Happy 38 Weeks!
(incase you were wondering what my shirt says.... "Life is better with a bump" :-))
It is so surreal thinking that our little girl could be here in 2 weeks or less! Or maybe three... if she is stubborn. It is hard to believe that soon there will be a baby living in our house... that is ours! :-) It is hard to be patient; we are ready to finally meet her.
A lot has happened in the past 5 weeks... holidays..a baby shower.. and a birthday... so I'll give you a picture update on the past 5 weeks.
We of course took no pictures while at my in-laws for Christmas, so we only have pictures from my family... whoops. We'll get better about taking pictures once miss Johannah is here, promise!
Here are a bunch from Christmas morning...
My brother, David
My dad, opening presents
Me showing off one of my only non baby related Christmas presents. No way am I complaining; I got stocked up on cloth diapers and covers (yes!)... plus I also got the cutest, softest blanket that my mom made for Johannah. I just didn't have a picture of me holding any of those up :-)
Alex and my mom.
My handsome hubby showing one of his Christmas presents he got from my brother, David. Have you seen the YouTube spoof "What Does the Fox Say?" Well if you haven't it is hilarious... at least the first one or two times you watch it. David saw this book online and decided Jake had to have it to read to Johannah :-)
Buddy, my mom's dog, got caught snooping in the presents. He is pretty talented at unwrapping gifts all on his own and was sniffing around for another one he wanted to open :-)
Our little Bucky enjoying Christmas
Jake and Alex modeling their new hoodies
Two weeks ago my "Aunt" Denise and Cara threw me a baby a wonderful shower. It was a lot of fun and the food was AMAZING! They are so crafty :-)
If you are wondering who's gorgeous house this is.... it is my mother-in-law's. Her and her husband built it (maybe still building parts of it ;-)) a couple years ago. It is beautiful.
I'm a sucker for all the baby girls items that say "I love Daddy... or like this outfit "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"... aww.. so cute!:-)
After my shower I ended up being sick with the flu for a week. Sorry to everyone I exposed :-S I didn't feel the best at the shower and thought I just had a cold, whoops! At least I coughed into my sleeve or a kleenex like you are supposed to, ha!
I had my flu shot this year, as I do every year, but it is true when they say that your immune system is suppressed in your third trimester.
It was the first year in 8 years that I have ever gotten it; and I've had influenza patients cough in my face all the prior years and been just fine :-P. I'm assuming I caught it while I was working in the ER on New Years Day since I started getting sick about 36 hours later. There were a lot of patients who were positive for Influenza A, none of which I took care of though! I could only imagine how much worse it would've been had I not gotten vaccinated. Phew!
David's birthday was last Thursday. Yes, that was the day last week when we had the blizzard warning and the streets covered in ice. What did we do for his birthday you ask? Why, drive to Des Moines for dinner of course! :-) Granted, there was nothing about a blizzard in the forecast... just some high winds and possible flurries. It started getting slick half way to Des Moines (my parents live in Knoxville and we were all riding up together). The radio kept saying that it would be over within the next hour so we figured it would be better after dinner and the storm blows over.
By the time we got to Des Moines they issued a blizzard warning. The 50 minute drive turned into a 2 hour and 10 minute drive. We thought it had to be better on the way home and that all the craziness was due to the quick in and out storm that we weren't prepared for... Nope! Most of the Des Moines roads were completely ice covered. Cars were stuck all over the place unable to move up hills or were stuck in the middle of the icy bridges. Our drive home was over 2 hours as well. It will be a birthday celebration we won't forget :-)
Happy 18th Birthday Davey!
My hubby giving Alex guitar lessons.
Aaaaannd... long awaited nursery photos :-) It is "almost" complete. We are having a Bible verse painted for us that will be hung behind her crib. There was a mural I almost purchased but once you remove it you can't reuse it and it seemed like such a waste with how much it was! My mother-in-law told me of someone in Coflax who could paint it for us on a window pane type thing so we could keep it. What a perfect idea! I can't wait to see it :-)
I highly recommend searching Craigslist for some items that are safe to "reuse" such as the recliner/rocker that we have. They are normally VERY expensive and we bought it for 1/8 of what it is worth new from someone in a gated community in West Des Moines. It looks almost brand new! Talk about a good deal!
