30 weeks down...10'ish left to go!

Don't mind the sweaty, makeup-less face..it's the belly you wanna see anyways, right?

Today marks 30 weeks. Look at Peanut grow!!

My belly feels like it is at it's max capacity already. The thought of 10 more weeks of growing is starting to scare me just a little. Ok, well not really scare me, but i'm anxious to see just how much bigger I will get. I see a lot more stretchmarks in my near future, but nothing that a tummy tuck won't fix though!!

I'm still feeling good and rockin' this pregnancy. The occasional heartburn is kicking in after I eat dinner mostly, but nothing that a few tums won't fix. Sleeping is starting to get harder these days. I'm having trouble finding comfortable positions and I awake often trying to reposition myself only to lay there unable to fall back asleep. I think it's time that I start looking for a good pregnancy pillow (any suggestions, ladies?). I had one with my last pregnancy but I lent it out and now I can't remember who has it.

As of last week, I have officially closed my small home daycare. I enjoy being able to sleep in with my kids now. Sleep is good. My plan is to enjoy these last few months of this pregnancy, spend more quality time with my kiddos, deliver Peanut in November, enjoy the holidays with my family, and then go back to work in the new year. My youngest will be entering Preschool in Januray so it will be a great time for me to go back to work. Fingers crossed that finding a new job will be as easy as I'm playing it out to be in my head.

SIDE NOTE: Any surrogacy agengies out there looking for a new Case Coordinator? I would totally rock that position. Just sayin'....

I have a really fun blog post coming up and I am SO excited to share it with you all. I have been in touch with A & M's egg donor (we are friends on Facebook) and she has so graciously accepted to be a guest blogger here!! I'm making up a fun list of question for her so if you have anything you'd like to add, please do so in the comments section. I think it will be really neat to hear about surrogacy through an egg donor's prospective. This will be awesome to look back on for Peanut as well.

Oh--And how can I forget! I started my hypnobabies class last weekend (first of 6 classes) and I am so excited about this. I've been practicing my relaxation techniques EVERY DAY and I can already see a transformation in how I am able to quickly get my body to relax. I also received a wonderful gift in the mail from my IPs this week--Ina May's Guide To Childbirth. I LOVE this book!! It makes me want to pack up my things and head to The Farm for this birth. I am SO incredibly thankful and lucky to have the IPs that I do. They support me and are on board 100% for this VBA2C. They trust me and my body to do what it's meant to do--birth babies! It doesn't get anymore awesome than that.

Keep the sweets coming!

I passed the 1hr glucose test -- yippee!! I celebrated appropriately with some chocolate covered raisins. Yummmmm!


I had 5 minutes to gulp down this drink for the glucose test.
It wasn't bad--tasted like flat, orange soda.



Things are just peachy here. Same 'ol stuff and nothing new and exciting to report. Well, me passing the glucose test is exciting, but only to me because that means I can still eat what I....I mean Peanut wants. ;)

Oh! And I did have an OB appointment last Wednesday and I only gained ONE POUND since my last visit. Woohoo! My goal for this pregnancy is 25 pounds. So far, I'm at 15. I think I'm on the right track for success.

Most days you can find me sitting on the couch, relaxing, and with the fan pointed directly on me.
Peanut is 28 weeks exactly here..

Here in So. Cal., we're experiencing a massive heat wave complete with high humidity. It's not fun dealing with this heat when you are 7 months pregnant. And let me tell you...it's also not fun sweating in places that you shouldn't be sweating--so not lady like! A friend joked on Facebook that the heat radiating from her arm pits is going to cause a global warming. I commented that I think I've taken the cake....with the heat that's radiating from my crotch! See...told you it's not lady like!

Peanut is 28 weeks and 1 day here. He LOVES the beach.

He lets me know by all of his kicks and squirms.

My son, Aiden, has been super helpful (most times!) around the house.
I am thankful for these times...

Thanks to the 3rd trimester, I am now able to hire an actual housekeeper! She started last weekend and will come weekly to help me with things around the house. It's nice not having to worry about cleaning the bathrooms, mopping the floors, dusting, vacuuming the stairs, ect. This allows for more time spent...relaxing on the couch in front of the fan! It's hard work growing a baby, don't ya know. ;) All kidding aside though, the housekeeping allowance is a true blessing, and I am so thankful.

I didn't plan too well on how I spent the maternity clothing allowance a few months ago. I didn't buy hardly anything for the summer / heat waves so, today I waddled myself on into Target to stock up on a few essentials to get me through this dreadful time of the year. They didn't have much of a selection, but I did make out with two pairs of yoga pants and a cute tank top. I always go into Target for something and come out with something not on my "list". Ugh! Thankfully, a surro-sister of mine is shipping some of her maternity clothes to me this week. Fingers crossed there are some tanks, shorts, skirts and/or dresses in there or I'm in trouble.

Admiring my growing bump in Target. I like the double mirror shot.
These were the clothes that I wore into Target...not what I purchased.
Don't laugh...I had yoga class that morning!
Peanut is 28 weeks and 4 days here...

Hello 3rd trimester!!

