Weeks 30 & 31

How far along? 31 Weeks 

Total weight gain? Still up 23 lbs, will have another check up Week 32. Really trying to maintain a total weight gain less than 30 lbs. We will see how that goes!

Maternity Clothes? ASOS is my top #1 choice! The tops/tunics run true to your pre-pregnancy size. (Given you didn't let yourself go and blow up like a balloon - boob growth is accommodated for). I found that the pants are true to your current pregnant size. So if you measure your hips properly, use their size chart to order the proper pregnancy size. Yes this means you may order a 10/12/14. Grieve for a bit, then get over it. My next choices are The Gap/Old Navy. I have really only ordered tank tops from there and again, true to pre-pregnancy size. However, for 3rd trimester I recommend going up one size, the belly region can get tight. :-)

Stretch Marks?  The red marks are still on my butt! Good news, the red marks on my boob have vanished! Gone! Not even a slight sign that they were once even there. WHOOP!

Sleep:  Sleep has been pleasant this week. Except when she kicks my ribs. It is a weird sensation I am not use to and it wakes me up the moment it happens.

Best moment this week: Started Birth Boot Camp and almost finished painting all of the nursery! One stencil left!

Miss Anything? My cousin and alcohol. I could definitely dive into a large mojito.

Movement: She LOVES to move!! She has begun to kick under my ribs. The sensation of her tiny feet gliding under my ribs is SO. FREAKING. WEIRD. It almost takes my breath away. Plus I have heard crazy stories of ribs being dislocated and broken, so I am on pins and needles afraid she's going to give me one of those donkey kicks and there goes a rib. I have had 3 ribs fractured before and it is NOT pleasant. Since she is gliding UNDER the rib, I can't push on her foot to move it like when she hits my hip bone or pushes too hard on my side. The lack of control makes me more uneasy. 

Food cravings: Watermelon. Henry picks the best ones too. Each time before he leaves town I make sure he picks a watermelon first so I can snack on it while he is gone. :-)

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Woke up to another set of contractions this week. I was sound asleep and woke up delirious from the pain. Couldn't wrap my mind around what was happening and when the fog finally cleared and I realized what was happening I was able to roll off the bed and get on all fours to ease and rock through them. 

Symptoms: 
Braxton Hicks! Yay.
Learned I am allergic to cocoa butter.
Hips hurt. Especially my right hip.
If I don't take my prenatal vitamin at night, my legs get extremely antsy! It feels like I need to go running they get so antsy. However, if I take my pre-natal within 30 minutes they chill out. I read that it has to do with the iron. Either way, it works.
Movements have changed from individual movements to feeling simultaneous movements in two different spots. Like I will feel something toward my right side up by my ribs, and at the same time another movement on the left side of my belly button. It's the weirdest, yet most wonderful feeling in the world.
Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased.
Frequent bathroom visits
Occasional swelling of my feet and hands.

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? My left hand randomly swells now with the fluctuating heat waves, so for safe measure I have moved my wedding ring to my pinkie. :-]

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery and getting back into our house from the tornado!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: None this week really. Most was in the Labor Signs part. Talk about fun! lol

About the Board:

Inspiration was from 4th of July this week!
Fonts were free handed. 

Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 

Top and skirt is from Old Navy maternity

There was no board for 30 weeks, but we did get a wonderful shot together at the wedding. <3

How far along? 30 Weeks

Total weight gain? Still up 23 lbs, will have another check up Week 32. Really trying to maintain a total weight gain less than 30 lbs. We will see how that goes!

Maternity Clothes? ASOS is my top #1 choice! The tops/tunics run true to your pre-pregnancy size. (Given you didn't let yourself go and blow up like a balloon - boob growth is accommodated for). I found that the pants are true to your current pregnant size. So if you measure your hips properly, use their size chart to order the proper pregnancy size. Yes this means you may order a 10/12/14. Grieve for a bit, then get over it. My next choices are The Gap/Old Navy. I have really only ordered tank tops from there and again, true to pre-pregnancy size. However, for 3rd trimester I recommend going up one size, the belly region can get tight. :-)

Stretch Marks?  The red mark has officially popped up on my hiney! First my boob, now my butt!! Come on! Good news, the red marks on my boob have vanished! Gone! Not even a slight sign that they were once even there. WHOOP!

