Two for One Post

Since we were on the road for Christmas, I decided to combine Weeks 32 and 33 into one post.  

Weeks: 32 and 33

Bump picture--between Weeks 32 and 33 and taken along the Pacific Coast Highway between Monterey and San Luis Obispo.

And another one taken at Brian's parents' house on Christmas day (32 weeks, 3 days)

 

Baby Size: *Stats are for Week 33, since it's the one I'm in now*.  19.5 inches and just about 4.5 pounds.  She's supposed to put on 0.5 lbs per week from here on out.  I couldn't get into the doctor's this week, since they are super busy with Christmas and all, so I won't have any heartbeat updates until next week.  

Sleep: Pretty well for being on the road for most of the week.  The first hotel had a crappy mattress, but the second hotel and Brian's parents' house had very nice beds and I slept pretty well.  I am having issues getting to sleep at night, not being able to shut my mind off and all.  Once I get there (until Jacquizza decides the bladder is in her way) I do pretty well.  Again, I wish I could store this up for future use! 

Diet and Exercise:  We did a ton of walking on the babymoon.  The first day was the Winchester Mystery House, which was about a mile long walking tour.  The next day, we hit the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was also a ton of walking, and the last day was Hearst Castle, tidal pools, and the longest, steepest staircase in Cambria from our hotel to downtown.  After getting to LA, I didn't do nearly as well, eating a ton and only walking 1 day, but before then, I was a walking machine.  I'm actually pretty proud of how well I held up with all the walking tours. 
 
Movement: Still a ton of movement, but we've switched from sharp kicks to rolls and twists.  I'll get an unidentified body part that moves from one side to the other and bulges out my abdomen.  I've been trying to get it on video in order to send it to my parents (since they didn't get to see or feel her move while they were here for Thanksgiving), but every time I pull out my phone to record it, she stops moving.  She's a stubborn one!   

What I Miss: I really want some sushi this week.  I haven't had any since my birthday in September, and I think it's time! 

What I'm Looking Forward to: Enjoying the rest of the week with Brian being off.  It was so nice spending time as a couple this past week, and he has the rest of the week off work.  I know he has to work to make money, but sometimes I wish he could be off with me for the next month!     

Best Moment this Week: The babymoon, and spending time with the in-laws for Christmas.  It was so nice seeing everyone and eating tons of food.  I really appreciate my extended family!

Pregnancy Body-New and Exciting!..maybe:  After all the eating at Christmas, I feel like I've really gained a ton of belly.  I used to be able to bend over with little effort, but now I hit the belly when I try.  The same thing happened after Thanksgiving.  I'm glad she's using all the nutrients I'm sending in there!   

Baby Milestones: Jacquizza is still gaining weight like crazy.  She's also busy practicing all the skills she'll need when she gets out.   

Food Cravings: Sushi! 

How's Dad?: Great!  He actually planned the entire babymoon, meaning I didn't have to worry about our schedule or where we were supposed to be at any given time.  I actually had no idea what the plan was until we were in the car on the way!  He did such a great job with the hotels and booking tickets and keeping us on schedule.  

We bought the mattress for the crib, and the seat protectors for the car, but are holding off on everything else until after my shower on the 15th.  It's hard to not just buy everything I need right now, but I do need to leave stuff for other people to buy as well.  I will enjoy the shopping trip after the shower :)
 
Tid Bits:  Here are some pictures from the babymoon:

The Winchester Mystery House--that lady was crazy.  Our tour guide there was a few crayons short of a box, too.  He was more interested in telling "funny" jokes (one had Nazis in it) than giving us details about the house.  We did the behind-the-scenes tour, and learned so much more during that one than during the main hour one!

 That opening towards the right is actually a door that leads to a drop to the ground.  Told you.

Jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

And a seahouse

 Creepy disembodied head!

Starfish at Monterey Bay Aquarium

Penguins!

Along the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway)  There were some truly amazing views, but I only got a few nice pictures

Brian breaking from his marathon driving.  He did everything until the way home (6 straight hours is just too much)!

