28 weeks "There's a whole lotta baby in here"

Hello 3rd trimester!  The 28th week marked our first baby shower, a girls weekend, and an attempt to buy a chair for the baby room.  And speaking of the baby room....all it needs is the chair and a couple more DIY art projects to be completed.

First up, the chair attempt.  After going to 7 different stores last week, we were more than a little discouraged about finding something reasonably priced that we liked.  I of course found the perfect chair over at Pottery Barn Kids for the almost-a-good-deal-if-I-were-supersupersupersuper-rich price of $999.  Needless to say, we weren't even considering one of these as an option, just something to compare other chairs to.  I stopped at Babies R Us after work one day and finally found one that I liked almost as much as the PBK options.  I also happened to have a 20% off coupon that I could use.  But.  Do you think they could have it in stock in the store? No.  Do you think the warehouse could have it in stock? Of course not.  Do you think Babies R Us allows you to order one on back order to then be called when it comes in? No way Jose.  Why this is, is beyond me.  So, the only option I had was have another store ship one in their stock to the Madison store, which I was then told was risky because it doesn't always work out... meaning some lazy ass doesn't put it on a truck ever.  So I'm crossing my fingers this last hopeless option works.  I'm going to give it two weeks and if I don't hear from them, I'll order a different one.  I already found a couple online that are rated really high (from another store...I'm kind of not trusting Babies R Us' customer service at this point) for a little more $$$, but not too much, like only $50 or so.)

Second up, my girls weekend with all my best college girlfriends.  The nine of us hadn't been all together since March 2009, that's 3 1/2 years!  We used our time together to eat A LOT of food, and honestly just have a lot of hanging out/chatting/catching up time. :)

7 out of 9 of us at dinner Friday night at The Great Dane Restaurant in Madison.

(Laura, Evans, Courtney, Britt, Nicole in the back row. Briana, Baby G, Moi, and Baby K in the front)

And they were all wonderful enough to allow my baby shower be held over the same weekend, since we were all going to be in the same place at the same time.  And it was in a word.... amazing/exquisite/awesome/perfection. :)  A few of my closest Madison friends were able to attend too, which plopped the icing on the cake.  I (and Matt) could not have asked for a more wonderful shower for our little boy.  Nicole and Courtney planned a Dr. Seuss theme which was perfect for my English major dorkiness and Baby K's furniture favorite pastime (aka reading).  And Britt was amazing to host us all at her new house.  All my ladies were sososo generous and wonderful to us.  We are truly blessed. (And those of you who know me, know I do not throw that word around.  Like ever.)

Courtney politely demanded I wear the hat for the gift opening :)

**You can kind of tell by my red cheeks, but I had a seriously awful cold this entire weekend.  It started Thursday night and is still hanging around today (Tuesday). I tried going to work on Monday, but ended coming home sick after about two hours and then slept the rest of the day.  I'm blaming the flu shot I received the week before.**

Not quite figuring out the timer delay on the camera...

Shower attendees (minus Heather and Baby Lane who was a tiny bit of a cranky pants :)  )

All my Winona BH's :)  Finally together again!!!

The baby room is about 90% finished too!  I finally found a furniture configuration I like and finished up the first of two DIY art projects for the walls.  The antique rocker will be replaced with the future baby room chair once that fiasco is figured out.  The dresser used to be an orangey wood color, but I painted it white last week and spray painted the knobs a darker color too.  I'll come back with a full source list of where we got what and the costs at some point.  What do you think??? :)  :)  :)

View from the door.  Crib to the right, closet to the left.

Door to hallway on the far left.

Homemade/Hand-painted "No Monsters Allowed" art print :)

Nursing/Reading corner (new chair and more DIY art on the way soon)

All the girls gave Baby K a book :)

Changing table and toy basket in the corner.  Closet on the right.

Refinished dresser!

We put the dresser in the closet for a few reasons, mainly because there isn't a ton of wall space in the room, but also because the closet is HUGE.  It spans the entire length of the room and a little boy obviously won't need that much space for quite some time.  So for now, this 1/3 of the closet is a nook (with the other 2/3 still behind closet doors for storage)  We're going to paint the closet walls to match the rest of the room too.

