28 Weeks

I'm in the third & final trimester!
12 More weeks to go (give or take)

28 Weeks

Baby's size: - My little eggplant haha

Sleep: Not too bad this week w/ lots of pillows :) - still waking up early to go to the bathroom.

Mama's Growth: I lost 2 pounds (Maybe not eating at restaurants for every meal w/ desserts?) My measurements are the same as 2 weeks ago even though I feel bigger.

Food cravings: None. I made a yummy 16 bean soup this week and it was perfect with the fall weather. That was one of my favorites this week.

Symptoms I have: Back pain which was getting less severe when I went to the gym the last couple of weeks but with all the house renovations there's so much to do here that I haven't used my childless time to go there. Hopefully I'll be back next week as the the house gets back to normal.

Doctor’s Appointments:

Glucose Test - Everything came back good so I don't need to retake it! Yay!!! My appointment went fast because I called ahead and scheduled a time instead of just walking in. I got there a little early and was seen right away. I made sure I didn't eat after dinner the night before or breakfast when I woke up. Drinking the drink was okay. I'm such a big water drinker and don't drink many other things besides so it was a little difficult. I had to keep breathing and mentally telling myself to get it over with but I think I did it faster than when I was pregnant with any of my other boys. I waited the hour and a different person drew my blood because the original person was still working on someone else & they wanted to make sure I got it done within the time. The new technician asked if this was my third & last one and I asked "third what?" And she said "blood test" so I said "no I didn't even get one" She realized she had the wrong chart because there was another woman in there getting her 3 hour test. So glad that was caught before hand so I didn't have to do it over.

Dr. Foehr - Next appointment 10/9

Sono - 10/30

Movement: Tim has been feeling him a lot more & certain times he can even see my stomach move

Gender: Baby BOY!!! :)

Names: Noelan Chase

What I’m looking forward to: Continuing to get everything in it's place and doing some more de-cluttering. Finding colors to add to the living room because it feels so bland right now - clean but bland :)

What I miss: Been too busy to think about missing anything really

Events of the week: I met Evan's teacher and she seemed nice too. She was encouraging because she said she lives in the school district, she raised all her kids through our district and they each went to college. She also said if you're not happy with the way things are going, say something because it's our kids' education & future. Although I have no issues with this teacher it made me think of Joshua's school this year.

We had such a busy week with mostly the flooring and painting. I'm so glad it's pretty much done. We still have to paint the hallway but that can wait. Jonathan & Peter helped Tim lay the floor and they worked from about 9:30 in the morning to 8:00 at night with a lunch break. What a long day. So thankful for them all!!

27 Weeks

27 Weeks

Baby's size: - Rutabaga

Sleep: Such tiring dreams and waking up around 5am to go to the bathroom almost every morning

Mama's Growth: Back up to the 14lb mark but I know that this weekend away & eating at restaurants for every meal (w/ desserts!) didn't help. haha I can't find my tape measure so I can't take my measurements this week.

Food cravings: No cravings but I had such yummy food this weekend with Tim upstate. I don't know if I could pick one thing out but I had a virgin piña colada the first night we were away and I haven't had one in such a long time. It was definitely a treat!

Symptoms I have: My lower left back has pain once and a while and even when Tim massages it it doesn't go away so I'm thinking maybe it's a nerve thing. A few nights at bedtime (or if I don't eat for a while) my indigestion gets so bad that I feel like I may throw up. I usually sip water and try to lay with my head propped up. Glad I don't have to live with this forever!

Doctor’s Appointment:
Glucose Test - 9/26 Tomorrow :(
Dr. Foehr - 10/9
Sono 10/30

Movement: Same as last week: All the time - He seems shy every time I try to have the boys feel him but soon they will

Gender: It's a BOY!!! :)

Names: Noelan Chase

What I’m looking forward to: The floors being done & all things Autumn!

What I miss: being away with Tim :)

Events of the week:
Teachers - I still have yet to meet Evan's teacher (2 more days) but so far Caleb's & Joshua's teachers seem nice. I still don't love the Central Islip school district but I'm thankful that we have an affordable place to live & that's we are so we'll make the most of it.

Our 10th Wedding Anniversary - We had such a nice time away hanging out. We were actually pretty active for a weekend away but it didn't feel it. We just walked and talked and explored together. The first full day I think we started the day with 5 miles and walked more after lunch. By the end of the night my feet definitely felt a little sore but it was good. The day we left before we headed home we took a nice bike ride together and that was between 10-11 miles. It was so nice to be out in the fresh air. The weather was perfect, nice and sunny with a cool breeze. Besides the active parts we ate A LOT! We tried a lot of different places and I don't think we went anywhere with gross food so that was good. We checked out the oldest inn in America, walked around the campus of the culinary institute of America, went to a drive in movie, and explored a lot of cute shops and spots. One of the places we ate for dinner, Baby Cakes, had live music and they were really good. I guess the genre was sort of Rocky Souly, Blues. It made me miss Musical Mondays with Tim & my mom so hopefully we can set that back up before zombie tired when Noelan gets here :) And of course there was lots of hand holding, hugging and kissing! It was a beautiful weekend celebrating our first decade together. Thanks to Mama Donna & my parents for taking care of the boys while we were away.

