3rd Trimester Begins!

3rd Trimester Update!

27 weeks 5 days
12 weeks til due date

This week began the third trimester of my pregnancy. And boy does it feel different than the others. Each one brings such a completely different experience. The honeymoon phase of the 2nd trimester, where I would sometimes "forget" I was pregnant and had loads of motivation and energy are waning.


Starting this week, right in time, I guess, I feel really pregnant. When I squat or bend over to pick something up I now feel my belly getting in the way. And when I am on a rowing machine my knees can't come as close as they used to. All these funny little adjustments I am making now to accommodate my growing belly! It is wild. I don't feel any aches and pains yet, still just trying to get through the nights as comfortable as possible. I know this will not get better over the next 3 months so I am just trying to roll with it, and grab a nap when I get really off track with sleep.

It feels like the final countdown really hit at the 100 day mark , but now with it being the last trimester , it seems to add another level of anticipation and excitement. Needless to say my calendar of the next 3 months is packed full. I am taking a infant /baby CPR and first aid class next weekend and baby classes begin next month that Matt and I will go with together. Baby showers, family visits, not to mention, co visit, memorial, special day assembly, etc. I have a wild idea that I am going to try to auxillary pioneer in April, which is my last full month of work taking clients. It is a bit over ambitious, but it may just be a way to get me to start scaling back on my client hours a little early. My really long client days were really tiring this week. Something will have to give , and the only place I see" buying out the time" is with work. It would be the month after Jasmine is baptized and I just think it would be the greatest thing! It would be like running a race, except I can run anymore so this would be my "marathon" month. Like I said, it will be a lot, but I want to do it without over exhausting myself so I am crunching my schedule to see how to make sure I am keeping balanced and healthy here. :)
Lots of super exciting things happening in prep for little Olivia and they are all coming together. Work and such is going smooth with my new esthetician and Jasmine in training right now. They are both super stars and I am so relieved to have them working with me.

Matt is busy nesting too. He refinished the deck chairs, is working on refinishing the deck and re staining it, he planted flowers, and put up a hammock. He is soo excited for his little girl. He says he looks forward to taking a nap in the hammock with her on his chest. Awwww.. I know so sweet. Ok another sweet Matt story.... He was planting his flowers and I was out in the yard chatting with him and found a lady bug on a leaf of course showed him and thought it was the cutest thing. I said " I think we should call Olivia our little "ladybug". I was thinking that I had a pair of lady bug earrings that I wore as a little girl that I loved and just what a sweet little nickname that would be. It seemed to fit her already. Anyway, Matt says, " Oh that's already my name for her." :) I told him that he should share these things, with his outside voice, so I don't go claiming his ideas! I thought is was too cute that he had thought of that and had it all planned out ( in his mind) , so I surrendered the lady bug name to be his little name for her. Adorable!
We still feel her kicking stronger and stronger every day and we both love that. I think she is 2 and a half pounds now and about 16 inches. She is growing strong!

What else??? Oh, I had my test for the gestational diabetes and all went well, no diabetes for me! The drink they have you drink tastes like orange soda without bubbles. Actually sort of tasty. I got a pretty good sugar rush but no crazy reaction or anything. We have our next doctors appt. next week on the 25th, perhaps I will record her heart beat again to compare.

All in all things are great, hopefully more exciting pics later :)

Off to the track work and a study and then to the baby registry today...
lots of love,
Row

3-d Ultra Sound pics

Here are pics from the 3D Ultrasound. It was amazing to see her in "real life".
Doesn't she look like an Olivia?

This first one shows her chubby cheeks and lips.




This top pic a full 2d pic of her doing the macarena.
Below she is sniffing her new fragrance. Eu de womb! ( sorry , it was the doc's joke!)


















Here to the left below she is reaching for the stars and below she is doing some squats.






























Here she is showing off her muscles.













Here she is striking a little pose.






















These are my favorite! To the left she is blowing a kiss! :) and here is our sweet little thing Olivia just being her sweet self all snuggled up.

100 days and counting!

Can you believe it?!!!

Only 100 days to go and Olivia will be here!

Needless to say, I am starting to think about that startling fact becoming a very clear reality, and it is a little nerve provoking. But this is where we must not over think too much right?! Perhaps that is why I am not sleeping well these days??

Matt and I are still beaming with excitement as our little Olivia is sharing her presence with us more and more each day.
Some recent highlights ....

