30 & 31 Weeks

30 Weeks .....

The downhill!!! So I hope! It could be 10 weeks, it could be 8 weeks it could be 6! Who knows! That 6 number sounds awfully close though!

We had a sonogram at 30 weeks and things are looking just fine! Except for maybe the size of his head! We are measuring around the 93rd percentile for head size! FANTASTIC! :-(   We didn't get to see much as he was head down and facing the wrong way and was not very cooperative at all to show us anything else exciting. But on the plus side, he is head down already and he is weighing about 3.5 lbs. Mommy is hoping for a baby a little bit bigger than Abigail at 5lb 3 oz. But I by no means need a 10 lb baby! :-) We will go back for another sono in about 4 weeks.

Mommy starts her every 2 week OB appointments this week so I go on Friday morning. It is going to be one busy fall with all of these appointments and Abigail activities! I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep up!

Size: A large cabbage!

Movement: I am noticing that we are running out of room. So while I am still feeling lots of movement there are definitely more pushes and rolls than kicks. He keeps me up at night already!! If I wake up for any reason he does too and then keeps me awake for a while!

Cravings: None really.

Projects: It was a busy week so nothing really happened in the project department. Daddy is hoping to get the room painted soon. After that it really shouldn't take more than a day to get the room put back together!

How am I feeling: Getting tired again, and out of breath. Sadly, my stomach and my chest are having a battle of who can get bigger faster and who can make who more uncomfortable. It is not a pleasant fight.

Abigails Week: hmm....its getting harder and harder to remember things. We had a fun week though. Got in one more day at a pool! Had a fun time at a mommy & me event in Rockville and went to one of Abigail's friends birthday parties on Saturday!  Mommy got to go to the Nationals game on Friday with some friends. Daddy was supposed to come but work had other things in mind so he didn't make it. Nonnie and Grandpa made it down to watch Abigail and they spent the weekend with us. Daddy went with Nonnie and Grandpa to the Ravens game while mommy and Abigail stayed home and took it easy!

I am looking forward to the cooler weather as I have been a very warm pregnant person lately. Today is a bit on the chilly side, which I wasn't quite ready for but hey....Fall is here!! When I got in the car this morning the wind was blowing and leaves were already starting to fall off of the trees.


31 Weeks......

The tale of 2 pregnancies, my oh my how they can be different!

This week has been rough to put it mildly. Towards the beginning of the week Abigail had a bit of a cold and was being the most defiant 2 1/2 year old I have ever met! Luckily for her (and mommy) her cold eased pretty quickly. But behind that cold came an illness for mommy that she would have traded 12 defiant 2 1/2 year olds for any day of the week!

Here is about the one and only thing recently that these 2 pregnancies have had in common. With Abigail at 32 weeks, I caught a 12 hour stomach bug the night before one of my baby showers. It was horrendous (at least I thought at the time) but nothing compared to the 48 hour + bug I have caught this time at 30-31 weeks. Luckily, I think the worst is over but this time around I was a little nervous with the length of the bug that I was a bit dehydrated, tho I did my best to put in as much liquid as possible. So we made a trip to Labor & Delivery on Saturday to get checked out just to make sure. Low and behold, I was a bit dehydrated and I got about a bag and a half of fluids. They gave me some nausea medicine and I was feeling pretty good. So all told we were there for about 4ish hours. Not too bad, really.

I was supposed to have a doctors appointment on Friday but I called and rescheduled that since I was not feeling so well so I go on Monday, which is nice because now I can follow up with my doctor after our events of the weekend.

Needless to say tho, I am exhausted. Last night was the first good night of sleep I've had in days and as much fluid as I got, I'm sure I am still a bit low as my appetite and desire to drink is still not where it should be.

Where these 2 pregnancies diverge is that I am officially uncomfortable. I don't remember for sure when it happened with Abigail but this past week has been bad for obvious reasons but coupled with my inability to "catch my breath" has been hard. So getting up and walking around to do anything can be quite difficult.

