Baby Update: Week 28

Here we are in the THIRD trimester! I don't know why my last post was "week 28" when it was really "week 27", but here's the real 28th week post.


How far along?: 28w3d
How big is Baby?: Stats show Baby W at 2.25 pounds (online knowledge--not spoken by a doctor) and is measuring around 15 inches long. He can be compared to a cabbage or eggplant at this point...
Maternity clothes?: Yes. I am just about maxing out of my pre-pregnancy shirts, though the stretchy long-sleeved options are still functioning well. The pants are fully maternity and I love the new pants I bought from Old Navy. They're too big, but I enjoy the extra space when I feel like the rest of my body is closing in on me...
Sleep?: Doing well for the most part. I am up about twice in the night and waking up early on subbing days. I am not using any special pillows or anything--I didn't want to spend the money and I don't feel like I am sleeping poorly at all.
Best moment of the week?: My husband coming home from being out of town all week! And perhaps right now... because it's the weekend and that means spending the entire weekend together.
Movements?: All the time. This little man is obviously filling his space quite nicely.
Food cravings?: I eat a lot of avocado lately. I just love guacamole and since I love Mexican food, it works quite well with this condiment. I also consumed (not one...but) two ice cream desserts yesterday. I came home from subbing and had a Drumstick... then later that evening, 3 of my girlfriends and I went to Coldstone where I consumed yet another bowl of ice cream (chocolate with peanut butter in case you're interested).
Aversions?: No. I love food. :)
What I miss?: Putting on my socks without struggling and sleeping in our bedroom! We've been displaced and have been sleeping in our guest bedroom until the neverending wallpaper project is over.
What I'm looking forward to?: I cannot wait to finish the wallpaper and paint those walls!
Anything else?: We're now on schedule to see the doctor every 2 weeks. I'm not thrilled, because I spend over an hour everysingletime waiting before they call me back, just for the doctor to come in and see me for 5 minutes! It's madness. And when I'm going every week... someone help me. As for Baby W, he now has eyelashes, he is able to see light as he opens and closes his eyes, and his brain is forming billions of neurons. He's adding lots of fat to his little body, also. My doctor measured me and said I was 1 cm behind as for the average 28-week pregnant lady. She also said before measuring that she doesn't think we'll have a big baby at all... it appears I'm more petite than most. We aren't worried, but if there is a need for another ultrasound, we'll have one. From what I've researched, 1 cm with a measuring tape is super subjective and such a trivial measurement.
This week in history: GOP reveals their "Pledge to America", Obama's health care reform reaches 6 months, French Unions strike over reforms, weather across the nation is changing as the first day of fall has come.

What's going on this week (with us)?: Aside from Ray being out of town from Monday-Friday of this week (he's back now... just arrived an hour ago!), we've been working insanely hard to get our bedroom and office redone. It will be so nice to wake up and not see awful flowers on the walls! I've been subbing this week as well and continue to get called a lot for elementary and middle school. I spend most of my time at the middle school and I really enjoy the age of those students. I could do without the negative teachers in the teacher's lounge at that school, but I like the kids. We are attending a wedding tomorrow and hope to have our first coat of primer on the walls! I think I'll even make my first pot of soup this weekend-- fall weather is here (most days) and it's perfect for a pot of healthy split pea soup! Yum.

Bump pictures: Month 1, Month 2, Month 3, Month 4, Month 5, Month 5.5, Month 6, Month 6.5 and finally...

Month 7

Baby Update: Week 27

I may have just had a mini-anxiety attack seeing that there are 88 days until our little guy is making his appearance (give or take some days/weeks, of course)! Sheesh. This time has sure gone by quickly.


