34 Week Recap

(I didn't sleep well last night, thus the "tired eyes.")

I just finished up week 34 and feel like it should be week 40! I always hear about women saying the end seems to drag on and on, and I'm starting to feel that. I'm feeling how big I am and it's getting harder to move around like I used to.
We went to the doctor yesterday and and had a great appointment! We were able to ask about Paige's kidneys and worse case scenario stuff. Basically she'll have an ultrasound when she's born, and if the fluid is still on her kidneys, then they'll just monitor it. If for some reason it doesn't resolve itself, she might have to have surgery when she's a little older and/or she might be more prone to kidney infections. The doctor isn't worried at all, which makes me feel a lot better too! And I gained less weight than I thought, so that made me extra happy!

AND, I have so much stuff I need to blog about-the baby shower, Christmas, and just general stuff.

How Far Along: 34 Weeks

Size of Baby: Large Cantaloupe-19-20 inches long (I'm expecting little Paige to be short though), 5.5 lbs

Weight Gain: 25-26 lbs

Gender: Girl-Paige Olivia

Movement: YES-she is a mover and shaker! She's been moving a lot during the day lately, so I'm hoping that means she'll be a good night sleeper :)

Sleep: It's pretty good considering....For the last few weeks, I've been getting up exactly 2 1/2 hours after I go to bed (no matter what time I go to bed) to pee. I can seriously set my watch by it.

Maternity Clothes: Yes....but i am proud to say i can still fit into a pair of my regular sweats, but my maternity shirts are starting to creep up a little and show the tum tum.

Symptoms: Really dry skin (which has been great for clearing up my acne!), left side hip pain

Aversions: None right now

Cravings: Coke, cake, ice cream

What I miss: Running

Best Moment of the Week: Having a great appointment at the doctor's and buying a few cute outfits for Paige

What I'm looking Forward to: We'll drive to Illinois on Friday to stay with my family. My nephews are staying with my parents for the week, so we'll be able to see them, AND a week from today is my birthday!!!!!!!!

I HOPE to blog again soon!!

love

laura

32-33 Week Recap

Whoa Mama!!!!!! Where has this belly come from?!?!?!?!?!?!? I think this might be the first time that I actually feel as big as I look. Most weeks I think i look much bigger than I am, but this week especially I'm feeling ALL of that baby bump :)

And just for kicks....here is a belly shot. Please be gracious.

I feel like a lot has happened since I last wrote. We went to the dr on the 14th-I got my flu and whooping cough shot, and had an ultrasound. I had them confirm (again!) that it's a girl. They actually showed a little hair on the ultrasound...no guarantee, but I'm hoping Paige will have a little bit.
So before we left Asia, our doctor told us that Paige's kidneys looked great and had improved. But on this last ultrasound, they're showing even more water on her kidneys. We go to the doctor this Friday, so I'm hoping to find out more. From everything I've read (google), it's not life threatning or very serious, but I still just want to talk to a doctor and find out more.

They also show Paige measuring a few days ahead, so I guess i'm closer to 34 weeks at this point. Which is what I'm telling myself to rationalize the big belly.

Here we go!

How Far Along: 33ish weeks

Size of Baby: Pineapple-19 inches long and about 5 lbs

Weight Gain: No clue.....I'm going to guess 25 lbs

Gender: Girl-Paige Olivia

Movement: Most of the time-this week especially I've felt her move really low in my belly and sometimes I feel her move in several different places all at once...it's so weird and fun!

Sleep: It's not too bad actually. Rolling over though has become difficult.

Maternity Clothes: Yep.....unless you count daniel's shirts I've stolen, ha!

Symptoms: My hip pain has gotten better, but I would say I've started feeling just a general uncomfortableness all over. And really dry skin.

Aversions: Not much

Cravings: Desserts, fountain drink Coke (thus the big belly, ha!)

What I miss: Bending down....Daniel put my socks on for me this morning. I can bend down, but it is not fun.

Best Moment this Week: Last Thursday nite, my MIL gave me a shower and it was so much fun! I'll post pictures very soon!!

What I'm looking Forward to: Going to the doctor on Friday.

Happy Sunday-Go Packers!

love

laura

10 days in America

We've been in the States about 10 days now. It has really flown by! I'm shocked at how fast it has already gone.

This was our first full day-so if we look tired, it's because we are!

We both had a pretty rough time with jetlag....much more than usual. I think friday night is when I really started sleeping through the night.

Our first day back we went to Chick-fil-a, went grocery shopping (one of my favorite things!), and celebrated Daniel's birthday with his family at BJ's.

I've gone to Target and walked almost every single aisle. And actually only bought some chocolate milk-shocking I know. I also went to the mall and walked around a bit, and of course had to buy a few things for Paige. I found some great deals on a few onesies and just could not resist!

