34 Weeks

My belly is starting to look more torpedo like, especially during the Braxton Hicks contractions!

We added some stuffed animals to the "reading buddies" basket because I have had a lot of questions about what that thing was for!

How far along? 34 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 21.2 lbs.

Maternity clothes? Yes.

Stretch marks? No. Keeping my fingers crossed!  Still love using my Mama Belly Oil.

Sleep: Sleeping great!
 Other symptoms: Varicose veins are not my friend.  However, they have not gotten any worse in the last 4 weeks so that is a blessing. 

Best moment this week:  I had a baby shower on Saturday and it was sensational!  I knew that my mom was coming up for the baby shower on Thursday and I was hoping that my big sister was going to be with her, but I didn't know for sure.  I got home from school and they were both in the van.  I was so excited!  Kristen told me she brought me something special in the van and to come over by the car and MY AUNT JUDY WAS IN THE CAR!!!!!  I had NO idea that she was coming.  She kept messaging me each week when I would send her a weekly chalkboard picture how sad she was about not being able to see me pregnant.  TRICKSTER!!!! It was so much fun having so many people at my house.  My little sister, Lindsay, came up on Friday night so she could baby at the baby shower too!  My older sister, Kristen, also took some maternity photos of me and being one of the most impatient people in the world I am dying to see some of them edited!   The baby shower was sensational.  As promised in my week 33 post, I will do a whole blog post on baby showers!  They have been so wonderful that they need their own personal post!  Also, my mom bought me the most comfortable pajamas on the planet from Pea in the Pod.  I got a nursing tank top and black pajama pants, a beautiful and comfortable robe that I will wear forever, a sexy lil' nursing nightgown, and a "Let Me Out" shirt to wear to the hospital as well!!  Getting items of clothing that you feel good in when you're pregnant is such a wonderful feeling!

 (If it looks like I am holding myself in the pic to the left, you're right!  I peed in my pants and started crying when I saw Aunt Judy!)

(These are just pics from my iPhone with an Instagram filter added to them - I can not WAIT for the real pics to be edited and sent to me!)

Movement: Yes! Lots. 

Food cravings:  Sweets. Rootbeer floats!

Anything making you queasy or sick: nothing right now! 

Have you started to show yet: Yes.Nate and I think that my stomach is getting larger and larger each day!  It is definitely becoming more torpedo-like.

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks contractions are becoming more frequent and intense (not painful) and I often do the pregnancy waddle!

Belly Button in or out?  Still IN but totally FLAT!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody: Happy!

  Looking forward to: We have our 35 week appointment with the midwife on Thursday, February 7th at 3:00pm.  I'm so excited.  I love hearing his heartbeat (it sounds a lot more "normal" than it did early on which I like) and having the midwife tell us what position he is in so I can visualize what he is doing in there when he is moving! Our primary midwife moved to Arkansas so we get to have a new midwife, and I am hoping to meet a new one at each of our future appointments.  Whoever is on call when we go into labor will be the one who helps with delivery so we want to meet all 5 of the midwives.    

Week 27

Cauliflower was too boring and the lack of hockey in our lives right now is pretty depressing so we went hockey themed this week!

How far along? 27 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 16.8 lbs. I still have 13 weeks to go so I do not think that I will stick to my 25lb. goal.  Maybe 30lbs. gained will be my new goal!! 

Maternity clothes? Yes.

Stretch marks? No. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Sleep: Sleeping great. This past week, I have woken up about 3:55-4:15am everyday to use the restroom and Leland is doing back-flips!! It is amazing how much you can actually feel.  Sometimes I get a little concerned about all of the movement I can feel.
 Other symptoms: Since this is a blog where I plan to keep track of my pregnancy (changing life and crafting creations) I guess I need to add this to the weekly update!  I have developed varicose veins.  Not the most pleasant things to have.  I have made it 27 weeks without any pain or sickness so I am not complaining...yet!  They are pretty painful when I stand up a lot, which is something I do for about 5 hours a day.  Teaching is not a job where you can sit all day, especially when you teach 4 year olds!  I am constantly walking around, helping children, walking up flights of stairs, playing with them on the playground, and moving from one place to another.  I have tried to make an effort to sit down as much as I can.  The kids bring me pillows from our cozy corner to sit on and are super sweet!  I try to take our puppy baby on a walk each day when I get home because he has been by himself in the house for 6-8 hours and I feel horrible about that!  Then, I take a warm bath each night and ice the veins.  Awesome.  Hopefully they won't get as bad as some of the comments that I have read from people on pregnancy blogs!

