33 Days til Due Date

Wow - time is flying.  I've started to have little moments of panic when I realize how close the end is.  I think what makes me panic is the inability to have any sort of idea of when he's going to decide to come.  At this point, I don't have any indications that he's coming early, but I guess I don't know if you ever really have that sort of indication.  I need to get a hospital bag packed - Cody's been telling me to do this for a few months now and I'm not sure why I have trouble getting this done!  It's causing him to have dreams of the baby coming prematurely.  And I need to finish organizing the nursery, shower gifts, etc. 

Cody had the day off work yesterday and I came home to find our shower gifts all put together: the stroller, high chair, pack n play, swing, etc.  He had even gone out and bought the birthing ball that I'd been meaning to buy.  He's so great!

My shower this past weekend here in KC was so much fun and so so nice.  My sister in laws are awesome!!  And our friends and family so generous.  Will have to post some pics soon from from the shower.  In the meantime, here's a pic from yesterday:

Week 35

 

Little People Shoes

A pic from Week 34, taken 4.20.11.  No, the weather is not super warm in KC - this particular picture happened to be taken during one of my hot flashes :)  More and more, I am just hot all the time.  Especially at work, it seem like.  At this point, it's getting more and more difficult to bend over to pick something up.  And I have been log rolling out of bed for quite some time now.  Back is getting pretty achy, but all in all, I'm still feeling great.  The baby is still moving around a ton and we're starting to get some pretty interesting lumps and bumps in my belly to ponder over which body part that might be.

Cody's brother Chad, wife Sara, and their kids Ava (5) and Gavin (3 -- in a few weeks) are here from Phoenix and staying with us.  One of my absolute favorite things to see is little people shoes by the door.  It just really warmed my heart last night when I looked down from the balcony to the front door and saw their little shoes.  Another favorite - reading them their bedtime stories.  Such a sweet time.  And I need to get some practice animating my voice - so this works out well.  Thankfully the kids don't judge when I try out a voice and it turns out sounding ridiculous :)

Had my first shower this past Monday - my coworkers threw us a shower over lunch, Cody was able to get away from work and come too.  Their generosity was overwhelming, but we are so thankful for everyone's kindness.  That night I stayed up til almost midnight just sitting in the baby's room and sorting through everything and looking and relooking and re-re-looking at everything.  I could probably piddle around in his room all day.  It's so fun to imagine him in all the cute outfits and pjs and think about this is what he'll wear when we go here, and this is what he'll wear when we go there, and this is what he'll be swaddled up in for the summer, and this one for the winter, etc, etc, etc.  And even though I can't seem to fold and put away my own clothes in a timely manner, I just love folding and organizing his. 

Lots of fun stuff this weekend.....in addition to having Chad/Sara/the kids here all weekend, my sisters-in-law are hosting a baby shower for me this weekend here in KC.  And then on Easter, we're hosting about 30 family members for brunch, having an Easter egg hunt, and then we'll have a little bday party for Gav.  And just lots of family hanging-out time in between everything.  Love it!

Dr's appt this afternoon....one more bi-weekly appt after this one and then I'll be up to the weekly appts.  It's happening so fast now! 

Quick shout out to my mom who has survived yet another tax season -- cheers to returning to the world, mom!!

48 Days to Go

Wow, I just can't believe that I have only 48 days until my due date of May 31st.  Here's a picture at Week 33:

This past weekend we spent all day Saturday at a childbirth class.  I really enjoyed having the different stages of labor broken down and was glad to hear what I could expect, what my body would be doing, etc during each stage.  We watched some birth videos and practiced some breathing techniques and were shown some different positions to help with the labor.  A couple things that stuck in my mind were to 1) take one contraction at a time - don't think about the last one and don't thing about how many more there are to come - stay in the present contraction and focus there only; and 2) the pain has a purpose.  I love that - and I think I'll bring something from the baby's room or maybe his sonogram picture or something to use as my focal point. 

