38 Weeks...and Still Pregnant!

We have reached 38 weeks! We are finally full term and baby should be coming to visit us any day. The last 2 visits that I had to the doctor made me think that he would be here a little early. However, we have had no signs of labor and are still pregnant. Clearly he is in no hurry to come out and is enjoying his time in there. I have had days where I have experienced the wonderful Braxton Hicks contractions and it overwhelms me with joy to know how the real ones are going to feel...not. These 'preparation' contractions are far from comfortable and can be painful. At the last visit to the doctor, we were 3 centimeters dilated and already 80% effaced! She said that this was a great sign that his head is low and in the perfect position that he should easily come out. He weighs a little over 7 pounds now which means he is decent size, I just hope he doesn't get much bigger while he is in there. We will see at our visit on Thursday how much things have progressed. Mommy thinks that he will come on Sunday the 12th and Daddy thinks that he will be here on Thursday the 16th. We definitely don't think that he will be here on or past his due date.

In the time being, Mommy is staying at home taking it easy. It is hard to be on my feet for too long or sitting for too long as my feet swell incredibly and my back doesn't agree with me either. It's hard staying at home when I have already got everything done. I made sure to have our bags packed after our last doctors appointment as I wasn't sure how soon he would be joining us so at this point it is simply a waiting game. I am getting more and more nervous as the days go on to give birth. Although I know that I will be just fine, my natural instinct is to be scared of what is to come. I will be so relieved when he is finally out and I know that the scary part is over. I think I will miss the feeling of him moving around inside of me, feeling his kicks and hiccups every day. However, I know that I will not miss the backaches, swollen feet, inability to bend over and definitely won't miss wearing maternity clothes. Although they are comfortable (most of the time), they definitely don't make me feel the most flattering and can occasionally be a pain to wear. Not only that, but we are ready to be able to hold our little guy and admire all of him from the outside and enjoy the little one that we created together. It's such an amazing feeling already and he isn't even here yet.

How Far Along? 38 weeks
Total Weight Gain:  That remains between me and the scale.
Size Of Baby: He is comparable to a small watermelon. He weighs around 7 pounds and is around 20 inches long!(We will see how accurate this is when he gets here)
What's Baby Up To? We are full term! Baby's organs and internal systems are fully developed now. Although they will continue to mature the longer he is in there, he would be a healthy baby if he came tomorrow.
Maternity Clothes? Yep. When I am at home, I'd rather be in sweats.
Stretch Marks? Sure do. Wont ever go away.
Sleep: I am able to sleep through the night pretty good, but I usually wake up between 3 and 5 every morning to use the bathroom. It's like clockwork.
Miss Anything? My normal clothes, wearing my wedding ring.
Best Moment This Week: Hearing how dilated and effaced that we were. It made it that much more real and exciting the he could be here any minute.
Movement: Like crazy. Sometimes more movement than other times but he definitely has let me know that he has run out of room.
Food Cravings: I have been enjoying a lot of fruits and vegetables lately.
Anything Make You Queasy or Sick: Luckily no.
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: Not yet. Still having some Braxton Hicks contractions.
Symptoms: Heartburn, swelling, inability to bend over. Ha.
Belly Button: Still an innie. Don't think it's going to pop with this baby.
Wedding Rings: Currently off, makes me sad.
Happy or Moody: Happy most days!
Looking Forward To: Mason finally arriving!

We will see if we make it another week and I will be able to do another post before he is here. The last thing to do is finish the blanket that I am making for him and installing his car seat and we are all systems go! My hope is that the next post is for his announcement coming into the world, not that I am still pregnant for another week!

Maternity Pictures

After much thought, and some convincing, I decided to do maternity pictures. I have always considered myself conservative so I didn't really want pictures of my bare belly plastered everywhere. However, after taking them I am glad that I did. There are some pictures in which I don't even think that I look pregnant. But those that we got where I do, turned out really cute. I just have to remember that I have to do the same thing for each of my children! That will be the difficult part. These pictures will at least give us some remembrance of how I looked while pregnant with Mason and I have to admit they are kind of fun. Here are some of my favorites!

Cannot wait to meet our precious baby boy!

