Kris & Ju

How far along?  31 Weeks.  A wee bit over 7 months!
Total weight gain/loss:  Not sure, I gained about a pound in two weeks last time.  I think I was up about 25 pounds?  Which is quite depressing, it's the lower “recommended” weight gain number.  Sigh.
Maternity clothes?  Yep.
Stretch marks?  I'm sure I have a bunch of new ones on my butt.
Sleep:  Still pretty good, I wake up a lot, but when I'm asleep, I sleep very deeply.  I don't wake up when Kris gets out of bed, which is VERY unusual.
Best moment this week:  No change in dilation!  The doctor checked me out and I'm stable, so she's gonna hold off on the medication.  Also, got to see the baby on the ultrasound, some hair already. :)  And the baby's head down, in right position.
Movement:  Every day, especially when I sit and have my feet up.  Hiccups too!
Food cravings:  Not much.  Just hungry real often.
Gender:  Not sure / not telling. :)
Labor Signs:  Braxton Hicks still, but it's really slowed down.  Thank the Lord.
Belly Button in or out? Flat.  The upper edge is starting to bump out a little.
What I miss:  Not feeling so cumbersome when I get up and down.  Getting up from laying/sitting is proving to be a lot of work at this point.  Oh, and I think I've done my last toenail painting until I have the baby.  I'll have to get Kris to do it, or get a pedicure. :)
What I am looking forward to:  Getting the nursery painted – my brother's here to help, so I'm pretty confident it will get done sometime in the next two weeks!
Weekly Wisdom:  Get comfy whenever you can, and take it easy.  Standing up too long and getting stuff done, is not good for the swollen feet, or the cankles.
Milestones:  Can't see my toes when I look straight down.

Yep, falling behind again.  Although, last week, it wasn't because there wasn't anything significant.  I've been...  anxious, stressed, and nervous for about a whole week now.  Went to the Doctor last Wednesday to get checked up, and she wanted to make sure to do some physical tests just in case Kris and I were going to Paris for DrupalCon.

"Oh my."  Is what she said.  "Uh-oh", is what went through my head then.  Oh my just can't be good when she's down there, feeling my parts.  As it turns out, it wasn't good - I was 1 cm dilated already, and my cervix was 25% thinner ("effaced" I think).  She said definitely "no" to Paris at this point, and was even considering putting me on bed rest, with medication.  She thinks when I had Braxton Hicks all day long, it may have dilated me.  So next time I have more than 5-6 an hour, I'm to run to the hospital to get checked out.  And she probably will start me on medication...  Brethine, which apparently makes you miserable, and progesterone shots.

Somehow I'm falling behind these surveys.  A part of it, I think, is that the weeks are now more blurred, while as at the beginning, I counted every day going by.  I think I feel more secure in the pregnancy now, so I obsess less about the passage of each week.  Good in a way, I think.

Past couple weekends have been busy.  Two weekends ago we were in Arkansas for Grandpa Cole's 80th birthday.  He's doing alright, and Grandma looked okay too.  Her arm, that she injured a while back (she had to get 17 stiches for a cut she got from falling on a broken glass bowl), looked awful, but it also seemed to be healing nicely.  Grandpa didn't feel up to going out, so the whole family got together and made roast for dinner, and it was absolutely delish!  Got a wonderful spinach salad dressing recipe from Grandma, and stuffed me and the baby with tons of food. :)

Skipped last week...  I'm sure the baby won't mind though. :)

How far along?  25 weeks
Total weight gain/loss:  Prolly up around 20 pounds.  Especially after the ginormous Mexican meal I had a couple of hours ago.  Really really good beef chimichanga.  Mmm.  At least I won't be hungry when I go to bed! :D
Maternity clothes?  Last week I finally bought two pairs of maternity capris.  Now I wear those and dresses every day.  Very comfy.
Stretch marks?  I think extra ones on my butt.  But not totally sure, since I don't look at my bum every day and count all the stretch marks.
Sleep:  Fall asleep pretty quick, and sleep soundly until I have to go pee!

23 weeks.  That's like...  Over 5 months!  Holy cow.  It's just absolutely crazy.  In about 4 months, we'll be having this baby and our lives will turn up side down.

These days Kris and I have been SO busy at the office.  So stressed.  Things are a little tough, as it probably is for everyone else.  It is discouraging, and we have our down times...  But I have to be completely honest with myself - when I lay down, put my hands on my belly, and feel the baby move, it really does make things so much better.  It can get me more anxious, worrying about what the future holds for the baby and our family, but the little movements and kicks can absolutely make my day.  It never gets old.  Probably never will.

My waist now needs to be described in past tense.  I was looking at the mirror yesterday and realized that I had no waist, at all anymore.  In its place is a growing belly.  With a little person inside.  Who moves around and kicks sometimes.

I don't want to say this and then have a horrendous week of pregnancy, but I am so thankful to God (since he's the one who made me the way I am) and feel so blessed that I've had a relatively easy pregnancy so far.  No bad morning sickness, no extreme round ligament pain, no weird cravings.  Just normal life, with a little bit of tiredness.  I've been sleeping really well too. (except for this horrible back pain I've been having - the entire right side of my back is knotted up, and... OW!)

OK, so I skipped 21 weeks.  Where did it go??  I really don't know. :)

Work's been pretty busy, it's been crazy around the office.  The right side of my spine (all the muscles in that area from lower back to my shoulder) is completely knotted up, very painful.  They cramp up so I have to change my sitting/laying positions often.  OW!

Kris and I also celebrated our 5 year anniversary this weekend.  It was actually on Saturday, but Kris' 10 year high school reunion was on that day, so we ended up spending it with his old friends/acquaintances.  Sunday morning he made me brunch (homemade hashbrowns!), and gave me a good long massage (which was extremely painful) on my shoulder to ease the pain a little.

And LA Lakers won the NBA Championship this year. :)  There were some really good games!

So, I can't say I'm an expert or anything of Europe.  I've only been there a couple of times, once in college when I took a summer semester at Oxford, then this past year when Kris and I went to Hungary.  I love visiting Europe, there's always so much to see, every little thing is... well, something.  However, I always thought that I'd never want to live there.  It's so different...  And I think I'm through with adjusting to "different" for a while, I've done so much of it already in my short life.

20 Weeks!  That's half way done. :)  Or Kris says half way started.  Either way, it's an exciting milestone for me.  The baby is kicking in there often during the day, and it's such a comfort...  What an amazing experience.  Kris also got to feel the baby move yesterday on our 20 week mark - we were laying in bed and when the baby started kicking, I put his hand on my belly and felt a couple of big kicks!  I love that I can share that with him.  It's unreal to think that we will have a little baby to share a family bond with, who will look up to us as loving parents, guides, and protectors.

Again, this post is 4 days too late, but again, I had no time & energy to blog this pas week.  So, here I am, on my one day off.