25 weeks

Week 25
Weeks to go: 15

Week 25 was our vacation week to the El Cid resort in Puerto Morales, Mexico. I was grateful to be going on this vacation after our minor scare at the doctor the week before.

We pretty much relaxed all week. Matt got to scuba dive and go deep sea fishing. I read books on the beach, floated in the pool (which felt WONDERFUL - my growing belly was weightless in the water) and basically just relaxed. It was very nice.

On the beach in Puerto Morales.

We took a short cab ride from the resort into Puerto Morales for their sunset festival on Wednesday evening. They had music, food, vendors and dancers on the square. Puerto Morales is growing from a little fishing village to a nice little tourist area. They LOVE us resort folks when we come shopping. 

In big news this week, Matt felt Bea kick for the first time. We were relaxing on the beach the first day we arrived and Bea was bouncing around like crazy. I actually could see my whole belly move. I think the swim suit helped accentuate the movement since it was tighter than most regular clothes. I got Matt's attention - at first just to show him my belly vibrating - but he thought I wanted him to feel - up until then I had grabbed his hand on many occasions, placed it on my tummy and he never felt anything. THIS time he put his hand on my belly and she immediately kicked him RIGHT where his hand was. He felt it and saw my belly jiggle. I was SO glad he was finally able to feel her. And his smile was great. He's felt her several other times since then. She's getting very strong!

25 weeks and 2 days.

24 weeks

Week 24
Weeks left to go: 16

Week 24 was a bit eventful. I went in on Monday morning, July 15th for my 24 week appointment. I was feeling pretty good, but my blood pressure was very high when the technician took it. I saw the doctor and my belly was growing great and Baby B's heartbeat was perfect, but she was concerned about the blood pressure. She took it again herself and in 5 minutes it had dropped dramatically.

She wanted to be cautious so she sent me home with a 24-hour urine test to check my urine for protein. High blood pressure plus protein in urine means pre-eclampsia and that's not good.

I took off work the remainder of that Monday and also on Tuesday in order to complete the urine test and go to my follow-up appointment. This was probably one of the more stressful 24 hour periods in my life. I drank water and filled that pee container up like a rock star. I wanted them to have the best pee possible to check my levels and keep Bea and me safe and healthy.

I had to stop myself from googling pre-eclampsia symptoms as that was not wise to my efforts NOT to raise my blood pressure. Matt and my mom were confident I'd be fine.

The doctor had said if I didn't have safe levels on my test results that my upcoming vacation to Mexico was a no-no. I was fine with that. I mainly just wanted to keep Bea safe for 16 more weeks.

At my follow-up appointment the next day my blood pressure continued to be normal and low. The Dr. was VERY pleased and was glad I had bought a home monitor to keep with me. She said that the high blood pressure on the last visit must have been a fluke.

She complemented me on my composure the day before when she presented me with the urine test and the possibility that I may not be traveling to Mexico the next week. I told her I DID have a moment in the car - Matt had a unchangeable work assignment in Orlando and couldn't make this visit and I was freaking out a bit without him, but he talked me down in the car and sent me home to rest with promises that me and Bea were totally fine (he was right). I told her I could care less about the vacation and whether or not I'd go. I was more anxious about my precious blessing and how important it was to me to keep her healthy (I may not have used the term "precious blessing" in person, but I got the idea across.) She was very impressed with how level-headed, calm and collected I was. I guess it never occurred to me to freak out on her - she was trying to take care of me and I am GRATEFUL for that.

My theory? I think the spike was maybe due to the fact that this was my first visit in a long time without a glimpse of Bea by ultrasound before they did my lab work. In my previous visits the ultrasound tech would always come for me first and I'd get to see my sweet baby playing around and I'd know she was ok. So when they took my blood pressure after the ultrasounds I was calm, elated and daydreaming about my girl.

This time no ultrasound was scheduled and my blood pressure was taken BEFORE I saw the Dr. (who said everything looked great). It was also taken AFTER they weighed me and while I'm not terribly concerned with weight gain during this pregnancy - I still was a little surprised at the number I saw. :-)

So maybe it spiked for those reasons? Maybe it didn't spike and the tech read it wrong? Maybe it just spiked? Who knows - either way I know to look out for it and as I said before - knowledge is power and I will use it wisely.

