27 Weeks: Easter

Some of us are still recovering…like a boss……

This is also the last week of the 2nd trimester!  I’m feeling pretty good, just very moody, as usual.  Brent is still feeling pretty miserable.  He started physical therapy & it is very painful.  Still requiring regular pain medications.   On the bright side, Tuscaloosa is BEAUTIFUL!  The azaleas & dogwood are blooming.  I love it!

We had a pretty quiet Easter.  We couldn’t go home due to Brent’s shoulder and how uncomfortable it would been for him to drive that distance.  We went to Sunday school & church, then came back home and had country fried steak with gravy, summer squash & rolls.  It was fun and relaxing.  I was thinking that next year the Easter bunny will start coming, but he surprised me and came this year!!!

I absolutely HATE the Easter pictures (of me), but will post them for documentation purposes.  Not flattering.  Brent looks great, though!  I look obese.

And here are some posts from past Easters!

• 2013: A Paleo Easter  (I wore the same Easter dress last year; it obviously fit much better then.)
• 2012: Easter Collage (This is the year the pastor said “damn” during the Easter sermon.  Actually, apparently the Devil said it when Jesus rose from the dead and the pastor was just repeating.  Note: this is not the same church we are going to now.)
• 2011: Happy Easter 2011 (My first lemon meringue pie.)
• 2010: We Love Claritin (No comment. I had to work.)
• 2009: Easter 2009 (The year we had our neighbor over for Easter dinner.)

And of course there was a 27 week photoshoot!

And some pictures in my work clothes. Trying to make my regular clothes work for as long as possible.

Highlights of week 27: finally, the hunger has subsided.  I have read that the bulk of the pregnancy weight is usually gained between week 20 – week 30 (for the mother  obviously), so maybe I am tapering off. Actually I have not been very hungry at all  this week (of course I’m eating plenty of Easter candy, but not just ravenous). I have not had one Poptart since Brent’s surgery!  I have also been staying active – still going to the gym twice per week, walking New Girl in the mornings, parking at the bottom of the parking lot & taking the stairs at work – just trying to move more.  I’m getting close to 10,000 steps per day. Maybe this is why my back has not been hurting. I usually feel really good during the day, but tend to crash at night and fall asleep on the couch pretty early.  But I am sleeping really good at night and waking up in the morning right before the alarm goes off – a very nice change!

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Week 25–26 Nursery & Surgery

Working on the nursery!  Here is a preview:

And some bump pics!  I keep getting bigger & bigger!  For the past few weeks I have been so hungry.  Favorite foods include Pop Tarts & chicken fingers.  I feel like I could eat all day long!  It is funny to compare back to pictures from earlier in the pregnancy…I thought I was “showing” in that picture with the pink shirt…hahaha!  Many people have commented that I am “carrying high.” I can’t tell….to me it looks like my whole belly is just huge.  I thought it would be rounder!  In the pics below I am wearing non-maternity pants and I am getting close to the end with them.  They are just not comfortable at all.

During week 26, Brent had surgery on his shoulder – a clavicle resection, labrum debridement and removal of a bone spur.  So glad we got it over with before I got any further along!  There were plenty of happy selfies before:

And plenty of pitiful selfies after:

I took off two days to help take care of him.  It was awesome (well, besides the excruciating pain & helplessness for Brent).  We watched House Hunters, napped, took pain pills (Brent only), read books (Christen only) & ate delicious food that people brought us.  I don’t think either one of us realized how big of a deal the surgery would be.  The shoulder is really important!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in this much pain.  It was awful! He couldn’t even sleep in the bed with us!

This is what the pugs do to me when it is just me & them in the bed…..I was wedged right in between them.

Bump pics!  To be honest, for most of the pregnancy I have felt terrible about the way I have looked.  Now the bump is big enough where it is obvious that I’m pregnant (strangers even comment & ask when I am due!) and my arms & legs looks small(er) in proportion to the belly.  I can tell I have gained in my legs, arms & face, but that is just part of it & not something I can control!  I am right on track with weight gain according to the Doctor’s recommendations.  There is still a lot of the time where I think I look terrible, dumpy, huge, etc, but I just remember that there is a sweet little baby boy in there & that it is only temporary!  I am trying to enjoy it as much as possible!

Hoping he looks just like his Daddy!

24 Weeks: Dr. Appointment & a Trip to Tennessee!

Everything went great at our 24 week appointment!  We got to hear the heartbeat and it was perfect!  No more moving the doppler all around my belly trying to find him in there…..we heard the heartbeat almost as soon as she touched the wand to my belly.  Week 24 is also the first week I had my belly measured (see photo above).  My weight gain is overall pretty good.  Last time I was –1, this time I was +8, with a net gain of 15 pounds, which is right on track.  Unbelievable that our next appointment will be in the THIRD trimester!  AND this is the last time I will have to wait 4 weeks between appointments – after the 28 week appointment I start going every 2 weeks!

I am feeling the baby kick and roll a lot.  He loves when I eat ice cream – it always gets him excited.

Otherwise, no new symptoms.  Sometimes I am SO sleepy during the day.  Also I have been really, really moody (poor Brent) and sometimes hateful.   Hopefully that will improve.

We went to Tennessee the day after our appointment for the first time since Christmas.  We had a great time!

We always stop at this restaurant in Gadsden called Old Mexico when the dogs are not with us.  They have a grilled chicken & rice dish that is perfect!  This meal was the beginning of a weekend-long food fest.  We ate at all of our old favorite places – Country Patch, Monterrey, Dairy Barn & Sticky Fingers.  It was delicious.

More pics from home:

Arlis showed me this little gem…..we have had lots of un with it so far!  Look at that hair!  It was like a foreshadowing of things to come!

We stopped at Sticky Fingers on the way out to celebrate K & B’s birthdays!!

Other things from week 24:

A pic from a friend’s 40th bday, my view of the floor these days & hanging out with Milly!

I didn’t get a good belly pic this week (the one in Mama & Daddy’s living room will have to do) but here are some clothes pics!  I’m still able to wear a lot of my regular clothes, although I did purchase some maternity pants for work that are SO comfortable!  I can’t believe I waited so long!  One downer of the week is that I was talking to a (very pregnant) girl from work that was going to be induced the next day and I mentioned that I had 15 weeks left.  To which she responded…… “Oh, you’re pregnant?”  Waaaa waaa.  But as you can see below, I am definitely showing – but it really depends on what I wear!

I feel HUGE, but I know that I’m only going to get bigger.  So far I am still doing great with exercise, walking, etc.

See you at week 25!