27 Weeks

I can't believe I am a few days away from being in my third trimester.  I must also say that I can't believe that I still have 3 more months to go.  I am shocked at how big my belly has gotten, and I am frightened to think that some of the more extreme growth is still yet to come.  So far I still am having a pretty easy pregnancy.  Despite feeling HUGE I feel pretty good.

About two weeks ago I had a doctors appointment and everything is still checking out just fine.  I passed my glucose tolerance test with no issues and I am measuring right on target.  The babies HR at the is visit was 140, so still on just on the border of the old wives tale to tell if it is a boy or girl.  I guess we will have to keep guessing.  I still 100% feel that this baby is a girl despite that everyone around me is saying boy. We have decided on Evelynn Ann for a girl's name but are still struggling to come up with a boys name.... suggestions welcomed!!! 

The biggest changes I have noticed since last posting is I really no longer

Baby all  curled up on my Right side.

 

 

feel just kicks. I feel like the child is doing barrel rolls inside me.  And for whatever reason he/she likes to curl up on my right side all the time which can sometimes be pretty uncomfortable.  Speaking of uncomfortable I have now settled into some pretty serious back pain at times. The only thing that sooth it is a heating pad and last week it was so bad that I spent all evening after work in Dave's reclining chair with the heating pad.  Since  then it has gotten better so lets hope that doesn't happen again.  I am still having some issues with swelling but really this is only a problem on the weekends when I don't wear my compression socks.


My grandparents are in from Florida, to visit, see some doctors, and shop for a condo.  This is super exciting to me!!!  It will be so nice to have them back in Kentucky.  I just hope it all works out.  Last weekend my dad got tickets for all us to go to the Reds Game.  It was fun but unfortunately Dave and I had to leave at the 5th inning and I actually spent most of the previous innings up in the shade.  It was just too hot for a 6.5 month pregnant girl.  My legs swelled up, and I felt slightly light headed.  I dealt with this part ok, but when I started to feel sick to my stomach I decided that it was time to go and Dave and I walked back over the bridge and went home to take a nap.  Overall though it was nice to get out and be with my family for at least a little while.

We have been slowly working on the nursery and have the gray color up on the walls.  I know gray sounds like a funny color for a nursery but have faith in my vision for the final project I think you will love it.  I know I do.





I have also been practicing my cooking skills over the last few weeks and I have made some pretty yummy dishes.  I baked Dave and I a whole chicken the other day and it turned out great.  I will definitely repeat this one once we have more mouths to feed.  We had to many leftovers.  This Thursday I cooked dinner for Maggie and myself since Dave was out of town.  I made crab stuffed shells.  It was delicious, easy, and really not that bad for you so I will definitely be making this one again. 

Pregnancy Stats as of today:

Gestation: 27 weeks
Weight: At the doctors two weeks ago it said 128.6 (theirs is always higher than ours--- so I will go with our scale)  Our scale this morning said 128.  This is only two pounds away from where I thought I would be at term so I guess I am going to pass that up.  :(  This makes for a total weight gain so far of 16 pounds.
Cravings:  Back on a grape kick
Aversions: None
Funniest Pregnancy Memory so far:  During the opening ceremonies a few weeks back I started sobbing because I was so sad that I would probably never be able to carry the Olympic torch.  I knew how silly this sounded but I was still so upset.
 

26 weeks side view

26 weeks

Battle of the Republic

Celebration of Life

 

This weekend we celebrated, and mourned the loss of my grandfather other wise known as Pau to us Grand kids.  He had been struggling with COPD as well as some other ailments for some time and I must say that hid death for me was not unexpected.  He was a wonderful man that was very patriotic, a disciple of Christ, loving husband, father, and grandfather.  On a lighter note he was also so stubborn, and was not afraid to speak his mind and always like to share his opinion weather it was asked for or not. 

When I think of his stubbornness it makes me smile.  He and my brother were the only Democrats in our family and he loved to talk politics and argue the worlds issues with the rest of our Republican family.  One of my favorite memories of him is during Thanksgiving about 4 years ago.  Pau always said the Thanksgiving prayer around the table before we would start eating. I can't remember his exact words but the prayer was always the same.  He thanked the Lord for gathering us, and would specifically mention a few things we were thankful for and that we needed extra support for and then he would always end the prayer with "bless this food for the nourishment of our bodies, in Christ name we pray, Amen."  Well this specific year he ended with "bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies, in Christ name we pray, and thank you lord that president bush only has 62 more days in office, Amen"  We all busted out laughing because he had never ever changed the ending of the prayer except for this year and he had really snuck one in on us.  

A few more funny memories of him is how he always asked my husband Dave, "how is the guard?"  My grandpa was a proud veteran of WWII and he knew good in well that Dave was in the Marines and not the guard but he knew this got under his skin so he always said it.  When Dave would tell him he was in the 

Marines my grandpa would always reply, "same thing isn't?"

I am thankful that his passing was somewhat predictable to our family because I feel that we all got to spend some quality time with him before he passed.  Being in the medical field forces you to look at death differently.  No one once to see a member or their family struggle through their last days and due to his complex respiratory and cardiac issues I knew this was a very real possibility for him.  I was not present at the hospital for his passing and I don't want to downplay what my grandmother and aunt went through in those hours but although very sad, I was also relieved to know that he had gone for a walk and shortly after went into cardiac arrest.  I am glad that he didn't have to suffer and it was quick.  

His entire funeral service was as wonderful as a funeral service could be.  It was neat to hear stories about him from childhood friends, golfing buddies, and church members.  He was definitely a well respected man in the small town of Carrolton.  Some of the memories I would like to cherish from his funeral is the playing of the Battle of the Republic during the church service.  Apparently my grandpa always made sure that during a military holiday week the church service would always include this song in their service.  This illustrates to me how patriotic he was.  The other moment during his funeral service that I would like to remember is his military graveside service.  The folding of the flag and handing it to my grandmother really pulled at my heartstrings, and the 7 gun 3 shot salute definitely jerked some tears out of me. The final memory I have of his service is definitely more lighthearted and I am sure my grandpa was looking down and laughing.  To my immediate family and friends you will know who I am speaking of but since this post is on the Internet I will leave out names.  Right after the gun salute a certain someone in my life that was standing directly behind my chair gave me a hug as I stood up.  She said, "that was such a moving ceremony," and then the elastic in her suit skirt broke and her skirt fell to the ground.  I am sure everyone around us noticed that her skirt was in a puddle on the ground exposing her light colored slip.  She quickly pulled it up which only caused her light colored slip to bunch up around her waist of her dark suit.  It was hilarious.  While the rest of my family was sniffling and hugging her and I were laughing so hard our stomach hurt.  I just couldn't help my self it was so funny.  Soon after we left everyone had heard what had happened and I would like to think it was the perfect way to break the ice a bit and it helped us continue on with our day.

I would like to thank each and everyone of you who sent cards, flowers, texts, called, and came to the service to show their support to our family.  It didn't go unnoticed and we appreciated each and everyone of you.