27 Weeks. Woot! AKA, Hello 3rd Trimester

How Far along: 27 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she weighs over 2 pounds.

Total weight gain: +11 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: Mmmm, sleep. Although deep sleep is getting harder to come by.

Best Moment this week: My birthday :-).

Movement: Yep :-) All.The.Time.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: None, really, though BH contractions are getting more frequent and I had some non-BH contractions last night after "the maritals" and OMFG. Ouchie. Fortunately they went away after about 45 minutes, but ow. Not in a hurry to experience those again until the real deal, though they gave me an excuse to practice relaxing around the pain.

Belly button: The top is still working it's way out. It's *lovely*.

Cravings: Donuts and chocolate. And ice cream. Honestly, how I have only gained 11 pounds is a mystery.

What I miss: Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining easily. Feeling like a normal person. Being able to reach things in cabinets/the sink without my belly getting in the way. Sex being possible and pleasant without awful RLP during and contractions afterward. :-(

Stretch Marks: More have joined the ranks. And I'm getting a rash on the sides of my belly where the new stretchies end. *Joy* I'm going to be asking my MW about that on Friday, I really hope it isn't PUPPPS again.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything still, including weight gain, cravings, and the scariness of my naked belly.

What I am looking forward to this week: MW appointment on Friday. Whee!

It's snowing. I wanna go home and curl up with my dogs and read a book.

Gigantic Storks and Hobbits. You can't make this stuff up.

Killer Storks Eat Human Babies (Perhaps)

Image from NPR article linked above. Apparently, on the same island as the Homo floresienses (3 foot tall "hobbit" people), there lived some freaking massive storks, about 6 feet tall. When this was first discovered a bunch of news sources reported that these storks ate the hobbit babies, but there is really no evidence to back this up. For all we know, they may have been eaten by the hobbits, or maybe worshiped by them, or (as I prefer to think, because it's funny) perhaps even tamed so that the hobbits could have rodeos. Nobody knows. Well worth a read, and this speaks to the importance of not claiming "facts" without actual evidence to back them up.

 

26 Weeks. Wow.

How Far along: 26 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she weighs about 2 pounds.

Total weight gain: +11 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: Mmmm, sleep. I've been sleeping more restlessly the last week or so. Not so nice.


Best Moment this week: It was all decent, other than the money stress thing. No moments particularly stand out. We did go to a birthday party for my coworker's little girl who is just a couple weeks younger than J, so that was fun.

Movement: Yep :-) All.The.Time.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: N/A.

Belly button: The top is still working it's way out. It's totally freaky.

Cravings: Chinese food.I also got to try deep fried lotus root. OMG. It was amazing. I wish I could just have a bucket of it. That's not really so healthy though...

What I miss: Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining easily. Feeling like a normal person. Being able to reach things in cabinets/the sink without my belly getting in the way.

Stretch Marks: Same ones.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything still. Weight gain is different this time, too...

What I am looking forward to this week: My birthday is on Saturday! Also, I enter the 3rd trimester on Thursday. Crazy.

No yoga since last week...we just had too much going on so that by the time the evening rolled around I would just go to bed instead of doing my yoga. :-/

How Not to Take a Nap

You will need: one 3 year old boy, one comfy bed, and about an hour of time.
You will imagine that your son will snuggle with you like he did as a baby, and that you will both have a very nice nap together.
What will actually happen is that the boy will lay down very sweetly for about 10 seconds. He will then decide he wants to hide in the covers, and request that you lift them up so that he can do so. Once hidden, he will rapidly wiggle back to the pillow and lay down again. Since you are still trying to sleep, you will tell him that he needs to lay down and have quiet time so you can sleep. He'll respond by telling you that you need to open your mouth, and demonstrate by making snoring noises. If you don't open your mouth, he'll stick his fingers in it and make you open your mouth. Then he'll move on to your eyes, and get really, really close to your face. He'll poke you in the eye so you will look at him, and then he'll laugh and tell you that his eyes are blue and that you have eyebrows and he has eyebrows. Then he'll decide to hide again, and once again wiggle back up to the pillow. At this point he'll tell you he needs a toy to take a nap, and he'll go to the living room and get two tiny Dimetrodon (sp?) dinosaurs that he got for his birthday. This will take him just long enough that you will start to doze. You will soon be awakened by a small dinosaur tail in your nose. At about this point your dog will start scratching on the door of your bedroom, and your son will let him in while he goes on another trip to the living room. You will remember that your dog is an ideal napping partner, as he just curls up by your feet and goes to sleep. Soon your son will return again, and this time he will have a hamburger that he made special for you. This will be given to you in that he will throw it at your (not) sleeping face and tell you that the hamburger came apart, and can Mommy please fix it? Shortly after this point, you will realize that your attempt at a nap was completely futile, and you will give up.

