39 Weeks

One weekish left and we are getting really excited to meet this little girl! At my doc appointment yesterday I was still dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced. So no changes there. But baby will come when baby comes! The midwife asked if I wanted my membranes stripped and I said no. I mean I'm not even to my due date yet. I'm not in THAT much of a hurry to get her here. She may come just perfectly fine on her own with no intervention from anywhere else. However, if I'm still prego at my 40 week appointment (which I prob will be) then I will get them stripped. I still want her to come sooner than later to avoid having to deal with any high risk have to get a c-section situations. 

Date: February 24, 2015

How far along? 39 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up 34 pounds according to my scale. Up 30 pounds according to the doc scale.

Sleep: Still sleeping good. Try to keep my feet elevated at night to avoid swelling in my feet. Although the swelling in general has seemed to be down lately.

Movement: Still moving so that's always a good sign. She usually likes to sit with her back on my left side. But sometimes she'll venture out and turn so her back is on my right side for a day or two. But then she switches back over to the left.

Feeling sick? Just the past few days I feel like right after eating breakfast I feel sick. It doesn't matter what I eat. I have no idea if that's pregnancy related or my body just being weird.

Other pregnancy symptoms? Pretty much the same as last week. Swelling hasn't been as bad. I get out of breath really easily. Like when I'm reading something aloud, or I walk fast paced somewhere. All in all feeling pretty good.

Have you started to show yet? So I used to think I was carrying lower with Baby girl, but according to the pictures below it looks like I'm still carrying just as high as I was with Jacob. I used to also think I wasn't as big as I was with Jacob. But again, the pictures might show otherwise.... Either way still no stretch marks so that makes me happy.

39 Weeks with Baby Girl

39 Weeks with Jacob

38 Weeks

So I didn't get my Friday the 13th baby.... I guess she just wasn't ready to enter this world. Don't blame her really. Life is a lot easier for her inside my womb. Nice and warm, fed all the time, cozy.

We are down to two weeks. I feel like the pregnancy has flown by! And these last two weeks are going to fly by as well. I feel like having a baby is so surreal. I feel like I'll never go into labor. How does it just happen? It's just all weird. Then how will I know it's happening when it does. Everything is so new. I'm excited and anxious at the same time. I don't know what to expect and that makes me anxious. But I also feel prepared, ready and excited to experience labor.

I had my doctor appointment today and everything is looking great and on track. I'm measuring 36 weeks which my midwife says is normal because she is probably starting to drop. Baby girl is still heads down and in a good birthing position. And when checked I was 1 cm dilated and my cervix was 50% effaced. So pretty much what my midwife is saying is all these dang contractions I'm having are pretty much doing squat!

Date: February 17, 2015

How far along? 38 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up 31 pounds according to my scale. One pound more than I wanted to be but I think it's only because I've started retaining water. According to the doctor scale I'm only up 28 pounds. Usually it seems like the doctor scale is more but I'll take it :)

Sleep: Since sleeping in my bean bag I've been sleeping a lot better! As long as I'm not sleeping on my hips I feel pretty good.

Movement: Baby girls movements are starting to slow down. I think it's getting pretty squishy in there. But every single night she wakes up between 11 and midnight. So I'm sure that will carry on after she is out as well. I really don't mind when she does move around. The only time I have a problem with it is when she wont get off my bladder or my cervix. There was one night that I had to go to the bathroom like 6 times in an hour because she just would not get off my bladder!

Feeling sick? I'm pretty much over being sick! YAY! As of around 36 weeks I've finally starting feeling good. It is so nice! And I can totally see how if I felt like this the majority of my pregnancy that it wouldn't be that bad. Unfortunately that is not me. I'll take my last month though.

Other pregnancy symptoms? - I feel so tired all the time! It doesn't matter how much sleep I get. By the time evenings hit it's a struggle to stay awake. And sometimes throughout the whole day.

- I feel like I'm experiencing new sensations with this pregnancy that I never did with Jacob because he was never in my pelvis. I'm a lot more crampy and feel a lot more pressure on my pelvis and hips. I feel a lot more discomfort in my hips all together. I feel like when I sit I get stiff really easily. So when I get up my hips and pelvis just ache.

- Night leg cramps. Throughout my pregnancy I've gotten these legs cramps here and there at night but I've always been able to flex it off before it really came on. Not this morning. Wow... It felt like it lasted for 10 mins. I'm sure it was just over a min. But I was flexing so hard and my leg was getting so tired! Now my calf muscle is sore. I also get cramps in my feet and toes really easily.