Best moment this week: Planning for baby Leland's nursery with Jill.  I feel much better having a plan about what exactly we are going to be making for the nursery! 

Movement: Yes! Lots.  I feel everything and sometimes it is WEIRD!!

Food cravings:  Sweets.  Mexican food - this is nothing new.  I could eat Mexican food every meal, every day, pregnant or NOT!

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.  

Have you started to show yet: Yes.

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out?  It is still in but getting A LOT flatter!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody: Happy!

  Looking forward to: Growing growing growing.  I'm pretty excited for the baby showers that are fast approaching!  Nate's sweet family in Buffalo has one planned for December 28th.  My sisters and my parent's friends have one scheduled for January 12th in Georgia, and my Nashville and Birmingham friends have one planned for February 2nd.  I'm sooooo excited!!

Baby Leland's Nursery Inspiration!

     A few months ago I saw a nursery pin on pinterest for a baby named Hank
( Daffodil Design ).  The nursery is painted a pale grey color and filled with all things "boy".  Most of the decorations are handmade, found on ETSY, or from a thrift store.  When looking at the pictures, it looks so peaceful.  She had a pillow sitting on a window bench made with Sarah Jane fabric of little boys playing with rocket chips.  It is so precious. When we found out we were having a boy, I immediately ran to the computer and just stared at her blog of her baby boy's nursery.  After our gender reveal party, I ordered several yards of Sarah Jane fabric from fabric.com!  My first purchase for Baby Leland!
    Above you will find Baby Leland's Nursery Inspiration board.  We painted the nursery a soft grey, Benjamin Moore Lattice to be exact.  It is the same color that fills our whole house.  It is amazing how the same color can look so different when paired with different accent colors.  I love that about paint!  I plan on using navy, red, and teal colors to accent the grey walls.  I am not normally into nautical themed rooms but I found some adorable Sarah Jane fabric of little boys playing pirates and then some crib sheets with adorable sailboats on them.  My sister in law, Jill Hickman over at Just Dandy is helping me with all of the bedding, curtains, and other fabric related creations!  You should check her stuff out on ETSY, it is amazing -  Oh Just Dandy.  We plan on making window length, navy and white stripe curtains for the two windows.  She is also making me a teal with white polka dot crib skirt and maybe one for the twin bed we have in the nursery as well!  When we planned last Saturday the list of things to do looks completely over-whelming.  She reassured me that we can get things done and we will do large projects first and then work down to smaller ones.  I think that I am most excited to make some adorably soft blankets using the printed Sarah Jane fabric backed with minky and a contrasting binding!  I can't wait to start completing projects!
    Last night, Nathan asked me what my plans were for the weekend.  I explained to him that I didn't have any.  He couldn't believe it.  So, last night before going to bed I managed to make an entire "To Do" list of things that we could do around the house, and more specifically, the nursery! Some of the tasks on the "To Do" list are: make bunting for above the crib with Sarah Jane fabric, make a 3-D cloud mobile with white felt and an embroidery hoop , cut out an "L"from hardwood and paint it red for above the crib, recover a lampshade I bought at a thrift store,and paint the precious child sized rocking chair for the reading nook from my cousins red!  Nathan was very excited to wake up this morning to a "To Do" list waiting for him!

    Now, I must get to crafting! Happy Saturday! I will share my creations later this week!

Week 26

Leland is getting serious about growing now!

I can't believe we only have 3 more months!

