33 Weeks

For me, my entire childhood was all about getting to 18 years old, once I got to 18, I focused on turning 21. I remember when I turned 22 I had this small nagging thought of, but why? What's my next milestone? I'm starting to feel a little like I turn 22 every week. Not that I feel I've hit some important milestone and I can just stop now, but that I feel like this is going so fast (but oh so very slow at the same time). I have 47 days until I'm 40 weeks. In under 4 weeks I will be considered full term. I could have a baby next month, 25 days from now. It blows my mind.
Good news at the doctors this week. I don't think I mentioned it on here but I was measuring about 4 weeks ahead at my last appointment. This, understandably, scared me as my family has a solid history of big babies. Of enormously noggined, big headed, 9-plus pound little bundles of joy. Turns out I (he?) had a growth spurt and I'm now only measuring 1 week ahead, which is totally within normal ranges. Did you hear that? That was me sighing with relief. I know this doesn't mean he isn't going to be a big baby, but I have a little more hope that I will have a little boy safely in the 8 pound range. My disclaimer of healthy is first, no matter what he weighs, should be assumed with everything I say!
My dreams are getting weirder. Last night, while sleeping, I had a meeting with an entire team of doctors to discuss my upcoming delivery. The main doc (who wasn't my real life doctor) assured me I would have time to go to the bathroom before the actual delivery. Well then, glad we got that cleared up. I was very confused and anxious during the meeting because they kept using all these acronyms I didn't understand and there was no opportunity to ask them what they meant. After our meeting we all toasted to my babies health. Them with wine, me with my glass of water. See how responsible I am? Even in my dreams. Mama loves you little man.
I had a dream about seeing my babies face. This was the first time I'd seen it in my dreams. He had the body of a baby, but the face of a 40 year old male with nerdy glasses. I kept telling myself he would grow into it. It was more than a little creepy.
Here I am, reminding myself that next week I will be 34 weeks and that time will keep going. I've got to start mentally preparing myself for each week!

32 weeks

Wow, really. 8 weeks left...It seems like I was only just 8 weeks pregnant. The last two weeks have been crazy! My little man has been moving a ton and getting the hiccups at least twice a day. Usually at night. Do you know how hard it is to sleep with hiccups in your belly? It's taken some getting used to.
I know I promised you special 29 week pictures - well there they are on the sidebar slideshow! A friend of mine who runs her own photography business did them and she is a miracle worker. I absolutely love them and didn't know I could look like that. This is her blog: http://blog.photojessic.com/. I am amazed at her ability, and I cannot decide for the life of me which of these photos to frame!!! They are all so good!
Otherwise I keep getting bigger, and he keeps getting bigger, and all is right with the world.
I came down with either a head cold or allergies last Monday. It's been...awful. There's not much I can take and I'm feeling pretty miserable. It's definitely preparing me for waking up every two hours with a baby - I'm up every 1-3 hours to blow my nose and clear my lungs. There has been much tea-partying in our house. Tea is the best I can come up with right now to make me feel better.
But! I had my first baby shower!!! It was AMAZING. I seriously have the best mom and sister in the world. Really. They put on an amazing party, planned everything, put everything together, made games, and then cleaned up everything afterwards because I was exhausted by the party. Who knew? My friends are also awesome. They are some of the most generous people ever, and I cannot believe how much more ready I am for this baby to come. Seriously. I have 1 more shower and I'm really not sure I need anything else. Other than a sense that I will be able to keep a miniature human alive. Do they sell that at Target? Truly though, it was a great time. We do have to find space for all this stuff - our house is shrinking by the minute.
Four of my friends brought their little boys, all under the age of 1, and I hope that one day he'll be hanging out with all these guys. It was great to have them at the party, and the moms there are all such inspirations too. It's so cool that I have so many experienced moms to rely on. Hopefully they don't mind late night phone calls! The worst part of the shower? I have completely lost my voice. I am actually reduced to talking in a whisper. It sucks (for me I guess. Maybe Chris is enjoying this?). I haven't tried to speak yet this morning, but it doesn't feel any better yet. I hope I feel better soon, being pregnant is enough of an illness without all this!

Little boy, you are coming into a world of love for you. Your family, your friends (!!! Isn't he lucky, he's got friends already!!!), and your parents. We can't wait to meet you and show you all we know in this crazy world! And as my dad would say, that shouldn't take very long. Ha!

75%

Seriously, these pictures are backwards. Blogger hates me. This is 28 weeks. But check out the new hair! I LOVE it. Once again I have rocked the dogs world by standing on his bed. 27 weeks here...pretty sure we missed 26, and my week 29 pictures will be super special. Just wait!! In my defense, I had just woken up here. Maybe it's good these pictures are backwards so you could appreciate the haircut.
Baby's room! With carpet, paint, and the dresser/changing table. We are in love with his furniture. Seriously the best furniture in the house.

Here's his crib. See what I mean about the furniture? Gorgeous.

