5 Current W's

Wanting…
My hair to grow faster. I decided last month to grow it out (from an inverted bob) and it just feels like it’s growing at a snail’s pace. I’m ready to be able to put it in a ponytail.

Wearing...
 Leggings! I’m trying to think of creative ways to wear them. I’d love to be able to wear them every day… Also, long maternity tank tops from Target are so wonderful. I have a feeling I’ll wear them even after baby because they’re so long and perfect for (you guessed it!) leggings :)

Watching...
 Grey’s Anatomy still. We’re smack dab in the middle of season 6. While doing my daily treadmill walking I’m watching Sister Wives though. I just can’t stop!

Wishing….
 That the weather would cool down. We’ve had a “cool streak” this week where the weather has been under 100 degrees (hovering around 95) but it’s not cool enough for me. We’re going to Carmel next weekend and I can’t wait for the cooler weather!

Wondering…
 What baby’s face looks like. Ever since seeing a 32 week old baby born on Grey’s last week (it’s an addiction…) I’ve been thinking more and more about how there’s a full on BABY inside of me who will be outside within the next 2 months and I just want to be able to picture his face.

What are some things that are on any of your "W's" lists??

33 Weeks

How far along? 33 weeks

Total Weight Gain: 37 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Yepp! I’ve rediscovered maternity leggings and they are my new favorite thing!

Stretch Marks: Still none on my tummy...no new ones.

Sleep: Eh. I just don’t look forward to going to bed anymore. I dread waking up and having to lug myself out of bed to go to the bathroom. And my heartburn is really bad at night. It’s just not pleasant anymore.

Best moment this week: Washing/putting away all of baby’s clothes! It feels so good to have that part done and it was so exciting to imagine him in all of the cute little outfits!

Miss anything: Not really right now! As the weather keeps getting cooler I’m sure that I’ll miss morning runs again but…not much longer.

Movement: More just bumps and nudges now. I don’t think he has enough room to get up the momentum for full on big kicks anymore.

Food Cravings: Sandwiches and sliced apple.

Labor Signs: None. I did have my first seriously noticeable Braxton hicks last night though while I was walking on the treadmill! I had to slow down to catch my breath.

Symptoms: Fatigue, rib soreness, round ligament pain, heartburn, insomnia, "the waddle."

Belly button in or out: Still staying in. Ugh! I want it to pop! I even had a dream last night that I woke up and it had popped out during the night LOL.Some days it seems like it's just ready to burst out but then I check it later and it'll seemingly regress.

Wedding rings on or off: Off :( Once the weather cools down a little bit more I think I’m going to give them another chance…

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: The long weekend coming up!

Getting Ready for Baby- Freezer Meals

We’re doing everything that we can to make the transition to life post-baby as simple as possible. We both know that it’ll probably be crazy for a little while and while undoubtedly be an adjustment so making little steps here and there to help put both of our minds at ease!

We’re also a family on a budget- a budget that will be even tighter after baby is here! So in order to both help prepare and to proactively avoid a lot of eating out right after baby is born I’ve started stocking our freezer with easy meals to keep us on track.

I’m also making some cookie dough to freeze so that once labor is under way or I can tell that we’re getting close we can make some to take with us to the hospital for the nurses.

This is my list of meals/freezer items that I’ll be stocking ours with. Do any of you have any tried and true freezer meals that you’d recommend??

Freezer Cookie Dough- http://householdways.blogspot.com/2011/12/refrigerator-icebox-cookies.html

Freezer Chicken Pot Pie- http://www.freezerdinner.com/recipes/freezer-chicken-pot-pie/

Italian Turkey Soup- http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/11/italian-turkey-soup/

Pizza Pasta Bake- http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/10/slow-cooker-pizza-bake-recipe-freezer.html

Baked Mac N’ Cheese- http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chucks-favorite-mac-and-cheese/detail.aspx

PB Oat Breakfast Cookies- http://watching-what-i-eat.blogspot.com/2012/06/peanut-butter-banana-oat-breakfast.html

Sugar Free/GF Brownies

Quick Bullets Post!

-We got a TON done this weekend in the baby’s room. The tags have been removed from all of his stuff, the clothes are all washed, folded and put away, carriers and blankets are organized, toiletries are organized, books are all up on the shelves, sheet is on the bed, cover is on the mattress pad, the fan blades have been changed from dark and scratched to beautiful white, closet now has a “cube” and is organized. The only things that we’re waiting on now are his dresser (ANY DAY Burlington Coat Factory….), the décor for the walls (MIL is stenciling silhouettes this week) and his mobile (next weekend’s project!). Peeks at what we've gotten accomplished will be coming later this week!

