30 Weeks

 

 



How far along? 30 Weeks

Total weight gain: 26 lbs (but I will get an official number at the Health and Wellness Fair tomorrow!)
Maternity clothes? Maternity clothes all around...wish it were a bit warmer so I could wear flip flops regularly and maxi skirts...still wearing Rob's t-shirts to bed.
Stretch marks? I hate that I have to say this, but yes.  Early last week I thought "hmm...my veins are really purplish" and then upon further inspection in the mirror yesterday I have determined they are indeed stretch marks.  Boo!  I used Wikipedia to confirm this diagnosis and then called my mom to see if she got them.  She didn't remember...but I'm real disappointed in Dr.Palmers!  I've been using that lotion religiously!!  Everything I read says they will fade, but man am I disappointed.
Sleep: Sleeping okay...lots of bathroom breaks still and rolling from side to side. I ditched the body pillow too.
Best moment this week: There were so many great things that happened this week - lots of nursery work (pom poms and paper lanterns), bookshelves installed, and finalizing some maternity photo details.  But, I have to say the prenatal massage I got on Sunday was AMAZING!  Just what I needed!  Also, I have decided Sunday napping should be mandatory. 
Miss Anything? Sleeping through the night, and not being out of breath.  I've really noticed it this week - I can barely climb two flights of stairs without being breathless. 
Movement: Yes!  I love staring at my stomach and seeing all the little movements that are happening.
Food cravings: Eggs (scrambled and hardboiled), popsicles, strawberries and chocolate milk. I also told Rob that I wished there was a Menchi's frozen yogurt place in our backyard.
Anything making you queasy or sick: I'm not sick thinking about it, but Rob really wanted to cook up the cheese ravioli we had from Costco and it just did not sound good.  He made it for himself anyway - but I definitely wanted nothing to do with it.
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Lots of hip pain recently, heartburn, and it's just becoming harder to move around and get comfortable.
Belly Button in or out? still in but really odd looking.
Wedding rings on or off? wedding ring on and still movable.
Happy or Moody most of the time: so very happy! We are getting so excited to meet our baby boy!
Looking forward to:  not one, but two baby showers this weekend!  It just worked out that one is on Saturday and one is on Sunday!  Both are going to be so much fun! 

Weekend Nursery Projects

So...I forgot to take my 30 week picture today.  I think it's because I was so relaxed after my prenatal massage and then my glorious nap - there was really no way anything was going to get done. However, before my lazy Sunday, Rob and I were busy in the nursery.  It all started on Friday night - I had ordered some "tissue paper pom poms" from a lady in Portland, Oregon off Etsy.  They arrived before we left for Phoenix...but I was too intimidated to try and poof them out...so they sat in the nursery for awhile.  Fast forward to Friday - Rob went out to get some hardware for hanging them and I sat in front of the TV catching up on Gilmore Girls (and by catching up I mean, I've watched the series from beginning to end no less than 5 times...but it's so great!!) and poofed the poms!  It was more simple than I thought it would be.  It's basically pulling apart layers of tissue paper and fluffing it out.  We transferred the poofs (8 of them) to the nursery and got to work.  The first 5 went up pretty easy and we were in great spirits!  Unfortunately - as we progressed it got a little more difficult and Rob got a little cranky tired of me lording over him. Ha!  Basically, I sat in the glider and directed him where I thought they should go.  Then, Rob had the unfortunate duty of drilling in the anchor and screwing in the poof so it would suspend in the air. 

(This is what I like to refer to as Rob's "I'm tired of your crazy projects" face!)

 

After about two and and half hours we were finished.  Hooray!  The final product is really cool - the mixing of the colors of the poofs with the Martha Stewart craft line paper lanterns is just what I envisioned.  I think baby boy will love gazing up them!  Toward the end of the evening when we were both growing tired of the poof placement nonsense, I joked that we could probably lighten up because it wasn't as if the baby was going to come out judging our poof placement. Rob said, he predicted that baby boy would be laying in his crib shaking his fist going "those frickin poofs...I can't believe you put that one there". (The small grey one in the corner was giving us some issues). This made us both laugh and laugh...

 

I think the final product was worth it though!

