weeks 27-32

32 weeks (today)

 31 weeks (just woke up from a nap)

(This is also 31 weeks)

30 weeks

29 weeks

28 weeks

27 weeks

 the ultrasounds are from when i was 28 weeks and 2 days

 this one looks like he is throwing us a "shaka" with his hand

 face

 face

 face profile

today i am 32 weeks! 2 months and this baby will be here! luke and i both think he is going to be about a week late. my mom was 2 weeks late with her first, and i am having a very similar pregnancy to hers. but here is what is new:

• 28 weeks:

-i took the glucose test. this is where they test you for gestational diabetes. you can't eat past midnight, and then you go in the next morning and drink this super sugary orange drink, wait and hour, and then they draw your blood. it wasn't too bad! i was expecting the drink to be disgusting, but it's just sugary, and it's only about 2 cups. but while i was drinking it the nurse told me that a lot of women get queasy or throw up. so that kind of freaked me out. but i ended up being fine, no queasiness or vomiting, and i passed (just barely).

-we finally had our big ultrasound check-up! so, normally around 18-20 weeks you have this big long check-up where they do an ultrasound and check basically every inch of the baby. they make sure all the organs are there and that they are functioning properly. this is also the appointment where they usually tell you if you are having a boy or a girl. BUT, since we left california when i was at 17 weeks, and then we had to figure out what we were doing with insurance and everything....i didn't see a doctor from 17 weeks - 27 weeks! so this appointment was done for us at 28 weeks, much later than normal. but it was awesome! they confirmed that we were indeed having a boy. and we got to just sit and watch him on the big monitor for about an hour while they checked him out. the coolest part was seeing his face. the pictures we got don't do it justice, but i couldn't believe we were looking at his face! but everything is going well, the doctor said he was a good size and healthy!

• baby is moving MORE! he has definitely become more active the past few weeks, which is normal. he likes to push his feet against my right side A LOT, so i often have this little bulge coming out my right side. but i still love feeling him move. it can be uncomfortable because he will push pretty hard sometimes, but its not very often...but it just surprises me how strong he is! every once in a while he will have a super mellow day where i hardly feel him at all. but i have noticed that if i watch i can see him move, i just can't feel it because they are smaller movements. its the best part of being pregnant though. also the movements that were uncomfortable, i no longer have those. it must of been when he would kick lower, but now his head is usually down and so i think that made the difference. 
• He gets the hiccups all the time! they are totally different then what i originally thought they were. they aren't painful, it's just a little bump every couple seconds. but sometimes they go on for 5 minutes or so. and if they continue for a while he will sometimes start to move around...like he doesn't like them.
• i don't really get acid reflux anymore, i had it really bad a few times around 27 and 28 weeks, but now i rarely get it and it isn't very strong. YAY!
• i am becoming more tired again. i have only taken a nap once, but mostly i just start falling asleep a little earlier and notice that my energy drains quickly if i am active (i have been swimming more and walking). 
• if i walk quickly i get a side cramp. it's only this one little spot, but it's pretty silly. i don't get it from swimming though...only walking.
• I have gained about 9 pounds total so far. at 28/29 weeks i had only gained 6, so i am starting to put them on a little quicker now. also, the doctor said my belly is measuring a little small. every time i have a check-up, they take a measuring tape and measure from top to bottom to see how big your uterus is, and at 29 weeks my doctor said i was 27 cm, but i have no idea what most people are. 
• this is kind of embarrassing, but i have peed my pants a couple of times...yesterday, and also a few weeks ago. this is what happens...i have to go to the bathroom, and on my way over i sneeze! and sneezing for some reason causes me to lose control of my muscles down there just long enough to get things damp. i think it's pretty funny actually. it's just not something you want to have happen when you are out of the house!
• Braxton Hicks. i have only noticed these a few times. these are kinda like contractions, some people notice them and others don't. what it is is my stomach just gets really hard for a few seconds and tightens. it doesn't hurt, and i usually don't feel it happening, i have just noticed my stomach is hard and then 10 seconds later it's back to normal.
• i am slightly anemic. so, even though i take my prenatal vitamins and they have iron in them, i am a little on the low side. the doctor said its pretty normal to have low iron when you are pregnant, i just need to eat more red meat and more leafy vegetables (like spinach).
• it's still hard getting out of bed. it's pretty funny. you really start to lose your abdominal muscles and theres not much you can do about it. luke will sometimes give me a little push when i am sitting up and just laughs:)

Halloween

(struggling to bend backwards with my big pregnant belly)

halloween was simple this year. we weren't very good at preparing a costume so we kind of just looked in our closets and threw together whatever we had. so we were nerds! We went to a party for TVA (Temple View Apartments - this is the on-campus married housing at BYU Hawaii) which is where luke works. and then on halloween night we went with some friends to a party for married couples. but we are excited to be able to dress up our little one next year though and maybe even go trick or treating:)!

weeks 20 - 26

 24 weeks 6 days
(i should wear shirts like this in baby bump pictures more, it's hard to tell what i really look like in my baggy ones)

 here are some pregnancy update photos (missing a few):

26 weeks 3 days

25 weeks

24 weeks 

(luke and i laugh at this one. i look super square in this pic for some reason)

22 weeks

20 weeks 

I am writing this at 26 weeks 4 days (which is about 6 1/2 months). everything seems to be going well with the pregnancy, here are some changes/updates that i've noticed: 

• at about 22 weeks I started getting acid reflux:( which means every few days or so i feel like i have something stuck in my throat and it burns a little. sometimes it's not bad, sometimes it's really hard to ignore. but i looked it up and it's pretty common in pregnancy.
• ankles and feet swell. nothing too bad, it's pretty minor, but i definitely notice it.
• i am getting round ligament pain. so, as your skin and everything else stretches, it starts to not feel so great (not bad, just uncomfortable). i mostly notice it in the morning when i try to get out of bed or pretty much whenever i lay down; everything just feels pretty tight on the lower part of my belly, and i now have to push myself up a little bit instead of just using my stomach muscles. it's kinda funny because about two weeks ago i started noticing that it was getting harder to bend down to pick things up; there's just something in the way, and it's not squishy!
• baby moves a lot! i love feeling him move! i really do. he likes to move in the mornings and evenings mostly, but there really isn't a pattern to it. but it's so fun to just sit there and watch as a little foot bump pops up and moves across my stomach. i'm always telling luke, "watch, he's moving!" i just get so excited about it, and it makes me feel more attached to this little guy. 
• weight gain. i have gained 5-6 pounds. i was a little worried at first because that seemed a little low, but my mom was like this with her first and i definitely feel like i am eating plenty! i asked a midwife about it and she said not to worry, everyone is different.
• baby gets the hiccups. or at least i think that's what it is. they are these short bounces or vibrations almost i guess that happen every few seconds. but they don't feel good! they kinda hurt because i always feel it really low. also, if he kicks low it really doesn't feel good, maybe it's my bladder he is kicking, i don't really know. 
• clothes are getting a little snug for sure, (my shorts mostly). i have been using the rubber band trick, one side through the hole and the other around the button so that my pants have a few extra inches. so this works well, except that a couple pairs (the originally more snug ones) are getting snug even with the rubber band. but so far, i haven't had to wear maternity pants.

I think it's so fun to be pregnant, it's a super unique time in life that not everyone gets to experience. yes, it may have some downsides to it, but i still can't believe that there is an actual baby growing inside me. luke and i get really excited to be parents sometimes. we definitely have our fears too, but mostly excitement! i have been doing a lot of reading about labor and delivery recently, so i am feeling good about that. i don't feel super nervous about labor, i just want to make sure we can get to the hospital in time since it's about an hour away here!

But i started working on a project for the baby! i started knitting a blanket about 1 week and a half ago. this is the first thing i have ever knitted, so we'll see how it turns out...

Hawaii

luke and i are in hawaii! we got here late in the evening on july 24th, my cousin picked us up from the airport and were able to find our apartment and everything just fine. but it has been quite an adventure so far. we have mostly been looking for jobs, a car and housing for fall semester (we are only in our apartment for a month), so we've been really busy with that. we have met some really nice people so far, and that has been a blessing!

it's hard moving to a place and not knowing many people, especially when you don't have a car and you need a car to get certain things done! i'll admit it, there have been times these past couple of weeks where i have wondered if we made the right decision moving out here. i get kind of bummed when i think about the things we left behind...especially with the baby, and knowing that i probably won't get all of the nice things that my friends have gotten for their babies. we'll probably buy cheap used things. and i really wanted to make all these cute things for the baby, like my friends have done, and i probably won't get to do all that i wanted. and i think it's easy to feel lonely in the beginning, just with not knowing many people. but i know that part will change.

but then i am grateful as well, because i feel like being here will help me really appreciate what i do have. i feel like i will be able to learn a lot from being here. it sure is beautiful! it's not quite as nice and organized as orange county, but i expected that. but i love that the ocean is so close, and that i can swim in the water and not freeze to death! and it's so beautiful! it's fun to just see the different places here and just be mesmerized by it's beauty. i feel like i have been a lot more active, just in the last couple of weeks, and i love it! and i love the laid back lifestyle, and people seem to be really friendly here. i don't love the sticky feeling from the humidity, but i'm getting used to it.

i am excited to be here! i think it will be an adventure and that i will get used to a having a different lifestyle here. it definitely has it's perks. but luke and i both felt like this is where we needed to be at this time in our lives.

 100 yards from our front door.

 this was supposed to be me saying "woohooo!"

 our front door

 you open the front door up and there is our room!

a little bit of a storm, ended up not being too bad

gecko! first one i've ever seen

this guy looks familiar (Argentina, where i served me mission, was full of cockroaches)

IPHONE PICTURES

 first night, checking out the kitchen

 our apartment when we first arrived

 this is what happened after walking around all day on our first day. but i am happy to report that that spot is now a tan spot:)

 we just had to buy a wave storm at Costco

 pregnant belly at turtle bay (a hotel and resort)

 i love him.

 this is the highway. 35 mph speed limit, and nothing but beauty

weeks 17, 18 and 19

19 weeks (today)

18 weeks 2 days

 17 weeks

well, the coolest thing started happening...i started feeling the baby move! At the end of 16 weeks i was pretty sure i was feeling him move, but i had to lay and really concentrate to feel him. some people describe it as a butterfly-like feeling in your stomach, mine kinda felt that way. i would say it was more like little bubbles. so, i had been feeling that for about a week, and finally at the end of the week i figured it must be the baby. i felt little kicks as well, but it's so hard to be sure it's the baby in the beginning! by about half-way through the 17th week, i was positive it was the baby!

the kicks are so fun to feel! sometimes if push on my stomach a little, he'll kick. also, laying on my stomach...almost every time i lay on my stomach, he starts kicking. i don't think he likes it, so i've pretty much stopped laying on my stomach (which is hard because that's my favorite way to sleep)! but even luke can feel the kicks already, and if you watch my stomach while it's happening you can see it moving. You can sometimes tell where the baby is too, just because my stomach will be slightly lopsided.

i also have chloasma, which is not very fun; they call it "the mask of pregnancy." chloasma is when dark patches appear on your skin, usually on your upper lip, cheeks, and forehead...and that's exactly where mine are. it's caused from the extra estrogen and will most likely fade shortly after the baby is born. but they also get darker in the sun...and we are currently living in Hawaii, so that's hard because i want to be in the sun! 

16 weeks

baby update: today i am 16 weeks 4 days pregnant.

16 weeks

i am starting to show finally! not the cute little baby bump show, more like the i look like the i'm gaining weight in the mid section show. but at least it's something right? it's funny because you can feel where the uterus is because it's hard, and then i am also getting squishier, so the belly that i have is a combination of the two, with a little more of the squishiness i think.

but the funniest thing started happening this week...well, last week i said i could feel a little bump when i was laying down on my back in bed, and that little baby bump is starting to grow. So one morning (i think it was last saturday), i woke up, and i noticed that the bump was a lot bigger than the night before. but not only that, it was high up on my belly. at first i was like, there is no way the baby could have grown that fast! then i had a theory: when i first wake up i always have to use the restroom, at least since i've been pregnant, and so i thought, what if my bladder is just really full and it is just pushing my uterus up higher because there is no room for it. so i went to the restroom, then went back into the bedroom and laid back down. sure enough, the baby bump (aka uterus) was back where it had been the night before, and it was smaller. i guess the uterus is small enough that the bladder can push it around...luke and i both thought it was so funny, so we took some before and after pictures:

 this first one i put my legs up so you can kinda see some point of reference, but this is first thing when i woke up.

 lying flat, you can see it a little better

then this is after going to the restroom. bump is still there, just not quite in the same place, and noticeably smaller.

we showed my sister the pics and she was like, "eeewwwwww! that's gross!" so sorry if you think it's gross, but we think it's awesome!

also, i definitely have more energy than the first trimester, but i definitely don't have it all back. i notice that if i am on my feet a lot i still get tired, but nothing too bad. also, i haven't felt the baby move yet. sometimes i try and concentrate to see if i can feel anything, but mostly my heartbeat gets in the way and it's hard to notice anything else. i do feel things sometimes, but it's hard to know if it's the baby or just my body. but i am sooo ready to start feeling this baby!! it's one of the things i am most excited about. 

also, i don't know if this has to do with pregnancy or not, but before when it came to sweets i always wanted chocolate; creamy milk chocolate! but since i have been pregnant i like gummy, chewy stuff, and even suckers or hard candies. luke noticed it too. and i also like soda more! if you know me very well you know that i have never really liked soda that much, i just prefer water... but soda has started sounding really good to me. i still haven't really started drinking soda, it just sounds really good to me, whereas before water was all i wanted.