27 Weeks

The last week of my second trimester... how did this happen?

We just hosted Thanksgiving and I ate soooooo much food. I hope the little bub enjoyed it too. Now my sis is back in Baltimore, Dad is en route to Kenya, and the rest of the fam is headed back to Indiana. It's Sunday evening and I'm wishing I could have just one more day of vacation... alas, now it's lesson plans/ laundry/ dishes etc. Thank goodness our cleaning lady comes on Tuesday.

The nursery is essentially done... we still need to get some pictures on the wall, and of course fill up the closet with baby gear! Click here to see photos. Yeah, I've still got 13 weeks to go, but it feels good not to have that project looming over us.. and it's so nice to walk past it every morning and get excited about our daughter's arrival!

26 Weeks

Can we say "growth spurt"? All of a sudden this week, the baby seems to have doubled in size. At least, it feels that way.

The nursery is almost done! Addie and I painted on Saturday, and then Jamie has put together most of the furniture. I had a baby shower at work today and it was so nice to be able to put the cute clothes and books the baby received in an actual spot. I'll post pictures soon.

We are getting ready for Thanksgiving and I am so ready! I need a break! Of course with 7 people sleeping at our house it will be a bit crowded, but hopefully relaxing. We have a 20 lb turkey defrosting in the fridge. I'm already hungry.

I ran about 4 miles yesterday with my friend Katie and it felt really good, one of the better runs I've had recently. I'm hoping I can still run in the third trimester, but we will see...

25 Weeks

Well here I am at 25 week -- awful picture I know. This week I have been blessed with acne I haven't had since I was in middle school. Ah, you have to love hormones.

Yesterday I met with the woman who will be watching our little darling while we're at work come September. She is great, comes highly recommended, and is right on my way to work. I feel very happy to have found her, but am trying to get over the sticker shock of just how much child care actually costs. Yeah, it's about 1/5 of my gross income (yup, that's before taxes are taken out...) Yikes. Kids are expensive and I'm just beginning to see that. Waiting lists for day care here fill up quickly, and it looks like we'll be forking over a half month's deposit before our little one is even born.

I managed to make it to the gym three times last week and am trying to convince myself to run 4-5 miles today. I know I'll feel better if I do it but it is getting harder to get myself out the door.

Well today I went to the gym for the first time in a week and did a couple of miles on the treadmill. I try do about three minutes of running alternating with a minute of walking to keep my heart rate below 150. I always feel a lot better when I go to the gym!

I am now sitting on the couch watching either arms or legs poke at my belly. You can actually see it. This is one active kid. And apparently nocturnal.

24 weeks

New this week:

WE WILL HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT IN JANUARY AND HIS NAME IS BARACK OBAMA!!!!

Not only that, but the two states I conisder home, Virginia and Indiana, chose a Democrat presidential candidate for the first time in my life.

And I get to write "Barack Obama" in as "Who is President?" in Little One's baby book.

On a new note, I am now not able to zip up pre-pregnancy pants at all - not even uncomfortably. Baby is taking over, and they say she will get about 6-7 times bigger than her current size before she comes out to meet us. Oh my!

Jamie, Penny and Bluey in the fall.

Just about 23 weeks!

Well, tomorrow I'm officially 23 weeks -- 17ish to go! I seem to have doubled in size in the past week or two. Little girl is kicking 24/7 which is quite a new thing -- just Tuesday I was only feeling little kicks every once in awhile and now it is all the time. Even waking me up at night!

I'm still trying to run about 8-10 miles a week (okay this week I only made it to seven, but for being five months pregnant I guess that's not bad.) Aside from being MUCH slower than I was pre-pregnancy, and the need to use the bathroom every 30 minutes or so, it is still pretty comfortable. My friend Debbie was kind enough to run the Marine Corps Marathon 10K with me last weekend -- at a much slower pace that she probably would have liked! -- click HERE for photos. I did the Baltimore half marathon at 5 months pregnant -- 40 minutes slower than my best time, but it was a lot of fun! I am not even thinking about speed right now, it's just good to get the blood pumping and get some fresh air. I think I'm going to sign up for the Indy marathon next November -- and hopefully my dad will too! -- it's a good goal to get back into the longer distances and gives me 8 months to recover from the whole birth thing. Wonder how training will be with a little one, though -- will I be able to sneak away Saturday mornings for those long runs?

My hair finally seems to be back to normal after a couple months of it falling out in clumps. Not sure what that was about. I also get pretty tired by the end of a day of teaching, but no real pregnancy complaints aside from those at the moment.

On another note, Jamie and I are just ready for the election to be over. I'm sick nervously watching the poll numbers and praying that Obama keeps his lead. I am hopeful that Obama will win, and I know the polls look pretty steady, but I'd feel a lot better if they looked even better -- after these last two elections, both of which I was just left with my jaw hanging open, nothing surprises me anymore.

Anyhow - till next time...