 

The other exciting project that Rob took on was priming/spray painting and installing the bookshelves.  We traveled to IKEA a couple weeks ago to purchase some Ribba picture ledges that we intended to use as bookshelves. Unfortunately, they did not have any in white...so we bought the natural color.  This meant when the weather finally warmed up on Friday that Rob had to prime and spray paint them white.  The garage smelled completely toxic - so I kind of stayed away from the whole project (which was admittedly hard for a control freak like me).  What a surprise though when I came home on Saturday to find that they were completely finished and installed!  I LOVE them!!

I particularly love that Rob put the "Mr. Fix It" book as well as "Bicycling" and "Golf Digest" magazine up on the shelves. :)  ha!  It is my sincere hope that we raise a reader...and can't wait to change out these books (or magazines) each season.  I also love that all these projects are really coming together...lots of love is certainly going into this nursery. 



Meet your future babysitter

Dear Baby,

As you know (from all that kicking you did while we were on the airplane) - we traveled this past weekend to Phoenix Arizona!  I was worried about pretty much everything from ...will I throw up on the plane (like last November) to am I hurting you by traveling this late in the pregnancy to will any of my summer clothes fit?!  However, we overcame and prevailed in true Hauck fashion :)  One of the best parts of travel this time was Southwest airlines let me have a "medical preboard" pass.  With this golden ticket, your dad and I literally boarded the plane before anyone else. #winning  This also allowed me to pick an aisle seat, make friends with the airline stewards/stewardesses, and be two steps from the bathroom.  It was SO amazing...I can basically never go back to "B" boarding group again.  (Also, there was a dad carrying his screaming 18 month old on the plane offering everyone ear plugs and free drink tickets...perhaps we will need to be doing this in a couple months??)

We flew into Phoenix on Thursday night and basically spent the next four days soaking up the sunshine, hitting the outlet malls, enjoying some fine Mexican cuisine, your dad hit the golf course, and I turned 31 (or 29 forever as I like to call it).  Memaw and Pops (to be featured at a later date) were a little tied up with with your Great Grandma Noelle (she's 90!)...but we made the best of things and your Uncle Nick and Aunt Cassie really helped us have lots of fun!

One of the best parts of the trip was hanging out with your cousin Charlotte!  It's crazy to believe that I met this sweet girl when she was just 4...she was adorable then and has grown into quite the little lady over the past four years.

(Charlotte circa December 2009)



(Charlotte making cookies December 2010)

 

(Charlotte as the flower girl at our wedding April 2011)

 

Over the course of our stay we got to hang out with Charlotte so much!  Some of my favorite memories were:
-Meeting her hamster Butterscotch...who we both agree is the cutest thing ever
-Shopping for new clothes at the outlet malls and spending what your dad might argue is too much at my new favorite store (and Charlotte's) Naartjke.
-Dining together at Sauce, YogurtBerry (mutual love of frozen yogurt and toppings bar of course) and El Encanto (Charlotte has quite the sophisticated palette and loves mint chocolate chip ice cream just like your dad)
-Seeing her go from very wobbly on her new skateboard (a Valentine's gift) to a very skilled boarder  (again...something she has in common with your dad??? His skateboard is still hanging in the garage)
-Coloring together...I mean who doesn't love coloring?  It's my jam.  Charlotte loves all kinds of crafts...I see some scrapbooking in her future!
-Exploring the Phoenix Zoo - we decided to visit on Sunday... Charlotte talked non stop the whole way there and has so much energy (wish I could bottle that up right now).  Her and Uncle Rob climbed the tower to look out over all the African animals. Very sweet :) 
-She also likes to randomly grab my hand and hold it - it pretty much melts my heart
-And over the course of the weekend she suggested no fewer than 100 names for you baby!  Some of her favorites were Toby, Woody, Bubba, and Tony. Clearly we are considering all of those.



(Living it up at the Phoenix Zoo ~ 2013)



Needless to say - I think you two are going to get along just great.  She will be a great pal to you!  She will teach you soooo much (how to stay in the lines when coloring, how to skateboard...heck she may even give you a violin concert..and she is learning Madarin at school right now)! She can't wait to meet you and I can't wait for you to meet her :)  The only thing left for me to do is convince Uncle Nick and Aunt Cassie to move just a wee bit closer....say Mason, Ohio (where Cintas is head quartered??!!) Good times ahead indeed.

True Love is...

coming home from work after being gone for the long weekend with no time for grocery shopping and finding your refrigerator stocked with chocolate milk (the only grocery your husband bought at the store). 