How far along? 26 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 15 lbs.  After going to our appointment on Thursday, December 6th, they said that I have gained 17 pounds.  Well, I'm sticking with my 15 lbs. since I weigh myself almost everyday and they only get the joy of doing so once every 4-6 weeks!

Maternity clothes? Yes.

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep: Sleeping great. We have moved to the guest bedroom at the Kivett household!  My parents gave us the most AMAZING king bed with a pillow top mattress for our master bedroom when we got married.  Normally, this is the best bed ever to sleep in.  I am finding that it is almost impossible for me to roll over and get out of bed 4 to 5 times a night to go to the bathroom.  I tried sleeping in the guest bedroom one night at 2:00am when I had been tossing and turning for 3+ hours and it was AMAZING! My back feels great and I sleep almost 10 hours a night.  I know many of you may think that it is impossible to sleep that long, well, I have been doing it the last 5 nights! I don't even wake up to go to the bathroom more than once!

Best moment this week: I am sticking with the best moment being that Nate can feel baby Leland kick!  Brittany even felt Leland kick one day last week...of course it was after I ate a HUGE burrito FULL of pickled jalapenos! Also, I just found out that a precious friend is PREGNANT!  I cried when I got their Christmas card announcing the little blessing growing inside her so I would have to add that to one of the best moments this week!  Thought of another great moment, I passed my gestational diabetes test! Yay!  I was a little bit anemic so I just need to take my iron supplements more and I should be great!

Movement: Yes! I think that on Saturday I saw Leland do a 180* rotation in my stomach!

Food cravings:  Sweets.  Mexican food - this is nothing new.  I could eat Mexican food every meal, every day, pregnant or NOT! Since I have only had heartburn twice, once from a PB&J sandwich and once from Del Taco, I'm sticking with Mexican as long as I can!

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.  

Have you started to show yet: Yes. I'm measuring 39 inches around and our midwife measured me from the pubic bone to the top of my uterus and I was measuring at 27.5 inches.  I'm supposed to be 2 inches either way from how many weeks I am.  I was 25 weeks and 6 days when she measured me so I am right on track.  

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out?  It is still in but getting A LOT flatter!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody: Happy!

  Looking forward to: Growing growing growing.  I can't wait to go to Buffalo, NY for Christmas.  IT BETTER BE A WHITE CHRISTMAS!  Nate's sisters and mom are throwing us our first baby shower while we are there so that will be so much fun!  Our next appointment is January 10th, 2013!  We took Christmas card photos this past Saturday...here is a little sneak peak of our puppy baby!

Linus, our puppy baby, had to take a photo by himself because he was an absolute maniac during the photo shoot!

**I need to give another "Thank You" to Jessica from Little Baby Garvin ( http://littlebabygarvin.blogspot.com/  ) who has the MOST creative chalkboard ideas ever! **

Gender Reveal Party

     On October 27, 2012 Nate and I had a little gathering at our house to reveal the gender of Baby Kivett.  Our original plan was to go to our ultrasound on Tuesday, October 22nd and have the tech put the gender in an envelope and a friend would stuff lanterns with either blue or pink confetti.  On the day of the party we would pull a string and find out if baby Kivett was a boy or girl! 
     Well, things did not go according to plan.  We went to our ultrasound and midwife appointment to check on Baby Kivett.  Everything was perfect and baby was growing well and I was healthy.  Nate wanted to know so badly what we would be having before the party.  At first, I was totally against peeking.  Well, around 8:00pm that night I couldn't stand it!  We decided though that we could wait until Saturday to find out.
     Throughout the entire pregnancy I didn't have any dreams of baby being a girl or a boy.  I had thought girl because most of my friends had boys, we didn't have a girl name picked out, and I thought that my Dad would have 3 daughters, and 3 grand-daughters, and a girl dog.  Tuesday night I had the most vivid dreams of Baby Kivett being a GIRL!  On Wednesday morning, I woke up before my alarm and told Nate we HAD TO PEEK!  He was all for it so it didn't take too much convincing!  He ran downstairs and got the envelope and our puppy baby, Linus, jumped on the bed with us.  He tore it open.  There it was in little pink letters..."It's a BOY!"  I WAS IN TOTAL SHOCK! 

