26 & 27 weeks

week 26 pic (no update because I was too busy with the move)--

 

 

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 27 weeks

Size of baby: 14.5 inches.. size of a head of cauliflower (2 pounds).

Maternity clothes: Yes!  and I’ve been wearing lots of skirts and dresses lately because they are cooler.  Most of those are non maternity.

Gender: baby boy.  Judah Scott Perkins.

Movement:  Over the past couple weeks I have felt Judah rolling around in my belly.  Not just kicks and punches anymore!

Sleep: Well, we are now staying with Justin’s parents in a spare bedroom until we get our own place… and I’m not sleeping great.

What I miss:  my Texas friends and family. :(

Cravings:  chinese food

Aversions:  I cannot bring myself to cook raw chicken.

Symptoms: Back ACHE!!!  oh my heavens… it’s bad every day and gets worse towards evening.  I’ve tried tylenol, heading pads, warm baths, massage, etc.  Nothing helps.  Any advice??

Best moment this week:  Seeing friends and family in West Monroe for the first time in a while.  I’m so excited for Judah to meet everyone in a few months!  The time is coming quickly!!!

weekly randoms!

So it seems like the only posts I know how to make lately are pregnancy updates or just completely random thoughts piled together…  This one is the latter.

Last Wednesday I had Justin take me to IKEA.  I love IKEA and really wanted to go one last time before we move away.  I thought I would maybe find some cool stuff for Judah’s nursery, and I wanted to pick up some new blankets for photography purposes.  Unfortunately we didn’t get much for the nursery, but I got a nice new stash of blankets, a small table to possibly use in Judah’s room, and we got baby boy a set of stacking/nesting cups!  (I just had to get him something!)

Then on Saturday I went to a baby shower for a sweet friend, Julie.  I actually worked for her a while back helping her out with narrowing down sessions for her photography business.  (If you are in the Denton area, check out www.juliebirdseye.com).  The shower was all baseball themed and sooo cute!  And it was great to see her again before I move away.  She was even sweet enough to bring Judah a gift to her own baby shower.  :)

Today we had lunch at Mi Cocina with some super great friends after church.  I just adore Gabriella and Riman.  I realized today while having lunch with them that we really are running out of time to spend with people that have grown so special to us. It’s going to be very hard to leave these friendships behind.  Thank you guys for lunch and for everything!  We have to keep in touch… for real!

We have ONE week left until the move, and it’s going to be a crazy busy week.  Tomorrow night we have dinner plans with the Henderson’s… Tuesday night I have plans for dessert with some girlfriends… at some point I HAVE to go visit with my sister and her fam.. not to mention working, finishing up packing, getting utilities turned off, cleaning the apartment, etc.  I’m tired just thinking about it all!

25 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 25 weeks

Size of baby: 13.5 inches.. size of a rutabaga (1.5 pounds).

Maternity clothes: Pants are maternity or stretchy, and shirts are still a good mix.  I’ve been wearing lots of skirts and dresses lately because they are cooler.  Most of those are non maternity.

Gender: baby boy.  Judah Scott Perkins.

Movement:  This past week I started feeling some really hard kicks and jabs.  Sometimes they come out of nowhere and startle me!

Sleep: It takes a little while to get into a comfortable position, but once I’m asleep, I’m sleeping well.

What I miss:  being able to cook chicken.

Cravings:  mainly just fruit (watermelon, pineapple, strawberries) and sweets!  Also frozen yogurt.  yummm!

Aversions:  I cannot bring myself to cook raw chicken.

Symptoms: back ache, itchy belly, and hot!  oh, and my belly button is getting flat.  I really think it will be poking out soon!

Best moment this week:  One day before leaving for work, Justin put on IHOP’s Joy CD, and Judah moved around the whole time the music was playing.  I think he liked it!

23 weeks + 24 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 23 weeks (no pic this week)

Size of baby: 11.5 inches.. size of a large mango.

Maternity clothes: Pants are maternity or stretchy, and shirts are still a good mix.

Gender: baby boy.  Judah Scott Perkins.

Movement:  Movement is throughout the day not.. not only when I’m sitting still or laying down.  I love to feel these little movements.  Sweet reminders that he is in there and still doing okay.

Sleep: Sleep is good I guess.  I’m waking up a few times a night to reposition myself, but go right back to sleep.

What I miss:  not much this week!

Cravings:  mainly just fruit (watermelon, pineapple, strawberries) and sweets!

Aversions:  I cannot bring myself to cook raw chicken!  Also, the thought of pot roast has had me gagging.  For this week add the smell of a ripe banana to the list.  I took a bite of one and smelled it and then threw it in the trash.  SO NASTY!

