32 down, 8 to go.

It's no surprise with a baby on the way life has been busy. So busy that I somehow lost a few weeks worth of weekly photos. oops. In the last post I mentioned our upcoming sonogram to check in on baby since she was measuring on the small side after our 28 week visit. We were scheduled to go at exactly 29 weeks. We went in nervous but optimistic that she was doing okay since she never. stops. moving. The minute the sonographer pulled her up on the screen she was kicking and moving just as we'd thought. Much to our surprise, we got to see her in the new 3D/4D imaging! She kept holding her face and never stopped moving her mouth....wonder where she gets it from :) Hubs even got a video of it. In addition to seeing her live and well we also got the news that she's not only healthy, but her due date would be pushed ahead a week! She was measuring a hefty 3.8ibs and 17.5 inches long (on 7/9/15). With the half a pound weight increase per week that puts her at an estimated 8.5-9ibs come birth day.

Come on, September 17th.

A week or so after the excitement of getting to see our little Culotta again, I came down with a stomach bug which landed me right back in the ER. Between the extreme morning sickness and our 20 week scare we were no stranger to the fluids and wait game. My shriveled veins couldn't take the IV and blew out the needles of the first and the blood draw which was just so fun. ha. Towards the end of our stay we were reassured once again that she was healthy and ready for her big arrival in a month or two. At then 31 weeks, her head was already in position and she was taking advantage of having her feet up to kick at both the fetal and uterine monitors. Since then I have been resting, hydrating, and working on getting together my hospital since we're only a short month out from "full term". But that's a separate post :) As for this week......

How far along? 32 weeks!

Total weight gain/loss? 28 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yep

Stretch marks? No

Sleep? I need about 12 hours a night and a nap, but thanks to baby flipping into position I'm up to pee every 45-60 minutes.

Best moment this week? Having the little boy I nanny ask if one of my boobs was another baby and coming home to a completely cleaned house courtesy of my hubba hubba hubby, go J.

Miss Anything? Restful sleep

Movement? Yes

Food cravings? Fruit, donuts, and starbucks.

Have you started to show yet? Yep

Gender prediction? It's a girl

Labor Signs? Braxton hicks every day or so

Symptoms? Insane rib pain and heartburn. Thank God for Pepcid.

Belly Button in or out? Out 

Engagement ring on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy! 

Looking forward to? Packing the hospital bag & setting up her nursery.

28 Weeks & July 4th

Happy 4th of July!

Hopefully everybody had a safe and happy Independence Day. I spent the morning prepping food for a picnic and wrestling a watermelon while attempting to cut it into stars. Turns out cutting said melon into 1-inch slices wasn't quite as easy as online said. After flinging it across the kitchen twice and knocking over a candle we finally had stars. After the melon fiasco, we spent the day at a close friend's house holding babies & chowing on burgers while the boys slung beers talking guns & guitars. Nothing says Independence like alcohol and showing off what's in your chamber, amiright? 

Aside from Justin's birthday next month this is our last big holiday before baby C joins the party! It's crazy to think come halloween we will have a 1 month old! We are thoroughly enjoying the 3rd trimester and counting down the days until her arrival. 

How far along? 28 weeks

Total weight gain/loss? 23 pounds (to be rechecked at our appointment on Thursday)

Maternity clothes? Yep

Stretch marks? No

Sleep? They're not kidding when they say the 3rd trimester wipes you out. Two days ago I slept 17 out of 24 hours. And I pee all. Night. Long.

Best moment this week? Seeing baby G poke a little foot up against my skin! Justin was freaked.

Miss Anything? Bending over to unload the dishwasher. I think the whole scare last week is a thing of the past. My belly feels like it's doubled overnight!

Movement? Yes

Food cravings? Mini wheats, cherries, and coke.

Have you started to show yet? Yep

Gender prediction? It's a girl

Labor Signs? No real signs, braxton hicks and cramping galore any time I walk or stand more than a few minutes

Belly Button in or out? Out for the count

Engagement ring on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy! 

Looking forward to? Our ultrasound on Thursday! We're feeling much better about baby's health since my growth spurt. She's also been moving and responding to touch more than ever. I'm selfishly excited to see her again and what all those crazy movements are.

Nursery Inspiration & yet more little Culotta drama

As the end of pregnancy is rapidly approaching we couldn't be more excited and dare I say....unprepared? Seeing as we're officially in the 3rd trimester and baby girl's room looks more like a junk closet than a nursery, that sent me into to design heaven this week. I don't know what mommas-to-be must've done 10 or 20 years ago without the help of pinterest and etsy. The running theme right now is turquoise, coral/pink, silver, and mermaids. The idea came about thanks to my mastermind quilter and crafting mother who had both boy and girl specific fabric bought within a week of us announcing pregnancy. Here's the inspiration thus far.

Mermaid mobile

Tissue tassel garland (ours would be in slightly different shades)

Sea creature pillows

Vibrant nursery

These are rough ideas for now. Her nursery will be what is considered the "den" in the apartment. Seeing as it's lacking a window and closet, we have to get creative with storage and keeping it bright since she makes her debut as gloomy fall and winter creep in. Under the sea pillows and the tassel garland are a must. Despite the lack of mermaids in the last photo, I love how they combined the colors and the pillow-filled chair. Our furniture situation resolved itself (a whole blog post in itself- I'll spare you the torture that ensued) and our couch, ottoman, and nursery recliner are finally here which means a home for fun pillows :) Among getting the apartment finished this week and gathering nursery ideas we had 2 special events to craft and bake for. The first was Father's Day which we found a BALLIN recipe for, the second was a family member's baby shower that called for some crafting.

The sweet & spicy recipe can be found Here

The "Diaper babies" tutorial can be found Here. I slightly modified the ones I made, I found that the washcloths didn't stay wrapped around the diapers tight enough so I added a safety pin to the back. Also, I couldn't find any cute baby socks in the colors shown so I opted for this pack of Gerber mittens.

In other news, we are officially 28 weeks as of today but had our 27 week appointment earlier in the week. It's so exciting to finally be down to the 2 week apart appointments. That means more measurements, hearing the heartbeat, and getting the rundown on my own health twice as often as before and I LOVE it! The night before the appointment I found myself wishing that we could see her and all of her spastic movements again. My OB and insurance only cover one ultrasound between 18 and 20 weeks, the anatomy and gender scan unless there's issues. Well, be careful what you wish for. I went in feeling confident, weight was up another pound (OB appointments are the only time this is actually a good thing...), blood pressure was a cool 100/68, and the heartbeat sounded perfect. Not to mention little missy has been so active and responsive to touch that she kicked the Dr. during the measurements. Sorry, Doc. While she was pleased with the movement and heartbeat, she was not so pleased with baby's unchanged measurements since the last appointment. So she's sending us for another ultrasound to check on her growth, amniotic fluid levels, and position. As of a month or so ago, cramping and braxton hicks start to kick in after any motion, I'm praying her low positioning and lack of growth don't mean bedrest. Who can sit all day with an unfinished nursery? Not this control freak. The night of the appointment I had a major pregnant meltdown when I didn't feel her moving which resulted in the hubs having to stay up with me poking my belly for motion and playing music for her until about 230am. Sorry darling. On top of that, I went to take my glucose test last week and ended up having to bypass it due to the fact that my allergens are in satan's nectar. Instead they'll do a fasted blood draw, send me home to eat, and redraw 2 hours later. Leave it to the littlest Culotta to turn things upside down a bit. Somehow, I know this isn't the last time she'll be this way....

The weekly update and baby bump are what's to come this week. Happy 4th of July!