End of second trimester

Wow! Time has really flown by. I can't believe I am officially in my third trimester now. I feel so lucky and blessed to have things go so smoothly lately. I cannot praise God enough for Sam, our miracle baby. We obviously still have a long way to go, 13.5 weeks to be exact, but we just continue to pray and praise God that He will deliver Sam safely to us in a few months.

We have been busy preparing for little Sam's arrival. Paul has finished painting the nursery (wall, ceiling and trim) and it looks great. We moved the crib from the dining room into his room and set up the changing table in it's correct place too (see nursery in progress pics below). We went to register and loved picking out stuff of Sam and hopefully future children. We just spent the past week down at the beach with my entire family and overall it was a successful trip. I can't wait for Sam to be able to play with my niece and nephew (taters) in a few years at the beach. The month of July is going to be extremely busy for us as we have travel plans every weekend and will celebrate 5 years of marriage! WAHOO. Originally I told Paul I only wanted to travel every other weekend but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be working out. The good thing is that two trips are only 1.5 hours away, the bad is the other two trips are 7 and 5 hours away.

For my second trimester recap, I want to note that I asked Paul how I had been doing so far being pregnant. I told him to be honest and he said that overall I acted pretty much the same as I did before I was pregnant, crazy as ever. I guess that is what happens when you take fertility drugs for years before you become pregnant that you don't even know what your "true" hormonal state really is, but hey who is complaining now. Ok back to the recap...
The last three months we have:
Found out that we were having a little boy, Samuel Newton Ebert "Sam"
Started kicking (mommy felt at 17.5 weeks, daddy felt from outside at 20.5 weeks)
Started eating meat again but still don't care for red meat all that much
Started really beginning to show
I had my first experience with heartburn/indigestion, thankfully it hasn't been too bad
Found out that I had low iron and take supplements
Gained more weight than I had wanted (since I am brutally honest, I will list it out that total weight gain is 18 pounds, roughly 2/3 in the 2nd trimester)
Regained strength but when my iron was low got really tired again
Minimal swelling thus far (another praise)
Love Salt & Vinegar pringles and french fries, craved a few more sweets than normal too
Bought his baby book, crib, bedding, clothes & registered

Ok that's all I can think of for now, but in all honesty, thank you all very much for thinking and praying for us along this journey. We really are amazed by you all and the work of our Father. And because I don't say it enough, thank you to my wonderful husband who I love unconditionally.

Here are the pics:
I think this is where I left off on belly pics...

22 weeks

23 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks (not the most flattering picture, but it's all I had)

26 weeks
from the door way to nursery, dresser still to be stripped
changing table and mattress for twin Jenny Lind bed
from doorway again, glider to be stained and cushions recovered

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures!

Much Love,

Samantha