- I started swelling at 35 weeks and 2 days. I totally jinxed myself. I had just been talking to Scott the night before about how awesome it was that I hadn't started swelling with this pregnancy. With Jacob I started swelling around 26 weeks and it was bad! Well the next morning I woke up and I could immediately feel that my feet were swollen. They felt so tight! Fortunately the swelling hasn't come to stay. I'm only swollen on some days here and there. When I sit a lot for work I swell more. I've decided that's probably why I swelled so bad with Jacob. Because I was constantly sitting for work with him 9 hours every day. So although I know that my body is starting to retain water it's not very bad and I'm still able to wear my ring.

- Lots of braxton hicks. Some days I feel like they never stop. Other days it's just here and there.

- My indigestion and heartburn hasn't been too bad. I'll get it here and there but nothing bad. I also don't get that super full feeling all the time like I did with Jacob at this time. I am still very excited to feel "normal" again when it comes to eating. I just want to eat when I want how I want and not have to worry about how it's going to make me feel. Getting so excited for that.

Have you started to show yet? Everyone tells me I look smaller with Baby girl than I did with Jacob. I would agree. I do not think I'm as big as I was with Jacob. I don't have stretch marks. In fact, I still have extra skin that I can grab on my stomach (TMI?) so I think that's a good sign. :)

Baby Names: Scott and I have not picked a name out for Baby girl. With our experience with Jacob we've just decided not to get attached to anything. When we see her we will know what to name her. We do have a list though. Here are our top names. We like to use middle names of family members. Both Scott and I have a great grandma named Ida. And on my side my grandma's name was Joan and Scott's grandma's middle name was Joan. So that is where our middle names have come from.

- Noelle Ida
- Hazel Joan
- Ida Joan

We shall see I guess what it ends up being! Oh ya... And also Scotlyn because isn't both our names combined. :)

So for the past week my laptop has not been working so it's been really hard to get my work hours. The one benefit from not being able to work while Jacob is sleeping is I've been able to finish Baby Girls baby blankets! I had pretty much come to terms with the fact that I just wouldn't have time to make them before the baby came because of work. So that is the only benefit of not being able to work!

 Close ups of the cute prints!

 And Jacob because he's a cutie! And he loves his firetruck pj's!

34 Weeks

I can't believe I only have 6 weeks left. I was worried that these past couple months would drag on so slow... But with how much I've been working it's really making them go by super fast! But we are ready for Baby Girl when she comes. I've finished getting the crib all ready and have gotten all her clothes organized and ready to go. So all we need now is a baby! Don't worry... I don't want her to come this early.... But we have decided on a date. February Friday the 13th. That's just two weeks before my due date. :) Now lets just see if she'll cooperate.... 

12 week to 34 week belly progression

Date: January 20, 2015

How far along? 34 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up 24 pounds.

Sleep: My groin pain started acting up again around 32 weeks. It got to the point that i couldn't even roll out of bed without feeling like my groin was going to split in two. So I've made the switch to the bean bag and am sleeping much much better now. In fact I think I slept the whole night through for the first time in a few months. It was awesome!

Movement: At my 34 week appointment my midwife commented that she thinks my stomach is fun to look at because I don't have much fat so it's skin then uterus and you can see everything that baby is doing inside. I would have to agree... You can almost see exactly what position she is without even feeling if you look long enough. It's definitely fun to watch. :)

Feeling sick? I think I'm feeling as good as I'm going to feel for the rest of my pregnancy. Occasional nausea here and there but as long as I keep food in me then I usually feel pretty good. I am starting to count down the days that my body feels "normal" again.

34 Weeks

Other pregnancy symptoms? As I mentioned above my groin pain is starting to kick in more. When I exercise it's more noticeable then when I don't. Also when I lift up my leg to put pants on or sometimes when I walk up the stairs. I do not think it's nearly as bad as it was with Jacob though. But I might just be remembering the last month of my pregnancy with Jacob that it was so bad so maybe it will still come. I also have shortness of breath. Sometimes the smallest things just leave me panting for more air! I decided I have pregnancy congestion. I've had a stuffed up, slightly runny nose for the past 3 months or so and I thought it was just a lingering cold that wouldn't go away. I've decided now that I think it's pregnancy related. I had it with Jacob as well. I have some heartburn here and there but it's not as bad as it was with Jacob. And as long as I don't eat a ton of food then I don't get that super full going to explode feeling like I always got with Jacob no matter how much I ate. Still no swelling and I'm pretty sure at this time with Jacob I was leaking colostrum. Which hasn't happened yet either.

