28 Weeks Pregnant : Third Trimester Pregnancy Update, Symptoms, etc.

Week 28 - March 18-24

Our baby boy Calvin Lee is due June 17, 2016!

Welcome to the third trimester! I know some apps and blogs vary on the exact starting week, but I'm counting it now!

Bump:
Growing all the time! I put on my Old Navy maternity jeans Monday and the top of that full panel is slowing inching its way down my belly. Haha. 

Maternity Clothes:
Discovered that my winter coat no longer zips. We've had several weeks of decent weather so I haven't worn it in awhile. Then all of a sudden here on the first day of spring, we got snow, I put on my coat, and noticed I've got about a 3-4 inch gap where I'm unable to cover. Haha. So it looks like the weather worked out just perfectly for me in this pregnancy, I didn't have to buy a new coat. :)

Emotions:
Things were going good until after our doctor appointment Thursday (you can read more about the appointment later on in this post). I had a mini breakdown and I cried for a bit just worrying too much.

Food:
More cravings lately. For bad stuff. Candy corn, Cheetos. Great. 

Sleep & Dreams:

Snoring again, but sleep has been good. I know a few weeks back sleep was getting sucky and I was thinking to myself, noooo it can't be like this so soon! But thank goodness it's going well lately. I feel very fortunate to at least still enjoy bedtime. I might be uncomfortable for half of my waking hours, but at least at night everything is going pretty smoothly at this point. I don't know how much longer that's going to continue, but I'm so happy that it's still good right now.

Energy:
I want a nap every day. If only I could nap at work.

Exercise:
This week was bad, but I've got myself a new goal for next week. Perhaps walking is not the way to progress through the third trimester, seeing as sometimes it makes my back and hips ache. Instead, maybe it's time to switch back to workout videos and other at home workouts. So we'll see how that goes! I need to continue to incorporate some sort of workouts for the sake of our little Calvin!

Other Symptoms:
Round ligament pain! Achey hips when I get out of bed.
Pregnancy brain is here to stay, I think. It just seems that there have been several occasions this week when I just totally felt out of it and was making stupid mistakes or forgetting things.

Movement:
I've been feeling a lot more movement down low this past week or so. And I can feel him low and high at the same time, I can just feel him wiggle all over. Whereas in weeks past, it felt like he was only occupying the top half of my uterus, now he's everywhere. Haha. This week he has made a lot of movements that you can definitely see from the outside. Monday night he was going crazy, I just watched him move across my belly, there was a moment when I could see a significant bump for like five solid seconds just protruding from my belly. Once again, like I say every week, he is getting so strong! 

Favorite Moments of the Week:
Early Monday morning Justin put his hand on my belly for a few minutes while we were in bed. I think he probably thought I was still sleeping, so that was a sweet moment to feel him feeling for Calvin even though I was "sleeping."
Justin made the comment that this was all going by so fast and before we know it, I'll be pregnant with our second child. It really is true that every year seems to fly by faster than the last. I mean Justin and I have been together almost seven years now! Before we know it, Calvin will be here, with our one year wedding anniversary soon to follow (unless Calvin hangs out in there for an additional week or two lol).

Gathering Things for Calvin:
Justin made Calvin's name decor for the nursery this weekend! It's so adorable. And that's really the last thing we had going on in the nursery. We have a footprint and handprint frame we want to hang, and probably a little picture or something else to fill the remaining wall space, but those are items that have to wait for Calvin to show up! So, as far as I'm concerned, the nursery is all ready!
We even spent the weekend doing baby clothing laundry. Justin got a bunch of stuff from a coworker and we have pretty much already filled Calvin's dresser. Haha. The clothes do range all the way up to 2 years, so we can make room as we go, too. We honestly have pretty much everything. We got a ton of stuff from my older sister and Justin's coworker. I think a lot of our registry and baby shower stuff will probably end up being duplicates. But good thing we have two grandmas to give stuff to as well! Justin's mom and my mom will be watching Calvin when I go back to work. Although my mom has tons of stuff from watching my nieces, I'm sure there are other little things she'd like to have too. We have a swing, rocker, bouncers, a play mat, a high chair, stroller, infant car seat and bigger car seat, a pack and play, a bumbo, enough bibs to feed an army of babies at the same time, multiple crib sheets, and more. From what we've collected so far, we really just need a handful of things (and some of the most important things haha)...
bottles, breast pump, storage, cleaning, etc.
basic supplies like diapers, wipes, etc.
a boppy
burp cloths and swaddle blankets, etc.
another car seat for Justin's car or at least an extra base for the one we have
baby carrier
baby monitor
baby first aid/nail/health kit
baby proofing supplies
some clothes

