32 Weeks

This week...

Baby Bell is the size of a... squash! Miss Adalee is weighing in at four pounds, and measures around 16 inches long. She will continue to add around a half a pound per week until she is born. We found out at our appointment last week that she is in the head-down position (at least for now) - which means she is already getting ready for her big trip down the birth canal!

My bump is... a little annoying - if I am being truly honest! I am at the point where everything I try to do has become more challenging - putting on my shoes, getting out of bed, bending over to wash my face, getting into the car, getting off of the couch...the list doesn't end! I am extremely lucky to have such a patient and generous husband who puts up with my complaints and tries to make things in my life a little easier! I will say though, every time I feel Adalee roll over or change position, I can't help but smile and all of the little annoyances quickly fade from memory. 

I have been feeling... like a pregnant lady, with all of the typical 32-week pregnancy symptoms. My heartburn has intensified, but sleeping with my head elevated and taking a few tums each morning with breakfast and each night before bed has started to help. I have also started getting some Braxton Hicks contractions. Basically I just feel a tightening/cramping sensation, usually on the sides of my stomach. Nothing too painful yet and it usually goes away when I move around and drink some water. Knowing that I am not super pain tolerant is making me a little nervous for this whole "giving birth" thing...

I have been craving... ice cream, ice cream, and more ice cream. I am still all about the chocolate chip cookie dough - can't seem to get enough! And I have been using heartburn as an excuse to eat even more ice cream, because it "cools" things down!

Our favorite thing has been... so many things! It has been a busy two weeks, with a baby shower, taking maternity photos, starting our birth class - oh my!

Two weekends ago, we had our first baby shower! It was a beautiful couples shower hosted by my sister Jessica, with help from my mom and Michael's mom! It was great to have our families come together to celebrate Miss Adalee! There was lots of food, drink, dancing, and laughter - I basically couldn't have asked for anything more! During the shower, we also had the chance to catch up with a lot of family members that we do not see frequently - which was really nice! Here are a few photos from the shower...

Jess definitely captured my love of elephants through the shower decor!

The cradle that my Great-Grandfather handmade!

A beautiful baby blanket made by my Grandmother!

Some "Wall Art" from our nephews, James and John! 

Our niece Miriam is even letting Adalee borrow her baby blanket!

Lots of KC Royals outfits! Even one that Michael wore himself
after they won the World Series in 1985!

A big thanks to my wonderful sister for all of her hard work!

Last weekend we set aside some time to take maternity photos with Erica from Anecdotally Yours. We met Erica and her husband Jeff when they handled the videography for our wedding a few summers ago! Erica is a wonderful photographer and we had a great evening walking around Loose Park, taking photos as the sun was setting! Even though Michael was a little on edge about missing the last half of the Chiefs football game, the results are well worth it! Here is a quick preview...more photos to come!

Finally, we had our first of five birth classes last Tuesday. It was actually very informative and helpful, although our instructor is a bit of an "over-sharer". We went through a lot of the changes that my body has experienced, with emphasis on the anatomy side of it. As a former biology major, I admit that I was "nerding out" a little bit! We also covered the first stages of labor, and other important things - like knowing when it is time to go to the hospital! I was so impressed by Michael during the class. He knew a lot of the answers to the instructors questions - which means that he has actually been reading all of his pregnancy books! That is more than I can say for myself! Our homework for this week (yes, we have homework!) is to figure out how we want to communicate during the actual labor - including what phrases will be helpful or not helpful.

We are looking forward to... we have another set of sonograms coming up! One will be for fun - the 3D Ultrasound, where we actually get a 3D image of Miss Adalee! The other is to check on the position of the placenta. We are hoping for some movement - at least 1 centimeter between my cervix and placenta - but we shall see!

30 Weeks

Michael and I are excited to officially share the name of our daughter - Adalee Rose Bell. And let's be honest...we didn't do a great job of keeping it a secret in the first place! We decided pretty early on that her name would be Adalee, and have been calling her by her name ever since. Adalee was a name I had heard in passing many years ago, and for some reason it stuck with me. Luckily, Michael loves the name as much as I do - otherwise a battle may have ensued! Rose is a family name on my mother's side. My great grandmother's name was Rosa and my mom's middle name is Rose after her. We only hope that Miss Adalee will love her name as much as we do!

Now, on to our 30 Week update... This week...