How far along?: 27w5d
How big is Baby?: About two pounds and still around the size of an eggplant. He is around 14 inches or in that range.
Maternity clothes?: Yes. I am starting to max out the shirts I can wear from my pre-pregnancy collection. I have centimeters (literally) that are left to grow before I may split these shirts at their seams. Soon, it's maternity all-day, everyday. I'm trying to not only wear what is still somewhat tolerable in this 60-70 degree weather before it turns freezing and I won't see it until at least May/June of next year, and what I can still fit into. Since the maternity options are limited, you must maximize your options early in the game. Pants, of course. I even invested in two pairs of pants at Old Navy in maternity sizes. I figured that if I were sub teaching, I'd need them. And... I have. I subbed every day last week!
Sleep?: Yes, doing well--except that nightmare I had last night where Ray was sticking his hand out to touch a very large (tarantula-style) spider that was sitting on a piano. As I watched the spider's green buggy eyes expand out of their sockets (seriously, pregnancy dreams are crazy!), I woke us both up as I screamed, "Oh my gosh!"
Best moment of the week?: Having five great days of sub teaching in a row! I actually enjoyed my time at these schools and met some new teachers that were quite nice.
Movements?: Yes. Some are alienesque. You can absolutely see him maneuvering in there and he loves somersaults. He's obviously reaching capacity in there.
Food cravings?: No, but I'm eating well. We just bought a huge bag of quinoa at Costco and I'm thrilled. It's high in protein, a delicious carb, gluten-free (who knew?), and tastes better than rice! I am expected to have more protein while pregnant and I am enjoying this.
Aversions?: Nope.
What I miss?: Drinking options. I don't really care that I can't drink alcohol, but when at countless business dinners, it would be nice to indulge in a glass of wine with my meal like all the rest of the people at our table. It would just add to the experience. But, this little guy is totally worth the restraint.
What I'm looking forward to?: Finishing the wall preparations in our bedroom and office so we can primer and paint the walls! Maybe then we can move back into the room! Our goal, October 1. We'll see...
Anything else?: Baby W has an 85% chance of survival if born this week. Wow! He is now able to open/close his eyes, is breathing (though inhaling amniotic fluid), and gaining fat that he needs.
This week in history: Miners are still stuck in Chile, Oprah begins her final season... I know... slow news reading for me this week-- I've been busy!

What's going on this week (with us)?: We had a great week and had a visitor in town from Germany. While I subbed this week and had lovely get-togethers with friends for various reasons (Bible study, making a meal for a friend who had a baby, bridal shower for another couple...), Ray was traveling to Indiana to some steel mills. In other news, I had to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on a child for the first time! I was sub teaching 3rd grade and was in another classroom just assisting the teacher as my students were in the gym. With two other adults in the room, the child approached me and told me that he had a grape stuck in his throat. He muttered the words and I immediately brought him into the hallway to have a drink, with hopes the water would force the grape down. It didn't. He shook his head and he began to turn red in the face. So, with no other adults in sight, I had to perform the HM on him right there in the hallway. About 5 pumps later, he turned around, let out a huge sigh, and said, "You got it! It's not stuck anymore!" It was a scary experience but I'm sure glad I had some type of training way back when! It made me very nervous that I am just 88 days from having my own son to care for and I may panic at such important times. Never in 3 years of teaching had I even come close to needing this procedure. Leave it to a day when I'm subbing in a new school... in a new state... with kids I don't really know!

One year ago {today}...

We were nervous.
We were excited.
We were anxious.
We were homeless.
We were resting from our month-long road trip across the United States. Best. month. of. our. lives.
We were saving lots of money. (and now we have given it all to live in a wonderful house)
We were getting our fill of all things Mexican food.
We were boarding a plane...
...because we were moving to Germany! To live in this house:

Eat this food (okay, and about a thousand pounds of sausage):

Explore this gorgeous land and other countries around it... {The Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovakia, Switzerland} and see beautiful places like this:

and we can't forget about the awesome desserts...ah, how I miss that real Belgian waffle.

But now... our life is equally enriched... as we:

Bought our first home
Celebrated two years of marriage
Met some wonderful new friends we're so thankful to have
Stripped three rooms of wallpaper
Experienced a Midwest summer

...and the most exciting of all... 

Awaiting the birth of our son who we're so honored to parent.
Life is good. God is good great.

The Fosters Visit the Windy City

These are only some of the photos taken this weekend during my first parent's visit to Chicago. We were so excited to show them where we've chosen to call home. My mom has more photos... so this is not really a comprehensive look at the trip, but I'll just have to mention the parts I didn't photograph myself.

