34 years and 3rd trimester

Grandpa and Grandma Imholt are celebrating their 34rd anniversary today!

And I'm officially in my third trimester...October 31st is exactly three months away!!!

(Want to read more about months, weeks, days and trimesters and how the breakdown works...http://www.baby2see.com/pregnancylength.html)

26 weeks

26 weeks along...14 weeks (or so) left. I know it will go fast but I'm already so uncomfortable, I can't imagine growing for 3 more months! Heartburn is a constant companion now...and I got my first leg cramp Sunday night. Bad enough to wake me up and make me cry out in pain:( Its definitely getting harder to do the things I'm used to doing so easily...I have to take frequent rest breaks. Sleep is elusive...I wake up constantly to use the bathroom, deal with heartburn or back pain, or just to roll over...something I can't do without waking up and repositioning pillows anymore! The best thing about this week...I'm definitely feeling 'rubs' more instead of just kicks. Its such a strange and cool feeling. The one part of pregnancy I'm absolutely loving (except the bladder/cervix shots)!

We started working on Baby B's room this week with Grandpa Barci. We're walling off the extra room that is connected to our Master suite and putting a doorway in through the hallway. Its exciting to be doing something to prepare for Baby B...hopefully this will be all wrapped up in a week or two and I can start moving Baby in!

Sometimes if I wake up and can't go back to sleep, I'll take care of Pax in the morning and let Jessica sleep in...on this morning I got Pax to fall back asleep but never made it there myself! Ryan and Bailey didn't mind sleeping in either!

boy or girl...what do the old wives say?

Just for fun I thought I'd play around with what the oldwives might guess. I took two online quizes (amazingpregnancy.com/oldwivestales and childbirth.org/articles/boyorgirl) and on both quizes I got the same score...chances are 40% boy, 60% girl.

According to the oldwives tales I can do at home (carrying high vs. low, Chinese and Mayan claendars, wedding ring on a string (circles vs back and forth), etc.) My chances are 50/50 boy/girl.

And currently, according to anonymous guesses on our blogspot poll...70% of people think boy, 30% girl.

Ryan's positive it's a boy...I have no 'feelings' either way. (And in an informal study more than 70% of moms were able to correctly guess their baby's gender).

Hmmmm.....:)

30 years old...25 weeks!

Shannon- 17 weeks, Sarah- 25 weeks, Jamie- 33 weeks

Shannon and Jamie are in my small group, along with Beka who is 16 weeks pregnant but not pictured! That's 4 out of 6 people pregnant...we're having lots of fun together. It's nice to share this experience with friends.

(Shannon and I even share the same birthday!)

So I will officially be 30 when Baby B is born...and I'm feeling pretty good about that! My mom was just a few months shy of turning 30 when she had me (her oldest) and her mom (my grandma) was 31 when she had her (her 3rd of 4)...so I think I'm doing just fine:) I think Ryan and I are ready for this next adventure, we know it won't be the easiest thing we've ever done but we are glad we chose it! Baby has really started moving in new ways the last couple days. I think I've been able to feel Baby's back on one side of my belly and head or butt up under my ribs. And I'm definitely feeling rolls and shifting now, not just kicks. It's so crazy and cool! And everyday my belly button gets closer to popping...its even been kinda sore the last couple days.

We had a BBQ at our house yesterday to celebrate my birthday and it was wonderful. Great weather, friends and family. I asked for two things...Strawberry Pie and flowers:) I'm slowly working on our backyard (we've lived here 3 years already, thats how slow!) and so I asked for perennials. It's nice to recieve gifts that keep giving. My parents gave me a gift card to Sunnyside Nursery too and I went shopping today and bought 2 hibiscus plants and some daylillies. My grandma had daylillies at her house in Wyoming and they reminded me so much of that, I just had to have them:) I'll keep working on it slowly but flowers are pricey!

My Mother-in-law and parents both brought me homemade strawberry pies! So today I started off with the best birthday breakfast ever:)!! Strawberry pie, fresh blueberries and a Starbucks chai...yummmmmy! Then I had another piece of pie with lunch AND dinner:) Sometimes being a grown-up and getting to do what you want is fun!

ouch!

Got my first kick today that made me say "OUCH" outloud. Naptime was over after that:)

new due date? Fortune cookie says...

We went out to Chinese for dinner tonight to celebrate Grandma Barci's birthday and Uncle Steven's birthday and my fortune says that October 14th my lucky star will be shining! That would only be 2.5 weeks early and I'd be just fine with that:). Ryan's fortune is the bottom one...I think good things are just a few weeks/months away!

24 weeks...6 months!

Top photo in the am...bottom photo in the pm after getting some sun at the in-laws:)

Six months pregnant...and sometimes I still forget in that moment right when I wake up. Then I try to get out of bed and quickly remember, soon I'm going to need Ryan's help to roll me out! Knowing there is new life growing inside of me is very surreal...very miraculous...and not always pleasant! Heartburn is a pretty constant companion now and I'm sure it will get worse as baby gets bigger. I'm so glad someone invented Zantac (and that its safe for pregnant women)!!! I'm officially into maternity pants but can still wear some of my longer and larger non-maternity shirts. Actually, I can still wear some non-maternity pants as long as they are elastic or drawstring:) I also think I'm days away from 'popping'...my belly button is getting pretty close to flat. I think I felt Baby B's head or butt this week- nice firm round spot on the left (at the time). The midwife also confirmed today that I am having some Braxton-Hicks contractions already (perfectly normal). Now I want to be more aware though because I can't tell when I'm having one...only by feeling how tight my belly is from the outside.

