Here we are at 29 weeks:
BTW, I took the 29 week picture 4 days late this week...whoops!

Don't mind the camo. It was for Eric's aunt and uncle's wild game dinner that they have every year. You can't come to the party unless you wear camo and mine so happens to be a men's tshirt thanks to a growing belly :)

The baby is the size of an acorn squash this week, weighs almost 3 pounds, and is around 17 inches long. His lungs are still maturing, his teeth buds are starting to develop, and his wrinkly skin is smoothing out.

I had a general OB checkup this week and it looks like I've gained around 15 pounds so far. It sounds like so much to me, but Eric assures me I'm "all belly".  At the appointment, our baby boy's heart beat was 142 bpm and my OB says that everything is progressing well. I also had a cardiologist checkup this week and doc says I should be able to have a "normal" birth without heart complications. He did tell me though, that I will most likely need antibiotics during delivery to keep infection from spreading to my heart, which I am totally ok with.

The baby still moves/rolls/kicks constantly...I swear it feels like he never sleeps. I am still sleeping pretty good at night, but need to have a pillow between my legs to help with the back/nerve pain. I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom a lot, but fortunately, I am able to go back to sleep pretty quickly. My sciatica pain hasn't been as bad this week, so I have been able to go for a couple runs in our neighborhood, which I have missed so much! I'm not going to lie though, I usually regret it the next day...

Hopefully this week the pain will be manageable! Fingers crossed! I cannot believe I am now 30 weeks pregnant. So crazy! Update to come soon :)

Here we are at 28 weeks...

Apparently around this time, the baby is supposed to be getting in the correct birthing position (head down). However, our little nugget is pretty comfortable in a transverse position with his head in my right hip and his little legs in my left rib cage. He has been in that position since early on. And anytime he moves, I can tell exactly what his position is...transverse ALL the time.

Baby weighs a little over 2 1/2 pounds and measures about 16 inches long. He hiccups a lot more these days and it's not the most comfortable thing when he hiccups while pushing up against my bladder. He now blinks, has eyelashes, sticks out his tongue (what??), and experiences REM sleep. Now if only I could experience REM sleep these days...

I am not going to lie...this week was rough. I have mentioned here before that I have experienced some pretty intense sciatica pain during pregnancy and this week, it was in full force. The pain is so bad sometimes that I can barely function or make it through the day. I live in a constant state of discomfort and when I move the wrong way, sleep the wrong way, or sit down/stand up too quickly, then a shooting pain goes down my left leg and up the left side of my back. It's terrible. I have tried everything to ease the pain, including seeing a chiropractor, ice, heating pad, warm baths, stretching, and KT tape for support around the belly. One of the only things left was the pool, which I tried this week. Friday the pain was so bad that Eric forced me to go to the pool. And I have to say, it felt AMAZING. I was pain free for the first time in months. I did some water running/walking, range of motion exercises, and stretching. I felt weightless and it was awesome. Then I had to get out. Not so fun. If I could just live in the pool all summer, that would be great. A few people have recommended a maternity support belt, but I've heard they don't work most of the time? Anybody have experience with using one of those? I would prefer not to wear a bulky velcro belt all day long, but I am up to try anything at this point. Any suggestions to relieve the sciatica pain are welcome! I would just hate to be on bed rest later on in the pregnancy just because of this.

Hopefully this coming week will be better. I have a cardiologist appointment and a general OB checkup this week. Oh and update on the gestational diabetes testing...everything is fine and I was negative for diabetes! Yay!

More to come after my appointments this week! :)

We are now in the third trimester!!

I feel like I'm getting bigger by the day now, instead of by the week.  We took the weekly picture in the nursery today. Trying to find better lighting...

The other side of this picture looks like this...

The walls are painted a silver gray color. Along with the white crib, we are planning on doing a white dresser/changing table with a walnut wood top and a matching nightstand (made by Eric's brother!!). Our glider and ottoman are a charcoal gray color that we hopefully will get in by the time the baby is born. All the decor will be white, teal/aqua, and navy, with wood accents here and there. Hobby Lobby here I come! The theme is deer and arrows. Thanks to a husband who hunts a lot, we have quite the variety of antlers to pick from to put on the wall. Once we have more furniture in there and the bedding and wall decor up, I will start to post more pictures.

Update on doctor's appointments...
We had an appointment with the high-risk OB for an ultrasound this week. Everything continues to look great! The baby's heart looks totally normal, which is a huge relief, and he is growing just like he is supposed to. He weighs 2 1/2 pounds already!! Almost a half pound bigger than what he is supposed to weigh at 27 weeks. His limbs are in the 91%tile for length and his head circumference is in the 90%tile (yikes...).  He was a little uncooperative for this weeks ultrasound, and it didn't help that the umbilical cord was all bunched up in front of his little face. He had the hiccups at the beginning of the ultrasound, which didn't help the tech get a good picture of him either. He is in a transverse position, so his head is in my right hip and his feet are in the left side of my rib cage. A really comfortable position for me... not. They tried to do a 3D ultrasound at this appointment, but because of the cord in front of his face, they weren't able to get a good picture. Maybe next time!

Profile view...top of head is on the left.

His little foot at the top of the screen

We had a checkup with the general OB this week too. His heart rate was 143 bpm and he is growing right on track. I did my gestational diabetes testing and am still waiting on the results. I will update on that next week. I have to start going to the OB every 2 weeks, which is scary because it means we are that much closer to being first-time parents, but it is also a real pain too. I am drowning in appointments!! I have now gained about 12-14 pounds depending on the day of the week. He is still moving tons and still jumps at loud noises (thunder, door bell, dogs barking...) and loves to kick his daddy when Eric puts his hand on my belly. We are still working on a name...I'm really hoping he has one by the time he is born. We have 5 names we like, and one is starting to stick...I just want to see what he looks like first before we officially decide.

More to come during week 28!

Here we are at 26 weeks:

I was EXHAUSTED when this picture was taken...we had just finished moving into our house and I honestly didn't even want to take this picture. Blah.

But here it is...

Side note: I need to find a new spot of the house to take pictures...the lighting is terrible.

Baby boy is the size of a head of lettuce, weighs approximately 2 pounds, and measures around 9 inches long. His eyes are beginning to open, he can now not only hear noises but respond to them, his fingernails and eyelashes are developed, and his swallow his getting stronger!

He is moving a lot more during the day now...still moves a lot at night, but continues to wake up in the afternoons for a bit. I am starting to not sleep as well thanks to his constant movement at night (and Eric's snoring...), but nothing a little nap during the day can't help.

I still don't know how much weight I have gained so far, but I will know more at the doctor this week. My sciatica pain has been really intense this past week (probably from all the packing and unpacking) and I've had a lot of general lower back pain. I'm sure it's because I am starting to gain more weight steadily and my body is definitely not used to it. My cravings haven't been as intense lately, but I'm still wanting Bahama Bucks snow cones and burgers and fries. Thank goodness Eric is happy to oblige in these things with me :)

We are mostly all moved into our house...we have a couple boxes left to unpack, our garage needs major help, and we need to put up decor, but other than that, we are pretty much moved in! I will try to post pictures of our house as we start getting it completely finished. And of course I will be updating at the end of this week for my 27 week update and all of the OB appts.