12 weeks to go!

I had my 28 week appointment this morning, and everything is still going great for baby and me. I had to do the glucose tolerance testing on Friday, and got the results today… I passed! No gestational diabetes for me. I was surprised to find that drinking the glucola wasn’t as bad as I expected. Is it bad to say that I thought it actually tasted good?! It was super thick, making it a hard to swallow, but the taste wasn’t half bad. I’m pretty sure Jaiden LOVED the sugar test. After finishing the liquid/syrupy mixture I had to sit in the lobby for an hour before they could do a blood test. I was resting my book on my stomach while reading, and the entire lobby was laughing at the way my book was bouncing around. I’m pretty sure he was on a little bit of a sugar high! Everyone thought it was pretty funny to watch. He is super active everyday and I still love every minute of it. We’re pretty sure he loves the sound of his momma’s laugh; whenever I start laughing, he goes crazy! Kevin can get him moving too… whenever he blows on my belly making a strange sort of fart sound, (?? Sorry, I’m not really sure how to describe it ??) little monkey always kicks back at him. We have fun making our little man move around. It’s so cool to be able to feel him move around and watch it too. My doctor’s appointments are now scheduled for every other week... it’s starting to feel like we’re entering the final stretch!!

I’ve had a couple new experiences in the last couple weeks, first of which being that I’ve now officially experienced Braxton Hicks. At first, for whatever reason I was scared out of my mind. I seriously thought I was going into labor!! I had pain throughout my abdomen and my stomach was as hard as a rock. I’ve talked to a couple people who experienced them and asked how I’m supposed to tell the difference between Braxton Hicks and real contractions?! I struggled when all of the responses were the same… “trust me, you will know”. Hmmm. How will I “just know” when it’s nothing that I’ve ever been through before?? I talked to the Dr. about it today and feel much better about it all. I thought I would have been a little more prepared for a Braxton Hicks because we learned all about it in our birthing classes, but when it actually happens for the first time it can be a little strange and catch you off guard.

Another ‘first’ happened this morning when I finally felt baby have the hiccups! I just hope Kevin is around the next time he gets them. I know he would love to feel it.

With the changing seasons, cooler weather, fall decorations everywhere, and the anticipation of the upcoming holidays, it’s making me more and more excited for baby’s arrival. Time is going by quickly and I’m thrilled about it. We cannot wait to snuggle up with our little man.














28 weeks

Ultrasound (26 weeks 2 days)

This past Friday, my mom and I drove up to Grand Rapids to meet up with my sister and have an ultrasound so we could see baby Jaiden again! I know Kevin was bummed he wasn’t able to make it this time, but I’m sure we’ll be back to GR to do it again soon. I’m pretty sure it was the combination of the warm jelly-goo that she put on my belly and the sensation of the probe moving on my stomach, but I have never felt him move as much as he was during this time. It was so fun to watch him sucking his thumb, rubbing his face, swallowing, balling his legs up and then delivering the mighty blows to my abdomen that I am now feeling all day long. Amanda wasn’t able to figure out how to convert the ultrasound to be in 3 or 4D but is going to try and figure it out for the next time around. I’m just so thrilled, lucky, and truly grateful to have been able to see baby again. I was bumming as soon as our first ultrasound was over because I already wanted more of him. I just can’t get enough… I can only imagine what it’ll be like when he finally makes his arrival.

I feel so fortunate to report that I have still been feeling great lately. I’ve had to alter my eating schedule because I am finding that with each passing day, I have less and less space for food. Instead of doing 3 meals, I eat small portions every couple hours. This seems to be helping a lot. I was at a point where I was so uncomfortable after eating, but now am absolutely fine. I have the yucky sugar test on Friday and then my 28 week appointment next Tuesday... wow, time is flying by now!!

The fence is finished, and it’s amazing!!! It’s so nice to just be able to let the dogs out without having to deal with anything other than opening a door. They love being able to run around without the restrictions of their leash. I’ll try to get some pictures of the fence for the next post. It’s a cedar fence, 4 ft tall and the pickets are about 5 inches wide for all those who were curious as to what it looks like.