 

And then I drank about half of it! :) 

29 Weeks

 

How far along? 29 Weeks

Total weight gain: 25 pounds
Maternity clothes? oh for sure :)  Nearly everything I wear is maternity (minus the top I'm wearing in the above picture...I just like the baseball tee look).  I bought a really cute maxi skirt and dress from old navy that I plan on wearing A LOT when the temps start cooperating!  I've also taken to wearing one of Rob's t-shirts at night with my pajama bottoms.
Stretch marks? none on my belly!
Sleep: blah...boo...stinko..yeah I'm not sleeping great at ALL.  I wake up almost every two hours to pee and I'm just not staying asleep for long periods of time.  This is so weird for me because I've always been a great sleeper :( 
Best moment this week: another great doctor's appointment - I love my doctor.  She is so nice and always makes me feel good about myself - she said my blood pressure, weight, and measurements all look right on track.  She said if people are giving me a hard time about looking further along than I am that it's only because I was short/petite to begin with....the weight is pretty much all going to my belly (and maybe boobs :)  Also - Rob got me a sweet gift for Valentine's day...the tissue paper pom poms arrived in the mail...and I turned 31!
Miss Anything? being able to do anything without getting out of breath (taking laundry upstairs, leading walk at work, bending over, painting my toenails etc.) I definitely also missed drinking wine while we were in Arizona...so jealous of the bottles going around! 
Movement: lots of movement -- even when we were on the plane to and from Arizona (which was very reassuring).
Food cravings: still chocolate milk all the time - I even bought myself some to take to work and put a sign on that said "Carrie Hauck's chocolate milk - don't drink - I'm pregnant!"  Hopefully that scares people off :)  Sweets of any kind (Grandpa Jim sent a box of See's candy for Valentine's day and I may have immediately eaten the chocolate/carmel marshmallows covered in dark chocolate right away).  Also had some frozen yogurt in Arizona and now I've been thinking of ice cream and yogurt non stop! Oh and anything SOUR!
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!

Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: A little bit of heartburn/acid reflux, not sleeping, and some bathroom issues :(
Belly Button in or out? still in but looking more weird by the day
Wedding rings on or off? wedding ring on - but it was really tight when we were traveling over the weekend (maybe just the heat in Arizona?)
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!  It was so good to hear baby boy's heartbeat today and hear that I was healthy -- I can't wait to meet him!!!  And, I'm trying to stay organized about everything...meeting pediatrician's this week and pre-registering at the hospital.
Looking forward to: Putting more finishing touches in the nursery...showers with families and friends...and washing more baby clothes this weekend!



So...we're certified parents now!



Well...maybe not - but we did take Baby Care Basics last night!  While I may have waited a bit too long to register for the child birth classes, apparently I was on the ball with this one...as everyone else in the class seemed to be due within the month.  And for sure I was checking these other moms out...mostly just to compare my belly size with theirs.  I don't know why I'm obsessed with this.  Maybe I'm just paranoid I'm getting huge?  Which I know is supposed to happen, but everytime someone looks at me I just think "do they think I'm about to give birth tomorrow"?  Anyway -- back to class...

In typical Carrie fashion, I picked a little fight with Rob over his clothing choice before even leaving for class.  He may have been wearing the same flanel shirt I seem to wash weekly...with the same work boots that he knows I hate.  And I may have said he was dressed like a "lumberjack".  I don't know...maybe these things happened :)  Rob retorted with - "do you think the baby cares how I'm dressed".  Well, no probably not - but I do!  Geez, just writing this I want to tell myself to relax.  Fast forward to arriving at class.  There are 8 couples in class - only 2 (one of them being us) have husbands with them.  So then, I feel like a real jerk - I mean at least Rob wants to come with me and is supportive and get me hummus every week (it's the little things really).  I literally start to tear up as the lights dim for the powerpoint, because honestly, I would not want to ever do this alone.  I'm so grateful Rob is with me (and I give his hand a little squeeze). 

So, I already know that this baby business is not for the faint hearted - but the first video we watch on the importance of "kangaroo care" immediately after the baby is born, is REALLY graphic.  Like, I'm gripping the sides of my chair and uncomfortable at the thought that what is happening in the video is about to happen to me in oh, about 11 weeks.  We are all up in lady town on these women and the baby is crowning and they pull it out and put it on mom's chest.  There are boobs everywhere (again, to be expected) but I feel like my eyes are going to pop out of my head!!!  Thankfully the video didn't last that long and the nurse quickly moved on to other topics. 