So I am grateful for the answered prayers once again. My test results came back normal, my blood pressure has stayed right around normal and I feel calmer which I know is better for Bea's sake.

Here's me at 24 weeks and 4 days. This was Friday after I had received the VERY important ALL CLEAR from my doctor from my worries and for my vacation travel.

23 weeks

Week 23

Weeks left to go: 17

(Crazy that I only have 17 blog posts left before the due date. That seems endless when I think 17 WEEKS but 17 blog posts seems much less daunting.)

Two blogs this week since I missed last week.

Week 23 has gone well. We worked on Bea's room last night and got some furniture moved around and some new furniture in place. Now that the big furniture is done it's on to A LOT of details. Off the top of my head here's the projects we have left to complete:

• Crib skirt (Marmee is working on) - found an awesome red chevron fabric at the Hancock's in Florence and grabbed it for crib skirt purposes.
• Covered alphabet letter - it's a 2 foot letter B. Not sure if I'll paint it or fabric it or what. 
• Contact paper on the windows for privacy - we have a tiny bit of heart lace curtains that show a bit of sunlight. I want to put up privacy paper to keep the action in the room more private.
• Frame art and hang on wall
• Create art and finish existing art - we have a few projects of paintings, embroidery, etc. left to do.
• Hang heart nightlights - bought some heart lights on a string from Ikea - these are LED so they do not get hot. We're going to hang them near her crib for a soft, girly nightlight. They'll also be on a timer so we can control them without having to bend over to unplug them all the time.
• Finish bedding - I have fabric to make a few pillows
• Use up fabric scraps to make fun burp cloths. I'm not sure I'll ever complain about having too many burp cloths
• Hem and finish up the blankets I have planned with other scrap fabrics
• Cover rocking chair with SOMETHING - no clue how to do this. Can't afford re-upholstery anyways. 
• Clean out closet and prepare for storage needs
• Clean out under bed and prepare for storage needs
• and this list will probably continue to grow and doesn't include items around the rest of the house we might want to do before she arrives. 

So I guess the "nesting phase" is beginning....

Here are bits and pieces of the nursery I've snapped over the past few weeks:

The crib that Matt put together on Mother's Day for me.

Crib: Jenny Lind from Amazon

Mobile: vintage from Ebay

Canopy: Ikea

Blanket: Homemade by Marmee for me last fall

Stuffed Broccoli: Ikea

Teddy Bear: From Gray with flowers after my Grandfather passed away

Chest of drawers/changing area: purchased at thrift store - painted by me.

Wall arrow: Homegoods

Picture frames: Homegood and Ikea

Lamp, books and muisc box Disney projector: thrift stores and library used book sales

Letter "b": Babies R Us (on sale)

I'll try to take some progress photos this weekend to see what's changed and keep up with how the room is looking.

Here's me at 23 weeks and 2 days: 

Mommy's feeling: Tired, but happy

Heartburn and restless legs keep me from getting a great night's sleep . So consequently I wake up a couple times a night and then feel tired the next day. I'm going to have to start carrying Tums around with me constantly as just about any food leads to some sort of heartburn. I think part of the heartburn when I eat is because I drink a LOT of water during the day. It's a catch 22 as I really need to stay hydrated and I notice cramping if I do not drink a lot of water. I think I'd rather just remember the Tums and stay happy all around than give up eating (because I can def. put it away) or drinking water (mild cramps are no fun.)

Still having some Mommy "cankles". Not the end of the world and the FL heat helps me out as I feel most comfortable in flip flops or sandals. This also gives me reason to keep my toes pedicured.

Matt and I talked as we were fixing up little things in Bea's room last night. He knows how long I waited to do this and I think I forget to just sit back in the moment and forget my list of details to do and just savor how awesome it is that I'm actually DOING it. I'm preparing a nursery! For MY BABY! I am so very blessed.

