31 weeks

Before I forget we had our ultrasound today, Hudson's head is still measuring in the 98% yikes he looks about 2 weeks ahead of schedule but they said that really means nothing due date wise. He weighed in at 4.5 pounds and seems to have TJ's forehead and chin and my nose and lips, we shall see though. I am in the upper normal range for fluids for him so that with his noggin is making me measure about 3 weeks ahead still although the ultrasound tech asked if I came in because I was measuring small after I told her I was 31 weeks sheez people. It also makes me feel good that every time I go in the nurses assume I still weigh under 150 and every time I have to say keep going with the scale. It was neat to pay attention to where his body parts are his head is in my lower abs, his spine is along my right side, his privates are up towards my rib cage, and his legs were down my left side. Makes sense why I feel what I do and where. Like his little feet when I lay on my left side and his back I thought was his bum for the longest time. Also on Easter he was sticking his legs out on my left side they felt so big. My bp was 104/60 and weight was up 2 pounds making for a total gain of I'm thinking 33 because my Dr's scale always says I weigh 5lbs more than I do on my scale which I used for my starting weight. Today my cravings switched from lemon to lime as I had to stop and buy some Simply Limeade. True confession the tech took a photo of his head which turned out quite blurry both TJ and I are a little worried he has a beak now even though I saw a clearer image after, the one with the beak looking nose scarred us both thank you very much ultrasound Tech! I promise to love you no matter what baby!

30 weeks

Picture is from 29 1/2 weeks, this was an ugly old coffee table that we have had all my life as can be seen, my brother wrote his name Michael, then I copied him and wrote elizabeth A. and my sister copied us both. I loved laying under that table as a kid and am sad to get rid of it but as my brother put it, who has room for a tacky coffee table?
30 week update
The Bump:
I think he's getting crowded because most times I feel him I can actually feel a limb or something. However he has some weird habits. For example I didn't feel him move much for 2 days. I started to worry when I woke up one morning at about 5, than he started to move non stop till 5am the next morning, no I am not kidding and then after that he went back to his sporadic movements. I hope this isn't indicative of his future sleeping habits. Now he is kicking the laptop resting on my side, he's still possessive of his space and or likes to make contact with the outside world. My next appointment is Thursday where I get to see him again wohoo!
Food:
Cravings- anything lemon and watermelon, I went to Costco for a couple things and forgot a cart and was surprised/excited to see that watermelon was out, I contemplated carrying the watermelon to the front but I knew that it would cause others around me even greater discomfort than it would for me carrying it. I spotted an abandonded cart but then noticed some men nearby I watched and waited and they indeed carted their watermelon away in it. So finally I decided to go for the mini seedless 2 pack of watermelons. I think I might need a watermelon break right now!
Aversions- still staying away from Asian food!
Fashion:
My flowered motherhood maternity shirt maybe I will pose in that, my orange T also from motherhood and a white Old Navy T that I bought before I knew I was pregnant I was probably like 1 week or something, anyway I was thinking I hope to be pregnant this summer and trying it on and thinking my tummy will never fill that out but oh it does! Pants I like lounging in stretchy gauchos and actually put on some skinny jeans that I just bought up a couple sizes when I couldn't fit in mine in month 4 they still fit and they fit my legs better then my maternity skinny's but I usually unbutton and resort to the rubber band after a couple hours. Two weeks ago I picked out my easter outfit for church I have this yellow skirt that is huge it fit 2 weeks ago, this Sunday I went to put it on and no such luck zipping so I am now down to one brown stretchy dress and some stretchy skirts.
Best Moment:
While subbing in the nursery for an hour on Sunday 2 kids started screaming and crying when I left, one was a little girl who entered crying jumped from her dad's arms to mine and than followed me around the rest of nursery, the other one of my friends son's who always gives me the biggest smiles and made sure I was watching him the whole time by popping his head in front of mine every few seconds saying Hi! It made me feel like hey kids like me!
Sleep:
I am sleeping pretty well, I usually don't even get up to pee, bladder of steel I know! However the day Hudson was moving from 5am till 5am I had to get up and eat oatmeal at 5am both mornings. Oh yes and we are calling him Hudson for now. I also keep waking up on my back and feeling oh so good and oh so guilty!
What I miss:
Being able to get up quickly, sit comfortably, lay on my stomach, the Wasatch Back (I made the mistake of reading Runners World on Friday), knowing what size clothing I can expect to fit in for special occasions.
Looking forward to:
Meeting our son! Assembling the nursery, I still haven't assembled the nursery, but I have been fabric shopping!
Symptoms:
legs feeling heavy while running, usually only on Monday mornings, today I finally experienced a tiny heartburn, and I got some creepy rash on my shoulder and arm yep all today, hoping it's just something I touched, not measles or shingles or something worse!