We moved on to "first impressions of your newborn" - which I'm glad they covered because there are so many weird things that can happen to affect the appearance of the baby which are totally normal (but had no one told me...I might freak out).  Things such as, your baby might have a fine hair all over their body, to they might look cross eyed and even have super dry scaly feet and hands from being in a water environment for the last 40 weeks.  Also - apparently I will be releasing a burst of hormones right before birth that can make our baby's genitals swell. 

Another hand's on portion of the evening was practice diapering!  First of all, we had to look in our "practice baby's" diaper (and no mom, they weren't real) and make sure we had the right one according to what we would be having. So, we peeled the diaper back and were greeted with the smallest penis I've ever seen!  ha!  Rob stepped up and went first - we wiped down with a wet wash cloth (which you are supposed to use instead of wipes for the first two weeks) - front to back - and carefully mind you, around a circumcised penis :)  Make sure you have a clean diaper ready (as well as everything else you would need to complete this lovely task) - and quickly lift the baby's legs, pull out the old diaper, and replace with new.  It's important to get it snug - but not too snug-- and you have to fold it down while the umbilical cord is still healing.  So many things to remember!!  And, if I'm being honest, taking care of a tiny penis, is a little intimidating! I'm definitely going to be putting Rob in charge of monitoring that.  :)  We also got to look at some lovely pictures of the consistency of baby poo for the first few weeks -- good reference I suppose. 

Other topics we covered in that short 2.5 hours were
-the importance of tummy time (even when they are a newborn)
-back is best (never put your baby on their stomach when sleeping) - and apparently Halo sleep sacks are the way to go
-the possibility of a colic baby scares the crap out of me!  They will cry for longer stretches of time - to the point where this is the leading cause of shaken baby syndrome.  Note - if this happens, put the baby in the crib and call someone to talk me off the ledge
-babies will actually give clues about everything - when they're tired, when they're hungry, when they want your attention etc. -- again - must relax and look for clues!
-breastfeeding may be hard/uncomfortable//i will likely want to give up - but it's so worth it for the baby!  The benefits are endless...so I may as well give it my breast best :) haha

Mostly, the nurse stressed the fact that the first few weeks will be overwhelming.  Rob and I must work together as a team and communicate.  I must be respectful of everything he is feeling and vice versa.  I have a very type A personality - I like to be in control of EVERYTHING! I need to recognize that I won't be able to be supermom (right away) -- so the laundry may pile up, the bathrooms may need to be cleaned, and I might not get dinner ready for awhile.  But, none of that is really important.  Sooner or later, things will return to a sort of normalcy.  I want to be able to really saok in our newborn boy and love on him (and my husband) and our new family of 3. 

I guess all it takes is two and half hours for them to completely certify us as qualified parents!  One thing is for sure - I'm reminded everyday that we are so lucky to have this new little man joining our life in 11 weeks.  And, I'm really lucky that Rob will be there (regardless of whether he is wearing flannel, plaid, or paisley).  Now, here's hoping he remembers that Shamrock Shake on the way home from bowling!!