You can see my "mostly" packed hospital bag on the floor... ready and waiting... :-)
Part of the theme to my baby shower was to bring a book instead of a card. We got some wonderful additions to our little girl's library. :-) The bookcase we have them in was the last furniture piece my Grandfather had ever made. So happy to have it. Johannah will be spending her first couple weeks sleeping in our room in the cradle that he had made for my mother to use when we were babies.
Toys!!!!
How far along? 38 weeks :-)
Total weight gain/loss: I think I am close to 35lbs and with two weeks left that is just about perfect. Phew :-)
Maternity clothes? I can still wear a few of my Mercy T-shirts but they are sure are snug around the belly area, haha. I wore one to work on New Years Day but had to wear one of my tanks under it... they tend to ride up or get stuck up on the tummy when I'm moving around a lot :-)
Stretch marks? Nope! I'm telling you... drink that gallon of water like they tell you; I know stretch marks are genetic but by keeping your body hydrated (among all the other benefits) greatly reduces your chance of getting stretch marks. And it sure helps with the fatigue.. at least until your last few weeks, then I think you are tired anyway, but I definitely think it helped make a difference in energy throughout.
Sleep: Okay. As she has gotten bigger I tend to wake up about every hour for the first 4 hours of sleep to go to the bathroom before I am able to stay asleep for a longer stretch of time :-). The pregnancy pillow I have has really helped... plus one of my Christmas presents from my thoughtful husband was a memory foam topper for our bed. Holy cow, my back never hurts when I wake up now! It is amazing.
Best moment this week: It was fun going out for David's birthday. We had a doctor's appointment that day as well, and it is always fun getting to hear our little one's heart beat.
Miss Anything? Not really. I'll be happy when I don't have to think as much about what I eat. I have to remember how frequently I have orange juice or other acidic things otherwise my stomach will not be happy. I look forward to getting to drink some nice coffee again whenever I want :-)
Movement: Lots, although I think she's starting to get a little cramped. She still wiggles and kicks but no more big flip flops anymore... she's stuck head down from here on out.
Food cravings: Today I had to have a turtle sundae and oh man was it delicious! Otherwise I don't have cravings too much anymore. Sweets have started to sound good again.. but maybe that is just because I can tolerate having a few of them here or there when I couldn't at all before. I've always had a sweet tooth (thanks Dad :-)).
Anything making you queasy or sick: Same as always, have to be careful with anything sweet or acidic. It is better than what it used to be but I still can't have very much. It has to be pretty far and few between. I can't wait to have OJ for breakfast every morning again!
Gender: Girl! Although my mom and a few people have joked about "what if she is really a he"... Let's say it honestly wouldn't be a horrible thing, we would still be beyond blessed and excited. But oh would we be stuck with a lot of girly pink items :-S That would be not so great having to go buy some boy or gender neutral items instead, HA!
Size of baby: About the size of a pumpkin!! Averages round 19 1/2 inches(probably somewhere between just under 19 to about 20.5).. I wouldn't be surprised if she turns out to be long and skinny!
Weight of baby: Most likely around 7 lbs. Most babies are just under 7 to almost 9 lbs at 38 weeks.
Labor Signs: None! (darnit). Some achiness and my belly isn't quite as high as before but she is still snuggled up under my ribs. Someone tell her it will be just as comfy if she moves down :-)
Symptoms: Rib pain. Mostly on my right side and back around my rib cage. Again.. most on down there little missy!
Belly Button in or out? I now have an outtie!
Wedding rings on or off? Those came off a month ago :-( I was too afraid I'd forget check them often enough and they would get stuck. I didn't want them cut off so I played it safe and took them off for safe keeping.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Meeting our baby girl! Trying to be patient, but I'm ready to meet and hold her. And that whole getting to hang out with her for 8 weeks and not work seems pretty nice right around now too! :-)
