Please Pray!

I do not know this family personally, but have followed her blog for a few years now.  Cari, the writer of the blog, has a gift with words and has provided great encouragement to me as I've followed her story.  They desperately need your prayers right now.  Cari's husband, Andy, just had his SECOND brain tumor removed yesterday (yes you read that right, 2nd). Currently, things are not looking great.  You can read about it here & here.

Their family has been through so much over the past few years (loss of their daughter, 1st brain tumor, job losses, etc.) and my heart just breaks for them as they deal with another trial.  If you want to know a little more about their whole story, read this.  Please pray for healing, strength, comfort & wisdom as they begin yet another difficult chapter of their lives. I don't know her personally, but so wish I could give her a great big hug.  If you want to offer her encouragement as well, feel free to comment on her blog and let her know you are praying for them.

24 Weeks

24 Weeks

Total Weight Loss/Gain: I think I may have gained about 4-5 pounds over the last week, but can you blame me? It was Thanksgiving after all ;-)  So that would put me at a total of around 14 pounds up.

Size of Baby: Our baby is about the size of a cantaloupe - approximately 10.5 to 11.8 inches and about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces.

Maternity Clothes: Same - all maternity pants, still wearing some regular shirts, but they are starting to get shorter, so I'm starting to wear more maternity shirts as well.

Sleep: Same - not good.

Movement: Yep - I think she already loves Aggie football because she was very active while we were at the game on Saturday.  Love it so much :)

Cravings/Aversions:  Ate lots of wonderful Thanksgiving food this week and it was DELICIOUS!  I only had 1 piece of pumpkin pie though, and I'm a little bit sad about that.  But I probably don't need more anyway ;-)  I'm still having random cravings for Olive garden salad and bread sticks.
 
What I Miss: Just sleep.
 
Gender: It's a girl!

Mood: Same - Pretty good, mostly just tired.  No surprise.

Milestones: Making it to 24 weeks.  The baby is now at a point that with medical technology, etc. that should the baby need to come early there is a chance of surviving outside the womb.  That definitely provides a little relief in the anxiety department.
 
Symptoms/Medical Concerns: Same - Lots of Braxton Hicks, some nausea (mostly in the mid morning & late night), little sleep, restless leg, and some heartburn.  No major concerns.

Differences From Past Pregnancy: I didn't really have a whole lot of cravings when I was pregnant with Logan, other than ice cream, so I'd say the fact that I'm having some this time is different.

What I Look Forward To: This weekend I am going to have a weekend away with the hubby.  We are going to the Family Life, Weekend to Remember Conference.  I've heard wonderful things about it for years and this summer we booked it.  It's in San Antonio on the Riverwalk, and I'm really excited!

Anything Else You'd Like to Share: Trying not to stress about all that is going on in the next few weeks.

No pic of me this week, but since there hasn't been too much about Logan lately, I have to share this beautiful picture my mother-in-law took of Logan this weekend.  So sweet!  Love this boy so much!!

23 Weeks

23 Weeks

Total Weight Loss/Gain: I think 9-10 pounds up.

Size of Baby: Our baby is about the size of a grapefruit - approximately 10.5 to 11.8 inches and about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces.

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants, still wearing some regular shirts, but they are starting to get shorter, so I'm starting to wear more maternity shirts as well.

Sleep: I'm sure I sound like a broken record, but still terrible.  Some days I'm not really sure how I manage to be honest.

Movement: Yep - it's wonderful :)

Cravings/Aversions: I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for my bible study group this past week and my mom made me apple pie for my birthday so it was a good week!!  I've been having random cravings for Olive garden salad and bread sticks.  It's not constant, but at random times I want it - not sure I'll be doing anything about that craving though as usually when I want it, I'm not willing/able to get it.
 
What I Miss: Sleep.
 
Gender: It's a girl! I'm still trying to process that.  Sometimes it still feels like we don't know what we're having and I have to remind myself.  I need to get moving on planning her nursery though!

Mood: Pretty good, mostly just tired.  No surprise.

Milestones: None that I can think of right now.  Just making it through each day is a milestone I guess :)
 
Symptoms/Medical Concerns: Same - Lots of Braxton Hicks, some nausea (mostly in the mid morning & late night), little sleep, restless leg, and some heartburn.  No major concerns.

Differences From Past Pregnancy: I didn't really have a whole lot of cravings when I was pregnant with Logan, other than ice cream, so I'd say the fact that I'm having some this time is different.

What I Look Forward To: Same - Making it to 24 weeks.  I know I'm crazy, but the anxiety of loss is hard.  Making it to 24 weeks means that should the baby need to come early, there is the possibility of surviving outside the womb.  Thank goodness for modern medicine!

Also looking forward to taking some family pics on the 15th.  My friend that regularly does them isn't available, so I'm a little nervous about our new person since I don't know her, but I'll just be glad to have anything at this point to capture our family just as it is right now :) 

Anything Else You'd Like to Share: Still trying to figure out a name...haven't really thought too much about it though.  I'm really hoping to have one before she arrives though :)  I also really need to get moving on cleaning out the bedroom that will be hers.  There's so much going on this time of the year though, it's hard.  We've got Thanksgiving, then going out of town the following weekend, then Logan's b-day the next weekend, we're doing family pictures the following Saturday and then it's Christmas!  Crazy!!

This was taken Saturday before I went to a shower for my SIL, Meredith, and their sweet baby girl, Claire.

22 Weeks

22 Weeks

Total Weight Loss/Gain: At my appointment on Wednesday I was up 8 pounds.  I think I might already be up another since then.  Ha!

Size of Baby: Our baby is about the size of a papaya - approximately 10.5 to 11.8 inches and weighs about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces.  At my ultrasound last week, she measured about a pound (16 oz).