Sleep:  Sleep has been tough this week. Tough due to the fact that I have been dealing with the awful news of my cousin's murder. It's tough having pregnancy hormones. It's tough dealing with the loss of a loved one. But MURDER is on a whole different level without throwing the pregnancy hormones in the mix!

Best moment this week: I can't say this has been a good week at all. :-(

Miss Anything? My cousin. 

Movement: She LOVES to move!!

Food cravings: Coconuts and watermelon!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks! I had my first set of Braxton Hicks contractions. Talk about scary for me. I had to drive 5 hours to Houston to attend my cousin's viewing and funeral alone. Henry was in a wedding and although he could have made it back in plenty of time to still be in the wedding, he would have been an hour late to take the groomsmen photos. So off to Houston I went, alone. I cried so hard Friday night and Saturday that I triggered my first contractions! I was half-way back home when my stomach started oddly tightening. It felt like my muscles all around my stomach tightened and you could physically see my stomach raising toward my diaphragm and tightening up. There was no pain in my abdomen, but there was a shooting pain that started at the base of my ribs on either side and shot down my back. It felt like "back labor". I began talking to my sister-in-law since she had back labor to confirm it was what she felt and she confirmed it. She googled Braxton Hicks, ordered me to pull over drink water, take deep breaths and chill out. It took about 30 minutes, but they finally stopped and I drove the rest of the way home, changed quickly and headed over to the wedding in time for the reception to begin. Whew! 

Symptoms: 
If I don't take my prenatal vitamin at night, my legs get extremely antsy! It feels like I need to go running they get so antsy. However, if I take my pre-natal within 30 minutes they chill out. I read that it has to do with the iron. Either way, it works.
Movements have changed from individual movements to feeling simultaneous movements in two different spots. Like I will feel something toward my right side up by my ribs, and at the same time another movement on the left side of my belly button. It's the weirdest, yet most wonderful feeling in the world.
Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased.
Frequent bathroom visits
Occasional swelling of my feet and hands.

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? My left hand randomly swells now with the fluctuating heat waves, so for safe measure I have moved my wedding ring to my pinkie. :-]

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery and getting back into our house!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: None this week really. Most was in the Labor Signs part. Talk about fun! lol

About the Board:

No board this week. :-( With the funeral and murder of my cousin, I am just a wreck this week.

Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 

Dress is from ASOS and the nude belt is from a boutique around our town.

Lovely friend Kristi

A Unique Wedding Gift

So for those who know me, you know a lot of changes have been going on right now around this household. We got married in October, had a phenomenal honeymoon, found out we were expecting right before Christmas, had our house hit by a tornado, went on a fabulous babymoon and had a dear cousin murdered. Crazy ups and down right?!? Well in the midst of preparing for the baby we enlisted the help of some talented girls and friends of Henry to re-vamp our office to double as an office/guest bedroom before baby Coraline arrives. While going through all the stuff to determine what needs to be kept and what has been held onto for so long and REALLY needs to be trash I found a unique wedding gift that brought tears to my eyes.

My sister gave me this heartfelt gift the day of our wedding. Whether it was her idea or someone else's I have no idea, but all I can say is this was the best idea ever. She sent out a message/email/text to everyone close to us and asked them to write a letter to me. She then compiled all the letters and put them into a hard bound book with an engagement photo on the front of the book.

Reading these letters only reminded me why I love not only Henry, but my friends and family so very much. Their kind, heartfelt words mean the world to me, especially in such a hard time right now with the murder of my cousin being only a week old, our house still in disarray from the tornado, and Henry working out of town. I attached just a few of the letters below.

To those who wrote the letters listed below, I hope you do not mind me sharing such personal letters. If it bothers you or you wish to keep them private, please do not hesitate to let me know and I will gladly take them down. 

I love you all more than words will ever express!

The first page of the book

Mother-in-law

Henry's Aunt

Sister-in-law Part 1

Sister-in-law Part 2

Bridesmaid Lauryn

Bridesmaid Danni Part 1

Bridesmaid Danni Part 2

Bridesmaid Riki

Maid of Honor, Seester Stefanie

Guess who folded this nifty letter?

