Bumpdate ~ Week 37

Week 37 - Third Trimester

• Baby is about the size of a : a stalk of Swiss chard OR a tackle box
• Weight : 6.3 lb.  |   19.13 in.
•  Baby is slowing down at this point since he is almost full term and is preparing for life outside mama's belly. His lungs are fully developed and baby is gaining good fat for life after birth.

37 week appointment:

• heart beat: 140 bpm
• mama measuring: 37 cm
• dilated 1.5 cm 
• baby is head down

Gender: boy!

Weight Gain: 31 pounds

How I Feel: I have been feeling pretty nauseus and uncomfortable this week. That may have something to do with sitting in my grad class all week. I'm used to chasing a busy two year old around all day, but this week I've been sitting in class. My legs and ankles are not so happy about it. The nausea was much worse this week, but what can you do!

• Stretch marks: none
• Belly button: popped out, mostly on the left side 
• Other: varicose veins (almost gone), pelvis aches, and lots of swelling this week

Cravings: not really anything. I've actually been feeling nauseous lately.

Food Aversions: the same, fish (except shrimp)

Movement: Little man is pretty busy each time I eat and especially busy from 7:30-10 pm. Mostly knees and feet out the top of my tummy.

Sleep: I'm not sleeping as well as I used to. I fall asleep quickly, but sleep lightly until I have to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Usually I sleep well after that though!

Best Moment This Week: finishing a great grad class with my amazing team!

Looking Forward to: being home with D-man next week and working on the baby room! Also, the 3 day weekend with my family.

What I Miss: walking without waddling ;)

Diet: This week I was in a grad class that was one of the best classes I have ever taken. One, it was a class on a new way to teach science - woo! Two, I was working with my team throughout the whole class. Three, we got paid to take the class and breakfast and lunch were included. The class was through UNI and we ate at the Piazza every single day. It was delicious. y favorite part? The options on the salad bar - which is exactly what I had every day. Yummo. So, yes. I am still eating clean 80/20. I can do this, I can do this. How many weeks left?

Exercise: Working out got a little harder this week. Since I was taking a class and I got out at 3 pm each day, I decided to go to the gym after class. This helped the swelling, but I was pretty wiped out at that point. I pushed myself through my workouts and I'm really glad I did. I'm still doing the Short Cut to Shred program and running intervals between sets. I always feel good after my workouts and I'm cleared to work out as long as I "listen to my body." Got it.

What's Happening This Week: Not too much is going on this week as I am in class and Dayton is going to daycare while I am in class. The ladies came over Monday for the Bachelorette. There were only three of us, but it was a nice change. Most of our other nights were filled with grilling, walks, and playing outside while the hubs built Dayton's new play set. I'm so excited for it to be done! We're all ready for the weekend!

Birthdays

We have two nephews and they couldn't be any cuter. We celebrated both of those nephews birthdays in June and July. I was so happy that we would be able to see our family at least two more times before babe #2 showed up.

On June 26th we celebrated our nephew, Jackson's, 3 1/2 birthday. His birthday is in December, so celebrating his half birthday was a great idea and one we were excited about! Dayton loves to play with Jax, so he was talking about going to his party as soon as we got the invitation. Every time he walked by the invitation on the fridge he would say, "I go Jackson's party and eat cupcake." Too cute. So when the party finally came, he was over the moon excited. I didn't think he would fall asleep in the car on the way there, but thankfully he did.

Jackson had a Paw Patrol party and everything was absolutely adorable! Great job, Karen! Dayton loved spending time with his grandma and grandpa, eating all kinds of goodies (especially the cupcakes), and playing with his cousins. Dayton wanted to hold baby Macy the entire party, so after he had eaten and settled down a bit, we let him. I think it's his favorite thing to do. That and play with his cousins. Adorable!

photo cred: Karen Bishop

And thanks to Karen for sending me this sweet photo of Dayton!

Bumpdate ~ Week 36

Week 36 - Third Trimester

• Baby is about the size of a : canary melon OR a cabbage patch doll
• Weight : 5.7 lb.  |   18.66 in.
• Baby will be gaining about half a pound per week at this point. Baby has ridges that look like teeth but he won't get teeth for quite some time. Baby sleeps about 90% of the time now and does not have much room to move around. 

