Week 27

This is the start of my 3rd trimester :) Woohoo only 3 more months to go!!!

Raelin is about 2lbs now and is the size of a head of cauliflower.

She is sleeping and waking at regular intervals. An interesting factoid of the week is...she has more taste buds now than she will have at birth and beyond. Which means that not only is she able to taste the difference in amniotic fluid when I eat different foods, she may even react to it. Some babies respond to spicy foods by hiccuping or by kicking when they taste it.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and it was weird because Trev wasn't there. But when I heard Raelin's heartbeat it calmed me down. It was 140bpm and really strong. I also had to get some blood work to see if I had gestational diabetes. They make you drink this orange drink (they say it taste like flat orange crush....they lie, it tastes gross) I had to take it an hour before and then get my blood drawn. I'm sure I don't have it and if I haven't heard anything by Mon or Tues I'll be in the clear.

While I was there I also got to visit another Coastie wife they had her baby the night before. It's so amazing to hold a newborn in my arms, the same feeling I got a couple weeks ago when I held the other Coastie wife's newborn. Now I'm the only one left in my little group of friends that's still pregnant lol. I'm so excited for Raelin to get here and I know the next couple months are going to fly by.

(here's a pic of us in Boston this past weekend, it's a little blurry because we were excited to go see Blue Man Group)

Trev and I had fun spending time together. We wish it would have been the whole weekend but he had to stand duty. It's more time than usual I get to spend with him while he's underway so we were happy.

We got to see Blue Man Group and that was really fun and unexpected because we weren't sure if we even could get tickets, but we did :) Trev and I laughed a lot and during the drumming and loud parts Raelin was kicking.

The next day Trev had duty so I was able to go on the boat with him, we had breakfast and hung out watching movies in his office until I left around lunch time.

While Trev is gone I've been getting Raelin's room ready little by little. I picked out fabric (brown and cream colors)for the comforter and bed skirt and a couple other little projects. I'm hoping to start sewing them within the next week or 2. I found a really cute purple matching set that included a bouncer, swing, pack and play, car seat and stroller so I was excited about that. It's all coming together slowly but surely.

 

Here are some pictures of me and the belly lol



 

 

And I want to send out a BIG THANK YOU to my CHOICES family in Manistee!!! I loved all of the gifts and I know Raelin will love them too. I miss seeing you guys and working with you everyday!!

 

 

I hope everyone has a good week and have a Happy Easter :) 

Week 26

Hey everyone! Had a pretty eventful week. My mom and I went shopping for Raelin. You all know how I love to find really good deals and that's exactly what I found :) We spent a little bit of money but got a good chunk of clothes, so I was happy. I shared all the good finds with Trev and he was impressed.

(one of the items we bought)

I have been able to exchange emails with Trev everyday depending on how busy he is and connection while he's underway. The first couple days he was was struggling with sea sickness a little bit, but says he's feeling good now. They went thought the winter storm like we did, he said they had 15ft waves or swells ( I think that's what there called) but made it through just fine. He's enjoying hanging out with the crew on board and fills his spare time with working out and watching movies.

Here's a news article that was in the paper about just one thing of a few things they are doing.http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20130316-NEWS-130319769

(picture of our backyard after the storm 12-16in of snow)

RAELIN

97 more days to go until the 40 week mark :) Yay we are in double digits! I know the next few months are going to fly by.

This week she is the size of an egg plant, weighing about 1 2/3 of a pound and about 14 inches long.

According to what I've read in the pregnancy book and my baby app on my phone her eyes are completely formed. They will open soon and start to blink. She can start distinguishing between light and dark from inside the belly. She's learning to grasp and can play with her umbilical cord even (don't worry she can't tug on it that hard lol). She also has become good at sucking her thumb. The sucking reflex is just 1 of 70 plus reflexes she will have when she's born.

I'm feeling pretty well for the most part. At this stage I'm dealing with heartburn and lower back pain, also a lot of clumsiness. Even though the tummy isn't huge I still feel off balance and don't even get me started on my mind lol I feel like I'm forgetting everything. I have been reassured by other mothers that this is normal so post-it notes and note pads have become my friend lately :P

Some things I have been eating a lot of lately....