-On Friday I went to a Just Between Friends consignment sale and scored a Medela breast pump for $75 (electric, double pump) and an adorable Christmas sweater (I’m thinking for sitting on Santa’s lap??) for Boy Boy.

-My sister in law found out on Friday that she’s expecting a little girl!! Boy Boy’s cousin will be here at the beginning of February (she already has 2 older brothers- our nephews are 3 and 6).

-Josh and I are going to a breastfeeding/infant care class at the hospital where we’ll be delivering tonight. I’m excited to get more information and also about seeing/meeting other expecting couples.

-I’m counting the days until maternity leave….

-Speaking of maternity leave, I discovered my new favorite outfit/weekend and maternity leave uniform. Maternity leggings (I’ll probably never go back to normal), long maternity tank top and overshirt/sweater. Jewelry can be added to cute it up. So comfy! I’d wear it all the time…and I will in just a few short weeks!

-We’ve been watching too much Grey’s Anatomy. Yesterday BB got the hiccups for the second time that day (in the early afternoon) and I started thinking about whether or not it’s dangerous to get the hiccups too often and then I thought of Grey’s and how Lexie’s mom died of the hiccups (not really but that’s how it started). Luckily I’m able to recognize when I’m overthinking/being ridiculous and I talk myself down.

Before Baby Checklist- Update!

When I entered the third trimester I posted this list! We’ve definitely made some progress but there’s still more to be done! There are so many things that seem to be constantly ongoing/take a ton of time.

-Take an infant CPR class (Status: Scheduled. Will be taking it mid-September.)
-Take a breastfeeding class (Status: Scheduled)
-Take a childbirth class (Status: Scheduled)
-Choose a pediatrician (Status: DONE!)
-Pre-Register at hospital (Status: Done.)
-Turn in maternity leave paperwork (Status: Have filled out all of the information that is my responsibility. I will be taking the rest to my next OB appt so they can finish/fax.)
-Set a last day of work (Status: I’ve been dragging my feet on this…I just can’t make up my mind. I’d love to hold out until 38w2d which would put as at October 5^th but I’m so uncomfortable/distracted now that I’m thinking the Friday before that, 37w2d, sounds so much nicer…)
-Make circumcision plans (Status: Still not positive about this. I’m starting to think that maybe we’ll find out about this at our first ped appt or in the hospital. Does anyone know?)
-Install carseat (Status: Will do this at 36 weeks)
-Finish nursery (Status: Has been painted. Crib is up with crib mattress. Rocker is up and new cushions have been made. Bookshelves have been installed/filled. We’re still waiting on the dresser, need to hang the prints and organize the closet- I will be starting the closet organization on Friday!)
-Read more on labor (Status: In progress. Reading Ina May’s book now!)
-Make freezer meals (Status: In progress. I’ve made 2 meals so far and 2 loaves of banana bread.)
-Pack hospital bag (Status: Will be doing this closer to 36 weeks)
-Tour hospital (Status: Scheduled. My godsister is an L&D nurse and will be giving Josh and I a private tour!)
-Make a baby watch contact list/plan (Status: Done! We decided this doesn’t need to be a huge production lol. All of our family is in town and we have their contact information in our phones so we’ll just play it by ear depending on how things go.)
-Stretch more (Status: Ongoing)
-Keep walking daily (Status: Ongoing)
-Get a pedicure (Status: Planning on one more before my due date…hopefully early October.)

How are you doing with your “before baby” checklists??

The items that I’m most excited about trying out with our little guy

When we made our registry there were a few items that I was EXTRA excited about trying out with our little boy once he arrives…and I still am! Some of them we’ve received at baby showers and some of them we’ll be purchasing before he gets here.

The BOB- This is probably the baby item that I’m most excited about. I was an avid runner pre-pregnancy and I’m itching to put those running shoes on again (for something other than a painfully slow walk on the treadmill). I can’t wait to share that experience with the little one!

Source

Bumbo- How could you not love a cute baby object with a name like this? You just can’t help it. I know people who have loved theirs and others who have hated it so time will tell where we fall. Right now I’m loving just having it sitting in the dining room :) ***I'm aware that the Bumbo was recalled due to skull fractures while sitting on raised surfaces. We're still planning on using it (along with some common sense ;)).

