27 Weeks and Kicking!

Snow day!
Hi greenies! I am one happy momma today because as you can see from the pic to the right of my backyard, I am enjoying a snow day today! It hasn't snowed much this winter here in Missouri, and last night we got our first "snow storm". Even though it doesn't look like much (maybe 4 inches or so?) sometimes it doesn't take much to get a snow day! For those of you who don't know, I teach special ed preschoolers, so when the talk of snow days come up I'm always crossing my fingers (along with every other teacher out there!) that we might have a snow day. I'm a bit more cautious with my snow day wishes this year because Baby Avery is due around the beginning of April and with 6 weeks of maternity leave, that takes me right up until school being out for summer...so too many extra snow days at the end of the year, means I might have to come back, which will be fine, I just know it will be hard to part with her that early on! Either way, I'm enjoying this quiet, relaxing snow day today and the chance I have to get you all caught up on what's been going on with my pregnancy lately.


Pregnancy update! I celebrated my 27th week of pregnancy this past weekend and I cannot believe how fast it is going! Next week starts my 3rd trimester...how crazy is that?! As you can tell from the belly pics, I am growing a lot! It seems like my belly is really starting to stick straight out instead of growing up or to the sides.

As of right now, Baby Avery is the "food size" of a head of cauliflower, and apparently my uterus is the size of a basketball (which explains the pic below-hehe!).

Uterus=basketball size...nice!

Another fun developmental change in Avery is the fact that she is kicking a lot...much stronger and harder kicks this time and throughout the day. This has been awesome for Brandon because he has really been able to bond with her in a new way since he can feel her kick and move around. Also, this past week, we had a check up with our midwife so that was fun. We talked about some of the upcoming tests I will be having done (probably sometime in the middle of February) like: a blood test (to get a complete blood count, find out my blood type and Rh factor), as well as a glucose screening test (which she can do herself at our next appointment...it will be a random test, so I won't have to fast- thank goodness, those stress me out). And the last test is the Group B Strep test, all of which I will tell you more about after I have them done. Then after all that medical talk we moved onto the fun stuff like hearing Avery's heart beat, and having her tell us where she was positioned. Even better, she showed Brandon how to feel her placement in my abdomen, and in the process he got to feel her head (which was down by my pubic bone) and then her back (she was kind of curled up more on my right side). The look on his face was priceless! We meet with our midwife again in four weeks, and from there we will start scheduling our appointments for every two weeks since we're getting closer to the end! Wow! I have a feeling April will be here before we know it!



Body Image: So, as most pregnant women can relate, pregnancy brings about some interesting changes in your body and in how you feel about yourself. I know it's a little startling to me sometimes to see these pics after Brandon takes them every other week because I'm like, "Who's that girl? That doesn't even look like me! I'm not that big!" I think it's because the changes in pregnancy are so gradual that us pregnant moms hardly notice the changes on a day-to-day basis, and for the most part we just feel normal (at least throughout the 2nd trimester I know I have). I know I still feel like myself, and my arms and legs still look somewhat like how they did before I was pregnant. The only major change is my stomach and even though I can see the bump when I look down, I don't see the full belly shot...until picture day that is. I think the biggest nagging emotional issue I deal with in adjusting to my new pregnant body is not so much worrying that I will get "fat", but that instead wondering if this is how BIG I am now...what am I going to look like in 3 months? Will I have a freakishly large stomach? Will the rest of my body start to get crazy large too? As someone who has weighed the same since about high school, this dramatic change is quite a lot to deal with. But, I believe a lot in the law of attraction and positive thinking, so I know that dwelling on all these negative thoughts and fears is only going to attract more of that to me, so here's my new mental game plan to cope with my body image:
  • As long as I am healthy (I truly feel so healthy, alive, active, and well right now it's amazing) and my baby is healthy (all is good according to the midwife) then I will enjoy and embrace my pregnant body! As my husband says, "Yes, you're stomach is big, but you're growing a baby!" He rocks doesn't he?!
  • I will remember that pregnancy, just like labor will come with times that I need to just surrender. I have read in countless books about birth and labor that women often hit a wall during labor and after they surrender to the experience, they find that their labor proceeds much quicker and easier. I have a feeling it might be the same for pregnancy. As my body continues to change and grow, I know that resisting the changes or growth will just be counterproductive to my own well-being. I know that I am doing everything I can to stay in shape by exercising and doing yoga daily, as well as eating the food that I feel is best for me and my baby...so if growth is what my body and baby needs I will surrender to that and embrace it! Grow away Baby Avery, I want you to be happy and healthy!
  • Last, I will be grateful for the experience of being pregnant. I remember a year or so ago when I started "reading up" on pregnancy and preparing mentally and physically for it, I looked at pregnant women with awe and wonder, thinking, "I can't wait until I'm pregnant! I can't wait until I can experience the kicks of new life in side of me. I can't wait to have that cute pregnant bump." But yet, I remember reading some other pregnancy blogs and feeling a bit annoyed that all they did was complain about their pregnancy. Even sometimes now that I'm pregnant, I get in a rut, where I just wish I had my smaller stomach back. Yes, pregnancy comes with its fair share of ups and downs, as well as discomforts and changes, but I know there are women out there that would do anything to get pregnant, or who have pregnancies filled with more serious complications and issues. This makes me put my pregnancy into perspective a bit more, because although it may be easy to complain about the changes, I am going to choose to be grateful for every moment of my pregnancy. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am experiencing right now and I know I will look back in a few months and remember the joy I felt to know there was a new life growing inside of me...what a magical time this is, so I'm going to be grateful for it!