Here we are right after we opened the envelope!  It was a lot of fun knowing when no one else did and special opening it together in bed with our puppy baby!

Cupcakes from The Cupcake Collection! My favorite!

The confetti filled box!

Aunt Jill is making her guess of whether she thinks it is a boy or girl!

Dad and cousin Laurel!

 

Here I am filling out the old wives tales of gender prediction.  According to the the old wives tales, I was supposed to be having a girl!

After Addison got over the initial shock of everyone screaming and throwing confetti into his face, he was very happy to have a new baby boy cousin in Nashville

Uncle Ne, Gi, and Addison!

We took a tally in my classroom to see how many kids thought it was a boy and how many thought it was a girl.  On Monday morning, I brought blue balloons to the classroom!

Here is our baby boy - genitalia and all!

We will have little boys just 9 and a half months apart!

Besties at the party!

My sister, Kristen captured this photo while driving to Virginia.  How perfect! 

The party was so much fun.  I loved having everyone together to announce the gender.  

Leland Henning Kivett

Week 24

How far along? 24 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 12 lbs. I am still STARVING all of the time.  It is unbelievable how much food I can actually consume.  I thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant on Thanksgiving and eating a TON of food!  The one thing that I have been watching is my sodium intake - less than 2,000 mg has been the goal and sticking to it has been HARD! I have also been trying to eat fresh fruits and veggies as much as I can.  Thankfully, I could eat a cold, sliced apple at any point in the day! Yummy! Spinach salads with green olives (sodium olives, so I can only eat 4 at a time) have been a favorite these last couple of weeks! 

Maternity clothes? Yes.  On Tuesday, November 27, I was MISERABLE!  I wore regular, grey corduroy pants with a belly band and a cute black top to work - non maternity.  I hadn't slept Monday night, my back was killing me, my feet were throbbing, and everything was TIGHT! I couldn't bend over, I was starving but didn't pack a great lunch, and I was an emotional wreck (I think I cried 4 times that day!).  It was the 1st time in these last 24 weeks that I had truly felt PREGNANT!  Nate had made me a lil' bath when I got home from work, I ate an entire box of baby spinach with a whole cucumber, an entire tomato, a whole onion, two carrots, and about 30 green olives!  I felt much better on Wednesday morning! 

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep: Sleeping great, but the time has come where I can't sleep on my back anymore.  I normally sleep on my side and back so I am still lucky that I'm not a stomach sleeper and can sleep on my side!

Best moment this week: NATE FELT LELAND KICK!  We went to a Gladiators hockey game in Atlanta while we were home for Thanksgiving.  It was the 4th period and I had felt Leland kick the hardest I had ever felt.  I grabbed Nate's hand and put it on my stomach and sure enough he kicked one more time!  It was very exciting!  We were both pretty pumped that it happened at a hockey game too!  My mom and dad were able to feel him when we got home from the hockey game that same night.  Nate has been feeling him ever since! 

Movement: Yes!  LOTS!  Every time I eat or drink anything, baby Leland goes crazy. He is moving so much at night before I go to bed and I can feel things that I didn't know were possible to feel!

Food cravings:  Sweets. I have made a few Sweet Cece's runs solo which is always a little awkward!

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.  

Have you started to show yet: Yes. I measured my stomach again this week and it is now 38.5 inches.  An inch and a half in about 9 days.  This will be interesting to see how huge I get in the next 16 weeks! 

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out?  It is still in but getting A LOT flatter!

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody: Happy!

  Looking forward to:  Crafting with Aunt Jill next Saturday and getting my nursery inspiration board organized since I have about 300 ideas floating around in my head!