He is in a position where he is head down and today especially he has been kicking my ribs and lungs and I am finding it hard to get into a position where I am comfortable at all. It is more comfortable standing because that stretches out my torso but I don't have a ton of energy right now so I can't stand for very long without wanting to sit down.

As I am typing this my little princess said "mom I need my computer so we can type together." I haven't gotten enough of her over the past few days! I have been quite lucky since I have been sick to have a wonderful set of parents nearby that have watched Abigail for me a TON! Today, Daddy has been the life saver and he has been doing TONS of stuff around the house. Laundry, painting the baby room, getting Abigail up and ready for the day, cleaning out the car and cleaning up the kitchen just to name a few! He is super dad for sure!!

Size: well depending on where you read I could be carrying a coconut or a pineapple. I'm gonna say a pineapple because of how he's pressing on my ribs and lungs!

Movement: Other than when I was a bit dehydrated on Saturday and he was making me a little nervous, he really is a super mover!

Cravings: Absolutely NOTHING

Projects: This weekend was super Daddy weekend! I think we might be able to put a nursery together this week! That is super exciting!

How am I feeling: Oh, I've been better, much much better. But on the mend!

Abigail's week: Abigail got a lot of Bugala & Papa time this week, which was good for her and mommy! She missed her friends this week for sure but hopefully we will be better soon so we get to see everyone! In daddy's cleaning the car adventure we went ahead and moved Abigail's seat to the other side of the car so I'll be able to have a better view of the little one when he comes. Abigail was quite amenable to this idea and she told Bugala when we got to her house yesterday that she sits on this side so that Baby ..... can sit on that side. I think it's really starting to sink in!

After my weekend call to the doctor and getting a return call from someone I didn't know, I was a bit concerned to find out what was going on. At the doctor today I learned that my practice is trading call with another practice on the weekends so there is potential if this little guy comes on a weekend to get a doctor I've never even met before. PLUS, there are 2 new doctors coming into my doctors practice who are also taking a night of call each week and rotating through on the weekends so it is looking like the chances of my getting one of my own doctors is getting slimmer and slimmer. I wasn't too terribly pleased to hear this news. I get it, no one wants to be on call every night and every weekend and babies are on their own schedule so it's hard, but I would have liked to have had a little heads up that this was happening! So now, I will hopefully squeeze in meeting the 2 new doctors before the baby comes and Matt and I will have to arrange to go meet the other doctors in this practice that they are trading call with. Not a huge deal but a pain to have to deal with so late in the game.

As a treat for my extreme grumpiness after learning this news, I treated myself to an ice cream from McDonalds. Did you know they now have a Pralines n Cream McFlurry??? It is AMAZING. My pregnant taste buds were very pleased with my decision to treat myself as was baby boy. Tho I am worried I have discovered something that I will want all tooooo often!

There are not a lot of pictures from the past 2 weeks as we have been fighting quite the sickness battle around here and been trapped at home a lot. But here are a few from yesterday at 31 Weeks!! Getting so close! I'm not sure how much longer I can go!

29 Weeks!

And feeling...........tired and a bit panicky! We aren't ready!

I should have learned by now that you never want to say something to jinx yourself. Oh well, this too shall pass. The acne has arrived! YAY!! ;-)

Last week was a slow week for Abigail and I, which in retrospect was great. I was not feeling 100% and it gave us some time to relax and not be so on the go!

Size: This week we are an acorn squash (such silly comparisons!)

Movement: I had a few days where I was a little panicky over a little less movement but things have picked back up and I have noticed I am getting more pushes and jabs than kicks. He has one spot he likes to push on which really makes breathing so much fun! But it is amazing to put your hand there and feel a part of him. Just don't know if it's an elbow, knee, head or what!

Cravings: Still none but I have done a bit of cooking over the past weekend, which has left too many yummy things in my house so I am hoping someone else will make those disappear soon!

Projects: Daddy started priming the baby room! Yay!! It looks like it will need at least 1 more if not 2 more coats of primer before we can get some color back on the walls. I've learned my dark paint lesson for sure! Tomorrow, daddy and I are spending the day organizing and cleaning and getting out baby things. I figure we should get out a few of the bigger items like the swing and such so that Abigail can adjust to having those around.

