30 Weeks

Today I am 30 weeks pregnant & definitely starting to feel uncomfortable.  This past Monday we had an ultrasound done & got to see our little baby.  We confirmed yet again that it is definitely a girl, Thank the Lord.  I would have gone into an extremely dramatic panic episode if they told me any differently.  She is growing perfectly weighing about 3 lbs now & measuring at 30 weeks as of Monday, which was only a couple days ahead of the gestational age.  She is head down which explains why her feet are always in my ribs.  She was very active as usual & it was entertaining watching her move on the computer screen & being able to feel her at the same time.  At our 20 week ultrasound I was only barely starting to feel slight movements so when we saw her move on the screen I didn't feel much.  During the ultrasound we could see her opening her mouth & sticking out her tongue & she was touching her nose with her hands.  That same day we also started our first childbirth education class.  There are a total of seven couples in the class with Kolt & I being the only ones expecting a girl.  We learned about the end of pregnancy & what is happening with the baby & my body as I prepare to go into labor.  We also learned about the stages of labor, when it is safe to stay home & when we should prepare to head to the hospital.  And then of course all the details of the actual delivery process & the husbands/ labor coaches role during the process.  Since being pregnant I haven't had any weird or unusual cravings & the only food aversions I experienced was with red meat, mostly during my 1st & 2nd trimesters.  My latest obsessions have been brownies & coke, which is weird for me since I normally prefer Pepsi & don't bake brownies very often.  As of now I am baking a new pan of brownies about every 5 days & had to go buy a 12 pack of coke since we usually only have Mt. Dew in the house.  We also received GREAT news this week!  My mom wasn't going to be able to come visit when the baby is born, but Cordale managed to work some things out & as a wedding anniversary gift to my mom, he is sending her up to visit for about 2 weeks so she can see the baby when she is born.  We are very excited that both our mother's will be coming up to visit & will be here to help us with the baby in the first few weeks.  

   

29 Weeks Down.... 11 more to go

I am now 29 weeks pregnant & definitely still growing (about 1/2 an inch a week).  On top of the back pain, heartburn, & constant urge to pee, I now get to feel the wonderful sensation of being jabbed in the ribs at random moments.  It's not comfortable at all & at times quite annoying.  A few weeks ago we found out that Kolt can hear the baby's heartbeat if he puts his ear to my belly.  We read about this in one of the pregnancy books & decided to give it a try.  I started going to physical therapy a few times a week to help with my back pain.  Apparently I don't have an arch in my back that most pregnant women get from their pelvic bones moving forward.  My back is staying somewhat flat causing me to carry a lot of weight in my back & putting extra pressure on my back muscles & nerves.  
We start our childbirth education classes this coming Monday & will have one class a week for five weeks.  We also have our 3rd trimester ultrasound coming up next week & then begin to see the Doctor every 2 weeks.  Our first visitors are coming in a couple weeks.  One of Kolt's best friends from the Army, Dustin Zumwalt, & his wife will be here for about a week.  Shortly after their visit we have our baby shower on June 2nd.  As of right now my last day of work is scheduled to be June 29th & then my sister is coming to Sitka on July 23rd.  So we will see when Brinleigh decides to make her debut.  I think these last 11 weeks are going to go by pretty quickly.

28 Weeks:

  
Coast Guard Alaska Season 2 premiered a few weeks ago on the weather channel & I hope you are all watching.  So far every episode has had stories from the Sitka air station & some of the episodes have been all Sitka air station stories.  A nice change from last season where they covered more Kodiak stories.  Tonight's episode showed the Coast Guard rescuing one of their own.  Flight mech Andy Dennison & his family were reported overdue after their boat ran aground & got stuck on shore on Nakwasina Island.  This is somewhat ironic since Andy had to "rescue" Kolt & his friend Steve a few weeks ago from Nakwasina Island when the tide went out & left Steve's boat aground.