We made it through Christmas!

Thursday I had a routine appointment, and nothing really to report back. I gained 7 pounds since my last visit and I'm sure most of that is going toward my fingers, feet, legs, and hopefully most toward Ainsley! My fingers look like sausages and I know I had "cankles" before, but I really have them now. My calves go straight into my feet, with no ankle visible at all. I'm so swollen! When I wear socks now, there is a huge indention in my calves after I take my socks off for at least a couple of hours from where the elastic at the top of the socks is cutting into my calves. I finally took my wedding ring off while I still could. I feel naked without my ring, but at least it isn't cutting into my finger any more! I can only imagine how I would have looked if I was pregnant through the summer months.

The doctor also went over my ultrasound report from my last appointment and said that he thinks she is just going to be a small baby, and that everything else in the report looked great. There is no reason for him to suspect anything is wrong. They want to continue doing ultrasounds though at each appointment to monitor her growth.

I can tell she's getting bigger, although it doesn't feel like my belly is growing at all. Her movements shake my entire belly now and her kicks are definitely getting stronger each day. There is something surreal about watching a tiny foot/arm move across my belly, even if I am still freaked out a little by it all. Last night, she was poking a foot/hand and you could see it on my stomach, so I pushed it back down, and as soon as I did that she really started kicking with it. She also knows when I have my book resting on my belly, because she will kick until I move it. There are certain positions that she doesn't like me laying, and she'll let me know until I finally give in and move. I've been woke up a few times now in the middle of the night to a jab in the ribs. Those are the worst! She still has a pretty routine schedule, and has added a new time to that...right around 3 AM each morning. She'll be moving around so much that it wakes me up each morning and I just lay there awake with my hands on my belly taking it all in.

My vest is a little snug in the picture below, and that is the last time I'm going to be able to wear it this winter!

I really wasn't in the Christmas spirit this year for some reason, and can say that I'm glad Christmas is over and the new year is right around the corner. We made it down to Grandma and Grandpa Bowman's Christmas Eve. I drove down because Joel makes me nervous enough driving on dry roads, and I would have been a wreck the whole way down there with snow on the roads and him driving. When I woke up Christmas morning, my entire body was sore from being so tense driving down there and home. Needless to say, Joel decided to drive Christmas Day. We spent the morning at Jim and Rita's and watched the kids open their presents. Lani seemed very excited about everything she was opening. Jack got clothes, so of course, he didn't get too excited and Drake was pretty calm too. I'm sure Drake liked his kitchen that he got, and he made me lots of cheeseburgers before we had to leave!

We went to Mom's early that afternoon before she had to go into work and then to Dad's. Of course, Dad was making all kinds of food when we got there. The boys couldn't wait until the soup was done, so someone got the shrimp ring out of the refrigerator. Needless to say, that thing was devoured in under 5 minutes. I want to note that I had one shrimp and I don't think Jamie had any of them. I don't know how Dad keeps food in the house the way Tanner, Thomas, and Joel eat. I have a hard enough time and I just have one of them!

We went down to Nanny and Papa's for a little bit later that night and then stayed the night at Dad's. We had Christmas at Aunt Doris's Sunday. They put new flooring in the basement, so we were able to open presents down there. There was also some air hockey played, with only a few names called during the games! The gag gifts didn't get too bad this year, although Thomas did get some lovely Mickey Santa ears that he modeled.

I'm looking forward to what 2011 has in store for us. It's hard to believe that we'll be adding to the chaos of kids running around next Christmas!

Ainsley's bedroom

Ainsley's bedroom is starting to come together. Mom came over this afternoon and helped me get everything hung on the walls. I still need a few more things to finish up her bedroom, but it is pretty close to done.

I found prints online that matched her bedding and a lady that custom paints blocks to match the bedroom decor. I'm very happy with how both turned out!

I think Ainsley may be developing a slight shoe obsession a little young...

31 Weeks

We only have nine short weeks left. This week our baby should be over 16 inches long and weigh a little over 3 pounds. For the last few weeks, I've been feeling more and more tired. It's not as bad as the first trimester, but I've been going to bed before 9 each night and can easily sleep for 12 hours. Everyone was right when they said that the second trimester is the best. I felt good that whole trimester. Below is a belly picture at 31 weeks.

Today I ran into Jimmy Johns to grab a couple of sandwiches to bring home for lunch. Joel called and wanted a "Vito" (a name of a sandwich), so I didn't argue and decided I could go for a BLT myself. The young man working behind the register took a couple of good looks of my belly while I walked to the register. I gave him my order...a Vito, BLT, and a pickle. He then asked me: "Is that all for you?" I responded: "Yes." He then glanced at my belly again, and then proceeded to ask: "No, I mean, is that ALL for YOU?" I chuckled and told him: "No, actually my husband wanted a Vito, so ran in for lunch." He laughed and told me he was just joking. I sure hope that he doesn't ask that question to every pregnant woman that walks in. I don't know if everyone else would brush it off and laugh along with him like I did.