26 Weeks

26 Weeks

Baby's size: - Iceberg Lettuce

Sleep: Not horrible this week

Mama's Growth: 12 Pounds overall so far - Dr. Foehr measured my stomach from bottom to top and said I was right on track.

Food cravings: No cravings

Symptoms I have: Nothing too major

Doctor’s Appointment:
Dr. Foehr - I went today and my blood pressure and everything else was good. Got to hear his heartbeat :) I have to go back on 10/9 and then I'm supposed to start going every 2 weeks! I have to schedule the dreaded glucose test. I'll prob go next week since this week is maxed out.

Sono 10/30

Movement: All the time - he seems shy every time I try to have the boys feel him but soon they will

Gender: It's a BOY!!! :)

Names: Noelan Chase - Although Evan asked if we could change his name when he turns 5 like him haha I asked if he had any ideas and he said he has to think about it. Chase is still flexible for us so if something else comes up from here to there we may change it.

What I’m looking forward to: same as last week - Our 10 Year Wedding Anniversary Weekend Getaway!! A few more days!! Meeting all the boys' teachers. The floors getting done.

What I miss: Far family & friends

Events of the week: Not too much extra going on for me but I've been prepping the living room as much as possible for the floor to be replaced. I emptied the bookshelves, and moved a bunch of things into Joshua's room so when the weekend comes just the big things need to be moved out. I now have a bunch of bins to go though. Can't wait until everything is back together.

25 Weeks

25 Weeks

Baby's size: - Cauliflower and a little longer than the length of a ruler :)

Sleep: Some tossing and turing and constant yawning throughout the day

Mama's Growth: About 14 lbs, 2.5 inches in my waist and 2 inches in my belly

Food cravings: I've been wanting something sweet every day this week

Symptoms I have: heartburn, lower back pain

Doctor’s Appointment:

Dr Foehr - I haven't gotten in touch with him since we've been back but I need to do that (honestly not looking forward to the glucose test that's just around the corner)

Sono - Oct 30th

Movement: Yep Yep

Gender: It's a BOY!!! :)

Names: Noelan Chase

What I’m looking forward to: Our 10 Year Wedding Anniversary Weekend Getaway. Meeting all the boys' teachers. The floors getting done.

What I miss: A bunch of things but not pregnancy related. (well I DO miss not having the back pain and indigestion)

Events of the week: Back to school, Brayden's dedication.

I also did a lot of de-cluttering during the weekend. I still have a lot more to do and go though but I got rid of 2 bags of clothes, 2 bags of toys and threw out 3 bags of stuff in the boys' room. We also gave our dresser and night stands to Jay & Erin to make room for the baby crib. I picked up some baby things from my friend that she didn't need for her son anymore. It was exciting to see it in our room. Jonny and Laura got Noelan a bunch of new things as well and I kept telling Laura that they've done so much already and the thing she said that helped me be able to receive the gifts was "Stop being selfish, this is for Noelan" Noelan is one lucky little guy to have so many people in his life that love him so much already. And God definitely has a way of providing more than I can even imagine. I'm getting more and more excited to meet my little man and see what he looks like and what his personality will be. :)

Deep Conversations

I don't read to my kids every night before bed because it does the opposite of wind them down. It gets them talking, asking questions and wanting me to read more and more.

For some reason I thought tonight would be different since we had such a long and tiring day. Maybe they would just listen to a short thing I read and go to sleep. Nope. Caleb then wanted to read out loud and I didn't want to turn him down since I know that's good for him to do especially in the second grade. He started reading about Noah's Ark which he's heard a bunch of times I'm sure.

This time at the end the questions came: "So when there's a rainbow, God made it?" When there's a flood did God make that too?" "Why did He destroy everything?" "Can't He just hit people with lightning if they're doing something wrong instead of flooding them so He doesn't break His promise?" Etc. etc. etc. I answered as best I could one by one and left off on the note that God loves people and even though there's lots of people that do really bad things, we're here to love them and show them God's love so that they too can believe in Jesus and will go to heaven. (Which I thought was a light note to end on)

I kissed him and Evan good night and then hear whimpering in the room "I don't want to die", with Evan replying "You're not going to now". I go in and ask Caleb what made him think of that and he said he was thinking about Heaven and how you die before you go to Heaven and then he thought about himself dying and experiencing death and it overwhelmed him with fear and sadness. (Those are my words not his) I tried to comfort him telling him that not everyone that dies go through a painful death (I was NOT about to say some people die in their sleep - he'd be up all night thinking that tonight may be the night haha) I told him he has a lot more life to live and a purpose here on Earth to love God, family, friends, neighbors and to share the love of God etc.  (which I realize now was the same way I ended the first conversation haha). I then told him that Heaven is a beautiful place and there's no more fear, crying, bad things etc. It seemed to calm him down a little.

There was much more back and forth about life, death, how old people were, Jesus dying, God's power, healing, prayer...and the list could go on and on and on.
I told him he's a deep thinker and he's going to grow up to be a good man.
He then went into all the questions about if working is hard and tiring.
Somehow it ended on the thought that in China it may be day time right now since it's dark here and how he wishes he could have their night and NY's night so he had more night time to relax and get the rest he needs. I love him so much and wish I had all the answers to his many questions.  Oh my little man, he is a deep thinker & feeler for sure and I hope he does get the peace and rest from that fast moving brain of his.