I remember when payday used to be happy. Now it's just depressing. I am grateful to have a job and health insurance, but damn, it sucks when you get paid, pay bills, and you have no money left for anything else. I just keep hoping that things pick up for C, but I am starting to lose my optimism. We just can't keep making it on his $300 a month at best.

Today

Today is the last day I will ever be 26 weeks pregnant. I have 98 days left until my due date. That's 14 weeks. 3 months. My girl is over her growth spurt and is back to her crazy wiggly self, including kicking her brother in the butt last night which was pretty funny. I am making an effort to enjoy this as much as I can, because this is my last pregnancy.

Wordless Wednesday: Evolution of a Belly, part 1 (Weeks 4-25)

25 Weeks!

How Far along: 25 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she weighs about 1.8 pounds.

Total weight gain: +8 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: Mmmm, sleep. I still need a pillow between my knees. I like sleep. I'd like to go take a nap now.


Best Moment this week: J's birthday party was pretty fun, he had a great time. I've got to say though, my favorite moment was sitting with him in our recliner and watching Toy Story. It was just wonderful to get to cuddle my boy for a bit.

Movement: Yep :-) Lots of it.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: N/A.

Belly button: In but shallow and tiny, and the top "lip" is starting to poke out. It's totally freaky.

Cravings: Fritos. Donuts. It seems that L is remembering how much she likes fried stuff.

What I miss: Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining without looking like a stranded turtle (not to mention the triangle belly..thanks, muscle separation). Lack of near constant pain in my hips and back when I am not sitting down.

Stretch Marks: Same ones that sometimes are visible at an angle, and my old ones.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything. This child is very different than J!

What I am looking forward to this week: Payday? Does that make me lame?

Also, just to brag, I actually did my yoga this week! YAY! Well, okay, so I did it yesterday. It felt SO amazingly good. The way that our living room has been rearranged makes it easier, too, because I have more room. I'm in way less pain today than I was yesterday morning, so I think it helps. I'm going to try to do it again tonight. My goal is to do at least 30 minutes of my prenatal yoga every night.

24 Weeks!

How Far along: 24 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she weighs about a pound and a half and is just over a foot long head to toe.

Total weight gain: +8 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: Mmmm, sleep. I still need a pillow between my knees. I like sleep. I usually have very bizarre dreams, too, thanks to crazy pregnancy hormones. Including one where C was a Jesus T-Rex. Hmm.


Best Moment this week: PASSING THE 1 HOUR GLUCOSE TEST! Woot! No GD for me, yay!!! Also, of course, wiggles from my girl. J got to feel her this week, so now every time he places his hand on my belly he says his sister is kicking him. We also had our annual Beerika party on Saturday, which was tremendously fun.

Movement: Yep :-) Lots of it.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: N/A.

Belly button: In but shallow and tiny, and if I poke next to it I can make it look like a really freaky volcano.

Cravings: Meat. I still LOVE the smell of onions, too.

What I miss: Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining without looking like a stranded turtle. Not being in pain whenever I stand up or walk.

Stretch Marks: Same 3 (or maybe 5 now...) that sometimes are visible at an angle, and my old ones.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything. Especially how much pain I am in.

What I am looking forward to this week: Not having GD. Hee hee. Also, J's birthday party on Saturday.

Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to Gina, with comment #2! (as generated by Random.org, but I couldn't get it to give me an image to paste here). I have sent you an email at the address you listed. As soon as I get your address and pass it along to the folks at MyBlogSpark your gift pack will be on it's way!

