Final stretch...

At 35 weeks my friend Nicole took some family pictures, Savannah's 3 year old pictures (not officially until the 14th), and some maternity pictures. She's just getting started but she's amazing and I look forward to having her do a lot more sessions with my growing family.
Today I'm 37 weeks and could potentially have this baby at any time. Yesterday my doctors appointment went great! He's still head down and I've dilated to 1 cm and I'm 25% effaced. I realize I could be like this for weeks, but according to the doc he thinks I'll be delivering by the 1st if not sooner- I consider this great news!! :) Depending on how much progress is made by my next appointment, the 21st, he said there are some things that he may try to help speed things along and get the party started. Hearing that was exciting and a little nerve racking as we are not totally ready for baby. Today was my shower- thank you Mara, Nell, and Mom. It was beautiful and amazing in every way. We now know exactly what we have left to get and plan to make the shopping trip tomorrow. I've got quite the to-do list for next week and I plan to tackle it head on first thing Monday!
P.S. Sorry for the delay in posting.. I'll try and be better these next few weeks! xoxo

8.5 Months Wooooo Hoooooo

My friend Kelly took some fun maternity pictures to document the baby belly. :) We're still going through them and doing the editing but so far these are a few of my favorites.

My doctor said baby is head down, but there's no guarantee he'll stay that way. His kicking is crazy hard and seems to be focused on my right side. I swear it looks like an alien has taken over when he gets going, even Ted gets weirded out sometimes. The active baby is strong enough to keep me up at night, and he's given me some fun back pain. For the most part I love everything about this bonding timed and I'm getting more excited to meet and hold him. The closer it gets the more anxious and nervous I become.

Our classes continue to be great and so helpful. Only one more week of the birthing class then it's all the other miscellaneous classes I've got us signed up for. I feel like time is slowing down a bit, but I'm stunned at how fast the past 8 months has gone by. I'm looking forward to the upcoming events this next month and half holds.

xoxo

Bring on the crafts and sunshine!

This last weekend I finally started working on some of my great craft projects. Thanks to my momma's help the crib bumper pads are DONE!

The bassinet is together and cleaned up in our room. It's over a hundred years old! My great grandma got it used for my grandpa and his brother when they were babies, it's since been passed down to my nana to use for her 4 kids (my dad the oldest of the 4), and all 4 kids have used it for their babies (me being the oldest of 9 grandbabies to use it). I'm feeling a lot closer to being ready for baby- as far as baby gear is concerned... lol!

The weekend was overall awesome. Saturday I was supposed to get a prenatal massage with my mom but they messed up on my appointment so I had to go back Sunday, lucky for me it was comped for the mistake! :) While I waited for mom on Saturday I treated myself to a nice pedicure (minus the foot massage). At the craft store I got the supplies to make a wedding stuff scrapbook, something I thought would be good for when my maternity leave starts, and I also got the stuff to make some oh so cute bibs. Sunday was so beautiful we went for two walks and ventured over to the park. I'm on the countdown for April 5th, the day my leave starts, spring fever is kicking in..

3lbs!! oh baby baby!

Baby can be compared to the size of a head of cabbage, weighing almost a full 3 pounds! I'm blown away by the developments he's making so quickly. Sleep is rough and not happening because I'm so uncomfortable, I guess it's good preparation for when baby gets here... 9 more weeks to go. I like saying 9 weeks because it doesn't sound as long at 2.5 months. I get more and more excited for baby as his movements get stronger by day. My tummy looks like an alien has taken over in the evening hours, words can't explain the weird flutter feelings.
We started our birthing classes and they're going great. I really like our instructor, she's been a doula for a couple of years and present at over 50 births. We're in a pretty big class with 13 other couples, I think 8 of us are having boys.. tis the season for boys! We watched a labor movie going through all the stages. Ugghh.. I don't think I'm ready for it. I've been having dreams about going into labor and doing things all wrong, not progressing the way I should be, baby not being in the right position, all kinds of scary complications... I need to cut it out! Worrying isn't going to do anything for me at this point. I look forward to the next several Tuesday nights. I think it's going to be good learning and preparation. :)

Last weekend I went shopping with my friend Lauryn and her new baby. Emma's only 2 months old and had a total meltdown while we were standing in a gigantic line. I thought I'd take her and Savannah back out to the car and hopefully settle her down, but oh boy was I in for it. Savannah freaked out and got super jealous as soon as we were out of the store, thankfully Emma stopped crying and calmed down. It was horrible. She refused to walk so I had to carry her and push the stroller with Emma all the way out to the car. Suddenly the reality of having a toddler and new baby hit me.. NOT so easy! Savannah loves talking about brodder but I definitely think we're going to have some jealousy issues. Maybe not as bad as they are with Emma, but having to share the attention is going to be quite an adjustment for this stubborn little princess.

I'll keep the updates coming! xoxo

Floating baby

Doctors appointment this week went well. I saw my test results for the glucose test online and I think they came back fine. I guess I don't really know what I'm looking at, but if there's something wrong I'm sure they'll contact me. Doctor said everything looks good, baby is growing as he should be. He also said I was under weight for a while there, but since my last appointment I've caught up and I'm exactly where I should be. I'm just not allowed to make a jump like that again! haha No more sweets and giving into the cravings... fruits and veggies yum yum yum! He also said baby is a floater. Sometimes baby's head is already down but not my guy, he's still floating! He'll make that transition in the next few weeks, which means I'm that much closer to Delivery Day!! EEEK!
Our child birth classes start next week and I can't wait. I'm very much looking forward to them. I'm not sure what to expect or what we'll learn, but I'm excited. I've also been working on figuring out my maternity leave. What a headache!! My HR department has been NO help at all, the woman doesn't know what she's talking about or she's not explaining things very well. I've done lots of asking around and reading up on CA website. I think I have it figured out but haven't got an official approval yet. I'm planning to leave April 5th and return either July 23rd or August 25th. That's all for now.. <3

2 down 1 more to go!

I've been having the hardest time appreciating pregnancy for what it is. Instead I've been concentrating on the negative, the not-so-pretty things that happen or could happen, throughout these amazing months. So I've decided to make it a point to stay focused on the positive. I know I'll look back and either not remember or laugh at all the things I've been so worried about. Pregnancy is wonderful, but it's funny how it's soooo not what I thought it would be.

Baby is doing fine and growing well from what I can tell. Still no progress on the name, I swear we'll never find something we both like. I've started an online registry, but when I went to babies r us the other night to check out infant car seats it made me want to scratch the online registry all together. There is everything at that store!! I feel like there is no sense in registering both places, so I think Ted and I will be going this weekend.

Sleep is rough.. I have to get up a couple times a night to go to the bathroom and any time I want to roll over I wake up. I look forward to being able to sleep on my tummy again, but for now a body pillow seems to help. My dreams are nuts too. I have really bizarre and vivid dreams. The other night I gave birth to a litter of kittens and I remember being totally heartbroken that I went through all that work and I couldn't keep them because of my allergies!

My next doctors appointment is Tuesday, I have to do a glucose test. Hopefully all goes well, I have no reason to think it won't. Our classes still don't start until the following Tuesday, but I'm really looking forward to them. I've been doing all kinds of reading and googling ways to deal with labor so I can stick to the natural birth plan. I may look into having a midwife deliver me. I still won't get to pick the actual midwife delivering because with Kaiser it's whoever is on call when I'm ready to go.. I'm totally facinated with labor right now. I want to prepare myself as best possible, especially because I don't want to use any medications. I'm scared silly, but know I can do it. Our bodies were made for this!! :) xoxo

Nesting

Baby is going to be one well taken care of kid!! His wardrobe is already beginning to be established and his great aunties are giving him all kinds of great hand me downs- things mom is probably more excited about than he ever will be.

Last weekend I finally got the fabric to make the bumper pads, which also allowed me to make my final decision on which baskets to keep for the changing table. I'm anxious to start on my new project, my goal is to start this weekend- fingers crossed! There are all kinds of crafty projects on my list of to-do's.. it's just a matter of finding the time these days. I have kept our schedule busy as ever, which is probably best while I can be so busy. Once I get huge I won't want to be doing anything, and after baby gets here I know life will have to make a drastic transition to the slow lane.

I booked some of the preparing for baby classes I wanted to take through the hospital. The evening classes: infant care, breastfeeding, and late pregnancy/hospital tour only last a couple of hours, but the major one is over a 5 week span for a couple of hours one night a week. That's the one I'm most excited for! I'm in baby prep mode and totally obsessed.

Baby gets stronger by the day! Feeling the flutters, rolls, kicks, and punches makes me more and more anxious to meet and hold him. I love his movements during the day, it makes me feel like it's just the two of us and there's nothing in this world that can disturb those bonding moments. My updates tell me he's about two pounds now!! I constantly wonder if he's on my baby weight scale or Ted's and what he'll look like.
More updates soon to come. xoxo