30 weeks

How Far Along: 30w - holy cow!

Size of baby: Month 7 (29w - 32w)– Baby is the size of Squash - about 15.2 - 16.7 inches long and 2.5 - 3.8 lbs.

30w - A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in my uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face.

Maternity Clothes: I love how comfy they are, but I hate how little choices I have in the mornings now. However I did get a really nice maternity dress from G.ap for my shower. There is still a little room in the belly, but I'm sure in the next 10 days, I'll fill it out.

Weight Gain: 15 lbs.

Belly: I swear I'm getting bigger everyday. I don't mind it though ...


Stretch Marks: Nope, not yet. Just started to get a little itchy, nothing major though.

Sleep: Peyton likes to kick like crazy around 3:30am. So for the last couple of nights, I've been up for a good hour to two. I'm tired!

Best Moment of the Week: Tomorrow will be the best moment!!! 3D ultrasound!!!

Movement: She is moving. I say to C all the time "I wonder what she is doing in there." Some days I swear she is rearranging my insides and others I have to double check that she is still in there.

Symptoms: TMI - Gas! Lots of it.

Food cravings: None really. Maybe pizza - I seem to eat that a lot. But I've always liked pizza, so I don't think it can go under "cravings"

Gender: A Little Lady.

What I Miss: My husband. He is once again away on business. He only has one more month of travel and then I've grounded him thru May and June.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Our 3D ultrasound tomorrow. Saturday - so I can nap in the middle of the day. My baby shower next Sunday. The crib coming in - who knows when that happens. Lots of things to look for forward to.

Weekly Wisdom: Baths are wonderful! I suggest taking one. I take one probably a few times a month and I love it. I just make sure it's not too warm, but it's nice. And funny when the baby kicks, the water ripples.

Milestones: I am 3/4 the way through! WOW!!!

Emotions: I'm doing OK. No major freak outs. I still get weepy at TV shows. I'm sure that will be the same postpartum, but I'm wondering when that eventually goes away. I'm a huge fan of the tears! :)

29w

How Far Along: 29w

Size of baby: I moved onto another month! Month 7 (29w - 32w)– Baby is the size of Squash - about 15.2 - 16.7 inches long and 2.5 - 3.8 lbs. Baby is def head down. The kicks are starting to come awfully close to my ribs. :)

29w - Peyton's muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain (taking after her daddy). To meet her increasing nutritional demands, I should have plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, I should be drinking milk - although I don't, so I am taking calcium supplements. This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in her hardening skeleton.

Maternity Clothes: Yup. I've purchased a few more pants, as 5 pair weren't cutting my full time job. But at least they have really cute stuff now.

Weight Gain: Up 2 lbs - 14 in total. I'm happy with that.

Belly: I'm getting bigger!


Stretch Marks: Nope, not yet.

Sleep: I have to say I'm sleeping better, but am more exhausted during the day.

Best Moment of the Week: Getting my glucose results back. I kind of knew since they hadn't called me that I was in the clear, but when she told me today that my levels were an 85, I was thrilled!!! Bring on the cake!

Movement: Yup. She def moves around a lot more. Plus I see my belly move from the outside. Oh and C got to feel her have the hiccups. So cute.

Symptoms: Stuffy nose and sneezing. Oh and - tmi - my vag is seriously swollen and ... yes Jenny McCarthy was right about it turning blue! I told C - Sorry, shop is closed.

Food cravings: No - some days I'm super hungry, others not so much.

Gender: A Little Lady.

What I Miss: My normal vagina.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Our 3D ultrasound is next Friday. I'm soooo excited to see Peyton. It's been over 10 weeks since I've seen her at all and I'm not going to get another u/s this pregnancy, so this is our last shot!

Weekly Wisdom: Back to my age old advice, drink lots of water! Ahem!

Milestones: I’m in the third trimester! I passed my glucose test! I'm only up 14 lbs! I have less than 11 weeks to go! There are too many to count!

Emotions: I have weather dependent depression. Meaning, I was super happy last week when it was 60-70 degrees. The fact that I drove thru a sleet storm last night and woke up to snow this morning has put me in a tailspin towards moodiness. Enough is enough. I'm ready for light spring jackets and bright colored clothes! Even though I would have been thrilled to have a baby anytime of the year, I have to think someone was looking out for me and timed this pregnancy just right! Me + a winter infant + being stuck in the house = disaster! Thank you God for bringing me this baby in the warmth!

Diaper Bag ... or just bag

First off, let me start by saying that I'm a big handbag person. Yes, I love both shoes AND handbags. C is probably thrilled that his wife is addicted to not just one, but both vices. I have a lot of the main stream bags, but I also love finding these obscure designers. So when I had started my search for the perfect diaper bag, I didn't know where to look.