How am I feeling: Pressure! and lots of it! Not in the I'm not ready for this baby to arrive but in the pelvic area. So that's fun times. The stuffiness is almost gone so I'm thinking maybe allergies?!?! Who knows, but we are glad its gone!

Abigail's Week: Well she just woke up from her nap a bit ago and said "mommy, I need to see my friends!" She is so stinking cute. She loves her friends. Things pick up in the activity department this week and most of September is pretty busy so we should have lots of fun!

Mommy & Daddy celebrated their 4 year anniversary last week. It's amazing how time flies and how much you can accomplish in such a short amount of time. We are very blessed to have such a wonderful family and I am so lucky that I am able to stay home and be with Abigail and baby brother on the way. I am one lucky lady.

We had yet another fun TERPS tailgate this weekend! Abigail did not join us this time around. I think she will make a repeat appearance in October when the weather is a little cooler and it is not as brutal to sit in the sun.

Mommy got to go to a baby shower for a college friend of mine who is having her first baby in early November. At the shower there were 5 of us who either went to college together or was the wife of someone we went to college with and we are all pregnant at the same time. 3 of us are due within about a month of each other so November / December will be busy and the others are due in February. It is so much fun to be able to chat about how things are going and see how everyone is feeling. For 3 of them this is their 1st and for 2 of us our 2nd. Sometimes tho I feel like I am learning this process all over again because I swear, I don't remember how to do a newborn!! Fingers crossed it all comes back to me!

I will say, I am slightly (if not significantly) nervous about having 2 kiddos to take care of. I am paranoid that I will never leave the house again! Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully this little boy is going to be a breeze! :-) Fingers crossed. As I say that he is pushing me so hard it is actually painful! yikes!!

Abigail and her buddy, hiding in their princess tent

Enjoying the outdoors for a little while longer! 

It was good to be back at MD watching some football! 

Mommy & Daddy having fun! 

5 of us all pregnant at the same time. And I look like I could give birth any day :-(  oh the joys of 2nd babies! 

She loves this dog. She is constantly telling him "Oh puppy, I love you so much!" it is adorable

This little ham demanded that she needed her picture taken with daddy. 

Her favorite word these days is "cheeeeese" 

Baby brother growing, growing, growing! 

Hi Baby brother! 

Go Redskins!!! 

GO SKINS! Of course as I write this they are currently stinking up the field! Hopefully, they will figure it out soon!! Happy that Football season has arrived! :-)

28 Weeks!

He's an Eggplant! Tho he feels more like a watermelon these days!

I had to look back and see how things compared to Abigail at 28 weeks, there were a few similarities but not many!

Size: He's an eggplant and I can tell you he is living up to that size for sure. With Abigail, clearly, she was hardly an eggplant when she came out but this guy is shaping up to be a big boy.

Movement: His movement is ALL the time. With Abigail I don't remember seeing / feeling as much outward movement because of where my placenta was located. I could feel more from the inside with her. This guy can literally make my stomach bounce up and down. Its pretty entertaining to watch.

Cravings: I can say that I honestly must not have the pregnancy craving gene or whatever causes pregnancy cravings because I really don't have any. I have noticed that I am eating less as there is less room to put stuff these days.

Projects: So, remember when I said I wasn't nearly as worried as I was with Abigail but that my time would probably come..... It's arrived. I realized last week that at 27 weeks, we only had 13 weeks left and Abigail was nearly 2 weeks early and really anything can happen after 36 weeks which could mean I only have 9 left! You get the gist! ;-)  It was a bit of a panic moment. So the lists began last week. Dad is currently working to cross things off the list as we speak! (He's a pretty super awesome dad!)