Since I have been feeling Olivia tumbling around regularly since 21 weeks or so.. Matt wanted to feel her even more so. He kept trying to, which he has been doing practically since we took the home test, but to no avail.. Until, February 14th.. of all days, she showed some love to her Daddy and started kicking hard one morning before he went to work. I thought wow, that was a big kick for a little leg. So I grabbed his hand and put it where she was kicking and she pounded away again. I looked over and asked if he felt her and I wish I had a camera to capture his face. It was such a sweet thing. Now she kicks all the time and he can feel her a lot. I can even see her kicking a little. Sometimes I will just zone out watching my belly quiver as she practices her acrobatics.

We got to have a 3d ultrasound at about 24 weeks (just about 2 weeks ago). Now when ever I feel her I can envision what she is doing in there!
The ultrasound was incredible. Mom was in town for the weekend so we scheduled it then. We got a dvd of the entire thing and some pics. She is soooo sweet already and we are so in love with her. It was amazing to get a sense of her little personality even before she is born. She seems very athletic, and photogenic (she seemed to like the camera.. posing a bit), but modest and coy at the same time. She also is a snuggler and liked cozying up inside me. Mom said she has full lips and chubby cheeks and looks a bit like me when i was a baby. I can't wait to see her in person, but this was the next best thing for now. We may visit again next month or so.

When mom was here we also picked out some great fabric for Olivia's room for her bedding and curtains and accessories. Mom was ambitious and I think got pretty excited about sewing such cute things for Olivia! I can't wait to see it all together.



We haven't yet purchased many things yet, as we want to keep things as simple as we can and only get what we need for now. But we will head out shopping soon for the essentials before I get too uncomfortable to want to do that. I have been shopping on e bay for some great baby clothes at great prices... couldn't resist!

Matt filled me in on a great cloth diaper service that delivers and picks up here in our area, so we have that taken care of. I thought it was great that he came home from work one day with the 411 on cloth diapers. :) Adorable!




Sooo, what else... I am still feeling really good, except that I got a cold this week. But other than that, I have had lots of energy and am still working out at Crossfit and and doing my pilates regularly, and a walk here and there. Keeping up with my normal spiritual routine and work. Well, a bit more has been added with work due to getting everything and everyone set up to take my leave. Training, organizing, structuring, etc. ugh, I think that is why I got sick. And I may have a new bible study starting soon too! Things are not really slowing down, but I am excited about it all. My sleep has been consistently interrupted for the last 2 weeks. Olivia seems to be waking me up at 2:30, 4:30 and 6:30 almost on the nose. Lately she has been missing the 2:30 wake up call and letting me go til 4:30. I didn't realize it was her.. I just thought I was restless due to everything on my mind, but then Mom asked if I felt her kicking at those times. I wasn't paying attention previously, since I was so foggy headed, but did just the other night and felt her jammin away, rocking out or something in there! So I think even thought I don't really feel her when I wake up, my body does and all the organs she is bouncing on and I think that is waking me. Oh well, I am glad I have a more flexibility in my schedule these days to be able to roll with it. And a decaf latte here and there helps we through too.
My appetite is pretty constant now. I notice an increase as she climbs the charts to 2 lbs these days! I on the other hand am gaining steadily. It is what it is. I am just eating healthy, but not being overly worried about me feeling hungry (and eating) a lot more often. Olivia is growing some serious parts right now and she needs the fuel I guess. She better have some serious lashes and curly hair with all the energy she is getting from me to grow! I can tell she is growing fast now, as her movements and kicks get stronger and stronger. Still nothing painful though. I do find that I can't just bend over as quick and sudden as I used to without squishing her. So I try to avoid that, but forget sometimes and then quickly remember. A little leg aches here and there, but overall things have been really good and I feel fortunate for that. But I know a bit more discomfort is coming in these last 100 days, especially the final one! Oh my. Can't even go there.



Well... I will for a second. The labor is starting to get me thinking ( worrying a bit) and I really can't imagine anything like it (of course), which is a bit intimidating. But I will just have to face whatever comes, head on (with whatever help I may need) and get my little cracker jack prize in the end.


We have some exciting things coming up soon! The memorial, Jasmine getting baptized, the tract work and attempting to auxiliary with Jasmine in April.
Also 2 of my wonderful friends will be visiting who I haven't seen in months. They will be here in the next month or 2 and then the showers begin and then I leave work, then Olivia comes. Ok, so I guess I don't need to blog any more. It is all wrapped up! Just kidding. I am sure this is where the good stuff begins.

I will post more pics tomorrow of the ultrasound. I think Olivia is sleeping, so I'd better catch up with her!

lots of love!