24 Week Pregnancy Update

I have officially reached the exciting and dreadful 24 week mark in my pregnancy!!! I say exciting and dreadful because 24 weeks marks viability of the baby in the medical world. It is exciting to know that I have made it this far in the pregnancy but dreadful to me because even though we say that medically a baby can survive outside of the womb at 24 weeks, I know everything about what that baby looks like at this point and what kind of a journey a 24 weeker takes in the NNICU if delivered and it isn't a journey that I want for our family. I have been relatively calm throughout this pregnancy so far and have trusted God to be in control and known everything was in his hands. These next 6 weeks will be my nervous, panic weeks! (I want to deliver at 40 weeks but am comfortable delivering anytime after 30 weeks.) I still trust God in this pregnancy and know that everything is in his hands but also know that Gregg and I would be responsible for making some of the decisions right now if I was to go into labor. We have had several discussions about this and we are both on the same page about the decisions we would make. I have had a completely normal pregnancy to this point and have no reason to think about complications now but because of my work background, I know and have seen too much and am a nervous nelly right now!

Anyways, back to the pregnancy update...

I'm 24 weeks pregnant!!!

(I love these pictures that are cool looks inside at the devolopment of a baby during each stage)

I have taken a couple of the questions out this week that have answers that haven't changed from previous posts (gender prediction, maternity clothes, and have you told family and friends) and just left the ones that have answers that have changed.

Total Weight Gain/ Loss: I have hit the 10 pound mark for weight gain and managed to have gained a little over 5 pounds in the last month. (My appetite increase will be discussed later!)

Sleep: good sometimes and not so good others. I wake up 3-4 times each night to go to the restroom and sometimes have a hard time going back to sleep after I have woken up. I know that if I drank less in the evening I wouldn't have to wake up so many times but I am SOOO thirsty all of the time and have to have a glass of water with me at all times! Plus, I figure that I am getting good practice at waking up to go feed so I might as well just keep it up now.

Best Moment this Week: Getting all the furniture moved into Cade's room and set up last weekend! I love going into the room each day now and looking around and thinking about Cade. It seems so surreal that we will be bringing a baby home in just a few months to sleep in that bed!

Movement: Yes and Gregg was able to feel Cade kick and move for the first time the morning of July 8!

Food Cravings: Still mainly just fruit and water... my current fruit of choice for the last couple of weeks has been watermelon. I have had occasional cravings for onion rings but am picky and only want the onion straw type of ones instead of the big onion rings. My appetite has dramatically increased over the last couple of weeks and I feel like I am hungry most all of the time! Hopefully Mr. Cade is using up all the extra nutrients I have been consuming and is packing on the weight and growing, growing, growing!

Anything make you queasy or sick?: Not anything in particular anymore. I still get sick 1 or 2 times a week

Have you started to show yet?: See for yourself!

Leakage: No, No, and No!!! And as I said during my 20 week post, we are not having this issue till at least 34 weeks and preferably 39 weeks!

Labor Signs: No- see previous answer! (I have noticed that I have had a few braxton hicks contractions over the past week or so)

Belly button In or Out: In

Wedding Rings On or Off: On

Happy or Moody most of the time: I would still say happy most of the time! This last week has been a little more emotional for me because one of my closest friends from work moved to Taiwan with her husband for a year. I am very excited for the two of them but very sad for our office and saying goodbye at 23 1/2 weeks pregnant wasn't the easiest thing to do!

Milestones: On Friday night (July 16) we were laying in bed watching a movie and Cade was really moving and kicking. I lifted my shirt up over my belly so that Gregg could get a good feel and we were able to see him kicking from the outside!!! It was so amazing to see my belly popping up as he kicked all around in there! We were even able to take a quick video of the movement to send to our families.

Weekly Wisdom: In tribute to my friend Ginny and her new adventures in Taiwan, I leave you with this quote she posted on her facebook page before leaving: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails, explore, dream, discover." -Mark Twain

Working on the Nursery and our weekend with my family

We have started to work on the nursery!!! We have had to do some major furniture moving and re-arranging to get this done but everything is just about in place and the room is looking great! Our current guest room is becoming the nursery and we will eventually move the bed and decor from that room into the office so that our friends/ family will have a place to stay when they visit. (We had the bed set-up in the middle of our living room all weekend while my parents were here so they could have a place to sleep!)

The first thing that we had to do to the now nursery was add overhead lighting and a ceiling fan to that room. (Neither of the extra rooms upstairs have overhead lighting- only a wall plug for a lamp that is controlled by the switch.) We found a fan that we liked at Home Depot and then Gregg re-wired the electricity in the room and installed the fan! We bought a second fan that matches this one and will be putting it up in the office once we get the nursery all done.