Childbirth Class:
The class we took was an all day event on Saturday. It was like a class in that we watched a film, discussed it, had a guest speaker, etc. We didn't get on the floor and practice any birthing positions, but we did discuss them. I feel like we learned a lot, even though some of it was stuff we already knew, it was definitely very helpful.
The biggest thing I took away from this class was both eye-opening and somewhat unsettling. It was taught by a woman who works a lot with natural births without pain meds. A lot of what she had to say really made me question whether or not an epidural is the way to go. I understand she was simply trying to lay out all of our options for us, but I left that class with more iffy decisions to make than I thought I had.

Doctor Appointment:
Ok, we got to see Calvin again on ultrasound, which was great. He is just so cute and seeing his profile and his face and watching him move around while I feel him moving at the same time really helped me to come closer to reality (I talk more about that in the random thoughts section). On the other hand, this appointment feels like it's made me more worried than before, after thinking we'd get some stuff cleared up this time around. Calvin is estimated at 3 pounds 2 ounces, which is two weeks ahead. My uterus itself is measuring 36 cm! 36 cm at 28 weeks (should be around 28 cm at this point)! She said I had a lot of fluid too. The fluid she wasn't worried about and pretty much just told me it makes me feel more uncomfortable but it's nothing to worry about. So at least I feel justified in feeling so uncomfortable and crappy some days. Lol. But I took the glucose test and will have results back Monday (since Friday is Good Friday and they're closed). My doctor already sounded like she figured I did have gestational diabetes because Calvin's big and I have a lot of fluid. So we'll see what those results bring. If it comes back that my blood sugar was not high, I guess Calvin's just a big baby.

What I Miss:
Nothing I'm missing this week, I'm just so excited to meet our baby boy! And it still feels sooo far away! I want him here now! Haha.

Random Thoughts:
Early in the week: Although I surely realize there's a tiny baby in my tummy, it's really hard for me to actually picture him. When I feel my belly and feel hard spots and softer spots, I try to visualize how he's laying in there and I just can't comprehend it. I know he's in there, but I think there's still this little bit of disconnect. I just can't imagine what he looks like. It's just so hard for me to picture him as a tiny baby with little features and hair and nails, I can't help but imagine him still as a very thin little guy but I know he's starting to pack on the ounces. I hope that makes sense.
Since our latest ultrasound, I definitely feel more connected to our little Calvin.

Thanks so much for reading!
Love,
Alaina and Little Calvin

Week 27 - 2nd Trimester Pregnancy Symptoms, Overview, Updates, etc.

Week 27 - March 11-17

Our baby boy Calvin Lee is due June 17, 2016!

Here we are in the last week of the second trimester. Only three months until we get to meet our baby boy! June seems sooo close, but I still feel like we've got plenty of time. I can't wait to meet him but he still needs to do lots of growing in there first! I honestly feel like the second trimester has gone by so much slower than the first trimester did, that first trimester just flew by! Yet, at the same time, to think about the day I took that very first test with the super duper faintest positive line ever doesn't feel like that long ago.
Everyday I wish I could just lay on my belly again. I wish I could take off my pants without rolling around on the bed like a maniac, to get off the couch without making sound effects. I wish I could shower without getting out of breath, or put on lotion for that matter! I wish I could wash dishes in the sink without having to stand a foot away. I wish I could comfortably paint my toes (I'm pretty sure they've been the same hot pink since the beginning of the second trimester. I have only touched them up, not removed and repainted). And the thing about all this, guys, is that we still have three months to go! Haha. Three more months of this and probably so many more problems I'll discover in due time. I'm almost unable to put dishes away on the top shelf because of the space where the belly meets the counter. I had to move my car seat back a notch to make room for the belly. I have to stand sideways to hand people things over the counter at work. The bump is growing daily and so is our little boy. I can't wait to meet him!

