Jesse's Nursery and More

Yesterday we were able to purchase furniture for the nursery, and I think that made it feel so much more real that baby Jesse will soon be here. The furniture was Jesse's present from my parents for my birthday (you see who's most important these days...just kidding of course), and we enjoyed getting to go pick it out yesterday. James must have been really excited about it, because he spent at least 5 solid hours yesterday afternoon assembling everything. The furniture looks beautiful in the room and fills up the space very nicely. It it hardwood with a dark cherry finish. We will also be adding a glider to the room, but we don't have that yet.





Not only does having the furniture make things feel more real, but last Thursday marked the first day of the third trimester. It's really strange to think that in just 10 short weeks he could be here, though it will likely be a little longer than that. I've continued to feel pretty good for the most part, but I'm beginning to think that the third trimester will be a lot harder for me than the first one was. I didn't really even feel that different during the first trimester, except for the times I got nauseous, which was really only when I first woke up or any other time I had an empty stomach. Even though most days are still fine, I definitely have a lot more aches and pains now, and it is starting to become difficult to do some everyday things, like putting on my shoes and bending over to pick something up. I have also gotten a good dose of insomnia here lately. I can't truly complain, though, because it is all for a good cause.

Jesse continues to grow and now weighs over 2 pounds. He is very active most days and I can be easily entertained watching his little feet kick my belly or seeing my entire belly ripple as he moves. I have also begun to notice that he often has the hiccups, which just feels like light, rhythmic taps in the same spot for anywhere from 30 seconds to quite a while (last night I think he had the hiccups for maybe 10 or 15 minutes).

Here are some belly pictures for proof of Jesse's growth. It took awhile for him to really pop out, but ever since we got back to the U.S., I feel like I've seen pretty big change from week to week (that's probably just because he really loves American food, right?).

Here we are at 18 weeks, still in Bulgaria, and not showing very much.

22 weeks

23 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks

26 weeks

And today, at nearly 29 weeks, since we forgot to take pictures at 27 and 28 weeks