9 Months and Growing

We have finally hit the 9 month mark and we are in countdown mode! I am so excited to say that we now have less than a month that our little guy will finally be here! I definitely can tell he is growing and he is moving like crazy. Nick says that he moves all the time cause he has no more room to grow. Poor little guy, it's probably true. At this point, I can't see a huge difference in the changes in my belly but I definitely know that it is getting bigger (as can be seen by the lovely stretching of my shirt-which is a maternity shirt). Yikes. I know it's healthy for him and myself to be gaining weight but it's hard for me not to be self conscious about it and the difference in how I looked before and how I look now. I suppose that I can be relieved in that I have only 4 weeks left and I can feel myself again!

Daddy's Weekend Project

Daddy was able to put some of the baby stuff together this weekend. He got the bassinet, swing and the pack and play together like a champ. He was glad to get it done but we still have a couple more boxes of things that need to still be put together but I'm trying to not become anxious as I know he will get them done. He has been so great supporting my roller coaster emotions and embracing my need to begin nesting and get everything organized. Thank goodness I have him here to keep me sane the next few weeks.

Yikes! This room needed some love!

I have been procrastinating putting together the baby's room. "Putting together" as in cleaning up the mess that became after the baby shower. This included toys, clothes, bottles, bathroom stuff, and so on. The list was endless of what I had to do. Every time I tried to tackle this task, I became distracted and found something better to do. This picture shows just how unorganized I was-not the mama I thought I would be at this point! The crib was the only thing put together. However, after a few days of digging in, I was able to organize all that I can and the room seems to be complete. *Breathes* We have bottles in the cabinets, burp cloths and bibs in drawers and all of the clothes and toys organized. I can say that I am starting to get anxious more now for the baby rather than everything in preparation for him.  I hope now the only other preparation that I need to do is to get us ready for the hospital! Yay!

How Far Along? 36 weeks
Total Weight Gain:  Um...I'd rather not admit. Definitely more than 20!
Size Of Baby: He is comparable to a honeydew. He weighs close to 6 pounds and is around 18 inches long already! I hope he doesn't grow much bigger.
What's Baby Up To? At the end of this week, we will be full term! Baby is beginning to shed the vernix (protective coat in the amniotic sac) and will swallow the substances! Ew. This is the explanation for the lovely tar-like poopy that they will take in their first days. Lucky mommy.
Maternity Clothes? Of course. Most comfortable in sweats these days though.
Stretch Marks? Unfortunately, yes. A couple marks on each of my sides.
Sleep: Uncomfortable. So uncomfortable. Wake up with heartburn constantly and the need to use the bathroom. He is definitely on my bladder.
Miss Anything? My ankles.
Best Moment This Week: We could not only see, but feel his tiny little feet poking out of my side. There was no silhouette of toes or anything, but it was tiny enough we knew it was feet.
Movement: Every hour I feel something.
Food Cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary, seems I have lost some appetite here lately.
Anything Make You Queasy or Sick: Luckily no.
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: No-Have had some Braxton Hicks contractions though. Not fun.
Symptoms: Heartburn. Swelling of the ankles.
Belly Button: Slowly disappearing.
Wedding Rings: Off. I didn't want it to be cut off from the swelling.
Happy or Moody: With the way I have been feeling and having to work, definitely moody.
Looking Forward To: Enjoying the last few weeks.

Holy Heartburn

2 hours and a handful of Tums later and I still have the worst heartburn in the world. It's somewhat painful at this point as a bubble sits between my throat and my belly. No matter what I take or do, tonight it just does not want to go away. To add to my misery, a swollen foot (I look like a relative of the Flinstones) and baby has seemed to have the hiccups on and off now for about an hour. Although these hiccups can be oh so precious at times, tonight they are making trying to fall asleep almost impossible. I am beyond uncomfortable and am certainly at the point where I feel like I can complain to try and help me take my mind off it all. Ha. As my head is throbbing, my feet are aching and my heart is still a blaze, I can't help but ask my sweet baby to please, please let mommy sleep. Her nights of that are running low and would like to enjoy it now. I love you baby boy but goodness, I know you will be a handful when you arrive!

Where Have My Ankles Gone?

