Wife: 12 weeks and Counting!

I am officially in the the third trimester!  28 weeks!  Unfortunately, hitting the third trimester is not quite like hitting the second trimester.  Hitting the second trimester is like coming up for air and apparently the third trimester is like being crushed by a boulder.  But I am okay with that because being 28 weeks means little Susan will likely make her debut in 12 weeks, give or take.  My doctor said they wouldn't let me go more than a week past my due date, which is April 3.  But I am really hoping that I am not still pregnant in April.  Apparently, I only have about two more weeks of feeling kind of good and then I am going to feel really, really uncomfortable.

Check yes to: backache, constipation, heartburn, and achy feet! Thankfully no stretch marks or varicose veins.  My belly button is still an "innie" but it is super stretched out!

 Well I am already starting to feel uncomfortable.  It takes me forever to get into a comfortable position.  This is not limited to getting into the car, when my maternity jeans slide down and I have to pull them back up.  Then when I sit in in really cushy furniture, its difficult to stand back up without some kind of momentum push.  I guess it will only get worse as she gets bigger.

At my appointment last month, Susan was measuring two weeks ahead.  At my appointment today, she was still measuring two weeks ahead.  According to the doctor, this means that we have an above average size baby.  Well we kind of figured we would, seeing as how we are tall and the babies in our family on both sides tend to come out around 8+ pounds.  I asked the doctor if that meant she would come early (fingers crossed) and the doctor smiled and said no.  Not that I want her to come super early.  But babies are considered full term at 37 weeks.  So she will be fully cooked on March 6.  So I am totally fine if she wants to make her debut then.  But I have a feeling she is good and comfortable and is planning on riding this gravy train as long as she can.

She has definitely become stronger.  I feel her moving all day long.  She is very active.  It's even weirder to watch my stomach move.  I still can't distinguish between a foot or a hand or elbow, but watching my belly flicker or in some cases, waves of motion, is weird!  It's kind of like when the alien first explodes out of that guy in Alien. 

Actually, I think I might be a little creeped out if I see her foot like this.  But maybe its less creepy when you see it on your own belly and not a stranger's from Google.

 While I am still feeling good, we are trying to work on the nursery and have it done by the end of January.  We have put together all the furniture and found the place for the glider.  Now we are just organizing and decorating.  Our theme, so to speak, is kind of a garden theme.  The colors are pink, green and chocolate brown.  We finished our first nursery project on Monday.  I knew I wanted to do her monogram above the crib, but I couldn't decide how.  I was torn between frames with a fabric background with the initial inside or just a fabric board with the initial hung by ribbon.  We decided to go for option two because we liked it better.  It took us a few hours, but it was worth it!  It looks amazing!  We used 1/2 inch thick plywood to give the letters more depth.  We decided not to paint the letters to make them stand out and to tie into her white bookshelf.

I am really so proud of our craftiness.  It turned out even better than I pictured in my head!

We are planning to add a second lamp to the left end of the bookcase.  The other lamp is next to the glider on the other side.

Susan Louise Cook!

 Now we just have two more nursery projects to complete, plus organizing all of her stuff.  I am hoping we can get the next one done over the weekend.  The next one is really neat and it involves some of our favorite books from when we were kids.  We will continue to add pictures of the nursery as it progresses! 

We are actually pretty busy in January with baby classes.  Next week, we are taking Infant CPR.  Our parents are also coming to take the class too.  That afternoon, we go to prenatal peek to see her in 3D.  I am really excited because from what I have heard, what we see will really almost resemble what she looks like at birth.  We also have our prepared childbirth classes coming up and our baby care class.  In February we are planning to tour the hospital.  I really hope that by staying busy, it will help time go by faster.  Otherwise, its going to feel like a really long 12 weeks!