Throwback Thursday (Super Throwback Edition!)

For Christmas, I scanned a bunch of old pictures for my sister, and now have some very fun family photos from when we all were little (and from even before that!). I thought it would be fun to share some of them on here, especially as we get closer to thinking about what our little one will look like. Granted, it's a little hard to compare girl versus boy, and these pictures are definitely heavier on my older sister than me, for obvious reasons, but it's still fun :). 

This was when I was "blond" around 4. I remember just loving that nightgown!

Sweet sisters

Baby Kortney - so cute!

Beautiful mom!

Ashley, looking just like her daughter does now, while my Poppa looks on. 

For some reason, I've always done that nose crinkle in photos! I've mostly broken the habit, but still do it sometimes. 

One of my favorite pictures - on the steam trains at Tilden Park in Berkeley

Beautiful mom on her wedding day

Can't wait to make all of our new family memories!

3 Months from Today!

Today is January 29th. Baby Evan is due on April 29th.

That means, 3 months until he should be all developed and ready to go!

Of course, I know that most first time babies are at least a week late, so I'm not counting on him being here in exactly 3 months, but it's amazing how rapidly that date is approaching. I remember so vividly, still, when we were just 4 weeks pregnant, so excited and nervous to believe that the pregnancy was real, and how far in the future the end of April seemed. It was still unbelievably hot and seemed like the heat would never end. And now, here we are, with only a little more than 12 weeks between us and parenthood. We seem to be heading rapidly to spring, with days averaging in the mid 70s, warm shoes being traded in for sandals, and afternoons being spent lounging in the sun.

Spring is such a lovely time to be pregnant and having a baby and I am so looking forward to soaking in this last season before Evan arrives.

27 Weeks

(Feeling so thankful to be well rested and happy for a beautiful Friday)

Thankfulness: I am thankful for loving family and friends. I had some excitement this week, when I woke up and had over 6 contractions in 40 minutes (6 in an hour is when you need to worry). I've had more nice phone conversations and texts than any time in recent memory, which made me feel very loved. I'm also very thankful that it ended up being a false alarm, just overdoing it and a bit of dehydration, rather than early labor. 

How Far Along? 27 weeks. Can't believe I've reached the 3rd trimester!!!

Size of the Baby? A rutabaga. Definitely a random association this month - can't say I've ever eaten one!

Sleep? Two rough nights. I woke up from 3-5 Friday night (not fun when you're going to be driving 7 hours the next day) and then was up at 4am on Wednesday morning due to those pesky contractions. Otherwise pretty normal. 

Eating? Paleo took a bit of a nose dive this week, between visiting my sister and eating lots of yummy foods and feeling a bit off. Pasta was consumed multiple times :). 

Exercise: I did yoga while I was away, which was nice, and went to the gym Tuesday, but it seems like that was a mistake, since that's what potentially sparked all those contractions. It's put me in a hard place, since now I'm feeling worried about being active. I don't want to overdo it again, but I also don't want to keep from being active if I'm able. My midwife told me I should just play it by ear, so that's the current plan. I'm forseeing more yoga and less gym over the last few months, though. 

Best Moment? Celebrating this girl's 3rd birthday!

Can't believe it's been 3 years since she was born. She is such a big girl now! I had an amazing time getting to spend the weekend with her and her family and so wish we could live closer and spend more time together. 

Milestones: First legitimate freak out over pre-term labor :(. 

Mommy Update:  I feel like I've been saying this for a few weeks, but the Braxton Hicks contractions really started kicking up this week, and on Tuesday I was getting them every 10-15 minutes for 2 hours. When I woke up at 4am Wednesday, I realize they were still coming, and even faster. After I hit 6 in 40 minutes, I decided to go ahead and call the Midwife. She told me to drink some water and take a bath, and after another 40 minutes (and 4 contractions), they finally started slowing down. 