I started where all my friends had ... at P.etunia P.icklebottom. My friends all have these bags and I love them. They are so cute. They come in fun colors/patterns and are super organized. My only apprehension was that I originally wanted a diaper bag that looked like a huge handbag. I briefly looked, but other than spending a fortune on a G.ucci or B.urberry bag, I didn't find much out there. There were a few K.ate Spade or M.arc Jacobs bags, but they were canvas and I wasn't loving the design. As most shopping things have happened in this pregnancy, I was getting frustrated with the search. So I was about to hit "PURCHASE" on my online order for this navy flowered PP bag, but had a second thought. "K, pull back. Relax a little. Search a little more. I have some time."

I spent last Sunday scouring online for "designer diaper bags", "diaper bags that look like hangbags", "fashionable diaper bags" - and then I found it! It was perfect. Black, "faux" leather (although I prefer it to be leather, I understand having a bag that carries around bottles full of liquid and diapers and food probably shouldn't be leather) big, looks like a LARGE handbag. In fact, it includes a little wristlet so you don't have to carry a separate bag for cash/cards, etc. PLUS it was on sale and by my "handbag" standards, pretty cheap. Here is my find:

It's a T.imi & L.eslie bag - Charlie II. In fact there are a ton of REALLY great bags on their site - they all look like handbags, but are in fact diaper bags. This one came in this beautiful mustard color that I was sooo close to getting, but I felt the black is better in the long run. I ordered it online, so I'm waiting for it to come in. I have the slightest fear that it's going to be TOO big, but I already checked out the return policy and I'm in the clear. I'm excited to see it. It comes with all this stuff for inside:
It has stroller straps, a diaper changing pad, a long cross over body strap among other things. And the inside looks super organized:

So we'll see when it comes in the mail ... hopefully this week! If it doesn't work out, then I'm back to square one. :(

28 weeks - third trimester!

How Far Along: 28w … THIRD TRIMESTER!!!!

Size of baby: Month 6 (25w - 28w)– Baby is the size of an eggplant, 13.6 - 14.8 inches long and weighs about 1.5 - 2.2lb. (I’ll stick with this, but in WTEWYE I’m in my 7th month)

28 w - Peyton is settling into the proper position for birth, with her head facing downward (toward my body's nearest exit!). My little work in progress is now about 2.5 pounds and almost 16 inches long. She's busy adding new skills such as blinking to an already impressive repertoire of tricks like coughing, sucking, hiccuping, and taking practice breaths. Her sleep now includes the REM (rapid eye movement) phase — and that means she could be dreaming already.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants. I’ve been holding out on purchasing maternity tops. I’m hoping that I can hold up until the warmer weather.

Weight Gain: Down 2 lbs … 12 lbs total. When I went to my appt last week, I had only gained 1 lb in the 4 weeks.

Belly: I feel like it looks a little smaller today.

Stretch Marks: Nope, not yet.

Sleep: Sleeping is a little better – I think. I am now starting to get up to pee every night and I know it will only get worse.

Best Moment of the Week: Getting hit on! I went to that bachelorette party this weekend. We drove down to Baltimore and had strip tease class – floor, chair and stripper pole lessons. It was so funny to see everyone do it and I certainly looked ridiculous trying to be all sexy with my belly. Haha. Then we went to this dueling piano bar – it was a lot of fun. We had a boa with all these tasks on it for the bride to be to do. So a lot of guys were coming over to our tables and were helping out with the tasks. I was sitting at the table and this guy comes up to me – and let me say if I wasn’t married and pregnant I would have been thrilled … he was very nice looking - and starts flirting and saying “there’s an attraction between us” (haha – guys are too funny, but that’s another story) and after about talking to him for about 5-10 mins, he looks down at my left hand and sees my wedding rings. He points to them and goes something like, “oh no.” Then I said “So is it the fact that I’m married that bothers you” and then I stand up and say “or is it b/c I’m 6 months pregnant” and I point to my belly. The look on this guy’s face was PRICELESS! Me and my girlfriends got a really good laugh out of that one. LOL. But let me tell you, it soooo made my night! Hell, it made my pregnancy! :)

Oh and I had my glucose test on Friday – it really wasn’t as bad as I thought. I think I passed. They said that if the results are fine, that they would just tell me at my next appt and if they were bad, they would call me to make an appt to do the 3hour one. I haven’t heard from them, so I’m assuming it’s all good.

Movement: Some days she is moving all around, other days, quiet as a mouse. ?

Symptoms: No more swelling – I’m choking that up to working my tail off last week. My lower back is starting to hurt by the end of the night, but that’s about it.

Food cravings: No more consistent cravings. But I am noticing that I'm getting hungrier faster. I still don't eat a lot at each meal, but I am all about the 5-6 meals/snacks a day.