As the weeks continue on, not only do I continue to gain weight, but my ankles have become non-existent. With the combination of the tortuous heat and being pregnant, the swelling in my ankles and feet continue to get worse and worse. No matter how long I keep my feet elevated or how much water I may intake, it does not get better. These are now how my ankles look on a good day, after they have had much rest. I am ready for the day when I can see my ankle bone again and I don't have to worry about whether or not my hearts (tattoo) are going to change shape! Unfortunately, its been semi-painful the past few weeks as I have been swollen and gaining weight. Working on my feet all day doesn't help either so I will be relieved when I won't have to do that everyday! So for the next 5 weeks (Yay! We are already at 35 weeks!) I will have to stay off my feet as much as possible, keep my sodium to a minimum and drink tons and tons of water!

Nick sure does love me as he knows just how to get to my heart! When we registered, he told me not to register for a diaper bag that he was going to pick one out. Well, once our shower had come and gone, I realized that I did not have a diaper bag. I certainly feel like one lucky, spoiled mommy as this is what he decided to get for me, oh do I love that boy!

 We took our maternity pictures today so I hope to have those soon to be able to update. They came out really good! I am such a conservative person that it was all I could do to get a belly shot. I'm glad Nick convinced me to do it cause they turned out really tasteful. We also were given a baby shower by all of those at work who love us! It was definitely so generous of them to do so. I am hoping that I can get pictures from both showers here soon and be able to update about the shower before baby comes! It's already been a few weeks since our big shower and I haven't posted any pictures at all (shame on me).

Baby is still doing well and healthy! Measurements are great and moving around like a little monkey! I am waking up more at night from him moving or having to go potty and feeling more uncomfortable from getting bigger but otherwise, looks like we are right on schedule! I cannot wait to hold my little man. I'm sure that he won't be in any hurry to get here, but I hope he doesn't show up fashionably late either!

Our "Monkey's" Room

We are now at 34 weeks which means that we are in the home stretch of this wonderful pregnancy! I am so excited to meet this little boy and get back to my normal self again. I am so tired of the heartburn, swelling, aching and so forth. I certainly have enjoyed feeling our baby move each and every day and being able to feel him inside of me. However, the sacrifices that we have to make are certainly not fun by any means. I'm sure a day will come in which I may miss being pregnant--but it's not today!

Baby is still growing and growing and so is mommy's belly. Here we are at 32 weeks in which the camera began to focus on my belly rather than on my face. I suppose it's a good thing that my face hasn't blown up to twice it's size--but still. I am now having fewer and fewer clothes that I have been able to wear and am certainly not enjoying the wonderful Colorado heat. As if the swelling in my feet and ankles doesn't get bad enough, the heat makes it even worse which leads to all the other symptoms. Miserable. Note to self: plan next baby to be born before summer starts. Despite the 'growing pains', baby seems to be growing right on pace and looks to be as healthy as can be.

We were finally able to finish putting baby's room together! *Cheers* Although it is now full of stacks of clothes, boxes and other goodies from the shower, there is paint on the walls, furniture built and in place and decor. I am definitely a little relieved that we were able to finish prior to the baby shower. Unfortunately, I have to now organize everything to finally be prepared for him. We went back and forth deciding whether or not we wanted to do a themed room. After shopping around and seeing such adorable things, we couldn't help but surround our little monkey with some jungle friends of his own. Our safari/jungle theme has come together quite well and has included some DIY projects done by mommy to add that extra love in the room. Here are some pictures as we began completing the room:

This is the view looking into the room from the hallway. 

After moving in, we painted the room a light green. Mainly cause we didn't want white but also just in case a baby were to come eventually. We didn't maybe think it would be this soon--but we are just fine with it.

We decided to go with the green and brown. Both neutral colors that would suit either boy or girl. We taped off the room to paint the bottom brown and we would later add the chair rail--a sophisticated touch (we think so).

A view of the room from the back corner looking out into the hallway. Daddy was finishing putting up all the tape to start painting. 

After we had finished painting the bottom brown, we added the white chair rail along the border to tie the 2 colors in together. I think it broke up the room just enough. (Here it does kind of look like mint chocolate chip ice cream). The pictures don't do it justice-it looks much better in person.

The top picture is the same view looking into the room from the hallway and the bottom picture is in the room facing the window.

Here's a few pictures of daddy being a good sport while putting together the giant crib!

I sure do love him!

The bunches and bunches of pieces!