I spent the next day at school timing contractions (which were coming between 10 and 30 minutes apart) and generally freaking out. After meeting with one of the midwifes and being tested for pre-term labor, I was prescribed rest and drinking lots of gatorade. I took the next day off of work, which got my contractions back to their random state. Still had some stretches where I was getting them every 6-8 minutes, but luckily that only lasted for a few. I really need to figure out how to manage these for the rest of the pregnancy without driving myself crazy. 

I'm also really struggling with the Catch 22 of contractions. Being dehydrated causes contractions, but so does needing to go to the bathroom. So if I don't drink enough, I have contractions, but if I drink enough, I have to go to the bathroom more, which causes contractions. I'm still not sure how I am supposed to be managing this. 

This is definitely a learning experience :). 

Baby Update:  He has gotten so much more active! I've had lots of instances where I've seen my tummy really jump from his kicks and rolls. Especially with all the excitement, it's been so reassuring to feel him so much more often. He is having lots of brain activity and he can now open and close his eyes.

First Two Trimesters

Now that I've reached the third trimester, I thought it would be fun to look at all the pictures. Hard to believe I looked so little when all this started :). 

First Trimester:

2nd Trimester:

You can definitely tell that the 2nd part of the 2nd trimester was when I went from a little rounded to definitely pregnant. The start of this journey seems so long ago, but at the same time, I can't believe I'm finally in the last trimester. I remember how long it seemed to take to hit 2nd trimester, but this one has really flown by. Granted, the last few weeks have been a bit rougher,with lots more, sometimes concerning contractions, and other signs that I need to start slowing down. 

Still, I'm excited to see where the 3rd trimester takes me! I looked forward to being pregnant for such a long time, and I have to say, besides the almost constant worry about everything going okay, I really, really love it, especially now that Evan is moving so much more. It is such a special privilege and I am so thankful to be going through this experience. Fingers crossed for an uneventful last 13 weeks. 

26 Weeks

(Tired much? Driving 14 hours over the span of 3 days will do that to you. Technically, this picture is about 4 days "late" - my photographer was out of town:) )

And for fun, a comparison shot. Funny how "big" I thought I was at 16 weeks!

 

Thankfulness: I am thankful to finally be writing this post :). Considering tomorrow I'm techically 27 weeks, I'm more than a little late on this. Between the 3 day weekend, and some busyness and excitement, it's not until now that I've had the time or inclination to sit down and do a blog post. 

How Far Along? 26 weeks. Last week in 2nd trimester

Size of the Baby? A cabbage. Baby  Evan should be about 2 pounds now :)

Sleep? In general, fewer nights of insomnia. I'm still waking up about 2 times a night, but usually can fall back asleep pretty easily. Hips are getting more sore from sleeping, and I've actually gotten tired of using my pregnancy pillow, so I've been switching off using it. 

Eating? Eh...about the same. I'm not sure I'll ever get real cravings like they stereotype - definitely haven't experienced this yet. Still working towards paleo when we can. 

Exercise: Well, it's gotten a bit harder. We opted for a walk around the Riparian preserve instead of a true hike this week. I did walk at the gym some and did some yoga.

Best Moment? We had our Family Circle appointment, which was nice. It's so fun to get to hear Evan's heartbeat and see how everyone in the group is growing :). We all definitely look pregnant now. Our "focus" was prenatal yoga and doulas, and one of the yoga instructors from my yoga studio was there. She was super informative about the benefits of yoga (and some positions in particular).

Milestones: Not too much happened this week, which I suppose is a good thing :). 

Mommy Update: Work was pretty tough and tiring this week. I did bow out of an after school meeting in favor of resting at home, which I think was a good call. I'm finding I need to be slowing down a lot more. Continuing to get contractions every day, but since they are staying random, all should be well. 

Baby Update:  Evan continues to look more and more like a real newborn baby. His eyelashes are growing nicely, and his immune system is getting ready for outdoor life. He's also taking lots of practice breaths. 

99 Days!

This is happening:

Less than 100 days! Granted, 99 still seems fairly significant, but this is a big milestone. Evan is celebrating by doing a whole lot more dancing around in there :).

Almost to 3rd trimester!

