31 Weeks...Where Has the Time Gone?

This week, baby is the size of a pineapple!  Good thing she isn't prickly like one too!!

All five senses are in working order; her irises now react to light.  There is also major brain and nerve development going on.

Appointment Update
Julie had an appointment on Wednesday...her and Ella are doing very well.  Julie's belly is no longer a week ahead in measurement but right on track!  She did have a drop in her iron which has put her on iron and calcium supplements but all other labs that she had with her glucose testing over Spring Break looked good!  Ella's heartbeat is still nice and strong in the 130s and 140s.  Next appointment is 2 weeks away which means we are getting closer; this will be our first every 2 week appointment.

Ella
Miss Ella is moving around quite a bit still and starting to get under Julie's ribs every now and then.  Typically, Julie doesn't realize she is there until she tries to lean forward and all of a sudden can't.  The right side of the ribs seems to be her favorite side at the moment.  Sometimes when Curtis tries to talk to Ella, especially when she is being very active, she will kick him.  Curtis isn't the only one that will get kicked, Béla will too!  Béla is still snuggling up with Julie and we think Ella likes her purring because she starts to move when Béla is on the belly.  We aren't sure if she realizes what is "kicking" her yet but it hasn't phased her enough to stay away!  We are also getting the sense that Ella doesn't like when there is talk of her arrival because she gets VERY squirmy and active.  We thought it was just a coincidence at the child birth prep class but Julie went to a breast feeding class this week and it happened again!  We shall see what happens!

Julie
Julie is doing well and staying healthy.  Ella did decide that Julie needed a day off of work on Thursday in order to sleep all day.  We are guessing Julie just had low blood sugar but coming home to sleep all day (yes, all day...and night) helped a LOT.  The ladies at work did a GREAT job of taking care of her and making sure she was okay before she drove back home.  Even though she knew it was a good idea to go home and rest, it was still very hard to leave work and not be there to help.  Julie is VERY thankful to have found another great group of women after leaving Station that look after her and make sure she is doing well.  Shout out to the Station library ladies!! :o)

We have started to notice the "pregnancy brain" kicking in with Julie which has been entertaining from time to time.  Good thing we are both already in the habit of writing down our to-do list or putting it in Wunderlist!  It seems to be that Julie gets more easily distracted than forgetful and that can be a difficult situation for Curtis when they are out in a store.  (He has been handling it GREAT though!)  In fact, Curtis has been taking care of Julie and Ella VERY well :-D

Curtis
Guess who gets to go on their first boat for a couple weeks?!  Curtis heads to San Diego on Monday with his squadron and they will be meeting up with their ship, the USS Carl Vinson.  Thankfully, it is a short trip but it will be good to get in the experience and training.  Otherwise, nothing too exciting at the moment, just working hard and enjoying the quiet and relaxing time before Miss Ella arrives.

Curtis getting his letter of appreciation last week from his Skipper.  A year late is better than never at all!

4 more belly pictures next week...just in time to mark 8 months!  Seriously...where did the time go?!

30 Weeks and an Active Little Girl!

This week, baby is the size of a cucumber!

Her skin continues to get smoother as her brain is getting wrinklier. She is strong enough to grasp a finger.

Childbirth Prep Class

Our class was a lot more fun than either one of us was expecting! We had a great nurse/instructor who made it very enjoyable. We learned a LOT and saw some things that cannot be unseen. ;) One thing we learned was that Julie should be drinking at least a gallon a day of water...eep! It is a work in progress, especially during the school day. We got to take a tour of Labor and Delivery and learned about the various ways they protect us all. Did you know that they have a low jack system for babies?! It's apparently easier to set off the alarm on accident than it is to actually get the baby out of the hospital. Here is to hoping there aren't any false alarms for us or any other parents while we are there. There were some interesting questions from other parents to be.... "can you turn the beeping off in the room?" a.k.a. the monitors that are making sure everyone is okay. We did our best not to laugh at some of the questions because beeping will be a minor issue when it comes time for a crying baby! We know to keep an open mind and that our situation and requests could change in a heartbeat. We are secretly hoping that when it is Miss Ella's turn that she'll come during the midnight shift so we can avoid traffic and have Nurse Kathy (our instructor). Julie thought bathroom breaks for a class full of pregnant women was some kind of twisted joke when there weren't enough bathroom stalls :-p We had a lot of fun and laughs and Miss Ella was SUPER active...we think she knew we were talking about her impending arrival. At the end of class we learned a few relaxation techniques and some ways to help with back pain. Thankfully, Julie hasn't has much back pain but it will be a good tool to have if that time comes! It sounded like Julie has had a pretty smooth pregnancy compared to a lot of the women in class and we are both thankful for that! Julie even got homework...a full body massage for the coach! Imagine the excitement of all the other dads to be when they heard that assignment. :-D Our next class is June 1st and it is Baby Boot Camp! More about that as we get closer.