Chris and I have done a little decorating. I giggled so hard while we were doing this. It's kind of his changing table mobile. These monkeys are magnetic, so we hung a "trapeeze" bar from the ceiling. This may be my favorite thing in the room so far.

This! This is our imported poster. In Italy we went and saw the Ducati Museum, where we learned about the Cucciolo bike (cucciolo means puppy in Italian). I fell head over heels in love with the bike, and I just realized I should have put some pictures up here of the bike too. Well, it's on my facebook. It is red and it is awesome.

We've got these great built-ins on either side of the doorway in his room. I found this bear at a cute little shop in Uptown and had to have it. It also induced a fit of giggles in me. Can you see his little snaggletooth?

The family room/workout room. Finished! I love this new setup, very functional!

Other direction. Love it! This carpet is really great.

It has been an early spring this year. The leaves are starting to bud, we've seen 80 degrees already (seriously, weird), and it didn't snow once in March. The snowiest month of the year and we didn't see a flake. I feel like the rest of this winter more than made up for it. I'm fine with it. Unfortunately Chris has developed late in life allergies. He's not feeling real well right now. I am really hoping it's allergies because I haven't been sick once this pregnancy (well, other than the whole pregnancy makes me sick thing) and I plan to keep it that way.

This baby has been a-moving and a-gyrating and a-gallavanting all over the place lately! It's so fun, when I poke him, he pokes back now. Chris laid an arm across me the other day and he definitely hit back. He's very protective of his space.

The third trimester has all sorts of new problems for me. I'm much more body-bound. Uncomfortable, awkward. I don't fit in spaces I used to fit through fine. My appetite switches from monsterly ravenous, to birdlike and I'm barely able to eat anything. Sometimes I feel morning sick again. Walks have shortened themselves to about 4 blocks, not because I'm out of breath, but because I can't be that far from a bathroom. I pee all the time. I love feeling my baby though. It makes me happy to know that he's doing well in there. Questions from strangers have switched from "How are you feeling?" to "Are you ready?" No, not ready. I'll be ready when he's ready. I can see an end to this now though. Brings alternate feelings of elation and fear. I'm nervous to meet my little man, I really hope he likes us.

We ordered a jogging stroller! I am so excited. I can't wait to test this baby out. I took my bike out around the block yesterday, just to try it out. I earned a "Be careful" from Chris. Around the block people. I know, he's concerned about more than just me, but it gets frustrating...the limits on me.

I mentioned to Chris yesterday that we only have 10 weeks left while we were taking a walk. He just replied "hmmm...10 weeks, wow." We get back, and he's down in the babies room putting up closet doors and mounting the babycam. Cracked me up, he totally nests every time I mention how much time I have left. I love that man.

And that's all for now folks. Happy Easter and I'm out to enjoy the weather.

The good stuff

So my itchy feet...are just that. Itchy feet. Celebrate!! I also got news that my request to go part time at work has been accepted. Yesterday was a good day.

So I got a prenatal massage this weekend. It was awesome. They have a special pillow so you can lay on your stomach…and it’s been MONTHS since I’ve laid on my stomach. Felt great. But the little guy was going absolutely nuts the whole time, and he’d been really crazy the night before, woke me up 2 times he was flipping around so much, I started rubbing my stomach to try and calm him down. The masseuse said she was watching my belly move when they had me on my back. I couldn’t figure out what was going on that he had become so crazy, then my mom brought up food, and we had Indian food for probably only the second time this pregnancy the night before. I’m not sure if he loved it or hated it, but I definitely know how to get him going now! I’ve heard that babies will gravitate towards the foods you eat. I'm trying to be pretty varied in my diet...maybe more Indian food is in order.

We also started decorating the nursery! It looks awesome and needs pictures to do it justice. Not quite done, but almost.

Sunday Chris painted the living room. It's the only room in the house that we haven't painted yet. It was supposed to be a gray/brown, and has come out rather gray/blue/purple. It's a gorgeous color, but not exactly right for our pictures...we may have some retooling to do. I love gray - and I'm so happy to finally have a gray room. I hope to put up a couple newborn pics of the babe in there. I'm sure they will go with anything.

