month 6 {june}

26 weeks, 3 days

How Far Along: 26 weeks, 3 days

Size: A butternut squash, a bowling pin, or a slow loris. Check out that cute description below! :) (I use the Ovia app, and I love it!)

Gender: It's a girl! :) We were happy to have gender emphatically confirmed at my 23.5 week ultrasound. It's not that I wouldn't be happy with a boy, it's just that I need to prepare for the gender. I've been in FULL GIRL mode since 17 weeks, so to have to make a 180 would be kinda frustrating. Not only that, but I feel like I'm bonding with Ada, not with a baby boy, so I feel like I'd have to re-bond if the gender was revealed as boy. Haha :)

Name: Ada Charlotte :) 

Movement: I really, truly only started feeling Ada right toward the end of May, but ever since I started feeling her, now I feel her so frequently! It's soooo fun! I love feeling her big kicks, and I even started seeing them (I saw her kicks for the first time on June 12)! I absolutely love it :) One night when we were in bed, Russ was reaching across my stomach to touch the place that Ada was kicking. She was kicking so hard that we could feel her body moving along with her legs (or arms -- whatever was jabbing) across my whole stomach! She's definitely getting bigger and stronger! :)

Also, pretty much every time she moves a lot, I want to tell someone. Haha I almost post it on Facebook every single day (but don't), and I tell Russ or a coworker at pretty much every chance I get. I'm obsessed with feeling her move! :)

Fun Fact: My app told me she is most likely getting a taste of what I'm eating now! I didn't know that was a thing, so I thought that was cool. Better eat lots of donuts so baby girl likes them as much as I do ;) But I also want to eat like everything there is because I don't want her to be a picky eater! Haha :) 

Her hair also has color now! I hope she has lots of hair like this baby :)

Sleep: Has actually gotten way better! I switched from sleeping with a normal pillow between my legs to one of our thicker couch pillows. It seems to balance things out a lot better. We also ordered a Purple mattress! Though apparently they're so popular that the shipping window is 3-4 weeks. So we don't have it quite yet, but I'll definitely be writing about it in next month's bumpdate post. 

Weight Gain: I've officially gained exactly 30 pounds -- you know, what some people gain in an entire pregnancy. But, I'm actually not super upset about it because between my last weigh-in and my weigh-in today (a 9 day interval), I gained only .4 pounds, which has never happened! I've been trying to eat healthier, I've added in some walks, and I've spent a lot of time working hard in the yard, so I think all of that is helping. I'm hoping to continue those habits and maybe adopt a few more to stay on this slower-gaining trend.

Also of note, my belly button is still an innie (though it looks so weird haha) and I've started to get some stretch marks, mostly on my thighs though :( All for you, Ada!

Symptoms: I still have back pain and pelvic floor pain, though they're both off and on. 

My new symptoms are . . .  mostly just being giant! Haha my belly is just in the way of a lot of things. 

My feet are also starting to swell a bit; I had to loosen my tennis shoes and I had to switch to different shoes when I slipped on some flats that were just not comfy!

I had a few charlie horses last month, but this month they really kicked it up a notch! I get them much more frequently, and much more painfully. At least a time or two I've woken up and cried out in pain because I couldn't get it to end. I've added a daily banana to my diet, which helps somewhat, but I need to do something else too because they're still getting me sometimes!

It's also getting a bit harder to breathe at times because she's making her way up into my rib/lung area. Not too bad so far, but noticeable.

Diabetes: Because I'm diabetic, my baby doc wanted me to see a specialist for my 20-week ultrasound (done at 23.5 weeks). That specialist and his nutritionist helpers have been working with me to more aggressively change my rates so that I have even lower and better blood sugars. I'm still not entirely sure about how I feel about the process because they do change things so aggressively and because they sometimes tell me things contrary to what I've been told in my 15 years of being diabetic (like "don't test this often -- I only want you testing 7 times per day" when my diabetes doc is thrilled with how often I'm testing). It's also hard because I feel like they deal more with gestational diabetics, but I'm an actual diabetic, which changes things. Like the fact that I have 15 years of experience so I know how to change rates on my own without calling in for help. But we'll see. If my blood sugars get where they want them to be, I guess I'll just have to suck up my pride and say they were right haha :) Also, my A1c went down just a bit this month -- 6.7. It's so crazy how pre-pregnancy, it seemed impossible to get my A1c below a 7.0, and since being pregnant I've pretty much managed to do that! Horray for motivation, I guess! :)

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing really this month. Maybe ice cream and custard, but I think that's just because it's been so dang HOT.

Missing Most: Being able to lean over properly! It's just such a struggle haha :)

Nursery: Made TONS of progress this month! I spray painted a few picture frames (gold), made a floral "A," hung a picture, made some headway on a flower garland thing, and put together the second crib. Russ hung the blackout shades, put together the dresser and the first crib, and took apart the shelving connection (the two shelves in that room were originally part of an entertainment center setup, complete with an overhead connection between the two shelves. We were trying it out to see if we wanted to use the connection in the nursery, but decided against it because it was too low [lower than the top of the window] and too short [distance between the two shelves-wise]). Finding nursery furniture was kind of a nightmare because I was trying to match so many different woods -- the crib and dresser needed to match each other, as well as our mostly brown shelves and somewhat-cherry-brown glider. The dresser I selected turned out to be PERFECT and I absolutely loved it. The original crib, on the other hand, was way too cherry. However, I loved the shape, and the shape actually went perfectly with the dresser (despite being a different brand), so we tried it out in a different color and luckily that worked out much better! Things are really coming along! 

This next month, I hope to get to work on some fabrics for the room. I need to either buy or make a crib sheet, a changing pad cover, some pillows, and some drapes. Feel free to follow along with the progress on Instagram. I hashtag everything Ada-related with #ouradacharlotte, and I use #rushleyholmessweethome for any home decor, including the nursery :)

Daddy: Haha so the day after Russ felt Ada move for the first time, we were in bed again, and I wasn't feeling her move, so I said, "I guess Ada is asleep!" And Russ said, "Let's wake her up!" He proceeded to jiggle my stomach around a whole bunch, and wake her up, he did! Haha it was cute and funny, but I hope she didn't mind too much! I told Russ he's not allowed to do this when she's bigger and her kicks will keep me up, nor when she's out of me and her screams will keep us up! Haha :) But for now, it was mostly just cute :)

He also just talks to her and about her a lot more than he used to, and I love it :) Another night, we were cuddling but like . . . cuddling like a family rather than like a couple. And he said "I love you!" I knew he was talking to Ada, so I didn't say anything for a second, but then I added, "I love you, too!" Also to Ada, but Russ was like, "I was talking to Ada!" haha it was just funny and cute. Cuddling like that just made me think of how much I'll love cuddling as a family when she's out of me :)

Another day, I was reading a short article from our baby app aloud. The article was about how it's beneficial to talk to your baby, and then it gave some suggestions of things you could say. When I read the one that said, "Tell her you love her," Russ immediately talked right to my stomach and said, "I love you, Ada! I love you super much." So cute! :)

And lastly, this past week, we have been working crazy hard on our yard. I'm pretty sure I pulled a back muscle on Day 1 of hard work, but I kept working through it (though not for long) each day following. But the pain has been excruciating! And sleeping has been the absolute worst because of it. I can't find relief! So one night, when I woke up at 1am writhing in pain, I decided to try out the couch so I could get some back support. It worked wonders and I slept the best I had in a week! But around 3am, Russ came downstairs to check on me because (obviously) I wasn't in bed. He was just so sweet, asking me how I was feeling and if there was anything he could do for me ("a blanket and a hug, please :)"). He's just really good at taking care of me when I feel awful, and I love that our little girl (and future children) will be able to see the wonderful way their dad treats me.

Highlights & Memories: 

• Another ultrasound! Finally! We've had some really stupid things happen with insurance, so I went over a month without seeing or even hearing my baby. Luckily she started moving in that time (though relatively late -- around 21 or 22 weeks), so that gave me some reassurance. It was exciting to hear that everything looked good and that she was right on track size-wise. I still think ultrasounds look mostly like mumbo jumbo, but occasionally I'd get to see something I recognized. My favorite picture from that day was of my little girl's feet :) can't wait to see those tiny toes for real! Also, idk why, but during the ultrasound, I got pretty light headed. The tech told me she's had girls pass out on the table before; luckily that didn't happen to me! But it was a little frustrating that I couldn't just bask in seeing my baby because of the uncomfortable lightheadedness :(
• Russ had his first Father's Day as a soon-to-be dad :) He didn't seem to think it was that momentous, but I had fun spoiling him with tasty food all day anyway :) I also found the cutest card for him that said something about how some people are just meant to be dads (and of course I wrote my own feelings in it, as well). He really will be such a great dad :)
• I'll probably write a whole post about this soon, but I just have to take a minute to note how grateful I was to all the family, friends, and ward members who helped us out with our yard this month. We wouldn't have been able to accomplish what we did without their willingness. I'm so grateful to have such wonderful people in my life!
• Shortly after I announced that I was pregnant, my sweet blogger friend Melissa reached out to me and told me she wanted to gift me/Ada a blanket from her Etsy shop :) I was blown away by her kindness and also super excited because I had been loving every single print I had seen her use! So this month, I finally got the blanket! (I say finally because I've been excited about it ever since she told me, not because she took forever or something haha) She had asked me if I wanted any specific color or theme, so I just told her Ada's room would be hues of pink with a floral theme, but I trusted her judgment because I've loved all of her prints. I was so excited to open the package and find a beautiful blanket for my baby girl :) And in fact, I loved it so much that when Melissa posted she was having a summer sale, I couldn't pass up the other blanket I'd been eyeing, as well as a few bandana bibs! The sale lasts through the 4th so take advantage of it while you can!! ($10 off $50 purchase with code SUMMER10) Also, definitely ask her about custom orders, because she gives great deals when you bundle! :) (Guys, can you tell I love her shop?)

buy your own (and see better pics) here

Can't Wait For: Finishing up with work! July 22 is my last day, and then I'll have two solid months before my due date to focus on getting eeeeeverything ready for baby girl :)

**ashleynicole