Miss Ella

Little Miss Ella has been very active since the class. It has been rather amusing to us both! The other night we were able to push on Julie's stomach and Ella would push back. She's a feisty one! Béla is getting all her snuggles in and Ella's movements aren't phasing her one bit. Thankfully, Ella isn't keeping Julie up at night with all her squirming. It has definitely been a treat for Curtis to be able to feel her roll and move around and to see the movements while we are sitting on the couch relaxing.

Julie

Julie has been doing pretty well and had an easier week at work since she was working in the offices. She was able to sit more and drink more water, still working on that gallon goal! The biggest complaint has been her heels hurting at the end of the day which has been causing twitchy feet when trying to go to bed. A possible solution we found is icy hot on the feet and socks! We are both working on getting back to a good night time routine and are slowly getting there. Julie's shoulders, especially her right one has been doing very well until recently. She has been able to sleep on her right shoulder, it has even been the preferred side, and not have it go numb or ache which we are thanking the hormones for. Now that it is acting up again, Julie knows how to take care of it to avoid extra agitation, it just throws a wrench in the whole trying to sleep process. After Ella, we will be seeing what we can do to get back on track with getting the shoulder checked out and hopefully hurricanes won't throw us off track again. Julie should be able to get her MRI rescheduled without going through physical therapy or the doctors again but we will see what happens. First concern is the here and now. Next OB appointment isn't until the end of the month so it will be interesting to see if Julie and Ella are still measuring ahead or if things are leveling out. Otherwise, Julie has been doing very well and is doing her best to just listen to her body. Slowing down is still a work in progress!

Curtis' Officer Board

Curtis had his Officer Candidate School Board Tuesday morning. The whole board was composed of Lt. Commanders which was a little daunting at first but he felt like he did well. The next step is the waiting game to see what the board has to say in their feedback. In the meantime, Curtis will keep updating his application packet and try to get in some extra things to make it stand out more. The last person he needs to sit down with for his application will be his Commanding Officer (CO) and then submit his packet in July for the Officer Candidate School Selection Committee to decide in October. Hurry up and wait!

Béla

Béla is doing a lot better! She is getting back to her obnoxious self and wanting all the attention. She is also eating more normally, being her loud vocal self, and snuggling up in bed with us again. We are very glad she is doing so well, especially with the windows open! Our cars still look disgusting with all the pollen covering them but we will take the little victories where we can! We also enjoy not having to shove the pill down her throat and we are pretty sure Béla is happy that is over with as well. It's good to have a healthy house before Ella's arrival and yes, that includes the cat ;)

29 Weeks and Curtis' Good News

Week 29, baby is the size of an acorn squash...

Starting to get a little cramped but baby will triple in weight between now and delivery.  She is growing white fat deposits under her skin and her energy is surging because of it.  

 

This Saturday we will be taking our first class at the hospital...Childbirth Prep.  We will be learning the process of labor, breathing/relaxation techniques, pain management options, tips for coaches, making a birth plan and more.  It will be an early morning and a long day but we think we are ready to tackle it.  Hopefully it will be a little better than health class in middle school ;)

We have been VERY fortunate with beautiful weather this past week from the mid 70s to upper 80s with lots of sunshine!  It has especially been good for Julie to get the extra sun.  :o)  We are hopefully going to continue with the nice weather next week.  We hope that friends and family will soon be able to enjoy in this nicer weather.

 

Béla Update

Some of you have heard from the facebook world that Béla was a little under the weather and sneezing a LOT.  We are used to a sneeze every now and then from her but it started to increase out of no where and we got a little concerned.  Crazy, right?  A cat that sneezes...  Anyway, Julie took her to the vet last week and they believe she just has Spring allergies here in Virginia.  Since we were not out here this time last year and she sounded good internally (along with a few other details we will spare you) she just got a week of antihistamines to take to dry up her little nose.  We decided to start keeping track of Béla's sneezes while we were home on Sunday and we counted 31.  Monday was back to work for Julie so counting was only before and after work but that was up to 37!  Yikes!  Thankfully we started to see a decrease on Tuesday and started to have a more normal kitty Wednesday!  Apparently the pollen is VERY high out here (luckily neither of us have allergies) and you can actually see it coated on your car after work!  Julie also found out from a co-worker that another kitty seems to get allergies when they come to visit the area.  For those that were asking for updates, thank you, we appreciate you checking in on our first baby girl!  We never would have thought we'd have to worry about her and allergies but we are guessing she may prefer Illinois at this point in her life! 

Curtis' Good News!

 You may remember from last week that Curtis was getting ready to stand a board for his Plane Captain qualification...

