7 months pregnant!

31 Weeks:
30 weeks:



Oops I skipped a week! Last weekend I ended up with a bad cold, and I just wasn't in the mood to post. So I guess I have a lot to catch up on this week. I am actually still a bit sick - I can't believe how that cold totally knocked me for a loop. I'm just grateful it wasn't the flu.

However, I don't know if it's a third trimester thing, or just me (plus maybe I'm still recovering from that cold - my sinuses are definitely still a mess) but I'm so exhausted! The exhaustion is almost as bad as the first few weeks of 1st trimester. I slept probably 9-10 hours last night but it feels like I haven't slept days. I could literally just stay in bed and nap off and on all day long. Yuck! I hope this doesn't last all through the next 6-11 weeks until Caleb gets here. But if it does, I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end.

It's been a busy couple weeks. The week before last we learned a lot about breast feeding. In baby class the whole 3 hours was about feeding baby. Ethan was surprised to find out that I am already making milk. I guess I started making milk sometime in the 2nd trimester. We also learned about how the baby latches on and how often they are supposed to eat the first few weeks. I guess I will just be a baby feeding machine. Also that week, I went to another breast feeding class called "Breast Feeding and the Working Mother". This class was mostly about pumping and how to maintain a milk supply while at work. I learned some useful information, but mostly it seems like pumping is going to be a pain in the ass. :)

Baby class last week was the first part of the four classes devoted to labor and delivery. We learned about the patterns of contractions, and the three phases of labor. It was actually pretty interesting to learn about what to expect, how long typical contractions last, and what is actually happening to your body while having contractions. We watched a video at the end of class that showed different women in labor and they talked about their birth experiences. Ethan and I are hoping to have a natural (drug and intervention free) labor if everything goes well, so I'm trying to learn as much as possible about the process in hopes of being prepared. One thing that really helps me is thinking about the fact that you get a break between contractions to recover from the pain and prepare for the next one. Also, we'll have a doula so I think that will really help both of us stay focused.

Over the weekend(s), we washed all of Caleb's baby things. We put away all the great stuff we got at the baby shower, and trust me, the nursery is well stocked! Caleb has a complete wardrobe from new born all the way through 24 months. I think I had to do four loads of laundry to wash it all. He now has so many clothes that we couldn't fit them all in the closet and had to store everything over six months! We are just going to have to change him frequently to make sure he gets to wear all of his cute newborn stuff.

We took a couple of final trips to Baby's R Us to pick up the rest of the stuff we need - mostly bigger items like the Pack 'N Play and the swing. Ethan has been busily assembling stuff and I'm just trying to clean up the mess of boxes and packing materials left behind. It's great to have everything ahead of time, and I love to go into the nursery and see it all set up. It's fun to go through all Calebs things and imagine him using them. I just can't wait for him to get here and be home with me. It's only 6 weeks until I am considered "full term", meaning that if Caleb is born then, he shouldn't have any problems and should be able to come straight home from the hospital. I know it's going to go by fast, but at the same time, it feels like forever.

Work is getting a little tiresome at this point. I love my job and normally I really don't mind going to work, but lately I just want to stay home, sleep, and think about the baby. It's probably a good thing that I do have something to get me out of the house, so I don't drive myself stir-crazy waiting, but I'm definitely living for the weekends at this point! So I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday afternoon. I am deciding whether I should take a nap, or make some chocolate chip cookies. They both sound good - but cookies are more work, so I'm leaning towards nap at this point.

Here is the baby update for the week:

How far along? 31 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain: I think I actually lost a pound while I was sick, so according to the doctors office scale I'm +17 pounds total now. My next midwife appointment is two weeks away, so we'll see if I make up for it then :)

Maternity clothes? I'm really glad I broke down and bought new maternity clothes. My larger wardrobe is so much more comfy. On the weekends, I've taken to hanging out in yoga pants or sweat pants most of the time, and I don't even care if that's not really getting dressed. Comfort is key right now.

Sleep: Sleeping while having a cold and being pregnant is rough. I think I finally got over my insomnia though, because I can definitely sleep all night now and although I'm still waking up, I seem to fall back asleep more easily.

Best moment this week: I loved washing and putting away Caleb's clothes and blankets. Oh, also, I got my cloth diapers in the mail this week! That was so much fun and they are cute! I love them. I can't wait to try them out on him.

Movement: I had a couple of days where Caleb barely moved. I still got ten kicks in an hour, but it just seemed like he was being super lazy in there. The past few days though, he's been making up for it with lots of belly dancing.

Labor signs: Just more braxton hicks.

Belly Button in or out? In. The top part sort of sticks out though.

What I miss: breathing normally (dang cold), and I miss the 2nd trimester "energy". I wouldn't call it energy actually, but I think the contrast between sheer exhaustion, and feeling halfway decent, is pretty steep.

