Friday Afternoon NOT babytime yet.

On a side note... I get this question about 2,000 times a day, or at least some variation of it.

I wish I could always just send this link.

http://www.haveyouhadthatbabyyet.com/ 

It would make my life so much easier.

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to the days ticking down until Baby J arrives. We're down to 5 (for whatever that means anymore...) I hope we don't go late but I guess that really isn't my decision. I should get used to this little guy ruling my life from now on. Mexican food didn't work to coax this little guy out yesterday, shoot.

Creep to the sheer exhaustion that is the "final" week of pregnancy. Between not being able to sleep because your little person is literally squishing your insides and because you're so anxious with anticipation that your mind is racing there isn't much time left for actually sleep.

Sunshine to Valentine's Day! Not only did I get my sweet watch, but Ross got me a box of chocolates, flowers and the sweetest card. He didn't get quite as much ;) We did go out to eat last night as a last hoorah (fingers crossed).

Sunshine to Ross having today off, we're meeting for lunch to do some walking and bouncing at the gym to get baby J moving!

Sunshine to my FIL's birthday tomorrow, perhaps he and Baby J will have the same B-day! Then he would HAVE to be the favorite grandbaby right?!

Sunshine to feeling pretty ready for Baby J to make his arrival. We definitely have everything ready for him!

Oh Baby - Week 38

For the record - I believe that week 38 should be followed with "when every day begins to feel like an eternity"

Total Weight Gain: 
Up 22. I officially gave up caring or trying this week.

Maternity clothes:
They're starting to get pretty small themselves. Some of the less form fitting ones have a lovely gap at the bottom. Ugh, I'm HUGE!

Stretch Marks:
Skin is doing ok this week.

Best moments: 
Hearing that my Dr. isn't going to necessarily make me go the full week after my due date before we induce. As much as I really really want to do this naturally I also feel like there is going to be a very delicate balance between going in naturally or facing a C-section because this baby is getting HUGE! So if we wait too long baby may no longer fit out the way I want him to!
Movement:
Still seems very cozy in there. I think he is pretty content where he is.

Food Cravings:
Crazy bread from Little Caesars, yum!

Food Aversions:
Nothing really.

What I miss:
I just told Ross last night. I really don't even miss my beloved wine anymore (or any of those food/drink related items) that I was forced to give up. Now it will be such a blessing just to put on my own socks and shoes or walk up stairs without feeling pure exhaustion that I am DEFINITELY most looking forward to that.

Nausea/Vomiting:
Nope. 

Symptoms:
The sleepies. I can't sleep long periods of time without pain now and also had to give up the elliptical at the gym so I think the combo has really worn me out. Bye bye sleep, see you in about a decade...

Labor signs:
Nope, still none. Still plenty of scar tissue plugging up his way out. Hopefully things start to move on their own soon! We did get a little help at the Dr's today. I must say she had me a little worried for a minute (she said Ross would probably want to come hold my hand for the "procedure") But I would say it was more uncomfortable than painful and definitely didn't hurt after she was done. So future mamas don't hesitate to have that membrane stripping done to get things going! We'll see if it works!

Gender:
Baby Boy J -  At this week's appointment his heart rate again fluxed in the 130s and 140s. Glad he's doing ok in there!

Belly Button:
Outie!

Wedding Rings:
Leaving them off now. I feel so naked without it!

Sleep:
whatever.

Wisdom: 
It is totally unavoidable to not feel anxious about the upcoming birth of your child. Your mind is always racing with what labor/delivery will be like, and when will it be! What will you be like as a mom, etc. So just go with it. Get your work done early and if you have the ability to just go home and relax! Watch tv or go to the gym. Hopefully Ash Wednesday service will take my mind of things tonight!

What's left on the TO DO list?

• Get the letters in and put up...hopefully they arrive soon.
• Take back some of the itsy bitsy clothes I bought. I definitely won't be needing them!
• Take naps :)
• Make up as much time for work as I can!
• Clean some more at home.

Tuesday's Thought of the day...

So today I was remembering back probably 10 weeks ago or so. There was a new study that came out regarding inducing labor too early and how when it is done too early it isn't a good thing.

