28 Weeks

The 3^rd Trimester.  WoooHooo, I’m in the home stretch now.

How Far Along:  28 weeks

Baby Size: About the size of an eggplant.

Total Weight Gain: 13lbs at last appointment but I’m in between right now.

Maternity Clothes: My selection is getting more limited now.  I can’t squeeze into some of the things I could last month J

Stretch Marks: Still no.

Sleep:  I’m sleeping well but I get heartburn at night so I have to sleep on 2 pillows.

Best Moment of the week: Getting the all clear on my glucose test.

Miss Anything?: Sushi.

Movement:  She’s kicking me in the ribs lately.  It might be getting cramped in there for little Blakey.

Food Cravings: No.

Anything Making you queasy or sick: No.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs:  No.

Symptoms:  Nesting like crazy.

Belly Button in or out: Flat.

Wedding Rings on or off: On.

Mood: Good.  I’m still feeling great.

Looking forward to:  Completing the nursery.  Putting it all together has been so fun J

Exercise:  Lower impact now but I’m still working out as much as I can. Scary Moment: About 10 days before my last appointment I found a breast lump.  I have never had anything like that so I didn’t know what to think.  I called the doctor to see if I should come in sooner or wait until my appointment.  They said “oh it’s probably nothing, you can wait.”  At my appointment, my doctor said “well it’s probably just a cyst but let’s have an ultrasound just in case.  It won’t be anything, don’t worry.”  I made my appointment at the breast center and they took me into the room and the tech said “ok the doctor will come in to do the ultrasound but don’t worry, it’s probably nothing.”  The doctor came in and did the scan for about two seconds and said “well it’s not a cyst, it’s a solid mass. Do you mind if we do a biopsy today?”  I said “no but can you go get my husband in the waiting room?”  She says, “well ok I guess I can allow it but some husbands make things worse and I don’t want him fainting.”  WTF? My husband is an EMT.  He sees blood and guts daily and I would like to take a breath for a minute and talk to him.  They did the biopsy, which isn’t too invasive but does include a titanium clip/marker being permanently inserted and a big hole and bruise left behind.  Mostly, it is the overwhelming feeling of HOLY SHIT what am I going to do if this is cancer and I’m pregnant.  I can’t treat it the way you normally would, I can’t take care of this baby and be sick, I can’t leave Kyle with all of this burden on him.  After the doctor was done and bandaged me up she said, “ok we should know in about 2 days so just don’t think about it.  Needless to say, Kyle and I had a long night and they actually called me the very next day with the results.  It is a lactating adenoma.  Basically a pregnancy related, tumor in the milk duct and it is benign.  They are not normal, but they aren’t exactly rare either.  My OB called me a few days after to see if I got the results and she sounded surprised by the whole situation.  I love that once she heard about it she called to check in and see that I was ok.  I really do love my doctor.  On the other hand, if I did turn out to have a malignancy, I would have been shopping around at the breast center for another doctor.  In the end it turned out ok and Kyle and I had the best possible anniversary weekend with extra things to celebrate J

Our 1st Anniversary

I can't believe it's been a year already!  They say the 1st year is the hardest and if that is true, we are in for for a pretty amazing life.  I am so lucky to have found the most loving, supportive, generous, handsome man to be my best friend and partner for the rest of my life.

We have had the most fantastic newlywed year.  It's been busy and exciting and we feel so fortunate for everything we have been blessed with this year.  Most of all Baby Blake who we can't wait to meet this September.  Kyle is going to be such a great dad!

To celebrate, we are headed down to Del Mar for a weekend getaway at L'Auberge Del Mar where we were married.  I can't wait to get down there and relive all those wonderful memories we made the last time we were there.

Pregnancy Must-Haves

1. Palmer's Cocoa butter- I have been using this religiously and still have no stretch marks.  I can't say it's from the Palmer's or that I won't get them eventually but so far so good.

2. Prenatal Yoga- Yoga really clears my head when I'm stressed out. It is also keeping me in shape and flexible, along with my other workouts.

3. Maternity Leggings/Jeans- Motherhood was the best place for me to find pants at a reasonable price. Target was horrible! I do have some dresses and tops from Target that are good but I mostly got the basics at Motherhood. When it came time, maternity jeans were a welcome change. They are so much more comfortable and the BellaBand just did not work for me. As it gets hotter, I plan on relying on maxi dresses.