The best of them all! The sweetest letter from my husband that literally made me cry.
I am truly blessed to be married to such a wonderful, loving guy. 

My sister included this in the back once she was finished at the rehearsal dinner. It was an amazing speech that had almost everyone in tears, including each other. Especially the part about Henry including us as a package deal and not trying to keep us apart. I don't think anyone can comprehend the meaning of this to myself and my sister, and Henry just did it naturally.

Maid of Honor Speech Part 1

Maid of Honor Speech Part 2

26 Weeks

How far along? 26 Weeks

Total weight gain? As of the last doctor's appointment I have officially gained 17 lbs. HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! The doctor however says it's fine, that I look great and have a big baby so it's no big deal. Given my boobs have grown drastically, but the baby being 2 lbs now and given the boobs probably 2 lbs MAX - that's TOO much weight by my standards. I don't care what my doctor says. Cue depression. LOL I shouldn't gain more than 30 lbs over the course of the pregnancy and Coraline still has her biggest growth spurts ahead of us. Next appointment is June 3rd so hopefully the weight gain will have slowed down. 

Maternity Clothes? ASOS in the UK is the only reliable pregnancy store I have found so far. I love all their stylish clothes for women in their 20s, plus free shipping on returns. Everything is GREATLY priced and not cheaply made. I have also recently bought a few items from Old Navy after a fellow blogger buddy stated how great their items were too. The items in the photo though are from Motherhood Maternity.

Stretch Marks?  The red mark has officially popped up on my butt! First my boob, now my butt!! Come on! I mean luckily it is perfectly placed where any bikini will cover it, but I was horrified to see it. UGH!!! The positive side, at least it isn't my belly....yet. EEK!

Sleep:  Sleep has been a bit restless this week. I have been having to stay at the in-laws house and their bed is no where near as soft as our plush pillow top california king. My left shoulder has been starting to ache. Ready to be in my own bed again. Although I do love all the wonderful home cooked dinners. hehe

Best moment this week: The "reach for the sky movement"!!!

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum. Going to the Caribbean on our babymoon is going to be slight torture.

Movement: Henry and I went camping this weekend for Memorial Day weekend and were laying down at night reading our baby books when Coraline decided to she wanted to have a spaz attack! The movements were on either side of my belly button taking turns raising my stomach in super quick movements. Henry saw it out of the corner of his eye, so we both sat there watching it. I had to keep from giggling because it was so bizarre! Then, all of a sudden, the left side of my stomach just slowly raised a good two inches up!! It was definitely a knee or elbow because it was bony. I started to laugh from the pure craziness and Henry was quick to tell me to stop laughing so he could keep watching her move. She continued on for a few minutes. It was crazy fun to watch! 

Food cravings: It may just be me, but I think this week is strawberries and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I think I have had about 12 PB&J's this week, plus homemade strawberry shortcakes, strawberry jam, strawberries in my cheerios, etc. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick, like couscous, as well as red meat. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: 
One day my ankles and fingers were swollen since it was SUPER HOT one day.
Nosebleeds are back, bad! I wake up and blood almost immediately starts running. Sad.
If I don't take my prenatal vitamin at night, my legs get extremely antsy! It feels like I need to go running they get so antsy. However, if I take my pre-natal within 30 minutes they chill out. I read that it has to do with the iron. Either way, it works.
Movements have changed from individual movements to feeling simultaneous movements in two different spots. Like I will feel something toward my right side up by my ribs, and at the same time another movement on the left side of my belly button. It's the weirdest, yet most wonderful feeling in the world.
The "nesting" has begun with crazy cleaning and organizing.
Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits.
Then my back has begun to break out like a highschool boy going through puberty on steroids. Luckily, I discovered this Naturals Spot Treatment from Neutrogena and it has DRASTICALLY reduced the breakouts and their redness. You just apply it 2-3 times a day and it just pretty much dries everything up and prevents anything new from popping up. YEA BUDDY!
Heartburn has been nipped in the butt thanks to my prescription of Reglan for my paralyzed stomach, that just so happens to be a medication used with gastric reflux. Jackpot twice in a row! This pregnancy thing is a cinch. (so far)

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On - However, there was one really hot day (Texas big surprise) where my wedding ring began to get really tight so I moved it to my pinkie for the day. 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery and getting back into our house!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: Just ready to meet Coraline. I love this sweet little lady so much! I wanted a boy so badly when I first got pregnant and now, I wouldn't change having a girl for anything in this world. God definitely has everything happen for a reason. 

