34 Weeks

Each week seems to be going by quicker and quicker as my due date approaches. I truly feel like we were just at 30 weeks! Now we have only 6 weeks(ish) to go!!! We had a lovely weekend combined with baby prep and Dave & Jill time. Crossed off the to-do list: We got any and all last minute "stuff" for Mama and baby post delivery. We are in the midst of packing our hospital bag. Everything is washed and put away for baby. The decal and art work are hung in the nursery. The swing, pack n' play, monitor, and bouncer are assembled and ready for use. We organized all our baby paperwork into binders, you know me. We have been practicing our breathing and massage techniques for labor. My pregnancy book is all up to date, including photos. All the bottles and accessories are sterlized and ready in the kitchen. So we are almost there!

I will say the nursery is pretty much done, which we are thrilled about. We will post pictures if we can, but her name is displayed all over and we don't want to reveal that quite yet. So we'll get some teaser pictures for you to check out. We are thrilled the way it turned out! After thinking about it and putting such care into each and every detail, we cannot wait to share it with our baby girl!

There are only five big things left on the list (still a bunch of little things):

1. Find a pediatrician: we're going to discuss how to find one tonight at our Lamaze class and combine that with the research we've already done. Hopefully we'll have someone soon.

2. Install car seat: planning to do that this coming weekend.

3. Buy & Install blackout panels: we know where they're coming from and we plan to do this at the end of the month.

4. Finish hospital bag

5. Have BABY!

Amidst our baby prep, we went out to an amazing brunch on Sunday morning with our fabulous friends Alicia and Trevor. It's this fabulous place called Stacks, where we gorged ourselves on killer pancakes, waffles, bacon, and sausage. Soooo good! The waitress even brought me this great candle to take home that smells like pancakes and wished me a Happy Mother's Day! Lovely Alicia brought me cookies and Dave got me a cookie cake! So when I put on ten pounds by my next ob appointment, at least I'll have a good reason :). I also got so many lovely cards and calls from friends and family... so thank you all so very much! The little lady and I felt very loved on our Mothers-to-be Day :). Dave and I topped off the weekend with a movie night and some hot tamale's candy hahaha so good! It was a perfect weekend!!!

In baby news, we are measuring right on track according to the doctors. Baby girl's hair continues to get longer and thicker. Her hair color probably is not going to be the same color from birth onwards. We wonder what color it will be? She is taking calcium from me to lay down lots of bone, so I'll have to continue taking my lovely prenatal vitamins. The lanugo that she's been covered with for most of the pregnancy is now almost completely gone and she's starting to develop her own immune system, rather than relying on what's supplied to her via the placenta. This week baby girl can recognize and react to songs, so you better believe I've been singing a bunch (more on that below).

Weekly belly pics...

Now I'm being brave here. These photos even scare me!

Pregnancy: 34 weeks
Size of Baby: about 5 pounds and about 19.8 inches long (she's huuuuuuge)!
Gender: Baby Girl
Sleep: This week has been much better!!! I'm only getting up about twice a night, which is great. I've really enjoyed the "extra" sleep I've gotten this week. When I get up in the morning I'm not as much of a zombie :), which is always a good thing!
Cravings: Liquids. I cannot seem to drink enough right now!
Feeling: Ready.
Health: My belly is just sore overall including my ribs and pelvic bone, but she's getting so much bigger that I expect to feel that way. I've been dealing with some cramping and nausea from time to time, but again no biggie. I'm just trying to enjoy my inside baby because the time is going by so quickly. My favorite thing to do is watch her move around in my belly. I'll talk to her and sing to her. I keep singing the same songs over and over again so that when she's here, they'll sound familiar to her. I can still remember with great fondness the songs my mother sang to me as a baby. I can't wait to look into her little eyes as I sing her to sleep. It's one of those moments that I am most looking forward to as a mom. It makes me feel like God gave me a voice, so I can sing to my baby girl!
Movement: So I asked the Dr. at my last appointment if there was such a thing as an overactive baby in utero. She laughed and said no, it just means that she is strong and healthy. I'll take that :)
Belly: Nothing new to report, it's just large and in charge. It's getting harder to get up and down from a seated position. Getting in and out of bed at night is becoming an effort. Dave likes to push my back in order to help me "get going". That's real love people.
Best Moment this Week: Our Lamaze classes!
What I Miss: Bending down with ease
Next Appointment: Thursday, May 20th at the Ob's office. This will be my last two week appointment. After this I go every week!