Have you started to show yet? I'm carrying Baby Girl lower than my last pregnancy.  I think because Jacob was so big and breech that he just never was able to drop. So I just carried him high up until the very end. Which means no room for lungs or stomach. I think this is the reason I don't get as much heartburn, indigestion and super full feeling as much as I did with Jacob. So no complaining here!

So I might be changing my midwife... I was going to make my 36 week appointment with Susan but she wasn't available. So I'm going to come up with a list of questions to ask my current midwife then at my next appointment schedule with Susan and just see how I like their different responses. I met with Susan once when Natalie was gone and she seemed way more personable than Natalie. She also seemed more on board with my birthing plan. So... We shall see!

2014

This year has been a great year! I can't believe how much Jacob has grown. It seems like just yesterday he was just a baby and now he is a toddler that never stops moving. Then at the same time it seems like it was forever ago that he was a baby. He is so fun though and such a huge blessing and joy in Scott and I's life. We can't imagine our lives without him.We are so excited to welcome our little girl into our family in a couple months!

I feel Scott and I have been so blessed and I'm so grateful for all the things we have been given. I feel so blessed for great friends that surround us and for family. We have been able to create some great relationships this past year. I'm so grateful for the jobs that Scott and I have and for the willingness my bosses have to work with me and let me work from home. It has been such a huge blessing though not always easy.

Scott and I have had some awesome adventures this past year and I'm excited to see what adventures a new year brings. I always love odd years so bring on 2015! :)

Snowshoeing

Being pregnant and all I'm not really able to participate in a lot of extra-curricular activities. Snowshoeing, however, is something that I can still do. And since Scott and I got snowshoes for Christmas (That we really started using around Thanksgiving) we've been able to go out a few times this winter.

As I get bigger it's a lot harder for me to snowshoe. I'm amazed at how different a month feels. I definitely notice myself moving a lot slower and being in a little bit more pain. But I enjoy doing it and I like that fact that I feel like it's a little bit of a workout as well. Jacob enjoys going as well. It's been fun to watch him love the snow! We've tried to let him play in it a little bit here and there. He loves snow balls! Either being thrown at him or him throwing them at someone else. He just laughs and laughs and it is so cute!

I really want to take him sledding because I think he would love it! We did pull him around in a sled for a little bit and he thought that was fun.

Scott also strapped Jacob to some skiies and he loved it! He took some video's but the camera was on the wrong setting so all the video's are in slow motion so you can't here him laughing. It made me sad. 

Jacob's first snowman!

 Jacob loved watching the little kids skijoring!

30 Weeks

Well folks I'm 3/4 of the way done! Getting down to the single digits. Only 10 weeks to go! Here is my Third Quarter Progression picture.

I haven't been as diligent at taking pictures... As you can see I missed week 24... But oh well!

And here is my comparison progression picture with Jacob. 

I had my 30 week appointment and everything is looking great. I saw Susan the other midwife and I really liked her! I loved her personality and while I was asking her questions about my birthing plan she just seemed really on board... I may or may not permanently switch to her. My belly was measuring at 29 cm. That NEVER happened with Jacob. Always big with him. And baby girl is heads down! YAY!!!! Now I know that she can still flip around all over the place but any time she's heads down it makes me happy.

Date: December 23, 2014

How far along? 30 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up 20 pounds. Making my total weight 151 lbs. I've almost caught up to Scott!

Maternity clothes? I finally found some maternity jeans that I think are comfortable! They are low panel and only have the stretchy material in the front... Now I just need to find some in skinny jeans...

30 Weeks

Sleep: I haven't been sleeping as bad the past couple weeks. I feel like I went through a two week bad spell but now I'm back to feeling pretty decent again. Not in near as much pain as I was!

Movement: Baby girl has finally decided to explore the left side of my uterus. She is currently heads down with her back against the left side of my uterus and her little legs kicking my right side. I think one of her favorite things to do right now is punch my cervix.... I don't really think it's fun but she must cuz she does it a lot! I also felt little girls hiccups for the first time around 29 weeks!

Feeling sick? Feeling pretty good the past couple weeks! Only feeling sick randomly throughout the day and not all day long.

