27 weeks

Every week seems to just fly by so fast, it's getting a little crazy. This week was a very busy one, so I'm hoping for a more calm one coming up!

Monday night some of my family had an early Thanksgiving since a lot of us were seeing our spouse's families on Thursday. It was a great time as always. On Tuesday I drove about 2 hours to Phoenix for my step-grandpa's funeral (beautiful Catholic mass) and had to come straight back home afterwards because I had to work Wednesday morning. I woke up early to get to work, then right after work headed back down to Phoenix for Thanksgiving! We were luckily there for two nights, but ended up doing a lot of driving on Thanksgiving traveling between families, so although it was fun, it was still a bit tiring. We came home today and traffic was just insane so our 2ish our drive ended up being 3 1/2 hours. No fun at all! 

Slow traffic was an understatement. We were completely stopped! Luckily it wasn't a fatal accident and just looked like 6 cars had fender benders and were blocking the road.

I was able to enjoy In-N-Out, PF Chang's, and a Thanksgiving feast, though, so it was all worth it. Plus, I got to celebrate my mother-in-laws birthday and spend a lot of time with great family.

Double-double protein style (w/ allergy to the bun!), fries, and a chocolate shake. I could have easily eaten a second cheeseburger.

On to the baby update.

How far along: 27 weeks (last week of the second trimester!)

Weight: 155 pounds (-30 total/+8)

Nesting: I have definitely been nesting for a few weeks now, but I've also been really tired, so it's kind of difficult to deal with. My brain keeps telling me I must clean super random things like under the couch and shower walls (which I've never cleaned, ever, because it's never accumulated scum/mold or appeared dirty), but my body is like, "I'm going to just completely fall apart on you if you don't take a nap right this second. Oh, oh look! Your eyes are closing! Better sit down before you just fall over!" Luckily I'll find moment where I can get some stuff done and still have time for a nap. 

Annoying Symptom: Dry, dry, DRY skin. Like so incredibly dry that certain parts of my body look sunburned because they are so red, irritated, and painful. I've been using fractionated coconut oil, but it's time to break out the really greasy balms because after an hour it doesn't help anymore. I made a belly butter with shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil, beeswax, etc a few months ago that I've been using and it is really soothing for my belly but it stays greasy for a long time, so it's inconvenient to use unless it's night time. So I'm going to try and either make something less greasy for the rest of my body (my hips are somehow the driest which is weird, and it doesn't help to pull down/up my pants all the time to pee) or I'm just going to buy some heavy duty lotion and save the oil for my belly. I've just grown to love non-toxic things and lotions have so many bad ingredients! But, the itchiness just kills me. I of course fell in love with the Paul Mitchell lemon sage lotion at the hotel, and of course it's crazy expensive. So any lotion recommendations would be great!

Sleep: I'm not quite sure if I'm sleeping poorly, or I'm just extra tired, but I'm so tired all the time now. I feel like aside from waking up to pee constantly or having terrible dreams, I sleep pretty solidly. I'm thinking I could be anemic so I've started taking my desiccated liver pills again for the iron, and hopefully that helps! I have blood work getting done next week so I'm going to ask my doc to tack on an iron levels test. I don't take prenatals anymore (I know, I'm so terrible) but I do take individual vitamins tailored to what I need, but I haven't been taking iron because CONSTIPATION. The desiccated liver pills have more bioavailable iron (uh, I sound like a hippy) so it shouldn't affect my bowels like other iron pills! So I feel like it's probably that, and the fact that I'm so much closer to the third trimester. 

Cravings: Chocolate. 

26w5d

Movement: She's been more relaxed the past few days which is a little odd, but I'm still feeling her punch and kick! I think she finally changed positions and is no longer breech, so I think I'm just feeling things differently now. I have an ultrasound next week so I'll be able to see her position and know for sure.

Wedding Ring On or Off: Still off.

Best Moment of the Week: Duh, so much good food.

Vince brought me leftover PF Chang's in bed at the hotel, and my pillow fell over flinging a fork full of food everywhere! Yes, I did clean it up but I wanted to cry about a forkful wasted. 

Looking Forward To: This school semester being over. I have a standardized Kaplan exam, two final simulations, and my final, and then I'm home free! So close, yet so so far. 