They say the baby still has growing and developing to do. It all made SO MUCH sense at the time. So I hoped and prayed that baby J would stay in my belly all 40 weeks so he could be as fully developed and healthy as he could be.

Well, that request was another in a long list of crazy first time mom thoughts I had.

Here I am 39 weeks preggo (technically 38 weeks 6 days) and I find it now impossible to sleep because what will surely turn out to be the largest baby on planet earth is so heavy he squishes my insides when I try to lay down. So that makes me very tired during the day clearly. I used to find extra energy at the gym but now that's out too, Dr's orders!

I am extremely winded if I walk up more than one stair, so walking around work is very embarrassing. My back is starting to get pretty sore from the aforementioned giant baby it's carrying around.

Plus on top of that I have worked for over two straight weeks with no days off to try to make up time for my maternity leave. My boss very generously offered me the option and I swooped it up!

I know that some mamas never dilate before they go into labor (which is what I'm banking on) but it is hard to hear that there is no progress and that the Dr. can't find his head probably isn't a great sign. He also hasn't dropped yet which doesn't mean great things either.

Now that said I know I will miss being pregnant. I have LOVED every minute of it (save for the last couple days where things are getting pretty bad). I know in my mind that I am very lucky to have been blessed with an uneventful pregnancy and even more blessed to be able to be pregnant in the first place. I know that we will be blessed with a happy healthy baby boy when this is all done. I also know that if this boy is a giant baby he will have to change outfits 4 times a day so that he can wear all the clothes I bought him before he outgrows them!

So future mamas out there, just know that no matter how much you love pregnancy there is definitely a day that will come that you will start to pay for all that smugness. Eventually you'll want to serve your precious baby an eviction notice and don't feel too bad about it because I'm sure that I'll wish I could undo it as soon as I go into labor.

There is definitely a purpose for this last 4 weeks, your body and baby are getting you ready to be a mom. I have a feeling that the roller coaster of emotions (happiness, excitement, guilt, frustration) are all just to prepare you mommyhood.

Oh Baby - Week 37

Total Weight Gain: 
Up 20. I haven't had a two lb. week yet so that was a shocker. I am going to blame the fact that I ate breakfast just before I went. It definitely had nothing to do with the Orange Julius, giant monster cookie, and cupcake I ate yesterday...

Maternity clothes:
Got a few more items from Jenny last week. Including her big winter coat! That was wonderful since the temps were down in the double digits below zero later in the week and my sweatshirt/little coat wasn't really fitting around the front anymore.

Stretch Marks:
Nope, the belly was getting SUPER itchy last week so I finally broke down and tried the expensive Palmer's cocoa butter. And that stuff is GLORIOUS. No more itchy belly.

Best moments: 
Nothing overly baby related this past week, but Ross bought me a new watch for my "push gift"/Valentine's Day! I love it. I am a big fan of HUGE men's-style watches. My old watch was slowly getting more and more behind in time, even after a battery replacement so after I did some looking I found this bad boy in the men's watch section in Macy's. It is a little large still (after they removed all the links they could) but I love love love it! What a great guy. 
He also got be a pedicure for Valentine's day, which I went and got yesterday. That was perfect! Yesterday was not a good day for me. I started the day pretty good, until I was almost ready to leave for work when I got a bushing bloody nose. I hadn't had one of those for awhile now and this one wouldn't stop no matter what I tried! Then when I got to work (after about an hour) I realized that I had blood splatter all over my shirt. So on top of feeling pretty fat and puffy all over now I felt like a total slob. It was all downhill from there. And when you're having a bad day at 91/2 mos preggo it is really hard to pull yourself out of the slump. So when the opportunity to get a pedi popped up I was ALL OVER IT! And I must say it really did help! 
Movement:
He is starting to move around more down low, so I hope that means he is making his way down to where he should be now! This little guy doesn't want to see his nursery that we worked so hard on clearly :) He is pretty cozy in there.

Food Cravings:
Yesterday I NEEDED a reuben, Tripleberry OJ (my favorite) and a cupcake. So at lunch I left the gym early and went for all my delicious treats at once. 

Food Aversions:
Nothing really.

What I miss:
A good night's sleep and going home at night and not feeling like I have so much to do and no time to do it! Apparently I have been overdoing it a little because the Dr. told me to take it easy this week and has also banished me from the elliptical at the gym. I am down to just walking. So now I will also miss the elliptical because that was the one thing that made this aching body of mine feel better.

