35 Weeks / Baby's First Wedding / Maternity Pics!

We got a few of our maternity pictures from our photographer this week and are so happy to share them. We had a blast at this shoot and can't wait to work with Erica Haller again for the newborn shots in a few short weeks. Here are three of our favorites:

Baby's First Wedding

My sister got married this past weekend!! I was a very pregnant Matron of Honor but I think I pulled my dress off pretty damn well, I must say. She looked absolutely beautiful and the day was perfect. Kevin and I had a ball at the wedding and it was really fun taking pregnant pictures throughout the day. If only I was in St. John right now where Stephanie and Marc are honeymooning...

Check out that belly!!

With my cousin, Erin / good shot of the bridesmaid's dress that I pulled off 

My beautiful sister, Stephanie and her new husband, Marc Andre

My Godson, Elliott with his soon-to-be baby cousin in the belly

35 Weeks!

I'm 35 weeks preggo now and getting much bigger by the day. There is much less room for this little guy to move around so I'm feeling every single movement all day long. He is one active baby! At my doctor's appointment this week, the midwife told me that the head is already down and he's measuring just right. I asked her to predict when he'd be making his  big entrance into the world but of course she couldn't make that guess. 

New Since Last Blog Post: I packed my hospital bag and we put the car seat in the car. Even though we've had to take it out a few times to carpool, it's nice knowing that we're prepared for anything at this time.  

How I'm feeling: Still feeling great, thankfully! It's getting harder to bend down as often as I could before, so Kevin has to help me around the house a lot more. I'm taking everyone's advice and really taking it easy. We've spent more nights in the past few weeks on the couch catching up on shows and movies than we ever have in our whole life. We tend to be very active people, so this relaxing thing takes some getting used to. With the new addition of Netflix in our life though, it's made it a lot easier. I found a new love for Gossip Girl and started at season 1, so I'm all set for those boring hours while the baby is sleeping in a few weeks :) 

Food: I'm starting to think about making meals and freezing them for once the baby is here. I think I even talked my sister into coming over a few nights a week when the baby is here to make meals out of the ingredients that I buy - she's an amazing cook, so I'm hoping that works out for us, hehe.  

Movement: The movements are so wild lately. I can see huge lumps rolling around in my belly and I can even predict what time of day he'll be moving the most. 

Most looking forward to: We have our prepared childbirth class coming up and it's being taught by our midwife that we love. We're really looking forward to the class and can't wait to learn more things about becoming first time parents. 

32 Weeks - Only 8 Left

The baby is as big as a honeydew this week. Funny, that kind of looks like the shape of my belly right now! He is almost 19 inches long and around 4.5 pounds according to the baby center app on my phone. Crazy. We only have 8 (well, 7.5 really) weeks left and we're getting very excited.   

New Since Last Blog Post: We had our maternity photo session with Erica Haller this week and it was very exciting. We found her at a baby expo in Hamilton, NJ and I'm so glad that I did because she really knows what she's doing. Kevin isn't the biggest fan of couple photo shoots (what husband is?) but she made him feel so comfortable and I actually think he was enjoying it. I'll post a sneak-peek on here during my next blog post. 

Doing the maternity session reminded me just how close we are now. This little guy is getting so big and the fact that I'm far enough along to have my professional belly pics done is just wild to me. I remember booking this session three months ago thinking, "wow, I'll be so pregnant then". And I was right! It was so fun being with Kevin for this and putting all of our attention on this growing belly of mine. 

How I'm feeling: I read in all the pregnancy blogs that many women are having insomnia and trouble sleeping during their third trimester. I must be lucky because I've actually been sleeping better these past few weeks! Maybe I just got this pregnant-sleeping routine down by now, but other than getting up to pee 3-4 times a night, I actually am having no problems at night. We'll see if this lasts. 

Food: Whoever invented peanut butter is my hero. Seriously, I'm keeping JIF in business with this pregnancy. Today I made a peanut butter and cream brownie cake (recipe) with my new spring form pan and I can't wait to see how it turned out. I'm also loving cold fruits these past few weeks and icy things - like water ice and smoothies. 

Movement: He moves all day and I love it. Some days it's more than others, but I can feel him completely turning around and standing on my bladder when he does it! It's pretty amazing to feel and watch. 

Most looking forward to: My OB appointments are becoming more frequent now and I find it very exciting because that means that we're going to meet our little guy soon. I'm hoping for another ultrasound at some point because we haven't seen him since 19 weeks. 

