Roan finally cooperated!

I've been feeling Roan's kicks since February-ish. Obviously, at first they couldn't be felt from the outside...they were just itty bitty kicks. But as they've gotten bigger, I've tried to get Sean to feel them, too. Yet every single time Sean puts his hand on my belly, Roan calms down and stops kicking. Sean would always say "I'll feel him eventually," but I was starting to doubt that!

Last night, we were watching a movie with Sean's dad, sister, brother, and nephew for his dad's birthday. Roan made quite a few big kicks, so I grabbed Sean's hand and put it on my belly. A few minutes later, there was a big kick! Sean said "Was that...?" and I said "Yeah! You finally felt him kick!" Finally...at 29 weeks, haha.

My biggest issue is still my back. Especially the more my tummy grows. I try not to sit or stand for too long...moving around is key. With the exception of "my spot" on the couch. I can manage to hang out here without it hurting. Probably because I have a minimum of 5 pillows propping me up & my feet up on the couch. Although, I figured out that stacking 2 bean bags on top of each other & using the top one for back support helps at work. Kinda hard to really effectively do my job that way, haha.

We had maternity pictures taken last weekend while we were visiting my family. Here's a little preview:

photos by Morgan Ruth Photography

It was great having them done. The weather cooperated really well! They predicted rain, but we never saw a sprinkle. It was cloudy, too...just right. I can't wait to see the rest!

I must say, too, it was really eye-opening for me to be on the other side of the camera for a maternity shoot!

28 week update! Third trimester!!

So far, it's been a very good day! It's day one of the last trimester...yay!! We're having professional shots taken, but I still had Sean take my bump shot :)

Size of baby: Somewhere around 2lbs and 15 inches, according to the internet. I don't know Roan's exact measurements, though.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I think I'm at about 18lbs gained? Eeek. And the internet tells me I'll probably gain at least 11lbs this trimester...at least some of that is baby!

Maternity Clothes: Almost all maternity. I really can't get by with the Belly Band anymore, so pants/jeans for sure are maternity. And shirts...well, if they're regular shirts, they're definitely starting to not cover my belly so well anymore!

Movement: I often worry about movement, so the other day I decided to log every time  felt him move...I pretty much feel him all throughout the day. Whether it's kicks for 20 minutes or one kick at 2:30...then another at 2:45. I'm curious to see what today is like cause last night he quieted down at about 9pm or 10pm since he was active basically all day. Maaybe he'll actually have a good sleep schedule at birth!

Sleep: Sleep is definitely getting harder to do. Mostly thanks to my back...I get this tingly sensation under my ribs if my back isn't perfectly straight. Annoying.

What I miss: Not having constant back pain. I have to sit in just the right position with pillows propping me up...even then there's no guarantee. And if I'm at a restaurant for anything longer than 30-45 min, I wind up feeling so uncomfortable that I'm almost in tears. Not fun.

Cravings: Same ol', same ol'. I don't have very many cravings, I just really seem to like food! Fruit and Multi Grain Cheerios especially.

Symptoms: starting to get sciatic pain I think, heartburn, back pain, and pregnancy brain is getting worse! I'm noticing that getting up from the couch is becoming more of a challenge, too. 

Best Moment this week: I'll have to say today...good friends from our life group, Bryan and Dorelle, had their baby boy this morning! Also, we're having maternity pictures taken today :) Oh, and we're in my hometown visiting family cause my brother is getting married in May and their shower is today, too. Today is just a big ball of awesome :)

Braxton Hicks and other things

I had Braxton Hicks on Saturday. It was pretty constant for about an hour, but the intensity ebbed and flowed. It certainly wasn't fun at all...pretty uncomfortable. 

This weekend is my brother (Morgan) & his fiancee's (Jessie) wedding shower/party. I can't wait to see my family! We'll see how I hold up on the 2 hour drive down :) I'm really just worried about my back....

While down there, I'm having my first maternity shoot done by the incredibly talented Morgan Trowbridge! On the day one of my 28th week of pregnancy...in other words, I'll officially be in the third trimester. How perfect! I plan on having another shoot done by the also very talented Jim Lenon closer to my due date. I cannot believe I'm so close to the third tri!! Seriously...wow!