What I am looking forward to: Ugh. This is a tough one! I'm looking forward to sleeping tonight.

This Week: (from thebump.com)

Baby’s energy is surging, thanks to the formation of white fat deposits beneath the skin. (Have those kicks and jabs to the ribs tipped you off yet?) Baby is also settling into sleep and waking cycles, though -- as you’ve also probably noticed -- they don’t necessarily coincide with your own. Also this month, all five senses are finally functional, and the brain and nervous system are going through major developments.

29 Weeks

It was a busy weekend and I'm tired! Last week was packed with baby stuff.

On Tuesday, Ethan and I had our first baby class. The classes are at the hospital where I will deliver and they are three hours long for 6 weeks. The class was OK - it was a little boring, but we did learn some interesting things. We learned the terminology that they will use during the delivery, like what an APGAR score is. We also practiced diapering and changing a baby. That was fun because they had cloth diapers and we got to practice with them. It was funny watching Ethan changing the diapers and trying to get the baby onesy on. It took him a while to figure out how to get the onesy over the baby's arms, but I have to say overall he was pretty good!

this weekend. The pictures are already on facebook, so I won't double post them here, but it was really well done. My sister Carrie went all out decorating and planning games for the shower. Some of my favorites were the cake shaped like a bear (it was so cute!), the poems that everyone wrote for me during the poem game, and the belly measuring game where my friend Jenny guessed the size of my belly by measuring her own belly :)

We got so many wonderful gifts for Caleb! We definitely have a lot of clothes for him to wear now, but I know he's going to grow so fast and go through a million outfits, so it's great to be well stocked up. The baby clothes that everyone picked out are so fricken cute! I especially love the footy ones that have little animal feet. I admit, I did get a little burned out opening all the presents at the shower, but that was mostly because I didn't want all the guests to get bored, so I was trying to rush through the gift opening. After the shower, I went upstairs and unpacked the gifts in the nursery and got a chance to really admire everything, it was so much fun.

But more than the food, games, and gifts, I was just so happy to see my friends there and I felt so loved by everyone :) I am really blessed to have such great people in my life that take the time out of their busy schedules to come celebrate Caleb with me. I really do appreciate it.

Now that the baby shower is over, I feel a little bit like the "fun" part of pregnancy is over. I know, I should enjoy the whole journey - but I can definitely see how I will want to be done by the end. I feel pretty good still, and I'm lucky that my stomach is not so huge, and I don't have back aches and all that. I also haven't gotten any stretch marks yet, which is awesome! I think they are coming though, so we'll see. Everyone keeps telling me to put lotion on, but honestly, I don't think it will do any good. You either get the stretchies or you don't.

Even though physically, I'm feeling good, I don't like this business of continually getting larger. I feel clumsy and unwieldy with this big belly, and I don't like not being able to move around freely. It's also starting to get frustrating that I can't just start working out a bit harder and cut back on the cake and be able to put on my old jeans again, which is what I usually do after the holidays. I'm trying to be patient, but it seems like it will be a long time before I get to have my body back to myself again! I feel a bit guilty for feeling this way, because of course it's totally selfish of me, and I should be happy that I get to bring Caleb into the world and that we are both healthy so far :)

This week, we officially found our nanny! We offered the job to an old friend of mine, Hanna, who is actually my best friend Tonya's younger sister. She accepted and she's going to be joining us after Caleb is born. Ethan and I are so excited, and more than a little relieved, that we found someone who will take good care of Caleb and will also fit in well with our little family. Hanna was a nanny before for a couple years, and she is interested in pursuing early childhood education as a career, so I know she's going to be great for Caleb. It's definitely nice to not have to worry about daycare for the first year or so, because although I think daycare is wonderful for social interaction when the baby is a bit older, I am nervous about putting a newborn in daycare.

So, it was a busy week. I'm hoping this week is a bit more relaxing. Now it's time to go watch How I Met Your Mother and fold laundry. I love Monday nights :) I'm being lazy, and I'm going to skip the baby update this week (it will be back next week) - but you can go to babycenter.com and look at 29 weeks if you want to read what Caleb is up to this week.

28 Weeks!

28 weeks! If you notice I have a strange look on my face, it's because Ethan was trying to tell me a joke to make me laugh, and I was like "Just take the dang picture already!" haha!

The blog is late this week because Ethan was in Portland all weekend having a guys weekend. He went to two different pro basketball games (one of them was his favorite teams, the Lakers). I missed him, but I managed to keep really busy all weekend hanging out with some friends. One of the things (for me) about being pregnant is that I wasn't nearly as social for the first few months especially, so now that I have more energy its good to be able to catch up with friends and enjoy getting out of the house. Ethan got back late Sunday night and brought some really cute gifts for Caleb (an outfit and a blanket) from our friends in Portland. The Getreu's have great taste!!

