3rd Trimester - 28 Weeks!

I've officially hit the 3rd trimester!  I'm feeling pretty good and getting to the gym regularly for elliptical, treadmill, and weights.  I was definitely kidding myself thinking I could do classes while pregnant, but my routine is working well for now!  I passed my gestational diabetes test but they did find I have low hemoglobin/platelets, so I'm on extra iron and vitamin C.  I also got a prescription for better heartburn medication since the Pepcid wasn't cutting it!  Other than that, things seem good! 

How far along?: 28 weeks
Total weight gain: 18lbs.  Now that Thanksgiving/Christmas is over I'm hoping to stay on track to end up around 30lbs again.  I need to get ride of the 60 second microwave cinnamon rolls Nick bought though.....
How big is baby?: About 16 inches and 2.5 pounds
Maternity clothes?: Oh yes. 
Stretch marks? Nope, hoping this last baby doesn't do me in!
Sleep?: Sleeping well lately!
Best moment this week?: Washing all the newborn girl stuff!  I washed all the old newborn girl clothes, changing pad covers, Boppy cover, and burp clothes.  I got everything folded and sorted out...now we just need a dresser to put it in.
Movement?:  Quite a bit of movement, but mostly it's weird kicks or movement toward my back or something.  Not tons of big kicks right up front.  I do think I felt the first elbow or foot stretch and poke out for a couple of seconds though.  
Food cravings?: Geez, this girl is killing me with wanting cinnamon rolls, pancakes and syrup, and chocolate.  I don't eat too much of that stuff but definitely more than before. 
Labor signs?: Getting Braxton Hicks contractions pretty regularly, but it's all good.
Belly button in or out? Poking out/getting a little flatter every day.
What I miss: Not minding dirt or clutter.  Either my old age or this pregnancy (or a combo of both) really makes me crazy when the house is messy or dirty.  It drives me crazy!
What I'm looking forward to: I guess still painting baby girl's room.  Oops!  Didn't get to that yet.  Now that the holiday's are over, it's crunch time to focus on baby girl over the next two months to have things ready before my last month gets here.    

28 weeks!

Her first new things!  I had to get a few cute new little girl things :)

Her baby blankets

My mom got a few outfits for her too!

25 Weeks

Only 15 weeks left until baby girl arrives!  I had my check-up at 24 weeks which went well.  Belly seemed to be the right size, BP was lowish, and baby's heartbeat was 140 beats per minute. 

How far along?: 25 weeks
Total weight gain:13lbs with boots at 24 week appointment.  I normally wear small flats, so I'm definitely blaming the extra weight gain on the big boots, haha.
How big is baby?: About 9 inches and 1.7lbs.  She also reached "minimum viability age" at 24 weeks!
Maternity clothes?: Yes!  Non-maternity shirts I can wear in public are getting very sparse.  I'm getting creative with tanks/cardigans/scarves to stretch this wardrobe for the next 3-4 months.
Stretch marks? Nope.
Sleep?: Pretty good.  I'm starting to wake up to turn over at night, especially if I'm on my back. 
Best moment this week?: Getting baby girl's room cleaned out.  We completely moved Gabrielle into her new room (the old toy room).  Now we just need a dresser and closet so we can get her clothes moved too.  After Christmas we will paint baby's room and keep making progress!
Movement?:  More movement all the time.  Still mostly when I lay down and very low.  Nick doesn't feel the baby too much but randomly put his hand on my belly and felt a strong kick a couple of weeks ago.
Food cravings?: Chocolate sounds good!  This pregnancy maple syrup, chocolate syrup, etc which normally I don't care for much sound so good! 
Labor signs?: I'm just starting to get some Braxton Hicks contractions once in while during the past week.  They don't hurt at all, the belly just gets very hard. 
Belly button in or out? Innie, but start to get pushed out a bit.
What I miss: Now that I look obviously pregnant, most every patient at work comments and asks "Oh is this your first?".  When I reply, "No, it's my third" and they have a look of horror on their face.....I may lose it.  I'm going to start lying soon.
What I'm looking forward to: Painting baby girl's room!  I'm doing gray, gold, and light pink in her room and I think it will be so pretty!  I'm reusing lots of Gabrielle's baby stuff in the new room and we already have an unopened can of gray paint we can use (then just do a light pink accent wall).   

It's a.......GIRL!

We found out that we are having another baby girl on November 4th (my mom's birthday!) at our ultrasound at 19 weeks 6 days.  We actually found out she was a little girl very quickly during the scan and it was confirmed many times throughout the exam.  The tech was getting some initial measurements and I got a quick glance of baby's little bottom and she went to look at something else, and I said "wasn't that the bottom??", and the tech said "yeah, I'm just going to look at a couple of things before I go down there".  I was screaming inside a bit because I remember it was so hard to get Gabrielle in the right position to find out girl or boy. 

But a few minutes later the tech got a perfect shot of the bottom and typed "I'm a Girl" on the screen.  I cried just like I did with the other two.....it's just such an exciting moment!  I love finding out the gender early and we are so thankful that everything looked good with the scan  Nick was really hoping for another girl and I'm thrilled that Gabs will get a sister, even if they will be a few years apart.  And we get the break out all of the PINK again!