And this last picture is of Trev in the bassinet that his Grandpa made for him when he was born. This is the same bassinet that Raelin will be sleeping in :)

I hope everyone has a good weekend coming up. I'm heading to Boston tomorrow so I'll be sure to post a couple pictures of that next week. :)

Week 25

This week has been a bit long in the Aikin household. Trev and I really enjoyed our last few days together before he left underway. He made yummy crepes for breakfast and later we watched the new James Bond, which was really awesome :)

Since Trev got underway I'm just trying to get in a routine to make the time go by faster. I've been volunteering and am still enjoying that a lot. I try and do it every Tues and Wed for 3-4 hours. I enjoy just talking with them all, helping with crafts and doing fun things like drumming class and they also have a therapy dog that comes in so there is always something new to do.

How's Raelin doing?!?! She is growing by leaps and bounds. Interesting facts of the week are her nostrils, which have been plugged up until now, are starting to open. This enables her to begin taking practice "breaths". Her vocal cords are functioning now also, leading to occasional hiccups. She's the size of a zucchini and weighs about a pound and a half. She's starting to grow her baby fat and also more hair.

I'm feeling pretty good most days. Belly is getting bigger, heartburn is kicking in more, getting harder to sleep comfortably, sometimes having lower abdominal pains because she is growing and moving around a lot. All of which is normal, just uncomfortable lol.

Been starting to get her room ready little by little. I made some dividers for all of the clothes I'll be hanging up in the closet. Also started buying outfits and other little things I know she'll be needing.

(made with just foam and ribbon, but you can never be too organized when it comes to babies lol)

I'm hoping to have a couple of things done by next weeks so I'll keep you all posted on how the room is coming. I may not show all pictures because Trev hasn't seen it but I'll at least tell you about them.

Hope everyone has a good week :)








Semper Paratus

Oh, it's the Coast Guard life for us! This week Trev got underway on the ship Escanaba which they borrowed from Boston because their ship is in drydock getting worked on. The nice thing about this deployment is there is a good chance I'll be able to get to see him when he pulls into a couple of portacalls (which usually never happens).

   \/

(Trev is the 2nd guy right side of the top steps)

(pulling all the lines)

I have to say that I love being a military wife! I'm so proud of my husband and all that he does. He's an amazing husband, an amazing Coastie, and soon to be an amazing dad to Raelin.

The days that he gets underway are always hard. But seeing him and all his shipmates dressed in blue and ready for whatever the seas throw at them, that's just something to see. It's hard to describe.
When they come back though...wow... is all I can say. It makes it all worth it. Those are the moments you are truly thankful and happy.

(waving good-bye)

(heading out to sea)

This time there weren't a lot of wives there to wave them off. I'm sure there were lots of reasons why...some had work, the weather wasn't so good. I thought about it and really, nothing would hold me from seeing them off. I don't care if there was 5 ft of snow, I'd still be there. Anything could happen and I just want my husband to know that I love and support him with my whole heart. He can always count on me.

I love you Trevor and I'll see you soon :)
xoxo

Week 24

What a fun and busy week we've had. I've been volunteering twice a week at the adult daycare center, which is going well and I'm enjoying it a lot. Trev has had a really busy week getting ready to get underway. Leaving early in the morning and staying pretty late. He's excited about getting underway but isn't looking forward missing the next couple of months. We are both just so happy that he'll make it home for the birth and I'll be able to see him once or twice throughout and also emailing him on a daily basis to keep him updated on what's going on.

What's going on with Raelin this week? Well lets see....it's 24 weeks :) She is the size of a corn cob now. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, which is a substance that will help air sacs in the lung inflate once she's born. Her face and body are beginning to fill out and look more like how she will look at birth.

Like I said, Trev is getting ready to get underway this upcoming week so this past weekend we made it a point to take a drive. We went and visited his Aunt Sally, cousin Ted and Bitsy in Vermont. It was great getting a chance to catch up with them, go to some place new and also getting some awesome maple syrup and cheddar cheese. Bitsy took us up to Okemo Ski Resort, where Ted works and we had some very yummy lunch while we got to visit with them. Afterwards Bitsy took us on a tour of the town and and area where they all live. We went back to Aunt Sally's where we had a great dinner that Ted's wife made and Trev got to share some of his sea stories. It was a nice little weekend getaway and we are looking forward to visiting again sometime in the summer after Raelin gets here.

(this is the sugar house where we got maple syrup)

(they made this syrup the night before so when we got it, it was still warm. Also heard that if you warm it up and put it over vanilla ice cream it taste pretty amazing. fyi Trev and I tried it and it was :)

From now until Trev leaves I'm just making sure he has everything for while he's underway. And of course just enjoying our time together while he's here :)