The main entrance to Hearst Castle--nice little front door

The Neptune pool at Hearst Castle--I could swim there

The view from Hearst Castle--I could wake up to that

Anemone in a tidal pool outside Cambria

Seals

We did not pick them up

And lastly, my 2 favorite presents this year :)

I hope everyone's Christmas was as nice as mine!

Week: 31

 

Baby Size: 17ish inches and just about 3.5 pounds.  This week at the appointment, her heart rate was 141, and still sounded really good!  

Sleep: She's loving the early am bounce fest, but my bladder really isn't.  At least getting back to sleep is getting easier.  I find the secret to get myself really tired during the day.  Lots of stuff done=better night's sleep! 

Diet and Exercise:  I've done well with the treadmill this past week, but since we're leaving for Christmas on Tuesday, I won't be exercising all that much.  I'm going to make it my goal to try and take a walk at least every other day while we're gone.  I was up to 149 this week at the doctor's, which brings my gain up to 17 pounds.  Pretty good! 
 
Movement: She just did this really odd jumping around thing--seriously, it was like someone just played "Jump Around" in there and she took them seriously!  She loves our daily snack of hot chocolate, and I can count on plenty of movement when it hits her system!  Less cool is the 3 am jump fest, especially since it feel like she's about halfway around my back when she kicks now, and she's getting strong enough to actually push me a bit off the mattress.  I'm having trouble telling position, since sometimes it feels like she's completely traverse (lengthwise across my abdomen) and other times it feels like her head (or butt) is up and the other is down.  She does hang out on my right side and kick left, although that flips occasionally too!  I won't have my growth scan until week 36, so I have to wait until then to know how she's hanging out (which makes sense, since she still has enough room to turn until then! 

What I Miss: I"m good! 

What I'm Looking Forward to: Christmas!  I love this time of year.     

Best Moment this Week: Getting almost everything done in Jacquizza's room.  We still need a mattress for the crib, and I have some decorations that still need to go up, but overall, we're ready for baby!

Pregnancy Body-New and Exciting!..maybe:  Just the odd kicking around my back feeling.  I've also had more hip and pelvic pain, but it's bearable.   

Baby Milestones: Jacquizza is still gaining weight like crazy.  Pretty much all she'll be doing until she's here!    


Food Cravings: All this junk food around here is awesome, but probably not so good for my waistline! 

How's Dad?: Still doing well.  He put up some of the nursery decorations without me having to ask.  He's such a good provider!
   

Tid Bits:  My University of Phoenix class is going well.  I'm again very glad to have this to ease my way into maternity leave.  It's been odd not leaving the house for work, but I'm starting to get used to it.  Much nicer is being able to see Brian every night, and not just being his "weekend wife"!  We've both agreed that I'm not doing 5 night a week classes anymore!

I finally signed up for prenatal classes and a hospital tour--all of which are happening in January.  I skipped the class on breast feeding, since I've been told that the lactation consultant at the hospital will tell me pretty much anything I need to know.  We are doing the labor class, as well as the baby basics course.  I'm pretty excited to go!  

We head down to LA for Christmas tomorrow, by way of a drive down the coast.  I'm happy to get a vacation. I'll have to make sure to take plenty of pictures of the trip and of Christmas and post them when I can get back on!

Week 30

Week: 30!  Anywhere from 8-12 weeks left.  That's shorter than some company's shipping periods!

Baby Size: 17 inches and just over 3 pounds.  

Sleep: Back in the pooper!  I get woken up at least twice a night by a small one bouncing around.  And of course, once I'm awake, I need to make a trip to the restroom.  Then I have problems turning my mind off and getting back to sleep.  I've been fairly well rested (night classes have been awesome, since I can sleep in), but I just wish I could make it through the night instead of making it up in the morning! 

Diet and Exercise:  I found out today that if I slow down the speed, I can up the incline and still be OK.  I still hobble a bit when I get off, but there are no more shooting pains.  I think I'll stick with that strategy--more incline seems to give me a better workout than more speed anyway.  Still doing the yoga, and still loving the chance to stretch my back out.  I've been pretty lucky with the lack of back pain--it seems to be all in the front for me.  
 
