30 Weeks!

Merry Christmas!

Woohoo only 10ish weeks left! I am super excited for the baby to get here! We just toured the hospital the other day, so we can get our referral from our insurance for delivery. The hospital we are delivering at is a 5 minute drive from our house which is really convenient! It's close enough that, once I am settled, Jay can bring the car back and park somewhere free, and then walk over, since the parking garage prices are ridiculous. I'll be preregistering in a few weeks!

I had my doctors appointment Monday and everything is going as expected! Elsie measures average across the board. I got to listen to her heartbeat for a good half hour or so and the doctor said it sounds perfect. She also got the hiccups while the monitor was on which was pretty funny! 

How far along: 30 Weeks! 

Gender: Girl! 

Name: Elsie 

Weight: I've gained around 22ish pounds depending on the day and Elsie weighed 2 pounds 14 ounces at my doctors appointment on Monday and he said she's about 15.5 inches long and growing! 

Maternity clothes: Yep, just got a few new items for Christmas! 

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: In 

Rings on or off: I can wear them for a day or two but I can't wear them all the time

Sleep: Hasn't been as bad as it was but maybe I'm just getting used to it

Best moment this week: Christmas!! 

Worst moment this week: Waking up to a really horrible leg cramp this morning. First one so far this pregnancy. Hoping it never ever happens again! 

Miss anything: Wine. And family being around for Christmas. 

Movement: Yep!

Cravings: Nothing stands out. I just love all the food. 

Aversions: None right now, Yay! Hopefully none come back in these last 10 weeks. 

Looking forward to: The new year! It's going to be an exciting one! 

28 Weeks!

I'm finally in the third trimester! I know I said this last week but there are some different opinions on whether 27 or 28 weeks starts it.

How am I feeling, you ask? Mostly I just feel like Free Willy and I am not looking forward to getting even more huge the next few months... but I can't believe we are in the third trimester! Hurry up March! 

Chloe's face cracks me up!

How far along: 28 weeks and 1 day! 

Gender: Girl! 

Name: Elsie May

Weight: Oh what fun it is to eat all the holiday food... I don't recommend being pregnant during the holidays... or do I? 

Maternity clothes: Yep

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: In 

Rings on or off: Off because it still makes my finger itch

Sleep: Blah, what is sleep? I'm sure this will just get worse. 

Best moment this week: Umm, nothing exciting really happened. I'm excited it's Friday!

Worst moment this week: Getting locked out of my apartment today...bleh

Miss anything: Sleeping well, and fitting in all my clothes lol 

Movement: Yep! I think she might have moved positions because the movement is in different places this week. 

Cravings: Nothing stands out. I just love all the food. 

Aversions: None right now, Yay!

Looking forward to: Celebrating my birthday and all the fun Christmas stuff that starts next week! 

Are we there yet?

So I just had a funny thought about how pregnancy is like going on a really long car trip. 

1. When you first get in the car you are really excited.

2. But before long you start to get car sick.

3. After a little while you may (or may not) get feeling better.

4. Then comes the fun part of the car ride. You're excited about where you are going and turn up the radio and laugh and have a good time.

5. Time passes fast at first but then slowly... super slowly...

6. Then you reach the point where you feel like the car ride is seriously never going to end.

7. Are we there yet? Nope. And things start to get uncomfortable. 

8. Nope still not there and at this point your whole body starts to ache from being in the car so long.

9. You are so super close to your destination... then boom traffic jam! Sets you back a few extra hours.

10. You made it! It feels weird to be out of the car and you are super tired... but guess what? Now you're here and you can't sleep because there is just so much to see and do!

After I started writing that I realized it kind of worked it's way into the perfect number of lines, one for each month of pregnancy! 

27 Weeks!

Hello third trimester! Time is flying!

Had my doctors appointment today and Elsie is doing great! She measures average in pretty much every way! I also got to finally see most of her face in 3D and got quite a few pictures of her! She is super cute! Can't wait to actually see her face in 13ish more weeks ahh! Also, she is head down and has been for weeks now so hopefully she continues to be that way.

Chloe was curious about the camera beeping haha

How far along: 27 weeks! 

Gender: Girl! 

Name: Elsie May

Weight: She weighs about 2 pounds and 4oz and is about 14.25 inches long. I, on the other hand, am at roughly 19 pounds. I blame the holidays. 

