31 weeks

Little Lady,

Where are the weeks going? In just around 9 weeks we will get to meet you! I am so looking forward to seeing your face and covering it with kisses.

We are headed home for my baby shower this weekend. I am sure you are going to be one spoiled little lady.

This week we took a breastfeeding class in addition to our birthing class. I really hope it works for us. I am nervous about going back to work and continuing to breastfeed. It will be a lot of work, but with some determination I think I can do it. My fingers are tightly crossed.

You have been just as active as ever. You tend to make more movements under my left ribs. Sometimes I will push back to see if you will kick. You usually shy away when I do this. Maybe this is your way of letting me know how independent you are. You will kick when and where you want too. You got that from your mother.

It is true what they say about the third trimester and sleep. Although I am getting more tired at time goes on, I cannot seem to get a full nights rest. Sometimes it is because of the heartburn, sometimes it is pain in my hips and legs, and sometimes I just lay there awake and cannot go back to sleep. I know that once you are here sleep with be a thing of the past. At least for awhile.

Keep growing my love.

Momma

30 weeks

Baby,

Here we are at thirty weeks with only ten to go! I am so very excited to meet you, but I feel like I still have a lot to get done. We have some finishing touches to add in your room, freezer meals to plan for your first months of life and lots of baby supplies to buy.

We had our first birthing class this past Monday. We chose to go with the Bradley method, a natural childbirth method. The classes will continue right up until you are born. I am excited to learn, and it is helping me feel more prepared.

You are kicking my belly as I type this. I love that feeling.

We had an appointment this past Monday. I LOVED the midwife we met with this time. I hope she can be there for your birth. Your heart was pumping away at 140 bpm. Everything is going great. Mom and baby are healthy. I even passed the glucose test! My blood pressure is normal, but a little low. They explained that this is normal as my belly continues to grow. With the added weight is slows down my circulation.

Keep growing little lady. We all love you so much already!

Momma

29 weeks

Sweetie,

I have read that I should start counting how many times you kick, but that seems impossible. You are a very active baby when you are awake. I notice your movements the most during mid-morning and the afternoon. You also love to move around whenever I lay down for bed.

Your father has started to read books to you. It is super sweet. Cooper even cuddles up next to us and listens.

Heartburn and leg cramps. Those are my two biggest pregnancy complaints currently. There are nights when I can't get any sleep between the two.

Your father is a saint and has begun to call around to some in-home daycares. Hopefully we can find the perfect one for you. Although it breaks my heart to think of the day when I will have to go back to work and leave you with someone else.  I am trying not to go there yet, but my mind just does.

In our yoga class we do something called a keep-up exercise. It is something that is uncomfortable that we do for three minutes (longer than a contraction) to help us work on staying focus and finding a way to cope with the pain. For example, we will hold our arms our for three minutes moving our arms in small circles. No breaks. I have tried numerous ways to cope: counting, visualizing and positive affirmations. However, I can only keep my mind off of it when I am making lists. So there I sit making my grocery list, a to-do list or a need to get this done at work list. I guess if it works then it works.

We are really enjoying getting ready for your arrival. My list keeps growing, but that's okay. It also helps pass time until you get here.

Keep growing.

Love,
Momma

a quick trip home

Yet another crazy summer weekend is coming to a close. This weekend we hit the road to celebrate the fourth birthday of our niece Taryn.

The party was complete with a homemade barbie cake and ice cream, great food and few outfits changes for the birthday girl. What better time to show off all of your dress-up clothes?

Taryn is such a little sweetheart. Definitely a girly-girl, which I love. When we were sitting there she looked up at me and asked, "why is your belly getting big?". You have to love a child's curiosity and honesty. 

On Saturday morning we headed to the hospital to see my best friend Megan's baby girl Zoey. Little Miss Zoey was so sweet and precious, complete with little baby sneezes that melted our hearts. Seriously, we were talking about how cute they were on the car ride home.

They were so certain they were having a boy, but I had a feeling she was having a girl. I am excited for our little lady to get here. I just know they will make great friends like their mommas.

Then it was time to head back home. My family was moving Andrew's stuff up for college this weekend. So we jumped in the car with my mom and hit the road again.

I was in a hurry to get back to Cooper. We had decided to leave him here over the weekend, and Andrew was nice enough to come spend the night with him (thank you, Andrew!).

Although we spent a lot of time on the road it was worth it to see family (including every single one of our nieces and nephews) and getting to meet Zoey.

We are currently enjoying a very relaxing Sunday. What a perfect little weekend.

28 weeks

Little Lady,

We made it to the third trimester! Only twelve weeks (give or take a week or two) until we meet!

This past weekend was a busy one. On our trip to the zoo I was definitely feeling my size. By the end of the day my ankles and feet were swollen.

We got you a stuffed giraffe from the zoo and named her Ginny. Cooper happens to think this toy is for him, so we have started working on boundaries. It will be an interesting adjustment period for him. We may or may not have felt bad that we didn't get him anything and picked him a new toy when we went to get his food this week. What can we say? Your parents are pushovers.

We had an appointment this past Tuesday. It was great to hear your heart beating strong at 148 bpm. The midwife said you were head down. Which makes think the prenatal yoga must be paying off. We do different stretches to help encourage you to go into the head down position. However, I know there is plenty of time for you to keep flip flopping around.

I love watching you move around in my belly. My belly just wobbles and shakes as you get comfortable and try to make more space. This has been my favorite part of pregnancy so far.

Keep growing little lady!

Love,
Momma

Omaha Zoo Trip

We had an exciting and busy weekend. My entire immediate family was home, so we planned a trip to the Omaha Zoo for Sunday. If you haven't been, you need to go. We went quite often as kids. I hadn't been in a few years, and I had begging Nate to get there.

It was even worth all of the walking. My ankles and feet were definitely swollen, and it felt nice to sit at the end of the day. I kept getting excited about when we will get to come with the baby. 

It was a packed house. It was a nice cool day only reaching the 80's. 

Zander was exhausted from all of the excitement. 

Meagen loved running through the mist again and again. 

We saved the best part of the last (at least in my opinion). The Rain Forest. Nate is more of an aquarium kind of guy, but it was so packed we ran through it. Hopefully next time we can go during the week and enjoy it more.  

We had a great time, and I think the kids did too! Even if one of them slept through most of it, and the other reports "the mist" as her favorite part. :)

27 weeks

Little Lady,

You sure are growing, and momma bear can feel it. You were kicking me like a mad woman on Monday. At one point I was just sure I would be bruised from it. I headed straight to get adjusted by your father after work. He helped stretch out my round ligament and free up some space for you. Usually when he does this you don't make any movements, but this time you kicked his hand like crazy. I loved being able to share that with him. You were definitely acting wild.

My goodness the hiccups. I think you have had them for a couple weeks now. It just finally clicked with me this week that the rythmic steady thumps in my belly were from my baby girl having the hiccups.

Sometimes your puppy brother will give you kisses when I ask him too. I think you two will be great friends.

We finished painting your crib this week! Your father couldn't be happier to have that off his list. We love to go into your room and talk about you. We have even caught Cooper in there a handful of time rolling all of the rug (that's his way of claiming it). So know that you are protected little one.

Keep growing!

Love,
Momma