The Birth Story

Here is the birth story!

On April 10th I was 37 1/2 weeks pregnant and at 12:30 am my water broke while I was sleeping. It was just like being in a movie! Just a little bit of water leaked out so I went to the bathroom and prayed that if this was the real deal God would make it obvious. Sure enough, I stood up and the leak turned into a steady stream. I woke Garland up (who handled the whole situation like a champ, definitely the calm one of the two of us!) and we started packing our last minute items (we already had a lot of stuff packed). We checked into triage around 1:15 and they had me do a test to make sure my water broke. This was ironic because in the minutes I spent waiting for the test to be done a puddle had formed around my ankles because I was leaking so much fluid! At 2am they finally cleared us for full-on labor and measured me at 1cm dilated and 0% effaced (at this point we knew it would be a long day). We moved to a Labor and Delivery room and starting making all the calls to the grandparents and sending texts to our friends.

We tried to sleep some throughout the night, but between the uncomfortable couch for Garland and the contractions I was having, we didn't even get a wink (we were way too excited). The grandparents started showing up around 3am and we were having a really happening party! By 7am I had not progressed any so they decided to start Pitocin and estimated that I would be in labor for at least another 8-10 hours. I made it through about an hour of Pitocin contractions before asking for the epidural and this was a GREAT decision! I could feel my legs but I didn't feel any pain, and I thought getting my IV put in hurt much worse than getting my epidural put in (I say "to each their own" when it comes to deciding on whether to use pain meds during labor or not, but I will tell you this, if you are going to have a long labor or if they have to use induction meds, I would DEFINITELY recommend it!). Another benefit of the epidural: It killed my appetite, which was a total blessing because the only thing making me grumpy at this point was being hungry and eating only ice chips!

Fast forward to 10am and I had progressed to a 2.5 and 70% effaced. By noon I have reached a 4 and 90%, so things were beginning to move quicker (the nurse said getting to 4 is the longest part). Here is where we enter what I now refer to as "the dark hours." I started feeling some pain from my contractions (which I hadn't felt since I got the epidural) and called the nurse in, who said it wasn't unusual to start feeling a little pain as the contractions progressed. She hooked me up to the epidural push pump and told me I could pump extra medicine every 15 minutes into my direct epidural line for an extra kick. I started pushing the button but for the next 45 minutes the pain only got progressively worse. At this point the pain was getting so strong that we kicked everyone out of the room, turned off the lights, and Garland and I sat there in the dark breathing through the contractions. The anesthesiologist came in after this had been going on for two hours and checked the push pump, which was working fine. He then gave me a speech that can basically be summarized as, "labor can be painful, you probably just have low pain tolerance and need to suck it up." As he was leaving, he turned to the nurse and said we should check to make sure the epidural line was still in my back, as a few and far between times he had seen it fall out. Sure enough, they flipped me over and all the epidural medicine was pooled under the tape and the epidural line wasn't in my back whatsoever. At this point I'm having contractions every minute to minute and a half and I'm bent over the bed waiting for him to reinsert it and he decides NOW is a good time to mull over how it came out. He kept asking if we'd shoved a pillow down by my back or moved the blanket weird and I just wanted to scream WHO THE FREAK CARES PUT IT BACK IN!!! They finally put it back and within 15 minutes I felt relief. They measured me right after that (at 2:30pm) and I was at a 7 and 90% (from what I've been told from other moms, contractions at a 7 while on Pitocin are nothing to sneeze at. This actually secured my choice to get an epidural because I got to experience labor without medicine and liked it much better before!).


By 3:30 the party was back on and I was feeling great again, so I was really surprised when the nurse told me I was at a 10 and 100% and we were ready for Titus to get here! AHHHHHH!!!!! Everyone left the room and they put me in the stirrups and it was all I could do to keep from giggling because I was so nervous and was I really going to push a baby out of me?! The nurse started me on my pushes and after about 10 minutes my doctor arrived (I got lucky and delivered during the day so I got to deliver with my prenatal doctor). Once Dr. Mason had me pushing things got a little strange. From the combination of low blood pressure, not eating for 20 hours, and not sleeping, I started having what they call "vasovagal episodes" which is a fancy name for my heart rate dropping so low I would pass out. Y'all, I was PASSING OUT DURING LABOR. It was the strangest thing, I would be pushing and when I would wake up only a couple of seconds would have passed, but I would just hear my doctor saying, "You HAVE to push." Garland told me later that when I would pass out my head would fall back to my pillow and he just thought I was giving up! Ha! I finally worked up the words to tell them I was passing out and my doctor gave me a couple more breaths between pushes and I didn't pass out any more after the first 3 times.


At 4:16pm after 18 minutes of pushing Titus James Autry was born into the world with a head of hair that would make a grown man jealous. He was born face up and came out so fast that Dr. Mason literally had to drop to a knee to catch him because he FELL. OUT. Titus was 6lb 3oz, 18 inches long, and I will forever remember praying for that first cry. I can't say enough about how incredible my husband was throughout the whole process, he did exactly what I needed him to do and was an amazing daddy from the first moment on. While they were stitching me up (I turned to my doctor in my delusion and said, "Okay doc, what's the damage?" he told me I had a 2nd degree tear which I was glad I couldn't feel!) Garland went and stood with Titus and the nurses and brought pictures to me on his iphone. I had tears streaming down my face and just kept praising our faithful God for giving us this baby we had prayed so long to be able to conceive.


I don't think I have ever been more thankful in my whole life than in that moment.

The First Two Weeks

Warning: This blog includes details of how a woman's body responds to delivery and breast feeding. Everything is strictly scientific and PG, but don't read on if it freaks you out!

Some people might get to the two week mark with their newborn and say, "I can't believe it's already been two weeks!" But maybe there are some of you out there that have felt like me and it seems like the first two weeks of mommyhood has lasted 6 months. It's not a reflection of love (or lack thereof) for my son, but rather a statement about how difficult it is to become a parent. Let me explain.

My labor and delivery experience was incredible (I'll blog the birth story soon) and I would do it five times over (all 16 hours) to have been able to skip the last 14 days. I know this sounds harsh, but I want to be really honest with myself about my personal journey with Titus. We went home 24 hours after delivery (first mistake, stay in the hospital the extra day if you have a tear or a long labor). The first couple of days were SO EASY. Titus had to be woken up every 3 hours to feed and went right back to sleep after a perfect 15 minute colostrum feeding (colostrum is the milky substance you make before your real milk comes in). My mom was staying with us to help, I wasn't to the point of exhaustion yet, and it was still fun to have friends come over.

Fast forward to day 5, my milk comes in. Without getting too graphic, I'll just say that I suffered from MAJOR engorgement and it was AWFUL (engorgement is what happens to the breasts when the milk comes in- it makes them tender, hard, and huge. It's incredibly uncomfortable). I would wake up at all hours in the night because they were so tight and sore and constantly leaked throughout the day. I had to use hot compresses before I fed to help my milk let down and then either hand express or pump to relieve some of the pressure. Then while I was feeding, my milk would let down so fast I had to constantly take Titus off and burp him/do more hand expressing because he was drowning in milk. When I finally finished feeding him I would have to use ice packs to bring down the swelling. This process happened with every feeding for about 4 days straight. I also had a 2nd degree tear, so walking and sitting were uncomfortable and I had a pretty stringent routine for taking care of my stitches which took a lot of time throughout the day.

At this point, it was starting to be less fun. We cut back on visitors. I cried every night at 8pm on the dot (another blog on baby blues to come soon). I was exhausted but I couldn't sleep. I was so uncomfortable because of engorgement that I had thoughts about quitting breast feeding altogether. But, we were making it and Garland was incredible (again, I can't wait to blog about how wonderful he's been!), so I was just trying to make it past the first two weeks, everyone kept teling me it got better if I could just make it to day 15.

Then I got sick. Really sick. On day 5 I started having nausea, low grade fever, diarrhea and completely lost my appetite (I was barely able to keep down a little apple sauce or toast for the whole day). This lasted all day and night (alongside the engorgement) until day 8 when I started vomiting uncontrollably and couldn't even keep down fluids. I called my doctor and they called me in some anti-nausea and anti-diarrhea medicine with the diagnosis of a stomach virus. I continued to throw up everything, including fluids, and it got to the point where my doctor told me if I couldn't keep down fluids by 6pm that night, they were checking me in to the hospital. At 5:45 I dry heaved but was able to keep down my gatorade so we decided to stay home. I want to be transparent at this point and say that I was ready to be checked in, I was just too tired to deal with it anymore. The only blessing was my engorgement went down and my breasts returned to normal feeling so I stopped my engorgement routine, giving me a little more time to sleep.

By day 10 (5 days into being sick) I was no longer throwing up but still not eating hardly anything and feeling nauseous with a fever. I went in to the doctor and they gave me a full check to make sure I didn't have an infection from the delivery or mastitis (an infection of the breast tissue from feeding)-everything checked out but I was so nauseous and weak they sent me to the ER for an IV drip and more testing. Everything came back normal and they sent me home where I felt hungry for the first time all week. I snacked all night and felt like things were finally looking up.

Welcome days 11-13 (over a week of being sick), and the cycle of nausea, fever, stomach cramps, feeling fine, feeling hungry, and losing my appetite completely. I was so frustrated because they didn't know what was wrong and I wouldn't stay better consistently. One day I would feel great, two hours later I would feel awful. During all this, Titus started having trouble feeding (he would grunt and strain like he was having gas during a feeding and it would take an hour for him to feed for 20 minutes) and the lactation consultant helped me to realize I needed to pump off my fast let-down milk before feeding him because his digestive system couldn't handle how quickly he was filling with milk.

The day before his two week check up my doctor finally decided to put me back on the strict breast feeding regiment (heat pads, pre-feed pumping, post-feed pumping to empty the breasts, ice packs to reduce swelling) that I had done during engorgement in case I had a blocked duct. Finally, I started to feel actually hungry for the first time in over a week. I ate a real meal and even had some ice cream for dessert. Even though it adds 15 minutes of pre-work to my feedings, it has been worth it because I finally feel better and Titus feeds better.

I can't explain how hard it has been emotionally, physically, and spiritually to get through this first two weeks. I love my son so much and he really is a pretty easy baby, but not even that could make up for this upheaval of lifestyle. I know for sure that I have been broken over the last 14 days and the Lord is my strength and my salvation forever. He has sustained me and has set my feet on solid ground. When all else had failed, my Savior remained the same.

Nursery is Finished!

I've had the nursery completed for a few weeks now, but I've been delinquent in taking finished product pictures. So here is a look into Titus' nursery, which is super tiny so I'm actually really happy with how well everything turned out!

On the wall behind the crib is the alphabet display (my step-by-step tutorial can be found here).

Since we knew we wouldn't have enough room in the nursery for multiple furniture items, we had a family friend, Mark Ceola, make us this custom changing table/dresser. It has TONS of storage and the changing table pulls out for easy changing. It can also be used as an entertainment center once we no longer need it for a nursery! (If you are interested in having something made, I can get you Mark's info)

This adorable owl pillow matches the curtains and the colors in the bedding. I custom ordered the crib sheets, crib skirt, curtains, pillow, and changing table covers all from one place on Etsy. I would definitely recommend this for future mommies! I picked out all of my fabrics and got exactly look I wanted for a great price. The Etsy shop I purchased from is Rocky Top Design

 Monogrammed blanket given to me by a sweet friend. This is seriously the softest blanket I've ever felt!

Garland and I made these book shelves out of recycled pallets. So easy! We literally sawed the pallets into three pieces and then nailed a board to the bottom so it could hold books.

Maternity photos by Brooke Robinson, which I just tied up with string and clothes pins

Rug from Urban Outfitters

Hope you enjoyed the tour--can't wait for our little man to actually live here!

Lifetime Movies are the Best! Nope. WORST.

First of all, let me lay out my current situation for you:

• This week is spring break. Usually for spring break I am going somewhere with my cell group on a mission trip. This year, I am 34 weeks pregnant, so I couldn't go on any of the great trips that Fellowship offers. Not only are my girls in Guatemala serving at an orphanage (which sounds incredible and I am very jealous), but Garland is in Memphis, and most of my friends are with students in either Mexico, Belize, Memphis or Guatemala. And if they're not there, they have gone some place fun for a beach vacation.
• It is raining and will possibly flash flood all week.
• We have very little activity at work because our main clientele are 15-24 and are on Spring Break.
• My internet at home decided to stop working and Cox sucks and can't get anyone to my house til midweek.
• I have watched all the good stuff on my DVR and I'm tired of reading.
• Did I mention it's my birthday week?
• Yes, I am whining and it's really not that bad.

However, all of these factors together have produced the PERFECT STORM. This means that I am getting sucked into Lifetime Movie Network just for something to do. How is it that Lifetime movies are so awesomely terrible? They are literally the worst movies ever made, but I can watch them for free and somehow the ridiculous plots (while 100% predictable) keep me from changing the channel and before I know it, I have just wasted two hours of my life.  In case you are still confused, here is the Urban Dictionary definition:

Lifetime Movie

Misandristic propaganda potboiler films aimed at teaching women that all men are abusive rapists. The protagonist usually is a female who wishes to escape from her drunken husband or a young adult who is kidnapped and raped. There are many different lifetime movies, but all have a the same plot. Person 1: Would you like to watch a lifetime movie? Person 2: No, I have much better things to do.

So in honor of this absolutely terrible tv, I would like to showcase what I believe to be some of the worst BEST made for tv movies Lifetime has to offer:

1) Imaginary Playmate: Beautiful single woman marries mysterious, hunky widower with adorable daughter. Daughter begins playing with an "imaginary friend" who turns out to be her dead mother who turns out to be capable of killing from beyond the grave. (Plausible.) Unsure what actually happens in the plot, but somehow the husband dies and the step-mother/daughter combo live out their days loving life (but still being haunted by dead bio mom? nobody knows).

2) Baby Monitor: Sound of Fear: Corporate business lady hates the idea of staying at home with her baby and hires a hot blonde to be her nanny even though her husband prefers a woman who raises the children (what will happen?!). SHOCKER: husband and nanny begin a secret relationship and THE NANNY GETS PREGNANT. Business lady wife finds out and hires hitmen to kill nanny but they enter the wrong apartment and the nanny is on the run! Sidenote: There is not really a baby monitor involved and the title is irrelevant.

3) A Face to Kill for: Horse trainer Allison has an (unexplained?) disfigured face, and as if this is not unfortunate enough, her husband frames her for murder. Horse trainer is sent to prison where she becomes empowered and learns to fight (YEA!), which leads to her face being even more disfigured, but who cares! Because when Allison gets out she gets her plastic surgery on and of course becomes BEAUTIFUL just in time to exact revenge on her ex-hubby and his new wife. Spoiler: horses are the best part of the movie.

4) A Face to Die for: Sequel to A Face to Kill for? No. Completely unrelated. Another unexplained disfigured woman is caught helping some friends rob her old guy employer and also goes to prison. When she gets out she meets her knight in shining armor, a plastic surgeon who invites her to live with him (??) while recovering from the free plastic surgery he gave her as part of his prison outreach program (again, ???). Unfortunately for the ex-con, he remakes her face to look just like his dead wife and it becomes a weird obsession. This is all seemingly not a big deal, she moves out and spends the last 15 minutes of the movie exacting revenge on bad guys.

5) My Stepson, My Lover: Absolutely nothing like the title. Exactly like the title. Nice nurse marries horribly mean, mustached man after an extremely short courtship (but who hasn't made this mistake, really). Mean husband is the worst person to ever live and his only redeeming quality is that he produced a ruggedly handsome son, who, surprisingly, falls in love with his step-mother and they begin a torrid love affair. Nurse finally works up the courage to leave the mustache man who is then killed by rugged stepson to set Nursey free. Rugged stepson is so distraught at her disgust of him that he throws himself off a cliff and the movie ends with Nursey inheriting Mustached Man's millions plus a paraplegic stepson. WHEW! I am exhausted just from recapping. 

6) Maternal Insticts: Tracey is dying and her final wish is to have a baby? It is perfectly selfless to wish to have a baby grow in your cancer infected body only to leave it alone in the world once you die. While trying to remove the cancer her husband and and the doctor realize that she will be cancer free if they just give her a hysterectomy (scientifically valid), which unfortunately leads to Tracey's mental unhinge as she plots to murder her husband and exact revenge on her pregnant doctor. Hey Tracey, ever heard of Africa? It's called adoption, get on board. 

7) Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer? The Bambi Bembenek Story: I did not make up that name. Laurie, aka, "Bambi," worked on the force until she was fired for being a hottie in a calendar. In the midst of suing said force for wrongful termination, Bambi meets and marries another police officer who's ex-wife then ends up dead. YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHO GETS BLAMED!! Bambi is convicted of murder and heads to prison (post-divorce), where she (of course) falls in love with/becomes engaged to a man who comes to visit another prisoner. Movie ends with the tagline "Run, Bambi, Run!" as she escapes prison and flees to Canada...

So if you have free time this week and want to check out a fantastic movie, flip to your local Lifetime channel (or if you're really special, Lifetime Movie Network), and try to catch one of these bad boys. BONUS: You can watch Lifetime movies on their website! (we all cheer together)

Nursery Alphabet Project

I've been getting a lot of questions about the alphabet letters I did for Titus' nursery. So here's the overview, it was sincerely a very easy project! Here was my original inspiration: 

I liked the general idea, but I definitely didn't want to use primary colors. I went to Etsy to locate some alphabet letters and found a set for cheaper than I could have bought them individually at Hobby Lobby. However, if the wood work at Hobby Lobby went on sale and you don't mind their limited style options, it could be cheaper then buying a set like this, which I got for $75:

These are not small letters, they range from 5 inches to 12 inches in height (much bigger than Hobby Lobby) and take up an area of 4 ft x 7 ft of space on the nursery wall.

 Here are the spray paints I either had or bought for this project (I ended up not using the cream or light brown):

 First I laid out all the letters on cardboard in my yard. If you lay them flat on the grass you will end up with grass streaks in the paint. Avoid!

 I primed the letters first, which probably helped the second layer of paint stand out brighter, but in retrospect it was probably not necessary.

 Then I laid out the primed letters in a general formation of how I thought I might put them up on the wall so I could decide which letters to paint each color.

 I am pretty OCD so I actually created a note on my phone to separate the letters into colors. Ha! This way I could make sure I had spread them out.

Spray all the letters and let dry for at least one hour but no more than 48 hours.

 Okay, here's the important part: Make sure that whatever brand of crackle paint you use (I used Valspar via Hobby Lobby) that you use the same brand of primary paint. For the orange and blue I used Valspar but I used Krylon for the brown, so when I applied the crackle paint it barely did anything to the brown letters (as seen below). I ended up having to repaint all the brown ones in Valspar paint and then re-crackle paint them.

 The more layers of crackle paint you apply the more it cracks. It seems weird at first, because the cream paint filled in the lines and I thought I screwed up, but sure enough, they cracked even deeper and wider than before.
Here is what a good crackle looks like (the colors shine through brighter in person, all these pics are via my iphone)

 I don't have a picture for this step, but once the letters were all dry and crackled I used sand paper to rough up the edges and create some streaks on the letters to give them a worn look.

Then I bought craft sticky tape (two sided, thick tape meant for hanging light items) and made sure to be generous in sticking plenty to the back of each letter (don't want any letters falling onto his head in the middle of the night!).

Finished product! 

Final Thoughts:

1) It took me about 3 hours to do all of the painting, but it probably would have been much closer to 2 if I hadn't primed and didn't have to redo the brown letters.

2) I really liked the touch that sandpapering the letters added.

3) I put the sticky tape on and then let them sit over night before putting them up just to make sure they were firmly adhered to the letters (I didn't want the tape to just stick to the wall and the letters fall off).

4) Have a friend help you put them up, I had to rearrange a couple of my letters because I kept getting off my chair and seeing if they looked right from a distance.

A Respectful Wife

Lately I have been listening to Pastor Mark Driscoll's Real Marriage series and finding it very convicting. Driscoll is notorious for being extremely straight forward and not tiptoeing around topics that deal with hard biblical truths (I happen to really like this about him). There is one podcast in particular, The Respectful Wife, that was delivered by Driscoll but mostly written by his wife Grace, and it has left me really convicted lately.


I think that sometimes I have been mistaking respecting Garland as a person with respecting him as my husband. I really, truly look up to my husband as a man; I think he strives to be more like Christ in everything he does, is always willing to pour into other believers and students, he is constantly studying and growing in the word and his personal walk, and he's one of the most steadfast, faithful Christians I've ever met. But I'm coming to the realization that I can 100% respect him as a man without always respecting him as my spouse, which is not an easy truth to swallow.


So what's the difference? Here are some questions from Grace to give us a better idea of how you can tell if you are being a respectful wife:

• Do I "notice, regard, honor, prefer, defer to, encourage, love, and admire" my husband?
• Do I have a heart of respect for my husband?
• Do I think he's competent?
• Do I think positive thoughts about him instead of focusing on his flaws?
• What do I say about my husband?
• Do I tear him down in front of other people?
• Do I wait to disagree with him until a time when I can do so respectfully and privately?

Some of these things I do pretty well on. Rarely do I dwell on Garland's mistakes in my heart; within my mind he is really is the best guy that has ever existed. I definitely defer to him for judgement on family matters and respect his final opinion. I know that he loves and respects me enough that no decision will ever be made that I'm uncomfortable with or without speaking to me about it first. I love, admire, and encourage Garland, sometimes to the point of embarrassing him because he hates receiving compliments (ha!).

But there are some things that I know I am definitely not so great at. I know that because we flirt by teasing each other it sometimes seems like I think everything he does is silly. Don't get me wrong, he does do a lot of ridiculous things, but if I'm not balancing out our joking with public encouragement then it just comes across as mockery. I never want anyone to think I find my husband incompetent because I truly do think he is one of the wisest men I know.

I am also not great at holding my tongue in front of other people. If a topic comes up that is a "button pusher" and brings up anger or resentment or frustration in me, I really struggle to table my thoughts and comments until I can talk to him in private. Especially since I love a good debate, this is very difficult for me. What starts as an innocent discussion can quickly morph into a heated argument without me even stopping to think if this presents Garland and I as a team or not. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT saying that wives should never disagree or lovingly joke with their husbands. I'm just saying I know that the way I communicate that sometimes can be hateful instead of playful.

I confessed all of this to Garland after listening to the podcast and asked him to help me be accountable for being a respectful wife, even in front of others. Unfortunately, he's had to lovingly remind me a couple of times (always in public, of course, that is my respect weakness), and I had to bite my tongue. And even as I sat there feeling convicted/embarrassed of my poor behavior, I could still hear my flesh telling me, "Be upset! You have the right to say whatever you want, whenever you want! Don't let him stop you from "being yourself." ' Ugh, that is some sick-nasty selfishness, pure and simple.

So if you are like me and struggle with being a respectful wife, here are some great tips from Grace Driscoll on how to grow in this area:

1. Talk to your husband about what it looks like to be respectful and ask him to honestly assess your ability to respect him. Ask him to lovingly hold you accountable.
2. Pray for your husband constantly. If there is disrespect in your head there will be disrespect in your heart which will come out in your speech. If your thoughts are constantly prayerful toward him then they won't be able to reach the ugly place.
3. Keep a journal of all the things you notice and love about your husband. As you write them down, pray and thank the Lord for giving you your husband. 
4. Share some of these things you love about your husband with him as an easy way to encourage him. --Garland and I do this by writing notes on each other's bathroom mirrors with a dry erase marker (sticky notes work well too!)
5. Build him up in front of others. No matter what, people should always recognize you as your husband's #1 fan and see you as a joint team, as one.
6. Instead of continuously nagging him about fixing a bad habit or something he needs to work on, pray that God will change his heart. Your complaining can't even begin to compete with the wrath of the Holy Spirit on a believer's conscience. 

Ephesians 5:33- "Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband."

31 Weeks!

Is this really happening?! I cannot believe I am already 31 weeks! I have all three of my showers in the next two weeks and I am so excited to see what Titus is going to get from our friends and family. And on top of all the shower goodies we will be getting in the bedding, curtains, pillows, changing table pad, and wall decor (more on this to come) in the next week or so. I can't wait to get this nursery put all the way together! It's crazy to think that by the time Spring Break comes I will be 6 weeks away from delivery and everything will be (hopefully) completely ready for little man's arrival...

Pregnancy Update

How far along? 31 Weeks

Total weight gain: 20 lbs gained (on par to gain 28-30, depending on amount of Nutty Bars consumed in the next 9 weeks)
Maternity clothes? definitely maternity jeans and leggings (love me some leggings), and about 50/50 on tops. The major bonus to maternity tops are that they are long enough to cover my belly; if I'm wearing regular shirts they have to be reallllly long.
Sleep: I slept great up until about 28 weeks, now I just have trouble getting comfortable, especially when I get back in bed after peeing. My back hurts and it feels like my stomach alone weighs about 35 lbs... Unisom is great though! When I take it I sleep really great, but I don't take it very often because it can make me groggy the next day.
Best moment this week: Having a shower with my cell group girls! They are so sweet and got me some really great stuff!
Miss Anything? Coke and sweets... I've had to cut back since my glucose tests said my body doesn't process sugar well while I'm pregnant (and of course it is all I crave!). Also not having to wash my hands a million times a day! Since I've quadrupled my bathroom trips I also have quadrupled my hand washing, so annoying!
Movement: lots of movement! It has definitely transitioned from little jabs to rolling movements of elbows and knees and whatnot. And I'm definitely able to see him moving; if I set my phone or remote on my tummy it bounces with his movements.
Food cravings: Coke, asian food, strawberries, bananas, cupcakes (or really any cake, lets be honest), cheese bread and marinara
Anything making you queasy or sick: I'm really sensitive to smells in general, so anything stinky. Greasy Mexican food. Also green veggies? Normally I love cucumber, broccoli, asparagus, etc... but right now those all sound really awful to me! I do still like salad though.
Gender: Better still be a boy! 
Labor Signs: HA, no thankfully!
Symptoms: A little heartburn, backache, waddling, LOTS of peeing
Belly Button in or out? still in! The lip of the actual button sometimes makes it look like something is sticking out, but this button is holding on for dear life.
Wedding rings on or off? on-my hands swell occasionally, but only when I am walking and then they go back to normal.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy-80%, Irrationally Sad/Crying- 5%, Irrationally angry- 5%, Just Plain Tired-10%
Looking forward to: getting the nursery completed. I will be so happy when I see a complete setup to welcome Titus home! I know I still have plenty of time, but the nesting has really kicked in and I'm definitely ready to get everything in its place...

Weeks 10-30