2.5 weeks!

That's how far ahead the bump is measuring! I didn't gain a single once from my last visit but our boy is now measuring 2.5 weeks ahead of schedule! My gestational diabetes test came back negative actually pretty low 64 they don't consider it diabetes til it hits around 100. My blood pressure measured 110/70, my hematocrit levels dropped 4 pts from a 40 to a 36 but I'm still above anemic! What does this mean??? Well we have another ultrasound scheduled to find out. Granted he has been measuring 2 weeks ahead the whole time but they will not change my due date and this is a Connolly after all they run pretty tall!
My current speculations are:

• he is indeed a big boy like his dad
• I really am 2 weeks ahead not everyone ovulates when the scientific calender says they do
• he was laying stretched out as I could feel a head or bottom sticking out of my side during the appointment and he really does "stretch out" after I run and I had run just before the appointment
• I'm such a healthy eater that he is metabolizing everything into solid muscle mass (probably not but I can speculate whatever I want right)
• twins!! haha

Online answers include

• diabetes- ruled out
• maternal weight gain- I have gained 30 pounds already, I probably shouldn't share that but I still can gain 5 more and be considered normal so ehhh
  
• too much fluid- rare
• genetics- I'm going with this one!

Regardless I can't wait to see my chunky monkey again!

28 Weeks

The clock is ticking!!! Technically I have less than a third to go but for some reason according to my Dr the third trimester starts now!! I've heard the 3rd trimester described as, for those of you who played the original Mario Bros, when you are running out of time and the music speeds up. Maybe I'll add that to my blog soundtrack. Anyway I think of how when I was little I used to wake up in the middle of the night and think someday I'll be married, now I wake up in the middle of the night knowing that really before I know it I will have a baby. I have dreams of forgetting to feed him and worrying about him and dreams of I'm in labor wait isn't this supposed to hurt. I'm copying a friend and categorizing my pregnancy for fun.
The Bump:
Our baby has his really active moments now where he stretches across and I'll feel him poking out opposite sides, I've only caught my stomach protruding once, it seems when I watch he likes to stop. Also I won't feel him for quite some time but then I'll rest my arm on my bump and he will punch or kick it without fail. He really likes his bubble I guess and considers it his, but that's ok with me I still think it's fun. He also still really reacts to loud talking and vibrating music like organs as well as some more upbeat songs. He only measured a week ahead at our last appointment he probably just wasn't laying straight out like he liked to before.
Food:
Cravings-Food wise I can only eat what sounds good this weeks it's been spring mix salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, hard boiled eggs and ranch, croutons sound good too but I haven't mustered up the will power to buy any. I usually crave meat like chicken or pork tenderloin or steak yum and potatoes. I love yogurt before bed or graham crackers with almond butter. Aversions- French fries from Wendy's, thinking of the smell of these, Cup O' Noodles, and cabbage all make me sick blah yuck. I blame this on my early pregnancy and Formosa which made me feel so sick, blah, I think they gave us food poisoning, since that dreadful night every time I drive by and have the strength in my gag reflex to look it says closed. A year before I loved them. Also salt I can't stand salt which is probably good for my blood pressure which has remained around 108/60 I think, which is pretty healthy but I am still running as well.
Maternity clothes:
My Old Navy skinny jeans are probably my favorite although the panel seems to cut in the middle of the bump sometimes kind of strange. I have some roll up cargo pants from motherhood that are probably my favorite when it chooses to be more spring like. I quite often find myself in a complete non-maternity outfit which makes me laugh it really is true that with some leggings and empire cut clothing you can make it with out. I find myself in the same few outfits both maternity and non that are comfy and flattering.
Best Moment this week:
TJ and I were praying together and right when TJ prayed for our baby he gave me a soft nudge, not his usual thump it was like hey I'm here for family prayer.
Sleep:
He moves and shifts the most when I lay down at night and when I switch sides. I always sleep really well. Sometimes I wake up on my back forgetting I'm pregnant and oh it feels so good.
What I miss:
Not having to practically dislocate my hips to bend over and put on some boots. Running fast and hard. My waistline, I still think it's there sometimes till I look down.
Looking forward to:
Making the baby nursery corner!!!
Symptoms:
One night and morning I could hear my heart pulsing like a machine in me ear, this is normal I guess when your blood flow increases, luckily that stopped!!!