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Thankful

I am thankful that my daughter is healthy. No matter what pregnancy brings, I am thankful that she is healthy and whole.

Here's a Sweet Way to "Kix" Off the New Year: A Giveaway!

So it's been a long time since I did a giveaway, and the great people at MyBlogSpark and at Kix recently gave me the chance to review Kix and do a giveaway. Since Kix is simply awesome, I jumped at the chance to share the awesome with my readers.

This gift set was more for J than anyone else (though C and I also enjoyed a fair share of the cereal), and consisted of a neat straw sippy cup (which I had never seen before, though have since found at Albertson's), a nice lidded snack cup that opens on one side (perfect for the car, and J can actually open and close it himself). We also got 2 boxes of Kix (one original and one new Honey Kix), a beautiful floor puzzle and number flash cards.

The Original Kix are, as always, not too sweet and perfectly crunchy. I think I enjoyed more of them than C, as he preferred the Honey variety. J just likes Kix (he calls them Tix). He really was happy as long as he got some, and didn't care what flavor he had. One thing I really like about Kix is that the cereal is always affordable, is a bit sweet but not so much so that I'd consider it a "sugar cereal" and it's now made from whole grains, so it's even reasonably healthy. Kix has actually been one of my favorite cereals since I was a kid (and was a staple when I was in college), and I am so glad it's got the staying power it needs so that I can share it with my children.

In addition to the cereal, as I mentioned, we received a floor puzzle and flash cards (both counting themed). J hasn't gotten to do much with the puzzle yet but he LOVES the flash cards. He's a big fan of counting to six on every card, even if there are only two items pictured, just because he thinks it's funny. He'll literally spend an hour or more just looking at the cards and identifying the fruit/vegetable/plant/animal on each card and trying to get one of us to count with him. His new sippy cup has seen pretty much constant use as a water cup, since it's harder to spill than just a regular cup but not a traditional sippy, and the snack container gets used nearly every time we go on a longer car ride. J's favorite snack from the cup? Cereal, of course!

Kix and MyBlogSpark not only gave me the opportunity to try the cereal and get a prize pack, but one of you will win one too!

**Giveaway CLOSED**

One lucky reader will win a Kix "Kid-Tested, Mother-Approved" prize pack consisting of a 24-piece counting-themed floor puzzle, counting flash cards, a sippy cup, a portable snack container, and a box each of Original and Honey Kix cereals. 

Here's how to enter:

Mandatory entry: respond in a comment here telling me your favorite part of starting your day. You must include your email address!

Additional entries (please leave your email address in each additional entry so I can contact you if you win):
1. Follow my blog and leave a comment telling me that you've done so, or that you already follow my blog.
2. Blog about this giveaway, and leave a comment linking to your blog post.
3. Tweet about this giveaway, making sure to include @simplytena in your tweet. Please leave a comment telling me you've done so that includes your Twitter name so I can verify each entry.

Good luck!

This giveaway is open to residents of the United States only. The giveaway will close at 11:59pm MST on Friday, January 7th, 2011. Winner will be drawn by random.org.

Disclosure:
I was provided with a prize pack as described above by Kix through MyBlogSpark. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

23 Weeks!

How Far along: 23 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she weighs about a pound.

Total weight gain: +7 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: Mmmm, sleep. I still need a pillow between my knees. I like sleep.


Best Moment this week: Wiggles from my girl. Hanging out with friends on New Year's Night (because our NYE GTG got rescheduled) where we had lots of food and fun while J was at Grandma's house. Ooh, and J started calling me "Mommy" instead of "Mama." It kills me.

Movement: Yep :-) Lots of it.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: N/A.

Belly button: In but shallow and tiny.

Cravings: Meat. And randomly, fruit flavored licorice things.

What I miss: Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining without looking like a stranded turtle. Sex feeling good. Being able to carry J around, especially when he's sick and feels crummy and just wants Mommy to hold him. 

Stretch Marks: Same 3 that sometimes are visible at an angle, and my old ones.

What is different this time around: Pretty much, everything. I think that about sums it up.

What I am looking forward to this week: Appointment on Friday, where I get to do my 1 hour glucose test. *Joy*