Attaching the box spring for the mattress

The finished product!

He was such a trooper climbing under and behind things in order to get the darn thing put together!











The crib definitely has a red tint to it. After starting to put it together-I became worried. However, with all of the other furniture in there, it doesn't stand out too much. I think it is a beautiful crib!

Jungle animals!

This is the adorable decor that we chose. I think it tied everything in together really well and I cannot wait to get bedding and everything else to make it a completed room!










I made these pictures from some stencils, scrapbook paper and some ribbon. The stencils of the animals are so cute and the middle on is the alphabet. 

These are his name blocks that will go above his crib. I found a great deal online and then painted them the same color brown as the walls. I used the ribbon from the pictures for a way to hang them. 

More jungle animals above the closet. 

After the letters were hung above the crib

I had to get a picture after we got everything together because I was so excited that we finally had a 'room' for the baby. It was no longer a storage facility, but a place that he would be able to enjoy after he arrived! 

The crib is just to the right of the window.

This is the same view of the room from the hallway looking into the room. There is a dresser on the right side and we will put a glider right in front of the crib. There is not much room for anything else. It will take much organization on my part to make sure that things don't get too cluttered!

A very proud mamma!

After a long few days of working straight, we were finally able to finish the room. Nick was so great in putting up with my need for perfection. I helped with painting when I could, and screwed in a few nuts and bolts on the crib. Although he did the majority of the work, I still have my motherly touch surrounding the room. I cannot wait to get all everything else together and reveal the finished room. Until then, we have began to establish the next chapter in our lives and I am definitely looking forward to it.

30 Weeks!

Okay. So clearly I stink at updating this regularly so I am not going to promise anything from here on out. Ha. However, we are finally at 30 weeks which means that there are only 10 more to go. I cannot believe that 30 weeks have already passed as I felt at first that 40, pregnant, was going to last a lifetime. Baby is continuing to get bigger and bigger at this point, yet so is Mommy. Of course we have pictures to prove it! I am definitely not feeling flattering by any angle at this point.

We have started making progress on the room and I hope that we can have it pretty much set before the baby shower on July 1st. Registering for baby was not as fun as I thought that it was going to be. We went into it thinking we knew pretty much what we were looking for and was completely overwhelmed when we were handed a 2 page checklist of things that we should register for. How do we know what kind of bottles, car seats, sheets, and so forth to choose from? There are like 1,000 different types of each one! I realized I must trust my Mommy instinct and know that it will all work out. It was a relief though to know that we were able to get it out of the way.

 As the day is slowly approaching, I am getting more anxious and nervous about how this baby boy is going to come out! It seems surreal that it will have to happen sooner than later. We have registered for Mommy and Daddy dummy classes to help us with the preparation. (I know that they are very important and informative but that is how the descriptions of the classes make you feel!) Nick is such a great support and I know that he will be a great coach and help me through it all. I'm sure I will feel relieved after getting more information at the classes. Otherwise, at the last doctor visit, we were told everything looks 'perfect' on paper and the baby is healthy and growing just as he should be.

How Far Along? 30 weeks
Total Weight Gain:  I think I'm up to 20 lbs. now
Size Of Baby: He is between 15 and 16 inches long and weighs about 3 pounds. He weighs as much as a large head of cabbage!
What's Baby Up To? His hands are fully formed and his fingernails are growing. Eyes are opening and closing which means that they could be dreaming. Eyebrows and eyelashes are developed and baby's head and body are proportioned like a newborn.
Maternity Clothes? Yep. Loving the leggings and maternity shirts.
Stretch Marks? Nope. Thank goodness.
Sleep: Getting better, sleeping more than I had been and able to sleep through the night but having crazy dreams in the meantime.
Miss Anything? Cute clothes and shoes.
Best Moment This Week: We could see him moving from one side of the belly to the other. It was amazing to see more than just a few flutters.
Movement: Moving like crazy, kicking, somersaulting and rolling. 
Food Cravings: Chocolate, but what's new.
Anything Make You Queasy or Sick: Not this week.
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Heartburn. Swelling of the ankles.
Belly Button: At this point, it's in between!
Wedding Rings: Glad that they are still on.
Happy or Moody: Happy
Looking Forward To: Cleaning up the nursery and celebrating baby at the baby shower.