How am I feeling you ask? Well, I am not one to complain much about pregnancy as it really is a fun and exciting time and you get the most amazing gift at the end but this week has been rough! I am finally feeling the limitations of pregnancy. Everything is getting a bit more difficult to do and my energy is coming and going again. So when I have it I try to be as productive as possible. I thought I had the "pregnancy stuffiness" but I think I have a plain old cold. The stuffiness has gotten worse and the sneezing has increased BUT "knock on wood" I do not have the sinus pressure that I usually get with a bad cold. So fingers crossed because I can't take anything to make that go away!

Abigail's Week: We had our 1st MD tailgate of the year! GO TERPS! Abigail had a fantastic time and she was an absolute gem for the 3+ hours we spent in the parking lot tailgating. We had some shade and lots of things for her to do but she had a blast. Mom called it quits when it was time to head in for the game as it was 93 degrees and there is no shade where we sit so we both would have been rather miserable. But fear not! She will make it inside for a game at some point this year!

After the game we headed down to Lake Anna to spend some time with my parents. Abigail loves new adventures and always has a great time. She got to ride on the boat and drive and she got to go swimming in the lake so she was happy. Papa made homemade ice cream and I am not sure who was happier Abigail, mom or baby brother! I think it was baby brother!

Abigail learned baby brothers name this week. :-)  She was doing really well at remembering it so mom taught her something else - When Bugala asks what baby brothers name is Abigail will tell her "I don't know Bugala, its a secret!" I was pretty proud of myself for teaching her that one. We'll see just how long that lasts. I'm sure the second mom or dad isn't in the room she'll spill the beans.

Here's a few pictures from our weekend fun!

Go Terps! 

Abigail had a pretty awesome tailgate setup! 

She was a top tailgater for sure and passed out a mile down the road! 

Yes, my friends (and husband) attempted to teach my daughter how to play flip cup. She's gonna know WAY to much before college! 

Abigail and Dusty the bearded dragon. She thought he was pretty cute! 

Captain Abigail & Papa

Abigail was not quite as fearless in the water this year. She was clinging on for dear life to everyone. 

My favorite people! 

My princess! 

Feeding the duckies and the enormous fish! 

Feeding the fish

She had to "take a sleep" every time the boat got moving, just like her mommy used to do. 

28 Weeks with Abigail

28 weeks with baby boy! 

I think I can safely say I am a bit bigger than I was with Abigail!!! And I am beginning to believe what they say about baby girls stealing their mom's beauty, boy do I look puffy and I do remember the acne being pretty bad with Abigail.

Happy Labor Day! 

26 & 1/2 weeks!

It seems my posts don't quite line up exactly with each new 'week' of pregnancy they seem to fall more in the middle! oh well, better than nothing! ;-)

On Tuesday we were 26 weeks and I had the pleasure of going to the doctor for the fun glucose test! Yucko! It was the same gross orange stuff I remember. I felt pretty miserable the rest of the day after drinking that stuff. Here's hoping I passed!   No phone call as of Friday so I think we are in the clear!!

I can't remember when the every 2 week appointments start. It's either after our 28 week appointment or not until after our 32 week appointment. Either way its hard to believe that its just around the corner! It's hard to believe we have less than 100 days to go but we do! I am excited to see how things go with #2. With Abigail, I KNEW it was coming. At work on a Friday, I told them I didn't have much time left that it was going to be soon and they all laughed because it was my first and I still had 2 weeks to go and well - momma was right. Abigail came on Monday!

I am starting to feel a lot larger these days. There are days things go smoothly and days I feel like I can't breathe. I think I am going to have to switch up meal times to several smaller meals rather than 3 normal ones. I also seem to make it through the day having not had enough to drink so then evening time rolls around and I am trying to drink lots of water, well.....then I just feel like I drank a gallon of water and that's not terribly comfortable given there isn't much room in there anymore! So, I should probably work on spacing that out too!

I've decided its time to break out the pregnancy pillow again. Only, I can't find the pillow case for it, I had it a few weeks ago and my pregnancy brain put it somewhere but didn't save that info! So, I ordered another one. In the meantime, Jack (and Abigail) have been happy to snuggle up with the pillow sitting on the floor until the cover arrives.