36 week appointment:

• heart beat: 123 bpm
• mama measuring: 35 cm
• dilated 1 cm 
• baby is head down

Gender: boy!

Weight Gain: 29 pounds

How I Feel: I'm actually feeling pretty good! I really don't have too much to report. I still have some pelvis aches, but they're really few and far between and only when I move certain ways. My varicose veins have lightened up. I think it's due to losing some water weight. I have been feeling kind of nauseous lately in the mornings until about noon and then again from about 7 pm until bed time.

• Stretch marks: none
• Belly button: popped out, mostly on the left side 
• Other: varicose veins (less noticeable now), pelvis aches, and I haven't had any swelling for a few weeks

Cravings: not really anything. I've actually been feeling nauseous lately.

Food Aversions: the same, fish (except shrimp)

Movement: about the same. Little man is most active from 8-10 pm and I definitely notice him more when I'm sitting down and not moving around. Which doesn't happen to often with a busy toddler! Baby boy also gets the hiccups about 2-3 times per day now. Dayton thinks it feels funny.

Sleep: sleeping well - as long as I don't take a nap. If I take a nap during the day then I don't sleep well at all at night. I still get very hot at night and have to sleep with minimal covers. I also getting up to use the bathroom at least once a night.

Best Moment This Week: our small group cook out night!

Looking Forward to: going into labor?!

What I Miss: not too much, honestly. We're having a great summer and I really do enjoy being pregnant!

Diet: still eating clean 80/20. I've been feeling nauseous, so it's been harder to get in all the calories I need during the day. I have pretty much cut out my morning snack on some days just because of the time we go to the gym and I'm not hungry. My appetite usually picks up in the afternoon though!

Exercise: still working out six days a week. I'm back on the Jim Stoppani Short Cut to Shred workout. I'm still able to do 95% of the exercises without any problems. I'm feeling strong and good! I'm still running with interval sprints. Some days running is hard, some days running feels totally normal. I'm feeling great with my workouts!

What's Happening This Week: Monday day and I had a pretty normal relaxed day and that night was girls night/Bachelorette night. Tuesday was another low key day, but Day and I make it a practice to go to the pool after nap time each day. Wednesday we got to see Beth and Baby Macy at lunch and that night was our small group cookout. Thursday my friends 8 year old daughter is going to hang out with us in the morning and then meet my friend for lunch. We're also having some friends over for dinner. Friday starts the Sturgis Falls weekend celebration. Dayton and I plan to head down town after his nap and meet daddy there. Saturday morning is the parade and then there are all kinds of activities throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday afternoon is our sweet nephews 1/2 birthday party and Dayton is SO excited to go (and have cupcakes)!

Potty Training 101

The night before potty training boot camp. Obviously he's ready!

Sweet baby Day isn't a baby anymore and we have a new baby on the way, so it was time for little man to start potty training. Dayton had shown some interest in going potty - wanting to sit on his potty, asking to use the potty now and then, and best of all asking to wear big boy underwear.

There are probably a million ways to potty train out there and after talking to a few good friends, I decided on the two/three day naked method. There is a book on this potty training method and you can download it or buy it from Amazon here. Honestly, I didn't have time to read a book, so I read this condensed version from Lucie's List. It's not exactly the same, but it's pretty darn close as far as I know. This summary was perfect and worked like a charm.

Items we bought to help with potty training:

organic apple juice - The "special juice" helped our little guy drink more often and also helped have more opportunities to go to the bathroom more.

Potty book - We read this book quite a few times before we started potty training. Dayton loved to "read" it to himself as well while he was going potty.

Munchkin Potty Seat - I bought this at Target. It fit our potty well and doesn't move, but comes on and off of the potty easily. It also has the little boy "guard" in the front to help with beginners.