Movement: Holy cow yes!  She's kicking low today, which is not good news for my bladder.  She got in a couple of rib shots this weekend that took my breath away, but seems to have flipped back over after that.  I'm not looking forward to when she's much bigger and trapped in the proper birth position! 

What I Miss: Still good! 

What I'm Looking Forward to: Classes ending!  Finals on Monday and Tuesday, and then I can submit my final grades on Wednesday and put this semester in the books.     

Best Moment this Week: Getting Jacquizza's furniture put together and up in the room.  We did have some drama getting the furniture from Babies R Us to our house (basically, Babies R Us never answers their phone, and the delivery company is stupid), but it finally got to us.  This means I get to do the fun decorating now!  Pictures to come. 

Pregnancy Body-New and Exciting!..maybe:  Round ligament pain, and feeling like she's kicking my large intestine at all times; not fun.  Otherwise, not much to complain about.  I've been very lucky so far.   

Baby Milestones: Jacquizza continues to add more folds and grooves to her brain, and her energy is surging due to the accumulation of fat.  She'll soon be able to shed that weird baby fur and keep herself warm.  And of course that means an increase in activity for me to feel!     


Food Cravings: I forgot to mention that Brian also bought cookies at Costco.  I may have gained a ton of weight this weekend! 

How's Dad?: Doing really well!  I am so blessed to have him.  He tries to make sure I'm comfortable and is very helpful around the house.  He feels my abdomen more than he used to, and not always when she's awake, but it's really cute when he just rests his hand there.  We got our Christmas decorations up, and are preparing to host a dinner for our friends this upcoming weekend, which should be a blast.  He's making a roast, potatoes and spinach.  Then next week we hit the road for the "babymoon" and Christmas in LA!
   

Tid Bits:  I can't believe how quickly the semester went!  I feel like just yesterday I was writing about how it was dragging on and how much I hated having 5 night a week classes.  I also remember thinking that I would be in my third trimester at the end, and how weird that was.  Well, here we are!  And it is really weird!  I'm going to miss my students--with lab classes you feel like you get to know people a little better than with straight lectures, since they are so much longer and there is more interaction.  One of my students gave me the cutest onsie with pictures of molecules on it.  It's really very adorable.

My University of Phoenix class is going well too.  It's much easier this time around--I have all the lessons already, and I know how the class is organized.  I'm pretty excited to have something science-y to do!

I got another call about interviewing for a spring chemistry class today, and I of course had to turn them down.  I told them to make sure they keep me in mind for fall, since I am coming back.  Including the 2 colleges that I already work at, that's 6 schools who've wanted me to teach (potentially) in spring!  I really hope they weren't lying when they said they'd keep me in the pile for fall!  It would be great to have so many classes to teach!

That's all for now.  Hopefully, nursery pictures are forthcoming, provided I don't spend the latter part of the week on the couch luxuriating in my free time!

Now with pictures!

Week: 29, and here we are:

  This is from our Christmas card photo shoot on Sunday

Baby Size: Almost 17 inches and 3 pounds.  I'm back to measuring right on target (29 cm fundal length at my last OB appointment), so I'm pretty happy about that. 

Sleep: Much better this week.  The bird has been deterred from pecking by the new screen, and I'm actually able to sleep now.  It's a great feeling to get all of the rest I need.  Too bad I can't stockpile it for the future! 

Diet and Exercise:  I'm still doing well on the working out, although I think the incline days are numbered.  I got some sharp pains while walking that went away when I lowered the incline and slowed down.  I'm going to try a lower incline/slower speed combo and see if that helps.  I have a really sore lower back right now--to the point where it's uncomfortable to move around a lot.  I don't know if that's from the baby hitting something or what, but I'm sticking with the yoga and stretching throughout the day.  I may have to find a chiropractor though.  


According to the OB, I've gained 3 pounds in 2 weeks, bringing me to 14 pounds.  She seemed pleased--especially with the Thanksgiving eating thrown in there, and considering I'd only gained 1 pound in 4 weeks at my last visit!
 