On Sunday morning took a prenatal yoga class with my friend Jenny, who is also pregnant. She's only a couple weeks behind me, so it's fun to hang out and compare stories. Yoga was wonderful! I have done yoga before, and always found it very relaxing. However especially now, when it's so easy to get stressed out, I enjoyed the meditation aspects. I'm thinking about starting up a nightly meditation of some sort just to get those relaxation benefits, and I think it's probably good for the baby too. I actually have this CD that I got with my hypnobirthing book that I think has some practice breathing exercises that are sort of like guided meditation, so maybe I'll start listening to that on my IPod.

I can't believe there are less than 12 weeks left until I get to meet Caleb! I'm getting so anxious to meet him, see what he looks like, and learn about his personality. I can't wait! At the same time, I'm trying to enjoy these last relatively easy days of pregnancy before all the third trimester aches and pains set in. I know they are coming! I already woke up this weekend with a leg cramp - yikes. Time to start eating bananas before bed. Supposedly the potassium in them prevents muscle cramps. I had a midwife appointment last week, and everything was looking great. Caleb is measuring just perfect, and his heart was beating strongly at 140 bpm. Besides hearing good news about Caleb, my favorite part was that I only gained 2 pounds over the holidays! :) I was nervous about that because I gained so much last time.

One thing that's been different this week is that I feel like my hunger levels are somewhat evening out. The previous few weeks, I was just starving almost all the time, so I think Caleb was maybe having a growth spurt. This past week, I was still plenty hungry, but it was definitely more manageable. I'm still feeling Caleb move quite a bit. One of the neat things is that as he gets bigger, I can feel large parts of his body moving, rather than just taps and kicks. When I put my hand on my stomach, I can feel him squirming all over the place. It's pretty neat. :) I'm still not at the point where I can make out hands or feet. I also haven't felt any hiccups yet, although supposedly he gets them now. Maybe he's like his mom and dad and is able to stop his hiccups at will ;)

This coming week is going to be a good one. Ethan and I have our first baby class on Tuesday, and then on Sunday it is my baby shower. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family. Some of them are coming from out of town and I don't get to see them much, so it's going to be really special for me. I will take lots of pictures of the shower and put them in the blog next week.

Here is the baby update for the week:

How far along? 28 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain: +18 pounds total. That is right on track for how far along I am. Honestly, I was hoping to gain a little less and keep it around 20-25 pounds, but at this point I'm pretty happy with where I am at, and I'm just hoping to keep it under 30. I know some women gain the most in the last trimester, so we'll see!

Maternity clothes? I already had mat. clothes, but I went shopping again this week and bought almost a whole new set! The problem with buy maternity clothes early is that, although they are comfortable, you totally grow out of them! I had to go up a size in everything.

Sleep: I have broken down and started taking Unisom again. I'm not having problems falling asleep, but I can't seem to stay asleep anymore. I just keep waking up. I think it's normal. Pregnancy insomnia!

Best moment this week: I had a lot of great ones this week. Probably my midwife appointment!

Movement: lots of full body rolls. It's funny watching my stomach shift around as Caleb moves his body.

Labor signs: nope! Of course it's still too early for that. I do get Braxton Hicks sometimes now, but unless I'm really paying attention, they aren't a big deal. They don't happen often, and when they do they aren't painful

Belly Button in or out? I'm sort of obsessed with my belly button now! haha! It's so much shallower. It's still an innie, but I can almost see it popping out, depending on how much bigger my stomach gets. At the least, I think it's going to be almost flat before I'm done.

What I miss: This week, for some reason, I really wanted a margarita! I was walking around Ballard with my friend Aydan, and I just thought "man, it would be a great night to sit down and have a few drinks!"

What I am looking forward to: First baby class, and my baby shower on Sunday.

This Week:By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

6 Months Pregnant

Well, I'm officially six months - with exactly three calendar months left until my due date! Ethan and I really enjoyed having the last week off to just relax. I think Ethan is going through a man version of nesting, because he definitely was keeping himself busy this week cleaning out the spare bedroom and the garage. I mostly read books on my kindle and watched TV. It was a nice, lazy week. Neither of us are looking forward to getting back to the routine this week, but that's life :)

Ethan took me out last night to a great restaurant in West Seattle called Salty's for my birthday. It is a seafood restaurant, and it overlooks the water - you can see all of downtown Seattle. It was very nice! He also got me an awesome HD camcorder for my birthday so we can take home movies of Caleb. I am so spoiled this year! I plan to take a home movie of my stomach moving when Caleb is kicking and put it in my blog. Caleb tends to be stubborn and stop kicking as soon as I start paying attention, so we'll see how long it takes me to capture him on film.

