ebay and can't wait to get them! Here are a few:

So cute!

Registry

Saturday Clint and I finally marked registering off our list. Of course I have been excited to register because it would give us a chance to actually look at all the things that babies need but I knew Clint was not as excited. He is definitely excited for the baby but shopping is definitely not his thing. Luckily he knew that it may take a little while and we planned it in advance so he was ready! 

We started at Babies R Us and then went to Buy Buy Baby. Both places have a lot of the same things but they also have several different things which was nice. I know that some people like to register for some things at both places but for the most part we did not. I don't want to have to deal with returns or duplicates. Obviously I am excited about everything we picked there are several things I can't wait to get (either from some wonderful family member or friend OR ourselves :)!

Here are a few things I'm excited about:

Doorway Jumper! I have always loved these things! It's portable (as long as the doorway has trim around it) and it also has a musical mat that they can jump on.

Bear Robe...precious is all I can say!

 We already have a couple mouth thermometers and we registered for an ear thermometer but for some reason I think a temporal thermometer is ideal for (sleeping) babies.

Boon Lawn drying rack...I like handwashing dishes often but just lay them out on a towel to dry but with tiny baby things/parts, I don't want them rolling away! The grass mat keeps them in place until they are dry.

gDiapers...these are one of  the brands of cloth diapers I am going to try. I have already purchased a couple different brands on ebay (new ones) and they are all so cute! Double bonus...they are better on your budget and better for the Earth! I kind of wish there wasn't a g on the back but at least it's a simple logo.

ALEX wooden activity cube...I pretty much want all wooden toys! I think Zoe would be less likely to grab them and chew on them (but I could be wrong...she loves to chew everything). But they are also adorable!

 

Cute little wooden xylophone!

 We didn't register for many clothes for a couple reasons. They would probably end up on the clearance rack before people shopped and people will end up picking out their own outfits (which is fine - if it's cute ;) However, there were a few really cute peas on a pod outfits/bibs, etc.

This giraffe play mat is so stinkin' cute and soft!

I have been stalking Amazon for this frog nap mat but they have been out for a while. So if I can't get the froggy mat I will probably get this cute thing! Or both!

Did we pick out some fun stuff or what!?!

Week 23

Today is week 23! I am excited for this week for a few reasons! I start winter vacation after school on Friday :) Definitely ready for a break! I am also excited because my mom gets here late tonight!! On Friday my sister gets here too! Then finally on Saturday we are having our gender reveal party!!

Sleep: This part has been getting better lately! I haven't had to wake up in the middle of the night hardly at all which is nice because I am rested. I've been making sure to not drink too much water right before bed so I can sleep all night as much as possible. 

Body Changes: Other than my growing belly, I have noticed that the dark line below my belly button has started to show up! The first couple days I saw it I couldn't tell if it was an indention from my pants. But it's definitely not!

Food: Last Friday I over indulged in sweet/junk food and had my first bad reaction to that! Worst stomach ache of my life! Definitely learned my lesson! This Christmas season I will definitely need to be better so that doesn't happen again!

Symptoms: I have been sciatic nerve pain free for about two weeks! I think the baby finally moved off of it! Score! 

Movement: I felt the first 100% kick the other night! I could even feel it on the outside. The other movements I thought I was feeling may have been movement as well, but this one was way different! All morning today the baby has been jumping around! It's so strange to feel but pretty cool!

Things We Bought/Did: We had my dad's side of the family Christmas last Saturday and my aunt bought us the swing we wanted for the baby! I got it put together while Clint finished painting our extra bathroom. It is so cute!

Our house is officially decked for the holidays! When I post pictures from our party I will be sure to show off our decorations!

Baby Gear

Picking out baby gear is exhausting! Friday after the dust had settled at most stores Clint and I decided to go check out Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby for any deals. We wanted to make a decision on furniture because a lot of selections could take up to 12-18 weeks to come in. Originally we bought a cute refurbished dresser. However, it would need painted and the drawers needed all new gliders. Clint has been working hard on the Farley house trying to completely fix it up as well as several home projects; he is not feeling up to doing work on a dresser right now. We are definitely keeping the dresser and I have been searching online/Pinterest (and waiting for my mother to visit) and I want to make the dresser into a table that we will put in the front entryway or in the dining room. Not sure yet! 

Babies R Us had a Black Friday deal that scored us a free crib. We bought 2 dressers (one long one and one tall one) to get the free crib (that converts to toddler bed and full size bed for the future). I'm not sure if we want both dressers in the baby's room right now. We can always use the tall dresser in our 2nd guest bedroom until we have another baby...way down the road :)

We also looked at strollers for quite a bit. My aunt in St. Louis is being very generous and purchasing the stroller & car seat of our choice. I have been looking online for a while now but it was good to check them out in the stores. Originally we saw two we liked but when we looked again at the second one we didn't like the stroller as much.

 

This is the Britax B-Agile and B-Safe travel combo. This set is a bit more pricey. It has excellent reviews on all the sites I have looked at. Clint isn't too keen on getting an all black set because he thinks it will be hot. What do you all think? The two things we both don't like is that you have to buy the tray for the baby separately and you also have to purchase a separate holder/organizer for the handlebar (drink holder and such). For the price of the set you would think these things would be included. The stroller is 16 pounds and folds with one hand (you pull a heavy dutty strap from the middle of the seat); both of which are big pluses! The car seat carrier weighs 10 pounds which is just a little heavy. I am looking into getting a carrier that you wear to try to share the load.

There are a few others we have looked at but I just can't commit! Any advice or suggestions?

We also looked at high chairs and play yards/pack and plays. These choices were hard to make! One - I like things to match :) Some things also have so many features/choices it's hard to decide (or decide to go without). We also want colors that aren't overly boy or girl for the future. I really like black and gray as well as turquoise and brown.

We are going with the Graco DuoDiner LX Highchair. It has really good reviews (easy to clean!) and it transforms as the baby gets older into a booster. I know we don't need it right away but if we get this now we don't have to get it later! If we don't receive one as a gift, we'll just get it when we need to.

 

We saw this pack and play at Babies R Us and it is so cute! I love the owl mobile and the colors :) We will be using this for the first few weeks for the baby to sleep in our room.

We also looked at baby monitors and a carrier like I mentioned above but I'll save that for later. I would love come input or suggestions if you have any!