27 weeks

Tija had her baby last Wednesday! Arijah Elizabeth Balsimo. I went to the hospital on Thursday with Brittany and oh my what a pretty little thing. We can all admit that even if we say babies are beautiful, most of the time we're just being nice. But, that little girl is certainly beautiful. If our baby is weird looking, I'll know, but feel free to tell me it's beautiful.

Ben and I went to a breastfeeding class on Tuesday. My favorite quotes from class "troubleshoot your boob." Did you know that your body can tell that when you are hot when the temp is high your baby is probably hot and needs more water and with that your breast milk will have a higher water content. Go body! Anyway, if you're looking for info on breastfeeding, though I dont have any practice I do have a massive amount of knowledge to share.




How far along: 27 weeks

Maternity Clothes: Seriously, Spring, where are you?

Stretch Marks: None.

Sleep: I slept on the couch last night in hopes that I'd sleep better. Jack-pot. Best sleep I've had in the past 3 weeks. Pitch black, cold basement. Ahhh...I'm making it a Monday and Wednesday tradition so I can get my nightly back scratch every other night of the week.

Best Moment this Week: Two this week. My mom came down on Tuesday and finished painting all the edges and trim. I escaped the fumes and Ben asking me to finish already. Yay mom. Tonight Fran came over and we booked our flights to Myrtle Beach. We'll be traveling with a 6 week old baby and I'm excited. Pregnancy has made me so lax. Hooray for in laws and the awesome trips they plan.

Movement: Ben saw the baby move on Monday. It looked nothing like this intense movement, I just threw up a bit.

Food Cravings: Stil craving the tuna noodle casserole. Could someone please come make it for me so I dont have to open all those cans of tuna and cream of something soup. The thought of the smells and textures is causing some cooking difficulties.

Gender: Still unknown but now that both Tija and Brit have had boys in the past 3 months I'm thinking I'll be a boy.

Labor Signs: None. We start our birthing/labor classes next Tuesday and I'll actually know what they are.

Belly Button: It hurts. That's normal, right?

What I Miss: Sleeping.

What I'm Looking Forward to this Week: Seeing Tija and her little Arija again.

Weekly Wisdom: It's cheap to make food in your shirt.

26 weeks

Exciting news! I can finally eat eggs again. Last Sunday I made a big egg bake and ate it for breakfast every morning. Anyway...

Please excuse my pity party for a moment. I feel like whenever I look in the mirror I'm the outside person in a group photo. Constant fat arm syndrome. The maternity tupperware full of clothes was passed on to me a few months ago. Unfortunately, most if not all of the shirts, dresses and pants are too small which doesn't help my fat arm and big knockers issue. Luckily, Target maternity t-shirts are fairly inexpensive. Mom, if you're reading this- please make me some skirts :)

On the bright side, I haven't actually gained that much weight, so that nice. Funny thing... though I'm gaining weight getting bigger by the day, my inner thighs don't touch quite as much as they used to, weird? Yes. The past two months my midwife has said I'm doing just fine which is a good change from "Lay off the christmas cookies, Marie." She never really said that but it was implied when she called me fatty. That's a lie too, she's a very sweet lady and I'm glad we decided to stick with her. I'm hoping the baby comes during the week so she can be there.

Last week of prenatal yoga and I'm not going to go. I've decided I don't really like it. The poses are good for stretching, meditation and such but I just get too bored. I need to start dedicating more time to excersising. I have enjoyed a belly dancing video Brit gave me but I need to do it more than once a week for it to help. Anyone else have recommendations on videos or movements I should start including in a daily routine?

I'm debating asking Ben take a new picture for me. My bra is showing and the extra fabric in the top of this dress makes me look like I have super saggy boobs. I'll just have to take a super great picture next week :)

How far along: 26 weeks

Maternity Clothes: I threw a bit of a tantrum Friday trying to find something to wear in the warmer weather. Is it possible to have "fat" days when you're pregnant? A tank top fit me fine when I tried it on Thursday but Friday it didn't work. Ugh.

Stretch Marks: I have a feeling they are there but I just can't see them. Ben was under the impression that stretch marks are a myth. Which I guess is an okay thing since I now know he doesn't have a habit of staring any other women at the pool or beach.