Weight Gain: 
I have gained a lot, don't get scared when you see the numbers lol. I gained 7 pounds in the first trimester and 26 in the second, making a total of 33 pounds so far! Yep, 33 pounds and we still have three months left. Good luck to me! Haha. I believe my doctor recommended 35 pounds in the beginning, but she hasn't said anything since then... so yeah.
But while we're at it, let me just rant a bit about the weight. I know I've gained a ton of weight. I know it can't all be genetics but I really feel like no matter what, I am just built to gain this much weight during pregnancy. I spent weeks really watching myself and counting calories and eating extra fruit and veggies and being extra good and not snacking and I would gain the same amount as any other time period. Then just now, the last two or three weeks, I haven't gained anything, without changing my diet whatsoever, and after gaining like two pounds a week for pretty much the entire second trimester! What the heck? Can't wait to see how the third trimester pans out, I guess. I've read some accounts that sometimes women gain a bunch in the second trimester and not so much in the third. Fingers crossed that's me! Haha. 

Maternity Clothes:
Just about ready to wear dresses and skirts everyday. Especially as the weather warms up here. I'd like to invest in a couple more pairs of leggings but I think it's really getting hard to justify buying more maternity stuff seeing as I "only have" three months left.
My regular tank tops are starting to rise up the belly on me lol.
I wonder how much bigger I'm going to get because this belly is growing FAST! So I wonder how long everything is still going to be fitting.

Emotions:
Okay. I had a couple days of just melancholy feeling for a bit.

Food:
No aversions or real cravings. 

Sleep & Dreams:

Justin says I've been snoring bad lately. I totally did not snore prior to pregnancy and the only reason I know that I snore now is because apparently it really bothers Justin. Also with the time change, I've been getting less sleep than normal, so that's kind of sucky.

Energy:
I think it's part of the time change and not sleeping as much as normal, but I have been really desiring naps lately. I haven't given in, but I want one almost every day.

Exercise:
Justin and I took a walk together over the weekend, which was a great beginning to the week. The weather is finally behaving. Then we got to walk for over an hour on Tuesday because we walked to our voting place. :) Just one cute little benefit to living in a small town, now if only we had some damn sidewalks in this town! Lol. I wish that was on the ballot.

Physical Symptoms:
So much peeing! I seriously pee all the damn time. When I stand up to actually go pee, it just makes me need to pee even more. And it's like urgent. If I need to pee, I need to pee right now. No, I can't talk for five minutes, or even two! Haha.
Extreme hunger is back by the end of this week. It's strange to me how this has truly come and gone so frequently during the pregnancy so far. I never thought that I could feel so hungry all the time!
Had one day of lower back ache similar to how it aches with menstrual cramps, which I don't think has happened during this pregnancy so far.
Light-headedness off and on a lot this week. It started happening when Justin and I went on our walks, but it also happened just while I was sitting at my desk at work too, so it's not just when I'm exerting myself.

Movement:
Calvin is still always hanging out on the right side, that's his favorite place to be. I really wonder if it's his head up here or this butt, it just feels like a big ole lump haha.
I think I felt the first hiccups from little Calvin this week. And they were very low, so according to the internet, that means he's head down lol.
I think Calvin woke me up this week. Twice in one night. I just remember getting startled awake and feeling him a lot, so I'm pretty sure it was him that woke me. Haha. He is getting so powerful! Sometimes he shakes my whole belly. 

Favorite Moments of the Week:
Got to hang out with my best friend Shroomy over the weekend, we went shopping. That was fun.

