Week 27: 3D Ultrasound and Nursery furniture

Week 27 is here and it is fabulous! One week closer to meeting our precious little girl. One week bigger (both her and me!). I am definitely starting to experience some new pregnancy symptoms. Most notably: every time, every single time, I stand up after sitting down for more than 5 minutes I have to pee. It never fails. Which is terribly inconvenient at work. I am constantly having to ask another nurse to watch my patient so I can run to the bathroom. I have also been struggling to get comfortable at night. I am a back or stomach sleeper. Which happens to be terrible positions for pregnant women. Awesome. I know there is an option for a body pillow, but I don't see how that would even fit in our bed! Between my husband and my cat, I am already pushed for space in our queen bed. Oh the joys of getting bigger!

Here is baby Regal at exactly 27 weeks. She has her right hand up by her face but you can see her full cheeks and massive lips. I'm in love already!

Another exciting milestone at week 27 is that the nursery furniture has been purchased! My step dad Kevin offered to buy our furniture for us, which was SUCH a huge blessing! He even picked out the crib himself, I was impressed! We decided to go with all white furniture, I think it will look great against those pretty blue walls.

The crib:

We also got this changing table/organizer:
And this tall dresser:

I can't wait for it to come in so we (Kyle) can put it together! It is only a matter time before a sweet baby girl will be sleeping in that crib!

26 Week Happenings

26 weeks seems like another milestone! According to my updates I get from whattoexpect.com, baby Regal is about 2 pounds and viable outside of the womb (meaning her lungs are developed enough that she could survive if I had her today). This is reassuring, but I am in no way ready for that. I would like her to cook as long as possible! I have been doing a lot better about what I'm eating (OK, that is probably a lie. Not a LOT better, but maybe a little). The scale has reflected that and I have not gained any weight in the last 2 weeks. As I'm sure most pregnant women feel, there are not a lot of times when I feel "hot" anymore. But I have had some opportunities to go out with friends and take some extra time getting ready. There is something to be said about how getting dressed up makes you feel better not only on the outside, but the inside too!

These shots are from weeks 25 and 26:

So, I jokingly told Kyle that it is customary to get the wife a "push gift" once the baby is born. I am not sure where I even heard that before, but I totally agree with it! I told him some ideas of what I would like and not only did he listen, he delivered (no pun intended), Early! The first thing I talked about getting was a Garmin running watch, for a couple reasons. Obviously right now I do not plan on doing a ton of running between now and when the baby comes, but it is one of my favorite pastimes. I have done 2 half marathons before and plan on signing up for the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon in November. I figured that would be perfect motivation for me to get back in shape.

Kyle did a ton of research and got me this:

It is perfect for me, I can track my mileage, pace, calories, etc. And right now I am using it to watch my heart rate. My doctor has advised me to keep heart rate below 150 when I am working out during my pregnancy. This has actually been harder to do than I thought. I love blaring music, doing cardio and getting my SWEAT ON. The first time I got on the treadmill I quickly realized that wasn't going to be as easy anymore. I kept pulling back but my heart rate would sky rocket quickly. I assumed this had something to do with all the extra blood needed to supply both me and the baby. Since I have been more consistent with my work outs, I have noticed I can tolerate doing more cardio for longer periods of time with out going over 150bpm. Love my first push gift, and can't wait to actually RUN with it!

My second "push gift" was all Kyle. He was thinking about my needs as I would be up late with the baby feeding, pumping, doing whatever moms do (haven't figured that out yet) and that I would need some entertainment. I already read a lot on my Nook app on my iphone (people think I am crazy for reading on such a small screen) so Kyle got me the Nook tablet! He once again did his research, and liked the Nook over the Kindle. I really didn't have an opinion either way, but now that I have it I love it! I have already read 2 books and really think it is going to be so nice to have during those feeding/pumping times.

Love my new toy, and looking for more books to stock up on!

I really have to say, so far pregnancy has been a very enjoyable experience. No sickness, tiredness, or other crazy things have happened. I feel very blessed! Next Monday is our 3D ultrasound.. I can't wait to see what our little peanut is starting to look like!!

24 Week Updates

Wow, I am 6 months pregnant. 6 months! Have I really been going through this for HALF OF A YEAR? It is insane. And what is even crazier is the fact that I only have 3 more months to go. Whoa.

Yesterday was my 24 week appointment and everything looked great! We got the full reading of our ultrasound that was done at 20 weeks, and there was nothing significant to report (a good thing!) The baby is approximately a little over a pound and about 12 inches long... No wonder this belly of mine is really sticking out! I did gain more weight this month than my doctor would have liked. ((which by the way, I got weighed the DAY after the Super Bowl, give me a break!) I have to admit though, I was bummed. It is hard to hear when you are doing something wrong. She wanted me to cut out carbs at night and stay away from juice or soda. I don't really drink either of those things but the carbs.. that will be tough! Especially since I work until 9:30 at night three days a week. By the time I get home, I'm starving and quite frankly don't care what it is I'm eating. But, I will do what I can and I realize that it is only for the best, especially after the baby comes out. After feeling sorry for myself, I got my tennis shoes on and my new workout shirt courtesy of my sister in law (Erin). Tank says, "Body By Baby" =)
Then I went downstairs and had a great workout on our treadmill. I have been using it about 2 days a week, but I am going to make more of an effort to use it 3-4 days a week. It is hard though, because all I can do it walk up hill. But it sure is pretty :)

In other news, we painted our nursery! (twice!) We got a color, and of course as soon as Kyle was done slaving away at it, I saw it.. and didn't like it. Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful color, just not the one I was envisioning in my mind. So being the awesome, loving husband he is, he did not make me feel bad for not liking it. Instead he went and got the lighter version of the color and painted it again. Here is the color now:

I am so happy with it! I can't wait to fill the room with sweet furniture and goodies. I have a strong belief that babies need to sleep in their own cribs, in their own rooms, so she will get good use out of this nursery.

And last but not least, another funny thing I have gotten lately.... The stupid things people say to pregnant women. Apparently a filter is no longer needed and I guess there is some unwritten rule somewhere that states that you can say whatever you want to a pregnant woman, even if you preface it with, "no offense but..."

The two times that have stood out to me the most were:

1) At work, a respiratory therapist asked me how far along I was. I happily told her, "23 weeks". To which she quickly responded, "No offense, but you are HUGE!" I just stared at her and had no idea how to respond.

2) The second time was also at work (maybe its the scrubs?) I was taking care of a patient when his mom asked me when I was due. I once again, very excitedly told her, "The end of May". Her mouth dropped open and she exclaimed, "Whoa! I thought you were going to say the end of FEBRUARY!". -No ma'am, I am not 9 months pregnant. :-/

From what I hear though, it seems to be a common occurrence. (People saying dumb things to pregnant women). And honestly, I don't take offense to it at all. Sometimes I wonder, "Is my baby too big?" But I know that everyone carries differently. I know that I have a healthy baby and I am doing my best to keep myself healthy too.

Last but not least, here is a pic of Baby Regal enjoying her fabulous city during Super Bowl week!