28 weeks along (3rd Trimester!)

xoxo,

Matt, Steph, and Baby K

***Weekly words of wisdom:  When you're 28 weeks (or 7 months) pregnant you will look pregnant 100% of the time.  I repeat, YOU WILL LOOK PREGNANT 100% OF THE TIME.  Sometimes you think you don't look very pregnant (for whatever reason) and then someone makes the comment "There's a whole lotta baby in here!" when your friend and you walk by (your friend is 5 months pregnant).  Realize you look pregnant every second of every day.  And then have another Culver's chocolate milkshake.***

27 weeks "My body is crushing my knee"

Week 27 was pretty quiet.  I was home sick from work on Wednesday after having not slept much Tuesday night and I woke up feeling like I was going to puke, a feeling which lasted into Thursday, but I never ended up getting sick.  I'm thinking it may have been an aftershock from the flu shot I got at the doctor on Monday. It was my first time ever getting the shot, so I didn't know what to expect.  The only side effects I had were feeling pukey and my arm hurting the entire week (including while sleeping on that side).  Oh and I somehow hurt my right knee last weekend and can't figure out how.  And it aches quite badly when I walk downstairs or any kind of downward movement (have you seen our driveway?  Or been to our tri-level house?), so it pretty much hurts all the time. :  /

Matt and I went shopping for a chair for Baby K's room over the weekend.  Well, we tried.  We went to seven different stores on Saturday and didn't find one single contender.  Not even a minor contender.  We're hoping to find a non bulky, somewhat modern looking espresso colored leather/leather-like rocker or glider, for a reasonable price.  Or a Pottery Barn slip covered look.  At first we were hoping to find a rocker/recliner, but realized after a couple stores that we probably wouldn't need the recliner aspect of it.  We found a couple leather recliners in our price range, but they didn't rock.  And in the end I would really like a rocker/glider for nursing...and for story time eventually. :)

This is our final week in the 2nd trimester!  It makes me feel like D-Day is right around the corner.  In two months we'll be at full term (36 weeks) and sometime in that final 9th month, Baby K will come screaming into the world.  We've had a few friends/acquaintances go into labor or be induced weeks before their due date, so we're going to make sure we have everything set and ready to go over the next 6 weeks or so.....yikes/yay!!! :)

We have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks though, all of which will be great distractions from panicking about early labor.  Next week is our first baby shower with all my buddies, the week after we have our family shower, and the weekend after that we're have our maternity photos done with my gorgeous and talented friend Heather (and it's Matt's 30 birthday weekend!).  Not to mention we have our baby classes at the end of October too.  Oh, and my belly grew a half inch over the last week (to 39" now).

27 weeks along

~Matt, Steph, and Baby K~

***Weekly words of wisdom:  Stop being surprised when shirts you wore before you were pregnant are now super tight or don't fit at all now.  Seriously, why even try to see if they still fit?  You're growing a baby who is 2/3 of the way cooked....your pre-pregnancy shirts ARE. NOT. GOING. TO. FIT. YOU. NOW.

26 weeks "Don't I look super pregnant today?!"

A conversation from week 26:

Steph: "Oh my god!  Look at my stomach!  Don't I look super pregnant today?!"
Matt: "You are super pregnant..."
Steph: "Yeah, but don't I look really pregnant today?  Like a lot more than yesterday?"
Matt: "......Well, you are almost 7 months pregnant..." (***I'm willing to bet he was terrified of the conversation at this point)
Steph: "Yeah, but still....look at my massive belly!"
Matt: "............"
Steph: "Let's measure it!"
Matt: "Ok, I'll get the camera"

And this is the result....please turn away if you are grossed out by massive giant pregnant (or not pregnant) bellies.  I'm trying to be super honest on this blog and show the high and low points of pregnancy/mommyhood...this picture will probably end up being a low....and by low, I don't mean my waist size.

BEWARE OF MEGA BELLY!  

HIDE YOUR CHILDREN OR THEY MAY BE EATEN BY THIS BEAST!!!