Bea's feeling: Kicky, but shy about it

She's kicking away as usual in there. She'll be moving around so much until I put Matt's hand on my belly and she suddenly will stop. Either her Daddy's presence calms her (which could be awesome for nighttime feedings) or she's just messing with us (NOT awesome for nighttime feedings). Either way I can tell they're getting stronger. 

She also kicks a lot when I eat. I don't know if she gets active when my stomach growls or she knows when something tasty is heading her way. :-) 

Daddy's feeling: Excited

Glad we got the room set up. (Mommy's note: He hasn't seen my list I put above yet! haha)

Looking forward to rocking the baby.

Hope she's cute like her cousins.

Coming up:

24 week Dr. appointment on July 15th

Vacation to Mexico on July 22-27

Baby showers in the Shoals on August 10th and 11th

22 weeks

Week 22

Weeks left to go: 18

I'm a little behind on this week. It was the 4th of July holiday and we were able to fly home for a nice long visit.

Here's me at 22 weeks and 4 days.

It was nice going home to visit with family. I got to cuddle with the nephews, visit grandparents and relax with the family. Lots of good hamburgers, watermelon and ice cream. Bea and I were very well fed. :-)

Bea is still active. I'm still feeling good despite restless legs and heartburn. Andrea and Grandma got to hear her busy little heartbeat during the visit and that was super special.

Aunt Andrea and Uncle Rob hooked Bea up with lots of camo and fun clothes. Matt and I don't hunt much - but Matt pointed out how they're going to be perfect camping clothes. Bea is set, and VERY blessed.

A cousin of mine made some beautiful homemade crocheted items including a blanket, a snuggle pod with matching hat, booties and mittens - and this gorgeous dress and bonnet. I can't wait to see Bea in them.

While home we registered at a local baby store for our home showers which will be in August. Lots of burp cloths and other adorable baby items.

This snuggle/swaddler set with a hat with antennae - too cute for a B baby!

Pink Feltman Brother's dress.

This one isn't a Feltman - but the yellow dress and purple smocked hearts were very cute.

Couldn't pass up the University of Alabama bow. It's an elephant wearing a houndstooth hat. Made me laught outoud. Perhaps I should have registered for two so Bea and I match?

And I had to be fair and register for some items from her dad's team. This bow has Aubie the tiger. The nice thing about these bows is I can change out the bow on her headband depending on the game that's on. She will always be prepared to cheer. :-)

I brought home some cross stitch items that were in MY nursery to hang in Bea's. My nursery had a primary colors/clowns theme which is similar to Bea's muted primary colors/circus (kinda) nursery.

I found this particular cross stitch design in my mom's stash and cracked up. I took a photo of it as I'm sure I will think the very same thought come this fall when Bea is home. My mom did this in 1984!

Finally, a comparison shot from 12 weeks to 22 weeks. 

In the shot on the left I am 12 weeks to the day and finally trying on some of my first maternity clothes at Target. I was surprised at how pregnant I thought I looked at the time. I was also thinking, "FINALLY these clothes make me look more pregnant than just like I ate a heavy meal."

On the left I am 22 weeks and 4 days. Andrea took this for me on Friday, July 5th. We were heading out to visit my Grandma and get the registry complete at the baby store. 

So glad I took Momma and Andrea with me to register. They each picked out small items they liked. The baby store just gives you a bag and you walk around filling it and then you are assigned a cubby where all your picked out items are stored. So when someone comes in looking for your registry - they are just directed to your cubby which is full of baby things you picked! We had a BLAST admiring dresses, socks, bloomers, hair bows, bibs, burp cloths and blankets. Andrea picked out a purple polka dot pair of bloomers with lace ruffles. I'm sure Bea will be stunning in them. I also picked out a burp cloth with a chick on it in honor of her Marmee (my mom). 

Side note: We decided to call my mom "Marmee". My sister and I are HUGE fans of Little Women. I've read Louisa May Alcott's books about 10 times each. Little Women and Little Men are two of my favorite books period. My sister and I quote the Little Women movie with Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst constantly. I hope Bea loves it.

She'll have:

Pop and Mimi Crockett 

and

Papa and Marmee Willingham

ADORABLE.