I had the ever-so-fun glucose test done last week. The drink wasn't that bad at all. I kinda liked it actually (I had the red one). It tasted like Kool Aid. My sugar is normal, but my iron was low. I'm on supplements now. I don't think it's fully gotten into my system yet cause I'm still pretty tired...all the time.

I've also started to look more in depth into cloth diapering. I know I want to at least attempt it. All the different types of diapers is overwhelming for me. I don't think I want to start the cloth diapers immediately, though. I think I want to use Seventh Generation diapers for the first little while and then switch to cloth after a few months or so. My main concern with cloth is our washer...it's not the greatest. I mean, it cleans our clothes, I just don't know how it's gonna do with cloth diapers. If only we could afford those super awesome front loading washer & dryers!

I've been trying for several weeks now to get a good video of Roan kicking, but it just doesn't look the same on video. Plus, he gets shy when people try to watch or put their hand on my belly (side note: I don't mind if you put your hand on my belly...if I know you well enough. Asking beforehand is always nice, but generally, if we're friends, I don't care). However, he's a pretty active little guy! I still get nervous when I don't feel him moving, but he always ends up giving me a quick little reassuring kick :) I hope he knows his momma is a worrier...but I'm working on it. Always working on it!

A Marvelous March Weekend!

Wow, what an eventful weekend! My mom came to visit. She paid for everything. Every meal, every shopping trip...including a pedicure for me and trip to Ikea! She had to leave Sunday morning...ugh, if only we didn't have jobs to get back to on Monday.

I'm overwhelmed by my mother's generosity. She always pays for everything - though I still try to fight her on it! Occasionally, I'll win & she'll let me pay for once...but it's very rare, haha. She's like that with everyone. One of the many things she's taught me is to have a servant's heart & to love like Jesus did...and being generous like that is only one of many ways to do that. I hope to pass that on to Roan and any other children God blesses us with. I love you so much, mom!

We made some major progress on the nursery Sunday! Or, I should say Sean made major progress on it...I only helped a little. I'm so thankful for him! He had to play guitar at chuch this weekend...meaning he had to wake up early Sunday morning. He came home and got to work on the nursery right away! Husband & dad-to-be-of-the-year right here:

Putting the curtains up.

Putting the chair together.

Putting the shelves up. He cut his thumb during our meal break and the band-aid was not sticking on very well...painter's tape to the rescue! Thankfully, his dad came over to see Rosie & helped Sean hang the second shelf.

He also put up the baskets next to the changing table. It's actually a magazine rack, but it's perfect for diapers, wipes, and other changing table items. Eventually there will be three 8x10 prints from Etsy above the changing table.

The finished product! Well, so far anyway. Tomorrow he's putting up the paper lantern in the corner near the shelves. Then all that will be left is the art above the changing table!

It's really starting to make this whole having-a-kid thing real! At one point Sean said "Just think of how little time we spend in this room now and how much time we're going to spend in this room." So true! 

Growin' Roan!

I decided to start a blog about...well...about Roan! These days I get asked how things are going a lot. Also, Sean and I have friends and family that live far away, so I thought a blog would be a good way to update those that would like to be updated on how things are going. Especially as we get closer to Roan's arrival.

So just a quick update for now...I'll be 26 weeks tomorrow. Roan seems to be getting more and more active every day! Yesterday, he was pretty active throughout the day, but had calmed down by, oh, 9pm. He wore himself out! Hard to believe I enter the third trimester on April 9th....

As for me, my back is my biggest complaint right now. Specifically a spot below my right shoulder blade. I have to recline whenever I sit down or it starts to hurt after 5-10 minutes. I'm going to Holt Chiropractic & it's helping with every other back pain besides that. So that just might be a spot that can't be "fixed". I was getting a tingling/pain under my ribs on the left side...it would bother me the most when I layed on my left side. That's still there a little, but not as bad. So I prop myself up with about 10 pillows on the couch when I'm vegging out. Ok, maybe not 10, but I use basically all the pillows!

Roan's grandma Bibi (my mom) is coming to visit today & tomorrow we're going to Ikea to get a chair for the nursery! Here's hoping he kicks for her!

Ah, time is getting away from me! I have to get ready. I'll probably change how the blog looks and add more to it...later...when I don't have to get ready for work!