30 Weeks

We are down to the last 10 weeks of the pregnancy and everything is looking good. I had a doctor appointment this past Friday and she said all my numbers were looking great and matching up with what the "chart" says. My stomach from top to bottom is 30 centimeters and will gain another 10 centimeters by end.  Apparently I am supposed to gain 1 centimeter a week.  My blood pressure and weight look good and the baby's heart rate looked great at 145.  She says I am having an easy pregnancy...uhm...ok!  I will let her believe that. ;) 

My doctor has asked me to start counting kicks to make sure everything continues to go ok. Of course I asked her what she meant and  she informed me that twice a day for an hour I need to count his movement as I should feel him 4-6 times per hour.  Well, as of right now that is not even a problem because I feel him move 4-6 times in 5 minutes. He is pretty active from 9am - 10am where I swear he is throwing a party for one in my belly.  Then from 10am - noon he is still moving, but not a lot.  He will then move here and there in the afternoon, but then throw another party from 9pm - 10pm. So far (knock on wood) he has not woken me up in the middle of the night with his movement.  I have not had any problems sleeping (knock on wood) and it may be because I am a heavy sleeper or Fred already understands how his mommy cherishes her sleep and he is being a good little boy as to not disturb me.  :)  Either way I am enjoying my sleep while I can.

Pregnant in Vegas

No seven month pregnant girl ever desires to head to Vegas.  I mean, what is there for a pregnant person to do?  You can't drink, walking every where is extremely difficult and the smoke filled casinos is a whole other issue.  I did not go there for good times, but instead I went there for my annual accounting marketing conference.  I blogged about this conference last year, but this time it was slightly different since I was pregnant.

No More Sweat
I was super stoked not to be sweating constantly and worry about SWASS.  The casinos are always cold, but not to me.  It was glorious.  I was in a short sleeved shirt every day and was never cold.  I cranked down my room temperature to 72 degrees and blissfully enjoyed it.  That was a huge highlight of my trip.

Space was an Issue
Space was an issue this year.  I found out very quickly that it was best if I took a seat on the end in each of my sessions.  It was hard for me to squeeze in between the tables and the chairs as I found my belly either knocked into the glasses behind me or bumped the back of the person in front of me as I was passing through.  I learned this after the first session so the rest of the week I tried to get to each session early enough so I could get an end chair.

Walking was a Challenge
As you know when you go to Vegas you walk every where and get great exercise from this.  Normally I enjoy this, but after one day of walking my feet, legs and hips were struggling.  I had to go up to my room before dinner and put my feet up for an hour in order to make it out with fellow marketing professionals.

Early Nights
Who ever thought I would end up in my room at 9:30pm in Vegas?  I never thought that would happen...then I got pregnant.  I was in my room about 9:30 because I was extremely tired and had no desire to go to a bar, suck down smoke and watch my marketing friends enjoy their beverages.  Just was not attractive.  I preferred to head back to my room, put my feet up  on the stacked pillows I created every day and just rest up for the next day.

Bathroom Breaks
As many woman know, mapping out bathroom breaks when you are pregnant becomes a big part of your day and Vegas is no different.   Some of the sessions went longer than one hour (which is usually my max capacity for my bladder) and those sessions were definitely tough on me.  I would sit as close to the door as possible so I could be the first one out and into the bathroom without having to wait in line.  Walking to dinner revolved around bathroom breaks as well.  I felt bad for all of my marketing friends who had to deal with me, but it is what it is.

I did have a nice view from my room of the Bellagio fountains.  Can't complain about that.

Here is a photo of my communications specialist and myself at the AAM Awards event.  I was a big fan of this dress as I found it in the back of my closet and it made my pregnant self feel really good and not huge like most of my clothes do.

Pregnant Bridesmaid

I was honored to be the matron of honor for AJ in her wedding this past Friday.  It was an extremely long day for this 7 month pregnant girl, but I put on my big girl panties and hung out all day and until after 1am.  That is the latest I have stayed up since Christmas.  I am so proud of myself for making the very long day and Andy even told me that he was proud of me and that I hung in there really well.  Maybe that is because he was just so happy he did not have to pay for a cab ride home.  Andy, was also in the wedding as a groomsman. 

Since it was a sweltering 107 degrees out that day this walking heater did struggle with the heat, but I held it together through the ceremony until we got to get back inside where it was much cooler.  I was also extremely uncomfortable in my dress as it didn't quite fit properly, but I didn't expect it too since it was not exactly a pregnancy dress.

We had a great time at the wedding with the bride and groom and all of our closest friends.  I am extremely happy for Mike and AJ as they had a beautiful wedding and AJ looked absolutely AMAZING on her wedding day.  We are glad to have been a part of their big day.

29 Weeks

I am super excited to say this is the last week in the 20's.  Today was exciting because I really got to feel Fred move.  I even felt a body part.  I am not sure exactly what it was, but my guess would be a foot. It was very obvious as he was moving so I put my hand on my belly and it felt like a foot kicking hard.  It was so cool, but weird all at the same time.  I called for Andy to come feel the same thing.  It's so sweet to get to see his face when he feels Fred move.  I look forward to many more of those moments.