So I guess what I'm saying is I'm gearing up to do this thing without drugs.  For some reason I really think I can do it - we'll see if I change my mind once I start experiencing real pain.  I know I am completely naive to what it will feel like, so my plans could be shot before I even make it to a few centimeters.  We shall see.  Dr Heit said that 80-90% of his patients receive epidurals - this makes me question my plan a bit and feel like I really don't know what I'm in for! 

Thoughts and happenings at 32 weeks

Tuesday April 5th started off Week 32:

Recent happenings:

• Craving peanut butter!  (and the chocolate milk craving hasn't gone away since the beginning)
• Still feeling great, so thankful!  As of Saturday April 2nd, I could still maneuver enough to paint my toenails.  Not sure why I keep gauging how big my belly's getting by my ability to paint my toenails, but I do! 
• Foot cramps at night - so uncomfortable!  Right in the arch of my foot.  At first I thought I must not be drinking enough water or something, but yesterday I drank close to 100 oz of water and still my feet cramped up when we were laying in bed trying to go to sleep last night.  I need to google this dilemma and see if I can't figure it out. 
• Having an internal struggle about whether to try and deliver with or without drugs.  Part of me feels like women's bodies were made to do this, my mom delivered naturally, women for tens of thousands of years did it naturally, I should be able to do it too.  Then the other part of me feels like I'd be crazy to make it harder on myself than necessary and I wonder if I'd enjoy the experience more if I wasn't in as much pain.  Still pondering....
• Had a much more smooth dr's appointment on Tuesday the 5th, Baby Lew's heartbeat was nice and steady.  Praise God!!!  My belly measurement was 32 cm and I'm 32 weeks, so Dr Heit said right on track.  And my weight gain is 20 lbs to date. 
• Another childcare interview flop on Tuesday evening.  Double sigh.  The only word I can think to describe her as was obnoxious.  I figured if she came across that way in a 1-hour initial meeting, then that was probably just the tip of the iceberg.  She talked our ears off and so did her husband - about themselves, not about the daycare.  Our favorite line of the night from her was "I've only taken 2 sick days in the past few years.  And one of them was just because I didn't feel like having any kids that day."  Um....yeah....and then we tried to figure out how to wrap up the interview.
• Cody and I attended a breastfeeding class for 2 1/2 hours last night...not sure if he's just telling me what I want to hear, but he said I didn't embarrass him by being the one to raise my hand and ask how long you have to "pump and dump" if you have a glass of wine (or two) on occasion.  Seriously, someone else in the room surely had to have been wondering - so I took one for the team and asked. (This comment makes me sound like I miss wine more than I actually do, I realize.)
• Had some great family time last weekend as Cody and I, Dad, and Mom & Don helped Sarah & Patrick move into their new house.  (Ok - I did nothing to help.  But I kept their son/grandson/nephew nice and safe for them....does that count?!?)
• Also this past weekend, I got to attend a fun baby shower for my good friend Julie who is due 2 weeks before me.  A couple pics from her shower:

Week 31

Posing in front of Baby Lew's new crib at 31 weeks:

Still no daycare decided on - starting to stress me out.  Wait, not starting.  It's been stressing me out.  We interviewed this one lady Tuesday night and she kept referring to herself in 3rd person - it was too weird (among other things we didn't like) - we walked out of her house and I asked Cody how long we have to pretend to consider her before we call her back and tell her that we won't be needing her service? :)  Had better luck with the pediatrician interivew, though.  So that's one thing checked off the list.  Pfew!

This past weekend we made a quick stop in Platte City to visit Mark & Megan's 5 day old baby, Sylvie.  Cody and I took turns holding her - it was nice to get a feel for what an 8 lb baby feels like.  She was so sweet and so content - I hope we get that lucky!  After that, we headed on up to the ville for some quality family time.  And I got to eat at A&G twice in one weekend - score!  The saganaki did not disappoint, I'm pleased to report. 

This weekend looks to be a good one....my dad is in from Norton, KS to help Sarah & Patrick move into their new house, Mom and Don are coming down for a quick trip also, and I am going to get to see some of my best girls at Julie's baby shower Saturday afternoon.  Being pregnant works out as a nice excuse to not have to help move....Cody's still searching for his excuse :)