The First of the Last

28 weeks: the beginning of my last trimester! 

Please excuse my workout clothes. 

Size of Baby: 36.8 cm or about the size of a cauliflower.
Total Weight Gain: I'm guessing I'm up about 1-2 lbs since my last Birdie post.
Continuing Symptoms: Lots of ligament stretching towards the underside of my stomach and back pain. I've had a lot of increased sinus congestion- especially at night. I think it's a combination of moving, warm weather, pollen, pregnancy, and I've been around a bunch of strong smells lately. (New house, cedar dog bed, incense, etc) I've had a few more mood swings/ down days but I think that's mostly related to the stress/ exhaustion/ anxiety of moving. I'm still enjoying some pretty clear skin... I know my time is drawing to an end in that department.
New Symptoms: Nose bleeds! Ugh!!! I've never had a nose bleed in my life until the past couple of weeks. They're very mild and only last, maybe, a couple minutes but my goodness!
Maternity Clothes: I purchased a couple new shirts within the past couple of weeks. They're just "regular" shirts that I bought a size larger. One is still working well but the other may not make it until the end of pregnancy. I think it's the fabric. It's hitting me that I'm quickly growing out of a LOT of my stuff and will have to start thinking about how to clothe myself during this last trimester.
Sleep: Still sleeping normally and accepting the fact that I wake up a LOT. A couple weeks ago my hip pain was so bad that I was starting off the night in our recliner to get some relief. This past week I've been trying hard to keep my eyes open past 8pm. I've enjoyed going to bed really early even if it means I'm ready to get up right after D leaves for work.
What I'm Eating: Still anything to keep me full. Still have to have meat at dinnertime. I can see my meal planning efforts paying off both with our budget and with making sure we're both eating properly.
Cravings: Tootsie Rolls. I polished off a whole bag over four days. (D helped, too!) I've been wanting corn on the cob lately so we've been having it for dinner just about everyday this week. I've been cutting back on my sweet intake and it's going pretty well.
Special Pregnancy Moments: 
1. A few weeks ago we started our childbirth classes at the hospital where I'll be delivering. I'm so glad we opted to do this. Not only is it fascinating but it's forced D and I to think and talk about things we would not have thought to talk about.
2. Just before we moved I finished sewing Birdie's cradle bedding. Now it's on to her crib bedding and recovering her glider chair!
3. I still LOVE when Birdie is super active. Last night it looked like she was doing about 15 seconds worth of flutter kicks- it looked like there was an earthquake in there!
4. Purchased What To Expect The First Year
5. Celebrating my first Mother's Day: D bought me flowers, made me breakfast and even bought me a new couch! I received a lot of text messages, phone calls and a few Mother's Day cards.
6. This weekend we're taking off for our last long vacation before Birdie-girl arrives!

As of Late & Chaos

This sums up our last couple weeks pretty darn well. Let me back track a little...

Six months ago D suffered a pretty bad shoulder injury while in training across the county. They immediately sent him back home to me and, together, we had a week to find a new place to live back up north near his previous station. I was overwhelmed by the whole situation but promised D that I would immediately calm down once we had secured a place to live. After all- moving is no fun unless you have some type of idea of where you're going. Within a couple hours D found a condo for rent, and five days later we camped- literally- in our new place after signing a lease.

While the town and the condominiums that we lived in were really, really nice the condo that we rented wasn't...err... treated properly... to be nice. But we did the best we could with what we had, and I think we made the best out of the situation. I successfully looked past the white walls, physical imperfections, and the small space and made our condo as homey as possible. We made a verbal agreement with our landlord to extend our lease for another six months.

One day, a couple months ago, I was served papers at our home notifying us that the condo we were renting was heading towards foreclosure. Wait.... what!?! We have never, ever missed or have been late on a rent payment so you can imagine our surprise. I tried my best to read through the legal mumbo jumbo but I could only understand a few things clearly:

1. We were to keep paying our rent.
2. Our landlord was behind a specific amount and had to pay the balance by a certain date. (Which, if paid, could stop the foreclosure proceedings.)
3. If the balance wasn't paid then the condo would be auctioned a week before my due date.
4. If the condo was auctioned off we could either have 24 hours notice, 30 days or 90 days notice to move, depending on the situation.
5. This wasn't a great situation for us.

We mentioned to our landlord that we were aware of the situation and asked him to keep us updated. Weeks went by and there was still no word, let alone a straight answer when we questioned him. A few weeks ago we were really adamant that we HAD to know.... after all- we didn't want to be in a situation where I was popping out Birdie in the midst of house hunting, or moving with an infant that was days or weeks old. D and I made the decision to remove ourselves from the situation and find a new place.

I'll spare the gory details but it was a lot more stressful and anxiety filled than I thought it would be. There were also a couple crying meltdowns on my part. In the end we found a place that's in the next town over, actually saves us money, and has a better use of space. The only down side is it's a single wide... literally... and it's extremely dated in the- ahem- decor department. But, we're making the most of it and the pros of it out weigh the dated wallpaper, wood paneling, linolium flooring and such.

We've spent the past week packing up our things. Fortunately I did a major spring clean shortly after we moved into the condo and most of our stuff was already packed in storage bins. Over the weekend we got permission to start moving our stuff over. D has been a champ at doing all of the actual lifting and moving while I'm heading the sorting and organizing department. Tomorrow is our official move in day. We accomplished so much over the past couple of days that we really only have the major stuff (bed, freezer, etc) to move over.

I'm so, so glad that we're done and out of foreclosure situation as much as I hate that I'm moving while 6 1/2 months pregnant.

........

Of course daily life continues in the midst of chaos. Here's a quick glimpse at ours: 

 D and our friend E hiked Saddle Mountain one morning. I thoroughly enjoyed not going and, instead, spent my time sewing. 

 I finished the bumpers for Birdie's cradle. I know SIDS is a big concern with bumpers so I purposefully did only two sides and made the inner batting super, supper thin. 

These knuckleheads always find a way to steal my heart. I'm glad we've been having unseasonably warm weather lately as it'll get them ready for our trip back to California. (Note the turquoise pillow I made for our couch with leftover cradle fabric.)