O Christmas Tree

32 Weeks-baby #2

I'm posting a few days late and may continue to do so just because of when my doctor appointments fall. I turned 32 weeks on Wednesday, but went to the docs today, so I figured I would just update today.

How I'm feeling/sleeping: Overall I still feel pretty good. If I'm on my feet a lot during the day, my feet and back hurt by the end of the day and I feel pretty worn out. I've also had some rug-burn type of feeling right below my chest line lately. I asked about it when I was pregnant with Avery and they told me it's just from the muscles separating so it's nothing to worry about-just painful at times. I'm usually up 1-2 times a night to use the bathroom and sometimes it takes me forever to fall back asleep.

Appointments/events: Had my appointment today. I gained 5lbs since my last appointment (although I think they weighed me wrong last time-this time I weighed what I did at home and last time I was 3lbs less than I was at home) so as of now I'm up a total of 17lbs. Baby's heartrate was at 150 and sounded good. I did get some semi-bad news....the baby is still breech. They got a new ultrasound machine so they brought it in and checked and sure enough, baby is butt-down. He/she still has time to flip so we'll see. Part of me is bummed because I did want to try a VBAC this time. Part of me is relieved because my decision on how to deliver would be decided for me. I guess we'll see what the little one decides to do in the next few weeks.

Cravings/Aversions: Still not eating oatmeal. Everything else is fair game. No strong cravings for anything though. Still eating too much junk food (pregnancy and holidays do not mix)!

Movement: Yep! Lots of movements that you can see from the outside. Sometimes it hurts too!

Avery's thoughts: Nothing really new-still talks to the baby a lot and still says it's a girl!

Here are my photos.....the peach shirt is me at 33 weeks with Avery. Black shirt is me on Wed at 32 weeks. (Yep, still have a saggy looking butt-haha!)

Sacrifices

I had the idea for this post back when I first got pregnant in the early summer. And I'm just getting to it now for some reason. For those who haven't been pregnant and for the men out there, this is just a little insight as to how a woman's life changes when that test comes out "positive".


Sacrifices....

A definition-"to surrender or give up, for the sake of something else"

That's what pregnancy is all about (and if you breastfeed, it continues).

As soon as I got the positive home pregnancy test, a switch flipped and my lifestyle changed.

No more alcohol (like I drank much anyways).

No more caffeine (with Avery this included chocolate-this time around I was a little more relaxed).

No more diet drinks (no nutrasweet, etc).

No more lunch meat.

No more soft cheeses (blue cheese, feta, etc).

.....For the next 40 weeks of pregnancy. And if you breastfeed? Well, the alcohol/caffeine/diet drinks don't come back until you wean. I'll have those things in very limited amounts while breastfeeding, but not like I normally would.

Yep, making sacrifices for the sake of your child-you basically give up your body to grow another human being (how weird is that to think of?!) for the good part of a year.

It's amazing how one little test turns into you not "owning" your own body for roughly 2 years (if you breastfeed). My body becomes my child's during that time.

Yes, it's difficult.

Worth it? You bet!

I will say though that by the end, I'm ready to have my body back. As much as I loved pregnancy and nursing Avery, I was so relieved when she weaned. My boobs were my own again (sorry!) and I could eat and drink whatever I pleased whenever I liked. It was like I was handed a slice of freedom!

I don't know if it's more difficult the first time around or the second. The first time it seems harder at first because your lifestyle changes so much, but at the same time everything is so new and exciting. The second time you know what you're in for, but you know how long it'll be until that slice of freedom comes your way again. I'm down to 8 weeks of pregnancy, but the road is still long since I plan on nursing again. I won't get my slice for at least another year if all goes as planned.

Getting in the Spirit

Since it was such a nice day out yesterday, we decided to take advantage of it and go get our Christmas tree! We've done the tree hunting in 20 degrees in the past and it's just not fun. So when it's 60 out, I'll gladly take it and run with it! We thought of waiting until next weekend, but really, the weather at this time of year is such a toss up. We decided not to gamble and went while it was still nice outside.

We usually go to the same place for our tree, but since we moved, that place is quite a haul for us now. And to have a tree go across the city doesn't sound like much fun. We decided to go to a place within a few miles of the new house to see what it was like and figured it would be easier since it was so much closer.

Gabe's Dad joined us with their minivan so it ended up working out really well.

I can honestly say I don't remember ever being to a tree farm, so it was pretty cool to see all of the trees growing in rows like this: Most of the draw at this farm was cut-your-own trees. They provide a cart (to drag the tree to your car) and a saw for you as well. We opted not to cut our own as they did have some pre-cut trees. They were bringing the pre-cut ones by the truckload so you know they had to be fresh.

Before choosing our tree, Avery had to check out the Santa sleigh and reindeer they had. She loved sitting on the reindeer!

They also have a "live" nativity scene....yep, the sheep, donkey, and goat are all real animals....smells and all!

Close up of the donkey and goat-which took me awhile to figure out was real (the goat):

Gabe's Dad kept Avery over by the sleigh and reindeer while Gabe and I scoped out a tree. I have to say, we picked the first one that looked like it was tall....Gabe stood it up and I thought it looked pretty good. Then I held it and he thought the same. So he dragged it over to see how tall it was (they had a 10' candy cane measuring thing) and it was 9.5' tall-perfect!

