36 Weeks and SWELLING...

I had a really fun and BUSY week. My best friend Nycole was visiting from Georgia and the girl never sits down. I felt like a wild woman. No, really. I was out every night after work and some nights did not get home until 10 or 11. One night when I got home, I realized my feet were swelling over my sandal straps. GREAT. It was really attractive. But we had so much fun and could not replace the once a year we get to see each other. Next time she comes here, there will be a wee one and we won't be out till 11!!

She claims she could still breathe, but I just think she was being a nice friend by not insulting me.

We are finishing up the final little bits of shopping for baby necessities and also going to stock up the pantry this weekend. I got a diaper bag and need to pack it, also have a hospital bag that needs packin'. Birth plan I am going to sit down and type THIS WEEKEND and also take pics of the nursery :)

How far along?: 36 weeks! 28 days to my due date. Really?
Weight gain?: 33 lbs
Maternity Clothes: Only. Or leggings. Or yoga pants. Or dresses. I can do what I want now.
Stretch Marks?: Making new friends everyday...
Sleep?: Pretty durn good! *crosses fingers*
*Notice* I'm removing the gender question because it ain't gonna change
Food cravings?: Not really. I would consider my appetite 'normal' at this time.
Belly Button?: Coming out.
What I miss the most?: I'm pretty happy right now, feeling good for what I thought I would be at 36 weeks preggo. But I could do without the hands/feet swelling and the peeing every 15 mins.
What I'm looking forward to?: Meeting our little girl, having everything ready and organized for her arrival. The nesting is getting more intense daily.
Milestones: I got "checked" for dilation at the Dr's on Friday. I mean, I was a 0, but just the fact that I'm getting checked and moving to weekly appts is huge!!
Signs of labor?: Braxton Hicks about the same amount as last week, feeling 'crampy' from time to time, but all this action usually subsides quickly... Andrew guessed (or hoped) I would have her at 37 weeks, but no action yet!! If it were up to him, we would have had her out right when I found out I was preggo (if she was healthy). He just can't wait, and its so cute :)

There are many uses for a belly. One of them includes a beverage table, if you need it :)

A Baby Shower!!

All I can say is what an amazing weekend I had!! I seriously could not have had a better shower. Perfect group, perfect decorations, and tons and tons of gifts! It was so exciting to get baby stuff (I have been TRYING to refrain from purchases until absolutely necessary...)

Lets do the run down...

28 wunzies
28 outfits
8 pairs mittens
8 pairs socks
9 hats
8 bibs
2 towels
19 burp cloths
14 receiving blankets
4 books
5 stuffed animals
1 moses basket (looove!)

and a bunch more miscellaneous items! How lucky am I? And I was worried about not having enough clothes...
We played The Price is Right for baby items, guessing how much common items cost and trying to get the closest to the right price, safety pins in rice game, and also a play-doh game to see who can make the best baby. It was a lot of fun.

BEAUTIFUL decorations...

Cucumber sandwiches

MMmmmm....

She had little touches everywhere. So sweet.

Yummy cupcakes made by mom. Chocolate and carrot cake at my request :)

Opening a TON of gifts!

One of my favorites. The Tickle Monster Book. (With tickle mitts, of course!)

Precious little girls were there, too!

Friends

More friends...

And family too!

My beautiful Moses basket

One of my favorite gifts

So I think I made out!

35/35

Yeah baby! I'm 35 weeks pregnant today and have 35 days left until my due date! Woo-hoo.

And let me tell you, let the symptoms begin. First of all, I can't wait to find out how much she weighs in there now because I'm feeling like things are getting pretty smushed. Not much room to move around and alot of the movement is almost painful! When I eat, I feel so bloated and tight like my belly could just POP! Today is the first day that I have had swollen ankles! EVER. It's like my 35 week gift :) I have had swollen fingers for the past few days and it's about time for the wedding ring to come off...I'm trying to hold out. I don't want cankles. I should be happy that it's sandal-wearing weather because my feet can be free, but that also means other people can see my cankles. EEeeew!

Buh-bye wedding ring...Buh-bye Brighton thumb rings.

Here's me trying to figure out why this new shirt Nycole sent me doesn't fit. "It's a medium, it HAS to fit!"

6 weeks left!!!

Well, I'm 34 weeks pregnant. How did we get here again? So surreal. I decided that this post will count for week 33 and 34 since nothing of great significance has happened, you won't be missing a thing! I basically sat -I mean er, um, laid- for a week straight while I healed and worked from home. It was a nice break, but really not that great considering I was healing slowly and getting bored! I actually came across this blog and read the most incredible birth story EVER. What a heart-wrenching story. Brought me to tears. It was also published in this month's Parents Magazine, which is pretty amazing in the blogger world.


We took our maternity pics this week, can't wait to see them. We also made some progress on the nursery! [pics to come]

My baby shower is this coming weekend and I'm really excited. Nycole will be in town and it's always like old times ;) Then, it's off to finish getting the last necessities before this little girl arrives! We graduated from Childbirth class (woo-hoo) and I'm so happy we decided to take the class. Our teacher was more than amazing and supportive, and we learned so much. I think learning more helps ease our fears about anything we were concerned about. I think the most important thing for us to remember is that we just don't know how our experience will go, but in the end, what will come out of it is what we have been waiting for all this time and that is all that matters! I'm definately spending this last few weekends sleeping in, going to breakfast, relaxing over coffee, and just loving Andy and my alone time together so much before we have a (little tiny) distraction.