They arrived Friday evening around 8 p.m. at O'Hare. We picked them up and went straight to Ray's work for a factory tour. It was nice being there when the inside of the factory wasn't 110 degrees! Since it was the second shift, there were not a ton of people working, but the machines were operable... so we saw quite a bit. We left his work and went straight to downtown Naperville for dinner at Giordano's... my parents first real experience having Chicago deep dish. We each had a slice and called it a night. :) We headed home after that and gave the tour of our house and were lavished with baby gifts (see this post).

The next day, Saturday, we took the 9:30 a.m. Metra train downtown and started our tour of Chicago at the Sears Willis Tower. Our friend Sandy says that I must not be from Chicago because I actually refer to it by its new name... when a true Chicagoan would always say Sears Tower. Nope, a Californian I am... I must confess. We wanted to beat the rush into "the tower", so we booked it. The wait was not bad at all (maybe 20 minutes in line) and we were at the top of the 103 floors. We walked around, took photos, then got in line to check out the new skydeck ledges. They have 4 new ledges and neither Ray nor I had been on them. We visited the tower last April and they were in the process of being built. We weren't even given access to the 103rd floor-- just the 95th, if I remember correctly. For $16 a person, we were making sure our experience was a good one, and it was. At the ledge area, there is a mechanism that was built to retract the exterior windows for cleaning. In this mechanism, there are parts used from Ray's company. They are not covered and completely visible to anyone who is paying attention. It was quite cool. We made sure to be a little crazy on the ledge before heading back down to the ground level.

After the tower, we headed to the water taxi for a ride to the Wrigley building. It took us straight there and we were able to get some photos. It's my favorite building in all of downtown. Next, we headed on foot to Navy Pier for Chicago hot dogs. Once there, we walked around the insane crowds and had lunch. Once we were done, we walked to Millennium Park, checked out the Cloud Gate and Crown Fountain (bean and face fountains) before walking a bit on Michigan Avenue back to the water taxi. The water taxi took us back to the Union Station area where we boarded the Metra back to the 'burbs. It was a full day and we saw some of the great sites. Future trips will have to include the Wrigleyville area (and a Cubs game) along with Lincoln Park.

Sunday was all about staying local. We went to church in the morning and headed to downtown Naperville for the Last Fling. We walked all over the downtown area and checked out the Naper Settlement. We drove around the neighborhoods in our area, showed my parents some of the landmarks, houses we considered purchasing during that process, and had dinner at Teddy's Red Hots in Downer's Grove. We've been told by our friends Sandy & Chuck that they have the best Italian beef and some good hot dogs. So, that was dinner. After dinner we went to the Tivoli theatre (old, quaint theatre in downtown Downer's Grove) to watch Dinner for Schmucks. I would give it a C rating... but there were a few funny parts. There were far too many unnecessary innuendos. But, we mainly went to show them the gorgeous theatre and relax. My parents love movies, so it was a nice ending to the weekend... before their 6 a.m. flight the next morning!

That's the synopsis, now here are some photos of the weekend that I managed to capture:

Catching the water taxi from the Willis Tower to the Wrigley Building.

About to board the water taxi once more from the Michigan Avenue bridge.

Chicago dogs at Navy Pier

Random moose statue across the street from the Wrigley Building

Many photos here of the Willis Tower experience on the ledge...

Baby W got in on the action. Risking my unborn child's life on a ledge far in the sky!

Views of Chicago below

Getting wild and crazy! Oh, poor Baby W. His mom is a wild woman. Haha.

More views of below...

Those two orange-labeled parts Ray is pointing to are made by his company.

And now... my parents are back in California... and we're stripping wallpaper! It has begun! Our bedroom and office will soon be wallpaper free.

Baby Update: Week 26 and 99 days to go!

This past weekend, my parents came to visit and it was so nice. We had a wonderful time sharing Chicago, our home, and lots of food experiences with them. While they were here, my mom brought along some things for Baby W that she made and purchased. This is one spoiled child. :)

I guess this is a pseudo-reveal of Baby W's room as of now. Though he doesn't have sheets for the mattress just yet, he does have a new crib quilt and bumper made by my very talented mom! Hanging on the left is a hand-me-down from Ray's aunt Ceil. She bought this for her daughter, Helena, who is now too old to have displaying in her room. It comes from Africa and it's hand stitched and absolutely gorgeous! The frame above Baby W's bed is from Michael's and it currently just has a placeholder of letters and fancy paper hanging inside. We plan to do something like this ourselves spelling out his name once we've purchased a nicer camera. Until then, it's a space saver.

Here's a closeup of the bumper. We'll probably change this and turn it the other way around because the other side is a really soft fabric. The monkey is one of many stuffed animals that our little one now owns. He owns stuffed animals that are larger than he is!

Here's a closeup of some more detail on the bumpers. The ribbon ties it onto the crib rails and there is even a detail on the top with a gold trim! They're so much nicer than anything you can buy at stores.

Here are just some of the items that baby A now owns from my parents (his grandparents in California). My mom made the blanket, baby wrap, hat, and booties!

 These are some of the store-bought items for our little guy from my parents... he's going to be one well-dressed munchkin!

Comparison shots: Month 1, Month 2, Month 3, Month 4, Month 5, Month 5.5, Month 6...and here's Month 6.5!

Now here's the update of what's been happening in Baby W's growth and development:

How far along?: 26w0d
How big is Baby?: In the eggplant range for the next few weeks. He is 13-14 inches in length and about 2 pounds.
Maternity clothes?: Yes, same answer as I usually post. I am still able to wear some non-maternity shirts, but I am mostly in all maternity because of comfort. As I sit here, I am wearing a t-shirt and some sweat pants-- neither of which are maternity but have the wonderful stretch factor. :)
Sleep?: Yes, and quite well still. The most difficult part is getting out of bed when I need to visit the restroom.
Best moment of the week?: The best moment this week was spending time with my family (while Baby W showed off his kickboxing skills and they were able to feel)!
Movements?: Yes, he's getting stronger by the day.
Food cravings?: No, but I sure did enjoy that nectarine I just ate!
Aversions?: None
What I miss?: Hmm... today I'm pretty thankful. I don't really miss much knowing that we're so excited to welcome our little boy into the world. Ask me tomorrow. ;)
What I'm looking forward to?: The weekend again? We had such a nice, long weekend and it's over!
Anything else?: Baby W is able to open his eyes again now that his eyes have developed almost completely. He also has a 70% chance of survival if born this week (given advanced medicine and technology). We're content with him to keep cooking, though. :)

This week in history: Wildfires in the US, evacuations of the Southeast have ended, and we are seeing our very first red and yellow fall leaves on our front maple tree! Oh, and weather has been amazing this past week.
What's going on this week (with us)?: We have enjoyed a wonderful weekend-- I'll show pictures in another post-- and spent time with friends last night. We were able to share all kinds of wonderful things with my parents this weekend and it was really great seeing them. 

Baby Update: Week 25

This is a quick one... we're a bit busy in the Wilson house this week...


How far along?: 25w1d
How big is Baby?: Baby is over a foot at this point (woah!), the size of an eggplant, and between 1.5-2.2 pounds. Incredible.
Maternity clothes?: Yes, but today I wore a nice non-maternity top with those nice maternity shorts, of course.
Sleep?: Doing well, but woke up to one of those lovely leg cramps last night. Bummer!
Best moment of the week?: Massive kickboxing by the little one-- but with us, it was taking a walk around our neighborhood together (and finding time for that!).
Movements?: Oh yeah.
Food cravings?: No, but that Drumstick sure was good this afternoon!
Aversions?: No. I'll eat everything. Okay, not everything.
What I miss?: Being able to lay on my stomach. Not to sleep, just in general. I can't plop on the couch or jump on the bed.
What I'm looking forward to?: My parents coming this weekend!
Anything else?: Baby W's eye's are forming (though I read they are almost always blue when born-- but ours will be blue-eyed anyway) and his eyelids are shut. He is building antibodies and gaining weight.
This week in history: Hurricane Earl is forming off the southern East coast, US quietly pulling from Iraq.

What's going on this week (with us)?: We are busy! We have been working around the house and spent lots of our weekend doing that. We hung the rest of the items in the baby's room and it's just about done (aside from the bedding in which my mom is bringing with her on Friday!). We are having dinner with some friends on Thursday at a new Mongolian BBQ place we've never been to and we're picking up my family from the airport on Friday evening. Ray is busy at work and I started subbing this week. While I don't love subbing, it's nice to be productive and earn a little extra cash before the baby arrives.

No photos this week... sorry! I'm a busy bee!