We have so much going on for the fall that I'm not sure when we are going to have time to get the baby's room ready. However, I can say I am much more relaxed about having things ready this time around. I know that no matter if his room is ready or not, he won't know and it will all work out just fine. Yes, I'm sure my nesting will start soon enough and I'll start panicking! ;-)

This pregnancy has been a lot different from Abigail's. It has been a bit harder to get attached to this pregnancy. Don't get me wrong, I am attached, but I feel more distant than I did with Abigail. I think that's what a few bumps in the pregnancy road will do to you. You realize that bad things can and do happen even when you don't expect it. So once that wonderful baby boy is in my arms I'll be one happy momma.


Our exciting news of the week - We finally picked a name! Matt and I went to a friends wedding down in VA Beach and the drive was a bit longer than we would have liked so it gave us a few extra hours to work on a name. It actually didn't take us long at all. The plan for now is to keep it a secret. As we get closer I may let a few letters slip out here and there and see if anyone can come up with it. We have asked Abigail if she can say the name and she can but we have not specifically told her that it is going to be the baby's name. Matt and I were discussing it the other day and we aren't sure if we should teach it to her or not. We know that if we do, she will share it with everyone but at the same time, we are thinking it might help her transition to having a baby brother if she knows the name and can start referring to him by name instead of just baby or "baby jack" as he seems to often be called.

I do think (fingers crossed) that she is going to do okay with this transition. She is getting more and more excited about baby brother and is routinely asking to hold him. The morning of my doctors appointment I told her I was going to the doctor and she was going to stay with daddy for a bit and she asked if I was going to get the baby out of my tummy so she could hold him. It was so cute!! Kids really do come up with the funniest things.


This week Abigail and I went with some friends and took a trip to the B & O Railroad Museum up in Baltimore. It really is a neat place, a bit on the pricey side but the kids enjoyed it. The moms would have enjoyed a bit more air conditioning but we survived!

I think we can (almost) say that Abigail's big girl room is complete! I finally got the rest of the decorations and we put them up yesterday. She was super excited about her princesses and made sure to give them all a hug and kiss goodnight. Love that kid!

We had a fun family day today just the 3 of us, which was super nice. We do a lot of stuff together but not usually just us 3 so it was a fun day. We headed to Dulles Expo for the train and toy show, which wasn't quite as much fun as I was hoping but it was something to do. I learned 2 things - 1. train collectors / train enthusiasts stink, literally. Maybe its just my heightened sense of smell because I'm pregnant but man there were too many people there that forgot to shower this morning! 2. When baby boy wants to go to the train show he and daddy will get to go and mommy will stay home, trains just aren't my thing! Of course I enjoyed watching Abigail have a good time but I'm a girl, what else can I say.

This afternoon we decided to try taking Abigail to her first movie. It was a risk for sure, given that she refused to nap today. I felt fairly confident she would either fall asleep or have a meltdown of some kind in the theater. She did neither and had a super time. It was just too cute to see her sitting there cheering and giggling. She made it through the whole movie and was better behaved than several older children sitting behind us. Go Abigail!

Abigail & Daddy at the train show. 

This train was much closer to Abigail's level so she enjoyed being close to the action

Our excited train face! 

Go Redskins!!!  whoops, no Ravens trains at the train show. 

26 1/2 weeks 

Abigail at the B&O Museum

Riding the choo choo! 

Our first Carousel ride! 

FINALLY our decorations have arrived

Abigail & her princesses! 

Such my little ham! 

2 weeks in a row!

Someone, please give me a medal! ;-) Kidding, kidding. But everyone should be impressed that I am writing 2 weeks in a row!

Seems like these days are filled with lots of appointments for the baby and fun playdates for Abigail, which leaves very little time for mommy to do much for herself, let alone make dinner! We had our 24 week appointment this week (a little late) and everything seems right on track. I go next week for the always FUN and exciting glucose test! Here's hoping we pass! I'm really just hoping they have a better flavor than the orange stuff I had with Abigail. I don't remember it to be as horrible as everyone had made it sound but a fruit punch flavor would be a bit nicer than that orange gunk! So we'll see. Then we have our 28 week appt just 2 weeks after that and another follow up sonogram soon after that. I must say I do enjoy getting to see the little one on the big screen!

