36 weeks, and 2 days left

Well, we finished our childbirth class today, and had our final meeting with our Doula. My bag is (almost) packed and I talked to the charge nurse at UofM and we are still on for the induction tomorrow. They could call us earlier if things are super slow, but they said otherwise we could expect to hear from them from 4-6 and we would go in at 7-8. My mom is set to hop on a plane at 6 am tomorrow to help us out, and now we are just relaxing. David said it is like the calm before the storm. I couldn't agree more.

35 weeks

Last night I celebrated being THIS BIG AND PREGNANT by attending an ice cream tasting party that a friend had at her house. We tried five different flavors of Haagen Dazs five, and they were all amazing except for the ginger flavor- which reminded me of the suckers I ate during my first trimester to fend off the morning sickness. Yech. Also, I wore this dress at 28 weeks to my baby shower. I revived it last night after learning that I now loathe my maternity pants. All of them. And wearing the non-maternity pants is not even an option anymore, as the little buttons dig into my skin even stretched wide open over my belly. So I will probably wear the two dresses I fit into with leggings until they call me in for the induction next weekend. I've warned all of my friends to play dumb to this if they happen to see me several days in a row in the same clothes.

34 weeks...

33 Weeks

32 weeks (8 MONTHS!)

I'm officially at the beginning of my eighth month of pregnancy, so we're closing in, folks!

This week was a lot better than the one before. I got some sleep, am less emotional, and haven't been as congested. I am having some headaches lately that are pretty killer, but I think it is maybe my sinuses. I am also having to slow down a lot more than I expected, because if I run more than two consecutive errands you would think I just tried to run a 5K with an elephant strapped to my belly.

We met our doula yesterday, and I think she will do just fine. She is pretty young but has attended 13 births, and had lots of great questions and suggestions that I hadn't really thought of. She is also perfectly fine to help out as much or as little as we want, either running around as an extra set of hands or knitting in the corner until we need her. I FINALLY signed up for childbirth preparation classes, too...but they don't start until the end of March. I'll be 36 weeks along, which is one week before the baby is considered "full-term". Better late than never?

31 weeks

 

After all of that complaining, here is my post-prenatal yoga workout photo of the week. I've been going every week since just after Christmas, and I highly recommend it to anyone pregnant or thinking about being pregnant. Sometimes I feel refreshed, sometimes I learn stretches that will help for childbirth, and sometimes it is nice just to hear from women who are WAY more pregnant and uncomfortable than you are- just for some perspective. It's awesome to know you are not the only one who isn't sleeping, or nesting, or calmly counting days until your little one arrives- and hear instead from a lady who says "I haven't slept in days, my husband forced me to come today because I have been a living nightmare for the last week, and I feel like the train has left the station and I don't know where we are going!"

 

Week 30

Only 10 or 11 weeks to go, depending on Dr. Peanut's timing. Hopefully that will give me plenty of time to finish this...

I guess once I've started baby projects I might as well keep the ball rolling.

29 Weeks

Here is the latest shot of my ever expanding self. AND, I cleaned my bathroom mirror, just for y'all!

28 weeks

 

David took this picture right before my baby shower yesterday. We got a lot of great baby stuff, and I had a blast. I did learn a valuable lesson about mixing social groups, however. I invited our neighbor, who is very outspoken about breastfeeding and all that goes along with it, and didn't let anyone else know this was a hot button issue for her. This lead to a couple of awkward, heated discussions about discretion during breastfeeding and let me know why many people still use seating charts for weddings and formal dinners.

The more pregnant I get, the more I realize that most of the time it is best to nod your head and keep your mouth shut about EVERYTHING.

27 Weeks

 

I've had to buy some new clothes, as the non-pregnant ones are beyond too small. I took this first picture, and then realized how arched my back was. I stood up straight and took this one:

 

And I don't look nearly as pregnant. Also, I really should clean the mirrors in my bathroom. What a disgrace!

26 weeks

 

Blam.

25 weeks

The weirdest part of taking these pictures has been knowing that I have another 3 and a half months and 5 or 6 more pounds of baby to go.


And for some full on, distorted belly wierdness...

Whoops! Happy New Year guys!

Sorry about my month long blog hiatus. To keep it completely real, after thanksgiving I took two belly pictures and promptly deleted them because I am vain, then we came to Arkansas for a couple of weeks. I loved getting to see you guys and had a wonderful holiday. I think all of that great southern food and hearing things aside from how huge I was (maybe I ranted enough that everyone was scared to tell me if I was huge) did me some real good.

We got back on the evening of the 29th, and David and I went to our local Japanese hibachi place for our third year anniversary. We also spent some time finding bins and baskets and shelves to help us organize the (much appreciated) baby loot that keeps rolling through the door. He isn't even here yet and he has more clothes, shoes, and space than David and I have I think!

Then for New Years Eve we hung out with some friends and had pizza rolls and sushi and sparkling apple cider ( I did anyway) and watched the ball drop. Since I stayed up until one or so, I slept most of the next day. My new year's resolutions are as follows:

1. Have a baby.
2. Name him something.
3. Accept help when someone offers.
4. Adjust to new life as best as I can

Anything beyond those are far too ambitious. I'm sure I'll make enough mistakes as a new mother that I won't need the extra guilt of not losing the baby weight in 4 weeks and having an all natural birth and keep house spotless and whatnot. My priorities are have a named baby and figure the rest out as I go.

Finally, my belly gets in the way when I bend over or try to roll over in bed. That's all I have to say about that.


I do feel him kicking all the time now, which is cool and especially funny if I'm holding another kid on top of the belly. For the super curious, I have gained about 10 pounds so far, or twelve if you count the two I lost during my first trimester. I weighed myself after my 3 Christmas dinners and I had gained almost six pounds. Yikes.

Week 19

And bigger! This was post Thanksgiving, right before I went to go see 4 Christmases with my friend Stephanie (very funny movie by the way!).

Week 18

Getting Bigger....

Week 17

Please excuse the grimace I am making in this photo. Self-portraits are hard.

These are my fancy new maternity jeans, but they are kindof hidden since I pulled the big blue belly panel down to show my buddha belly. I'm sure you'll see much more of them though, since they are one of the remaining three pants that fit me without a rubberband holding the fly together.

And the camera base whose disappearance I blamed on David was actually in plain view in our entryway. Whoops.

Week 16

David took this the night we got back from our wine tasting weekend.

I took this one later the next night, because I felt grubby in the first one. I blame the biscuits and gravy and chili that we had over the weekend for the dramatic growth.

Week 15

I know I haven't updated in two weeks, but I was trying to get all the things I've neglected to do for the last two and a half months done until the puking starts up again. When I say that I think it's finally gone away, I get crazy sick the next day. Like the baby is saying, "hey lady, just because you can't feel me kicking you doesn't mean I'm not here. Remember? Now find some doritos because I am starving."

Week 14

Strangely, I think clothes make me look more pregnant.

Week 13

This looks sweet, but just know this is a maternity skirt I haven't fully grown into and he was totally trying to pants me.