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Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Sarah Fortune
August 8, 2011
4 Comments

Yee haw, we’ve entered over into the 30s!
That’s another big milestone that always seemed so far away.

This week has gone by fast, but all in all it was a good week. I had another doctor’s visit today, which mostly involved waiting and about five minutes of the doctor actually visiting. Once again, everything looks good! The doctor measured my tummy and I’m measuring two weeks ahead (not much of a surprise). She wants to keep an eye on that and if it doesn’t even out, she might schedule me for another ultrasound closer to my due date to get a better idea of how big Iris is getting. I imagine that if Iris really is measuring that big, there’s a chance that they could induce me a little early, but that’s something I won’t know till we get a lot closer.

At this point, that sounds fantastic. Despite being exhausted all the time, sleep is officially a challenge. Lots of pillows certainly help, but for some reason my legs feel just awful all night long. If that doesn’t wake me up, my bladder will. I probably get up about every 2 hours, which I suppose is nature’s way of getting me ready for my life come October. Iris has been kicking up a storm lately, which is cute and all but that doesn’t help the sleep situation either. And by kicks, I mean really hard jabs. I can now feel what I assume are tiny feet and hands poking up at me, which is pretty amazing mixed with a little creepiness too.

This week Todd and I took advantage of some soon-to-expire hotel points and spent Saturday night at Embassy Suites in Rogers. Yeah, that would be about 20 minutes from our house. We played tourist for the day and visited a couple of town squares, toured the spot where Walmart first started, browsed antique stores, and gave Five Guys Burgers a try. I’m so glad we decided to do something like that by ourselves before Iris arrives, even if it was just up the street.

Some photos from the week…

Vintage find: Kenny Rogers pearl snap shirt

Walton’s Five and Dime

Pretty soaps inside the Walmart museum

Hotel room

Five Guys

Vintage find: Lemon yellow girl’s dress

Nursery sneak peek

Random thing of the week:
Todd’s baby book led to the discovery that his mom & my mom…
shared the same gynecologist! How crazy is that?

We have a couple busy weeks ahead with a labor & delivery tour, baby classes, and my baby shower. It’s all happening... and I’m so excited. XOXO

Photos, Pregnancy Blog, Words

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

Sarah Fortune
August 2, 2011
4 Comments

Truth be told, I cried after Todd took my photos this week.

I’ve only cried a few times since being pregnant, but I think this batch of tears had to do with seeing myself as officially huge and the fact that I’m entering the stage where I’m constantly uncomfortable. Okay, maybe it had a little to do with hormones too. But the tears only lasted a few minutes and, all in all, week 29 was a good set of days.

● I spent a couple of days in Chicago on a work trip, which was a nice (slight) break from this southern heat. Traveling in the third trimester was surprisingly easy, but direct flights, good company, & lots of sleep certainly helped.

John Hancock building across from our hotel

I discovered H&M has baby clothes

Our laughable air-conditioner in the cab from the airport

● Speaking of the heat, can I just point out for a minute that I’m pregnant during a historic heatwave? It’s been terrible and this week is supposed to be even worse. We’ve had record breaking temperatures & days on end of reaching over 100 degrees. Now someone hand me a milkshake and point me towards a pool.

● We had another doctor’s visit (this “appointment every two weeks” thing is awesome) and Iris seems to be doing great!

● Iris has started hiccuping within the last couple of weeks. The first time I noticed it I was eating a spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. Maybe spicy isn’t her thing. Sorry girl, it sure is mine.

● We have a new tradition of going over to my mom’s house every Sunday for dinner. It’s been a long time since I’ve lived in the same town as a parent, so just getting together for a meal is quite a treat. I can’t wait to continue this once Iris is here.

● Todd and I worked a little more on the nursery, finally decorating a little bit. He hung shelves and I made paper flowers.

So even though there were a few tears (that’s to be expect though), I made it through another seven days and am oh-so-close to that 30 week mark.

Hip hip hooray!

Photos, Pregnancy Blog, Words

Pregnancy Blog: 28 weeks

Sarah Fortune
July 25, 2011
5 Comments

Week 28 has been a great one! Even though I’m starting to find it difficult to catch my breath at times and rolling out of bed is starting to look like a circus act, I’ve managed to have a pretty darn good time. This past weekend my dad came to visit, which meant a lot since he lives about 5 hours away. He brought up lots of prizes, which were specially picked out by Cathy, Selah, and Lilah (my step-mom & little sisters). Let me just say that Iris’ wardrobe got even more adorable over the weekend.

My dad and I spent the weekend talking, eating, eating some more, roaming around town, and exploring my old campus. Lucky for Todd, he even finished up the last of the mudding on our kitchen drywall while he was here. As for Iris herself, baby girl is getting strong. This week I can feel either a hand or foot (I have no idea what is what in there), pushing with all its might like she’s trying to escape. I still can’t get over how surreal (and weird) it feels. It’s certainly a wonderful reminder that a real person is in there.