With our next sonogram I'm going to ask if they do 3D sonograms. I think they do but I don't know how much it will cost. Insurance doesn't like to pay for unnecessary things! So far this pregnancy has been completely different than Abigail's. Of course there was the 100% difference in morning sickness, not a big fan of that change but movement is totally different and so much more fun! This boy is constantly moving. A lot of it I can still only feel internally but there are times when you can watch the belly bounce and that is so very entertaining! We have yet to get Abigail to feel it and I can only imagine what her response is going to be. She is getting very excited. She talks to the baby and tells him good morning / goodnight etc and gives him lots of hugs and kisses. This week she wanted him to come out so she could hold him. We told her he still needed to grow a bit more and she seemed to understand. Sometimes just "seeing" my belly without my shirt pulled down is enough for her to have "seen" the baby. I think (fingers crossed!) she is going to do okay with this transition. Of course everything seems fine now because there is no baby stealing her attention so when the real deal happens that may all change.

I was trying to compare abigail's 24/25 week picture with the one we took the other day and I think they are fairly similar belly size, which seems impossible because I FEEL so much bigger this time around than I did with Abigail. I have certainly already had several "I can't breathe" moments because everything is just mashed together. Also, since I am "blessed" :-(  with a much larger top than most, the top and the belly seem to be having a competition on who can get bigger faster. Not my favorite game, not my favorite game at all.

Abigail is still doing well in her new room. I think the rest of her decorations should arrive today and then we will be done. She went through about a week of waking in the middle of the night after a week of doing great but we seem to be back on track now with 2 solid nights of sleep.

Potty training is still our major project of the summer / fall. She had been doing great but over the past week or so has had some minor set backs. I really think she gets so caught up in whatever she is doing that she forgets about having to go to the bathroom until it is almost too late. So we have had to do a few clothing changes but I wouldn't call them total accidents as she will still go in the potty when they happen so mom may just need to be better about forcing potty breaks every 2 hours. Its a process and I think she's really doing pretty well.

Our next project is going to be baby boys room and baby boys name! Matt and I are having quite a difficult time coming up with a name. Girls names were easy. There were ones we liked and didn't like and even the likes there were not that many so it was fairly easy. Boys names are HARD. I have a problem with name associations and if a name triggers something its a big NO, and I have a lot of NO's. We are working on it and I think we will be there soon. We haven't decided if we are going to share the name yet or not. The biggest reason I don't like sharing the name ahead of time is that it leaves time for people to give you their opinion and while some people have nice things to say, others give you the negative feedback that you just don't want, so I'd rather have him named and then well there is no reason for your negative opinion because its done! :-) Just my thoughts.

Since the baby will be taking over Abigail's former room, which is extremely pink, it needs to be painted. But other than that we have most everything else. Just need some new curtains and we should be good to go. I picked out bedding a while back so we have all of that ready to be put in just need the painting done and we can start loading it up. It is exciting to think that we are on the down hill side of things. I keep saying, I just don't know if I remember how to take care of a baby! It seems so long ago. I am starting to get a bit nervous that it is going to be quite difficult to handle 2 little ones ALL BY MYSELF during the day. Hopefully these 2 will be similar in their baby tendencies. Abigail was a pretty easy baby once she started to get the feeding thing so I am HOPING this little guy will be just as nice to mommy and daddy! Only time will tell.......  15 more weeks..... give or take! I'm hoping give!!! Mommy realllllly does not want to be in the hospital on Thanksgiving! I'm thinking anytime after the 2nd week in November will work just fine! :-)

All smiles before our berry picking adventure

She can be such the little flirt! 

There's a baby in mommy's belly! 

Kisses for baby brother! 

Fun at the Montgomery County Fair

Abigail loves the animals

She also loved the rides! Daddy got to go as mommy was banned! 

Captain Abigail! She really enjoyed the helicopter ride. They even had controls inside to make them go faster or slower!