Baby on the Way!

37w 6d - My last bump pic

Bizzy woke me up around 5:30am wanting breakfast so I got out of bed and fed him and then went to use the bathroom and my water broke! I called my OB's office and the doctor on call said since I am not having any contractions we can take our time getting to the hospital. So we got ourselves ready and now we're just hanging out a little bit while I sit on the birthing ball and try to get contractions going. We will head to the hospital shortly and it looks like Baby Liles will be making his grand entrance soon!

37 Weeks and Full Term

37w - After another not so good night of sleep

Today I am 37 weeks - which is technically considered full term so the baby could safely come at any minute now (although hopefully not right this minute since I am writing this at work).  I do hope he waits a another few weeks though since I would really like his birthday to be far enough away from Christmas and New Year's Eve that he doesn't have to share any attention with the holidays.  

Not too much to report today.  I had my weekly OB appointment this morning but they didn't do another cervical check so I don't really know if I have progressed at all from last week.  I did ask the doctor what the c-section rate was for the practice and she said they are very pro-vaginal delivery and would only do a c-section if it was absolutely necessary which I was happy to hear since I have heard about some doctors being very pro c-section and I really hope to avoid having to go that route, if at all possible.  Of course as I have mentioned before when I wrote about induction, if it's medically necessary than I am all for it but it's not something I would want to do just for the sake of speeding things along.

We decided it was probably the best idea not to travel for Christmas this year seeing as how it is possible I could go into labor at anytime so my sister's in laws were nice enough to let us crash all their festivities.  We had a really nice time but it will definitely be great to be able to celebrate in Richmond next year with our little family of three (I am not forgetting about Bizzy - he is usually getting spoiled in Springfield while we are in Richmond for Christmas).

Congrats Graduate!

36w - All dressed up for Jon's graduation

The past few days have been busy with Jon's graduation and related festivities. After 2 and a half years of very hard work, Jon graduated from George Mason on Thursday with his Masters of Public Policy. Even while working full time and dealing with everything we had going on in our lives he managed to take 2 classes a semester and all the while maintaining an excellent GPA. I may be a little biased since I am his wife, but I think he is such a smarty pants and I am so proud of him for getting his masters degree. We had a great few days celebrating with family and friends and I know Jon is really glad to finally be done with school after putting so much time into it for the past 2 and a half years.

Me and the graduate!

In the midst of all the graduation festivities we had two doctor's appointments - my regular OB appointment and a 36w growth scan with the MFM. At the OB appointment we learned that I am currently 1-2 cm dilated, 90% effaced and the baby's head is at a -3 station. That's definitely a good sign that things are progressing so it could be any day now...or it could still be several weeks. The 36w growth scan went well. The baby seems to be enjoying all the food I have been feeding him and they are currently estimating his weight at 7lbs 2oz!! That makes me a little nervous since that means if I carry to 40w he will likely be 9+ lbs! The doctor did say that the measurement can be off+ or - 1lb so it is just an estimate and I shouldn't let it freak me out too much. Although the tech could see on the ultrasound that the baby has chubby cheeks!

On a side note, I bought the dress that I am wearing in my 36w photo for a wedding that we went to back in September. I was about 24w and at the time, I remember thinking I was huge. Ha! Here is a side by side comparison of me in the dress at 24w and then this week at 36w.

The Nursery

After a lot of work this weekend, I am happy to say that the nursery is now 99% done!  I absolutely LOVE how it turned out and I like to just go stand in there and stare in awe.  The room is so much nicer than ours, I may have to move in!

The only things left to do are the following:

-Paint frames for needlepoints that were made by my Great Aunt when my sister was born and have been passed around for all the babies born on my mom's side of the family since.  Hang needlepoints.
-Order pillow from Etsy for glider (think I might do that today).
-Frame a few of the maternity photos and put them and some other knick (nick?) knacks on the shelf above the changing table/dresser.
-Hang a drum shade on the ceiling fan light fixture.  I have the shade, just need to get a piece from Home Depot or Lowe's so I can hang it.
-Put the crib mattress in the crib (the mattress has been ordered, just waiting for it to arrive).

The nice thing is that all the items left to do are pretty minor so if the baby were to decide to come early (although I hope he doesn't!), I wouldn't feel like the nursery wasn't ready.  It feels good to (almost) be able to cross the nursery off my list and move on to the next thing - which is packing my hospital bag and I am planning on starting that this week.

Here are a few pictures (the frames above the crib are a little craft project I did that spell out the baby's name - had to black those out since we are trying to keep the name a surprise):

35w Update

35w

I am 35w today and not much to report.  I had a really nice shower in Richmond this past weekend and once again I was reminded of how lucky I am to have such wonderful family and friends in my life to celebrate with.  Baby Liles is already VERY loved and he also already has a very stylish wardrobe.  I spent a good portion of the day on Sunday putting away and organizing gifts and I think we pretty much have everything we need at this point.  There are just a few more essentials (diapers!) I need to pick up but other than that, we're all set.

We also spent some time on Sunday putting up our Christmas tree and a few other decorations.  It's nice to be able to get in the holiday spirit this year since the past two years I wasn't feeling very joyful.  I miss our babies and I very much wish they were here with us to celebrate, but I also look forward to celebrating next year with our son.