Ok, now that's out of the way.  But seriously....38 1/2 inches around.  Matt told me to cover my belly button because it's about halfway popped right now and kind of looks like a penis is poking through my stomach.  Super sexy.

We had another doctor appointment this week where I got to hear Baby K's heartbeat again (they do this at every appointment) and it was actually up from his steadfast 140 beats/minute to 155 beats/minute.  He must have been summersaulting around when they checked, because the left side of my belly was substantially higher and more prominent than the right....he tends to favor the left side for some reason.  And when the doctor pushed the Doppler microphone to my belly, he kicked really hard in the exact same spot it was touching me. :)

Speaking of kicking and summersaulting....Baby K has been more active over the last week than every single week combined up until now.  Seriously, sometimes it feel like he's riding a bucking bronco in there.  One side of my belly will jump and then suddenly he's on the completely other side within a second or two.  I think to think he's practicing his David Beckham soccer moves, or maybe Matt's dreams will come true and he'll be a gymnast or synchronized swimmer.  We also had our first case of baby hiccups. :)  I've been waiting very impatiently for the hiccups to happen and early this week I was woken up in the middle of the night from them.  They lasted about 30 seconds and then he went back to sleep.  I usually feel them about once a day, normally at night.

Over the weekend we finally finished painting the baby room.  We also hung the curtains and organized the dresser drawers.  My craziness made me organize all the clothes about 4 different times into piles according to size and type of clothes.....and then put it all into the drawers according to size and type of clothing. I almost did the piles by color, but I drew the line at that because I know they'll all be a disaster once he's here anyway.

The dresser was a gift from my Grandma and Grandpa Bell  to my mom and dad when they were pregnant with me.  I'm actually going to paint it this weekend, so it matches the room better.   Either white or navy, I haven't decided yet.  Thoughts?

Only one more week left in the 2nd trimester...crazy huh?!  I can't believe we're almost 7 months along...and in less that two weeks we have our first baby shower!  Sosososososososososo excited for this!  It's with all of my closest bestest most awesomest buddies and I cannot wait to spend the day with them all. :) :) :)

26 weeks along

Matt was nice enough to take this one as I picked at my nose in between pictures.

xoxo,

M, S, and Baby K 

***Weekly words of wisdom: When putting on lotion every morning....It is MUCH easier to place your foot on the edge of the bathtub than to swing your leg up onto the bathroom counter top.  It would have helpful to discover this weeks (or even months) ago.... ***

24 & 25 weeks "I think my belly grew in the last 10 minutes"

24 weeks found me at the hospital.  Now, don't freak yourselves out because it ended up being nothing.  It all started when I went to the bathroom Sunday morning and I had some spotting.  It was actually a clot about the size of a dime (sorry, TMI).  I figured I would wait and see how the day went before freaking out too much, especially since I had problems with spotting before. The rest of the day I was fine.  Monday morning, dime sized clot. And then I spotted lightly throughout the day.  I figured if I had it again on Tuesday, then I would call the doctor.  When I went to the bathroom Tuesday morning....slightly bigger clot.  So I called the clinic on my morning break (about 9am) and when my nurse called me back, she said that since my doctor was off that day, I should go to OB/GYN Triage at the hospital.  And go ASAP.  (Whenever there is bleeding this far along, it needs to be checked out right away).  So I tried to stay calm (aka not start crying and freak the eff out at work) and left right away.

When I got to Meriter Hospital (where I'll deliver Baby Pepper.  The hospital I work at doesn't have an OB/GYN or Maternity ward; They contract it out through the other two hospitals in town, depending on your insurance you go to one of them to have your baby.  And it's less than a mile away too, which will be nice come December) and was forced by at 200 year old orderly to use a wheelchair to get up to the wing of the hospital I needed.  Which made me feel like a dork since I still had my scrubs on from work.  Anyway, after being registered and checked in, I had an exam with a doctor.  After the exam, she said she didn't find anything abnormal or unusual, it was probably "just one of those things that can happen."  Which frustrated me to no end, but I'll take "one of those things" over a problem every single day.  And go figure, Wednesday morning no spotting at all.