Movement: She has very distinct times that she moves, and when we hit those times, she really moves a ton!  She flops around like a fish out of water in the mornings when I first wake up, then moves a bit less at lunch, but then is back at it with some hard core moving right before bed.  I've actually started provoking her a bit in the evenings--I'd rather she moves while I'm not trying sleep!  She's doing a lot of pushing and rolling on my left side, and I think it's her head that causes that side to bulge out, but at this point it could be any appendage.  My belly looks very lopsided when she really starts rolling around.  I've felt some hiccups as well, which basically feels like someone put my abdomen on vibrate.  Overall, it's really cool to feel her rolling around in there! 

What I Miss: I'm back to being good again--all readjusted to healthy eating after the eat-fest of Thanksgiving! 

What I'm Looking Forward to: Getting the rug for the front room on Friday, and all of our baby furniture on Thursday.  That means I can start decorating!   

Best Moment this Week: New car!  I've upgraded from my '99 Saturn to a '12 Nissan Altima.  I'm actually still driving the Saturn this week, since it's a pain to transfer my parking passes for the community colleges for just a week of teaching.  I love the car so far, and the backseat size and safety features make it ideal for little Jacquizza. 

 My very first brand new car!

Pregnancy Body-New and Exciting!..maybe:  I'm very much all belly, and I like it.  Nothing new to report though.   

Baby Milestones: Jacquizza's almost reached her birth length, but is busy at least doubling her weight.  That's seriously all the baby book says this week.  I think we're at the boring phase!     


Food Cravings: Brian bought a dried fruit basket at Costco, and I'm all about it right now.  Jacquizza likes her fruit! 

How's Dad?: He's wrapping his head around spending all the money this week, but I think he's happy overall.  He was really good about letting me pick the car, since it's really my vehicle, but did direct me to the correct websites to check out safety ratings and overall value.  He would have been happy with any of the cars I chose, but I think he really was hoping I'd pick the Altima.  Here is a painting of us shopping:

Me:  But the red one is so pretty!

Brian:  How many bottles of Bordeaux could I buy if we got the blue one instead?

He's done with home improvement/reno projects for December, with the holidays and everything, but I have to say that the house looks amazing.  He really went all out for the past few months, and it paid off big-time.  I'm happy to have a lovely home.
   

Tid Bits:  I'm in the home stretch with my classes--2 more lectures, 2 more labs, and 3 finals to go.  I'm being as nice as I can with the finals--particularly for my class of pre-nursing students--but there's only so much I can do if they don't study.  It's going to be odd not having to drive anywhere in a week and a half.  I am very thankful to have the University of Phoenix class starting to ease me into maternity leave.  

Lastly, here are some pictures that we took over Thanksgiving.  As I mentioned, it was great to have everyone come to us for a change!

First of all, Brian and me.  His mother has a shot of his sister and brother-in-law in the same pose when she was pregnant.

 

Amy and me being silly

 

 

 And being serious.  This is actually in Jacquizza's room.

 

Here we are with my family

We unfortunately don't have a posed picture with the Romos, but here are 2.5/5 of them!

And now some candids:

 Our dining room--I'll post the living area when we get the rug in.

Here I am blowing up the bed for Amy in Jacquizza's room.  I always aim to look my best.

And here's another shot of Brian and me!

Week: 28! 
 
Baby Size: Almost 16 inches and 2.5 pounds. 

Sleep: The bird has decided to pick a different vent to break into, but I can still hear him/her pecking away pre-7:00.  We bought a screen to put up, but haven't gotten around to it yet since I am back at work.  I'm really out for this thing now! 

Diet and Exercise:  I totally slacked off this week (as expected) with the holiday!  I have managed to work out everyday this week, but I am paying for taking the time off.  I walked on the treadmill yesterday, and spent the rest of the day with severe groin pain.  It was fine once I got up and moving, but the getting up and moving was torture!  I think I'll have to cut the incline some.  The yoga DVDs definitely help though, and I'm so thankful to have them!
 
Movement: Still tons, although not while my family was here!  She actually turned around so that she was kicking internally instead of externally for a few days!  I feel so bad--I know my mom and sister wanted to feel her moving, but the only one feeling anything was me.  She flipped back around right after they left.  She is my daughter! 