Symptoms: back ache, thirstier than usual, itchy belly, and starting to be hot more often.

Best moment this week:  Justin getting to feel Judah kick was really neat.

 

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 24 weeks

Size of baby: 12.5 inches.. size of corn on the cob.

Maternity clothes: Pants are maternity or stretchy, and shirts are still a good mix.

Gender: baby boy. Judah Scott Perkins.

Movement: Lots of moves this week!  Some of them were pretty hard.

Sleep: Sleep is good I guess. I’m waking up a few times a night to reposition myself, but go right back to sleep.

What I miss: cooler weather… it’s already SO hot!

Cravings: frozen yogurt/ice cream

Aversions: I cannot bring myself to cook raw chicken! Also, the thought of pot roast has had me gagging.

Symptoms: back ache, itchy belly, and hot.

Best moment this week: We had a baby doctor appointment and heard Judah’s heartbeat again.  I also had my first baby shower this past week.

things to remember….

A few nights ago I had a dream that I was in the hospital.  I was having a c-section with Judah.  I woke up just remembering how mad I was that I didn’t get to hold him first.  And I remembered what he looked like in my dream.  He had a really round face with chubby cheeks and dark curly hair.  He was adorable!!!  I wonder what he will really look like?!

Justin has told me several times lately that he thinks I look great pregnant.  It’s so sweet every time.  He makes me melt <3.  He even told me once that he like me better pregnant.  Haha… I told him that was sweet but could be bad because I won’t stay this way!  Hopefully I’ll have at least a couple more pregnancies though.  :)

Our little boy is kicking more and more these days.  He can hear things from the outside now.  The other day I put music from my iphone up to my belly and he started moving around.  I’m excited that he can hear our voices and stuff now.  It makes it more fun to talk to him throughout the day.

 

On another note… I got the bedding in today and LOVE it!  Justin loves it too.  It’s definitely a keeper.  I couldn’t believe how soft and well made everything seemed to be.  Now I’m really itching to find stuff that matches it to go in Judah’s room!

clearing my head

• Seems like these days I just about cannot turn my brain off.  Any time I get still for a few minutes my mind starts racing, and I start adding things to mental lists.  I think that I’ve officially reached my “nesting” mode.. but there isn’t much I can do about it.  I’m in the wrong home in the wrong state with so many things to do before I can really start nesting.  I cannot wait to get moved into a new home and begin setting up Judah’s nursery, among many other things.
• For now, here is the bedding that we have ordered—I haven’t gotten it in the mail yet, so not positive it’s a keeper, but pretty sure.  Justin and I both love the color scheme.  And the rocketships have great significance to us, especially Justin.  It seems just perfect.  It’s from the Dwell Studio for Target line.  LOVE Dwell Studio stuff, and since this is the target line, it’s only costing a little over $100 for the set!  (This is not our crib.. we actually don’t have a crib picked out yet, but I know we want to go with dark wood.)

image found here

• Besides trying to pick out stuff and plan for the baby’s room, I’ve also wanted to start reading more “mommy” books.  I bought several before I was even pregnant, but just haven’t felt like reading in the past few months.  Hopefully I can get back into the reading groove. I used to read a ton!  Right now I’m reading The Happiest Baby on the Block by: Harvey Karp, M.D., and just today I bought Bringing up Boys by: James Dobson.  Any other good book suggestions??

herehere

• As anyone can imagine, I’ve had lots and lots of “firsts” lately.  One of my favorites has been Justin finally feeling Judah kick.  It’s so sweet to me that he can finally feel our baby move.  We played some music this morning and Justin laid his head on my belly and could feel Judah rolling around in there and hear his heartbeat :).  One of my not so favorite firsts happened today at lunch.  The girl at the register asked when I was due, so I told her September.  She then proceeded to ask me if it was twins!!!  haha… I didn’t get upset, but it did leave me wondering how big I am really looking?!  I feel huge, but I thought that was normal.  Oh well!  As long as Judah and I are both healthy, I guess it doesn’t matter how far my belly sticks out.
• My first baby shower is next weekend.  I still can’t believe that I’ll be attending a baby shower that is for MY baby.  It’s so unreal.  I can’t wait to see all of my Texas friends and see all of the cute little stuff that they bless us and Judah with.  Hopefully I’ll have a couple pics to post from the shower.
• I’m officially counting down my last days/weeks at work and my last weeks in Dallas.  I have three more work weeks and four more weeks here before the move.  We still don’t have a house there, and Justin still doesn’t have  a job there… but we aren’t worried about it really.  God has totally given us peace in the situation.  We know we are doing the right thing.. so we are just walking in faith that He will provide at the right time!  It looks like we may be staying with Justin’s parents until we find “our” house.  We’ve all talked about it and think it will be fine.  I hope Sylvester feels the same way!  haha… not sure he will be crazy about living with two barking dogs!
• Speaking of Sylvester.. he has been so needy lately.  He wants way more attention than ever before.  And he’s been super cuddly.  I think he knows a baby is on the way or something!