We have Christmas as Aunt Roycelyn's tomorrow and that means it's officially the beginning of Christmas. I've finished our shopping, and am as ready as I'll ever be for Christmas this year!

We made it home!

We were welcomed back in Illinois last night with snow on the ground and temperatures in the 20's. Brrrrr! I think we both would have loved to bring the weather from Dallas home with us. It was so nice down there, and in the 60's every day. We got home about 10 last night, and let me tell you, it felt good to be home! I never in a million years thought I would say this, but I know I was more excited about getting home than Joel. He's always ready to go home after the second day we are away, and I'm usually the one that doesn't want to go home, but traveling while pregnant is not a comfortable task. It's such a relief to know that I don't have to travel again until after Ainsley's born.

We only had a few mishaps while we were gone, and I'm sure we both came back a few pounds heavier (I'll find out exactly how many pounds heavier at my appointment next Thursday)! We hadn't even made it to our gate in St. Louis when Joel hears his name come across the intercom. He somehow "misplaced" his boarding pass and security had it. Once we got it back, it was a smooth flight to Dallas. On Sunday, Joel about side-swiped a car on one of the interstates, and he wonders why I don't let him drive! I think Joel's best memory of our little trip was on the way to the airport for our flight home. I ended up changing clothes in the car on the George W. Bush Turnpike on our way to DFW. Now, a pregnant woman trying to change clothes while going 70 down an expressway (Joel was driving, in case you were wondering) is hard enough with all the bending over etc. Well, to make it worse, my husband informed me that my feet stunk so bad that he was going to throw up. I wore some flats (without socks) that I got at Payless into the office that day and was trying to put on jeans and tennis shoes, and I guess my feet stunk pretty bad from the flats I wore. It was 60 degrees in Dallas and I'm like an oven and I'm sure my feet were sweating like crazy! So, we had to have the windows down while I'm trying to get some clothes on and hoping that Joel doesn't throw up! I was so glad when we finally made it back to the rental car place to return the car so I could adjust my maternity pants, and get those nasty smelling shoes out of the car and into the suitcase with all the dirty clothes!

Joel enjoyed his "vacation" while I went into the office every day. We did go to an outlet mall on Saturday and saw a movie that afternoon. We saw another movie on Sunday and did a little shopping that day also. I was looking for a dress for Ainsley to wear to Thomas and Jamie's wedding in March, and bought a couple that might work, but Joel actually had a better idea for her dress and I might end up taking the others back. We think that she needs to look like Mommy that day, so I'm going to see if I can arrange for that to happen!

It seems like all we do it eat when we go down to Dallas, and this time was no exception. We went to a couple Mexican restaurants down there, and I do have to say that none of them compared to El Ranchirito! No surprise here, but Joel loved the Brazilian Steakhouse we went to Thursday night. I was so miserable when we left from eating so much that I wanted to go straight to bed!

Last Sunday we babysat Drake while the Christmas tour was going on (Brian and Jennifer's house was in it this year) and we took him down to Rockbridge with us to Aunt Doris's. He loved "Baby" the cat and got a few cool toys to take home from Aunt Do. I was so excited that we had some toys that he could play with at our house, which are the few that we've got for Ainsley so far, and ran back to grab her "toy tote" from her room. There were a few books and little things for him to play with in the tote. Callie got Ainsley a "sing-a-ma-jig" at the baby shower and I thought I would pull it out and let him play with it too, but that didn't go so well! This "doll" that looks kind of like a monkey, makes different noises when you press its belly and its mouth opens each time a noise comes out. Drake was terrified of it, so of course, we had to keep aggravating him with it (as you can see in the picture)!

There's only 11 days left until Christmas and unfortunately, I'm going to have to go out on Friday night or Saturday to finish shopping. I'm going to have to play the "pregnant card" on Joel and somehow get him to go out with me so I don't have to face all the crazy people in the stores by myself!

Snow for Illinois....50s and 60s for Trista, Joel, and Baby Ainsley!

We leave for Dallas tomorrow morning, and I'm pretty excited about the temperatures down there. Tomorrow's temperature in Dallas: high of 63! I warned the doctor at my last appointment that I would probably gain as much this month, if not more, than I did last month. When a Brazilian Steakhouse, Maggiano's, and the Dairy.com Christmas party are all on the agenda for the first three days we're there, I'm guaranteed to pack on a few pounds! Because I'll be training someone to do the payrolls while I'm out in a few months, we're going to be there a little longer than usual, but at least I won't have to go back down to do any more training. I'm hoping to do a little shopping while I'm down there, but Joel will be by my side the whole time, so I don't know if I'll be able to get away with buying any more baby clothes!