Baby Bell is the size of a... cucumber? Where do they get this stuff?!? A cucumber to me seems small, but maybe they are talking about a species of giant cucumber only found in New Zealand. Anyways...Adalee is weighing in right around three pounds, and measures between 15 and 17 inches. Her skin is smoothing out, while her brain and lungs are continuing to develop. And goodness gracious, can she pack a punch (and a kick!) when she wants to... :)

My bump is... big. There is really no other word to describe it. And we are still 10 weeks out. Which means my bump has the capacity to stretch even bigger. Joy. Pure Joy. She still has some room to move in there, which she takes advantage of all day, every day. It is awesome to not only feel her moving all the time, but we actually get to see a lot of the movements as well - especially at night before going to bed, which is when Miss Adalee is her most active self! I am still waiting to see her hand print or foot print through my stomach - but I feel like it will be coming in the next month or so!

I have been feeling... like I need to get back to being busy. I have taken some time off from preparing for her arrival over the last few weeks. Mostly because we have been out of town so much, but also because I just needed a break! But now a little bit of stress is starting to come back and I feel like it is time to start checking things off the to-do list again. Ten weeks feels like nothing at this point - and there is still a lot to buy, a lot to organized, and a lot to get done! I guess we should get to it...

I have been craving... Mug Root Beer. And lots of it. Throughout the pregnancy, I had been doing a fairly good job not drinking soda - mostly to avoid the large amounts of caffeine. But now that I have discovered caffeine-free Mug Root Beer, I am in big trouble! The stuff is just so good! I still need to control my intake a little bit, because it has a lot of sugar...but one mini-can a day seems okay to me! One craving that I have not given into is having Caramel White Mochas from Starbucks. With the weather turning colder, this is what I want most mornings as a pick-me-up, but thus far I have had the willpower to not stop on my way to work. Let's hope this continues... :)

Our favorite thing has been... simply talking about our daughter and picking out items for her and the nursery. With the main furniture delivered and a rocker on the way (finally pulled the trigger on that one!), it has been fun to start buying some of the little decor items that will make her room special and uniquely hers. We have still been reading books most evenings, and just spending time talking about all the things we want to teach her, and things we can't wait to do as a family of three!

We are looking forward to... so many things! Our first baby shower is this weekend in Manhattan! It will be great to catch up and celebrate with our families! Then, the following weekend we are taking our maternity photos with Erica from Anecdotally Yours, who handled the videography for our wedding celebration! Also, we are starting our childbirth classes the week after that! I feel like we are a little late to the game on this one, but I didn't want to take the classes so early that I would forget the information! My memory seems to be fading a little more everyday as it is...Here's hoping that we learn a lot of helpful information, and that some of the anxiety associated with labor is mitigated!

September Weekends

September was a busy month for us! Between our various trips out of town and attending two weddings, we barely had any time to spend at home. On the positive side, we have gotten to spend a lot of time with family and friends this month, which has been great!

Visit to Colorado

In the first weekend of September, Michael and I made our first trip back to Colorado since the move. We had previously bought tickets to a PGA golf event - the BMW championship - and thought it would be the perfect excuse to go out of town for the weekend! We got to spend two days at the tournament, watching some of the best golfers in the world! We also got to spend time with Michael's brother Mark and his family, as well as my sister Jessica! All around, it was a fantastic (but too short) weekend!

Selfie with Sergio and Adam Scott!

All of the players were given BMW's to drive to the tournament.
This was Rory's car - not too shabby!

Ryan and Allison's Wedding
During the second weekend of September, we spent time with my side of the family celebrating the marriage of my cousin Ryan Kuhn to Alison Hover. It was such a wonderful weekend - filled with love and laughter! Ryan and Alison make such a great couple! Unfortunately, I hardly took any photos from the weekend, so I stole these photos from my cousin Caitlin - all credit goes to her awesome photography skills! :)

Rehearsal Dinner at Boulevard Brewery!

Three pregnant ladies - all due within two weeks of each other!

It is going to be a fun winter with three new babies joining the family!

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Amanda and Travis's Wedding

During the last weekend of September, my good friend Amanda married her college sweetheart Travis. They had a beautiful country chic wedding outside of Topeka, Kansas. All of the wedding details came together perfectly and it was a lot of fun getting to spend the weekend catching up with our friends from college! Most of the pictures I took were from the Rehearsal Dinner and leading up to the wedding, but I was able to steal a few pictures from my friend Alyssa - who is much better about remembering to take pictures! Everyone was beautiful that night! :)

Sorority Sisters!

Michael touching my belly...

...me touching Michael's belly!

Bridesmaids at the Rehearsal Dinner 

Pretty friend! Happy wedding day!

All ready for the ceremony! And my last picture of the day...

28 Weeks

This week...

