26 weeks (and 1 day) : 97 days til baby!

Here's the 25.5 week baby bump picture, which was taken at the beach. There's a lot of skin...you've been forewarned! I did bring two other bathing suits - a tankini and a maternity one piece, but honestly, it was most comfortable wearing this one and letting it all hang out! :)

This Monday I had to do the glucose screening, which meant I had to drink 10 oz. of nasty orange sugar water stuff and then go have my blood drawn. I was worried beforehand about drinking the "glucola" and how it would make me feel, but it all turned out okay. 

On Tuesday, I went for my regular check up and found out the results of glucose test. I was nervous because I knew if I didn't pass, I would have to take a three-hour-long test which would entail drinking even more gross stuff and having my blood drawn once every hour. Thankfully, I passed, although not with flying colors. As the midwife told me, I just barely passed. She told me that I needed to cut back on carbs (my favorite food group) and eat a lot more protein. She also said I needed to be drinking A GALLON OF WATER a day, which I know I have not been doing - not even close. So, I am trying to be good and follow doctor's orders. My next appointment is in a month, at which point I will be 30 weeks. From then on, I will start going every two weeks, instead of every four, and then then last month or so, I will go every week.

This weekend Yusaku and I have a weekend full of childbirth preparation classes at the hospital (10-4 on both Saturday and Sunday). I have also scheduled two prenatal consultations for us in the next few weeks with two different pediatricians so we can try to pick one. Just trying to get everything I can think of taken care of and out of the way. I know I still have three months left but I don't want to wait until the last minute.

One last hurrah!

We just got back from the beach late Saturday night. It was a wonderful vacation - full of sitting on the beach, reading books, and just relaxing. The condo was beachfront, which was awesome.  In the past the condo we've stayed at is just a row or two back, which was still not bad, but our beach access at this condo was pretty much right outside our door.

We saw more wildlife on this trip than we have ever seen before. We saw dolphins every day - one day we probably saw 15 or 20. We also saw a group (school?) of stingrays, as well as a shark - a nice big five foot long shark that was a couple feet away from shore. Kind of cool, kind of scary.

We got to visit with Pop Pop and Florence - having dinner at their house one night and then crabs at our condo another night. It was great seeing them and the crabs, which are an annual tradition, were great as usual!

I managed to finish a 560 something page book, which I had gotten less than halfway through before vacation and then read two more books (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and Little Bee) and start another during the course of our vacation. It felt great! I can't remember the last time I got to read that much in such a short amount of time. I'm hoping to do a lot of reading this summer before the baby arrives. (Yusaku was having fun playing with his camera and taking picture of me reading on our balcony.)

 

Enjoy this last picture of the beautiful intracoastal waterway at sunset!

School's Out For Summer!

My last day of school (and teaching for awhile) was yesterday. It was very surreal. I had certain expectations of how I thought the day would go and how I would feel. I expected to be sentimental because I am sad to be leaving, but weirdly I didn't feel that sad or sentimental even at the very end of the day. Maybe it's because it just hasn't sunk in yet. Who knows? It's funny because I was kind of frustrated with myself that I wasn't more emotional about the whole thing.

Today, Yusaku and I headed out to my classroom to pack up as much as we could fit in the car. I had A LOT of books, which Yusaku single-handedly had to load into the car and unload again at home. (See pic below of all the books from my classroom unloaded at home). I still have a little bit of work left to do on Monday before I turn in my keys. Then, I am free for the summer!

Switching topics from school to our baby, last weekend Yusaku and I headed down to northern Cincinnati to a baby store called Treehouse Kids. It was really nice and the woman who helped us was very knowledgeable. We ordered both our glider and our stroller. We had originally thought of getting a travel system (carseat/carrier and stroller altogether), but Yusaku wanted a jogging stroller so we ended up getting something kind of in the middle...an all-terrain stroller. It looks like a jogging stroller (three wheels and rubber tires instead of plastic) but still has the option of putting on an adapter so you can snap the car seat into it at least for the first 6 months or so. We got the adapter so we will be able to put the car seat in it.  Pretty exciting stuff, huh? :)

Next Friday we'll be heading down to Topsail Island in North Carolina for one last little vacation. We'll get to see my PopPop, which I'm excited about and just sit on the beach, read, and relax. I will post again when we get back. I'll leave you with an updated baby bump picture!