36 Week Belly Shot

Well my friends, here you go...my 36 week belly shot!

Can you say, "Look, there's a whale ashore?!!" (LOL!)

If you look to the left of this blog, you'll see my belly progression beginning at 12 weeks and continuing every 6 weeks thereafter until now.

It's amazing to see the difference as time has gone on.

What's even more amazing it that in just about 2 weeks, I will be holding the precious miracle babe that has been making this belly grow!

Even though I am at the "can't get comfortable" stage of my pregnancy, I am thankful to the Lord for bringing me to this point and I know HE will be with me every single step of the way from here on out as well.

And, oh, what a journey this has been thus far.

I am so glad that you all have been sharing it with me.

Have a great day!

God Bless!

EDIT: What I did not know at the time I posted this entry is that my sweet son would in fact be born 3 days later. After going in for a routine "weekly" check-up, I was diagnosed with classic preeclampsia symptoms. My blood pressure readings were 140/98 and 148/103 and it was also discovered that I had protein in my urine. The doctor said, "Tracey, the only way to alleviate these symptoms is to admit and deliver." So, what was I going to do, argue with the man??? LOL!

21 Days To Go!

Can you believe it?!!!

I almost can't.

21 days to go (that's when my c-section is scheduled...June 18th).

Yep, in just 3 more weeks, I will be holding my precious son!

YAHOO!!!

I had my biophysical profile test done today and everything checked out great!

I am now down to once a week appointments too.

It's so amazing what a difference a year can make.

Last year at this time we were wondering if we would ever be given the chance to have a biological child again and look at where we are today...praise God!

I will keep you all posted as to how these next few weeks go.

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

Baby Shower

Let me just say, I am so very fortunate to have a wonderful family and wonderful friends.

The Lord has surely blessed me abundantly by surrounding me with such caring and loving people.

My baby shower could not have been any more beautiful.

Everything was wonderful from the decorations to the food, from the fellowship to the gifts, and whoa! did I ever get some gifts!

This babe is not going to be lacking for anything!

So, as promised, here are some pictures from that day.

The Invite


The Hostesses


Big Preggo Me!


Clothesline Decorations


Ballpoint Pen Party Favor


Handmade (By My Mom) Tissue Flowers


Auburn Tiger Diaper Cake


Gifts


More Gifts!


And, Even More Gifts!


Diaper Messages For Colton


Here's A Sample


Gorgeous Monogrammed Handmade Linen Outfit


He'll Have Fun With This For Sure!


Love The Smocked Outfit...Even Has A Sports Theme!


Personally Painted By My Co-worker Friend


Handmade Crocheted Blanket By Another Friend


Some Of The Attendees...There Were Almost 50 In Total!


All The Loot Displayed Once I Got It Home


And again I say...Blessed I am!

Presenting...The Nursery!

First things first...my big baby shower was this past Saturday and it was great!

Not sure if it was the excitement or the stress of having a party, but I also wound up having some pretty strong Braxton Hicks contractions that night as well. It was a little scary, but all is well.

Anyway, back to the shower...I got so many wonderful things and I am still overwhelmed by the love of my family and friends.

I cannot wait to post pics from the festivities, but you all will have to wait a bit longer on those.

A friend of mine was nice enough to take pictures for me, but I haven't gotten them yet.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share the nursery pictures with you.

It's finally all done.

I still have some last minute putting stuff in drawers and such, but for all intents and purposes, this sweet little man's room is just missing one thing...HIM!

We are really pleased with the way it came out. For those wondering, the theme is Sports Fan by Cocalo Kids.

The name letters I got on eBay and same for the switch and outlet covers. I really lucked out with those items as they go perfectly.

Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy just to see this nursery all set up and waiting for our precious son!

Cankles

Yep, it's official, I've got 'em.

C-A-N-K-L-E-S !

You know, it's where your calf merges with your foot and all ankle resemblance is totally gone.

See...

So, until further notice, you can just call me Puff Mama or P. Mama for short.

I'm sure the name change won't garner me as much notoriety as it did for Sean Combs a.k.a. Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy, but it will certainly get the point across nonetheless.