We are both getting more and more excited everyday for little monkey to arrive. It’s pretty crazy seeing the countdown be double digits; we’ve been so used to seeing it in the 100s and now its 93 more days! We can’t wait to finally meet him! There are a few pictures below from the ultrasound. Amanda, we owe you big time… Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!

our little monkey :)














hands by his sweet little face














waving at us














Curling his legs up to get more leverage for his kicks

Exciting News!!!

My sister and I had been playing phone tag for the past week and finally were able to get a hold of each other last night. She had left me a message that she had something exciting to tell me so I was of course dying to know what it was. Well… because she’s pretty much awesome and was accepting into the sonography program at Grand Valley a couple months ago, she just found out that she has access to all the lab equipment including the ability to do not only 3D but also 4D ultrasounds whenever her heart desires. Are you kidding me?! I swear I was so excited I didn’t know if I should start shouting or crying. Kevin and I have wanted to get a 3D ultrasound done this entire pregnancy, but of course it’s not available at our doctor’s office yet. Needless to say, we pretty much lucked out. I’m absolutely thrilled about it! I actually get to see little monkey again, and again, and maybe one more time :) The plan is to go up next Friday (Sept 18th) and do the first (I’ll be a little over 26 weeks), then probably head back up to Grand Rapids again right around 30 weeks, and then just play it by ear from there. She will be able to print pictures out and everything… I seriously cannot wait!!

Kevin and Denny are starting a new project this weekend… putting up a fence in our backyard. Some of you may be thinking, hmm that’s exciting, but what’s the big deal?! Well, I personally cannot imagine having to bundle up not only myself, but also our little man in the dead of winter to take the dogs outside to go to the bathroom. It’s going to be so nice to be able to just open up the back door and let them do their business. It’s going to make such a huge difference even in our day to day lives right now prior to baby’s arrival. Anyone that’s been around our male dog (Mookie) knows that he likes to mark his territory at every opportunity he gets and Bella just likes to lay around outside, so the fence is going to be such a good thing for us all.

One final thing… for all those wondering minds out there curious as to what names we are thinking about, we’ve finally decided. He’ll always be little monkey to us, but we figure we need something besides that to put on the birth certificate. He seems to like it, always moving around when we call him by it. Our little man’s name is going to be Jaiden Carter Combs.

24 weeks along!

We had our 24 week appointment on Tuesday morning, and everything is moving along perfectly. Baby and I are right where the Dr wants us to be. With the exception of feeling utterly exhausted lately, I feel great! Little monkeys heartbeat was 161 bpm and the nurse was very pleased with that. He has been continuing to move around constantly! Kevin finally felt him move a couple weeks ago (right around 22 and a half weeks) but everyone else has struck out. The nurse told me a couple tricks as to how to get baby moving if I ever feel like he hasn’t moved as much as he should. Drinking water, rubbing my stomach, tightening stomach muscles, changing positions, and if I get really desperate, placing a bag of frozen vegetable on my stomach!!!! She said that surely would get him active… (I think that would be enough to get me to thrash, kick, punch, and so on too!!) My mom and Alisha have been trying for weeks to feel any movement, but I think he’s a little shy. I’m sure they’ll feel something soon… his movements are getting stronger and stronger each week. My next appointment is Sept. 29, and I have to do the dreaded sugar test 3 days prior to it. I’m not looking forward to it at all, yuck! I’ve heard it tastes absolutely repulsive.

Kevin and Denny started a new project last weekend… baby’s closet :) I horribly sketched out what I was envisioning in my head, and was blown away with the finished product. They did an amazing job, and I’m thrilled to be able to get much more use out of it then the way it was before. The rest of the nursery is coming along nicely, not quite finished but close. Once we decide baby’s name we will put that on the wall above the changing table. I’ve posted some pictures below.

Kevin and I had our first birthing class Wednesday evening. I wasn’t really quite sure what to expect, but we were both really pleased with the amount of information we left with. I don’t think anyone going into labor with their first baby is completely ready and prepared just because everything is so new and unknown, but I do feel like we are learning a lot. We have more classes still to come so hopefully some of my fears and anxieties about giving birth will subside… hopefully.

To any pregnant family or friends reading this I have one bit of advice… go out and buy a body pillow! I have finally invested in one and I cannot begin to describe how much better I am sleeping at night. It has made a huge difference and I’m hoping that getting a full night of sleep will help with the exhaustion I am feeling.

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!