31 weeks

Though the bay still has 3 to 5 pounds to gain before delivery he is weighing in at an impressive 3 plus pounds this week. And at 18 inches long he is quickly approaching his birth length. The baby is now able to process all kinds of information like tracking light and perceiving signals from all five senses. Our brainy baby is also a sleepy one, putting in longer stretches of snooze time, specifically in REM sleep.

I can't say I have a whole lot to report this week. Jake put the crib together and our bathroom remodel is still underway. I would love to post some pics soon! Maybe next week? I am getting super excited as my baby shower approaches. I am still searching for some lighting and a dresser for the nursery. Oh and that perfect baby shower outfit!! But mostly I can't wait for Baby Vieke to meet all our wonderful family and friends!!

30 Weeks

This week the baby continues to grow, now reaching about 17 inches long and just about 3 pounds in weight. His brain is growing and developing to help him prepare for life outside the womb, which I have a feeling will be here before I know it! As the baby's brain develops it is beginning to look more and more like it should with soft grooves and indentations and ready for a lifetime of learning. These wrinkles allow for future expansion of the brain tissue that is crucial as the baby grows from a newborn to a preschooler and beyond. His brain is taking on tasks that were previously delegated to other parts of the body, like temperature regulation, which means he will start shedding the lanugo he put on weeks ago (the soft downy body hair he was sporting to help keep him warm). Fingernails and toenails are finished developing and the bone marrow is now functioning and producing blood cells. The baby now hangs out in the womb with his eyes open when he is in an awake state (how do they know this?). His eyesight will continue to develop outside the womb and when he is born is eyesight will be 20/400!

I've still been feeling great, but have been experiencing a little bit of an increase in fatigue this week. I find it hard to pass up an afternoon nap especially when my other option of studying or cleaning sounds much less appealing. I visit the doctor every other week now and this week's trip was short and sweet. Not too much new to report, but still measuring on track and got to check in on the baby's sweet little heartbeat. He is now sitting comfortably at about 135 beats per minute. He has been especially active of late and shows off by kicking his feet out any chance he can get, which I take as a good sign for a future soccer player!

Today I got the carpet in the nursery cleaned and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the crib! Jake and I (well mostly Jake) have spent much of our time focused on getting out master bathroom shower into working order and should be getting it re-tiled in the next week or so. I have to stop myself from completely throwing myself into the project, because I know I have a million other tasks at hand, but its hard not to want to paint the walls and pick out the new fixtures. Really all we need is the shower to be complete and everything else can wait, but I'm really itching to get it all knocked out at once. One step at a time.

I am also anxiously awaiting a weekend at the cabin! We get to visit family in Vincennes this weekend so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to stop by the cabin and stay awhile. We haven't been in months and it may be one of the last trips without a pack'n'play and a million baby toys. Until next week!

*Update*

I passed my glucose tolerance test! No gestational diabetes! YAY!

29 Weeks

Hello! We have made it to the 29 week mark! This week the baby may be up to 17 inches long and weighs nearly 3 pounds! The baby is probably pretty close to his birth length but still has plenty of pounds to gain (but hopefully not too many!). In the next couple of weeks the baby may come close to doubling or even tripling his his weight. Most of that weight will come from accumulating body fat.

After weeks of feeling like I have a huge list of things to accomplish I finally feel like I have checked a few things off. We had a very productive weekend! I finally finished all of the painting in the baby's room by painting the bedroom and closet doors. I got the closet all cleaned out and already refilled with all kinds of baby goodies. I am a crazy person and already installed my base to the carseat in the car (I wanted to make sure I got it right!) just to check everything out. We hung his airplane pics and did a few other things in the nursery too! We got a bunch of our junk moved up into the attic and few other things that we still need to find storage space for but I finally feel like it is all coming together!

I went to the lab today for my follow-up glucose testing, but I don't have any results yet. Hopefully no news is good news! Until next week friends!

Baby Shower Pics

Me & baby Charlie

My fabulous work family
The hostess with the mostest! Jamie and Noah
Emily & Stephanie (who is expecting a little girl!)
DELICIOUS! and precious

Jen, Emily, Charlie and Stacia, I think Charlie is about 3 weeks old!

Krista and Vivian

Swing from the work crew!

NEW SHIRT!

Oh and under this new shirt is my 28 week belly!