At 35w I am simultaneously excited and terrified.  I am excited to meet our little boy.  We've been trying to have a baby for 2 and a half years now so I am anxious and excited to finally expand our family and hold our baby in my arms.  There were times when it seemed like the day would never come but now with only 5ish weeks left, it is quickly approaching.  At the same time, it is really hitting me that we are having a baby and that is a little scary.  For 6 years now it's just been me, Jon and Bizzy and now everything is about to drastically change.  It's going to be quite an adjustment and I'm sure it won't be easy at first but I know it will be totally worth it and I can't wait to start this next phase of our lives.

Hitting a Wall

34w - Do I look as uncomfortable as I feel?  Also, please note the bandage on my thumb.  I had an apple cutting injury on Wednesday and was pretty convinced my thumb was going to fall off.

So far, I had been feeling pretty good in my third trimester.  Dealing with the normal pregnancy symptoms but nothing that was too unbearable.  Then Monday came, and it was like all of a sudden I hit a wall.  This week has been rough.  I hate to complain knowing what it took to even get to this point and how many millions of women would give anything to be in my shoes right now - but I am SO uncomfortable.  **Warning, prepare for some TMI**  Between the swollen hands and feet, carpel tunnel, backache, heartburn, hot flashes, constipation, hemorrhoids, gas and constant trips to the bathroom to pee every 20 minutes I am not sure how I am going to make it another 6ish weeks.  I am down to one pair of shoes (thank god for my TOMS) that still fit me comfortably and even my maternity jeans are becoming too tight.  We are casual at work, but unfortunately not casual enough that yoga pants would be appropriate which is too bad since those are the only kind of pants that seem to fit me these days.

At the beginning of yoga we always go around the room and tell how many weeks we are and what is bothering us that week.  The other night I said I was 34 weeks and all around uncomfortable and the instructor asked if I'd had my breakdown yet.  According to her, everyone has a breakdown somewhere between 31-35 weeks due to all of a sudden feeling like crap and suddenly realizing that in a very short time you are actually going to have a baby.  I told her I'd had several.  I have cried twice at work this week - both times for situations that definitely didn't warrant tears.  On Tuesday I was making copies and the piece of crap copier jammed and yesterday I knocked over a very large, very full cup of water which then spilled all over my desk.  Both times I had a major meltdown, although luckily both times some really kind coworkers came to my rescue otherwise I really would have lost it.  

If I could just lay on the couch all day, in my yoga pants and a t-shirt, with my feet up and easy access to lots of snacks and a bathroom I would be fine but unfortunately work gets in the way of that fantasy.

~

We had another NST and AFI on Wednesday and everything was still looking good.  I had a regular OB appointment today and the doctor said she doesn't think it's necessary to continue the weekly appointments with the MFM since everything has been normal (what a great word to hear!) with this pregnancy so we are going to discontinue those, although I will go back in to the MFM at 36 weeks for a regular growth scan.  I only gained 1 pound since my last appointment which was pretty exciting to me since I had previously been gaining like 5 pounds every 2 weeks and am currently feeling ginormous.  So things are moving along right on track.

Looking forward to my Richmond shower this weekend!

Nesting and To Do List

This post is really more for me than anyone else since I was feeling the need to see what I've accomplished so far and make a to do list of what's left to get done. While Jon has been in Richmond the past few days I have been in full nesting mode. So far this weekend, I have done the following (in between shopping, eating Thanksgiving leftovers and lots of cuddling with Bizzy):

-Assembled a bouncy seat

-Put away  and organized the majority of my shower gifts

-Finished a craft that will be hung over the crib, on the accent wall

-Framed one of the prints I ordered from Etsy

-Washed and put away all the blankets, burp cloths, bobs, hooded towels and wash cloths

-Sorted all the baby clothes by size (and determined that I need a few more newborn sized items and a lot more 0-3 month sized items) and washed and put away all of the stuff my sister gave me, plus a few of the new things I've received (don't want to wash too much of the new stuff in case I end up needing to return or exchange anything for different sizes)

-Cleared out a drawer in the pantry to use for bibs, and other baby-related feeding items

-Cleared out a shelf in one of the kitchen cabinets to use for bottles

The nursery is done, for the most part. I really just need to do the following:

-Move in the glider, which should be in within the next week

-Get frames for my maternity photos, Etsy prints and the needle points done by my great aunt and hang everything

-Purchase a drum shade, add a little DIY pizzaz and attach it to the ceiling fan light fixture

-Purchase a floor lamp

-Purchase a book shelf

-Purchase a crib mattress

The frames, drum shade and floor lamp will all come from Ikea and I'm going to make Jon stop there on our way back from Richmond next weekend (he doesn't know this yet but I'm sure he will be thrilled since he just loves Ikea) so I will have all those items soon.  My goal was to have the nursery done by the beginning of December so I'm pretty much right on track.

Some other things we need to get done include:

-Put the stroller together

-Install the car seat bases in both our cars

-Pack our hospital bags (I'm thinking this will be done around 36w)

-Put the pack and play together 

It sounds like there's still a lot to do but if I keep nesting at this rate, I'll have it all done in no time!