• I’m really glad that the weather is finally starting to be nice again.  We have had the rainiest May ever this year!  It has been so gloomy and just hasn’t felt like summer.  Not to mention the crazy hail storm and tornadoes that came through a few days ago.  I’m so thankful that everyone I know made it through the storms safely.  That was my first experience with tornado sirens, and I wasn’t crazy about it!
• This is Memorial Day weekend, and I’m excited about the next two days.  Tomorrow we have church and then a church wide picnic outside afterwards.  Then on Monday we have plans to hang out with some friends from church and people that Justin went to school with.  Not sure exactly what we will do.. but maybe grill, swim, hike, volleyball??  And then Monday night we are getting together with Candice, Dom, and Ava to swim and possibly grill burgers.  It will be Justin’s first time to grill burgers!  He will do great, though.  He grilled steaks the other day for the first time and they were delicious!

I guess this is enough brain dumping for now… gotta get back to my laundry!

the truth

I’ve always imagined myself to be one of those women who has super easy pregnancies and loves being pregnant more than life itself.  Needless to say, I was a little shocked at how hard this process can really be.  I don’t hear too many people talk about the details of what it’s like to share your body with another person. 

I know it’s different for everyone.  But for me, the first trimester was pretty intense.  I spent weeks and weeks on end so sick to my stomach that I could sometimes not get off of the couch.  I never had full control of myself.. and would be so upset when once again I had the uncontrollable urge to throw up my food.  The precious food that was so hard to get down in the first place.  Every single day my body wanted something different.  I would crave pot roast one day and gag at the sight of it the next.   Same thing with many different foods.  Not to mention smells.  I just about couldn’t walk through the kitchen without gagging.  Besides the sickness, there was the constant state of zombie-ness.  No amount of sleep was ever enough.  I had no energy to even do a load of laundry or put my dirty dishes into the dishwasher.  It was hard.  I had to rely almost completely on Justin to make it through each day.  And I thought to myself… I really don’t like pregnancy.  But, I always loved being pregnant.

After about week 13, I started having more and more days where I wasn’t completely nauseated and sick.  Every day that I went without that uneasy feeling in my belly felt like a victory.  However, just when I would think the sickness and vomiting were gone for good, I’d have another episode.  At least they were fewer, though.  I could deal with that.  And then… the headaches.  Oh my goodness.  The headaches.  They put me out of commission.  I couldn’t read, look at the computer screen, have lights on in the house, listen to music or just about anything else.  I don’t know how many evenings I spent on the couch in silence in a dimly lit room.  Medicine was prescribed, but didn’t help one bit.  I seriously thought I would have to stop working or else my head would split in two.  With every headache, though, I still thought to myself that this is what I have been praying for.  I would still thank God for blessing us with this little gift inside of me.

Here I sit, at 22 weeks pregnant.  I’m a little over halfway to meeting my precious bundle.  Although the nausea is gone almost completely, and headaches are rare these days… there are new symptoms that have come along.  Heartburn is one. Swollen fingers and feet another.  Backache is even bigger than those two combined.  Even while I type this I feel like my spine is trying to splinter and pull in opposite directions.  It is a pain that never really leaves.  It only intensifies as the day goes on and turns into night.  I know that carrying around the 11 month old baby at work isn’t helping.  Only a few more weeks of that.  I’m really hoping that the back pain will be gone with the job.  Fingers crossed.  Despite these symptoms and the other minor ones that plague me, I am happy and in love.

I can honestly say that I really do like pregnancy now.  Knowing that I am carrying my son around inside me and feeling his little movements every day make it all more than worth it.  I remember telling Justin the other day that I would go through this all again and many times over just to have the chance to meet my sweet Judah.  No amount of pain or sickness can take away the love I already have for him.  I’m so thankful for this pregnancy.  Every single minute of it.  I realize that this is a special time that I’m sharing with my boy that I’ll never get back.  And nobody else gets this time with him.. not even his daddy.  It’s so special being a mother.  I never really understood that before.  Judah is teaching me all kinds of things.  He is my gift from God and answer to my prayers.

I have a feeling that the next 18 weeks of pregnancy aren’t going to be all peaches and cream.  I’m sure that new symptoms will come and others will intensify.  My body is in a constant state of change that I cannot keep up with.  I’m literally being stretched in all directions.  But one thing will remain-- he is worth it all.