We have officially hit the 27 week mark (yesterday/Thursday) and are already in the 3rd trimester. This is flying by!

I really suck at blogging lately, huh. Shame on me. Well get ready, cause this post is loaded with a bunch of fun and exciting stuff......including lots of great pictures of what I've been up to lately!



Johanna and Me at the farm!



These last few weeks have been super busy for our family--which is probably why I haven't had time (or eneregy!) to blog. We've been out of town every weekend trying to cram in last minute mini vacays while I'm still able to travel comfortably. The first weekend of July my husband and I stayed the night in Palm Springs. It was a nice mini get-away complete with pool time, a little gambling, and an awesome buffet before we hit the road home. The following weekend I packed up the kids and we headed North to Fresno. We stayed with my dear friend, Johanna, for two nights. Johanna is a 1x surrogate in the process of starting journey #2 for a new family - So exciting! We had a great time hanging with her family, picking fruit from a local farm, swimming, catching frogs (something I haven't done in ages!).....so fun!



The kids and  me at J & K Farkley Farms in Fresno. It was a HOT day, as you can see from our sun burns and sweat, but we had a great time picking peaches - And oh man, were they delicious! I'm 24 weeks and 3 days pregnant with Peanut here.

 

 Last, but certainly not least, my husband and I hopped on a plane to San Francisco and visited with my IPs for a few days. They showed us around town and treated us to some amazingly good eats. We also attended their baby shower and for that I was so grateful. Meeting all of their friends and a few family members was very special to me. The memories made on this trip will forever be engraved in my heart. I don't know how I got so lucky to have such amazing IPs. Peanut is one lucky little boy and is coming into a family filled with so much love.

The Daddies and me with a view of the city behind us.

"The Team" - Daddies A & M, Me and Hubby

25 weeks and 2 days pregnant. Peanut's first picture in his room!

How am I feeling? I'm feeling good for the most part. My energy levels are droping once again, but that is to be expected at this point in the pregnancy. My bump continues to grow nicely and Mr. Peanut has no problems keeping me aware of his presence. On occasions, when getting up from a seated position, it feels likes my insides are going to fall out of my vagina. TMI? Sorry...just keeping it real. I had this same feeling with my second born and apparently it's "normal".

Doctor appointments: My last OB appointment was a breeze - in and out and all is well. The only thing she pointed out was my 11 pound weight gain in 8 weeks. Whatever. I'm growing a baby here!! I also had an ultrasound with the Perinatologist to check on the placental lakes that were discovered at the 20w u/s. The Peri didn't understand why I was sent there and said everything looks fine and there is no need to follow up from here. Awesome!

Weight gain: I'm up to 15 pounds. My guess is I'll even out for a while and then pack on 10 more pounds  in the last two months giving me a total of (fingers crossed) 25 pounds. With my last two pregnancies I gained 40 and 30 pounds, so I think I'm doing pretty darn good right now.

Sleep: Still doing OK in this department. I don't wake nearly as frequently to pee at night as I did with my own kids. I think Peanut is just giving me a break, haha! There are MANY nights though that I will hop into bed only for Peanut to awake and think it's play time. Silly boy. I just lay there and take it all in because these moments are just too precious.

Cravings: Unfortunately, No. I guess this will help with the weight gain that my doctor had to so nicely point out.

Mood: My patience/tolerance level is running super low these days. I have to keep reminding myself of the changes that my body is constantly going through and take lots of deep breathes. Having my husband here to support and encourage me definately takes some weight off my sholders. (Most times) my husband can see when I'm having a hard time with the kids and will step in so that I can have a small break. For that I am grateful.

Exciting moment: I have two exciting moments!! See..I told you this blog post would be a good one!
1)  During our last evening out with A and M and they spoiled us rotten with an amazing dinner at a very special restaurant of theirs. After we filled our bellies with mouth watering food, I leaned back in my chair to give myself some extra breathing room. Peanut must have enjoyed dinner as much as I did because he started kicking and squirming all around. I quickly shouted, "He's moving...he's kicking!" and within seconds two anxious hands came flying across the table and landed ever so gently on my belly. A and M have FINALLY got to feel their Peanut move. I will NEVER forget that moment.

2)  The name of this baby was going to be kept private until the day of the birth. Even I wasn't going to find out the name until D-day. I was OK with this and respected A & M's wishes. BUT....when we were visiting the Daddies a few weeks ago we got a very special surprise!! As we were walking around town we decided to stop in this really cute children's boutique to have a look around. There on the wall were these adorable little letters, you know, the ones where you can spell out baby's name and hang them on the nursery wall. Well...to my VERY BIG surprise, A & M had a big reveal! M started grabbing letters and laying them out on the counter. As he did this, Eric and I started shouting out names of what we thought he was spelling. AhhhhEeeee!!!! Peanut has a name! And a beautiful name at that. Such a sweet moment to share with the Daddies!

What? You didn't think I would spill the beans did you? (Sorry Susu, my lips are sealed!) But I will give you one hint...even with the name right smack in front of us, we were still guessing alternate names and adding more letters...alright that's it! I've said enough. You'll just have to wait 13'ish more weeks to find out! ;)