Baby Carriers- We’ve assembled quite the collection for babywearing. We own (thanks to baby showers!) the Moby and Ergo (Petunia Pickle Bottom print…woohoo!!!). We’ll be borrowing the Baby Bjorn from my godsister to try that one out too. Again, it’ll be interesting to see what works for us.

Source

Source

Source

Cloth Diapers- We registered for BumGenius all in ones. This is another one of those things that work really well for some people and don’t end up working for others so time will  tell.

 Source

What are/were some of those things that you were most excited to “try out” with baby? If your baby is already here, did you find that you ended up finding the exciting things actually useful or over-hyped?

32 Weeks- 8 Months!!

How far along? 32 weeks!!!

Total Weight Gain: 36 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Yes. I wear Josh's t-shirts at night but other than that it's maternity around here.

Stretch Marks: Still none on my tummy...no new ones.

Sleep: Not great. My bathroom trips have become an average of 4 per night and for some reason I'm wide awake when I get back into bed. I used to be able to fall right back asleep. Not anymore. I'm also having trouble getting comfortable. I have a feeling this isn't going to get better any time soon.

Best moment this week: Hearing at my OB appointment today that baby is head down! Until now he'd been breech transverse so my fingers were crossed that he'd make the flip. Now just hoping that he stays that way.

Miss anything: My old body but I'm feeling more and more confident that it'll bounce back!

Movement: All the time. I love watching my skin roll around :)

Food Cravings: Corn on the cob!!!

Labor Signs: None.

 
Symptoms: Fatigue, rib soreness, round ligament pain, heartburn, insomnia, "the waddle."
 
Belly button in or out: Still staying in. I keep thinking that it's about to pop but still no.
 
Wedding rings on or off: Off as of last Saturday. I may have had an emotional breakdown over this.... I'm wearing a cheap stand-in right now so that my hand doesn't feel naked.
 
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy!
 
Looking forward to: Baby consignment sale this Friday, being in September and able to say that we'll have a baby "next month." Eeeeeeeeeee!

My 2nd Trimester Pregnancy Must Haves

The second trimester for me brought a lot of anxiety in the beginning (I was convinced that now that I was past the first trimester "scary part" something would go wrong...just as I was getting really attached). I lived to constantly over-analyze movement patterns, bump growth, etc. 

I felt really good physically though! My 2 biggest "symptoms" were heartburn and round ligament pain.

1. Doppler- I bought my doppler when I was about 13 weeks. I was able to find baby's heartbeat right away and never had a problem with it. There were so many days where the doppler supplied me with the reassurance that I needed to take a deep breath and keep moving forward. I know that people don't necessarily recommend the doppler for major worriers normally but mine really did wonders for my peace of mind. I bought the Sonoline B doppler from this site.

2. Milk- Again a staple in my pregnancy diet. When my heartburn gets really bad at night I'll drink half a glass of cold milk and it helps to calm it down. Milk (and avoiding my main heartburn "triggers") has been the only thing I've taken for my heartburn. After the million pills that I was on in the first trimester the thought of another (even a chewable one) still makes me gag.

 Source

3. Lotion- During the 2nd trimester was when my stomach really felt like it was expanding. I'd use lotion on it every morning (both my normal, unscented body lotion and my stretchmark cream) and it was just really soothing. I also use my normal lotion for the doppler...it doesn't really work well on a dry stomach and instead of buying fancy cream lotion it was!

Source

Source

4. Dresses- With the belly growth spurts and the "huge" days dresses became (and have stayed) a staple for me clothing wise. They also offered comfort during the heat of early summer.

5. Pillows- I found that my round ligament pain would be worse when I didn't sleep with my normal amount of pillows. I'd also get really crampy. I started sleeping with 5 pillows and it made a huge difference in my comfort level. I found that when my stomach was getting the support during the night it would be a lot less sore during the day. I sleep with one under my head, 2 between my legs, 1 propped under my belly and one behind my back. I realize that a pregnancy pillow (like the snoogle) would probably give me the same effect but I already had the pillows so I decided to just save the money and use what I have.

6. Water Tumbler- In the 2nd tri I realized that I could drink plain water again. My mom bought me a big Starbucks tumbler and I fill it up throughout the day. I also realized that I drink more when I'm drinking through a straw so this tumbler works better for me than a normal water bottle does.

Source

7. Books- I felt like I was waiting a lot in the second trimester. It still felt too soon (especially at the beginning) to be doing any huge shopping and we couldn't start on the nursery until we moved into our house. I read a lot to distract myself and make time go by.