Starting the project- the hole Gregg put in the ceiling for the fan

Our new fan in the nursery!

In addition to the WONDERFUL fan, Gregg also put in a remote control for the fan and the lights for me to have! I love this little thing and the fact that I can adjust the fan speeds and dim or brighten the lights from my recliner in the room!

After we got the lighting finished then we decided the walls needed a little color on them! I painted every wall in the house 3 years ago when I moved in and then haven't changed anything since. I choose a white color for the walls in this room and bathroom but got real bored with that color after the first coat and never went back for a second coat. (This was the only room in the house with white walls!) I, of course, wanted color on the walls and found a beautiful green color called "Corn Husk Green" that I wanted to paint but my practical husband wanted to put a neutral tan color on the walls in order for it to be easier to sell. We looked at paint colors several times and I begged Gregg to let me paint the room green. I finally convinced him by agreeing to re-paint our office (once the light and fan are installed) and the guest bath to the neutral tan color while I am on maternity leave. (The office is currently "Red Raider Red" and will be a total beast to repaint but something that must be done since most people looking to buy a house don't appreciate my love of Texas Tech!)

my awesome mask for painting!

first coat of paint on the walls

Gregg hard at work!

We finished painting Wednesday evening and also picked my niece Bailey up from her great-grandmother's house to stay with us for the rest of the week. Last year we did all sorts of fun things with Bailey while she was with us (6 flags, zoo, aquarium, etc...) but this year we had things we needed to do around house and I don't enjoy being outdoors in this crazy heat. We incorporated Bailey into everything we were working on and she loved getting to help us out with Cade's room!

I had a doctors appointment on Thursday and took Bailey with me to the doctor while Gregg went to pick up furniture (we wanted to get it all before the rain hit). My appointment this time was really short (Bailey's description was 45 minutes driving for a 5 minute appointment and then 45 minutes back home)- we heard the heart beat and I got my belly measured for the first time. I am measuring 23 weeks which puts me right on track and the heartbeat was a strong 146 beats per minute. Bailey LOVED hearing the heartbeat and thought it was so cool that she got to be at the appointment and hear Cade's little heart beating!

After the appointment we went home and Bailey helped Gregg put the crib together. She also loved getting to do this and wanted to be the one that tightened every screw in the crib. We enjoyed having her help us and I really liked that she could hold pieces for Gregg so that I could take pictures of it all!!!

Gregg getting started

proud of their hard work!
the mobile hanging on the crib

My parents came on Friday and helped us move the rest of the furniture upstairs. Gregg and I had measured the room before buying the furniture and had made sure that all the furniture would fit into the room but when we started moving things in that little room got even smaller real quickly!!! It does all fit and we absolutely LOVE everything and the way it is all coming together!

my new recliner (LOVE IT!!!)

the dresser and hutch

looking into the nursery (this picture has terrible color bc the walls are much more green than what this shows)

Gregg had to teach CPR Saturday morning and so Mom, Dad, Bailey and I all went to eat breakfast and then to Home Depot so we could get new wood blinds for the nursery. I despise the mini-blinds that we currently have in the room and have always had curtains hanging so that I didn't have to look at them. I don't want full length curtains in the nursery and want to be able to enjoy the sunlight so the mini-blinds had to go!

My Dad working on hanging the blinds

I love the way that the new blinds finish off the room and how much nicer they make everything look overall! This little room is quickly becoming my favorite in the house- I love sitting in the chair and reading every evening. I can't wait to get our bedding in, to hang a few things on the wall and see the room all finished!

we took the middle shelf out so that this could be a changing table also (now I gotta figure out if I want baskets up top or to leave the space open and just decorate it)

Sunday morning we went to meet my Great Aunt Cleacy and Uncle Rod for lunch at La Madeline's. Cleacy was my Grandmother's oldest and closest sister and helped raise my Dad and Uncle. She is 96 years old now and lives here in a nursing home. She has really aged over this last year and I don't think she recognizes me most times when I visit now. She does love my Daddy though and her face lit up when he walked in and she recognized him immediately!

My Dad, Cleacy, and Rod

Cleacy has always knitted and I have several afghans that she made for me growing up. When I was in college I could tell that the knitting was getting harder for her and so I asked her to make me a baby blanket to use someday. Before she finished the blanket, Cleacy fell and broke her wrist and hasn't knitted since then. My other great aunt, Evanel, finished the blanket and I have had it hanging in the back of my closet since then. We took the blanket to lunch with us to show Cleacy and promised her that we would bring the baby to see her in the blanket after he is born.

the blanket

We had an amazing weekend with Bailey and my parents and LOVED having their help around the house and with the nursery! Gregg and I are so blessed to have the incredible families that we do and we look forward to adding our sweet sweet addition to our families!!!