What I Miss: I want some grease.  I think I got spoiled by all the awesome food last week, and I just want it to continue! 

What I'm Looking Forward to: Classes being over!  We have 2 more weeks of instruction, and then 2 days of finals and I am done!   

Best Moment this Week: Seeing all of the family for Thanksgiving.  It was great seeing Brian's parents and uncle and my parents and sister.  Brian cooked a fantastic meal, and we all ate to bursting.  It was such a treat to have everyone come to us and to not have to travel!

Pregnancy Body-New and Exciting!..maybe:  Except for the increase in hip and groin pain from the treadmill, not much to report.  We did get some really cute shots of the family over Thanksgiving, but they are on Brian's camera so I have to wait until he gets them off for me (his camera scares me).   

Baby Milestones: Jacquizza's got a new skill--blinking!  She's also now experiencing REM sleep and probably having dreams.  Her lungs are nearly fully mature, as are most other organ systems.  From this point on, it's grow, baby, grow!  Her brain is also starting to develop grooves and indentations instead of being smooth as it has been--the better to out-think us!     


Food Cravings: Grease.  I think I'm skipping the healthy(ish) Subway tonight and going straight for unhealthy(er) fast food! 

How's Dad?: Still really well.  He worked his tail off cooking for the house full of people, but didn't complain.  After everyone had gone back to their homes, he did mention that it felt strange not having anything to paint, but he kept himself busy by doing yard work and finishing hooking up the TV for me in front of the treadmill.  We watched a ton of football this past weekend, and enjoyed just hanging out without impending housework!
   

Tid Bits:  I got an offer to teach a class at University of Phoenix starting Jan. 24 and running through February.  I of course turned it down, since that's when Jacquizza will be making her appearance, but it's odd to think that it's close enough that schools are planning for instructors!  I do start a UOP class on Dec 6, which is just at the tail end of the semesters at the community colleges and will make a nice transition from being crazy busy to doing nothing until the baby is born.  

We are going to start looking at cars this weekend too I think, and hopefully buying one before the drive to LA for Christmas.  It's not a whole lot of time (and Brian doesn't do fast decisions), so I'm a bit nervous that we'll still be car shopping in January when I'm huge!  I'm hoping we can agree on something and get a good deal.  I'll miss the Saturn, but it'll be nice to have something new.  We're actually going to be keeping the Saturn at Brian's parents' condo so that if they decide to fly up, they'll have a car to drive around while they're here.  I think it's working out nicely!

I promise to post some pictures in the next post!

Week: 27--third trimester!  I can't believe I'm 2/3 of the way through.  It seems like just yesterday I was announcing the pregnancy to everyone.  I am so not ready yet! 
 
Baby Size: 15 inches, and more than 2 pounds.  The large jump in length is due to the fact that she is now officially measured from head to toe, instead of from head to rump as she has been until now. 

Sleep: Much better this week, now that the cold seems to have run it's course.  I still wake up, but now I don't stay awake for very long.  The biggest problem is the bird that seems determined to get into our attic.  7:00 every morning.  I'm ready to sit outside with a BB gun. 

Diet and Exercise:  I did my yoga DVD 2 days this week, and would have done more, but I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday, and glucose test on Friday.  I really love that DVD, since it gives me some really nice stretches, and makes me feel like I'm doing something that's really going to help me out with delivery.  Brian and I moved rooms around, and emptied out the baby's room to paint (see below), so the treadmill is hooked up, but the TV is not.  Since I don't read on the treadmill very well, I think I'll just be doing yoga until Brian gets the TV moved over and hooked up.  I'd do it myself, but I'd probably break something.  I do miss walking, and I need to get back to it.  We're planning to go to Hearst Castle as part of our babymoon, and that's going to be a full day of walking.  I'd love to have some stamina built up before then!
 
Movement: Um, yeah; my little rabid mongoose is still twisting and turning in there!  She has her more quiet days (when she is supposedly growing), and her more active days.  It's pretty cool to feel.  She manages to kick the same spot on my left side repeatedly, which has made that particular spot pretty tender.  She actually doubled me over in pain a couple of times this last week by digging in there!  Otherwise, she seems to be missing my vital internal organs (except occasionally my bladder), and I feel pretty lucky that I'm not having breathing or digestive problems because of her! 

