Yeah... It's been a while!

April 22 was my last blog post... Wow, yeah, it's been quite some time. A lot has happened in the past 3 months!

Well, we found an AMAZING midwife for our home birth and have been going full steam ahead on that. Her name is Jennifer, and she is spectacular. She really listens to everything I have to say, talks about ALL of my concerns, gives me a giant hug at every appointment, and has an awesome little cabin that feels like it's in the middle of the woods that she does her appointments out of. I'm so super comfortable there. My appointments are always an hour, compared to the 5 minutes I was getting at the doctor. We also talk about not only the baby, but how this pregnancy is affecting my relationship, my emotional and mental health, and any concerns about anything. She also has this awesome back up, Shawn, who is equally amazing. I don't feel stressed when I go see either one of them. I'm even totally ok with going by myself because I don't feel like John needs to smash some skulls to get someone to listen to me, which is a GIGANTIC plus!

We found out May 10 that our little Peanut is a girl! We have decided on Lilly Katherine Turknett as her name. She's very healthy, and I must admit, John and I both cried. (He cried a little more than I did, which caused me to laugh, which in turn caused the ultrasound tech to tell me to stop so she could get good pictures.) Incoming epic cuteness:

Our Lilly's sweet face

Lilly's feet!

We completed our childbirth classes. They were very helpful and VERY informative. Since they were given by our midwife, they were completely geared towards home birth. We very briefly covered epidurals and pain medicine and induction and pitocin because these aren't things that one has to worry about when giving birth at home. We covered it simply because there are times when transport to a hospital is necessary (albeit rare), and knowing what you're in for can help you better prepare and understand. We also talked about controversial topics like immunizations and circumcision. We discussed breastfeeding, and I'm really happy about that because I didn't know before then that I would literally have her attached to my breast every moment she's awake for that first little bit. It's nice knowing that ahead of time so I don't freak out thinking I'm not making enough. Literally, all newborns do is eat, sleep, and poop. Literally. Well, and be cute.. But they do that when they are eating, sleeping, and pooping. Great multitaskers already. ;)

One baby shower down; one to go. Baby shower number 1 was given by my mom, and I received some great things! We had a Luau themed shower, and it was super cute. I forgot my camera though, so I'll have to add those pics later when I get them from Grandma. :) Everything has been washed, opened, and put in it's place. I was given more uber cute clothes (to add to the gigantic amount I had thanks to a nursing friend who just had a little girl last fall), the stroller/carseat combo I asked for, a playpen (that I got early but still), diapers, toys, loads of bath stuff, a bath spout cover, a thermometer rubber duck, a baby bath tub, healthcare kits, a teeth kit, a handprint kit, and some other cool stuff! Baby shower number 2 is being given by Savannah, who is epically amazing. It's set for August 20. I can't wait.

This summer has been completely full of epic heat. It's killing me. I have spent entirely too much time indoors due to not being able to stand the heat (or sun) outdoors. I went swimming yesterday, and my sunscreen failed me. I'm a little sun-kissed now, but I was pretty red last night. Thankfully, my skin turns burn to tan rather fast, especially when it's super minor, even though even the tiniest sunburn is NOT good. We are super hoping Lilly gets my skin complexion vs John who just burns then turns white again. He's jealous of my tanning abilities... I'm jealous of his eyelashes. It works out. :)

31 weeks, taken a few moments ago

My belly is getting bigger by the day. It's getting harder to walk fast and harder to breathe. It's funny because there's sooo much extra weight in my belly, but I've lost weight overall. Total net weight loss to date : 13 pounds (16 pound loss, 3 pound gain). I do believe she will be a big baby, however not many agree when I tell them that. The most frequent question when I say WHY I think she's going to be a big baby is "are you sure your due date isn't off?" Yes. I'm sure. I know the exact date she was conceived, and the due date is based on dating the first ultrasound when she was literally just a little bean in a black sack. The reason I think she's going to be a big baby is that my uterus is now measuring big. She hit a growth spurt between 21 and 26 weeks. At 21 weeks, I measured 21 cm from pubic bone to top of uterus. At 26 weeks, I measured 28. At 27 weeks, 29 cm. 29 weeks, 32 cm. Generally, plus or minus 3 cm in either direction is fine. Also, the number of centimeters from the pubic bone to the top of the uterus is generally in line with how many weeks along the woman is, so 20 weeks would be roughly 20 cm, etc. At the 19 week ultrasound, she was already measuring about 12 ounces, where the average is roughly 8-9 at that time. It's fine. She's perfect. I was a big baby, so no biggie.

I passed my gestational diabetes screening with flying colors. John is envious of my sugar processing abilities. :) I have also managed to lower my blood pressure, which is also superb. Go. Me.

I think that's all the update I have for now... I'll try to keep up with this a bit better....