We've decided that Ainsley's middle name is going to be Rose. That's what we were planning on using all along, and we've finally agreed on it and set it in stone. Her kicks continue to get stronger each day, and I'm starting to play the "what body part is that" game now. I'm hoping to get everything hung up in her room when we get back and I'll add some pictures. We have a photo shoot scheduled (which Joel is just THRILLED about) the first weekend of January. I looked at some "belly" photos about a week ago and they got me in the mood for our pictures. We only have 73 more days to go until her due date. I can't believe how fast the pregnancy has gone. (On a side note, we've had over 2,400 views on our blog since I started it in June...I just figured out the other day where to go to see the stats. I can't believe how many views we've had in 6 months!)

Even harder to believe: there are only 17 days until Christmas. I can't wait until next Christmas when Ainsley is here, pulling ornaments off the tree, dressing her in cute little Christmas dresses, and seeing her get new toys! Then the years to follow will be just as great...making garland from construction paper to hang on the tree, baking and decorating cookies, building a gingerbread house, sledding, building a snowman, and the list goes on. So, back to the point that there is only 17 days left until Christmas....I still don't have all our shopping done yet. I have never waited this long, and don't know when I'm going to find the time to finish. So if you're one of the few, unlucky people that doesn't get a gift this year, I apologize in advance!

I hope everyone enjoys the few inches of snow that is predicted over the weekend. We'll be thinking of you while we're walking around Dallas in jeans and tshirts!

Sonogram, Monthly Appointment, and Baby Care Basics Class

We've been busy over the last few days! Last night we went to the Baby Care Basics class at St. Johns. We both were hesitant to go, because we didn't know what to expect. It turned out to be a good class and was very informational. The teacher really opened my eyes to something I had never really thought of before. As soon as a baby comes out and they clamp and cut the cord, the baby has to start doing a lot of things on his own. It's amazing how the baby automatically starts doing these things by itself when it has been relying on the mother to do it for him. The baby has to start circulating his own blood, keeping their own temperature, learn how to cry and eat, etc. There are a lot of things we expect a baby to learn/know when they first come out. It's amazing how quickly they catch on! We also learned what can be "wrong" with a baby after it comes out, but it is actually considered normal. Blue hands for example are normal, even though I would have thought something was wrong if I saw blue hands. There are things St. Johns will not let you leave with in the baby's car seat. Nothing can be in between the baby and the seat. There can't be anything that wasn't attached by the manufacturer to the car seat either. Joel liked the video on the car seats and there was a lot that I didn't know about them in the video. They showed us how to swaddle a baby and how to take the baby's temperature, which they say to do under the arm and not rectal. They also say not to use baby powder at all on girls (which I didn't know!) and not to use alcohol to dry out the cord (they want you to keep it as dry as possible and let it fall off on its own). I think we're both glad we went, but we both agreed that we don't need to go back again!

I had my monthly appointment today and a sonogram after my appointment. This was a follow up sonogram, because at the last one she was measuring small (in the 12th percentile). I gained 6 pounds last month, my blood pressure was good, and I measured fine on the outside. I have another appointment on the 23rd and then I start going every two weeks.

My sonogram followed and we didn't get the best news. She is still measuring small, and is now in the 8th percentile. She's went down from the 12th percentile at week 21 to the 8th percentile at week 28. They are estimating her weight at 2 pounds 6 ounces. Her brain, stomach, and kidneys are all measuring good. The doctor said that they can't see any chromosomal defects. They also checked the blood flow, circulation, and amniotic fluid which all checked out fine. They were worried that something might be wrong with the placenta which was stunting her growth, but everything appeared okay. She is a very active baby, and the doctor could see that in the sonogram (she started kicking for her). The doctor said that everything checked out fine that she could see, and that it appears she is just a small baby. We have to have another sonogram in five weeks to check the growth again. They want a baby to be above the 10th percentile, but like the sonogram technician pointed out, at least Ainsley isn't below zero. She's still on the charts, if only by a little. We didn't get to see her face this time either. Joel is convinced that she is just like I was; shy and doesn't want anyone to see her! They also confirmed again that she is definitely a girl. Jim and Joel both have been a little worried that it is actually a boy, and Joel said that we would have to paint pigs on her bedroom walls (since they are painted pink) to make it a boy's room because we weren't painting it again! The sonogram pictures aren't very good again, so I'm only posting one (a profile picture), which in my opinion is the only half-way decent one. As we were walking out, the doctor was standing there and reassured us that everything was okay and that she is just a small baby.