Baby Purchases:
No purchases but Justin made a little shelf for the bathroom to store bath supplies by the tub. It turned out cute and it fits perfectly underneath the towels.

What I Miss:
Being able to comfortably shave my legs or put lotion on them. I am fine with my left leg but since Calvin loves to hang out on my right side all the damn time, reaching my right leg is more difficult because that side of the belly is bigger and harder lol.

Random Thoughts:
I know it might sound terrible that this is one of my highlights for after Calvin comes (there are so many things to look forward to after his arrival!) but holy crap, I can't wait to lose this weight. I just feel so uncomfortable some days. The thing that really gets me are my legs. I can't even kneel sitting with my thighs on my calves, that kills me. I feel like my calves are just gonna burst. :( And the other thing is I cannot stand how my thighs rub together when I walk. HATE that! Just my legs in general, I am not in love with them right now and can't wait to get them back to normal.

Thanks so much for reading!
Love,
Alaina and Little Calvin

Week 26 - 2nd Trimester Pregnancy Symptoms, Overview, Updates, etc.

Week 26 - March 4-10

Our baby boy Calvin Lee is due June 17, 2016!

#nomakeup haha 

Bump:

I think my bump is always lopsided. If I look down it looks even, that's a big deal. Lol. Even my dad commented on it one day. But it is growing sooo fast! Seriously, everyday it looks so much bigger than the day before. Haha.

Maternity Clothes:
Been wearing my jeans at least twice before throwing them in the wash lately. Hopefully I can keep up on this for the next three months and not have to buy more. Thinking about giving up on this one pair of under the belly jeans. They just stab me under the belly. Maybe this is another short torso pregnancy problem.

Emotions:
Going good.

Food:
Almond butter is the greatest invention ever. Delicious. OMG!
And... I've had a salad every freaking work day forever now! I'm pretty sure I've had one at least four days a week since I found out I was pregnant. I'm so tired of salad. Never thought I'd say that because I really do like salad, but holy crap I've had enough damn salad. But it's good for us. Some days the idea of having salad for lunch again makes me want to run away. Haha. 

Sleep & Dreams:

It can be hard to fall asleep because of heartburn/indigestion. That sucks. My throat just kills me sometimes. It's off and on good/bad sleep lately.
Dreamt that I was a player in a video game set during the Revolutionary War. I had a gun and could fire as many times as I wanted and didn't have to "reload" and the whole time I was like, this is stupid, guns weren't like this in the 18th century. To "reload" or I guess just get more ammo, you just had to fill your pockets up with lead balls. I don't play video games, I don't know why I've had two dreams now about video games.

Energy:
I had hard times waking up on time this week but I also had hard times falling asleep, so I'm sure it has to do with just crappy sleep overall.

Exercise:
I can feel myself getting crappier at this. But honestly, it is getting harder. I don't feel up to many workout videos these days, and walking makes me feel so tired and achey some days. I know it's a horrible habit to get into! I keep telling myself it will get better once the weather breaks. I hope so.

Physical Symptoms:
My belly button has been sore or tender to the touch on a couple days, not constant.
My nails have been so awesome looking pretty much since the beginning and they are continuing to look awesome. They are growing so fast. I hear stories of them becoming brittle and horrible after baby comes though so I gotta live it up for now. :)
Felt my first Braxton Hicks contraction. It just felt uncomfortable and weird because I didn't quite know what it was at first. It maybe lasted a minute.
Backaches are not an everyday thing, but when they come, it sucks. Sometimes I'll just be cooking dinner and walking back and forth in the kitchen will make it hurt, but other days I'm doing the same thing and it's fine.
Round ligament pain caused by a sneeze occurred again this week, that hadn't happened in awhile.
More acne. Had one terrible pimple last week and two mediocre ones this week. Will they ever go away? Also, just because I haven't mentioned it in awhile, I'm still having issues with scalp acne even though I've taken extra care to wash my hair more often than before.
Everyone talks about how wonderful their hair is while pregnant, but I really don't see any difference thus far. It is growing fast, but my hair typically does grow pretty fast, plus the vitamins can't be hurting it either.