One good thing came out of going to the hospital though, I now know where to go if anything comes up before delivery time again, or even for delivery time.  And I'm all registered with the hospital too, so I won't have to worry about doing that while I'm screaming at Matt and all the nurses.

Matt and I also went shopping for wedding clothes this week, because our friends were getting married the next weekend.  Matt got a new suit (sexxxxxy) and I had picked out a dress at Motherhood Maternity, which I wanted to show Matt before I bought.  I was really excited about it because it was stretchy and fitted, both of which I thought would go well with my bump (since it's quite obvious, but not super super huge yet).  When I showed Matt, the approval I got from him was "Mehhh."  That went over well, let me tell you.  He kept bringing me different dresses to try on, and I think I tried on every single one the store sells.  In the end I wasn't feeling good about any of them, so I bought the one I originally liked and Matt's favorite, knowing I could return the one I didn't wear.  I went back another day and tried a bunch on again, but in the end I went with the one I originally liked, knowing my first choice is usually the one I'm most happy with.

**********

During week 25 we went to Chicago for our friends' wedding, and also treated it like a mini vacation (since we can never take long weekends due to Matt's job).  We went to the Cubs game at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon, where it was 342 degrees outside.  I had to go to the bathroom and roll down the belly band on my shorts and was then left with two giant rings underneath each boob. : /

After the game, everyone went to the Cubby Bear, a bar across from the stadium.  Let me tell you, I had a blast.....not.  It was almost as hot in there as it was at the game, only everyone was TRASHED and sweaty. At one point Matt stepped outside and I was left standing alone holding onto his beer.  Which definitely got me some friendly looks from people.  They would start at my face, look at my belly, look at the beer, back at my belly, and then give me the ultimate stink eye.  So classy.  Matt was also quite adorable when introducing me to different people at the game (wedding guests).  He would first say, "This is my wife Steph," then point to my belly and say "That's my boy in there"....or the always classy, "That's my seed."

On Saturday we walked up and down Michigan Avenue and went to see the bean at Millennium Park.  It was a muggy overcast day, so our sunburns from the game could heal a bit, but we (ok it was just me today) were sweaty messes again.  After the bean and some shopping, we met up with my bestest buddy Courtney and her BF Mike for dinner.  Hang out time was awesome, dinner sucked a big one.  Matt and Courtney were lucky enough to both splatter red tomato sauce all over their shirts. :)

On Sunday (day of the wedding) we went out to breakfast at an aaaaaaaamazing joint called Yolk.  If you have never been GO THERE!  Seriously, I was in heaven and Baby K was kicking up a storm, so I think he was pretty happy with the food too. :)  We did some more walking and shopping on Michigan Ave because Matt needed a shirt for the wedding.

The wedding was on Navy Pier at Crystal Gardens.  So beautiful and really fun.  And let me tell you, being sober at your good friends' wedding, where there is was also an open bar, is almost as much fun as drinking at that same wedding.  Almost.  Luckily we had some of Matt's good friends to hang out (who we don't see very often) so we had a lot of drunk and sober fun. :)  

Haha this wasn't planned, but don't they look so happy to be back together? :)

Monday morning we hopped on the Metra train at 8:30 to start the trek back to Madison.  Matt had to work Monday night for a bit, so we wanted to get home early enough so we could both nap and to spend some time with the puppies.  Who were both so tired from being at camp for the weekend, they both fell asleep within 5 minutes of being picked up.

One thing I will say though, is I'm really starting to feel quite large and in charge almost all of the time.  Just rolling over while in bed is a struggle.  I was really excited I found a dress I liked for the wedding, but being around all the non pregnant girls at the was hard.  I felt like my arms were over taking every picture Matt and I took together.  And that my body and belly kept growing to twice the size it had been the day before.  I know it's part of being pregnant and I honestly love my growing belly (and boobs-whoop!), but getting bigger with each passing moment is still hard some days.  Some, but not all.

25 weeks along

xoxo,

Matt, Steph, and Baby K (who Matt had everyone calling Pepper by the end of the weekend)

***Weekly words of wisdom:  It's ok to leave to go buy flip flops from a nearby touristy store in the middle of a wedding dinner.  Just blame the growing baby in your belly wreaking havoc on your feet.***