Source

8. Baby Name Book- Once we found out baby's gender the true name hunt was ON! We bought this baby name book when we were in Newport on our babymoon and still love it!

Thankful on my birthday

Today is my birthday and I can't stop thinking about how blessed I've been this year. We aren't doing anything really big or exciting to celebrate since we just bought our house and we're trying to save save save for baby but it's definitely been an amazing birthday so far and an amazing year... both the ups and the downs have made it so.

I’m thankful that I have Josh. He’s such an amazing and supportive husband and whether it’s helping me by emptying the dishwasher or rubbing my back, putting up the shelves in the baby’s room, reminding me to “hold my belly” when we’re pulling into our super bumpy driveway or just telling me how beautiful I am and how much he loves me….I appreciate it all so much.

I’m thankful that I woke up this morning to rib kicks from our son. To be this far in a pregnancy and to actually be getting ready to MEET our baby is something that I couldn’t imagine, especially after the losses that we went through. Sometimes I still can’t believe that it’s real. I love him so much.

I’m thankful that we were able to buy our house and get settled. I was a stressed out mess for a lot of this year because of the uncertainty of where we’d be/if we’d be settled before the baby is born. Our house is truly perfect for us and I couldn’t be happier with it. I really appreciate the opportunity to make it home for our little family.

I’m thankful for both my and Josh’s family. They’ve all been such a huge help in the past year. I couldn’t have gotten back on my feet after the miscarriages without them. Without Josh’s dad opening his doors to us the moving transition would’ve been even more stressful. The way that they helped with the move was amazing. Everything came together so much quicker than I could’ve thought it would because of them.

I’m thankful for my friends, both in real life and online. I’ve developed some relationships over the past year that I truly treasure and the support has been so uplifting for me!

I’m thankful for my faith. It’s grown in leaps and bounds over the past year and even though it took some heartbreak to get to the point where I am now I’ve come to have so much more trust in the fact that He is the one who knows what’s best for us.

31 Week Bump Pictures and Nursery Sneak Peak

How far along? 31 weeks!!!

Total Weight Gain: 34 pounds

Maternity Clothes: In order to be comfortable I'm in them! When I try to wear non-maternity they never work as well

Stretch Marks: No new ones, none on the tummy. I had a dream last night though that I just woke up one morning and there were HUGE purple ones radiating from my belly button. I woke up completely freaked out and almost cried with relief when I looked in the mirror and confirmed that it was just a dream.

Sleep: Not awesome. I've been having some insomnia and that paired with the challenge it is to flip myself all the way over and the frequent bathroom trips does not lend itself to restful nights.

Best moment this week: My shower on Saturday was amazing!!! *You can see some of the gifts in my nursery sneak peek pictures above. It was just so nice to be able to celebrate this little guy with people who I love! The support is just so special.

Miss anything: Nothing really right now. I've been really wishing I could get a nice long run in but I know there will be time for that once he's here and bigger so I'm trying to enjoy this season of life.

Movement: Really regular and I'm loving it! He's all up in my ribs right now and they've been pretty sore for the last few days but it's worth it.

Food Cravings: Fruit especially apples this week.

Labor Signs: None.

Symptoms: Fatigue, rib soreness, round ligament pain, HEARTBURN

 
Belly button in or out: In but it's getting close! A little piece is starting to poke out.

 
Wedding rings on or off: On but today will probably be the last day. =/ I've been having to take them off in the afternoons due to swelling and they were pretty tight to get on this morning.

 
Happy or moody most of the time: Definitely happy this week!

 
Looking forward to: Meeting the baby!! Come on October!!! I'm also looking forward to my birthday tomorrow, 2 three day weekends coming up and a trip to Monterey with my parents :)

Work on the nursery has been constant since we moved in! I'll go into detail on what we've done later but here's a little peek for now :)

!

My 1st Trimester Pregnancy Must Haves

As I’m nearing the end of this pregnancy I thought I’d compile a list of all of the things that have helped me get to this point. I definitely couldn’t have done it half as comfortably without them! All of the extra progesterone that I was on during my first trimester made me pretty sick and tired for most of the time. Almost all of my must have items were things that helped me with those miserable symptoms.

1. Chocolate milk- Every morning I’d have half a glass of chocolate milk and for some reason it really helped settle my stomach. I tried many other things but eventually I’d throw them up and they’d be off my list. Chocolate milk was one of the constants that always helped. It was really odd for me (and still is!) because I was strictly an almond milk girl prior to getting pregnant but (for me) it’s had to be the real deal during pregnancy.