Summer Infant Lil Loo Potty - I bought two of these from Target about eight months ago. We put one in each bathroom so that Dayton would get used to seeing them and would sit on them now and then. We wanted him to feel comfortable sitting on them and imitate mommy and/or daddy. Half of kiddos learning is imitating! Now that Dayton is potty trained, we keep one in the house and one in our car. This has helped cit out accidents and we've avoided gross public restrooms because of this little thing.

Graco stool - We bought this stool for our bathroom for two reasons: 1) so that Dayton could climb on and off of the potty himself and 2) to wash his hands after using the potty.

What we did:

We started out on a Wednesday and planned to spend three whole days at home. Plus I would then have a little extra help throughout the weekend with the hubs home. I was 34 weeks pregnant and starting to get a little uncomfortable, so sitting on the kitchen floor wasn't the most exciting thought, but I wanted to try this potty training thing before baby #2 showed up.

Day 1:

Dayton and I spent all of Wednesday in the kitchen. I gave him "special juice" (water and organic apple juice) so that he would drink more, therefore pee more. Like clockwork, we went to the potty every 15 minutes to try. We ate breakfast on the floor, snacks on the floor, lunch on the floor, and even dinner on the floor when daddy got home. Dayton stayed naked all day. No clothes, at all.

The first few times that he started to have to pee, he would start to pee and then realize what was going on and he would hold it and we would run to the bathroom to finish. Luckily, Dayton's bathroom is about three feet off of the kitchen, so it was a quick trip. We read books while he was on the potty, we played games, and sang songs all to keep him on the potty to try. Poop was much harder, which I knew it would be. Little man accidentally pooped on the floor twice. Now you know why we stayed in the kitchen. Tile floors = easy clean up. By the afternoon, he was kind of getting it, but I knew we had a long ways to go.

Day 2:

Day two started out about the same. I felt like we were starting completely over. We did go about every 30 minutes instead of every 15 minutes. By 9:30 am, both Day and I were over it. We decided to take a "break" from the kitchen and went to a neighbors house to play outside. I brought his portable potty with us and asked him every 30 minutes if he had to go. His normal answer was "no", but we tried anyways and he didn't have an accident! Whew! Talking to a few of my mommy friends about potty training gave me hope as well because when we got to our play date, I was starting to think this would never work. Mommy friends saved me that morning.

We got back home and had lunch and then it was nap time. I took this opportunity to take a nap as well and refresh. When Day got up, it was like it had clicked. He was telling me he had to go potty, he would run to the potty, he pooped on the potty, etc. It was working. Woohoo!

Day 3:

Day three started out a smidge shaky, but we got right back on track in no time. Day three was our lucky day. It all came together and little man was seemingly potty trained. I did continue to take him to the potty every 30 minutes to an hour to encourage no accidents. We stayed home most of the day, but we did venture out one time with the portable potty in the trunk.

Thankfully, day three was successful and I was one happy mama. Little man was pretty darn proud of himself as well, as he should be!

The weekend and following week:

The following week, Dayton did great with peeing on the potty. He did have 3 poop accidents, but I knew it would happen as it is all so knew. All three of his accidents happened at the gym daycare, so I didn't feel too bad about it. I knew accidents were going to happen as this is a process and not a three day fix. Overall, I was very happy with the three day method and plan to use it with babe #2!

Good job Dayton Thomas We're so proud of you!!

Arboretum Play Date

I love summer. Have I said that lately?! I also love that our small town has a lot of activities for kids. One of the things Dayton and I love to do is go to story time at the library. This week we decided to go to the Humane Society story time at the Arboretum.

A few friends decided to bring their kiddos as well, so we made it into a play date. We met there early and the kiddos played in the children's area for well over an hour before story time started. Two workers from the humane society brought two pups and a story. The kids sat at the benches and "listened" to the story and then got to pet the pups.

It was a hot day, but the kids had fun and I was so glad that Dayton didn't have any accidents. (He's only been potty trained for a week.) He did great! The mommies had a good time too. Our kiddos know each other well and play together great (for the most part). I heart summer.