Her head actually measured right to date, not big, so we will see it stays that way.  Baby weighed 10 ounces and they confirmed my due date of March 24th.  With everything looking good, we are moving forward with switching rooms around (playroom to the basement, Gabs to the playroom, and baby girl's nursery in Gabs old room.  And getting all of the baby girl clothes out and making sure we know where our baby gear is after the move........

So thankful for our second DAUGHTER!  I had a strong feeling it was a girl since I found out I was pregnant, just like I had a strong boy feeling with Oliver from day 1.  With Gabrielle, I had no idea....haha.

How far along?: 20 weeks
Total weight gain: 6-7lbs.  I didn't gain as much as I thought this month, only 2-3lbs.  I'm hoping to keep this weight gain at around 30lbs again.  We just joined a gym which will help me keep active before and after.....not that I ever sit much anyway, haha.
How big is baby?: 10 ounces per the ultrasound!
Maternity clothes?: All pants - I love the new pants Billie got me for my birthday!  I had mostly capris with the other two, and the jeans I have are bootcut and not even in style anymore.  So thankful for my new skinny maternities!  Shirt options are getting sparse......I need to figure out how to acquire some winter maternity shirts soon :/
Stretch marks? No thanks
Sleep?: Sleeping pretty well.  Usually head to bed early!
Best moment this week?: Finding out we are having another healthy GIRL!
Movement?:  I've been feeling some little "taps" in my belly the past couple of weeks, along with a few bigger kicks just once in a while.....the ultrasound showed I have an anterior placenta, just like with Gabrielle, so that muffles some movement at this stage. 
Food cravings?: No big cravings, really.  Salty snacks and chocolate usually sound good though! 
Labor signs?: Nope. 
Belly button in or out? Innie.
What I miss: Maybe a glass of wine once in a while.....?
What I'm looking forward to: Starting to get the room and clothes together!

20 weeks

We didn't get the best pictures, and they couldn't even get the profile picture until the doctor came in after they printed the CD.  But here she is!

This one is especially freaky!  The tech thought this one was funny....

Summer 2015!

This summer flew by quickly and we all stayed busy as usual.  Things we did:

• Binder Park Zoo - fed giraffes, rode the tram and train, saw the special reptile exhibit and touched creepy crawlies (Gabrielle)
• Swam at Aunt Penny's pool
• Went to Mooville a few times
• Hawk Island splash pad with friends
• Family vacation to Traverse City and Michigan Adventure.  MI adventure was a lot of work to take a 2 and 5 year old to, but they both actually had so much fun.  Oliver was a screaming mess trying to get him in his swim suit (and he kept his crocks on the whole day) but once he got in the wave pool he had so much fun!  He loved the big waves, water slides, and splash house.  Gabs loves the wave pool, bigger water slides, and everything else!  She went on a mini roller coaster with Nick and the 4 of us went on these really cool glider rides.  It was actually a great time!
• Weekend on Lake Erie in Ohio with friends John and Danielle.  Gabs learned to kayak all by herself and did great!
• Lugnuts baseball game - the kids didn't love it as much as we thought they would....we sat on the grass a little far away from seeing the game, but they loved the cotton candy :)
• Wedding at Lugnuts stadium - we went to our friends TJ and Erin's wedding at Lugnuts stadium and it was so neat.  They got married on the field and we all go to run the bases afterward and eat on the concourse.  Everyone loved it!
• Touch a Truck & Impressions 5- Nick took the kids to Touch a Truck and Impressions 5 one of the weekends I worked.  I guess they had a great time and Gabs actually really enjoyed Touch a Truck.  She loved the Eatran.....she's a little obsessed with that bus since they rode it every week at school for their field trip.
• Weekends/holidays at the lake house too of course! - Oliver swam in the lake for the first time since he was a little baby.  He said "I'm a blue-blue fish!" (instead of a pout-pout fish....his favorite book).  Gabrielle swam from the shore to the island for the second or third year in a row.  Oliver LOVES the jet ski and boat "faster!!!).  Gabs can swim underwater and gets thrown in the lake - she's still our little fish swimming from morning til night.

She really isn't mad, even though she looks it in the this picture.  I woke up so late (sarcasm) at 7am on a Saturday and found her watching PBS, eating a Chobani yogurt and had made herself a piece of toast.  So self sufficient!

His first fashion decision.  He picked out this baseball hat from Meijer and has been obsessed with it.....

My mom crocheted this whole mermaid tale for Gabrielle!

Love the Elsa shoes

Blowing up a balloon by herself!

She found a frog

Has to wear his tennies at all times....

It must be Sunday morning

Ahh!!! Two kids on wheels??

He learned how to get his own water.  Now he just has to learn how not to overflow it.....

His first real cereal with soy milk - he loved it!

Last night in his crib - big boy!!

Self portrait

Chemistry experiments

He's getting into stickers!

 

Volcano!!!!