4. Body Pillow- I have the Snoogle pillow. I honestly have not had trouble sleeping but this thing really is comfy and for people who do have trouble sleeping I'm sure it is a huge help.

5. Google- Baby books are outdated before they even hit the shelves. When I wanted  info, I wanted it ASAP and reading through an entire book filled with 90% info I already knew or didn't care about just was not going to cut it.  No, you can't trust everything you read online but who says you can trust everything you read in a book?  I gathered as much info as I could, asked my doc what she thought, and then formed my own opinion when it came to pregnancy questions.

6. Decaf Green Tea- I'm a huge green tea and coffee drinker.  Tea for pregnancy is particularly difficult to find because you're not supposed to have certain herbs and they are in everything.  Basically everything Starbucks carries has a questionable herb in it.  I ended up finding decaf green tea from Trader Joes that is pretty good.

7. A supportive and patient husband- This is the biggest must have of all.  Kyle has been amazing throughout this whole process.  He doesn't baby me, which I hate, and even though he's busy and stressed also, he is there for whatever I need.

26 Weeks

How Far Along:  26 weeks

Baby Size: About the size of a head of lettuce.

Total Weight Gain: 13lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Still wearing both maternity and non maternity.

Stretch Marks: Still no.

Sleep:  I have started tossing and turning more these days.  I think it’s pretty good that I’ve made it almost to the 3rd trimester without any sleeping problems.

Best Moment of the week: Starting to order and get everything together for the nursery.  Seeing it all come together is so exciting.

Miss Anything?: Cookie dough.  I hate not being able to take a bite when I’m baking.

Movement:  I tried the flash light thing this week.  She moved around a little so I guess she saw the light. Also, she’s very active as soon as I lay down in bed.  I think she’s trying to learn karate in there J

Food Cravings: Peaches.

Anything Making you queasy or sick: No.

Gender: Girl.

Labor Signs:  No.

Symptoms: Forgetfulness.  I have been terrible.  I forget my phone about half the time when I go out.  I really hope this goes away before I get around the time of going into labor.  It’s making work more difficult too.  I have to run back and forth a lot more for things I have forgotten.  As a positive side note, I am getting more exercise at work because of this J

Belly Button in or out: Flattening out.  Half of it is starting to pop out a little.

Wedding Rings on or off: On.

Mood: Good.  I’m still feeling great.

Looking forward to:  Taking our classes through the hospital.  I will feel a lot more prepared after the childbirth and newborn care classes.  Also, our weekend anniversary getaway.  We are headed down to L’Auberge Del Mar to relax and celebrate.

Exercise:  I have been doing ok.  Some things are getting harder now but I’m determined to stay active.  Work alone keeps me moving.  I have a co-worker that once wore a pedometer to work and he said we walk about 5 miles in a shift on a busy night.  That’s not too bad when you consider I do that 4-5 nights a week.

Simplifying My Routine

Ok so a few months ago, based on the advice of a friend, I changed up my skincare routine.  She told me that all she ever uses is Dove Sensitive Skin bar soap on her face.  We both have combo skin that tends to be dry.  I personally hate the feeling of dry skin but I have always used a cleanser designated for the face like Neutrogena because I was afraid of acne.  My skin always feels dry after a shower so I just moisturize immediately.  She claimed that this bar soap left her skin soft and never dry.  I was skeptical but I figured I would give it a try and if it worked out, I would end up saving money.  Also, I happened to already use Dove Sensitive Skin body wash so I had it in my shower.  It was just too convenient not to try it.

My new routine is Dove with my Olay Pro X once a day, which leaves my skin feeling amazing, I mean I noticed it the very first time I used it.  And then just the Dove if I need to wash my face again that day (I don't like to overdo exfoliation).  I have had literally NO breakouts and my skin tone is becoming more even.  It might be in my head but I feel like my pores are smaller too.  I waited to post about it until after I had been doing it a while to make sure the results were accurate and I am proud to say that this is my new way of life.  I love it.  It's so much cheaper and easier to be all-in-one now.  If only I could wash my hair with it...