Baby Bell is the size of a... eggplant...already showing her purple pride! She is weighing in at just over two pounds and measures between 13 and 15 inches. Her main focus is to continue developing her lungs and brain, while adding on the pounds!

My bump is... getting bigger each and every week - even though I sometimes don't know how that is possible! She continues to grow and move around as she pleases, forgetting at times that I still need room for my lungs, my ribs, my stomach, my bladder - ya know, nothing too important! Despite the growing pains, I continue to feel so grateful and blessed every time I feel her kick or turn over. Even though she hasn't been born yet, I already feel like I am getting to know her personality through her movements. I am definitely going to miss carrying her with me all day, every day!

I have been feeling... as any pregnant woman would feel at 28 weeks - awkward and uncomfortable. Along with the belly growth comes some aches and pains and general feelings of uncomfortableness, especially when I am trying to sleep. I have also had a sore throat for the past few weeks, which I had blamed on having a cold due to changes in the weather. But after our most recent sonogram, I am starting to think my sore throat was more connected to the fact that heart burn and acid reflux are common pregnancy symptoms when your baby has lots of hair. In case you missed the last post - apparently Baby Bell is going to have lots and lots of hair! I have already begun the search for super cute headbands and bows.. :)

I have been craving... nothing to specific. Michael and I have been doing great with our commitment to cook more at home and not eat out as much. I have been able to try out some great new recipes and some old favorites! Plus, it is officially fall, which means it is completely acceptable to eat crockpot soup multiple times a week - so excited about that! Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream after dinner has become an every night routine - no complaints about that either!

Our favorite thing has been... officially making it to the third trimester! Wahoo! Happy dance time! Twenty eight weeks is a milestone in pregnancy because it is the time when most babies reach viability. This means if Baby Bell were born now, she would be really premature and have a long fight ahead of her, but she would also have a great chance at surviving…over 90%! Of course, we aren’t hoping for her to be born anytime soon - she can take all of the time that she needs! There is still lots and lots to be done!

Also on my list of favorites has been the building of Baby Bell's library. I will be completely honest...I have a "baby-book-buying problem". This problem is compounded by the fact that Grandma Schultz also has a "baby-book-buying problem". However, because of these "problems" we have been able to read a new book as a family almost every night for the past few weeks - and I absolutely love this time! I can't wait to continue reading as a family - I am determined that she is going to be a reader, just like her Mama! Our favorite book thus far...The Day the Crayons Quit.

This past week I also completed my glucose screening for gestational diabetes, which measures the levels of glucose (sugar) in my blood. The test was simple and (relatively) painless. I had to quickly drink a sample of Glucola (basically an orange flavored sweetened drink) that contains 50g of glucose. It didn't taste too terrible going down, but had an awful aftertaste! I then waited a full hour for my body to absorb the glucose before the doctor took a sample of my blood. The test for gestational diabetes came back negative - which is awesome - however, the results did show that I am slightly anemic, which is very common at this stage of pregnancy. We will just be adding an iron supplement to my prenatal vitamins and that should fix the problem!

We are looking forward to... Baby Bell's furniture arriving this weekend - a crib, dresser with a changing table topper, and a bookshelf (for all those books!). Still no rocking chair/glider yet - I just haven't been able to commit! We are really looking forward seeing the early pieces of her nursery come together! In addition, we have a baby shower coming up the second weekend in October with our families! We are excited to see everyone and get to spend some time celebrating our little one!

Baby Bell's 28 Week Sonogram

On Monday, we had our 28 Week Sonogram followup. Most expecting parents do not have a sonogram at 28 weeks, but due to the concerns with my low-lying placenta, we were fortunate to be able to see our little girl for the third time - and let me tell you, there is nothing more exciting!

She has grown so much since we last saw her at 20 weeks! Her whole body used to fit on the sonogram screen, and now we can just see parts of her at a time. Everything looked great, including a solid heartbeat of 148 beats per minute. We did learn something new about Baby Bell - apparently she is going to be born with a head full of hair. The sonographer was actually surprised by how much hair she already had! I was bald until I was over a year old, so Michael is completely responsible for this characteristic! At least we will not have to tape bows to her head! :) Here are a couple more photos of our little girl...

Profile of Baby Bell - Apparently she likes to keep
her feet near her face!

Closeup of Baby Bell's face - So dramatic,
with her hand resting on her forehead!