25 Weeks

 

("Mrs. Lyon, are you having a baby? I noticed because your tummy was getting really big!" - a random 3rd grader at school)

Thankfulness: I am so thankful for my husband. He has been so wonderfully sweet handling my pregnancy nerves, putting up with my 8:30 bedtimes, and even making me breakfast on my first day back at work on Monday. He's also been very cute, "talking" to Evan and continuing to play him favorite songs (Evan was apparently not impressed with his first John Williams experience. We'll have to try again later :) ). 

How Far Along?  25 weeks. Two weeks until 3rd trimester! 

Size of the Baby? A cauliflower! Definitely some changes to the numbers this week. He should be at least an inch past a foot and more than 1.5 pounds (and maybe closer to two!)

Sleep? Overall, a lot better. I'm now getting used to getting up a minimum of twice a night and am able to fall back asleep pretty easily. I did have one morning where I woke up at 5:30, but that was probably because I went to bed at 8:30 the night before. I am just trying to be more accepting in general of these interruptions - good practice, right?

Eating? We did a good job of eating paleo for all our dinners (besides a date night), and have been slowing cutting back on the junk food. I bought some chocolate covered bananas from costco that have been a great dessert and have officially decided to be done with the rest of the Christmas candy, which feels nice. I *may* still be indulging in my jar of nutella, but since I'm having it with fruit, I feel like it's okay :). I'm fairly certain I'll be scheduling my gestational diabetes test at my appointment Wednesday, and am hoping that I'll be in the clear for that!

Exercise: I did great! Finally got back to my goal of 5 days a week, and I made up the yoga I missed last weekend by going to a class Wednesday night. I did decide not to run when I went to the gym Thursday - things are just getting a bit more uncomfortable, so that phase of pregnancy may be over. I am looking into getting a support band, though. I also did about 10 minutes of weights Thursday, which was really nice. It had been a long time!

Our short but sweet hike on the Waterfall Trail! We did this after Ed ran a half marathon (because he's awesome like that). I thought about doing it by myself, but it was only 40 degrees in the morning, and I decided to just hang out and read while Ed was running. We had a really nice hike, though!

I've started wearing a hydration vest when we hike, which I love. I never have to worry about getting dehydrated during the hike :).

The waterfall! Not much more than a trickle, but how fun would it be to see this when it was in full capacity.

Beautiful view!

Best Moment? Probably seeing Ed run his race and going on our hike together. I keep saying this, but I just love being outdoors and active with Ed. Especially with our beautiful weather. 

Milestones: Hmm...it's been a pretty quiet week. I have my next midwife appointment Wednesday, and am looking forward to discussing these Braxton Hicks with her, since they are still bothering me. I did take care of some pregnancy related business this past week - got the process started for FMLA, short term disability, getting a long term sub, scheduling a hospital visit, checking in on my medical insurance, etc. It was so nice to have no work during a work day to make lots and lots of phone calls. 

Mommy Update: It was a pretty good week back at work, surprisingly! I am definitely a bit more tired than I was before break, and got many, many comments about how much I grew over break :). The contractions actually calmed down for the middle of the week, which was lovely, though they came back with a vengeance on Friday. I had report cards due this week, so it's great to be done with those, and also to not be tutoring any more. 

Baby Update:  This seems to be a quieter week, in terms of baby milestones. He keeps gaining fat and hair and is even more aware of his equilibrium. For some doctors, this week marks a last trimester of sorts, since Evan has reached viability and now is just getting bigger and fatter :). He finally had a night of movement intense enough that Ed got to feel him kick, which was wonderful. In general, though, he seems like a pretty calm baby, and still has pretty soft flutters. Hopefully I'll be able to feel him more intensely soon!

24 Weeks

(Looking Big and Tired)

Thankfulness: I am so thankful for reaching 24 weeks. Obviously we want our little boy to keep cooking for a long, long time, but it's crazy to think this is how far along our niece and nephew were when they were born. I am also very thankful that I've been gifted with the occassional night of good sleep. Even if it's just once a week, waking up feeling rested is beyond wonderful. 