2.  Leggings- I got bloated fast and leggings helped me get through that awkwardness. Luckily it was still early spring while I was in my first trimester and I could still wear leggings without  feeling like I was going to immediately overheat. I’d wear them with a dress or with tunic type shirts, sweaters and boots.

3.  Heating pad- I had to have progesterone in oil shots 3 times a week until week 14….and those shots go into the bum muscle. Sitting on a heating pad after the shots was absolute Heaven.

4.  Sprite- Much like chocolate milk, Sprite was something that helped my nausea while I sipped on it.

 

5.   Crystal Light Packets- At the beginning of my pregnancy I knew that I had to get lots of water in but I couldn’t bring myself to drink plain water. The thought of it made me sick to my stomach. I could handle crystal light though and the peach tea packets helped me stay hydrated.

6.    Cheapie pregnancy test strips- At least until 6 weeks I was testing every day (remember that I got my BFP at 3 weeks and 2 days…so it was quite a while). Seeing the line get darker helped me take it day by day without completely freaking out all the time. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest this for other people, it just honestly helped me. It should also be noted that a little bit before 6 weeks the line got lighter and it caused a huge freak out. Apparently at some point the pregnancy hormone begins to be metabolized differently in your system and it doesn’t show up in the same way. That was when I stopped testing.

(Ignore the expensive tests....I had an addiction! I don't recommend it.)

Rambling

This post was inspired by a topic that came up on a message board that I frequent. I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the past couple of days and wanted to fully write out my thoughts.

The question posed was “If you were put in the situation where it was medically necessary for you to choose whether to have the doctors save you OR your baby (while pregnant), what would you choose?” We’re assuming that it was a situation where it definitely had to be one or the other.

I remember talking to Josh about this a long time ago. I’m not sure how it came up that time but it was either before we were TTC or during the process and we both agreed that even though it would be a horrible situation that we’d never want to have to face (obviously) we’d choose me. We could (eventually) have other children but there could never be another me.

However, when the question came up on the message board I didn’t even hesitate to think about it. If posed with this situation right now I’d be 100% right away sure that I’d want the doctor to do everything he could do to save our baby. In the past couple of weeks I’ve noticed that my connection to this little life has grown by leaps and bounds. And I wasn’t disconnected before. Now that he’s moving basically all the time and my bump makes it impossible for me to forget that I’m carrying another life and there are baby items all over our house my love for our son has really deepened. I feel like I would do anything for him and every time I feel a little bump or a kick or a roll I’m overwhelmed by the love that I feel for him. I can’t even imagine how much that feeling will intensify when he’s actually in my arms. Knowing all of this I know that if we were put in this situation and the doctor saved me instead just knowing that we’d had the opportunity to save the baby and we’d let him go would break me. I don’t see how I could live with that….the fact that I’d chosen not to give this little one that I’ve been protecting for the past 8 months a chance.

Obviously these thoughts are based on that specific scenario that was presented as a question. I recognize that there are so many other circumstances that could come into play (and have, for so many people). I also don’t think that anyone who would choose the other way is selfish or wrong. I just know that in my mind choosing him would be the best decision for me personally. I know that there are also other factors…how hard it would be to leave Josh to raise our son by himself, etc.

I brought it up to Josh again last night and he would still choose me. He also didn’t hesitate and I don’t blame him. I know that I definitely wouldn’t want to live without him! I just thought it was interesting how much my thoughts about it have changed because of the experience that has come with being pregnant. The bond between a mother and child is really amazing.

Hopes for my son

I hope that will love playing outside. We have a beautiful backyard for you and I hope that it’s your favorite place to be.

I hope that you let your imagination just overflow with make believe. Your Aunt Andrea and I spent so many days just pretending and those are my favorite memories.

I hope that you love spending time with your dad. Even if it’s not playing baseball (which we hope you love too!) I hope that you’ll love helping him with projects, that you’ll like to sit eating cereal with him in the morning, that he’s able to teach you Sudoku and tell you all about his coin collection.

I hope that you love music. I can’t wait to hear your little voice singing and your little feet dancing. I’d love for you to want to play an instrument but even if you never do I hope that your love and appreciation for music is there.

I hope you have fun baking with me. Your family loves baked goods (as you’ll learn so soon!) and I can always use an assistant to stir and add ingredients.