Week 23

How far along? 23 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 12 lbs. This past week I have been STARVING!  Our midwife said that an appetite increase would happen when my body and the baby are ready - well, it's happening!  I feel like I could eat two of everything!  As you can see in the frontal view - BABY AND BELLY ARE GROWING!!

Maternity clothes? Yes.

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep: Sleeping great, but the time has come where I can't sleep on my back anymore.  I normally sleep on my side and back so I am still lucky that I'm not a stomach sleeper and can sleep on my side!

Best moment this week: Nate surprised me and painted the nursery grey while I was at work!!!  Such a sweet sweet husband! It is called Lattice by Benjamin Moore and it is the same color that we have throughout our whole house.  We love it and decided to use the same color to save us $60 and use what we had!

Movement:Yes!  LOTS!  Every time I eat or drink anything, baby Leland goes crazy.  I tried to take a video of my stomach moving to show Nate but Leland stops kicking when the cameras or Nate's hand is on him!

Food cravings:Sweets.  All of this Halloween candy is not helping me stay on track and eating healthy!

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.  

Have you started to show yet: Yes.I measured my stomach this week because Mimi (my mom) was curious and it is 37 inches around!  WOW!!  I think I am going to start measuring every couple of weeks to see how I grow!

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody: Happy!

  Looking forward to:  Nate feeling the baby move and decorating baby boy's nursery!

Week 22

How far along? 22 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 10 lbs.

Maternity clothes? Yes.

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep: Sleeping great!

Best moment this week: Feeling baby Leland move around so much.  It is like clockwork, if I eat something, he kicks and flips!

Movement:Yes!

Food cravings: No.

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.  

Have you started to show yet: Yes.

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody: Happy!

  Looking forward to: Nate feeling the baby move and decorating baby boy's nursery

Week 21

How far along? 21 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 9 lbs. (ummm, apparently baby Kivett was hungry this past week!)

Maternity clothes? Yes.

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep: Sleeping great but waking up at 5:00am.  We will see how the time change affects me.  Hopefully I will not be up at 4:00am.  Ahhhhhh!

Best moment this week: TELLING EVERYONE THAT WE ARE HAVING A BABY BOY!

Movement:Yes!

Food cravings: No.

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.  

Have you started to show yet: Yes. Sometimes I look HUGE! 

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody: Happy!

  Looking forward to:Nate feeling the baby move and decorating baby boy's nursery! Yay! 

(this is a picture of Nate waiting for baby boy to kick.  no such luck yet.  he stops moving every time Nate puts his hand on my tummy.  such a little rascal already! )

Week 20

How far along? 20 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 6.2 lbs.
Maternity clothes? Yes. I am loving maternity leggings!  I went to H&M with bestie Sarah and bought 4 great maternity sweaters and 2 maternity tank tops for $100.  How great of a deal is that!  I love the tank tops because they are nice and long, and I can even do the rubber band trick with my jeans, wear my H&M tank, and a regular shirt. Score! 
Stretch marks? No.
Sleep: Sleeping great.  I have been waking up about 5:00am each morning ready to start my day! Linus (our puppy baby) LOVES that I am getting up so early; I am not a huge fan. 
Best moment this week:  FINDING OUT THE GENDER!  Feeling the baby move is pretty amazing. I am DYING for Nate to be able to feel tha baby move!
Movement:Yes!  I feel the baby each day which is pretty awesome. 
Food cravings: No.
Anything making you queasy or sick: No.  Feeling great!
Have you started to show yet: Yes.  If I am wearing a tight shirt I look HUGE!  I like it though.  I am loving how my body is changing and feel so blessed to have these positive feelings about my ever changing figure!  Nate tells me a lot that I am looking SEXY which is always wonderful for anyone, especially a pregnant woman, to hear!
** I have decided to post pics with my shirt down as well as up from now on.  It is fun to see how crazy big my belly is getting and I am loving it! **
Gender: BOY! (I will be writing a whole blog post on finding out the gender very soon!)
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody: Happy!
  Looking forward to: Nate feeling the baby kick!