{26 Weeks}

From the title I’m sure you know what I’m going to talk about. My daughter is an acrobat! She is tumbling and kicking and just moving around all over in my belly. This has been hands down my favorite part so far. Feeling her move and roll has to be one of the most unique feelings in the entire pregnancy. I’m loving that others can now feel her too, it makes me feel less crazy as I’m constantly saying, “OH my gosh, she moved again,” or “did you see that?” Of course you can’t see it yet but I do have witnesses of the movement because George, Heather and Kat have all felt her! Abbey starts to be pretty active around 10:00/10:30 at night and it really gets her going when I lay down on my left side. As you can imagine this is the time that I’m trying to get to sleep and she is just waking up to kick and move around. How can I just fall asleep and miss this? Lucky me, she is a night owl like her daddy!

If you have been following my Facebook posts then you know that I’ve been a nesting fool. Poor George is worn out by Monday morning because I have him doing so much around the house on the weekends. Two weekends ago I had this crazy hair up my butt and wanted to hang my new mirror and jewelry box. I got a jewelry box for Christmas but needed another one because there is just so much. I was thinking of Goodwilling some of it but when I found out we were having a girl I couldn’t deny her the opportunity to dig through the madness of necklaces and bracelets galore. So my need to clean up my jewelry turned into my bigger need of hanging the new mirror/jewelry box which ended up with a trip to Ikea and a re-arranged bedroom. This was all starting at 4p on a Saturday when friends were coming over for cards at 7p and George had just started to snuggle in for a nap. OOPS! Then this past weekend I had another bug up my butt and went back to Ikea for more house furnishings and we also bought the crib.

Crib shopping was such a cinch, we had done the research and actual lurking online so it was a matter of picking it up and paying for it so that we could get it home and assembled. I thought George was going to have a heart attack when he saw how much the mattress was for the crib. The crib wasn’t that expensive but the mattress was almost half the amount of the crib. He wasn’t too thrilled. All in all it was an easy assembly and the nursery is looking more complete. Thanks to my Aunt Carolyn Wenstrup and cousins, Gretchen Zazycki and Shannon Wenstrup we already had the crib set and it matches the nursery decor perfectly. I will say that I’m a bit confused as to why the crib set even comes with all that it does, you aren’t really supposed to have a bumper in the crib right away! The poor baby can’t even use the comforter it comes with either. So basically you are down to the crib skirt and a sheet at first and the rest goes in the closet. So the crib with the skirt and sheet look really great. Check out the photo – the tree that my Aunt Carolyn painted is the perfect size to frame the crib!

{Belly Updates}

{How far along?} 26 Weeks 4 days and under the 100 days mark for the countdown!

{Total weight gain} At my last doctor appointment I had learned that I gained 6 pounds putting my total at 12 pounds. My nurse mentioned that was a pretty normal hike and that Abbey was going through a growth spurt, so that made me feel better.

{How big is baby?} According to the website updates that I read each week, Abbey could be close to 2 pounds and is probably about 14 inches long. We’ll probably be able to find out for sure once we have our 3D ultrasound next week.

{Maternity clothes?} YES! And thanks to all my friends and mom for buying and passing along more clothes for me to wear. Its nice to have a change in the wardrobe even if most of it is “pre-loved.”

{Sleep?} Sleep is very hit or miss. I seem to wake up at least once a night sometimes twice and that seems to break up my sleep. The other thing is that I’m getting uncomfortable and my muscles are starting to ache because I tend to sleep on my left arm all the time or my left hip. Sometimes I just end up going out to the couch where I can prop up a lot of pillows to get a different sleeping position, plus I’m not waking up George a bunch of times from all my tossing and turning. Yea for leg cramps – had one of those late last week and I was pretty much trying to roll out of bed as fast as I could. Then I upped my banana intake the next day!

{Best moment this week?} There have been so many “best” moments recently! George feeling Abbey kick or what he calls “push” would be characterized as a best moment. Abbey loves to kick and move at night and I’m beginning to think she loves it when I watch Big Brother because that is when she seems to be most active. Another “best” moment was when George was putting the crib together and then finally seeing the nursery a little more complete. I can’t wait to fill it with the final touch – a beautiful baby girl.

{Movement?} OH yes! Most of her movement is at night and like I said above, I think she likes it when I watch Big Brother, wonder what she would think of Jeff being voted out this week. I’m sure she is as unhappy about this as her mom!

{Food cravings?} After my 12 step program I’m finally off the LaRosa’s calzones but now I’m addicted to ice. YES, ice! I love the ice down the street from my office at the little deli called Silverglades. This has to be categorized as one of the weirdest cravings (at least I’m not eating dirt!) but its extremely low-calorie and refreshing! I just feel bad for my boss who has to hear me chomp on it all day.

{Labor signs?} Nope!

{Belly button in or out?} In….barely!

{What I miss} sleeping on my back or stomach (still true since I’m sick of the one position I’m sleeping in now)

{What I’m looking forward to} I scheduled a 3D ultrasound at the Becoming Mom Spa in Deerfield. We are going to be there between 27 and 28 weeks (September 1) which I was told is a good time to see the baby in 3D (thanks Lauren!) I’m also looking forward to starting the birth classes. I know they are going to have boring parts but its still fun to say, we are going to birthing classes!

I’m also excited about our shower with the Rockies this weekend. My brother’s baseball team who I have pretty much grown up with is throwing us a little shower out at Brookville this weekend. I love organizing and re-organizing Abbey’s room so I’m sure that will happen after this little party.

{Milestone} I’m 10 weeks 3 days from being considered full term! (slight heart attack when I said that out-loud to myself)