What I Miss: Not a whole lot again.  I'm super excited for Thanksgiving this week, since it means a whole day of eating everything I possibly can! 

What I'm Looking Forward to: Thanksgiving!  Brian's parents are already here, his uncle comes in tomorrow, and my parents and sister on Tuesday.  It'll be a full house, but really fun to see everything and hang out and eat.  I'm really excited!   

Best Moment this Week: Getting the baby's room painted and all of the furniture ordered.  It's really been stressing me out not doing anything to the room, especially since we now have about 3 months left before she is here.  We really did need to get the bathroom upstairs done and the front room as well, but it felt really weird not doing anything to the room at all.  It's such a relief to be actively preparing her place in the house!

Pregnancy Body-New and Exciting!..maybe:  I have definitely popped!  I met one of the other faculty members at the community college this week, and the first thing she said was "oh, a little one!"  It was a big change from a few weeks ago when one of my colleagues told me I was hiding it well!  Here's a picture from Thursday (self-taken, so headless):

There she is!  And yes, I'm pretty much all belly.

I also had another doctor's appointment this week.  I'm measuring a bit small--about 23 centimeters (should be 27), and I've only gained 11 pounds total this pregnancy.  My doctor didn't seem too concerned, so I'm not either.  I'm actually thinking that the cold a couple of weeks ago made me eat less (even though I tried to eat as much as I had been), and that kept the weight down.  Jacquizza's heart rate was 148 and really strong, and as I said, she's certainly moving around a lot, so I figure everything must be all right in there.  I won't know how my glucose test went until early next week, but I'm hoping well so that it doesn't ruin my Thanksgiving!  Although, as the phlebotomist said, I still have to eat at Thanksgiving, no matter how the test turns out!  I'm also now at every 2 weeks for doctor's appointments instead of every 4 weeks, another milestone reached. 

Baby Milestones: Jacquizza's eyes are opening and closing now, and her taste buds are certainly getting a workout.  She actually has more now than at any other point in her life.  She can certainly tell what I'm eating, and is getting an idea of the environment that exists out here.  I hope I'm giving her some reassurance that she's coming out into a world of lots of different tastes and textures!     


Food Cravings: All I can think about is the yummy Thanksgiving fare coming my way; and the chili that is currently cooking for dinner tonight. 

How's Dad?: Doing great!  As I mentioned, he and I painted Jacquizza's room a nice lavender color this weekend, and I finished up the trim today.  He's also working on the bench for the front room, and just doing the last minute stuff that is needed to put the house in order for company.  He was great about doing the prep work for the baby's room this week so that all we had to do was sand and paint.  I think now that we have furniture officially coming and the room painted, it's becoming more real for him.
   

Tid Bits:  I'm thrilled with the short week this week in my classes.  My Tuesday/Thursday class is off all week, and I gave my Monday, Wednesday, Friday class Wednesday off as well.  I told them they could come in and pick up their tests (which we're taking tomorrow) that day, but that we weren't going to have a lecture or anything that night.  I'm hoping they all come in early and get the heck out of there early!  I do have to give some make-up tests, but that's not going to be too bad.  I can't believe that after Thanksgiving, I only have 2 more weeks of class and then finals.  This semester has gone by so quickly!  I also have no idea what I'm going to do with all of that free time!

That's all for this week.  I'm waiting on posting pictures of our front room until the bench is back in and the rug for the living area comes in.  That way, you get the full and complete room.  I'll also post pictures of the baby's room when I the furniture comes in there, again to get the full picture.  It's going well, though!

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

In which there is much less whining (I promise!)

Week: 26. 
 
Baby Size: 9 inches. She's weighing in at 2 whole pounds! 

Sleep: It was pretty rough this week, with the cold recovery.  Also not helping is that Jacquizza is now so big that she really has a huge effect on my bladder--every time she rolls on then off again, I have to get up and go! 

