30/31 Weeks

We are getting into the third trimester.  I am so excited to meet our little boy soon, but I feel like I have not accomplished anything for him.  I think part of the reason has to do with our house hunting.  We have been in limbo looking for a house since December, and finally we just decided to get the guest bedroom ready.  I just wanted to do something -- I guess the nesting feelings are true!

31 week Appointment updates:
1) 140 bpm - heart rate

2) Baby Eli is a mover and a shaker.  I love it when he rolls around in there - its so much fun to watch and feel.  However, starting at about 10-11pm he goes CRAZY!  We call this his "Cirque de Sole" hour.  I feel like he is doing somersaults in my belly. When he moves, it literally looks like a wave going across my belly.  Derek and I will both just watch in awe and love watching him when we are getting ready for bed.  Needless to say, I cannot go to sleep until he is finished and comfortable again :)

3) Measuring normal now at 31 cm.  At our last appointment, the doctors mentioned that I was measuring small.  If I was still small at this appt, there was cause to be concerned. The Dr. said I was probably measuring small because of the babe's low positioning on my sciatica.  So happy we are normal and back on track!

4) No more sciatica pain!  That was a long 2 weeks.  We are so happy we are over that period.  Sometimes I still feel a numbing/soreness in my glute/hamstring at the end of the day when I do to much.  I am still learning to run errands or workout in small spurts so I don't over do anything.  It's definitely a learning process when you just want to get things done.

5) Walking about 2 miles.  I stopped crossfit when my sciatica starting giving me problems.  So now, 2 miles is the cut off for me before any soreness or back pain comes along.  Right now the goal is to keep moving :)

6) First major Pregnancy Brain Moment:  It was a typical morning getting ready for work.  I started to blow drying my hair and realized that it has taken about 45 min and its still not dry.  I finally figured out that I forgot to rinse out the conditioner.  But not only did I have conditioner in my hair, I managed to put in all of my hair products on top of that.  So what's a girl to do when she doesn't have time to hop back in the shower??  Sprinkle a little baby powder on top to not look as greasy and throw on a head wrap.  However, I wish it stopped there .... I proceeded to get to work and hopped on the elevator when a woman looked at me and started her sentence with "Oh Honey ...". I also proceeded to put my shirt on inside out.  Instead of having a tag, my tank top had a very large print on it screaming "Motherhood Maternity".  To say the least, not my finest moment.  I am glad I can look back and laugh!

 

30 weeks

Our first piece of furniture for the nursery! We had this changing table custom made for us out of a 1930s Antique buffet.

Just Plain Awkward

Whenever Alison has a chance, she will post an awkward picture of me.  It is no secret that I take TERRIBLE action shots.  I think maybe at first she wasn't very aware of the pictures she was choosing (MAYBE), but now its an ongoing joke of the family.  I have tried to get awkward pictures of her, but have not had the best of luck.  It took several hours of searching to find just 12 pictures for a calendar for her Christmas gift last year.  With that being said, I HAD to share these.  Granted, these black and white photos that Eric took are awkward of everybody, but it makes me happy to see Ali in these ... (sorry sis -- I had too :) )

 

 Doesn't Kyle look like "Jafar" from Alladin in this picture?!?!

A picture says 1000 words ... this might be the cover for my next calendar :)

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was great.  Not only did we celebrate Mom's birthday, but we were just able to hang out all together as a family - no real plan, just chilling.  Great sermon, fun family, wonderful weather...  My kind of weekend!

 I guess we know the name now :)

 

 You have to get some awkward belly shots in there!

 

The whole family is back together - WELCOME BACK UNCLE KYLOO!!

Mom's Birthday!

We celebrated Mom's birthday a week early.  It was great to all be together again.  The "Giblings" (i.e. Gist Siblings) decided to throw her a small birthday bash.  We figured, what does she like the most? Family, water, outside .... so we opted for  a tritoon on Grapevine Lake.  The weather turned out to be perfect!!