Panicking About: Time going so quickly! I missed out on my entire first trimester and part of my second, and now that I'm almost to the third, I feel like pregnancy is going to be over soon. The other day I was thinking about how some babies start eating solids round 4-6 months old and I was like, "OH MY GOD, THAT'S SO SOON! My baby won't be a baby for long!" I of course had to remind myself that I haven't even had a baby yet and that I needed to chill the hell out.

What I Miss: Easily putting on shoes. I'm not going to lie, I thought it was one of those things pregnant people just exaggerated about, but it's true! Oh, so true! I don't feel like I'm even big enough yet to feel like i should have a problem with bending over, but I definitely can't bend. So I always have to sit down and angle my body to the side or lift my leg onto something, like the trash can. My balance is getting a little wonky though, so I'm not sure I'll be able to do that for long. 

Milestones: Swimming! A couple days after finding out I was pregnant I had a crazy strong desire to swim, but we all now what happened soon after that. I have a membership to the NAU gym and olympic sized pool but it's full of intimidating college students and I wasn't even sure if I could swim now that all my muscle is gone, so I was going to get a membership to a local gym that has a lot of old people. They decided to up their prices though and I didn't want to pay for it, so I just haven't gone swimming but I think about it all the time. I was able to hangout in the pool at our hotel, though, and I am definitely capable of swimming so now I'm more determined to just go to the pool at the college. They have a lot of lanes open for open swim so hopefully I can figure out their slow times so I can go and not worry about being embarrassed/slowing people down with my snail pace!

26w5d

"You that I love with love so dear..."

Last year was my first Thanksgiving where I didn't spend it with my whole family and just stayed at home with Vince drinking rum cider and cooking all day. This year we spent it with Vince's family, most of whom I was meeting for the first time. Let me tell you, there were a few moments of 'Holy crap, these people are my family! I have more family!'

It was surreal at times to realize that there were so many more great people being added to my life. Those people that I was surrounded by are the people that my kids are going to know as cousins and (great) aunts and uncles and grandma and grandpa! These people who are strangers to me, but at the same time completely welcoming and loving as if we've known each other for years, will be part of my life for the rest of it. It's such a good feeling to realize that family is family, even if you aren't related by blood!

As great as my new family members are, I did kind of miss the Thanksgivings I'm used to as a kid. I almost shared one of my traditions with my new family but chickened out because it's a tradition that makes me cry, so I'll share it here instead. 

Every time my 'regular' family gathers around and my grandma is there, she shares a poem called The Family Meeting by Charles Sprague. We always joke about how she can't make it through the first few lines without crying, and that's one of the traits that's been passed on to me. Here's the poem:

We are all here,
Father, mother,
Sister, brother,
All who hold each other dear.
Each chair is filled, we are all at home!
Tonight let no cold stranger come;
It is not often thus around
Our old familiar hearth we're found.
Bless, then, the meeting and the spot,
For once be every care forgot;
Let gentle peace assert her power,
And kind affection rule the hour.
We're all--all here.

We're not all here!
Some are away,--the dead ones dear,
Who thronged with us this ancient hearth,
And gave the hour to guileless myrth.
Fate, with a stern, relentless hand,
Looked in and thinned our little band;
Some like a night flash passed away,
And some sank lingering day by day;
The quiet graveyard--some lie there,
And cruel ocean has his share.
We're not all here!

We are all here.
Even they--the dead--though dead, so dear,
Fond memory, to her duty true,
Brings back their faded forms to view.
How lifelike, through the mist of years,
Each well-remembered face appears!
We see them, as in times long past;
From each to each kind looks are cast;
We hear their words, their smiles behold,
They're 'round us as they were of old.
We are all here!

We are all here:
Father, mother,
Sister, brother,
You that I love with love so dear.
This may not long of us be said;
Soon must we join the gathered dead,
And by the hearth we now sit 'round
Some other circle will be found.
Oh, then, that wisdom may we know
Which yields a life of peace below;
So, in the world to follow this,
May each repeat, in words of bliss,
We're all--all here.

The last stanza is the one that gets me every time and is my favorite part of the poem. You that I love with love so dear. This may not long of us be said; soon must we join the gathered dead, and by the hearth we now sit 'round, some other circle will be found. Doesn't that just make you want to cry?! I don't necessarily believe in heaven, but it is a nice thought that someday I will sit in a circle with all the ones I love.

This poem is a good reminder that no matter how far away I am from those I love, we can still be close.

For those of you that are married, have you ever felt like this?