Well, thanks for bearing with me as I vent and process through these emotional and physical changes I'm going through, it helps to have this blog so I can get my thoughts out of my head and work to find some positive solutions. Hopefully other pregnant mamas out there can relate to some of the feelings I've been going through and know that they're not alone. Feel free to post your experiences below or any other tips you might have! ( :

Etsy Find of the Week: Onto some lighter topics, like shopping on Etsy! In the beginning of my pregnancy I loved Amazon.com, as I mentioned in this post, but now my favorite place to shop online is on Etsy! I think I love how most of the products I buy on there are handmade, they are unique (not just the same baby item that everyone has and if you can't tell, I like to be unique and do my own thing!), and just being able to talk directly with the sellers and have that connection with them. I've got so much stuff "Favorited" on there it's not even funny! My Etsy find of the week is this adorable set of monthly stickers and matching headband, which I of course purchased...even though Avery won't get any use out of it for several months!

After Googling a variety of ways to capture Baby Avery's monthly growth after she's born, I found these cool pics on this blog and I really liked how she used stickers on her little guy's onesies to show how many months old he was. What a cool way to track a baby's growth and changes! So, then began my search for some cute stickers, and boy did I have some good luck on Etsy, as usual! I came across Babycakes Design Co. where she sells a variety of monthly baby stickers to fit every style and personality! I chose these to match the pink and brown stripe theme of Avery's room and since the shop owner Maria, mentioned she was willing to do custom orders, I figured I would see if she could make a matching headband like the one in this pic to the left which is featured in this listing (how adorable is this?). She agreed and a few days later, these adorable stickers and matching headband (see mine in the pic above) arrived at my door. I love them! I highly recommend you check out the Babycakes Design Co. on Etsy to find some cute monthly baby stickers, you won't be disappointed. I can't wait to post some pictures of Avery with her monthly stickers and matching headband. ( :


Food Cravings: So my food cravings have been pretty tame lately...no pickles and ice cream yet- lol! But after a recent trip to Genghis Khan Mongolian Grill with Brandon's family, I have a new craving...this exact plate of food! What I love about Genghis Khan is they have a Mongolian BBQ style buffet, where you basically get to make your own meal by picking a variety of food out of a buffet line (veggies, noodles, seasonings, and meat) and then they will grill it all up for you on a mega grill! For someone with a variety of dietary restrictions, I love that I can control what goes onto my plate here, and best of all...it tastes delicious! In the plate you're seeing to the left I have the following combo of food: tofu strips, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, carrots, corn, rice noodles, and my awesome seasonings/sauce mix which I create with: garlic water, ginger water, and a dry chipotle seasoning- the best part (it reminds me of BBQ)! Put all that together and saute it up on the grill and you've got one delicious meal!


It's so good in fact that this was Plate #2 for me, what can I say, Avery and I both love Genghis Khan! I've been nagging Brandon since we went to go back there and it looks like we might go in a few weeks to celebrate my birthday. Until then, I will be drooling over the picture up top! 

After the dinner at Genghis Khan we went back to Brandon's parents house to hang out with his brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews that were all in town, for a family-style New Year's Eve party. They began the night with some Rock Band on the Wii (go Brandon on the drums!) and then all the adults started the "1st Annual Couples Pool Tournament." I am not a pool player at all, so I knew we would be in for a good time and a few laughs! Surprisingly, we took 2nd place in the tournament...out of 5 teams. I think I can credit that to a lot of tips, pointers, and patience from Brandon! Here's a few pics from the fun night...



Here I am at 26 weeks pregnant. Everyone joked that my pregnancy would hurt Brandon and I's chances of winning the tournament, but I think it helped..we placed way higher than I expected! Avery must be our lucky charm!




Here's me attempting to make a shot...before learning some good form and hand tricks from Brandon.



Here we are placing 2nd in the tournament, and getting ready to ring in the New Year.


So I think that's about all for this week's update, I have much more to blog about, but I feel like this is a pretty long post as it is. Coming up in next week: my mom, grandma, and I will be finishing up the curtain for Avery's room so I can finally post some pics of the other projects we have been working on for that little nook of the room. Also, next week we start our HypnoBirthing classes, so I'm excited for that! I'll post more info about that style of birthing class as well as my reasons behind choosing it, next week. Now I'm off to enjoy the rest of my snow day...by the way, about 2-3 more inches have fallen since I took that pic this morning! ( :