"Next week Curtis will stand a board for his Plane Captain (PC) qualification.  A board is when you stand in front of a group of officers and senior enlisted personnel and answer questions about what it means to be a plane captain.  After doing this, and passing, Curtis will be able to launch and recover jets without supervision and will be considered a qualified PC! "

Curtis had his board Wednesday afternoon and PASSED!  That same afternoon they had an awards quarters to give out a variety of awards that people have earned in the past few months.  Curtis ALSO received a letter of appreciation for his community service work he did in Pensacola, FL (last April).  He was supposed to have gotten this over the summer but better late than never!  He was also recognized in front of everyone for being the only one to go to PC Board today!  CONGRATULATIONS CURTIS!

Next week he will stand another board for his Officer Candidate School application.  Everything is starting to come together and we couldn't be happier!

Julie's Update

We recently learned of a program where Julie can get tuition assistance for schooling(online or classroom) for being a military spouse.  She is looking into an alternative career path that may help get employment with future moves.  While education is still the main focus, it will be good to have an additional route.  Some possibilities may even offer an at home work option if she would like.  This is all in the beginning stages but we know she qualifies and the next step is some research and figuring out a goal & plan!  At the moment she is leaning towards two main categories: Health & Human Services and Business, Finance & Administration.  These are both big categories and again, just the beginning stages of planning.  It looks like a great opportunity that is too good not to look into!  

If you look at the edges of the puddle, you can see a yellow substance. That's the pollen after it rained today. Kind of strange and yet a little disgusting!
Happy Spring!!

28 Weeks and More Belly Pictures

Welcome to the 3rd Trimester!

28 Weeks, baby is the size of an Eggplant...

She is putting on more fat so her skin is getting less wrinkly and more smooth.  Lungs are mature enough that she could breathe on her own.

C&J Updates

CURTIS
Curtis is back on day check for work which is AMAZING for us all!  This means both our work schedules line up a lot better and we get to see each other after work :)  Next week Curtis will stand a board for his Plane Captain (PC) qualification.  A board is when you stand in front of a group of officers and senior enlisted personnel and answer questions about what it means to be a plane captain.  After doing this, and passing, Curtis will be able to launch and recover jets without supervision and will be considered a qualified PC! 

About midway through the month he will stand another board but this will be for his Officer Candidate School application.  His application will be submitted and we will find out in October if he will be selected to go to Officer Candidate School (OCS).  If Curtis gets selected for OCS, that would be a dream come true.  Most of you know he went to Marine OCS in 2008 and unfortunately got injured and he is, we both are, determined to make this dream happen for the Navy!

Curtis is ALSO working on getting his wings.  After getting his PC qualification which is a step for getting his wings, he has to take a test and stand another board and then he will get this to put on his uniforms!

Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist

Sounds like a lot of tests for Curtis but it isn't too bad!  As of right now we are waiting for May/June to see if he gets to advance in rank from E-3 (Airman) to E-4 (Petty Officer 3rd Class).  These are also the results of that test where he only had a week to study a HUGE study guide.

JULIE
Julie is wrapping up Spring Break and is kind of sad about it but knows it will be good to be back on a schedule.  She has done some crafting of baby stuff for us and others.  Otherwise, she has been looking after the kitty who some how developed a little cold or Virginia allergies.  It has been nice for her to just relax and be lazy :o)  Nothing too exciting for Julie since it has been a week of relaxation and being some what lazy!  (The cat was a bad influence on her this week.)

And now...what some of you have been patiently waiting (well, maybe not Lizzie!) for...

Belly Pictures Week 25-28

25 Weeks

26 Weeks

27 Weeks

28 Weeks and a cat making her laugh

Until next time!

Shared Pictures from Baby Showers and More Updates!

27 Weeks and counting!  The size of a rutabaga!

Not only is she getting bigger, she is getting smarter!  She is practicing inhaling and exhaling with her rapidly developing lungs and showing brain activity.

Julie had her glucose test on Friday and has not heard anything which means she passed and does not have to take the 3 hour test!  If you ever have to take the glucose test, pick the fruit punch flavor!  Julie is very happy to have gotten that recommendation from a co-worker.

Curtis is home from Nevada!  That is mostly why you didn't get a Friday update and instead are getting it today.  The Spencers spent some quality time together and enjoyed the beautiful 70 degree weather we had yesterday! 

Everyone is doing well and healthy.  Unfortunately, Curtis had to return to work today but we were all thankful for the extended weekend!  Every little bit counts :)  Julie is on Spring Break until Monday and is excited to sleep in a little and just enjoy the beautiful weather we are supposed to have this week.

We will probably be posting 4 more belly pictures next week for those of you tracking the bump ;) 

In the mean time...enjoy some shower pictures that have been sent to us!

Baby Shower Slideshow