Waffles and Nesting

This week has not been super eventful. Harper moves around a lot more than she has been, and she rolls a lot more than she kicks now. It's crazy to watch, it really looks like waves moving across my belly. It's so much fun, though, because she also responds a lot more to touch, movement, and sound, so it's easy to play with her. She lets me know if I'm bugging her too much, though, by giving me a nice swift kick in the ribs.

Speaking of kicking in the ribs...she did it. Hard. And my ribs felt bruised for days afterwards. It was insane! I couldn't believe she was strong enough to literally cause injury. I  love it though, and I am glad she didn't break anything, which has been known to happen!

This week baby can be up to about 15 inches long and 2.5 pounds. Truly frightening. I'm really starting to wonder how this is supposed to work...it's the first time where I've been a little...unsure...about actually giving birth. Seriously. I feel like she's so big already! Her weight will more than double by the time she's done cooking, though. That's insane. Insane!

My big craving this week has been waffles. Not good, homemade, fresh waffles. Straight from the freezer Eggos. Blueberry ones. With tons of butter and syrup. I've eaten them for either lunch or dinner probably 4 or 5 times this week. It's one craving I think Justin is really enjoying. 

Nesting is in full swing. Since the move I have this itching desire to have everything perfectly organized and perfectly clean. I had a minor freak out over the fact that we have nothing for the baby except for clothes at this point. Even though we have *plenty* of time left and a baby shower still to go, I have this insane urge to just be ready for her now. I want nothing more than to get her room set up, organized, clean, well lit, and protected (the window faces east, which means way too much sunlight in the morning). That part is funny, because it will be several months after she's born before she's in her own room. But still...I just have to have it ready. I have to.

In just about a month we'll be doing her 3D ultrasound and I'm so excited for it. I can't wait to see all her little features and her beautiful face!

Overview This Week: 

The Bump: It moves. All on it's own. And you can feel distinct appendages and body parts of the tiny human inside it.

Symptoms: Heartburn and backaches.

Cravings: Waffles. Oh my goodness, waffles. I think I ate like 15 waffles this week.

Aversions: Eggs.

Looking Forward To: 3D ultrasound. For her to be here. I love being pregnant and I love having her "to myself" but now that she is much more active and has her own cute personality, I just can't wait to hold her and snuggle her and breath in that beautiful newborn baby smell!

What's up Third Trimester!

27 weeks today means I have entered the last trimester. Isn't that crazy!? The whole thing is going by so fast. I think I'm going to miss it, even though I've had my share of "hard" days. I'm anxious to meet my daughter though so I'm also very excited that the end is coming near!

This week Harper has been super active. She is now pushing individual body parts (bum, feet, and hands) into me and they protrude through and make a very clear presence on my tummy. Which means I can actually touch her...well...though layers of skin and muscle and fat. But I have actually grabbed her little foot gently and it's incredible.  It's also super trippy to watch her move now because my whole belly shifts with her.

She is also responding more to touch and sound. If I want to get her going I can push on her gently and get a response. The other day Justin had his lips close to my belly and was making silly sounds and she responsed  with movement.

We just love our little girl!

Next on the agenda is our 28 week appointment which starts the process of having visits every 2 weeks instead of every month. This upcoming one I am doing a glucose test (but don't have to drink that notorious nasty drink for it) and probably a complete blood count.

It's super hard to get up from a laying position now. And if I have been sitting for awhile it's hard to get up from that position too. Hello beautiful baby bump!

Overview of this Week

The bump: Getting bigger by the week! I measure myself every week and grow about a centimeter each time. Which is exactly perfect for what doctors want to see.

Cravings: Corn dogs and sour patch kids.

Aversions: We went to Denny's for pancakes and all the pictures of eggs made me feel nauseous. Soni guess I'm not over that one.

Looking forward to: 3D ultrasound. Baby shower. Feeling hiccups!

Week 25

Today starts week 26. The last week and a half or so, baby girl has grown bigger and stronger. Pretty much every time she moves now you can see it and feel it from the outside. She still likes to stop moving when someone touches my belly, though. 

I had a few Braxton Hicks contractions this morning. They didn't freak me out, I knew they weren't "the real thing" and it actually made me happy that my body was already preparing for that big marathon in August. 

We decided to do a 3D ultrasound! We have it scheduled for next month and I'm super excited about it. We didn't get great photos from our 20 week ultrasound and so I am really excited to see such detailed features of our baby. I hope she cooperates and isn't too shy! 

Not a lot to update this week, so here's the overview and a new bumpie! 

 

Overview This Week: 

The Bump: It keeps me up at night. It doesn't allow me to fit in tight spaces. And I love it, love it, love it. 

Symptoms: Heartburn and backaches. Braxton Hicks. Woo!

Cravings: None.

Aversions: None. Boom!

Looking Forward To: 3D ultrasound.

Mother's Day

Dear Harper Noel,

Today is a special day! It's Mother's Day. And while I am your mommy, there is someone else I feel I should celebrate with you. She's fun. She's spontaneous. She's kind. She's generous. She's inspiring. She's faithful. She's beautiful. She's supportive. She's encouraging. She's my mommy. She's your memaw. And boy does she love you.

You see, my mom's a special person to me. My early memories of her are playing with dolls or doing crafts. I remember well days I was sick and she rocked me to sleep in her arms. I remember her brushing my hair and telling me I was beautiful.

As I got older I remember her encouraging me to be the best possibly *me* I could be. Whoever that was. She taught me about faith and about God. She taught me about strength and love for others. She helped me develop passions and hobbies. She supported me in all of them.

Now, my mommy and I are best friends. We talk about everything. We ask each other for advice. We call one another to talk about an exciting day, if we are sad, or just to say I love you. We can have movie marathons for hours and never get bored. We can spontaneously go to the store at 2am and walk around and look at nothing and enjoy every part of it.

She's always taken care of me. She still does. She's always my mom and I'm always her baby. And now, on top of being mother and daughter, we get to be friends. I learn so much from her, and I know that you will, too.

I hope I can be the kind of mother she is. I hope that one day you and I can stay up until the late hours of the morning talking about ideas and faith, expressing hopes and fears, dreams and memories (you'll have to wait until you're a lot older for me to let you stay up that late, though). I hope that when you are my age you think of me like I think of my mom- a hero. a friend. a role model. an aspiration.

She will be good to you. It makes me so filled with joy to know that you will have her in your life. I couldn't think of anyone (other than maybe daddy and me) that will ever love you more than your memaw (and papa, of course!). Watch her. Learn from her like I did. She's everything a girl could ask for.

Love,
Your Mommy.