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Way behind!!!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011 - Posted by Danielle at 4:24 PM
Wow...between the holidays and everything that's been going on, I have gotten way behind on blogging!! Sorry to all of you faithful blog-checkers! :)

So...this is update for weeks 29, 30 and 31!

Let's see...at this point, let's just say things are getting increasingly uncomfortable! I really can't complain; I've had some not-so-great symptoms, but nothing extreme. So far the biggest struggles have been sleep (but that's been an issue for weeks now!), heartburn (that recently came back...thank goodness for Tums!), and worst of all has been rib pain. On my right side, I've been having rib pain for about a month now that starts in the center up front and wraps all the way around to the middle of my back. That's been getting to me the worst. I've definitely been more tired lately which is a bummer because I think I've also been nesting a bit too. Those two don't go so well together...having a ton of things that I want to get done around the house, but no energy to do any of it!!

We've had 2 appointments since my last posting. Three appointments ago, we were worried about the weight gain. I had gained 20 lbs in 2 months. I had been eating as healthy as I knew how and been watching everything closely, so the midwife had reassured us that I would probably just be one that gains up front and then towards the end, it tapers back down. Sure enough, at my last appointment, I had gained only 2 lbs!! HOORAY!!! I had another appointment today and when Mark and I were sitting in the waiting room ready to go in, I said, "Let's make this interesting...if I've gained 5 lbs or less in the last 2 weeks, we stop at McDonald's for french fries on the way home!" I got up to the scale, took my coat off, purse off, sweater off and luckily, I'd gained only 3 lbs!! HOORAY AGAIN!!! We walked back to the room and the midwife was in the hall; she said to Mark, "How'd we do!?", Mark told her 3 lbs and I told her that that meant we get to go to McDonald's on the way home! She laughed and covered her ears and then said, "Well, at least you're goal oriented...and I do love those McDonald's french fries!!!"

Baby has been looking good at both of the last appointments; measuring perfectly for February 25th and heartbeat and everything sounds good. She said that at this point, Adilyn has just about completely turned to head down. I remember hearing about that whole process awhile back and thinking, "Wow...when she's head down we're going to be really close!!" Well...we're here!!

We also finished up our childbirth class last week. The course was a combination of the Brio-birth and Bradley-birth methods and in the end, gave us about 35 hours of training. It was 10 weeks long, about 3-3 1/2 hours each class and well worth it. We learned a ton, hopefully tucked some great strategies, tips and coping techniques into our back pockets and will be prepared for February! We aren't taking any other classes, but did get registered for the tour at the hospital on January 16th. Whew...we're getting close!

Mark is officially done with Fall semester now and on break. I finally feel like I have my husband back!! It was a stressful semester, that's for sure and he is very much in need of this well-deserved break. Mind you, I've got a few projects lined up for him to get done for Adie in the meantime! :)

We had a wonderful Christmas; very busy, but lots of fun. We had said that for this Christmas, we didn't want presents for us, if anyone was going to buy anything, just get us stuff for Adie since that's what we really needed. Well my grandma, parents and uncle spoiled us with lots of things for Adie; receiving blankets, bottles, pacifiers, outfits, stuffed animals, gift cards, etc. and we are so grateful!!

I think that's about it for weeks 29-31. Tomorrow Mark and my dad are going to build the bookshelf for Adie's room...I'll have to post pictures of that next week.

Hate this picture....


Can you believe how dark my hair is getting!? I hope it will go back to blonde once I'm not pregnant...




Keep forgetting to add these...stage 3 of the four preggo cousins and a pic of all of the cousins together:

THIRD TRIMESTER!!

Sunday, December 11, 2011 - Posted by Danielle at 11:14 AM
We are down to the final trimester!! This week marks 28 weeks!! It's been a good week - Adie is continuing to move and roll around a ton. A few nights ago, we sat on the couch for 5 minutes or so watching my stomach roll from side to side and pulse with little kicks!! It was so cool, but about 3 minutes into it, I said, "I can't watch it anymore!!" It's a little creepy or as a friend put it "alien-esque"!! We're pretty convinced that she's started to turn; the midwife said it wouldn't long and with the new patterns of her kicks and the spots she's been in this week, maybe...