Second Trimester Overview

I am officially in my third trimester.  Somedays I think the second trimester was extremely long, but other days I think it went by really fast.  Either way, I am done with the second trimester and moving onto the last third of the pregnancy.  I feel like most things started happening during the 24th week.  That is when I started to REALLY feel the emotional roller coaster, hot flashes and of course the baby.

Movement
I first felt the baby move around the 18th week, but I really didn't know it.  I initially thought the weird movement in my abdomen was just IBS issues because that is what it felt like to me.  After about a week of this and no other IBS symptoms I assumed it had to be the baby moving.  I really started to feel the baby move about week 20, but week 24 is when Andy got to feel him move since it was a lot stronger.  He was waiting and waiting to feel the baby and I kept telling him to be patient.  When it finally happened for Andy to feel the baby move, it was so nice to see Andy's reaction.  It was really sweet to see him in awe of the movement.

Hot Flashes
I know in an earlier post I was excited for the hot summer to arrive and the winter to go away.  I now take that back.  I have never experienced hot flashes before and I have never, ever been so hot in my entire life.  I am hot All THE TIME.  It's ridiculous.  This summer is absolutely making me miserable.  I am just doing my best to keep my body cool, but when it's 110 degrees outside and heat warnings it's becoming more difficult.

Emotional Roller Coaster
I am not an emotional person, but you put a baby inside of me and all of a sudden I am riding the emotional roller coaster with both hands raised high.  I am so up and down and all over the place that I don't even know me anymore.  Poor Andy!  He is not sure how to respond to me.  I had one complete emotional breakdown about week 26 that included all out tears.  This really just stemmed from me being hot ALL DAY LONG.  The heat got to me and I was just upset at how hot and uncomfortable I was.  Andy had never seen me so out of control before that he was just lost and did his best to try and calm me down.  It didn't work.  After my cry fest I felt a lot better and was ready to continue the evening.  Andy didn't even know what to do but ask if I felt better after crying.  Of course I did.  I told him that I am sure that will not be the last one.  Poor guy!

Exercise and Weight Gain
I have gained 16 pounds so far and the doctor says I am right on track with the 25 - 35 pound weight gain.  If I continue with the way I have been going I am looking at a total weight gain of 28 pounds.  I have continued my workouts through the second trimester, but I definitely had to change it up to fit my new uncomfortable body. I quit hiking the mountain about the 23 week mark as it just got way too hot outside and just too difficult for me.  I am doing my pregnancy DVD's by Tracy Anderson and those are really good.  I am also still doing spin classes on Monday nights, but I just keep it light.  I don't go too hard. I listen to my body and slow down when I need to.  I also do my step DVD as well just to mix it up during the week.  My workouts always make me feel better and that is why I continue them throughout the pregnancy.

Food Cravings
People always ask me about any weird food cravings that I have.  I guess the only really weird thing is that I want peanut butter sandwiches every day for lunch.  I crave fruit and chocolate.  I have never had a sweet tooth before, but now I do.  Chocolate sounds good quite often and I like to kill that craving with chocolate frozen yogurt or little Dove bites.  Other than that, I really don't crave anything strange like I have heard other women have.  One thing is that I found I can tolerate foods that I never really could before.  I could not eat anything spicy whatsoever.  What I call spicy is not spicy to other people so most of my food is bland.  For some reason the baby allows me to tolerate spicy food without my stomach getting upset.  It's really weird.  I have also been trying a lot of new foods.  Usually I have to stick to what I know since I have such a sensitive stomach, but I always want something new and never want to eat the same thing over and over again, unless it's a peanut butter sandwich.

Headaches and Heart Burn
As I have said before, I am prone to daily headaches.  I only had two headaches in the first trimester and I have not had one headache in the second trimester.  This is crazy to me, but I am very happy that I don't have to deal with daily headaches too.  I now assume my headaches pre-pregnancy might have something to do with a hormonal imbalance.  Heart burn...where do I start?  I didn't even know what heart burn was until a friend explained it to me last fall when she was pregnant.  I started to feel the same symptoms around week 24.  Pretty much every day at 5pm.  I started to pop a tums as soon as I experience this awesome pregnancy symptom and it goes away.  Hopefully heart burn is only a pregnancy thing and goes away after Fred is born.

Well, I am chugging along towards the finish line and I have approximately 12 weeks to go unless Fred decides to come early.  He better not come late because I will be ready to meet him and get him out on September 1st, if not before hand.

28 Weeks

27 Weeks

Oh man, I am starting to feel HUGE!  I am not saying fat, but I feel like my belly has really grown.  I feel like Fred has tripled in size and I am doomed for a 10 pound baby.  Ok, I just wanted to me dramatic for a second.  Here is your weekly photo.