After we spent some time watching Baby Bell on the screen, the sonographer actually had to start looking for my placenta - which was the entire purpose of the visit. Unfortunately, she did not have good news for us. After lots of prodding and searching, the sonographer determined that my placenta was actually closer to my cervix than they had originally estimated - essentially right on the edge. The hope was that as my uterus grew over the last eight weeks, the placenta would subsequently move higher in the uterus, but that has not happened. While there is still a chance the placenta could move, Michael and I are now working on coming to terms with the fact that Baby Bell will likely be delivered by caesarean section. We will obviously do what is in the best interest of the baby, but I hadn't realized until that moment how much I wanted to have a vaginal birth.

We have been rescheduled to do a Level 2 Perinatal Sonogram at 32 Weeks. So until then, we will just be waiting to see what happens!

26 Weeks

A few days late, but here is our update from last Thursday, September 11th!

This week...

Baby Bell is the size of a... head of lettuce! She is now over a foot long, and should weigh anywhere between a pound and a half and two pounds. She is starting to put on her baby fat, which will make her super cute and squishy!

My bump is... feeling large. For the first time in my pregnancy (and probably in my life), I started to feel a little self conscious about my weight gain. My doctor has said that gaining anywhere from 25-35 pounds during pregnancy is good. Right now, I am "on track" to gain closer to the 35 pound range. While 35 pounds didn't sound like a lot in the beginning, it is different once you start to see the numbers on the scale. Hopefully this is a weird phase of self-consciousness that passes!

Also, speaking of this growing bump, I have been getting frustrated while getting dressed in the mornings (usually when I am running late for work) and all of my clothes no longer fit right. However, I recognize that this is completely my fault - I have been avoiding maternity clothes like they are the plague. I doubt I will be able to hold off much longer.

I have been feeling... excited! We have finally found some time to focus on all things "baby" - including picking out some decorations for the nursery and registering for baby items! It has been fun to envision becoming a family of three! And now that Baby Bell can hear us, I spend a lot of time just talking to her - telling her about what I am doing, about how my day has gone, etc. Michael sometimes thinks I am crazy because I just walk around the house talking to her about anything and everything, but that is okay. When she kicks, I know she is awake, and I feel like I should just keep her in the loop with what is going on... :)

I have been craving... anything that we make at home. With the move and renovations, Michael and I had been eating out A TON - like every night a week for three weeks. Our kitchen is finally in order, and I have no plans to eat take-out anytime soon. So whether it is a PB sandwich or a full dinner meal, I am just happy to be eating things that we have made in our kitchen! For breakfast, blueberry muffins have been a recent favorite of mine!

Our favorite thing has been... seeing Baby Bell's room finally painted. I am not sure if I have already mentioned the nursery colors, but we decided on navy, grey, coral, and white. And elephants. I am super excited about the elephants. If you see the registry, I went a little crazy with the elephants. But I am confident it will come together and be super cute! Here are some pictures of her newly painted room - including her first elephant gift from Grandma and Grandpa Schultz!

We are looking forward to... spending lots of time with family and friends during a very busy September! We have another sonogram scheduled during Week 28 and then we will officially be in the third trimester! These next three months are going to fly by!

24 Weeks

Once again, I am a week late on my 24 Week post from August 28th. Michael and I were moving into our new home this past weekend, so updating the blog fell a little lower on the priority list this week. But at least we got a picture in on time!

This week...

Baby Bell is the size of a... cantaloupe! She is almost one foot long, and has crossed the threshold of being weighed in pounds instead of ounces. While her weight is hard to estimate, she should be between a pound and a pound and a half. We can feel her moving every day, multiple times a day - which has been awesome! 

My bump is... becoming rounder and more normal. I am getting used to having a bigger belly and have grown accustom to using my bump as a resting spot for my arms and hands. I am starting to notice changes in my center of gravity, which can sometimes cause clumsiness, but it is not too bad!

I have been feeling... exhausted! I am so glad that we are officially moved in to our new home and that our home renovation projects are coming to a close. It will be nice to be able to slow down a little bit and focus more on preparing for the baby! Otherwise, no complaints - I am feeling happy and healthy!

I have been craving... desserts! During our last grocery trip, I picked out seven different dessert items from the freezer aisle! Probably not the healthiest decision, but that is alright.

Our favorite thing has been... finishing up the renovations in our home and finally moving in! Baby Bell's room is one of the few rooms left to be painted and I can't wait to see it come together! We also got to go to Manhattan for K-State's first football game of the season! It is always fun to be back in Manhattan and hanging out with family. A Wildcat victory made it the perfect weekend!

We are looking forward to... venturing back to Colorado this upcoming weekend! We had bought tickets to the BMW Championship PGA golf tournament about a year ago, so we are still going to go! Plus, we get to see my sister and Michael's brother and family! It should be an awesome weekend!