UPDATED PICS

30 Week Update

Well, it's been 5 weeks (oops) time for another blog update! 

I'm 30 weeks this week. The baby is the size of a head of cabbage, 3 lbs and about 16 inches long. He kicks and rolls around all day long and gets the hiccups at least once a day! 

New Since Last Blog Post: Since it's been 5 weeks since my last post, a lot is new. The nursery is done, I'm seeing my doctor every two weeks now, I don't have gestational diabetes (yessss!) and I feel like we have everything that we could possibly need for this little guy after my baby shower. I have such wonderful friends and family and am so thankful for everyone's generosity! This little guys is definitely spoiled. 

How I'm feeling: 99.9% of the time, awesome. For that other 0.1% of the time, I have heartburn and some pains when this little man is rolling around and going crazy in my belly. But I have to admit, I don't mind any pregnancy symptom whatsoever and I just love being pregnant.  

Food: I'm definitely not that pregnant woman that craved crazy things or made her husband run out to the store at 3am to get one particular item. I'm still trying to eat three balanced meals a day with small snacks in between and I think it's been working out pretty well for my weight/health. My food weaknesses have been pretty consistent: Entenmann's cheese danish and peanut butter smoothies are my top favorite indulgences during this pregnancy. 

Movement: His kicks are now thrashes! He rolls around and I can feel large masses at times. Kevin and I like to guess what limb we think we feel. 

Most looking forward to: We have our maternity session setup with Erica Haller Photography in two weeks and we're really looking forward to it. 

BELLY PICTURE UPDATE

PICTURES FROM MY BABY SHOWER

6 Months!!

I'm past the 6 month mark now - 25 weeks! As the number gets smaller on our "weeks left" countdown, the baby excitement is absolutely growing in our household. The nursery is really coming together and all of our big purchases are done finally (hopefully!). We're anxiously awaiting our nursery furniture and once it's here, we'll post pictures of the cutest nursery that I've ever seen ;) 

The baby is as big as a cauliflower this week. He is almost 14 inches long and spinning around like crazy in there. The baby starts accumulating more fat as of this week and knows which way is up vs. down. 

 

New this week: Well I haven't blogged in 3 weeks so there is a lot that is new! The baby gets hiccups in my belly now. It feels like a fast beating heartbeat low in my abdomen and is usually around the time that I'm drinking water or eating. My round belly is getting bigger and bigger - I love this shot of 20 weeks vs. 24 weeks - you can really see the change in growth. 

How I'm feeling: Still great. I have lower back pain - which I've had since before I was pregnant so my doctor recommended PT. I just started those sessions and will continue with it until the middle of my third trimester. 

Food: I've been on a health kick lately. Since I feel so healthy, I figure I should eat healthy too! I love our local Amish and farmers markets and try to go there once a week to stock up on fresh veggies or fruits. I incorporate a lot of those into my regular meals and try to cook at home for the majority of the week. The 4th of July did NOT help with eating healthy, but we hung out with so many great friends so it was nice to splurge on a hamburger here and there.  

Movement: Little kicker! I feel him kick all over my belly now and if Kevin is lucky, he can catch his kicks all throughout the day too. Sometimes he'll really get me though and I have to change positions so he doesn't continue to kick the crap out of one area. 

What I miss: Soft cheeses are hard to avoid. I really miss a fresh salad with goat cheese. Mmmm. But instead, I've been eating a lot of feta and pasteurized mozzarella instead.  

Most looking forward to: The furniture arriving! Our baby furniture should be here soon and I just can't wait to have it in the room. We got a lot of nautical decorations while we were on vacation in Alexandria Bay last weekend so as soon as the furniture is here, we can finally put them up and start getting the room together. 

22 Weeks!

22 weeks this week! Wow. I remember counting down the days/weeks until week 20 and now I'm already 22! Baby H is the size of a spaghetti squash. He's over a pound now and about 11 inches long. I use the website babycenter.com to get my weekly info and according to them, the baby has tooth buds growing in the gums this week. 

New this week: We started getting a few gifts this week and it's really fun to put them in Baby H's room. We ordered our furniture and I can't wait to have it here so I can see this nursery come together.  

How I'm feeling: Great! I really can't complain. I still have a ton of energy and am really enjoying my pregnancy so far. 

