THE ROTH-HURST FAMILY: 28 weeks- Third trimester

We've made it to our third trimester. Hallelujah! We are still prayerful for the pregnancy, and continue to take it one day at a time, but there is a little bit of comfort in knowing we have made it to the final trimester.

New symptoms of my pregnancy:

- Burning abs: I have been feeling my ab muscles being stretched to their limits. My body is definitely working hard to make room for this little girl.

- Sore back: This is my own fault. I have TERRIBLE posture. I feel this the most on my long drive to and from school and while I am doing treatments. School is a constant pain in my back, because of the hunching we have to do while performing treatments on each other. I sit on a stool, if possible, but sometimes it just doesn't work. Tylenol has become a dear friend of mine during these uncomfortable times.

- Itching: When I was pregnant with Jaycoby, I developed this terrible itch that could not be cured by creams, Benedryl or hot baths. It was pure torture! I have since learned that this itching is a sign of stress for me and was given a prescription for these symptoms. It's a terrible way for my body to express stress, but there is nothing I can do about it.

Two days ago I started itching the side of my palm constantly. By the end of the day it had spread up my arm. Then, last night, my palms and the bottoms of my feet were itching. It took me asking Mike to gently rub my feet (to ease the itch) for me to realize, "here we go again!". I called my doctor this morning and got a refill for my prescription. If this does not work, they want to run a series of blood tests to see what they can do to help it. Even though I know this is stress-related, I can't help but think, "am I allergic to being pregnant?". I'm just glad I caught it early and have the support of my doctor to figure it out. I wasn't as lucky last time around, because I had no idea what was going on. This time we are going to tackle it head on and hopefully find a quick remedy.

Here are some pictures of recent items we've gotten for Ella :-) My friends keep telling me not to buy things, because of the shower they plan to attend for me in May, but sometimes I just can't help myself. We have slowed down considerably and have had several things given/loaned to us.

We got this glider/ottoman from one of the other families in MOMS Club. We were able to work out a trade with our train table. Perfect swap! (glider is currently in Jaycoby's room, because it was a long night with the sickies last night).

My mom found this adorable diaper cover at Mission Mill. Even Mike thought they were a "must have".

Mike has developed a good eye for cute stuff in the consignment shops. He found this dress at New to You last week. Jaycoby grabbed it from him and said "this is too cute...it's great". I agree!

I have fallen in love with all of the cute elephant's around. How can we resist...."Ella"-phant! While I know that an elephant is not an animal that any girl would like to be nicknamed after, it fits too well. Also, when Jaycoby was a baby, he had the cutest elephant rattle that we named "Ella". I have to carry on the tradition.

I have been searching high and low for cute headbands and haven't been very successful. My mom and I found these items at Nordstrom the other day. I think they will be great for Ella. They should work well even if she doesn't have very much hair. And the sunglasses were just the most itsy, bitsy shades we'd ever seen. To quote Mike, they are "to die for". He's such a nerd!