Bumpdate ~ Week 35

Week 35 - Third Trimester

• Baby is about the size of a : honeydew melon OR a child's backpack
• Weight : 5.7 lb.  |   18.19 in.
• This week will start some rapid weight gain for baby (hopefully not me though). Baby boy will gain about one third of a pound per week. Baby is gaining the brown fat that will keep him warm after birth. The brown fat is different from white fat. The brown fat contains cells that produce heat.

Gender: boy!

Weight Gain: 27 pounds

How I Feel: I'm feeling pretty good this week. A few things have seemed to change though. I definitely have had a lot more pelvis pain. Getting up and down off of the floor hurts a lot more because of my pelvis, but I'm making it. My hips must have widened because I definitely am "waddling"more I think. I think baby may have dropped because of the pains as well. My back gets thrown out more often now as well.

• Stretch marks: none
• Belly button: popped out, mostly on the left side 
• Other: varicose veins (right calf only), pelvis aches, and I haven't had any swelling for about a week now

Cravings: can food be a craving? I'm just hungry all of the time.

Food Aversions: the same, fish (except shrimp)

Movement: little man is moving a little less, but I'm still getting some pretty good kicks in the ribs and middle of my tummy. As far as I know, he's still head down. Last night after dinner Dayton, the hubs and I all got to feel little baby's hiccups.

Sleep: I'm sleeping okay, but not all that great. I wake up and have to use the restroom once or twice. I have to roll over a lot and switch the side I am sleeping on. I've been waking up when the hubs alarm goes off and I don't sleep to well after that. Oh well. I actually like some quiet time in the morning before I get little man up.

Best Moment This Week: getting to do all of our summer activities!

Looking Forward to: our 36 week appointment and ultrasound. I'm nervous about my amniotic fluid levels (because of last time), so I'm starting to get a little anxious about our appointment.

What I Miss: not really anything other than getting up and down easily

Diet: still eating clean 80/20. I've been sticking with one cheat meal per week and one sweat treat with that cheat meal. This week it was a date night out to Whiskey Road with the hubs and then we had froyo after our family pictures on Sunday night.

To help with labor and cervix dilation, I've been drinking raspberry lead tea in the morning and at night. I've also started eating 6 dates a day and taking evening primrose oil. It's countdown time!

Exercise: I'm still working out and running intervals 6 days a week. Day and I usually go to the gym at 9 am now that it is summer time. I'm almost done with phase 3 of the Jamie Eason LiveFit Trainer. I think I will switch back to the Short cut to Shred trainer after I get done with this. I'll have to play working out by ear from here on out because I have no idea how I'll start feeling!

What's Happening This Week: Monday we ventured out of the house more than normal (because of potty training), but we did get to the gym and we got to play outside quite a bit in the morning and the afternoon. We ave quite the set up for play time in the back yard, and Day loves to be outside. Tuesday we were at the gym again and ran a few errands after nap as well as painting a flag picture and playing outside. Wednesday we met our friends at the Cedar Valley Arboretum for a play date and then story time with the Humane Society. We'll visit the gym and the pool this afternoon. Thursday we're going strawberry picking and Friday is story time at the library. Have I said how much I love summer?

Isn't my little photo bomber adorable? and he's even trying to hold his belly like mama. Love!

Bumpdate ~ Week 34

Week 34 - Third Trimester

• Baby is about the size of a : cantaloupe OR a basketball hoop
• Weight : 5.2 lb.  |    17.72 in.
• Baby is now mostly relying on his own immunity and not the placenta. The vernix is disappearing, but some will be left when he is born. The digestive system is fully functioning at this point. Baby boy is also peeing up to a pint of urine a day into the amniotic fluid. The placenta will start to age this week, but it can support baby until birth.

34 week appointment update:

• heartbeat: 130 bpm
• measuring: 34.5 cm
• baby is head down and keeps a hand next to his face

Gender: boy!

Weight Gain: 26 pounds

How I Feel: I'm feeling pretty good still! My back seems to give out every now and then, but I'm going to the chiro every two weeks with my appointments. I can get it back in pretty easily, so it hasn't bothered me too much. I've had some pelvis aches, but it hasn't been too bad lately either.