I hope that you like cuddling for a long time. Both your dad and I are big cuddlers and so are your grandparents and (most of) your aunts and uncles.

I hope you will know that no matter what your likes and dislikes end up being…you are already our favorite person in the world and we love you so much. That will never change. Even if you end up not liking chocolate ;)

Bullets Post!!!

-          I had my 30 week OB appointment this morning (Already?????) and it was all good news. Passed my GD test with flying colors, only gained 1 pound in the past month (I gained quite a bit the month before so the doctor thinks everything was just redistributing this month), baby’s heartbeat is beating beautifully (which obviously I knew thanks to my handy dandy at home Doppler but it’s still great to hear from the OB), we start appointments every 2 weeks now and we set a hospital to deliver at. Wow!

-          The air conditioning in our new house is out. It stopped working on Saturday morning and we’ve been suffering through ever since. Luckily a technician is coming today so our fingers are crossed that he can get it fixed today and we can finally get some relief! It’s been getting up to the 90’s in our house so it’s been pretty unbearable. We’ve been escaping to our parents’ houses or the mall in the evenings until it cools down a bit.

-          My mom made cushions for the nursery rocking chair. They’re done and they look great. I can’t wait to share pictures!!

-          We have internet in our house but they sent us the wrong modem so we don’t have wifi yet. Our Ethernet cable is currently connecting our xbox to the internet so that we can keep up with our Grey’s Anatomy addiction via Netflix. Priorities people! Hopefully that will be resolved by the end of this week.

-          By the way, Grey’s Anatomy is not a show I recommend for paranoid pregnant women…. It’s too late for me to turn back though.

-          My second baby shower is Saturday with my friends/family friends/friends of my mom. It’s a storybook brunch theme and I can’t wait!

-          Congratulations to Jesica on her adorable baby boy!!!! Seeing the precious pictures of him makes me even more anxious to see our little guy’s face!

It feels real!

The fact that we’re actually going to have a baby in 2 months or less is feeling real…and I’m scared! I’m not scared of actually having the baby but it scares me that I’m believing it now. The what ifs of something still going wrong scare me more than ever.

Luckily I’ve been able to focus on other things (moving into our new house and nesting!) and those things have brought with them signs that there WILL be a baby in our house soon. We have a bumbo chair sitting in the spare chair next to the dining room table. We have a baby bathtub and hooded baby towels in our guest bathroom. We have a NURSERY.

Speaking of the nursery, we’ve made a lot of progress in the past week. The nursery is now painted the final colors (after a complete freak out when the greys that we bought started to look purple/lavender). My mom and I picked out fabric for the cushions that she’s making for my rocking chair. The rug came in and has been placed. AND we have a crib. I got the call that it had come in yesterday and we went to pick it up right after dinner. It’s all set up and looking wonderful…and real.

P.S. I’m sorry for the lack of pictures recently!!! My work computer is being really weird with blogger and not letting me attach pictures. The internet at our house hasn’t been set up yet (hopefully this weekend) but when it is except a picture overload!!! I have nursery pictures, setting up the crib pictures, new house pictures and bump pictures!

Morning Kick Dates with Mommy

I think that my favorite part about being pregnant is feeling our little man kick. It took awhile for his movement to change from bubbles here and there to regular, strong movement but it was so worth the wait.

I feel him pretty much all day every day now and it hasn’t gotten old. I don’t think it ever will. Every time I feel a little (or big!) kick or movement I just think “Gosh, I love our baby so much!” It’s so special to me. It doesn’t matter if it’s a tiny little punch or a huge kick to the ribs (Ow!!). They all make me smile, even the painful ones. It feels like we have a connection that’s just between us and I love how I even have my little buddy reminding me that he’s there even when I’m at work or busy doing something else. Sometimes I’ll stop and just stare at my moving belly with pride.

It reassures me that he’s growing strong and that he’s just itching to get out and meet us as much as we’re looking forward to seeing his little face for the first time.

Most things about pregnancy I honestly won’t miss –not knowing whether he’s okay, having to dramatically cut back on my exercise, the bloody noses, the constipation, etc.- but I know that I’ll miss the kicks.

Lately he’s gotten into a little bit of a schedule with his movements. Every day for the past week he starts kicking without fail in the mornings right after I get back into bed (I get up to make Josh’s lunch and then go back to bed for another hour before I have to get up). I used to be able to go right back to sleep as soon as I got back into bed but now I just lay there awake feeling him move around. It’s become our little morning routine and I’m loving it!