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants, but wearing a mix of regular & maternity shirts.

Sleep: Still bad - have had a couple really rough nights the past week.  One where I woke up at 2:30am and didn't sleep the rest of the night.  This is definitely worse than when I had a newborn...hoping it gets better soon.

Movement: Yes - lots.  I love it - it's so reassuring that our sweet baby is ok.  Baby is moving as I'm typing this.

Cravings/Aversions: My chicken & dumplings craving has been taken care of for the time being and my mom is making me an apple pie for my birthday on Thursday, so I'm super excited about that.  I've also been wanting some of my friend Erica's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, so I think I'm going to make them for my bible study group on Wednesday.  I've also been wanting either my friend Sunny's chicken spaghetti or The Pioneer Woman's as both are similar but very delicious :)  I have both recipes (I think) so if the craving gets bad enough I'll have to make some.

Aversions - I'm sick of eating out.  Since I was sick for so long I wasn't able to do a whole lot of cooking, so we often picked food up or ate out.  Not so good on the pocket book, but there wasn't a whole lot of other options at the time.  So glad I can cook again, but I don't enjoy the cleaning up after :(
 
What I Miss: Sleep.
 
Gender: It's a girl! Our world is about to drastically change.  I went to Target the other day to get a couple things and started to pass the baby girl section.  I'm so used to looking over at the close, thinking oh how cute they all are, then moving on.  Let's just say it was a whole lot harder this time to move on, but I was good and kept going.  Ha!

Mood: Pretty good, mostly just tired.

Milestones: Knowing it's a girl so we can start working on names.  I'm hoping to have a name this time BEFORE she is born :)
 
Symptoms/Medical Concerns: Lots of Braxton Hicks, but not so many that my doctor has any concern.  Still having some nausea, little sleep, restless leg, and some heartburn.  No major concerns.

Differences From Past Pregnancy: I think I'm bigger than I was last pregnancy, but I'm pretty sure that's common when you've been pregnant before.

What I Look Forward To: Making it to 24 weeks.  I know I'm crazy, but the anxiety of loss is hard.  Making it to 24 weeks means that should the baby need to come early, there is the possibility of surviving outside the womb.  Thank goodness for modern medicine!

Anything Else You'd Like to Share: Taking name suggestions, but we probably won't be sharing our top name choices until we've made a final decision.  I had a really hard time with deciding last time and I think it's partially because we had too much input when we shared the names we had narrowed it down to and it made me think too much about what other people thought rather than on what I liked/wanted.

Also, no picture again this week - I was going to get one today and the day did not go according to plan...hopefully next week.

It's a...

beautiful, healthy baby girl!

We are, of course, thrilled and excited, but yet part of me can't help but be a little bit sad for Logan.  I love how close Brandon & his brother are, and I really want that for Logan.  I know brothers and sisters can be just as close, so that is my hope and prayer that these two siblings will love each other and hopefully one day be really close.

Don't get me wrong though.  I'm totally excited about bows and flowers and butterflies and ruffles and all things girly.  I know everyone has already said get ready for lots of pink, but I'm partial to purple, so I'm thinking we'll have a lot more purple in this house than pink ;-)

21 Weeks

21 Weeks

Total Weight Loss/Gain: I'm guess 8-9 pounds, but will know for sure on Wednesday.  It's amazing how quickly you can put on weight when you can actually eat.  Ha! :)

Size of Baby: Our baby is about the size of a pomegranate - approximately 10.5 inches and about 12.7 ounces.

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants, but wearing a mix of regular & maternity shirts.

Sleep: No good...

Movement: Yes - lots.  The little one was VERY active during the whole A&M game.  I am thinking he/she is going to be a big Aggie fan ;-)

Cravings/Aversions: Still craving chicken & dumplings, and apple pie, but I can now add pumpkin chocolate chip cookies too.  Sunday evening my parents had Logan so Brandon & I could get some stuff ready for a garage sale that we are hopefully going to have, so I also decided to make myself some chicken & dumplings during that time as well.  Took me way longer than I thought, but they were sooo worth it and I ate way more than I should have.  I had some more for lunch today.  Hopefully this will curb that craving because I'm not sure I want to spend that much time making them again in the near future.
 
What I Miss: Sleep.
 
Gender: We find out on Wednesday - that is just 2 days away!!

Mood: Pretty good, mostly just tired.

Milestones: Made it to 21 weeks which is when I stopped feeling nauseous with Logan.  There were days I thought I'd never make it this far if I had to be sick this long again.

 
Medical Concerns: None that I know of, but still having anxiety about every little pain, contraction, weird feeling, etc.  I'm glad we have the ultrasound on Wednesday, so please pray it is a good report so maybe some of my anxiety will be eased.

Differences From Past Pregnancy: At this point in my pregnancy with Logan I was nausea free and feeling pretty good all around.  I'm still having some nausea, but it is WAY better than it was.  I'm starting to have it some in the morning which before I wasn't having a whole lot in the morning, but once it goes away it doesn't usually come back until the later evening.  It's also not as severe and debilitating, so I'm thankful for that.  I have also forgotten to post that I've been having restless leg syndrome this pregnancy.  I don't remember having that with Logan.  I had leg cramps with Logan, so I'm hoping that I don't get those as well :)


What I Look Forward To: Finding out on Wednesday what we're having.  Also hoping that I continue to have some good days, etc. so I can start knocking things off my "nesting" to-do list.

Anything Else You'd Like to Share: Currently having some heartburn.  Hoping it doesn't turn into a regular thing.  Ha!

Also, no picture this week - I forgot and am not camera ready today :)