Control

I have never handled lack of control well. I am a fairly classic first born overacheiver type. Well, if I don't/can't overacheive, I become the best underacheiver! Just ask me about high school...but that's another story. Part of my personality is that I like to have control over things. I like to feel that I make a difference in the outcome of my life. Those existential questions about predestination? I am a huge believer that we are all in control of our own destinies, and dammit, I will take control over every last little annoying part. It can be exhausting.
My feet started itching, only at night, a little over a week ago. I thought it was dry skin....put some lotion on. But that itching didn't change in the slightest. Itching bad enough that you could sit there and draw blood just to make the itching stop. So, I called the Dr. because I wasn't sure what I could put on it. Their answer? You'd better come in. I figured this was for some sort of prescription cream or something, but they told me about a condition called ICP, no, not the band, there are no clowns..but it has to do with my liver. Apparently one of the bigger symptoms of this condition is itchy hands and feet that are worse at night. ICP is pregnancy related and fairly harmless to me. To the baby? It could result in premature labor and stillbirth. They did a blood test, they have to send it to Utah and I may not be able to find out until Wednesday if I have this. It's rare, it's possible that swelling is causing this itching. I hope so. But right now? While people tell me to calm down and focus on the fact that it's probably nothing? I want to scream. This is my baby, my body that could be harming my baby. How can I calm down when my body could be hurting my baby? Pregnancy has taught me that my body is definitely in control of more things than my mind is aware of. The first trimester worries of will this baby make it pounded that lesson in. You have no control, zero. So I sit here and wait, pretending it's nothing, waiting for a phone call that will end this endless questioning in my mind.
I love you kid.

26 Weeks

PICTURES! PICTURES! PICTURES!!! I know you know better than to expect order and sense out of me, so I will explain.

Here is where Chris proves he loves me on Valentines Day by grilling outside. Can you see his breath? This is good stuff.

Look at all the cute little clothes hanging up in there!!! Get out here baby so I can nibble on your knees! This is the nursery, with the old carpet ripped out. I hope you weren't expecting finished nursery pictures. They're not on the camera and this 1200 square foot house is just way to big for me to go down and take some now.

I wish that I could have experienced the joy that was this room before we painted the wood paneling. All it needs is a disco ball...look at all that powder on the floor? It's like we're halfway there already. Thank god for new carpet.

Oh! It gets better...and can you see around the stairs? Yes, they had the walls painted bright yellow at one time. And yes, that is a SHINY green paint on those stairs. There was an interior decorator living here for SHUR!

Yup, me. I'm beginning to hate these pictures. 17 weeks here.

18 weeks with a puppy foot warmer. We take the pictures on top of his bed. I guess he didn't feel like moving this time.

Now, here is 19 weeks. I would like to explain that sometimes, during pregnancy, it's been said that some women deal with things like constipation. So yes, this is a food baby. See week 20 for proof.

Where'd it go? Week 20.

Week 21...working our way back out.

22....yea. Looking a bit like a grey blob here. Big motivation to never wear this outfit again.

Hello week 23! I think I've officially popped.

Yup, no food baby. Week 24

Week 25. See how happy I am?

Wait until you see my new week 26 haircut! Hell, I'll probably have pictures of the baby up here before you see week 26 knowing me! You'll just have to die from suspense.

Saying that I only have 14 weeks left sounds incredibly short. I want to be sure we're ready for the little man once he arrives! Nothing incredibly exciting or new happened this week baby-wise. He's still active as ever and he's still growing...I can tell because I'm still growing. Girl scout cookies may have fueled both of our growths a bit in the last 2 weeks. I've become more awkward and it's getting hard to bend over, or reach my feet, or walk too far. I tend to get really sore about 2 miles into a walk, which sucks because all the lakes are about 3 miles around. I've missed yoga the last two weeks in a row because I keep sleeping through it...I hate the thought of setting my alarm on a Sunday. So...no yoga lately. I'll go back though. Yesterday, we went for a 3 mile walk, then went to Ikea, Home Depot and Target. I was dying after Ikea...hell, I was dying after the walk. It sucks that I feel so sore so soon, and I'm not used to not being able to do what I want. I remember mornings where I would run 10 miles, take the dog for a walk, and go to all those stores and still have energy to go out that night. Yesterday? I was almost asleep at 5 pm my body was so tired. So yea, I'm still learning to work within my limits. It's not easy when they're constantly changing.

25 weeks

I pee. A lot. But thankfully it is not related to gestational diabetes! I passed with flying colors. They also tested my iron levels, and they are awesome. This may have something to do with the fact that chicken is on my don't want to eat list, so we eat a lot of red meat. Let's hope they don't want to check my cholesterol levels. I am very impressed with how healthy I've been this pregnancy. My blood pressure is better than its ever been every time I go in for an appointment. I haven't had a cold all year, or the flu. Knock on wood but other than being awkward and slightly uncomfortable, this is probably the best I've felt during a winter for a few years. I hate to even write that...it could all turn around tomorrow.
The nursery is coming together. We bought a poster from England for the room (we're importing things for this kid, he's spoiled already). And I've got ideas for the rest of the decorations. It's going to be kind of random, but definitely cute. Kind of like the rest of my life.
It's warming up outside! I always try not to get my hopes up this time of year, because it fools you with a couple of 40 degree days, and then it either drops back to negative digits or snows 2 feet. But we're closer to warm weather...I'm so ready to open the windows! That is the worst part of winter to me...no fresh air in the house. I love to have all the windows thrown open. Hopefully once the baby gets here the weather will be nice enough for open windows every day.
Yup, I am still too lazy to get off the couch and download the pictures. I'm so tired lately again. Maybe Chris will help me one day...