Wednesday, January 25, 2012

35 Weeks- Almost there!

The end is in sight! Holy cow...there are 35 days left until the due date and it's starting to sink in that next month I will [probably] be having a baby! I'm getting excited and anxious and worried and bored and everything in between. I still think he will show up a bit early (the 20th just keeps coming to mind for some reason) and Kenny says March 1st...we've made our bets. I'm sure he will show up whenever he is ready though and I'm fine with that...I think.

So How's the Baby?
He has dropped quite a bit, I can tell mostly by the frequency I seem to be in the bathroom. His little (or not so little) noggin just keeps ramming downward which I must say is a very odd, and uncomfortable, feeling. The waddle is also getting much worse. My poor pelvis, I should send it an apology note sometime. He is getting bigger, I swear sometimes I can see he has grown just during one day. His tush is usually sticking out at some odd angle, making me look a bit pointy and funny. Speaking of pointy and funny, my "turkey timer" as I call it (my belly button) has officially popped out completely. It's pretty funny looking but it's entertaining. He is mostly just gaining weight now, although that noggin that is making me incredibly uncomfortable is also busily forming tons of neurons and new connections. He is working hard on perfecting his reflexes too. Now we just wait!

Are You Ready?


People ask me all the time if I am ready. Physically, yes. Mentally, HA...not likely to happen soon.

I've been busily packing and preparing for the big event. We have officially gotten all of our bags packed and they are by the door ready and waiting. I am constantly checking and re-checking my list to make sure it is packed right. I'm sure we won't need half the stuff in there but you never know. Which reminds me of something else I was going to put in the bag, I'll have to fix that. So our bags are packed and ready to go, so we are ready for the hospital.

I did the typical pregnant lady thing and re-arranged his nursery...again. I feel pretty happy with it now though. Here are some pictures of the finally finished nursery.




As for the physical part...well...I'm done. Yup, the aches and pains are constant and I am so ready to just be able to have my body back to myself. I'm also really excited to just meet this little guy already! My feet and ankles are pretty much perpetually swollen and surprisingly it hurts a bit having your skin stretched so much. Not too much longer though! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I know I can hold on just a little bit longer. Then I will have the best reward possible- my little boy in my arms. Just keep focusing on that and things will be fine.

Well that's all for today, see you next week!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

34 Weeks- Mama Bird is Nesting

Woah, I'm a little late on the blog posting today, it's been quite the day for us. With the baby shower this past weekend the house looked like a baby store exploded in the living room and I've been making attempts to clean and organize all of it. That nesting thing is no joke, and it's hitting hard at the moment. I'm determined to be completely ready for him when we reach term. Even if he does come on his due date, I still sleep better knowing we are ready at a moments notice! Over the past week I've gotten our hospital bag all together, and this coming week I will be working on getting Roxas's hospital bag together too. I've spent my entire day washing baby clothes and blankets as well as organizing and putting away all of our other baby stuff. I've also found the need to clean ever available surface in the house too. I'm sure Roxas will know if the baseboards are dirty!

The baby shower was on Sunday and I had a great time seeing all my friends and family come together to celebrate the impending arrival of Roxas. It's starting to become much more real as time goes on and the date gets ever closer. I can't believe there are only 6 more weeks to go! I put up some pictures of the baby shower on Flickr, but I don't have too many right now. Here is the shower cake that my mom made and I decorated :-)
The shower really helped us get a lot of the necessary supplies we still needed for Roxas when he comes home. We still need to get a few things but that just means I get to finally shop without worry about getting a repeat gift!

As for how I am (which everybody seems to ask now)...I am doing pretty good considering I have 5lbs. of baby attached to the front of me. Things get more difficult as the days go by and somebody even told me today that "I'm sitting like a pregnant lady" whatever that means. I noticed I waddle now too...wonderful. He has started to drop down a bit more and I'm hoping he is staying head down. I feel a lot more baby parts rolling and rubbing along the inside of my belly. A lot of the time there is a foot or his butt shoved up into my ribs or gallbladder. I think he is really running out of room now. He's basically still on the course of maturing and growing even more now. There isn't much changing now, other than just growing!

Well, that's all for now. I will try to take some more pictures of the nursery since it's pretty much completely done now. See you next week.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

33 Weeks- Getting Closer

Ready for this? There are only 49 days left until the due date. Yeah. I'm starting to get a bit anxious and nervous. Not about the birth part. I know I'm in for it there but there isn't much I can do about it now right? I might as well just accept it.

No, what I'm nervous and anxious about is just about everything else. Will I be the moron who doesn't realize when they should go to the hospital and end up with a roadside baby? Not likely, but the thought is still there. Are we going to screw up our kid in some way? Most likely, but all parents do. I think about these things usually when I don't have anything else in front of me taking up all my attention. It's just starting to sink in that we are going to have a baby...as in it's ours...and not some friends' baby that we have to take care of for a week. Nope. To quote my wonderful hubby, "There's no lemon law for babies." Yup, there's no returning him to the stork store. Although, if he's over 9lbs I might march up to that stork and punch him square in the beak. Anyways, time is going by quickly and I don't feel ready at all. But, I know if I just hand over all my worry and fear to God, He will come through and things will be just fine- just like He always does.

Roxas is getting big, gaining about half a pound a week now. My spine and pelvis are thrilled about this. Right now he weighs a bit over 4lbs. and has passed the 17in. mark. His skeleton is hardening, except for his head which will stay squishy so he can make his way out on the big day. The level of amniotic fluid has maxed out which means I mutter about freakin' bony elbows in my spleen a lot. There is less fluid to cushion him so I'm pretty sure my insides are actually bruised. His eyes are open when he is awake now and he can differentiate between night and day thanks to the womb walls becoming thinner. Something I think is super cool is his immune system has developed now. He is now gaining valuable protection from microorganisms.

As for me, well I'm making an attempt to not complain as much. Yeah, I'm uncomfortable and I'd love it if I could just lie down and be comfortable...or even tie my shoes without a lot of effort, but I know I'll miss it as soon as it's gone. I only get to be pregnant a certain number of times in my life and I want to really make an effort to remember and enjoy as much of it as I can. That includes the uncomfortable and unpleasant side effects as well as the fun stuff. So, today, no complaining! Yay!

You may have noticed there are two new buttons over there to the left of the blog. The Flickr one will take you to all of the photos I've done over the course of the pregnancy. There you will find week by week belly pictures, all of our pictures from the park and the ultrasound pictures too. The Facebook one will take you to my Facebook if you don't already have me as a friend.

We've got a lot to do for the baby shower this weekend so, until next week...



Roxas had the hiccups last night, I caught a few of his little jumps on my phone. The quality isn't the best but you should be able to see it.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

32 Weeks- Finally 2012!


I can't believe it is already 2012...and next month we will be having our baby! I think the reality is finally starting to settle in a bit for me now that we are getting so close to my mental "ready to go" date. I've compiled list after list for things I need to remember to bring with us and people to call. I know the time is going to slip away from me faster than I think it will so I'm trying to get prepared. Only 8 more weeks until the due date!

We had a fun little New Years celebration. I drank my sparkling cider and we watched the Twilight Zone marathon. Yup we are real party animals. I'm quite honestly glad to be done with all the holiday hub-ub since that means we are getting closer to the big day. Holidays are always stressful anyways and I'm thankful to be returning to some kind of normalcy around here. We did some pregnancy pictures down at the park on New Years Day with my niece and parents. We had a blast running around and playing. I probably over did it but hey, since when do I listen anyways? Here are a few of the pictures. I'll work on getting some kind of online album set up to link here since I know not everybody reading this is looking at my Facebook too.





This week the little man is growing, still...and I'm noticing more than ever. So about him: He is somewhere around 4lbs and about 17inches long. His skin is finally not see-through! Yay for no alien baby! His fingernails are reaching the end of his fingers, and his hair is growing. Weight gain is the main focus now, with him gaining over half his birth weight in the next two months.

About me: I'm starting to really feel the effects of pregnancy. My back is sore more often than not and I'm whining about it much more often too. It's incredibly frustrating when you just want to get comfortable and that's not even close to possible anymore. I'm having to learn my limits since any excessive activity seems to bring on the Braxton Hicks contractions which are indeed becoming more frequent and more uncomfortable as time goes on. As anxious as I am to meet our little one, he still needs to cook for another 5 weeks!

Well, that's all for now. Here's the belly picture for the week :-)