There was also good news from the doctor’s office this week. I passed my glucose test! I also got confirmation that my negative blood type is still not an issue. However, they did tell me that my iron was a little low, but just to eat more red meat and green leafy veggies. So yes, Todd and I have had steak and salad two nights since then. I can deal with that.

A few photos from the week…

Our stroll on the University of Arkansas campus

Snow cones!

Estate sale find (my daddy bought it for me)

Visiting Todd’s office

Sparking water from Mexico

My dad & the Grillenium Falcon grilled cheese truck

It was a lovely weekend indeed.
I just wish we all lived closer together.
xoxo

Photos, Pregnancy Blog, Words

Pregnancy Blog: 27 weeks

Sarah Fortune
July 18, 2011
3 Comments

As of this week, I’m officially in the third trimester! I have as many weeks of pregnancy left as I had completed when I started blogging about this madness. That puts things into perspective.

I had a busy day at the doctor’s office this past week, as it was time for the dreaded Glucose tolerance test. This is given to just about everyone nowadays to test for gestational diabetes and involves drinking a super sweet, syrupy orange drink and then waiting an hour to have your blood drawn. I should get the results in the next few days, but fingers crossed that I pass. If you fail, it doesn’t mean that you have gestational diabetes, but there’s a more intense test (and drink) that you have to take to find out for sure.

While at the doctor’s office, I also got a Rhogham shot for my negative blood type. You can read all about that here in this debbie downer post from my 17th week. They’re also testing to make sure that I haven’t built up any antibodies, which would mean the negative blood type still isn’t an issue. Besides that, I’m happy to report that everything I was concerned about in that post is no longer an issue!

Lately though, I have had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, which are practice contractions to help get your body get ready for labor. I asked my doctor if it is okay that I was having more than a few per day and, while she said this was normal, she tested me for pre-term labor just to be safe. Thankfully, the test came back negative, so no worries there. Even though Iris Adella could survive if she was born today, it’s certainly best to keep her cookin for a good while longer.

Now for the fun stuff…

● I’m getting excited for my baby shower, which is just a month away.

● All of our nursery furniture came in! We have it set up, but the decorating is going a bit slow. I’m loving how simple & clean the room is right now, but I think after the shower I’ll have a better idea of what should go where.

● This weekend my dad is coming to visit us, so we can’t wait for that! I’m sure he’ll make an appearance in next week’s post. He’s super excited about his little “grand flower,” as he calls her.

● I’ve been doing more Instagram-ing than Tweeting lately, so here are a few pictures from the past week or so.

First load of baby clothes.

Everett helping.

Maternity dress from Kerri

Lone rocking chair

(attempting) to pick up the furniture

Sneak peek at the nursery (and me on the first day of my last trimester)

The fun stuff

The not so fun stuff

Sweet lil vintage jumper

My mom will love/hate this

Sadie modeling a felt bow I made for Iris.

And one last belly shot for good measure…

Photos, Pregnancy Blog, Words

Pregnancy Blog: 26 weeks

Sarah Fortune
July 10, 2011
3 Comments

In the nursery with Iris Adella’s new dresser & a felt baby bow I made for her.

While the classic symptoms graciously eluded me in my first six months, I’m finally getting a few fun reminders that growing a baby can be hard work.

Here are a few of my favorites.

● I seriously drop everything that I pick up. I’ve heard about the pregnancy clumsiness that takes over, but was somewhat relieved to read that dropping things is a real symptom too. When pregnant, your joints actually loosen, meaning you have a weaker grip. To make this symptom worse, it’s already dreadful bending down to pick up each little thing that I drop.

● Sleeping has become an accomplishment rather than something I look forward to. A lot of the difficulty is due to Iris kicking up a storm lately, especially when I lay down for the night. It’s hard to get upset with this one though. In fact, I usually laugh because it often tickles and startles me. Falling asleep has also gotten harder as I’ve gotten bigger. Of course the one position you’re not supposed to sleep in is what you would think is best when you have a big ol belly – on your back. Supposedly, the best way to sleep is on your left side, so thank heavens for Katie who let me borrow her Boppy pregnancy pillow. It’s helped more than I could have ever imagined.

● More sleeping woes can be attributed to yet another symptom – peeing a million times a day! I did this before getting pregnant, so now it’s probably up to one billion times a day. I think that’s pretty standard.

● I’m starting to get a little shortness of breath and I tire really easily. If I stand for too long, all I want to do is lay down and put my feet up. The heat isn’t helping with this one either. I believe today was the hottest day in Fayetteville in over 10 years. My mom was pregnant with me during a terrible heatwave in Memphis, so I guess it’s only fair.

All in all, it’s still hard to complain. These symptoms are very much expected and they mean that we’re getting even closer to meeting our baby girl. Less than 14 weeks to go….

Articles written by: Sarah

Pregnancy Blog: 30 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 29 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 28 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 27 weeks

Pregnancy Blog: 26 weeks