Week 28

What's Going on in There?

Hello third trimester!!  Crazy how fast it has gone.  Noah is the size of an eggplant this week, about 14.8 inches and 2.2 pounds.  He has eyelashes now and is dreaming away in there.  Also, he can cough now.  Imagining my little man coughing in my belly is just too much. So cute!

Maternity Clothes? 
Yep.  Though I am having a tough time with anything that comes up over my belly. It gets super itchy and I can’t handle it. I also got a bad rash this week on my belly, so putting anything tight over it was not fun.  Dresses are where it’s at!

Weight? 
Somehow I didn’t gain a single ounce while we were in Maryland for 5 days. I’m shocked! Still sitting at 20 pounds.

Stretch Marks? 
Ugh….I think I found one this week.  Thankfully it’s on the bottom side of my breast and I can’t even see it unless I lift them hahahaha. How’s that for TMI? It’s either a stretch mark or its constantly red mark from the bras I wear, since I wear the same thing daily.  Scientific huh?

Movement? 
Tons.  I have been trying to figure out where his head and bum are, but I just can’t figure it out.  If I had to guess though, most of the time I think he may be laying sideways.  I feel his hiccups the most on the bottom right of my belly and then often I feel a hard protruding bump on the right side (which I assume is his bum).  I think he may be facing in too, like legs and arms facing my back. That’s why I feel a lot of wiggles, but not a lot of kicks.  

Food Cravings? 
Nothing really this week.  

Anything Making you Queasy or Sick? 

Nothing!

What I Miss? 
Feeling pretty good this week, so nothing! 

Nausea/Vomiting?  
Nope

Symptoms? 
Braxton hicks, lots of baby hiccups, sore hips and legs (from running through the airport mostly).

Labor Signs? 
Nope

Gender? 
Boy!

Belly Button In or Out?
Out. Loud and proud haha.   

Wedding Rings On or Off? 
On still!  Even after flying last week I didn’t have any issues.

Sleep?
Oh man.  I got an itchy rash from lotion when I was in Maryland and it has been really tough at night especially. It takes me forever to fall asleep. I toss and turn trying so hard not to scratch myself.  It’s NOT fun!  I think it’s getting better, but night time is still rough.

What I'm Looking Forward To? 

Tonight we are headed to see our little guy in 4D!  I have been looking forward to this since we found out we were expecting. It’s finally time!!

Bon's Book Club - My Story

This month’s book for Bon’s Book Club was My Story by Elizabeth Smart. It was originally supposed to be for December of last year (which is when I actually read it) but it got postponed. I was really excited to read this book.  I actually met Elizabeth at a luncheon in March of 2014 and received a signed copy of her book.  I got to hear her speak on what happened to her, so when I read the book, I could almost hear everything in her voice and the way she spoke. Here is a description from Amazon:

March 2014, with Elizabeth Smart

“For the first time, ten years after her abduction from her Salt Lake City bedroom, Elizabeth Smart reveals how she survived and the secret to forging a new life in the wake of a brutal crime.

On June 5, 2002, fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart, the daughter of a close-knit Mormon family, was taken from her home in the middle of the night by religious fanatic, Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. She was kept chained, dressed in disguise, repeatedly raped, and told she and her family would be killed if she tried to escape. After her rescue on March 12, 2003, she rejoined her family and worked to pick up the pieces of her life.

Now for the first time, in her memoir, MY STORY, she tells of the constant fear she endured every hour, her courageous determination to maintain hope, and how she devised a plan to manipulate her captors and convinced them to return to Utah, where she was rescued minutes after arriving. Smart explains how her faith helped her stay sane in the midst of a nightmare and how she found the strength to confront her captors at their trial and see that justice was served.

 In the nine years after her rescue, Smart transformed from victim to advocate, traveling the country and working to educate, inspire and foster change. She has created a foundation to help prevent crimes against children and is a frequent public speaker. In 2012, she married Matthew Gilmour, whom she met doing mission work in Paris for her church, in a fairy tale wedding that made the cover of People magazine.”

I really enjoyed this book!  It was such an easy read and I was sucked in from the moment I first opened it.  I sat there the whole time just reeling over the fact that this was a true story and these things really did happen to this young woman.

It’s hard to say anything bad about a book like this, when it is such a personal story.  Even after reading it though, it’s hard to believe how uncomfortable she must have felt to not tell someone who she was in the many times they were out in public. I know a lot of people question that, but all I can say is that we will hopefully never be in this situation to know what we would do.  I certainly don’t criticize her for not saying anything, but I happy it all worked out in the end.

After I read it I sometimes wonder about how she moved on with her life.  She is now married, which is awesome.  At the luncheon I attended she spoke for quite a while on her story.  I gained a sense that she has really disconnected with it all and just regurgitates everything that happened, but doesn’t really let the feelings sink into her mind.  Some of the things she said in her speech were almost word for word from the book.  She has probably recited it so many times that she is able to completely disengage, which I suppose is a good thing. She also seemed so young still, even though she is now 27 years old.  She was very timid and meek, but its 100% understandable.

 

Next up for Bon’s Book Club is Yes Please by Poehler.  This is a book that has been on my list for several months, so I love that we are covering it in book club!  I have a big love for funny memoirs and I am hoping this one doesn’t disappoint!

Have you read My Story? What are your thoughts?

Vegas Baby (moon)!