28 Weeks

**Picture was retaken...even while I was 28 weeks!  Winning!

How far along? 28 Weeks

Total weight gain: I'm going to say 23 pounds - but really I'm a little frightened to get on the scale.  It's weird to keep seeing the numbers go up when for the last 10 years I'm tried to get the numbers to go down!
Maternity clothes? All maternity clothes at this point.  The one pair of jeans I have are from Motherhood Maternity and are working out great.  I have lots of maternity tops - and some regular tops that I've ordered in a larger size.  I'm anxious for the warmer weather so I can start wearing some maxi skirts!
Stretch marks? none on my stomach!  I'm still slathering on the lotion like it's my job...so hopefully that's helping. 
Sleep: not great - still waking up 2 times a night to go to the bathroom.  And this week I had the added bonus of of lots of heartburn....boo!
Best moment this week: well...I'm officially in the third trimester - so that's pretty exciting!  We hung all the artwork in baby boy's room - and Rob let me open my birthday gift early and it was the diaper bag I really wanted!  And, he got me the grey knitted floor poof too!  (We found it at world market and it goes like a foot stool with the glider - makes it look more personalized).  hooray! 
Miss Anything? Bending over comfortably -- definitely asked Rob more than once to tie my shoes this week! ha!  And there is no way it would be comfortable to paint my toes right now! 
Movement: all the time, especially at night, which I hear is common.  They say you should do "kick counts" starting at 28 weeks to monitor the baby's movement.  While I'm trying not to stress out about it - I'm also trying to be aware of all the movement in case I notice anything strange.
Food cravings: I could literally drink chocolate milk all day every day.  I'm still loving the hummus at Greek Express and strawberries too!  And, still popsicles every night.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really - though this morning after eating two donuts and then running to Target with my mom and Rob...I didn't feel so good.  Barely made it home in time to throw all that up.  I'm wondering if it was too much sugar?  Too much grease?  Not sure...but donuts definitely don't sound good. Thankfully I took a nice nap and my mom nursed me back to health...haha!
Gender: Boy!
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Lots of heartburn and I swear I have restless leg syndrome late at night....some hip pain in the morning.  All in all though - not too much to complain about. 
Belly Button in or out? in...but hanging on for dear life (for which I'm thankful)
Wedding rings on or off? wedding ring on and still movable.  I can easily take it off still.  Engagement ring off.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy - I had a great pre-birthday weekend in Dayton with family.  Everyone was so generous with their gifts!  I also have a very thoughtful husband - we survived a trip to IKEA with no major arguments and we bought a cute cart for the nursery (that he has already put together) and two new chairs for the island!  Yay!
Looking forward to: Our trip to Phoenix!  We leave Thursday to go see Suzi, John, Cassie, Nick, and Charlotte....should be lots of fun!  I love the outlet malls and all the cactus!  It will be baby's second big trip :)



27 Weeks

 

 

 

How far along? 27 Weeks

Total weight gain: 22 lbs
Maternity clothes? Lots of maternity clothes!  Maternity jeans, leggings, and khakis and maternity shirts - seriously, why are they all covered in horizontal stripes?  I feel like the stripes aren't doing anything for me (see above photo).  Lots of my friends who've been pregnant mention their feet growing in size - but thankfully that hasn't happened to me. 

Stretch marks? It has been confirmed that there are none on my belly (according to Stacy) - thank goodness!!
Sleep: sleeping okay - waking up a lot between 3am and 6am and finding it harder to "sleep in" - maybe this is my body helping me get ready for the sleepless nights ahead?
Best moment this week: Getting another giant bag of baby clothes from a friend at work - there was even a Star Wars onesie...that made Rob really happy! Rob also finished installing, painting, and adding trim to the guest closet upstairs and a new door for my closet in the master bedroom.  We're putting (well, Rob is) a pretty good dent in the "to do before baby arrives" house list.
Miss Anything? my old body?  Every morning when I look in the mirror I think, how will I get any bigger?  Will I have clothes to fit?  And, man it's going to suck trying to lose all the weight after the baby gets here.  I also miss diet coke on a regular basis :)

Movement: pretty much all day long - and I swear he had hiccups yesterday.  I haven't seen any of the super big movements across my stomach - but lots of swishes, rolls, and kicks.  I still wish I could somehow see what's going on inside there all the time!
Food cravings: still tons of chocolate milk, soft pretzels, white cheddar popcorn and I had a real crazy moment on Monday night.  Rob was at the gym and I texted him saying that I REALLY needed Greek Express for dinner and could he call me on his way home from the gym.  5:00 - no call.  5:15 no call.  Mind you, I called and texted him several times at this point.  5:30 he rolls in the door with NOTHING!  I thought I was going to lose my mind.  He said his phone was in the bottom of his gym bag and he didn't think about checking it - needless to say, he drank his protein shake and was out the door getting us some Greek Express for dinner.  There original hummus is SO good!
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope!
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Sore hips (that's a fairly new development - and usually goes away), rib pain in my upper ribs - but, my hair is looking great!  It is fuller and less unruly -- way easier for me to straighten these days. 

Belly Button in or out? still in, but I swear it could pop out at any moment!
Wedding rings on or off? wedding ring on. 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Mostly happy - but do have moments of panic, like yesterday morning when I realized just 12 more weeks until the baby gets here!  I want that nursery to be mostly finished soon!
Looking forward to: baby showers!  My sister sent out the cutest invites with elephants on them for a date in early March!  We also have an upcoming trip to Phoenix over my birthday.  And next weekend we are going to Dayton to celebrate my birthday with my family and are tacking on a trip to IKEA too :)