Gender: A Little Lady.

What I Miss: Nothing really.

What I'm Looking Forward To: My baby shower. OK – it’s like over 3 weeks away, but the invitations went out this week so I'm excited for it. Here they are:

I designed them … I know, but I’m a designer and couldn’t bear the thought that someone else would be doing it.

Oh and a week before my shower is our 3D ultrasound. So I’m excited about that too!

Weekly Wisdom: Back to my age old advice, drink lots of water!

Milestones: I’m in the third trimester!

Emotions: I’m feeling pretty good. I think the daylights savings helps. I love that I can still leave work at 6-6:30 and it’s still light out. Tomorrow it’s suppose to be 75 degrees! I can’t wait!!!!

27 weeks

How Far Along: 27w

Size of baby: Month 6 (25w - 28w)– Baby is the size of an eggplant, 13.6 - 14.8 inches long and weighs about 1.5 - 2.2lb.

27 w - She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, her brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. I should chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements I may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so I should just relax and enjoy the tickle.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants. Although I am finding that some of my shirts aren't long enough anymore. Not so much for the belly, but for the low rise maternity jeans I have. :)

Weight Gain: Ugh. Up 13-14 lbs.

Belly:

Stretch Marks: Nope, not yet.

Sleep: I actually slept last night. I was so tired. But woke up early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep.

Best Moment of the Week: Feeling her have the hiccups. It was really cool.

Movement: She has been lazy the last few days. I think because I have been so busy and on the go, that I'm just not realizing that she is moving around.

Symptoms: I believe I have started a little swelling around the ankles. I'm drinking water like crazy - not that I wasn't before - and originally was going to reduce salt, but after reading WTEWYE last night and I saw that actually adding in salt helps reduce swelling. Interesting.

Food cravings: No more consistent cravings.

Gender: Still a vagina ... I hope.

What I Miss: Nothing really.

What I'm Looking Forward To: This weekend I have a bachlorette party in Baltimore. I'm so looking forward to being the only sober one there. (can you pick up on the sarcasm?) No, seriously, it should be a good time.

Weekly Wisdom: Keep a foot stool underneath your desk so you can elevate your feet while working.

Milestones: In a few days, I'll officially be in the third trimester - according to p.regnology dot com.

Emotions: Feeling blah. Nervous about the glucose test tomorrow. Work is busy. Wish I felt her move more. I feel tired all the time. I just want to close my eyes for days. Can you tell I'm a big ball of complaints? I think I really need the warm to roll in and the sun to come out!

"Violet, you look like a blueberry!"

Hello swelling, I knew you would come. It's not really bad at all, but I am starting to see the early signs of swelling.

I’ve been working 10+ hr days the last week or so and then going to meetings after work for the nonprofit I work with. I thought on Monday when I took my shoes off that I could see a very small amount of swelling around my ankles, but I couldn’t be sure. And then last night after being in heels for 14 hours, I got home, took my shoes off and there was definite swelling. I immediately started housing water and even though it was 10:30 at night and wanted to go to sleep ASAP, I laid in bed with my legs elevated above my waist. I googled on ways to reduce ankle swelling – drink water, elevate feet, don’t cross legs (guilty), sleep on left side, reduce salt (yikes that’s all I want), and massages (C better be all over this).

I understand that this comes with the territory and that there are going some unfavorable effects from being pregnant, but I think because I’ve had such an easy pregnancy so far, I’ve tricked myself into thinking I’m going to get away scot free. For instance, my weight gain has been really good for the first 20 weeks of the pregnancy so I was thinking, hey this is great! I was hanging around the 8lb mark. Everyone kept saying how amazing that was … well now, a mear 7 weeks later, I’m up 5-6 lbs. I’ve almost doubled my entire weight gain for half a pregnancy in 7 weeks. I know that weight gain is a given with pregnancy, but I’m concerned b/c I was overweight to begin with and nervous that I will eventually just turn into a rolling ball with hands and feet – think Violet from Willy Wonka. Haha.

Now don't get me wrong. I love being pregnant. It's the thing that I have probably worked my hardest at and will definitely be the most rewarding. So if that means I gain 100lbs and look like I have an allergic reaction for the next three months, then so be it. But I need to start documenting all support for the guilt trip I'm going to give Peyton when she's a teenager and raising hell. LOL.

I Dreamed a Dream ...

Today was the perfect lazy Sunday, rain and all - although I was pretty busy ... did a photo shoot with my BFF's two kids, had a nonprofit committee meeting and then did a bunch of laundry. But I ended - or am ending - my evening with a little treat.

I was flipping through the channels and came upon a little guilty pleasure. A public access channel is playing a concert of the 25th anniversary of Les Miserables. This play, these songs hold such a special place in my heart.