Nausea/Vomiting:
Nope. 

Symptoms:
The nose bleed came back. So that was fun. I will go out there for the record and say that no one prepares you for the toxic yellow looking pee you have while preggo! You can never drink enough water to get it back to a light yellow or clear like it should be! Again, TMI but these are definitely things that no one tells you!

Labor signs:
None. I haven't had any braxton hicks and we're still closed up tight down there so this week I had to have her try to start breaking up my membranes and next week she will do the official "stripping of the membranes" to try to get things going and break up some scar tissue. I was just saying to Ross that I wouldn't go back in time and not have the LEEP procedure done, because when you are facing potential cancer you do what needs to be done, but I wish my Dr. at the time would've been more up front with me about what it could mean for a later pregnancy. When I asked her at the time she said it would have no effect, but I am guessing she meant that it wouldn't effect whether or not I could get pregnant. After a LEEP (for a LEEP they use a laser to burn off part of your cervix to remove irregular cells) you could have a weaker cervix that doesn't stay closed like it should through pregnancy so they would have to stitch it closed until week 34-35 or you can get scar tissue build up which makes it more difficult to open on its own when it should. Hopefully, with the simple stripping I should start opening up but only time will tell!

Gender:
Baby Boy J -  At this week's appointment his heart rate fluxed in the 130s and 140s. Nice and strong! 

Belly Button:
Outie!

Wedding Rings:
I broke down and took it off. It was getting tight and I have heard horror stories (not to anyone in real life) that they've had to be cut off, so I just didn't want to risk it. 

Sleep:
Meh, I don't even bother anymore :)

Wisdom: 
Someone told me today that I should take the Dr.'s orders to heart and enjoy the down time because I will never get to go home again and just sit down. It is going to be hard because I have so much to do, but I am going to try! I want to just enjoy some time with my hubby and my pups while it is just us! And enjoy that my little man is inside getting everything he needs  without me trying to figure it all out!

What's left on the TO DO list?

• Get the pictures hung
• Go through the registry to make sure we got all the necessary pre-baby essentials. Our next shower is tomorrow so I will head to Target on Friday to get all the last minute shopping done!
• Take naps :)
• Make up as much time for work as I can!
• Otherwise our bags are packed and we are READY for baby as much as we will ever be!

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to Friday Creep to working over the weekend to start trying to make up some maternity leave time.

Sunshine to an absolutely wonderful baby shower last weekend. I had so much fun with all my ladies and they all spoiled baby J. I will post a picture of some of the loot when I get a chance!

Sunshine to Kris for staying late and taking a few informal maternity pictures for Ross and I after the shower. Ross and I are horrible at taking photos and even worse subjects.

Sunshine to making a trip to Fargo to watch Ross's 6yo nephew play hockey last Sunday. He was so excited to have us there and you could tell he was trying to show off the whole game. It worked too because he scored 4 or 5 goals, including one from their own net while he was the goalie.

Sunshine to running into Kris and her whole fam at the Fargo mall while I ran  in to grab some food and moisturizer on our way out of town! Their family is so nice and so much fun. They're good people!

Creep to getting back on Sunday and having to go straight to a two and a half hour meeting then to Ross's work Christmas party. It was a long day and my body was killing me by the end of the night which caused a major meltdown on Monday. Things have definitely gotten brighter since then.

Sunshine to getting closer to being done with Baby J's room. We will hang the artwork tonight and hopefully get it all ready to go. I also washed his first load of laundry last night with the second getting done tonight! I realized that I definitely have too many clothes for him but I don't think I am quite as overboard as I thought I was.

Lastly, SUNSHINE to February being here already/finally! It is BABY MONTH! I can't wait to meet my little man and snuggle him to pieces! On a side note I also can't wait for him to make his debut as he took up residence in my ribs again last night which caused me ridiculous pain and rendered me unable to sleep after about 4:30. This is "his move" He is nice and low all night until bedtime and then he wiggles his way ALL the way to the top of my uterus and snuggles his butt right up there.

The guy loves to snuggle obviously but I wish he would wait until he comes out to do anymore of it. He is already not listening to Mom, clearly he is my child.