 The only picture of the balloon.  It lasted a little bit, but then flew off ... oh well.

 The Giblings are back!

 One of the best drive by photobombs ever!

Happy Birthday MOM WOW MOM WOW - We love you!

National Sibling Day

I never really know the exact date of National Sibling Day.  I always see people posting something on facebook, and this is one of the only times I jump on the bandwagon. Even though I give my family grief about the "middle child syndrome", I do love hanging out with my brother and sister.  It is so much fun when we are all together, even if they do make fun of me a little more than usual :) 

The classic South Padre picture - one of my favorites!

Baby Shower!

Our Baby shower was absolutely AMAZING!!  We had so much fun, and we are so blessed to be surrounded by our friends and family to celebrate our little boy.  We can not thank everybody enough for coming miles away from Louisiana, Houston, East Texas, Austin to celebrate with us.  What a joyous occasion!!

 Derek being a good uncle! I love that this book is twice the size of everyone.

 The beautiful hostesses.  Dede, Mom, Bunny, Alison, and Jill.  We are so blessed to have these leading ladies in our life.  Dede and Jill have been bffs with mom since the 7th grade.  They have been through everything together, and now they are so amazing to help celebrate all of the momentous occasions - weddings, showers,  babies, birthdays - the list goes on.
Ms. Bunny is known as my "Wednesday Mom".  When I was in pre-school, I would go over to her house every Wednesday with her daughter Melissa to hang out and play.  We always made grilled cheese sandwiches on her homemade bread (which I am still obsessed with).  She is another life time friend that I am so thankful for.  LOVE THEM ALL!!

 The cutest cake ever!!  This was probably one of my favorite decorations.  It was too cute to eat - thank you Alison!!

 Love being the Aunt to these two!

 

 Mike and Franky - they came all the way from Shreveport!

 Leah, Maria, and Terry - Love that Derek's family was able to make it.  It was so special to have everybody together again!

 This is one of my favorite gifts.   Linda's mom made this us - our first handmade blanket!!

 Poppi!

Mom and Granny

 The only picture I have of Derek and I together.  Love the little converse shoes from Maria, Mark, and Franky.  We are going to have stylish boy - can you say stylish when referencing a boy? I think I need to work on that :)

 

Love MOM/Mimi

 

I love this picture that Ali put together.  Wedding dress shopping to Baby showers - never a dull moment!

Love the Springer's/Cobb family.  We grew up with the Springers and always went on family vacations together to Estes Park, CO.  We look a little different these days with new additions.  Can't wait to start new traditions with 3rd generation :)

 

Start of the 3rd Trimester - 28 weeks: The Sciatic Nerve

We had our 28 week appointment and everything went great, at least for "the babe".  He is sitting quite comfortable, 150 beats/min for his heart rate.  The doctors say I am measuring "small".  One of these days I'll remember to really ask what that means, I always forget when I am there.  I think this is the first time I have ever heard that I am "measuring small", so I will take it - HA! They always know how to make a girl feel good :)

Even though our boy is quite comfortable, I have been quite uncomfortable.  Week 28-29 was probably the most painful week I have had so far.  Apparently, the babe is sitting on my sciatic nerve which is causing a cramping/stabbing pain all down my left glute and hamstring.  It is a miracle if I can take 10 steps without stopping or sitting down in major pain - literally - NO EXAGGERATION! It is so hard to describe, but all I can say is that it is sooo painful.  I have started physical therapy and acupuncture to help with the pain and to get our little one in the correct place.  So far it has helped and I am doing much better, but I still have a dull soreness down my left leg.  I tell everybody its a good day when I can walk and Derek doesn't have to help me get dressed in the mornings. Apparently this could stay for the rest of the pregnancy.  Everything has been great so far, and I want to make sure our boy is comfortable and healthy for the last trimester; however, if he could just move over 1 inch that could make all the difference in the world for me!!