This was the very first Broadway show my mother brought me to. I was 16. We took the bus in - there were these specials my mother would find. We went with my aunt and my cousin, whom is born on the same day as me, same year. If I'm not mistaken, it may have been for our 16th birthdays. We ate lunch at what I assumed was a fancy restaurant at 16. (I'm sure it was just a regular place.) I was so excited to see a "Broadway Play!" The first act was amazing. The set, the people, the costumes, the VOICES. I was in awe. However, close to the end of the first act, I started to not feel very well. This was the start of a LONG battle with stomach problems - uclers, IBS, gastritis would become my future even to this day. I held out until the first act finished and hightailed it to the rest room. Unfortunately, I never left there. I spent the entire second half of the play in the bathroom, crying in pain and out of sadness --- see they play the music as it happens, throughout the bathrooms and lobbies, so I hear the beautiful voices and applause, but wasn't able to see it. I finally made it out - for the last 10 minutes and I stood in the back of the theater.

My mother felt terrible for me so she bought me the CD of the music. I would play it over and over - singing Eponine's, sometimes Fantine's parts. As we grew up we saw a few more shows as a family - Phantom of Opera, The Chorus Line, Miss Saigon to name a few. But we never went to see Les Miserables again.

Many years later, a dear friend of mine surprised me with tickets to Les Miserables. I couldn't believe it. It felt so unreal that I was going to be able to see it 7 years after my first attempt. It was everything I thought it would be and soooo much more. And not long after we went, it closed after 16 yrs in New York. (however, it did open for a very limited time in 2006 and I think it still runs in London) I was so thankful for my friend's thoughtfulness - she knew how much I loved this play - despite not seeing the whole thing. And the fact that I was able to see it before it closed on Broadway was such a gift - a gift I will hold onto forever.

As I've gotten older, C and I have seen more shows and I have enjoyed them tremendously, but nothing will ever replace Les Miserables as my favorite play ever. (Rent comes in second.)

This was a great way to end the evening for me. Waiting for C to come home from a business trip, singing along with the actors. "Do you hear the people sing ... "

I'm sure Peyton is not overly thrilled that I've been singing for the past hour or so ... or she is going to come out singing "I dreamed a dream in time gone by. When hope was high. And life worth living ..." :)

26 weeks

How Far Along: 26w

Size of baby: Month 6 (25w - 28w)– Baby is the size of an eggplant, 13.6 - 14.8 inches long and weighs about 1.5 - 2.2lb.

26 w - Baby is inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. She now weighs 1.75 lbs and measures 14 inches from head to heel.

Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants. Although I am finding that some of my shirts aren't long enough anymore. Not so much for the belly, but for the low rise maternity jeans I have. :)

Weight Gain: I got on this morning and I'm up 12 lbs. I know that's still good in comparison, but I have to admit it's still shocking when I get on the scale and it keeps going up.I hope I hold at 12 lbs until my next appt.

Belly: I think I popped a little bit.

Stretch Marks: Nope, not yet.

Sleep: I couldn't get to sleep last night. I just laid there. C is away on business again. Whereas once my bed was super comfortable when he wasn't there, now I'm just feeling alone in bed.

Best Moment of the Week: I really don't have a best moment this week - actually this week has kind of sucked (not in baby sense - but work and responsibility sense)

Movement: She is moving. I wish she was a little stronger so C could feel her whenever she kicks. It's only a few times now that he has felt her.

Symptoms: Same ole', same 'ole - allergy symptoms, leg cramps, etc.

Food cravings: No more consistent cravings.

Gender: Still a vagina ... I hope.

What I Miss: Nothing really.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Getting the NEW crib in and starting to put together the nursery.

Weekly Wisdom: C and I ordered a crib and changing table online thinking it would match furniture we already had. I got the call last Friday that they were in. Well this is the reason you shouldn't purchase furniture online ... it was completely a different color than the picture showed. It was more a cherry wood than an espresso wood. C put both pieces together and I sat in the room with the biggest sourpuss on my face. He wasn't happy with them either. I bought these cute yellow bins to put under the changing table however when I put them under this one, they looked terrible! So after all that, we went back to BRU with a shelf from a current piece of furniture we had in that room and went through trying to match the color. We finally found a crib ... but they didn't have a changing table in the set, so C grabbed a changing table from another set and brought it over to the crib. The color matched. So we left Sat nite with a changing table and another crib ordered. Then we took apart the original crib and table and returned it. Ugh. Moral of the story, Don't order furniture online.

Milestones: In 11 days, I will be entering my third trimester! Where has the time gone?

Emotions: I kind of went through a little funk this past week or so. It may have been from my grandmother, may have been from C being gone, or I'm just chalking it up to pregnancy hormones. Either way, I'm in desperate need of laughter and smiles.