Sleep: Sundays are the worst. I dread waking up and going to work. I'd rather stay home and work on the house. Premature nesting.

Best Moment this Week: To clarify last week- I wasn't excited when Ben left, more so that the dog likes me again. Best moment since my last entry; Ben coming home = nightly backscratch, hooray!!!

Movement: Lots of baby movement, though I wish there was some other movement down there too. Catch my drift (pun intended, sorry that was gross.)

Food Cravings: Tuna Noodle Casserole. Tuna, cream of something soup, noodles... what could be better? Hmm... when I actually describe the ingredients it isn't quite as appetizing.

Gender: The votes are coming in. It looks like everyone is dreaming about a little girl too. Can you all start dreaming of a no-complications, easy labor too?

Labor Signs: Can I count anxiety as a labor sign?

Belly Button: I can now touch the bottom of my belly button. I've never been able to do that before. It's weird and a little gross.

What I Miss: Walking up the stairs without getting winded.

What I'm Looking Forward to this Week: The weekend.

Weekly Wisdom: If you desperately need to tell a secret, go get a hair cut. Liz, my lovely sylist for the past 6 years is the only person who knows our name choices. The urge to purge is gone.

Funny photo I found...

I've come a long way since October! My stomach and my smile are bigger.

25 down, 15 to go

The snow is melting. Hooray for Spring! Ole and I took a nice walk around the park oday. I have a few more weeks before the puddles of mud take over. Ole can’t help but jump and play in the puddles. I need to find some new rain boots. I found out that mine aren't as water proof as I thought, any recommendations? My calves cause some serious boot issues. I need boots made for wider calves.

I slipped on the ice Monday night walking in from the car. The sidewalk in front of our house is a skating rink/ice slide. I sat in the puddle and swore and cried for a bit before finally getting up. I’m just glad I didn’t hit my head. I doubt anyone would have noticed me laying in puddle of water behind a snow bank at 10:30 at night. Scary. I think I strained my ankle. It’s not poufy anymore but it is stiff and very sore. I’m going to put a reflector and orange cone in the puddle to warn all the other pedestrians. Salt or sand won’t help with 5-inches of standing water which ices over every night. The city is supposed to fix the sidewalk this spring/summer. I’d wish for a faster thaw if I didn’t know any better. I’m glad we don’t live in a flood plain.

Tonight I plan on finishing my book slings and I’ll have a picture for you next week once we get them on the wall. I’m having a hard time finding a fabric that will complement the Ikea fabric Ben picked out for the crib skirt and book slings. I know I could always just use solids that match but that’s boring.

I’d like to find something colorful with a geometric print, but the fabric selection around here isn’t the best and it’s hard to avoid the matchy-matchy fabric. I have a few weeks to figure it out. I love projects with actual deadlines. I should set definite deadlines for all my other projects I’ve left unfinished for weeks/months/years.


How far along: 25 weeks

Maternity Clothes: I’m really excited for skirt and sundress weather. I’m getting really sick of maternity pants.

Stretch Marks: None! Please keep it going.

Sleep: Still able to sleep on my back, but I’m finding it more comfortable to sleep on my side with a pillow between my knees.

Best Moment this Week: Ben left on Friday for Winter Park, CO and Ole is finally starting to like me again. He’s a great snuggler. I missed being his favorite.

Movement: I noticed the movement from the outside for the first time yesterday, crazy! The movement has slowed down a bit this week, which of course makes me nervous.

Food Cravings: Melted cheddar cheese and raspberries. Not together.

Gender: Still unknown! In my dreams it’s always a girl. Any guesses? I started a poll.

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button: Getting smaller and smaller but I don’t think I’ll ever get an outie. I showed some friends last night and they told me to put it away. I guess it isn’t as funny to everyone else as it is to me.

What I Miss: Agility.

What I'm Looking Forward to this Week: Hair cut on Friday, it’s been too long (pun intended.)

Weekly Wisdom: Ice is slippery, in case you didn’t know.