Food: My peanut butter and smoothie obsessions continue. I was telling Kevin last night that I crave a smoothie almost every day, and that is definitely something new for me. I just love a cold icy beverage late in the afternoon to hold me over until dinner time. Here is the recipe that I use:

Laura's Preggo PB/Banana Smoothie: 

3/4 cup of 1% milk (or whatever milk you prefer)   

1 ripe banana

1 cup of ice cubes 

1 tablespoon of peanut butter (I use Simply JIF but have also enjoyed Better N' Peanut Butter in smoothies)

1/2 tablespoon of Nutella 

- Stick it all in the blender and blend for about 2 minutes :) 

Movement: Getting much stronger. At one point, I was sure this child was breech because I only ever felt him kick very low, but now he's kicking all over my belly so I think he's just swinging around in there throughout the day.  It's a pretty cool feeling and I find myself waiting for the next kick all throughout the day now. I was actually surprised to read that babies sleep around 14-18 hours a day in the womb though...crazy. 

What I miss: White wine. We had family over for Father's Day and I was sniffing the wine bottles just to get a whiff, haha. 

Most looking forward to: We're going on vacation next week to Alex Bay with some of our friends. I'm really looking forward to having a few days off of work and just relaxing. I won't be able to do as many "boat activities" this time, but a few trips on the boat will still be fun for me. 

Watch me grow...

 7 weeks

 14 weeks 

 20 weeks

22 weeks

Halfway There - 20 Weeks!

This week, Baby H is the length of a banana - 10 inches from head to heel. I'm halfway through my pregnancy at this point and as of the anatomy scan last week, everything is looking perfect.

New this week: The kicks are getting much stronger. He really likes the sensation of being in the car, because that is when I feel the strongest kicks and for the longest periods of time. I can already see glimpses into my future of putting the baby in the car seat and driving loops around our development just to get him to sleep. Uh oh. 

How I'm feeling: Awesome and tired at the same time. I haven't had caffeine in 20 weeks, so I can't depend on that afternoon cup to get me through the rest of the day. But I shouldn't complain about being tired because I truly feel wonderful other than that! 

Food: I can't get enough of peanut butter. Smoothies, apples dipped in it, PB ice cream, yum! It's tricky to find the "healthier" versions of PB, but in moderation, the baby and I are really enjoying all things peanut butter. This has been pretty constant throughout my entire pregnancy, so when people ask me what I've been craving, this is really the only answer that I have for them. 

Movement: Yes - and now Kevin can feel it (not that often, but if his hand is on my belly at the right times, he can feel him!) 

What I miss: Not much this week :) 

Most looking forward to: I look forward to the weekends the most lately. We've been catching up with a lot of friends and I find that to be the most enjoyable on my time off from work. I'm really lucky to have such amazing friends in my life! 


BUMP ALERT - Here is my 20 week belly picture!! 

19 Week Update

We know the baby's gender! We had our anatomy ultrasound this week and it was absolutely amazing. Baby H is weighing at 11oz. and a few days ahead of schedule. Everything looked perfect and we got some pretty amazing shots of our little October pumpkin (see pics below). We're sticking to the baby shower invitations as our "gender announcement" so as soon as those are in the mail this weekend, we'll do the big reveal on here and on facebook. We can't wait to officially share the news!!

Right now, the baby is the size of a large mango and about 6 inches in length. Between this and next week, the baby will grow significantly. I'm feeling him/her kick around all day now and it's a pretty amazing feeling.
             ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New this week: Well, I already said it, but we know what Baby H is and that's been pretty incredible. After months of thinking about colors for the nursery, names and what sport(s) this little one will play, we finally have so many questions answered! We can't wait to share the news. 

How I'm feeling: Still pretty amazing. I started a prenatal yoga class that has helped to stretch out my back and hips. I'll continue to go to this since it was recommended by my Doctor and many friends who just had babies. I'm having a lot of hip pain at night and if I'm on my feet too much during the day - I read this is from a hormone called relaxin, but there is NO RELAXIN' that this stuff causes!! It should be renamed "wake-your-ass-up-in"

Food: My food highlight of the week was a cannoli cake that we had at Larissa & Mike's house on Sunday. We picked it up from a fresh food market in Holmdel, near their house, but it was the perfect balance of icing to cake to cannoli filling. Yum! 

Movement: Yup! And lots of it now :)

What I miss: Still wine. And maybe a beergarita now that the weather is nice. 

Most looking forward to: The baby shower invitations going out this weekend with the gender reveal in them!!!