What a week...our microwave handle broke off, so the only way to use the microwave was to pry it open with various instruments. The cost to replace the handle on a 13-year-old microwave? $76 + tax and shipping!!! So of course we just bought a new one thinking the install wouldn't be that bad...THANK GOODNESS for Dennis (Ryan's dad)! It ended up being a much larger project than I thought, including new holes in the drywall and rotating the actual fan in the microwave. Yikes! Hope this one lasts until we don't live here anymore:) We also bought 'new' couches...Ryan's mom stopped by a garage sale and found the pair for only $30 total! They look like we bought them first and then picked out the paint color...and Bailey LOVES the giant back-support pillows.

I went for my first open water swim in Lake Stevens on Thursday morning. The water felt SO good! I could stay in all day long but I definitely don't have the same stamina I did last year. I also bleed more than I did pre-pregnancy. I slipped on the dock (nothing to worry about) and boy did my toe show off! I got on my bike for the first time this year too on Thursday...I can still ride but the belly definitely changes things- I plan on getting out as much as I can handle both on the bike and in the water. Walking is a whole new challenge and I have a hard time making it 30 minutes without a break. And I thought I'd be able to keep running...so funny now! I think I really need to start wearing my belly-support band for walking.

The weather is finally starting to look like summer around here. In fact we were even into the 90s for a couple of days...and since AC isn't exactly standard in Western Washington our house (especially the upstairs) was roasting. I just drank lots of ice water and took lots of cold showers. I also thought this would be a good time to switch rings even though my fingers aren't swelling yet. I don't want to wait until my fingers swell too much to take my 'real' ring off. The one I'm wearing now I bought when I worked at Auntie Anne's Pretzels, since we weren't supposed to wear (and possibly lose in the dough) diamonds or other stones. It's about 1/4 size bigger...I hope that's enough to get me all the way to November! Speaking of things that no longer fit...I cleaned out my closet and filled 3 medium-sized rubbermaids of clothes that I plan on fitting into again:) These are getting stored in Baby B's room so I don't forget about them!

PS (23 weeks)

I was out running errands this evening and felt my first rib kicks...although it was more like rib tickles. I tried feeling for movement from the outside but since I was driving I couldn't tell what was the road and what was baby. It's late now, almost 11pm and I'd like to be asleep but Baby B is having a dance party:) I'm feeling movement (kicks, rubs, and flutters) from my ribs to my bladder! It's too much fun to complain about!

Bailey's first camping trip (23 weeks)

This week we headed over to Lake Roosevelt for the 4th of July weekend. We stayed with a friend Joel, on his parent's property... along with Vic and Jeanie, Joel's fun and generous parents. Joel's girlfriend Kayla was there too, along with a fishing buddy Dave...the boys went out everyday and provided the meat for multiple meals. Walleye is YUMMY fried! So are Bass fish tacos. We also got to meet Vic and Jeanie's good friends Dale and Judith- such nice people!

Ryan's 'monster' fish!

(Actually, the smallest fish of the trip)

This was Bailey's first camping trip- we were kind of nervous, wondering how he would do in the open air with other dogs. But he did SO great! He stayed off-leash all weekend and treated us like we were his pack leaders-always keeping an eye on us but running around and sniffing like one of the big dogs. His favorite thing was the beach- he ran up and down the sand with a giant grin on his face. Even though he knows how to swim, it is not his favorite thing and will only go in the water if you put him there. The funniest thing was watching him bark at the waves as they broke on the beach.

Ryan putting Bailey in the water for a dip...

you can see his legs already 'swimming'!

Bailey...the VERY dirty white dog!

Each day we drove into town to replenish the ice in our coolers...Bailey loves rides but usually doesn't like to go faster than 25-30mph...not out in the country! He enjoyed the wind in his face all the way to 50-60mph! 

What a relaxing and restful weekend! Despite all the relaxation, we all left tired out whether it was from the early mornings fishing, the swims in the cold Lake Roosevelt water, the sunbathing, or all that pretending to be a big dog...we headed home on July 5th looking forward to a warm shower and a clean bed!

Bailey was so tired on the way home he even turned

down an apple core, one of his favorite 'treats'!

Baby B did great on the trip too:) I slept okay camping, not any worse than I have been in my own bed at home- so I really can't complain. I'm now surviving on Zantac 3 times a day for the heartburn and this belly is really getting in the way of comfort...and I still have FOUR months to go/grow! I think I might have had my first Braxton-Hicks contraction while walking on the beach. I had to stop and breath for a minute and my uterus was rock hard...beyond the normal firmness. I'll have to ask the mid-wife about that next week at our appointment. I also discovered that those round inflatable floatation devices will allow a pregnant woman to lay in the sun on her belly:)!! I made everyone laugh with that one but it has been months since I've laid on my stomach and it felt SO good! Baby B now weighs over 1.5lbs and can really slow down a roadtrip with kicks to the bladder that make us stop frequently! And when you combine those bladder shots with daddy making mommy laugh...those stops can sometimes be so urgent the side of the road has to do...and despite all of that, we're hoping to do more camping this summer!