Mark finished up his final week of school last week and this week is finals. I'm not sure who is more excited to have this semester done with!! Between taking on 18 credits, commuting to school and hour each way 5 days a week, not getting enough sleep because of homework, childbirth classes, the stressful Emma situation, a pregnant wife and job interviews all in the mix...it's time for this semester to be done!!!! This Thursday - we can't wait!!

27 Weeks

Sunday, December 4, 2011 - Posted by Danielle at 8:41 AM
It's been a good week! I've been feeling really good and Adie has been moving a ton!! We had our doctor's appointment on Monday - that was a little rough. My weight gain at the last appointment had me a little nervous, but they didn't seem to mind. This time, I had gained quite a bit again and we talked with her about it. We went over diet and she said everything sounded good. I've been trying so hard to eat very healthy, avoid "snacky" foods and make sure that my snacks are nutritious. I told her what I've been eating and she had no complaints. At this appointment, I had to do the glucose test for gestational diabetes. She said she thought it was either going to come back positive or else based on how my diet sounded, maybe I had just hit a "growth spurt" and now the weight gain could taper off. She said it's hard to determine how things will go when it's a first pregnancy because there is no history to base it off of. We got a little nervous about the possibility of gestational diabetes and what all that would mean, but in the end, results came back and she said that my blood work was well within normal and looked great. At this point, we're going to wait until the next appointment and see how things look then.

At the end of the appointment, it was time to hear baby's heartbeat and she had Mark do the doppler which was fun. He found the heartbeat right away and as soon as he started rolling it around, she started kicking back really hard!! We would hear the stead "bump, bump, bump" of the hearbeat and then a really LOUD bump from the kicks!! It was very fun. It seems like we've been able to get her to respond to things more lately -whether from the light of a flashlight, Mark talking to her, playing guitar, etc. and it's fun to be able to "interact" with her now.

It's been a week of adjustment for us as well. Mark's mom ended up taking Emma and it had been a hard transition, mainly for me, Emma & Sailor. Mark has been ready to be free from her for awhile now, but considering how much she truly is MY cat, it's been very hard for me, and Sailor was an extremely depressed little puppy the first couple days. In the end, it wasn't working out over at Carol's either and we are going to have to have her put down next week once Mark is done with school and has time to handle it. It's a very hard situation because she truly is a wonderful cat...for me. Anyone else though, she is so territorial and so scared that she ends up coming across as a mean, scary cat. We talked with a neighbor who is a vet and she said that unhealthy cats aren't always just "health issues". In Emma's case, she said she thinks there are some mental illnesses that no matter what work you try to do with her, it's never going to go away. I know we're doing the right thing now and I have a peace with it. It's just hard through the process of it though. I will be glad when Emma is out of the misery of being moved and shuffled around and no longer has to be the scared kitten that she is now. It will be best for her, and in the end, I know it's best for us and our family as well. I love her very much though.

Mark had a very good week; he had another interview with Stryker that went WONDERFUL. He met with a lady to discuss what kind of a position he really wants there, because while the other internship didn't work out, they knew that they wanted to bring him on, but wasn't sure where to place him. Through that interview, we basically found out that if the other internship he originally was going for had panned out, even if he did a killer job at it, in the end, they wouldn't be able to guarantee any sort of employment...not because he didn't do well, but just because the positions aren't available. They are now talking about getting him lined up for possibly a spring, if not summer, internship as a buyer working with different customers and suppliers. This position is in high demand and they are constantly bringing on new buyers so the possibility of employment at the end of it sounds far more promising. At this point, he will be going in once this semester finishes up to do a job shadow with a buyer for a couple hours. Then after that, we'll get things hopefully lined up for an internship and be able to go from there.

I also had a chat with my employer this week about future decisions. He wanted to meet for breakfast to go over our plans as we had in the past, and I let him know that as of now, there's really no definite plans that I could clue him in on. We met anyway and it went very, very well. My work is going to be going through major transitions in the next 18 months or so; losing one employee, me on maternity leave and who knows what after that, and 3 employees retiring...all in an office of only 7 people!! Basically, I came away from our meeting feeling great about where I'm at with it. I have been as up front with them on my desires and what we do have figured out for our "plans" as I can be and have left nothing a secret. At this point, I'm clueing him in as soon as I know anything different. We also got talking about the potential possibility, based on all the changes coming up, of me being able to do some part time work from home. While I'm not holding my breath or getting excited about that working out since they are still very much in the planning stage of things, it could be great if it does end up being an option.

Think that's it for week 27!!