What a BIG week! This week not only have we entered the third trimester, but we are also in the 7th month and everything seems so much more real! Not that all the little kicks and punches from the baby haven't felt real, but so much has changed this week. First off, I had my first baby shower hosted by my amazing work friends. They spoiled me rotten poolside with lots of goodies for the baby. I can officially be ready for the baby now because I have his carseat and stroller so we can take him home from the hospital and the girls also got me a swing (well not me, the baby, there's a thought!). I appreciate their kindness soooo very much and all the hard work that went into planning and organizing such a special day! The little guy got lots of cute little goodies too, including some really cute blankets and burp clothes, a few outfits and some toys. He also got some pretty cool gifts from his grandparents too. My parents got him an adorable adidas warm-up suit so he will be ready for his first soccer game and all of his precious bedding from Pottery Barn which I can't wait to put to use. From Jake's parents he got an awesome four-piece distressed wood panoramic painting of a DC-7 (aka an airplane, I only know that because Jake told me), and if the baby isn't careful his dad might just steal it! Needless to say I think the baby's room is well on its way to being outfitted.



You may have also noted that this week I am sporting a new belly shot outfit. I decided to start out the third trimester with a new look since the duds I wore in all the previous shots were just stretchy, not maternity and were being stretched to the max. I doubt they would make it until the end, so I decided this would be a good transitioning point.

Everything looked great at the doctor this week and it would appear that the little guy is finally head down. Hopefully he stays that way, but with all his rolling I am really not sure what is up and what is down. I had some labs drawn and I had to drink my lovely glu-cola concoction to test for gestational diabetes. My labs came back slightly elevated. Greater than 130 requires additional testing and I, of course, had a 139! Seriously, maybe I should lay off the sweets! So I get the joy of going in and sitting in a lab next week for three hours for a series of lab draws to test my blood sugar after fasting, then again after another lovely dose of glu-cola and again at 2 and 3 hours after my tasty drink. Yuck. Hopefully it will all come back normal and we will have no more worries! My hemoglobin was on the lower end at 11, at 10 they suggest an additional iron supplement so instead I had Jake grill us some steaks for dinner tonight.

This week the baby has reached two and a half pounds and may be almost 16 inches long. This week the baby has learned to blink! He also has an eye color now too, although it may not be the color he ultimately ends up with. The baby also now spends periods of the day (and night) in REM sleep, just like us. The baby's lungs continue to mature, but he still has a lot of growing to do.

27 Weeks

This week the baby graduates onto a new growth chart, and is now measured from head to toe (honestly, I already thought we had made it to that point, but oh well!). Likely the baby is a full 15 inches in length head-to-toe and weighs almost 2 pounds! Interestingly, our baby has more taste buds now than he will have at birth (and beyond). Which means that not only is he able to taste the difference in the amniotic fluid when I eat different foods, but he might even react to it. For instance, some babies respond to spicy food by hiccuping or kicking.

The baby's lungs and immune system are maturing this week as he prepares for his grand entrance. If he were born today he would have an 85 percent chance of surviving as his lungs are capable of breathing air (with medical assistance, of course). He has also done a lot of growing over the past few months. His length has more than doubled in the past 15 weeks! And that's not the only thing growing—his brain tissue and neurons are all developing at a rapid pace. His brain waves are now firing away just like those of a newborn baby.

It's hard to believe that next week I will be in the third and final trimester! I feel as though the second trimester has felt the longest, but I have no doubt that the third trimester will be just as interesting as the other two. Other than spending a few days on the couch this week feeling crummy everything has been going pretty smoothly. It is hard to be sick while pregnant because you can't take any of the good cold and sinus stuff. I've mostly tried to get through on my own because the two remedies I did try didn't make me feel a whole lot better so I figured I'd rather get through it on my own, and with the help of lots of kleenex. I do hate that I've missed two days of work but I am hoping to go back tomorrow and maybe pick up Thursday if I am feeling up to it.

This week Jake and I will be celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary! It is hard to believe that it has been four years of marriage and I don't think I would change a thing. This year is undoubtedly going to be challenging, but I bet it isn't anything we can't handle. We are hoping to do a little roadtrip this weekend, I want to hit Ikea and he wants to go to some of the distilleries on the bourbon trail. It will probably be a 48hour trip but we've been so busy this summer I think that is just about all we need. Now you may be thinking, why do the bourbon trail while you are pregnant? Well, I don't drink bourbon anyway, so I don't feel like I am missing out and if I have to spend a day walking around distilleries to get a day at Ikea, I would call that a fair trade :)