30 Weeks - Rounding Third and Heading Home

I can hardly believe that we are already in the third trimester. As much as I want to meet our Luda Bean, I truly do love being pregnant and try to cherish the time that I have with our sweet baby on the inside. Just me and baby loving on each other. I know that life is going to be completely different for all four us come September (or August), so I'm just trying to make the most of every minute. Every minute I have just me and Em, just me and Shawn, just the 3 of us, just me and the Bean. 

Along: 30 weeks (as of yesterday)

30 weeks, 2 days - Post a week at FCA Camp and feeling every bit of those 30 weeks, 2 days!

Size: At this point baby is about 2.75 pounds and 15.75 inches long, roughly the size of a cabbage. Baby is continuing to practice breathing and is starting to have sleep/wake cycles anywhere from 30-90 minutes in length. From this point on baby will gain roughly 1/2 a pound a week, which will hopefully result is a chubby baby for us to love on. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: As of last Friday I am up 23 pounds.

Gender: As you know by now, we have decided to keep the gender a surprise. As the weeks pass and we get closer to meeting our new little one, the anticipation rises for whether we are going to have another daughter or son. I am so excited to hear Shawn say, "It's a __,", to see this sweet baby's face for the first time and swaddle our little bundle of joy in my arms. 

Movement: Our little Ninja baby is giving Mommy lots of kicks to feel and for the most part lots of kicks to see! I love feeling our baby move.

Sleep: I've definitely had a few nights where sleep as eluded me. I fall asleep fine, but wake up and have difficulty falling back to sleep. Thankfully Em has been taking longer naps in the afternoon, so on those days I have been able to catch a snooze when she does. If I don't, I just pray for energy. 

Cravings: Cravings or just food in general has definitely gotten the best of me. I feel like I am always grabbing for a snack of some sort. I've decided that over the next 10 weeks, I really want to be careful with the food that I am reaching for; trying to eat clean and make good choices, not just for me, but for Shawn, Em and our Luda Bean. 

Symptoms: I've continued to have leg pain, mainly on the right side.  I'm thinking it is because I put a lot of weight on that side, always carrying Em on that hip. It's also the same leg that I am having trouble with my veins, which are starting to get a little painful. I'm trying at this point to remember my compression socks, especially at work and to put my legs up as much as possible. I've also had some sciatic nerve pain which could be a good thing, meaning that the babies head is getting in the right position to make the big debut!

Best Moment of the Week(s): Once again these past weeks have flown by. I can hardly believe just 10 weeks, give or take, until we get to meet our little Miss or Mister. To say the anticipation is building would be an understatement! With that we've had so much fun these last few weeks. We went on our family vacation to Nashville and it was wonderful. The drive was interesting to say the least and I definitely had moments of stress throughout the trip, but I love taking adventures as a family and wouldn't change the memories those adventures bring us for the world. Em loved the Grand Ole Opry, once we found her a place to dance, and we all left Nashville looking a little more country with our 15 pairs of boots. I also had the opportunity to serve at another FCA camp, Power Camp in Fredericksburg, this past week. I loved getting to use my nursing career in a different capacity. Em also got to be a camper for the first time and attended Power Kids. She played with other kids, made crafts and sang songs. I loved picking her up each day and seeing what fun thing she had created. Tomorrow is going to be a fun day as well since my sister-in-law and Mom are having a BabyQ for me and Shawn. I'm excited to celebrate this little Nugget with my friends and family and hoping that the forecast is wrong and we have at least a few dry hours!

"Prep" for # 2: So far I feel like we haven't really done anything to get "prepared" for being parents of two, other than get excited, but we did move some furniture around in the Nursery and in our room to get ready for Luda Bean's arrival. Since the plan is to have our littles share a room, we have make room for baby #2. I'll hopefully have pictures of our updated nursery in the next couple of weeks, along with some storage solutions for having two in one room. 

And that my friends, is a full on outie!

Happy Friday!