My niece, Adelyn Kate, was born last Wednesday. We've facetimed a few times and she is pretty cute! We're hoping Sarah can fly to my parents in Illinois in March for the little cousins to meet.

We're in Oklahoma and got a cold front over the weekend-which meant a fire in the fireplace! It's been so nice to sit and watch the fire and enjoy being warm indoors!

We all went to watch a Christmas light show this past Monday. It's been really fun to see the Christmas lights every night! I love that so many people decorate for Christmas.

Paige has been moving non stop these past few days....it's by far the most I've ever felt her. I'm sure she is just a fan of American food :)

We're going to Dallas this weekend and I'm reallllly excited! I'm going to be able to see one of my long time friends and her little baby girl that she just had....I am loving all the little baby girls right now! And hello, it's Dallas...I'm going to try and hit up a few baby stores while I'm there too. 

My MIL and I got pedicures this week, and even though it's winter and no one sees my feet-it was SO enjoyable and my toes were in desperate need!

Those are my tidbits from the week! I'll be posting soon about some of the culture shock moments we've had.....it's been interesting adjusting back to american culture!

Have a good Wednesday!

love

laura

31 Week Recap

Little Paige is definitely making her presence known! Everytime I think I can't possibly get any bigger... I do, ha! I cannot even imagine what I will look or feel like in 2 more months. It's weird that 2 months from today is my due date!
We've been in America a little over 5 days, and I think Monday needs to start the salad diet :) We've been enjoying realllly good food these past several days!

How Far Along: 31 Weeks

Size of Baby: Head of Cabbage-19 inches long, almost 4 lbs

Weight Gain: 20 lbs

Gender: Girl-Paige Olivia

Movement: When she moves, she moves!! It's weird/fun to feel her move from one side to the other. I can tell she's getting longer because I can feel her move on my left and right side at the same time. Sometimes I really wonder what she's doing in there....it feels like she is doing flips!

Sleep: It's not too bad

Maternity clothes: yep!

Symptoms: hip pain, dry skin,

Aversions: This week-steak

Cravings: All american food-especially chocolate!

What I miss: Not too much right now.....sleeping on my back

Best moment This Week: My niece, Adelyn Kate was born this week! She's super cute!

What I'm looking Forward to: I go to the dr next Friday-i'm pretty excited to see how prenatal appointments go here!

I'll try to do a post soon about what we've been up to this week!

love

laura

Kind of Nursery Reveal

So the nursery isn't completely perfect or finished yet.....and won't be until we return in April. We are about to take off for the States here in juts a bit.

So....I found that picking nursery bedding was way harder than I thought it would be. Especially since everything I looked at was online....made it hard to really find what i wanted and to be sure of the colors.

Anyways, I ended up getting the bedding here. It's called Babydoll, and I LOVE it! This room was Daniel's office/study room before. Now he studies and works in a large closet. It's cozy.

We originally planned for the paint to be much softer, but this is what came out. We really like it now. It's actually a lot brighter than the picture. It's almost exactly a Tiffany blue. Daniel painted the room and he did a fantastic job! 

I bought the rug on a local website here and seriously cannot believe how perfectly it matches! It's really thick too. I bought the crib online too.

We'll put little Paige in here in April!

Because we don't have closets here, I bought a massive wardrobe for her clothes. It looked much smaller in the store. 

The wall opposite the crib is a massive window seat. My plan is to put a cushion and pillows on it eventually.
The wall opposite the wardrobe has a small bookcase right now, but my plan is to buy a small dresser to use as a changing table and have extra storage.

Well...we're off to the airport! Pray for comfortable and smooth flights!

love

laura

Thanksgiving, Shower, Birthday

I completely forgot to post about Thanksgiving!

We spent the day with some other American friends who live close by. We all brought stuff, and you'd hardly even know that we weren't in America. We ate turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, veggies, dip, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and pies!

My friend made these placecards for us. Mine has a little turkey on it for Paige, isn't that adorable?!

Just a few days after Thanksgiving, my friends hosted a cupcake shower for Paige!

(it says "Welcome Paige")

I love these lanterns-they match the nursery perfectly!

These cupcakes were amazing!

Me with the hostesses!!

Jut two days later, we celebrated Daniels' 33rd birthday!!! I insist on putting a candle in everything the day of your birthday....and singing....it just never really gets old. 

We had homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast. 

Daniel's fave is cookie cake. I added mint chocolate chips this time too.

I am going to try to post pictures of the nursery before we leave tomorrow....but no promises. We're packing now and getting everything ready to go. We'll be in the States tomorrow!! 

love

laura