**NEW** About the Board:
Board inspiration came from Memorial Day! However, I could not find red chalk, so hot pink it is! Hot Pink, white and blue.
The board was done using fonts from WORD.
Chalkboard Fonts: Harrington and then the rest were free-handed.
Size was a "hot house cucumber" although it looks like a zucchini
This week Henry was out of town all week so his lovely aunt Terri volunteered to take the photo with me, so of course I had to have her jump in the photo with me. <3

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: 
My lovely fashion for this photo entailed a prenatal tank and prenatal jeans from Motherhood Maternity. Not my favorite store to shop at, but it's the closest one around when you can't wait for shipping.

23 WEEKS

How far along? 23 Weeks

Total weight gain? I have officially gained 17 lbs. HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! The doctor however says it's fine, that I look great and have a big baby so it's no big deal. Given my boobs have grown drastically, but the baby being 1 lb and given the boobs probably 2 lbs MAX - that's TOO much weight by my standards. I don't care what my doctor says. Cue depression. LOL I shouldn't gain more than 30 lbs over the course of the pregnancy and Coraline still has her biggest growth spurts ahead of us. 

Maternity Clothes? ASOS in the UK is my go-to maternity store! Free shipping, plus free return shipping if it doesn't fit or I don't like it. Sign me up. Not to mention, GREAT prices. All outfits can be worn post maternity too. I am obsessed. I will forever rave about them. 

Stretch Marks?  Still have the red mark I freaked about on Week 21 & 22. Other than that, looks like I am clear for now. 

Sleep:  Coraline has settled down at night, especially since my amazing pillow arrived! I can officially sleep on my left side, supported on all sides by a cloud. I highly recommend getting a body pillow. This thing helps prevent me from rolling all the way on my back, which is how I like to sleep, but gives me support to lean back against. 

Best moment this week: Spur of the moment photo session with bestie Taylor from Pink Heels Pink Truck and getting the CRIB!!

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum

Movement: Oh yes! This week we counted about 37 movements in about 1 minute! Henry had his hand on my belly as she kicked about and finally he said into my belly, "Coraline, why are you so angryyyy?" LOL She was having a fit or something! But I loved every bit of it. <3 Especially because when she starts to move, the moment Henry sets his hand on my belly she freezes lol. Loved how he got to feel her A LOT! 

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon) and for the life of me I can not find a great watermelon! Any tips for picking the best? I can pick them wonderfully if they are cut open, but a whole watermelon has been 0 for 7 lately. They aren't sweet or hard as heck!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick as well as red meat. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits. I am starting to wake up at least twice a night, and it's like I wake up and have to RUN to the bathroom! Bending over is beginning to get difficult, especially to tie my shoes or take my boots off. Then my back has begun to break out like a highschool boy going through puberty on steroids. That bad. Luckily, it is on my upper back and my long hair covers it, but I am praying it goes away before our beach maternity shoot in St. John. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: Henry has been out of town a lot so getting someone to take a picture of the board has been hard. I really don't like calling someone over just to take a photo of me. SOOO I was beyond happy when Taylor showed up at my friends ranch with her camera for me to take photos of her, and I was able to get her to take photos of me too. Especially wearing what I thought was a cute outfit. <3

**NEW** About the Board: No board this week - again. I am sorry!!!

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: I am wearing an empire waist maxi dress from Victoria's Secret which can be found HERE. I am not completely comfortable with my boobs popping out of this dress so to make it more modest I tied a Chambray top from The Gap and paired it with a necklace from a local boutique. The gorgeous jeweled sandals are from Dillards - one of the few places that carry shoes for my big feet! <3

More photos from the photo session: