25 Weeks

I am 25 weeks on my 26th birthday! Madden is now the size of an eggplant.

    

Fun facts about week 25:

- He's enjoying his new sense of equilibrium -- he now knows which way is up and which is down.

- He's growing more fat and more hair too!

Matt doesn't like it when I put my hands on my belly for the pic. So here is an all belly one! Ignore the love handles please.

Definitely getting bigger! Today is my birthday and I am enjoying a relaxing day with my husband. He got me two of my favorite things for my present...Tom's and a starbucks gift card. 

Fall is definitely my favorite time of year, however, it is going to be very busy for us. Matt has started coaching again. He is assistant coach for girl's basketball this year, and the season has begun! My brother is playing on the high school basketball team so we will be attending some of his games as well. And of course, I have a million and one things to get done before February! I am thankful for the busyness though. Hopefully it will make time go by a lot faster so I can hurry up and meet this sweet baby!

24 Weeks

Madden now weighs between 1 pound and 1 1/2 pound and is about 12 inches long. We are at the fun stage of being able to watch the kicks instead of just feeling them. He comes alive the most at night when I lay down. They measured me for the first time at my doctor's appointment last week and we are right on track! My next appointment will be exciting/miserable. The very exciting part is that we are getting our 4D ultrasound! Yay! I absolutely cannot wait to see his face! I will be almost 29 weeks when I have it done, so I am hoping that gives him enough time to get a little fat in those cheeks. The miserable part will be getting the glucose test done, and because of my negative blood type I have to get a shot. I don't do shots. At all. I don't do medical situations. At all. I most definitely don't do getting my blood drawn well. AT ALL. I told my doctor I suffered from white coat syndrome. Seriously, everytime I step foot in a doctor's office my hands pour with sweat and my blood pressure rises. Even at the quick appointments where they just listen to the heartbeat I get nervous. Dr. Hill said I am about to be majorly desensitized. I knew this and am trying to remain calm about what's ahead of me. I am just taking it one step at a time. If I can just make it through this shot and glucose test! Ha! Pitiful I know, but I have always been this way. Thankfully I will have those sweet pictures of my baby to get me through the appointment.

I have decided to make goals for myself between doctor's appointments. I have got to start getting things done! I went to Premiere Fabrics last week and got some fabric swatches for his bedding. I am going to try to make a decision soon and get that ordered. Also I am planning on registering in the next couple of weeks. That way I will be a little more organized about what we need. Besides the constant weight gain - esp in the face and hip area : ( - I am still feeling great. No swelling, heartburn, or any other symptoms yet. No stretch marks yet. Praise! This makes me think I do need to get things done before all of these symptoms do start happening!

23 Weeks

Baby Madden is doing great! He is constantly letting me know he is there. Matt and I may be in trouble if the activity level inside the womb is any indicator of what his activity level will be once born. I love feeling those precious kicks though! I hope he stays active the whole pregnancy. We go to the doctor Tuesday. We are both ready to hear that heartbeat! I am dreading the weigh-in. I feel like I have packed it on recently. Maybe it's because I had another oreo attack session. I promised myself it was the last one! For real. No more.

I really don't have a lot to report this week. No progress on the nursery has been made. Madden's future room has been the 'junk room' so we still have a lot of cleaning out and moving around to do. I do plan to go register soon and hopefully start looking at fabric for his bedding. I have got to get busy!!

Our Weekend

This past weekend I experienced having my first yard sale. I have to say, it was pretty fun! We had a ton of people show up which made it extremely worth the work. I was mostly excited about getting all the junk and unused items out of my house. We are definitely in 'making room for baby' mode.

Erica was our organizer. Mom and I could not have managed without her!

We started our sale at 7 a.m. and had people start showing up 30 minutes before that. It was a LONG day. A nap was a must that afternoon.

Lauren and Josh came home this weekend so we had a little get together at Erica and Martin's house that night. We had fun eating and making smores around the fire pit.

Martin just can't take his eyes off his lovely wife : )

We had a great weekend! Can't wait until Lauren and Josh are back in MS so we can hang out more often.







22 Weeks

He is now the size of a papaya. I am definitely noticing a lot of baby bump growth lately. Even strangers are starting to notice and ask when I am due. I am losing more and more clothes every week.



Well the name battle is officially over! It was actually a peaceful decision. Matt just wanted to explore all the options before officially giving him a name. Our sweet baby boy is going to be called.......

Madden Paul Thompson

Madden is just a name I liked because it's a little different and I have never known anyone with that name. Paul is Matt's middle name. They will share the same initials..MPT. It has been so much fun getting to call him by a name! I have also loved hearing my family use it too. February just cannot get here soon enough! We are ready to meet baby Madden!



21 Weeks

Baby boy is the size (or length mainly) of a banana! My pregnancy book says his fingers and toes (even fingerprints) are now fully formed. His movements are still getting stronger and stronger. He is moving constantly! I seriously don't know if this little fella ever sleeps. I feel him moving all day long. It's so amazing!

Still no name yet. I'm already tired of saying 'he'. I'm ready to be able to call him by name. We're getting closer, just can't quite commit yet. Well, Matt can't commit yet.
Speaking of my husband....this is the scene I will be getting a lot of starting today....

Yes, it's deer season. A season I could do without. He's getting it all out of his system, because next season there will be a baby in the equation and hunting will be at the bottom of the list (I may or may not have been smiling while typing that sentence). Enjoy sweetie!

On a more positive note about my sweet husband...I just have to give him a little shout out about how wonderful he has been to me during this pregancy. I pretty much didn't lift a finger during the sick months, and he still does the majority of the house work now. I can't tell you how thankful I am for God blessing me with such a caring and loving husband. He is so involved and invested in every little thing that happens with this baby already. I can't wait to see him in action as a dad. Knowing how he takes such great care of me, I can't imagine how he'll be with our little guy. This baby is going to be getting one awesome daddy!

20 Weeks

Baby boy is now the size of a cantaloupe! He weighs as much as 1 pound now.

Halfway there! 19 weeks was all about celebrating that it's a boy. 20 weeks and beyond is going to be all about decisions, decisions, and decisions. I am suddenly in major planning mode. My doctor told me last week that I have about an 8 to 10 week window of feeling great. She said at around 28 weeks I would start to feel very pregnant. She encouraged me to get a lot done during this window of time and I am going to do just that. I pretty much have what I want the baby bedding to look like in my mind, but haven't fully decided on nursery colors, furniture, etc. Hopefully I can make these decisions soon. I have been researching strollers, carseats, and other gear. Of course my main thing is safety, so I have been researching on consumer reports and think I have it narrowed down.

I really like the jogging strollers. I have heard they are the most convenient. This one was ranked high on reviews and I like the colors!

The Chicco Keyfit 30 is ranked very high for safety. Haven't decided which color I will get but know this is the carseat I want.

Still have to decide on the high chair and pack and play. Then I will feel like I have all of the big items finished. Here is a pick of the baby bedding that I have in mind. It may not be the exact same thing, but will look very similar. I found this on modpeapod.com.

Naturally, everyone is asking us about names. Well, the battle continues. I wouldn't necessarily say there is a battle going on, but we are exploring all of our options before I make we make the decision : ). Boy names are hard! I am ready to be able to call him by his name though, so hopefully we can come to a decision soon.