They shook off the needles and bailed it up for us....and here is Gabe with his big tree he has always wanted:

Avery finally joined us and ran up to the tree like she was going to hug it:

And posed with Daddy:

We successfully got the tree home and set up in the stand. Now we just need to buy a few more strands of lights (we're used to maybe a 7' tree, not a 9.5' one!) and get it decorated and we'll be all set.

I also took some time this weekend getting our other decorations out as well so the house is feeling pretty Christmas-y right now! Love it!

Thankful

Today is the day we reflect on what we're thankful for.

I'm thankful for my wonderful husband every day. He is the rock that I lean on and my true partner in life. He supports me and loves me for who I am. And he is the best Daddy any little girl could ask for.

I'm thankful for my sweet angel, Avery. Even though she stresses us out sometimes and we get frustrated with her, she is also the light of our lives. I love watching the world through her eyes and I love watching her grow and learn new things. And I love her taking her first bite of cinnamon roll: only to put it down and eat her fruit instead (she does not have my sweet tooth just yet)! And I love that on this Thanksgiving, she drew her first face without any direction from me.

So what if it looks a little creepy?!

I'm thankful for baby #2 who will join us in roughly 9 weeks. I know life will change once again when he/she arrives, but it's all good. The whole thing is a miracle to me and it's amazing what the human body can do.

I'm thankful that we have a beautiful new house to call home. Even though it doesn't feel like home yet, it will. And it will be wonderful.

I'm thankful that we both have jobs in this economy. Some way to bring home a paycheck and buy the things that we need/want. I know there are many people out there who are not as fortunate.

I'm thankful for family-those related by blood and those that aren't. We had a larger than usual turn out for dinner today and it totally reminded me of Thanksgivings as a child-more people than you can cram at a table, kids having their own tables, etc. And I loved every minute of it. The more the merrier to me!

I'm thankful for my friends as well for they have had a place in my heart for years now. Even though we don't see each other that much anymore, we can still talk as if we saw each other yesterday. I miss them all dearly and wish that we all lived in the same area again so that our kids could grow up together. But, life has separated us all and we try our best to keep things going.

And I'm thankful for health-that all of our family and friends are healthy. You don't realize how good you have it until you hear of someone else's story. And health is one thing that you really don't have much control over. But we're all hangin' in there as of now.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you have many, many things to be thankful for this year.

Happy 4th Birthday Bianca!

Saturday we went to my Sister-In-Law's house for our niece's 4th birthday. Her actual birthday was the week before, but they had the party this weekend.

Avery napped very late so we had to wake her up for the party. And for some reason she HAD to wear this tu-tu there. In the year and a half we've owned it, she's worn it one other time. But Saturday, she insisted on it! So this was her get-up for the bash:
My Brother-in-Law's parents came and brought their 2 new dogs with them so Avery was having a blast chasing them all around the house! And she loved getting kisses from them too!

We had a great dinner-pulled pork, potato soup and some salads. After dinner I got Avery to give the birthday girl a big hug:

Then they brought out a pinata for the kids-Dora of course!

It was one of the ones where you pull a string (instead of hitting it).
Bianca took the first pull since it was her birthday:

And she got it on the first try and the candy all came out! Avery was clueless as far as what to do-we kept telling her to pick up the candy and she would just stand there watching Owen and Bianca-it was funny!

Then it was time for presents. My In-Laws always buy each kid a toy so that they don't feel left out on another kid's birthday. So Avery tore open her gift and got a new doll!

Here's Bianca modeling a pair of hello kitty earmuffs that she got:

And tearing into another present:
Then it was time for cake-princesses of course for Bianca-she loves them!
And she loved when we sang to her-she was totally into it!
Make a wish!
Happy 4th Birthday Bianca!! We had so much fun at your party!

30 Weeks-Baby #2

I'm a few days late in updating, but Wednesday I hit the 30 week mark. Only 10 more to go!

How I'm feeling/sleeping: Well, I've had an ear/sinus infection for the past 2-3 weeks and I'm just about over it, finally. Just finishing up my last few days of antibiotics so hopefully it's gone for good! It's made sleeping very challenging because I couldn't breathe at all and was up numerous times a night coughing. Not fun at all!

Appointments/events: Had my monthly appointment last Friday. Somehow I lost a pound from my last appointment, which caught me by surprise (according to my scale at home I gained 2lbs)....so for their record I'm up 12lbs now overall. Baby sounded fine and all is going well. I now start my biweekly appointments which is crazy! Although it'll be 3 weeks between my appointments because they couldn't get me in the week of Thanksgiving so it got bumped out a week.

Cravings/Aversions: Still not eating oatmeal. Everything else is fair game. No strong cravings for anything though. Still eating too much junk food!

Movement: Of course! Baby had hiccups for the first time the other day that I noticed as well!

Avery's thoughts: She's still convinced it's a girl and there's no telling her otherwise! She told me today when I picked her up from daycare "I missed you and baby, Mommy!" So cute!


Here are my photos from this week. The blue shirt on the left is me with Avery at 31wks and the yellow shirt is me on Wednesday with baby #2: