27 Weeks!

I'm 27 weeks (and 3 days)! THIRD TRIMESTER, home stretch!!!! :)

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 27 Weeks

Size of baby: Lawson is the size of an eggplant (Baby Center says head of cauliflower)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 10 pounds

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants, shirts are a mixture, I LIVE in yoga pants now that I'm home! :)

Gender: It's a BOY! Lawson Ryan Payne

Movement: All the time! His kicks keep me up at night, but I don't mind. :) Chris thinks it is creepy, ha! I told him to try having it IN his body, then he can talk to me about creepy!

Sleep: I slept pretty good this last week because I had to get up early for work, so by Tuesday I was falling asleep earlier!

What I miss: Being able to bend over, ha! Being tan and being skinny too!
Cravings: Dairy! Yogurt, frozen yogurt, milk, ice cream...

Symptoms: Back pain/being unable to lay on my back, growing belly, fatigue, contractions, sciatica is back (boo.). The symptom I haven't had and am surprised about is heartburn...I guess L will be bald, ha! He will be the cutest little bald man I've ever seen though!

Best Moment this week: Finally making it to the third trimester. I was telling a friend earlier that even though each week seems like it DRAGS, overall this pregnancy is flying by! I can't believe I am already 27 weeks! For the past couple of weeks, I have actually wanted Lawson on the outside more than usual. Before, I was pretty content being pregnant and having him on the inside. I am still enjoying this pregnancy, but I am so so so ready to meet this little guy, even more so than before!

This week really kicked my butt. I had a conference downtown for work, so I spent the week riding the DART and walking a LOT. The walking kept the contractions away, but made the sciatica so much worse. By Friday I was pretty much limping. I am feeling MUCH better now after having a restful weekend and am having a prenatal massage today to hopefully ease some of the soreness!

Chris' sister came to visit on Saturday and brought sweet Jayden (he is 4 months old). I don't have the energy to get dressed for a belly picture this week, so I will leave you with a picture of my handsome nephew instead. I can't wait for Jayden and Lawson to meet! I know they will be best buddies! :)

Father's Day

I'm a little early on this, but I don't know if I will get around to posting if I wait for Sunday.


I have the best Dad ever. Really I do. He has always always been there for me (my mom has too, both of my parents are so great!). He has taught me about unconditional love and what it means to truly support someone no matter what their choices are. I seriously can't say enough about how awesome my Dad is. He is a great husband to my mom, and such a hard worker, and has treated Chris like his own son from the time he came into the family. I couldn't ask for a better or more Godly man to call my Daddy.




My sweet hubby is the other dad in my life. He is such an amazing Dad to Dakota, and truly loves that little girl so much. Their eyes both light up when they are together. He is also such a good Dad already to Lawson. I can't wait to see how he interacts with this baby boy and how much they bond over the years. I know they will be best friends for years to come.


I am so incredibly lucky and blessed to have both of these wonderful men in my life, as well as two amazing grandfathers. Happy Father's Day!

26 Weeks!

I'm 26 weeks! 13ish weeks left!!!!!!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 26 Weeks

Size of baby: Lawson is the size of an eggplant (Baby Center says cucumber for length)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 8 pounds

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants, shirts are a mixture, I LIVE in yoga pants now that I'm home! :)

Gender: It's a BOY! Lawson Ryan Payne

Movement: All the time! Earlier this week I actually thought L had spawned a twin and they were wresting WWE style! He moves like crazy!

Sleep: Not sleeping well at all...I think it's partly because my schedule is out of whack since it's summer, but it's so hard for me to fall asleep and stay asleep lately. When Chris gets up at 5 for work I feel like I haven't even slept 30 minutes.

What I miss: Being able to bend over, ha! Being tan and being skinny too!
Cravings: Dairy! Yogurt, frozen yogurt, milk, ice cream...

Symptoms: Back pain/being unable to lay on my back, growing belly, fatigue, nausea, contractions, sciatica is back (boo.). The symptom I haven't had and am surprised about is heartburn...I guess L will be bald, ha! He will be the cutest little bald man I've ever seen though!

Best Moment this week: Finding out I passed my glucose tolerance test! That is a big relief after the disaster of last week's appointment! Also, I washed all of the clothes we have for him so far (it's a LOT) up to 12 months, and started organizing them. The recliner also came in this week and I made a mobile for L's room. Picture below. :)

Mobile I made. Apparently I took this picture crooked...oops.


26 week belly picture. It looks like he is really low. I am hoping this means he is preparing himself to come out of there a couple of weeks early so no c-section for me! Not too early though...stay put for about 10 more weeks L! Holy crap- 10 weeks...it seems really close when I say it that way, ha!

25 Weeks!

I'm 25 weeks (and 1 day)! 14ish weeks left!!!!!!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 25 Weeks

Size of baby: Lawson is the size of an eggplant (Baby Center says rutabaga)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 8 pounds

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants, shirts are a mixture, I LIVE in dresses!