I have been feeling great now that I'm almost healed. The belly is getting interesting to maneuver, but usually not too uncomfortable. I get a little stiff after sitting for long periods of time and getting out of bed in the morning is sometimes a slow process (which is not good, because my bladder tells me to run) but other than that, I feel very lucky. The weather is getting cooler which means minimal swelling and sweating (I know, super attractive). Some sciatica pain lately, but usually a few stretches fix me right up. If it gets worse, I may consider one last massage before the baby comes :) Braxton Hicks have been coming far more frequently than before, and they are somewhat intense at times, lasting about 20-30 seconds. But, by no means consistent. Yes, I STILL need to complete my birth plan and pack my hospital/diaper bag. What a SLACKER.

In real life (because I have a tendency to live in pregnancy life), Survivor starts this week! A family affair, of course. We even choose our players and have a playing board. It's quite intense. My sweet dear husband is doing his regular school, work, school, work, [shit jobs for Wendy] school, work, school. But in the meanwhile, he's brewing some more beer, and getting some fishing time in while he's still a free man. We had a mouse sighting in the garage this week, which brought on an all-out-war to seek and kill. My black lab (who we will call killer) came into the house shaking and refused to use his dog door in response to this mouse. GREAT. I really thought he was going to pee the carpet the other day because he was so scared to go out because he thought the mouse was going to eat him. My dog is a real-life Scooby-Doo. But today-WE HAVE VICTORY. Caught the little sucker. I mean suckers. Yeah, there were 3 in the trap. Eeeeewww!

Rockin' the mega-bump!

32 Weeks- OUCH!

Well I'm gonna have to say that this was one of the toughest weeks of my pregnancy. Not hormonally, emotionally, or carrying around this belly, but something totally unrelated. I got an infection. A painful one. Baby girl is fine and well. She is really kicking me like none other, and this is the first week I have been experiencing full-on, unmistakable Braxton Hicks. Previously, I would get maybe 1-2 per day in the evenings if I was dehydrated. A big cold glass of ice water later, I wouldn't feel them again. Well the last 2 days, I feel them in the morning, afternoon, and at night. Probably around 8-10 per day. My uterus is really warming up for the real thing, I guess ;)

Ok, so for the 411 on my infection, I had a pilonidal cyst. Feel free to look into that as much as you want, because it's pretty gross and painful. After 4 days of antibiotics to stop it from getting worse, and being in [excruciating] pain, I had to go to a surgeon and get it LANCED! I couldn't sit, lay on my back [or stomach, duh] and walked like I had something up my butt. I guess this was my precursor for labor because I'll tell you, I have never experienced pain like this! I guess I also need to add that I'm a BIG baby and have never gone to the hospital for anything, broken any bones, no stitches, nothing. Well, since the procedure to drain it, I feel much better and can move and sit and sleep. I still have a 1/2 inch incision that will take weeks to heal, but not in a lot of pain. My only wish right now is that I will be completely healed before going into labor. Please, 8 POUND BABY JESUS!! And lemme just tell you, if your husband still finds you attractive after this, it's true love. I'm still hoping mine does.

What I should be doing this week:

I need to write my birth plan.

Most of the information will be pretty simple, but It's very exciting talking about this with hubs and making decisions together for our delivery. Originally, I wasn't too sold on the idea of writing one. I thought, I'm not a hippy who is going to want to have some sort of drawn out process for everything and restrictions on everything that the hospital staff can offer me, etc. But after childbirth classes, I realize how much useful and simple information can be included on there so that you simply don't have to worry about it when the time comes. In addition to that, it gives me CONTROL. Anyone who knows me knows that I love that. I am not a control freak. I am not a control freak. I am not a control freak. Okay, you get it.

Here's a few things I'm gonna include:

Daddy gets to help with baby's first bath.

Daddy gets to cut cord.

Mommy gets baby immediately after cleaning off, before Vitamin K shot and eye cream.

Mommy gets to breastfeed as soon as mommy/baby procedures are complete.

Baby cannot have pacifier, formula or bottle.

In the event of a c-section, baby remains with only Daddy during mommy's recovery.

(There is a lot more information that will be on there, but those are some of the little things I can think of now.)

I need to pack my hospital bag.

I need to buy a diaper bag and pack it.

I need to figure out how the car seat works and get it in the car in the next few weeks.

I was supposed to have my maternity pics this week, but I had to push them back to next week for some recovery time. I'm just not as mobile/flexible right now as I could be due to my incision. I'm really excited though for them! It's Labor Day weekend and it really crept up on us. We usually don't do anything, but when my OB asked us what we were doing for Labor Day, I thought he was talking about MY labor day LOL! :) I was totally confused. So that tells you what party animals we are going to be this weekend. My goal is not to spend too much time out of the house (I know, hermit) because it's supposed to get up to 107.

Here's a good ol cell phone shot of 32 weeks.