Movement:
He really likes to kick in the ribcage vicinity, which is not cool. All I can say is holy cow this little boy is strong. Haha. I guess this is where the whole being short and having a short torso thing gets kind of sucky in pregnancy. Yay! Only three more months to go! Haha. 

Favorite Moments of the Week:
Sunday morning Justin had his hands on my belly and Calvin kicked many times right on his hand. Justin asked if he didn't like his hand there lol. That was awesome because it wasn't a moment when I told Justin to feel him, he just so happened to have his hand there.
Painting the rocking chair with Justin was a good time. He brought it up into the nursery when we were finished and we just sat on the floor and Justin said something along the lines of, in just a few months our lives are going to be changed forever. Very true, my dear.

Baby Purchases:
Didn't buy anything but we painted the rocking chair for the nursery, which was our last big project for the nursery. All that's left in there is to create and hang his name decor and put up a couple little picture frames for his hand and foot print, etc. After that, we're just waiting on the baby shower to start organizing, doing laundry, and all that good stuff. We live in a two story, so I want to get a little basket to keep a diaper changing station type kit downstairs too. I wish we were having the baby shower like right now. I am a planner and I hate waiting! Especially for something this big!

What I Miss:
Wearing skinny jeans without having my legs feel claustrophobic. Having more than like three options of pants in general. And having pants to wear on the weekends. I wear jeans to work, so I can't sacrifice them on weekend time lol.
Also not having a new zit every week. And not having the oiliest skin ever. Lol.

Random Thoughts:
Sometimes I think about giving birth and it's scary, but other times I think about it and I almost get excited for it. Reading stories of ladies who feel so tough and empowered by their birth stories really makes me look forward to the experience. Of course, I still have worries that our little Calvin could come too early, I try not to let that get to me. At this point, viability is on our side at least, and I try to see that bright side. When I think about giving birth, I try to tell myself, it's just one day of pain and then you get a precious little baby out of it! This is my first so it's really hard for me to even imagine what it's going to be like, not to mention that everything about pregnancy is different from woman to woman, so there's no way to tell just how good or bad that day is going to be. I just want to be positive about it.

Thanks so much for reading!
Love,
Alaina and Little Calvin

Week 25 - 2nd Trimester Pregnancy Symptoms, Overview, Updates, etc.

Week 25 - Feb. 26- March 3

Our baby boy Calvin Lee is due June 17, 2016!

Okay, can I just say holy smokes this week just flew by! Wow! And 25 weeks?! That just sounds like such a crazy amount of time!

Bump:

I've really started to notice that sometimes the bump is really hard and other times it's pretty squishy. A cool new thing about the bump lately is that I can sometimes feel where Calvin must be sitting. Like lately he really likes my right side. I can feel the bump and my right side will feel hard and the left will be squishy. I can only assume it's because he's over there. That's where I feel his kicks really high up.

Maternity Clothes:
Had to retire a couple pairs of jeans that I bought in the beginning. My hips are either wider or fatter but getting those pants up past my hips is too much of a task, so I gave up on those.
Also thinking about retiring the two regular bras I bought at the very beginning (at least I got a good five months wear out of them, yay!). The underwire is killing me because my belly is invading my boobie area lol. Now I just gotta find some reasonably priced, flattering, and at least somewhat attractive bras to replace them with, otherwise I'll be confined to the sports bra-like ones I have left.

Emotions:
One little crying incident this week but it wasn't anything crazy.

Food:
I am so worried that I have gestational diabetes and I wish I could take the test right now and see, but I'm really watching what I eat. It scares me to death that I could be hurting my Calvin with what I'm eating. I thought I was doing so good lately but just wondering if he's big or if I have a lot of fluid and if it's caused by GD, I'm just freaking out. But with that being said, I am back to feeling like I'm starving to death at all times, which is seriously such a sucky feeling. 