• Stretch marks: none
• Belly button: popped out
• Other: varicose veins (right calf only), swelling stays away with activity, lemon in my water and raspberry leaf tea, pelvis aches

Cravings: nothing in particular

Food Aversions: the same, fish (except shrimp)

Movement: little man is most active from 8-10 pm. He still likes to push out the right side and give little kicks every now and then.

Sleep: still sleeping pretty well, but waking up 1-3 times a night to use the restroom

Best Moment This Week: our 34 week appointment and being on summer break

Looking Forward to: our 36 week appointment and ultrasound

What I Miss: getting up and down off of the floor easily, but seriously...

Diet: still eating clean 80/20 and not eating any sugar other than one sweet treat on my cheat meal night. It may sound strange, but I feel better and don't swell when I don't eat it. Sugar isn't good for me and it's not good for my baby either. Once I get it out of my system, I don't crave it. So it's really not that bad! I did enjoy some chocolate frozen custard in St. Louis this weekend though!

Exercise: I'm still working out six days a week. I am lifting weights using Jamie Easons LiveFit Trainer and running. I'm on phase three of the LiveFit Trainer and just taking it a little slower and using a little less weight. My plan is to workout until I deliver. We'll see how I do!

What's Happening This Week: Monday was our last day in St. Louis and this week we plan on potty training Dayton. I'll be at the house for 3 days straight and we'll just see how this goes! More on that next week!

St. Louis 2016

Now that school is out, we took the opportunity to go on our last family-of-three mini-vaca to St. Louis with our friends Kate, Ryan, and their babe Emma. We wanted to take Dayton to the zoo because he loves all animals in his books and has learned almost all of their names. We started talking about seeing the animals at the zoo and then little man never stopped. We planned our mini trip for the weekend that I got out of school. The hubs took Monday off and we planned to be gone from Saturday to Monday night.

We left Saturday morning and drove down to St. Louis. After one or two stops, we got there around three in the afternoon. We checked into our hotel and headed over to the Budweiser Brewery. The boys had wanted to take a tour, so we all went along for the ride tour. I'd never been on a brewery tour before, so we put the kiddos in strollers and learned all about Budweiser. The tour was pretty interesting, but Dayton was tired and very ready for dinner so most of my attention and energy were spent on entertaining a cranky two year old. Don't worry, we still had fun!

We ate dinner at a local brewery and distillery right down the way from Budweiser. It was delicious and the boys got to growlers to go and we headed back to our hotel to put the kiddos to sleep. We stayed at a Courtyard Marriott and our rooms just happened to be close to the courtyard, so we put the kiddos to bed and headed out to the courtyard to enjoy some snack and beer (minus me). It worked out perfectly. The courtyard had tables and chairs and couches and the nights were absolutely perfect. The weather could not have been better. All of us were more than happy to hang out outside while the babes slept.

On Sunday we all slept in, had breakfast and then headed out to the zoo! The St. Louis zoo is free and you can even bring in coolers with snacks and drinks. Amazing. Dayton absolutely loved the zoo. It was so cute! The first animal he got to see was a rhino and the look on his face was priceless. He couldn't believe that the animals that he was seeing from his books were actually real. He was so serious and then got the biggest grin on his face. He kept repeating the names of his animals and then saying how big they were. We had such a great day and were at the zoo for almost four hours.

After the zoo, we were all famished so we went back to the hotel to change and rest up a bit then headed out to dinner. My friend Sami had recommended a local pizza place called, Pi. It was amazing. If you ever go to St. Louis you have to go to Pi. It might be the best pizza I have ever had - and that was the genera consensus of everyone in the group. Go there. Trust me.

Monday morning we explored the stadium and downtown area around the arch. They were doing a lot of construction around the arch, so we were able to take pictures far in front of it, but not anywhere near it. Oh well, maybe next time! I have never been to St. Louis or seen the arch up close, so I was happy to get down there and see all the sights.

So long St. Louis! We had a great time seeing a few of the sights. We'll be back again soon.

P.S. - maybe next time I won't be 34 weeks pregnant. Whew! I feel like I did pretty good for being so far along, but boy did this mama get tired with all of the walking around! Thank goodness the weather was so great!