Change

Life has been changing at a rather frantic pace lately. First and foremost TJ was hired on for the time being to teach seminary. It has been for lack of better words a huge blessing. He is still in school and this is his student teaching, he just started a year earlier than most. Once upon a time one of my sister-in-laws and I were talking late into the night and she was telling me she knew a lot of people who wanted to become seminary teachers that didn't necessarily get the job, I was thinking in my head of the aspiring rockstar her husband hoped to be, funny enough they are both looking well on there way I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not but extremely overjoyed that they are both succeeding and doing what they both love. Kind of envious too but I've never been entirely sure about what I wanted out of life but to be a wife and mom so I'm living my dream too it just doesn't have an occupation title. Although it would be pretty cool to be a dietitian someday or an Ironwoman, the later sounds more appealing and fun, plus you don't even need a degree to call yourself a Nutritionist and apparently my mom thinks that is what I graduated in and tells everyone so. This new job has brought a new feeling in our home. One of gratitude but also of Christ as we are always trying to discuss ways he can really teach a lesson to bring these kiddos closer to Christ. A new schedule has also taken place, it seems between the two of us within the 24 hours in a day someone is always awake, good practice for parenthood I guess. Obviously the biggest change we are looking forward to is becoming parents, for the rest of my life I will be concerned for another person's welfare, for many years doing for him what he can't do for himself and we want a few kids so this will probably go on for at least a decade maybe this will keep me from worrying so much about everyone else. At work I always get in trouble for being in everyone's business but it's not like I go around gossiping it's just because I care and work is boring and people are great! Today I spent some time at the Huntsman Cancer center, don't worry I don't have cancer but I had to do some testing there to make sure, we'll just say pregnancy causes some funny things. That place gives you such an interesting perspective, most of the people are old some are kids but most of them are fighting cancer and I was really overwhelmed with how much I take my health for granted. I had this concerning bump for about two months before I even started to think I should tell my Dr., TJ actually forced me to because I was sure it was nothing and didn't really want to know if it was. When I drove into the underground parking the weather was OK by the time I got to the 3rd floor there was an ugly dark storm outside with stuff flying though the air. I went in there not willing to accept that I might possibly have cancer but as I looked at all the faces around me I realized they probably felt the same way and that this little bump in me could change my whole life, kind of like the other bigger bump in me.

1 day at the Doc

Yesterday I had my glucose screening. I asked how early I should come to drink the orange glucose drink. The woman said 15 mins is plenty of time. So I arrived at 9 my appointment was at 9:15, I went to the basement to the ARUP lab department to drink my sugar. I tell the lady I am here for my glucose screening she points to the sign on the door and says she has patients in front of me. So I read the sign which says to place your name face down on the table and wait in the waiting room. I place it face up just because I feel like it and sit and wait. I watch as one patient goes in and then leaves after like 3 mins, lady disappears and 15 mins later calls the next patient in, and the same thing repeats till it's about 9:45am. I call upstairs and ask them if I should just come up and go down later. They said they would call the lady and find out. Meanwhile my sister-in-law who had an appointment the same time funny enough comes down because she heard I was there. She is in and out of her appointment and I have yet to drink the koolaid. I start to feel nauseous. Finally the lady calls my name and says why didn't you say that is why you were here (which I had) and gives me the koolaid while she is drawing an old man's blood, finally she learned how to multi-task! I wanted to be mad at her and say there is no way I'm trusting you lady but I was in a good mood and she was too plus I had the day off work so it really didn't matter to me anyway. She tells me not to throw it up or I'll have to do it all over again so I plug my nose and chug. I run up to my appointment and they let me know that I will have to see Rita the nurse midwife because now the Dr is booked go figure but I like Rita so it doesn't matter. They are also out of rooms so they put me in a room that has a sign on the door that says procedure in progress, scary! Rita can't find the Doppler, Rita finds the Doppler, puts the goo on my belly and then realizes the Doppler doesn't work. So they hurriedly clean another room clean off the goo put me in the other room and put on more goo. Our baby is moving all over the place and she is chasing him with the Doppler across my belly, we hear his heartbeat several times and she says "wow that kid is doing great if he moves that much", granted he was probably enjoying the glucose much more than I was. So I run back down stairs and the cheery/slow lady says you have the same birthday as my son! Then proceeds to poke my right arm, she can't get my vein to bleed so she is digging away in there, (and thus my initial feelings were right to not trust this lady). I was dehydrated by this point as I'd been there 2 hours and hadn't drank much that morning. So she gives up and pokes my left arm and promises she will get the blood, walah it works. I love my Dr and his entire staff but I couldn't help but find the whole situation comical!

Later that night we went to our mission reunions the Wee Connolly was really active when I talked to my mission pres wife and TJ's mission president, we are thinking of naming him after my late mission pres, Pres. Stewart. Anyway we'll see what he looks like. After I laid down for bed Wee Connolly was jumping on my bladder for 1o minutes straight, previously he has done this sporadically but it was a constant jumping feeling, it was awesome.