24 Weeks

Ben leaves tomorrow with my family to go skiing in Colorado. Sara, Arlo and I are being left behind with the dogs. If only I wasn't already 3 days in the hole with time off. I'll probably pout a lot and pace around the house but thankfully I have my pup to keep me company at night. Ben and I went for a walk a few nights ago and I'm not quite as agile on the ice. I really, really, really can't for the snow and ice to melt and stay away until next winter. I don't have other interesting news this week...I think I'm bored.


How far along: 24 weeks

Maternity Clothes: Now that it's getting warmer I'm starting to notice that the shirts I thought would fit do not fit.

Stretch Marks: None. I found a lotion I love by California Baby. Ben said I smell like a hippy (chamomile and calendula) but he likes it. I'd rather smell like a hippy than a bath and body works store. Yuck.

Sleep: I've been having the most bizarre dreams. Cans of tennis balls that have dachshund puppies inside, walking on my hands through the mall and opening doors for people with my hair. What the heck...

Best Moment this Week: Finding out that the little one's heart is healthy at our appt. on Wednesday.

Movement: Lots of kicking around 8:30 every night.

Food Cravings: Apples. Honeycrisp or pink lady, please.

Gender: Still unknown!

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button: My belly button makes a kissy face when I push around it. It feels a little sore by the end of the day.

What I Miss: Spicy tuna sushi roll.

What I'm Looking Forward to this Week: Wedding dress shopping with Kel and Kristin.

Weekly Wisdom: It's okay if you can't help but moan during a back scratch, even when you're sleeping.

23 weeks

Projects, projects and more projects.

I talked to the lovely Tija last week and her nesting situation has me getting a little anxious. I want to have the house ready at 35 weeks. So…12 weeks from now the house better be ready! Can we pull it off? I certainly hope so! We still have to remodel our walk-in closet. I’m hoping that won’t be too much of a project. Just a little demo, drywall, painting, flooring and bracket mounting. Ugh. Speaking of remodel, I still have to post pictures. Patience, we still have a ton of boxes around the house waiting to find their permanent home. It’s been WONDERFUL having all this new storage.

Ben and I got the guest room cleared out pretty well and it’s finally started looking like a nursery and less like a room from the show “Hoarders - Buried Alive”. I should have taken some before and after photos. We have a lot of crap for 26 year olds. Speaking of having too much stuff…we got a crib, rug and fabric at Ikea this weekend. We’re getting rid of a bunch of stuff only to buy more. Oh Joy.

I finished the crib skirt last night and I’m really proud of myself. Ben picked the fabric. It was fun watching him think through each option. I’m not too sure I like the color of the nursery anymore after we chose our fabric, but I’ll deal with it. Maybe I just need to change the light bulb in the room. It’s one of those “natural light” light bulbs so has a bit of a blue tint. It works in other rooms of the house but isn’t the best in a blue room.


My next project - book slings. I don’t think it’ll take me very long; hopefully less time than the crib skirt. We only bought supplies for two but I think I may want three once we get these two on the wall. Cute idea, right?



After that I will use the master carpentry skills of my little brother Rob to help me build this tree branch bookshelf. I’m pretty excited about this one. Hopefully we can pull it off.


23 week round-up.

How far along: 23 weeks

Maternity Clothes: I can’t wait for it to be warmer out. I’m looking forward to loose, flowing dresses.

Stretch Marks: None. “They” say that lotion doesn’t help but I’m going to tell myself that it does and hopefully positive thinking will work in my favor.

Sleep: I keep waking up because I’m attempting to sleep on my stomach. I was never a stomach sleeper before, why am I trying to now?

Best Moment this Week: see next question

Movement: Ben felt the Little One move on Monday night! I wish you could have seen his smile. The baby keeps kicking my bladder. It's a funny sensation going from feeling like you might pee your pants to feeling normal in a matter of 2 seconds.

Food Cravings: Water, does that count? I’ve been sooo thirsty lately.

Gender: Still unknown!

Labor Signs: None

Belly Button: Innie

What I Miss: Walking up the stairs without feeling out of breath.

What I'm Looking Forward to this Week: Brunch with Brit, little Mia and Tija Saturday morning and some good ol’ mom and dad time in Sartell.

Weekly Wisdom: It’s true. The second trimester is the best. I have a ton more energy and it’s fun feeling the little one moving around all day.