Diet and Exercise:  Not so much with the exercise this week, since the key to cold recovery is plenty of rest.  Diet wasn't too bad, except for not really being all that hungry.  I made up for it once I started feeling better, but there were a couple of days of not eating that much at all.
 
Movement: The baby blog I read compared the movements this week to having a rabid mongoose flipping out inside of a burlap sack.  Boy, is she right!  Jacquizza has been all over the place this week!  She is certainly either head up or head down, because I get kicks/punches both high up and lower down now.  Her limbs must be facing left, since that's where I feel limbs pushing into me.  And while I'm on my left side at night, she'll start punching the mattress.  It's really cool, but does make sleeping difficult! 

What I Miss: Again, being able to take medicines when I need them.  I did get through this week with the Netpot and Tylenol, but it would have been so much easier to just pop some Aleve Allergy Sinus and Mucinex!  But hey, I survived! 

What I'm Looking Forward to: I have another doctor's appointment on Thursday, so I'll get to hear her heartbeat again.  I'll also be doing the dreaded gestational diabetes test on Friday (probably), which is much less exciting.  My OB does a 2 hour test with a 12 hour fast beforehand, I think to try to avoid  having to do a 1 hour and then a 3 hour test.  I'm slightly less than pleasant while fasting when I'm not pregnant; I can only imagine how I'll be now!   

Best Moment this Week: Watching Brian poke my belly after he got kicked in his hand.  He just started poking automatically, and then stopped and looked at me like "is this OK?"  I told him she deserved it, with the beating I've been taking from her lately!

Pregnancy Body-New and Exciting!..maybe:  I feel like I've really popped even since the last picture I posted.  I'll have to post another one next week to get your opinions.  Now when I got out in public, I get some very unabashed stares at my middle.  Otherwise, nothing really new to report.  My back and hips so far are OK (although if I lie on one side for too long, that hip starts to talk to me), but I am looking forward to getting back to working out this week to keep everything limbered up.  I vacuumed this morning and was immediately exhausted.  I'm pretty sure that has more to do with the cold than the baby, though! 

Baby Milestones: Jacquizza now has distinct sleep/wake cycles, which I can certainly attest to, and which seemed to be a bit messed up with the end of daylight savings time (just like mine)!  All 5 of her senses have now developed, and her eyes should start opening this week.  She doesn't have a distinctive eye color yet, but that will come.  This is also her last week in the second trimester--third begins at 26 weeks, 6 days!     


Food Cravings: Brian bought some Starbucks hot chocolate mix at Costco.  Heaven in a can. 

How's Dad?: He seems to have managed to avoid the cold, which is a very good thing!  I always feel so guilty when I'm sick and then I give it to him.  He's actually a very good patient and not whiny at all, but it makes me sad to see him feeling poorly.  

On that note, I have to say that I am very lucky to have Brian.  As I've mentioned, I read a message board on the internet regularly, and many posts lately have been about how their husbands are all being major jerks and they are doing nothing but fighting.  Brian has been nothing but sweet and supportive to me this entire time (and before).  Part of me can't understand why these women married these men in the first place, but I guess in most cases they were fine before the pregnancy and not so fine after that positive appeared.  I'm sure a lot of it is that Brian and I were both on the same page about wanting kids, and apparently to some extent these other husbands weren't, but it's not like jerky behavior comes out of nowhere!
   

Tid Bits:  Classes were OK this week.  I wasn't by any stretch the most effusive teacher, but I seem to have gotten through everything all right.  My students were certainly sympathetic, which made matters easier.  I can't believe I now have less than a month left in the semester!

We have our front room furniture delivered now, and it look amazing!  We are still missing the window treatments and the rug for the living area, but the room looks like a finished space now.  The wall colors look fantastic with the furniture, and I'm so pleased at how everything has come together.  I've already threatened Beau's life if he so much as thinks about using the new couch as his personal litter box (he's prone to doing that), and Zoe's if she tries to use it as a scratching post.  Snowball will be fine!  Once we get everything done, I will absolutely post pictures for you guys to see.  Next step is to get the upstairs rearranged and get started on the baby's room!  I have some things bought already, and will be sure to post as we work.