3 family visits in 3 weekends leading up to 3rd trimester

It has been too long since I posted, but we have been making good use of our time. I posted pics and and update from when my mom came into town. The following weekend, Matt's parents visited and we went to my first Ga Tech game. They beat Clemson who was #5 in the country at the time (totally overrated). Then the weekend after that, we drove with the dogs with Ali to meet Jen at my dad's cabin in North Carolina. Dad literally built this cabin himself and it is so amazing. I always pictured small cabin, kinda rustic, but he has built an enormous house on the top of a mountain outside of Boone, NC. It was the first time any of them had seen me all preggers and we had so much fun. The dogs loved bouncing through the fields and we all hiked up to the top of some mountain where you could see for 50 miles around. It was a great trip and I finally got a good night sleep there after tossing and turning for about 2 weeks straight.

These 3 great weekends lead right into my 3rd trimester. I cannot believe I have already been pregnant for 7 months, but then again I can. I feel like I announced my pregnancy ages ago and Matt and I joke all the time that it really takes a long time to grow a baby. But I feel like I am in the final stretch and know that it will go quickly.

We are going to Dallas this weekend for a little 'babymoon.' I had never heard that term before a few months ago, but apparently couples take a little trip before the baby comes to relax and enjoy a little time alone together before their lives change completely. So we are going to Dallas and plan to see a rodeo, maybe catch the new Twilight movie, and go to Nick and Sam's for dinner. I am dreading the flight, but looking forward to a whole weekend alone with Matt.

After that we head down to Orlando for Thanksgiving and my sisters are throwing me a baby shower. I am excited to see friends and family, but again...not excited about the drive. Oh well, I will pop on the heated seat, lay back, and relax as much as possible.

I can't find the cord to my camera to download pics, but have a few from the phone of the nursery with chair and bedding. Grace really thinks that this is her new room and she sleeps in there and rolls around. It is pretty cute. I can imagine her sleeping on the floor while Harrison plays and naps.

Grandma visit and Nursery

My mom's life has been a little crazy with her job stuff and now my Grandparents are moving in with her. We have been trying to schedule a time for her to come visit and she finally made it up last weekend. She had not see me since I was like 9 weeks pregnant and we were dying to see eachother. So Friday she drove up and we spent the weekend working on the nursery. Matt had already put together the crib and we had the dresser and the room was painted. I needed her creative touch for window treatment, arrangement above the crib, and I wanted to get a bookcase and endtable for the rocker. We went out Friday and I showed her the bedding that I have ordered. It is on backorder and I am so glad that I ordered it a month ago - it is scheduled for delivery on Nov 29! Then we shopped and shopped. We always have a hard time getting started because she has way more vision than I do and our styles are also very different. But in the end, Harrison has a nursery just how I pictured it, but taken up a notch with Grandma's amazing design creativity.

I will hit 26 week this Thursday and by some accounts that is the end of my 2nd trimester. There is no denying that I am a pregnant lady! I still feel very good, but have started to get a litle uncomfortable trying to sleep. I set out for a 3m run last night and made it about a mile before I had some pain at the bottom of my growing belly. So I just walked the rest and then grabbed the dogs and walked them for a total of about 3.5miles. I am worried that my distance running is over for now, but am learning to enjoy the walks and time with the dogs. (Although, it would be amazing if Grace could poop before we left so I did not have to walk 2 dogs plus pick up and hold poop. Oh well!) I start prenatal yoga this week with a friend who is due 2 days before me. It is a 6 week program and is supposed to be amazing. I am skeptical just because I have always found yoga boring, but there is no denying that it is good for me and will be good for the resst of my pregnancy and beyond. So I will go on Thursday with an open mind and try to get the most out of it.

Matt still has class 3 nights a week and it is so hard to be away from him. I feel horrible, but by the time he get home at like 9:15 I am already in bed and falling asleep. So we are very limited in our time together during the week. And we are booked with visits and trips until Thanksgiving. His parents come this weekend, next weekend we drive to NC to visit my dad and my sister will be there, then we have a trip to Dallas and then Thanksgiving. I think we have one more weekend at home before Thanksgiving. Time is really flying by and I am glad for that. I feel like we are doing a good job getting ready for Harrison while not getting too overwhelmed.