A few weeks ago C and I took a mini trip for my birthday and also dubbed it our “babymoon.” I wish we could have gone somewhere super exciting and glamorous (aka relaxing haha) for the babymoon but with his season starting in just two weeks, it wasn’t really possible.

So I settled for a weekend in Vegas.  A perfect place for a pregnant woman right?

C had never been and I’ve been itching to go for a while now, so I thought it would be fun to introduce him to the city and spend some time there.  Since I’m not really big into drinking, I was perfectly fine spending a sober weekend there.  All I wanted to do was see a show or two, walk around the strip and play my favorite penny slot machine, Zeus II.

We drove up on Friday night after we both got off of work.  I wish we could have spent longer, but since C is still working retail, getting a few days off in a row (especially on a weekend) is really tough.  After the 5 hour drive we arrived in Vegas around 10pm (11pm AZ time) and immediately checked into our hotel.  Since we were staying only one night, they upgraded us to a fancy suite!  This place had a double door entrance, which was quite exciting.  We had two separate bathrooms, one with a huge Jacuzzi tub and one with a gorgeous rain shower, a living room and another separate sitting area.  All for $87! Treasure Island hotel treated us well.

Fancy double doors!

After dumping our luggage, we hit the strip.  I had so much fun showing C all of the sights and different hotels.  There is soooo much to see in Vegas.  Somehow, I was able to stay up walking around the strip until 3am before my body finally told me that was enough (which actually is 4am AZ time). I am so proud of myself for hanging on that long! Crazy enough, I popped out of bed at 8:30am the next day too, an hour before our alarm was supposed to go off.  I NEVER do that….especially on my birthday. I love sleeping in!  I must have been the excitement of it all :)

The only photo we have of the strip at night...

Saturday was my actually birthday, so after getting ready we headed over to the Venetian resort and had lunch at the Grande Luxe Café.  I don’t know if you have this place where you live (it’s owned by the same company as Cheesecake Factory) but I highly suggest you go if you do. Also, you CAN NOT leave without ordering their beignets for dessert. They are heavenly. We used to have one in AZ but they closed it, so anytime I go to Vegas it’s a must visit place!

Seriously. THE. BEST.

After lunch we headed over to the Cosmopolitan hotel (which is absolutely gorgeous) to do a bit of gambling and also to see some shows at one of my happy places, the Bellagio hotel fountains.  I could sit there for hours watching the water dance in time to the music.  So beautiful.  While we were there some guy came up to ask us if we wanted to go to some club and when I turned around he just started stammering and finally spit out “pregnant.” Oh man, it made my day!  He didn’t think I was pregnant at all until I turned around, then realized we wouldn’t be going to any clubs that night!  Thanks buddy, one of the best moments of my trip!

The bump in the elevator mirror

Later in the day we headed over to our next hotel, the SLS.  This is a new hotel is Vegas on the far end of the strip.  C knows someone who knows someone, so we also got a fancy suite at this hotel for $80.  It was a REALLY trendy hotel, which is fine, but I can’t see it lasting for years to come! This room was pretty cool as well, it was a 2 room suite and everything in it was pretty much white with hints of black and some pink (quite manly yes?).  

After getting ready, we headed over to the Mirage because we had tickets for a show I’ve wanted to see for probably 10 years, the Cirque Du Soleil show, Beatles LOVE. We weren’t super hungry at the time to we grabbed a Starbucks and a protein pack and C sat down at a blackjack table.  20 minutes later we had $100 more than we started with!  

The show was pretty amazing, though for me it was also a bit disappointing.  C had never seen a Cirque du Soleil show so I was really talking them up, telling him about all the crazy, high flying things they do and how incredible it really is.  Well, this show was more about the music than the “cirque” so I was left wanting.  Had I known going in it wasn’t going to be as crazy circus like, I would have really enjoyed it.  Oh well.  Next trip to Vegas I am going to see a different show!

After the show I we had a super tasty burger and friend pickles and wandered around gambling and watching more Bellagio shows.  I was getting super tired at around 10pm so we headed back to our hotel.  After a change into comfier clothes though, I had a burst of energy and I watched C play more black jack for a couple more hours.  I can watch someone play all day, but darn it that game is so intimidating to me in a setting like Vegas!

I snuck this photo of the finale...pics weren't allowed!

Nothing beats the Bellagio at night....stunning

The next morning we headed back over to the Cosmopolitan for our buffet meal of the trip.  We hit up the Wicked Spoon buffet….oh man was it good!  I love buffets like that, because I am actually comfortable eating the food and there are a lot of different foods I will eat.  C loves Chinese buffets, but I just can’t handle them! The dessert table at the Wicked Spoon was just to die for….I got way too much but I ate almost all of it!

Finally we hit up the Planet Hollywood casino to look for some cheap black jack tables (read $5 or $10 buy ins) and ended up seeing a table where they were playing War. Like the War I used to play when I was 10.  It was sooooo easy!  We stayed there for probably 2 hours.  I finally felt like a real adult playing with real poker chips instead of a flashing penny machine.  So much fun. Before we left, we of course had to hit up one more Bellagio show!

The only time you'll ever see C in heels

 Sadly our time had come to an end and we had to head back to Phoenix.  Why does the drive home always seem so much longer than the way there?  I miss Vegas already, but I’m excited to get to go back for one of C’s games in early April, as long as baby doesn’t complain too much around then.  I’m hoping my body will be able to handle it because I will be over 8 months pregnant by then!