Maternity clothes: Yes, and lots of leggings. I'm all about comfort these days.

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: In 

Rings on or off: Off because it still makes my finger itch

Sleep: I've pretty much come to terms with not sleeping very well ever again haha

Best moment this week: Seeing baby girl at my doctors appointment today! 

Worst moment this week: Sleeping, or not so much, every night

Miss anything: Sleeping well

Movement: Yep all the time! 

Cravings: Nothing in particular. 

Aversions: None right now, Yay!

Queasy or sick: Nope

Looking forward to: Going to more Christmas Markets, and my birthday, and Christmas, and my next doctors appointment right before Christmas... such a crazy busy month! 

Scarf Swap!

I recently participated in a scarf swap between bloggers, coordinated by Jessica over at Jessica Lynn Writes! I have never done anything like this before so it was a completely new and very exciting experience! 

My scarf swap partner Courtney also is living in Germany, which made the whole mailing process go a lot more smoothly than it could have haha! 

I actually just picked up my package from the post office today so I haven't had a chance to wear my scarf yet, but I did get a chance to take a picture of my goodies. 

She also sent me a nursing cover and little scarf/bib for baby which was SUPER nice of her! 

It really was a great experience and I hope to participate in something like this again! 

Little Baby ...

We decided on the first name for our baby girl quite awhile ago. It took a lot longer to decide on the middle name and we were originally going to wait until she is born to reveal the name but I decided that I am bad at keeping secrets. I actually almost slipped up and wrote/said the name several times over the past month or two. 

So the moment you have all been waiting for (or not). Our baby girl's name is...

Elsie Mae 

A little background on the name and the decision process. 

We liked the idea of naming the baby something with German roots since we are in Germany and Jay's family is originally from here, so we spent at least a couple of weeks looking up names when we were just sitting around. One day I came across Elsie and asked Jay about it and he said that was his great grandmother's name. I never knew what her name was because they just always called her great grandma and I only met her once before she passed away several years ago. I thought that was pretty cool because we are both a little old fashioned and enjoy not only older names but also that it's related to family. 

Then we spent just as long trying to figure out the middle name. We really liked a certain name as a middle name but decided against using it because we might want to use it as a first name if we have another little girl someday so we spent awhile thinking of middle names that sounded nice with Elsie. I happened upon the name Mae and pitched it to Jay and he said that was his great grandma's middle name too. 

So it turns out our little Elsie Mae will be named the same as her great great grandmother. I think it's a really cool coincidence that we just happened to really like this name. It makes me wonder if great grandma is up there or rather down here somehow whispering in my ear to name the baby after her. I guess we'll never know. 

25!

Had my doctors appointment today! Everything is going really well! Baby girl is getting so big and it is so cool to see her moving around on the ultrasound. I also passed all of the tests they took last time which is great news! The only thing getting a little low is my iron but there is some in my prenatal vitamins... if only I could remember to take it every day. Maybe I should set an alarm! 

Good news for everyone waiting patiently...we decided on her middle name and will be announcing soon! 

I took two pictures this week, one yesterday (left) and one today (right). My legs definitely blend in to the couch a little.. sorry about that haha. 

How far along: 25 weeks! 

Gender: Girl! 

Name: Coming Soon!

Weight: Baby is estimated to be about 1 pound 11 ounces. She is getting so big! We won't talk about my weight gain anymore haha. 

Maternity clothes: Yes, and lots of leggings. I'm all about comfort these days.

Stretch marks: Nope

Belly button in or out: In 

Rings on or off: I can only wear it for about one day then I have to take it off before my finger gets itchy and red :( 

Sleep: I've pretty much come to terms with not sleeping very well ever again haha

Best moment this week: Seeing baby girl at my doctors appointment today! She was so cute and kept sucking and it was so cool to see her mouth moving! She's getting so big! 

Worst moment this week: This morning I really wanted to sleep for another hour but my sides hurt so bad I had to get up. If anyone has any tips/tricks for sleeping comfortably feel free to pass them my way!

Miss anything: Not really

Movement: Yep! It's my favorite thing ever!! I think she had hiccups this morning too for the first time (or the first time I've noticed)

Cravings: Nothing in particular. I do eat a lot of taco bell though...

Aversions: None right now, Yay!

Queasy or sick: Nope

Looking forward to: My next appointment in two weeks. Still trying to get a good 3D picture of baby. She has yet to be in the right position.