Gender: It's a BOY! Lawson Ryan Payne :)

Movement: Seriously, this kid either NEVER sleeps or sleeps like a crazy person! I get kicked 24/7...and I absolutely LOVE IT! Dakota felt him for the first time this weekend! He kicked her in the face, ha! She also likes to occasionally punch him (not hard). Brotherly/sisterly love...

Sleep: It's hit or miss. If I can get all my pillows situated the right way and I stay on my side, I sleep ok until 2 or 3 whenever I have to go to the bathroom. If the pillows move and I roll onto my back, I do not sleep well AT ALL!

What I miss: Being able to bend over, ha! Being tan and being skinny too!
Cravings: Strawberries!

Symptoms: Back pain/being unable to lay on my back, growing belly, fatigue

Best Moment this week: Not really a "best" moment, but we did all our pre-registration paperwork for the hospital and took a tour of the L&D Unit. This really solidified our choice of hospital as it did not have a hospital feel at all (which makes Chris and I both queasy).

Something I want to look back and remember, so I'm adding it here...
This week's doctor appointment (on Wednesday) was tough. I had my 1 hour glucose tolerance test, and drinking the drink was not the hard part. The hard part was about 5 minutes after I drank it and ALL the sugar goes straight to the pit of your stomach and it literally feels like you could vomit any second. I do not eat a lot of sugary things normally, so I don't know if that magnified my reaction or something, but that was terrible! It wasn't the taste like everyone else complains about, it was the reaction my stomach had!
Then, when the Dr. was measuring me, she made a comment that Lawson was measuring large. I have seriously watched my eating and weight gain for 25 weeks now...I mean, I am actually extremely proud of myself for only an 8 pound gain at 25 weeks, and I have told my doctor over and over that my fear is that Lawson is a huge baby. My mom had two huge babies and it was very rough on her body and recovery was HARD. I just do not want to go through that. I started crying when the doctor told me he was measuring big (pregnancy hormones are crazy!), so the doctor ordered another sonogram for July 6th to check his size. I have talked with several people about this, and I think I have come to the decision that if Lawson is a large baby when we do the sonogram (and I'll have another one at 37 weeks for peace of mind), then I will deliver him via c-section. This is what my doctor, Chris, and I are most comfortable with especially given my family history of labor issues and my own anxiety about him being too big. I also know that if Lawson is big, my doctor will let me deliver early, and I do not want to be induced only to labor for 24 hours and end up with a c-section anyway. If I am not already dilated in any way, we will go ahead with the c-section. I NEVER thought I would be saying this, really I didn't, but I think it's what will be best for us to keep me and Lawson safe (my blood pressure SPIKES very easily when stressed).

And...for reading all of that (or skimming, ha!), here are two belly pictures from this week!


24 weeks, 5 days


25 weeks, 1 day. Ignore the sleepy look. I had just woken up from a nap. :)

Getting Close!

It's really starting to hit me that we will have an outside baby in about 3 months! I can't wait to meet this little man and see who he looks like and get to know his sweet little personality (or not so sweet if he takes after his Daddy, ha!).

We can't wait to meet you, Lawson Ryan! You are so loved already!

Lawson's Room (so far...)

Just a sneak peak...it's definitely not finished yet! :)

Crib with crib skirt made by a friend's mom and letters made by a good friend at work.


Our recliner should be here this week and it will go under the hanging lanterns.


And just for fun...a craft project I did for his room!

24 weeks!

I'm 24 weeks (and 3 days)! 15ish weeks left!!!!!!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 24 Weeks

Size of baby: Lawson is the size of a papaya (Baby Center says ear of corn...weird)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 5-6 pounds

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants, shirts are a mixture, I LIVE in dresses!

Gender: It's a BOY! Lawson Ryan Payne :)

Movement: Seriously, this kid either NEVER sleeps or sleeps like a crazy person! I get kicked 24/7...and I absolutely LOVE IT! Chris felt Lawson's kicks from the outside for the first time on 6/1/11. I told him to lay down on my stomach, and Lawson kicked his face...ha! Love it, already picking on Daddy!

Sleep: It's hit or miss. If I can get all my pillows situated the right way and I stay on my side, I sleep ok until 2 or 3 whenever I have to go to the bathroom. If the pillows move and I roll onto my back, I do not sleep well AT ALL!
What I miss: Being able to bend over, ha! Being tan and being skinny too!
Cravings: Strawberries!

Symptoms: Back pain/being unable to lay on my back, growing belly, fatigue (although I blame that more on the end of the school year than pregnancy), and ALWAYS hungry!

Best Moment this week: Working on Lawson's room. It's definitely not finished, but we are getting closer! Next post will be his nursery progress so far!

I didn't take a belly picture from this week, but here is one from last Tuesday (23w, 4d), so it's close enough. :)