Oh, we also visited the Mountainside daycare this week and we actually both liked it. We are just waiting to hear back if they will have a spot available. We also interviewed a potential nanny and we really liked her too. She is coming to visit in a couple weeks and check out the house and neighborhood. If all goes well, we would love to hire her, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that.

I decided to devote part of this post to a topic that seems to keep coming up, which is cloth diapering. Now, I have told several people that we plan to use cloth diapers for Caleb, and the universal reaction so far has been some form of "Why?!". Also, most people seem to laugh at us for even considering it, which I can sort of understand if you have never tried or looked into cloth diapering, because it does seem overwhelming at first. So here is some information on why I'm going to use cloth for Caleb. Of course this is all based on research that I've done, since I obviously have never had a baby to diaper. :)

1. It's cheaper. You can buy a variety of cloth diapers, and you can spend a range of money on it, but if you stick with the basics and buy Chinese Prefolds, you can get about 36 (which is about how many you need) for under $50. Then you have to buy covers. You really only need about 6-8 covers max, and they range between 12 and 25 dollars a piece. Throw in an all-in-one (which is basically just a diaper that includes a cover, and goes on just like a disposable) or two, and you can easily get everything you need to cloth diaper for under $200, and that is not even being that economical. When you consider that you can use the diapers for more than one child, the cost savings really add up. It is true that you can get pretty cheap disposables at discount stores or in bulk online, but even so, cloth is cheaper in the long run. (also with disposables, you have to find the brand and style that works for your baby to avoid blow outs, so you might not be able to get the cheap kind from what I hear)

2. It's easy. I think the conception is that cloth diapers are difficult to put on and messy to wash. This isn't really true. You don't have to even use diaper pins these days, just learn a quick fold for the inside of the diaper, use a snappy to fasten it, and then pull on a cover. All in all, it may take 15 to 30 seconds longer than applying a disposable. Some people have pointed out that you might have to change the baby more often with cloth diapers. Well, yes, because the baby can feel when it's wet. However, I don't really want Caleb hanging out in pee-soaked diapers, so this doesn't bug me ;). If this is an issue (such as overnight), you can buy thicker felt and wool covers for overnight wear that soak up more urine.

As for washing the diapers, it is not as bad as people might think. With breast fed babies, the poop is water soluable. You just toss the diapers in the hamper and then wash each load once on a cold rinse, once on a normal hot cycle, put them in the dryer and you are done. Babies that are cloth diapered have less (if any) blow outs, so you don't have to do as much regular laundry and clothing changes. Once the baby is on solids, you can get little paper inserts for the diapers (they are very cheap) and just toss the liner and the poo in the toilet, no big deal at all.

3. (My favorite reason) Cloth diapered babies potty train earlier. This is because the babies can feel when they are wet and dirty more easily, and they don't like it. I don't really want to be changing pooped in diapers for a three year old, so I love this.

4. Babies get less diaper rash with cloth diapers.

5. Cloth diapering is much better for the environment. Now admittedly, I'm not an environmentalist so this isn't my top reason, but it's true that disposable diapers fill up landfills and don't degrade very quickly.

6. Cloth diapers are cute! You can get covers in all kinds of different styles, patterns and colors. I'm all about dressing Caleb up, so I like this.

So that is why I'm using cloth diapers, and no I'm not going to change my mind after a week or two, because I've thought a lot about it, and I think this is what is best for us. Note, I'm not trying to criticize people that use disposables, as that would be pretty much everyone I know, so please don't take offense! We will probably even keep some disposables on hand just for added convenience if we go on a long trip or if we have a babysitter, so it's not like I'm opposed to them.

The only reason I might not use them is if we end up going with daycare, and they won't let us, which is unfortunately a possibility at this point :(

Tomorrow I have a midwife appointment where I will get weighed and they'll make sure Caleb is growing ok. I'm sort of dreading the weigh-in part because I'm sure I have gained a ton more weight with the holidays. Ugh. I am consoling myself with the fact that there are only three more months to go, so there is an end to the weight gain in sight! I really don't like gaining weight, so it's probably my least favorite part of pregnancy. Other than that though, I love going to appointments because it's one more milestone closer to having Caleb as an outside baby, and also I get to hear the heartbeat, which is always fun.

Here is the baby update for the week:
How far along: 27 Weeks 2 Days
Sleep: Bad. I keep waking up off and on and I'm not getting good sleep at all. I don't know why, I guess it's hormones. I'm going to start taking unisom again and see if that helps.
Best Moment This Week: My birthday dinner with Ethan
Movement: Pretty much same as last week - lots of strong kicks.
Food Cravings: Nope, no cravings. I don't think I'm going to have any either.
What I miss most: Ugh...not gaining huge amounts of weight
What I'm looking forward to: Baby classes are starting soon and I'm excited about that.
This Week (from the BabyCenter): This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.