How Far Along?  24 Weeks! Only 4 weeks left until 3rd trimester, which seems impossible to believe. 

Size of the Baby? A cantaloupe.  At some point, I'm sure these measurements will get a bigger range, since they've been giving the same numbers for the last few weeks. That said, other sources say baby is at least a foot long and well over a pound (other sources say 1.3 lbs)! He's likely grown about 4-6 ounces in the last week. So happy our little baby keeps growing.  

Sleep? Plenty of rough nights lately, but Thursday night was fantastic! Slept in until 7:40 with only getting up once. It's put me in such a wonderful mood for the day. I've noticed a super high correlation between good sleep and not feeling nauseous, so good sleep gives me many reasons to be thankful.

Eating? Ed and I have slowly started transitioning back to more paleo styled eating. We've been having fantastic dinners and protein heavy breakfasts. Still too much chocolate, but that's a holiday hazard that'll be going away eventually :). I'm definitely finding that when I don't sleep well, like the night before last, I feel like I'm back in first trimester, sickness wise, which definitely hurts eating. Going to keep working on high protein/fat and lower unhealthy carbs. 

Exercise: I did okay with this. Was active outside a whole lot more, but still not as much as I would have liked. I did do my best though. That's all I can ask. Even though I only worked out 3 times, it was probably my highest mileage week in quite a long time. I am especially proud of our 4.5 mile hike - it is the course of a race in a month that I may sign up to hike (Ed will be doing a longer version that day). We'll see how I feel about doing that distance in a month though. Hopefully with going back to work and being more on a routine, I will be successful in hitting my goal this week. 

Best Moment? Another fantastic week! Best moments would have to be having out second Christmas with my side of the family, having my niece be super cute about the baby ("Is there a baby in your tummy?" "Is that for baby Evan?" "Is baby Evan sleeping? He needs to wake up!" plus lots of kisses for baby Evan). Of course, having my baby shower was also amazing - wonderfully cute and special, and we felt very showered with love. My mom and sisters did such a great job with it!

Milestones: We've put together all of the items we were gifted at the shower, which makes us feel much more prepared. In a less positive milestone, we also had my first major freak out about pre-term labor, and first panicky call to our Midwife (technically this happened Saturday, but I'm including it here since most of the freaking out was this past week). Short story - I'm just a first time mom and worrying about normal symptoms. I do love that we can call our midwife about concerns, and even schedule extra appointments, which I still may do. 

Mommy Update: Long story of the above, I've started experiencing the elusive Braxton Hicks contractions. Basically, these are contractions that don't indicate a start in labor, but are sort of scary when you don't know what's going on. Ever since we got back from California, I have been experiencing increasingly more of these. Combined with a few other symptoms that are normal but, in conjunction with labor can spell out pre-term labor, and I was a bit of a mess. I never had more than 3 in an hour, which means it's fine, but they are still very disconcerting. Worse, they seem aggrevated by having to go to the bathroom, so I am pretty concerned about how I will fare going back to work, since I often have to go 3-3 1/2 hours without a bathroom break due to our schedule. 

On good days I only have 4 or 5 during the day, but on more active days it can be upwards of 10. They don't hurt, they are just a bit uncomfortable. Just have to keep reminding myself they are a healthy pregnancy symptom and mean nothing so long as they keep showing up randomly and go away quickly. 

Otherwise I'm doing pretty well. When I get good sleep, I feel amazing. Otherwise I am tired a lot of the time. When I sleep well, I also feel much more positive about life and the pregnancy. I also have fewer contractions. Clearly, I need to sleep as much as possible :). 

Baby Update:  Evan's big milestone is his lung development. This week marks viability because his lungs are finally developed enough that, with substantial support, they could function outside the womb. He's continuing to gain baby fat and everything is growing bigger. Evan can also now tell if he's upside down or not. Kicking is definitely a daily occurrence, but still not quite strong enough for Ed to have been able to feel. Hopefully soon! 

Linking Up!