Other pregnancy symptoms? I am officially a waddler. I don't even try to deny it. I know I am. And I have been for a couple weeks now. Especially if I've been sitting down for a long time then i get up and start moving around. Got to get all those stiff muscles working. Also if I'm having a practice contraction. Still no swelling! Woopie! I have also started to notice that pesky pregnancy weight gain in my back and love handles.... I'm sure I'm gaining other places as well like my thighs and butt but I don't notice that as much. My internal heater finally kicked in. I've been waiting for it for a month or so now!

Have you started to show yet? Sometime between my 28th week and my 30th week I just really popped out. I'm pretty sure it happened over night. I was nice and small one day then big the next!

We decided since Jacob got special attention and a few 3D ultrasounds that's it's only fair that we do one for Baby Girl as well. So here she is in all her cuteness!

Her hand is up by her face. You can see her eye in the background.

28 Weeks

Well I've made it to my third and final trimester and I'm 2/3's of the way done! I can't believe I'm already this far along. I'm now up to prenatal appointments every two weeks. At my 28 week appointment I got to do the glucose blood test. I passed with flying colors! They want you under 140 and I was at 88. My belly was measuring right on at 28 cm.

Here is my 12 week to 28 week progression picture!

Date: December 9, 2014

How far along? 28 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Up 18 lbs. I enjoy only gaining 1 pound a week. I hope it keeps up!

Maternity clothes? I do not like maternity pants. I do not find them comfortable. The most comfortable pants I like to wear are my yoga pants and my sweat pants. I really need to try to find a nice pair of jeans that are comfortable. With a low panel. In fact. I found these maternity skinny jeans that have a triangle of stretchy material on both sides and not all around the waist... I wonder if those are more comfortable... I am not a fan of full panel maternity pants. Ok... rant done.

Sleep: My sleeping has become more uncomfortable. I'd say starting around 26ish weeks probably. I just want to sleep on my back. Sleeping on my sides is not comfortable and hurts my groin. It also doesn't help my heart burn. I think I'm going to try and buy a foam wedge to sleep on so I can sleep on my back and see if that helps. I'm hesitant to start sleeping in the bean bag because I worry that was maybe one of the causes of Jacob not being able to flip heads down like he was supposed to. I don't really know if that was the cause but it still makes me hesitant. I also just like sleeping with Scott. :) I get all sorts of lonely sleeping in the bean bag!

Movement: Baby girl likes to live on the right side of my uterus. In fact. I'm pretty sure the left side

28 Weeks

is not being used at all! haha Wide open spaces over there. Her back is laid up against the right side of the uterus and she likes to stretch herself out so that her butt pushes against the uterus with much force! She's pretty strong for a little guy... Then I feel her legs and arms move around the middle of my stomach. It's weird because when she's pushing out really hard that area is really sensitive. So if I push back it hurts really bad. I never had that with Jacob.... She is becoming more active though and that is really fun! There for a few weeks I wasn't really feeling her move much but the past week or so she has been very active.

Feeling sick? I threw up yesterday and again at 27 weeks. *sigh* Plus this past week I really just haven't felt great. Nauseous most of the day. My sickness stopped around 32 weeks with Jacob, so I just keep hoping it does with this one as well. Only 4 more weeks to go!

Other pregnancy symptoms? 25 weeks brought with it braxton hicks and groin pain. I have been having braxton hicks my whole pregnancy. Just here and there. Once a month maybe. But now I'm having very very multiple a day. Sometimes very very multiple an hour. They are really more on the annoying side. And as my stomach gets bigger the more annoying they are. The groin pain happens mostly at night when I sleep on my sides. It definitely helps to put a pillow between my legs though and the pain hasn't been too bad. I don't think it's as bad this time around as it was with Jacob. It was around this time with Jacob that I was hardly sleeping at all at night because I'd wake up in so much pain. I think the reason is because I'm not walking with this one. Taking long strides like I do when I walk for exercise and when I run bring on my groin pain. Around 27 weeks my hips starting aching a little at night as well. But so far that hasn't been too bad. I am also starting to hate evenings. I am fine all day long but evening hits and I get so uncomfortable! I have heart burn and indigestion and I just feel so blah. I really kind of hate it. On a positive note. By this time with Jacob my ankles had started to swell and so far no swelling! YAY!

Have you started to show yet? I think I am definitely carrying this baby girl lower than I carried Jacob. I carried him soooo high! My back hurts a little bit more with her than with Jacob and I think that is why. I'm still just carrying her straight out though! Like a little ball.