I mean, c'mon now, even my darn toes are swollen!

Actually, I think the proper medical term for this puffiness is edema, but as far as I'm concerned the proper word for it should be "UGH!"

On the bright side though, I am beginning my 8th month and I've only got 6 more weeks to go until my scheduled c-section, so pretty soon my belly is going to be so big that I won't even be able to see how swollen my feet/ankles really are...LOL!

Oh, and another positive...it gives me a great excuse to wear slippers to my baby shower this Saturday! ;0)

30 Weeks and G-R-O-W-I-N-G!

Thirty weeks! WOW!

Only 60 more days until my scheduled c-section (June 18th), can you believe it?!!

Sometimes even I can't believe it.

Here we are smack dab in the 3rd Trimester!

And, for those who like to look at pregnant bellies, here's my 30 week belly shot...(you can scroll over on the left hand side of this blog for a 12 week, 24 week, 18 week and 30 week belly comparison. Oh, and check out the back arch if you will!!!!)

I am feeling (and looking) so HUGE!!

Also add to the fact that this sweet little boy has decided to use my bladder for his head pillow and you might as well insert the word uncomfortable into the feeling and looking huge sentence above...LOL!

I am not complaining though - really, I'm not.

Honestly, every pain, twinge, kick, bathroom run, new spider vein cropping up, cellulite dimple appearing on my butt and thighs, etc. is absolutely worth the miracle that is inside of me.

However, the reality is that the closer you get to the last few weeks of your pregnancy, the more evident it is that there is some extra poundage being touted on your body frame no matter what size you were to begin with.

I am also starting to kick into "pre-nesting" mode too. The baby's nursery is almost complete, and little by little I've been cleaning out, rearranging and straightening up some things around the house.

I still can't believe that in 8 more weeks I will be holding this precious babe in my arms.

Seriously...I can't wait!!!

Third Trimester

We made it!!

Here we are...28 weeks, the beginning of the third trimester. Praise the Lord!

Back in 2008 after suffering two miscarriages within 4 months of each other, being of advanced maternal age, and going on almost another year of not becoming pregnant, I was beginning to think it was never going to happen again.

Oh what a difference a day can make, or on our case, 288 days.

Yep, it took us 288 days to get pregnant again after our last miscarriage and now here we are embarking upon the third trimester and will soon welcoming our second son into this world in about 74 more days!

God is so good!

Recently I saw this update on another blog and I thought I'd "borrow" the idea and do it too.

How Far Along? 28 weeks

Total Weight Gained/Loss? Couldn’t tell you because I refuse to even look at the scale at home or at the doctor’s office, but I can tell you that it is all gain and no loss…LOL!

Maternity Clothes? At 28 weeks??? You betcha!

Sleep? Really don’t know when the last time was that I had actual sleep. I consider what I am getting to be more brief snooze time. I am literally up every half hour or so to go and use the bathroom…UGH!

Best Moment of the Week? Our son felt the baby kick for the first time. He was so excited and said, "Mom, tell my baby brother to do it again!”

Movement? Definitely, except I get a little freaked out if it’s been awhile and I haven’t felt any kicking or swooshing around during the day or night.

Food Cravings? For awhile I was craving Hardee’s steak biscuits and chocolate milk shakes (although I did not ever purchase and consume those at the same time). The calorie intake was freaking me out so I have cut those things out of my diet completely.

Food Aversions? None at all.

Morning sickness? Never had a lick of it…didn’t with my first son either.

Labor Signs? None that I am aware of and I hope I don’t have any for quite a few more weeks. This little guy needs to keep cooking in there.

Belly Button? I am still an “inny”.

What I miss? Coffee and wearing a size 8/10.

What I'm looking forward to? Aside from the obvious (holding this babe in my arms), I am looking forward to getting his nursery all set up. We’ve just painted the walls and next it putting up the border and arranging all of his stuff. Crib is all put together though.

Weekly Wisdom? Try and treasure each and every moment even if I’m feeling uncomfortable.

Milestones? This entire pregnancy is a milestone!