I can't find the cord to download pics from my camera so I have included some from the phone. Enjoy!!

Grandma had a stroke

My sisters and I grew up very close to our family and there is an 'Orlando' crew. Two of my mom's sisters plus my grandparents have all lived in Orlando since I was in 5th grade and we saw them often even before that. My grandparents are in their late 70s so of course they have had some health issues. Grandpa has bouts with dimentia (or so they think) and he is just slower than he used to be. He will still suprise you with a smart-ass remark though just to keep you on your feet and remind you that he is paying attention. Grandma has taken care of him and they have lived on their own.
On Monday, my grandma had a stroke. She has been in the hospital since and will have to go through intense therapy hoping to get her speech back. The bad news is that her speech and comprehension are pretty lost. The good news is that she never had any level of paralysis and that even in the last few days her speech has gotten better. However, this has totally rocked my world. I keep thinking of how scared and frustrated she must be. I also, selfishly, think how sad I will be to go through a baby shower and have a baby that may not get to know his great-grandma.
My mom is bearing the burden of helping to take care of Grandpa and organzing in-home care with the help of her brothers and sister (as much as they can). She has a job interview today so if she gets a job, which she needs, what will happen to my grandparents?? While I know that I cannot just drop everything and drive down and help, part of me wishes that I could. My mom is amazing and has helped shield me from what is probably a very sad situation and has helped me to stay focused on my sleep to stay relaxed and keep little Harrison happy and healthy. I appreciate that she is doing that, but worry for her own health if she does not get the necessary help with her parents. UGH! Getting old really stinks!!
This was just a sad update that I felt I needed to get tracked as part of my pregnancy. I realized today (on Friday) that I have been so tired all week and it is probably due to dealing with, or burying, the stress and sadness I am feeling for Grandma.
Get better, Grandma - little Harrison wants to meet you!

Joy and Fear

One of my best friends, Nina, was in town for the night last night. She recently moved to London and I wish she was closer. Nina is a great blogger. She writes funny, insightful stories and gave me some blogging tips. So I am going to try to get more emotional (hard for me, I know) and share more about the emotional side of my pregnancy. Here goes...

Contained excitement is probably the best way to describe my day-to-day emotions. I am not sure if this is from all the years of disappointment trying to get pregnant that I am not able to let myself really freak out or if that is just my personality. Grandma asks me with every big appointment "Did you cry?" and I really have not. Maybe I shed enough tears with the bad news that I feel like it is finally time to dry up and enjoy this amazing blessing.

But if you get me talking, you will probably get annoyed - I love being pregnant. I feel so lucky that I have felt well and have a healthy little boy growing inside of me. Every week I get email statuses telling you what to expect: 22 weeks will bring stretch marks, exhaustion, leg cramps, back aches. Yuck! So I read the emails every week and it seems that all the good stuff happens (baby moving more, belly growing) and none of the bad. I love the way my baby bump looks and enjoy showing it off with new maternity clothes. I love my thicker (yes, even thicker than normal hair) and nail and the 'glow.' I love the way Matt looks at me like I am getting cuter every day and when we spoon in bed and he notices how much I grow every day.

I am very much a person that stays in the moment when the moments are happy. People have started asking me about labor and fears about bringing the baby home or raising him. I have not really thought too much about that except in 1 area: breast feeding.

Breastfeeding: I am not sure if our parents are telling the truth, have forgotten, or maybe it was just not a topic for conversation with their friends, but apparently ALL mothers back then breastfed with no problems. UGH! If that was truly the case then we are one messed up generation. Not only do people in my age group have much more trouble getting pregnant...it is very common to have trouble breastfeeding. I have seen first hand how hard my friends try and how heartbroken they are when it does not work. But probably half of the moms I know were not able to successfully breastfeed after the first few weeks. So this is my one and only fear right now. I know that this is what is best for the baby and will sacrifice to make it happen. So we will attend a breastfeeding class in December and I will make sure to have a lactation specialist on hand if I need. But even with that, I am worried that for whatever reason it will not work out.

20 week ultrasound pics