Week 30 Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 30 Weeks

Size of Baby: a cucumber (I find it odd that we went from a head of lettuce to a cucumber so who knows!)

Appointment Updates: The last appointment was my 28 week check-up which meant I had to drink the tasty, orange liquid to check my glucose levels. Everything came back fine with the glucose levels but my iron is low so now I have to take a supplement. My next appointment is a very quick check up on Friday.

Symptoms: I have found that during these last few weeks I have gotten a bit more uncomfortable. As Josh stated last time, the baby seems to really like my rib cage but specifically the right side. I find myself constantly massaging the ribs just for comfort. Sleeping throught the night has also been a bit difficult as I have been waking up at 4 a.m. I am hoping my sleeping pattern is better now that I am not anxious for New York anymore and that I have found a better time to take the iron pill. My feet are quite sore toward the end of the night which just means I probably need to rest more. :) I don't know if I would call this a symptom or pregnancy brain but for the second time now I have not just walked into the men's restroom but have actually used the facility and then realized I was in the wrong location. Unreal, huh?

Movement: The baby has days where it moves a little and other days when it is constantly moving. The plane and car ride home last night seemed to be when the baby moved the most which was of course, at nine to two in the morning. I am definitely not complaining because feeling the baby move was something I prayed for a long time about.

Cravings: Ice cream is still one of my favorite things to eat especially the Snicker bar treat. I am also still liking salty foods such as chips and salsa or Doritos.

Nursery Update- The dry wall is up in the nursery waiting to be spackled then texturized. Josh and I ordered flooring for the bathroom which should hopefully be installed when we get back from the Northwoods and a wedding in southern Illionis (July 8th). People were asking what we have left of the nursery so below is our  To-Do List.

To-do List:
Texturize nursery and bathroom
Paint nursery and bathroom
Pick out wall sconces
Sew valance for window
Decide/paint tree mural
Decide on crib skirt
Pray that Grandma Judie finishes the quilt
Move all the baby gifts into the nursery

Weekly News- We spent Sunday through Wednesday with my family in New York. All of us Chicagoians had a hard time not comparing New York City to Chicago. One of the best ways to seethe city was the double decker bus which took us around Central Park, Harlem, Times Square, Financial District, etc. The 9/11 Memorial was very moving with all the names etched in the stones. There were a handful of names that had a woman's name and then unborn child next to it which was very hard to see. Central Park is enormous yet so peaceful. On our last night we did see Newsical the Musical which surprisingly made me laugh. My poor feet definitely did hurt by the end of each day but I held out. We had a great trip but will it rush back to New York as we want to cross more locations of our travel list.

Looking forward: The start of "The Summer of Weddings" begins this weekend as Josh is a groomsman in his high school buddies wedding. The reception is at The Bull which makes me excited to go back to our reception location. Sunday morning we will leave to drive to the Northwoods for the TeBeest, Mentink, and DeBruin week of fun!! We will leave Friday to start our nine hour drive to  southern Illinois for one of my childhood friend's wedding. We are definitly looking forward to the next week but it will be nice to get a little break when we get home from the many vacations!

About 10 more weeks until we get to meet our little bundle of joy!!

Week 27

Pregnancy Highlights - Daddy edition!!!

How Far Along: 27 Weeks 

Size of Baby: a head of lettuce

Appointment Updates: A week from tonight we will get to see our little Beast again which means more pictures!!!

Symptoms: The belly is continuing to grow. Feet are swelling depending on what Ashley eats. The baby is moving higher and expanding the rib cage. She is also having more difficulty maintaining any physical activity without getting winded and tired much quicker than usual.

Movement: The baby is continuing to move a lot within the belly. There are now points where you can see the skin ripple. The baby likes to wake up and move a lot after Ashley has desserts and sweets, which is usually right before she wants to go to bed. I find it quite comical.

What I Miss: I miss being able to plan out meals. At this point, the only time Ashley can commit to food is immediately before she is hungry. That prevents us from thawing anything in the morning for the evening meal.

Cravings: The big sweet tooth is still there. I do not see this leaving before the baby is born, or even thereafter for that matter.

Weekly Highlights: We had a little TeBeest family vacation down on the Florida gulf, north of Panama City over an extended Memorial Day weekend. It was a great opportunity for me to recover after busy season, finally. It allowed us to get a good base tan for the summer as well. I convinced Ashley to wear a bikini, and she was not the only pregnant woman to do so, which helped her feel more comfortable. My mother threw a shower for Ashley on the following Saturday. A lot of the college ladies Ashley has not seen since the wedding were able to attend. She had a wonderful time and our house now has piles of baby items spread out in the corners of various rooms.

Nursery Updates: I have made good use of my only free Saturdays the past couple weeks until the baby is born. The weekend before Florida I was able to rough in the wall. This past weekend during the shower. The door frame got plumbed in and I started hanging drywall with Chumley and my in-laws. During the weeks in between, I wired the rear speakers for the surround sound, finally, and finished all the electrical issues that I will be tackling with this project. I added a 20 amp circuit to handle the entertainment center, and included the new outlet in the nursery, and connected the NW outlet to this circuit as well since it was not grounded. I now have a total of 12 grounded outlets in the house. (When we bought it there were 3). I have some support boards to put in since I do not like how the drywall is attached, and then I can tape, mud, and sand, and get it textured. Then on to the flooring and trim work. Hopefully I can stay motivated and Ashley doesn't want me to spend time with her on the couch cause then things will not be ready without additional stress.

Looking forward: We now do not have a free weekend until August 11. Having a busy summer is an understatement at this point. I have begun telling people that I will not have a relaxing extended time frame for the next 25 years or so. Ashley doesn't have anything planned for the summer, so she is hoping to find something regular to keep her busy. We hope everyone reading this can enjoy their summer.

Prayers: We were able to get Ashley's FMLA leave figured out at a very minimal cost to us outside of the lost salary, which will be a tremendous blessing to her and our daycare planning. Pray for the continued growth and health of the baby. Kohler is having lots of changes at this point, so pray that Ashley will remain calm and realized that God has everything under control. I am struggling with whether I should look for jobs closer to home at this point. Deloitte is great, is a very respected name, and has so many great perks but its also the only thing I know at this point. It's also in MKE and can be extremely demanding at times. Pray for God to reveal where he wants me in the future.