Sleep & Dreams:

I dreamt that we were playing real life 007 on old school Play Station (I have since been corrected by my husband, it's N64 not Play Station), what the heck? Also dreamt that I woke up to surprise snow! Surprise snow is seriously my favorite thing ever; when you go to bed not knowing that it's supposed to snow and you wake up to the most beautiful white blanket covering everything. Love that!
Dreamt that I gave birth to Calvin in my parents' living room... Yep.
According to my Jawbone Up Move I'm generally sleeping less, but I don't feel like I'm any more tired than usual.

Energy:
Let me just tell you about the walk Justin and I took on Sunday. It was a little longer than our usual walk and just when we were about the hit the home stretch, I needed to take a break. My back and hips were hurting. Plus, Justin's 5'11" and I'm 5'3" and he doesn't understand that he needs to slow the f down when we walk together. I take twice as many steps as he does. And trying to keep up while pregnant is so hard, it really is. I know walking is good for us all but my poor little hips and back wanted to give up not even halfway through. Haha.

Exercise:
Justin and I took a walk over the weekend and I went to the gym Thursday. So I only got two workouts in but they were both longer than most of my walks or workouts, so I still count it as a successful week. The walk with Justin was almost an hour and I spent 45 minutes at the gym (usually I'm a 30 minute and quit it kind of girl lol), so that's success in my book.

Physical Symptoms:
The rings have officially come off. After taking an hour long walk with Justin, my little hands were so chubby I totally could not get them off. So once we got home and settled down and my hands went back to normal I said, okay, it's time to take them off before they really get stuck. Lol. So that's that. And with spring finally on the way, warm weather isn't going to help the situation, so we're just playing it safe and I've got them on a necklace.
Indigestion has been back for awhile now. That's no fun.
Hip and lower back pain strike at all times. Haha. I understand it when I've been walking or moving a lot, but when I've been sitting around all day and it comes, I'm like what the heck, nothing helps.
Got an intense headache, wave of nausea, hot/cold battle for maybe an hour Saturday night for no reason... That was weird.
I know it's pretty early for most, but since my uterus is measuring big, it makes sense here. I'm already experiencing some rib pain.

Movement:
He is always hanging out on my right side. Whenever I feel him up high, it's never on the left. One of my favorite things at this point has to be seeing and feeling how much more powerful his moves are constantly getting. This week I can almost see my whole belly move when he moves in certain ways. He's still so tiny but getting so big at the same time! It's exciting. :)

Favorite Moments of the Week:
The week flew by so fast I can't even think of anything exciting that happened. Lol.

Baby Purchases:
None.

What I Miss:
Lots, but I'm also still loving being pregnant. I really hope I'm fortunate enough to keep this genuine happiness up until the end!

Random Thoughts:
On the radio this week I heard them mention June 11 for a particular concert in town. And just hearing that date I said to myself, hmm, that sounds like a pretty good birthday. I'm not gonna call this my magical mommy intuition, but I just want to record this in case he does come on that date I'll have some evidence. Haha. Hearing that date just really stuck with me.

Thanks so much for reading!
Love,
Alaina and Little Calvin

Taco Casserole Dish Recipe

This was adjusted from a recipe I found on Pinterest. Sorry I didn't get a picture before we devoured half of it. Lol.

Taco Casserole Dish Recipe

1/2 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

^ Cook up the meat with all that stuff.

1 tablespoon taco seasoning
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 pkg cream cheese

^ Add this stuff to the meat and simmer 15 minutes, make sure the cream cheese is all nice and melted and the mixture is smooth.

1 can corn
1 can beans (I used Brooks Hot Chili Beans)

^ Add those to the meat mixture. Put this meat/corn/bean mixture into a greased casserole dish.

3-4 medium potatoes shredded (then boiled for about 5-7 minutes, strained, cooled) (you can also just use frozen hashbrowns)
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

^ Mix that stuff together and put on top of meat mixture in casserole dish.

Cook at 350 for 35 minutes.

Makes 6-8 large servings.

I hope you enjoy!

Love,
Alaina