38.5 weeks

Went to the doctor this morning. My best friend Bayley came with us for our ultrasound. I hope she wasn't disappointed because it looked like she was just zooming in on some blobs and telling us it was a foot or an arm. hehe. Anyways, we did get one picture out of it. And he looks like his dad. :) He scored an 8 out of 8 on his ultrasound test so we are proud mamas and papas.

The doc checked me again. I am 60% effaced and 2 CM dilated, which means . . . it could be SOON! or not. ha. Regardless, we are packed and banking on soon. More to come!!

37.5 weeks and REAAAADY!

Well....we have 3.5 weeks left...or one day....or 4.5 weeks. I suppose the countdown is arbitrary. Either way, we are CLOSE! And I am READY to not be pregnant. I'm running out of clothes! ha. We don't have our crib yet, but we have our room ready and painted and perfect. My mom and my sis-in-law Shannon worked for weeks on this amazingly cute owl mural. I couldn't have been happier with it. My mom made the curtains! I have some talented people in my life for sure. The so cute owl pillow on the glider was made by my friend LeAnna. I love it all and couldn't have imagined a better nursery. We are using an armoir as our changing table and closet. Now all we need is baby!

My bags are packed and ready to go. So...just in case he needs a memo, we're ready. ;) I went to the doctor today and I am dilated 1.5 cm. Which, as I've heard/read, doesn't really mean anything as far as when he will come. BUT, either way to me it means he's on the way and I am EXCITED. We also get to have an ultrasound next Thursday! This is an awesome surprise because the doc acted like my chances for having another one were slim.

Soo...the waiting game begins. :) I will post pictures and a blog about my last two showers soon.

Your baby this week:

With just three more weeks to go and at about six and a half pounds (though weight and height vary from fetus to fetus), your baby is doing just fine. You can expect weight gain to be about half an ounce per day. (Boys, though, are likely to be heavier at birth than girls. And here's a bit of boy baby trivia to back that one up: Moms carrying boys tend to eat more than moms carrying girls — a foreshadowing of teenage refrigerator raids to come.) Since your little one is considered full-term at 37 weeks pregnant, if your baby was to leave the wet nest this week, he or she would likely thrive. That's because Mother Nature and you have done such a fine job.

So what's keeping your little one busy while waiting it out until D-day? Practice, practice, practice. Your baby is simulating breathing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, sucking on his or her thumb, blinking, and pivoting from side to side (one day you feel the tushy on the left side, another day it has swung around to the right side). All these are skills needed for his or her next gig — starring as newborn.

Here's an interesting fact: Your baby's head (which, by the way, is still growing) will, at birth, be the same size circumference as his or her hips, abdomen, and shoulders. And guess what's making an impression (literally) these days on those shoulders and hips: fat — causing little dimples in those cute elbows and knees, shoulders and hip, and creases and folds in the neck and wrists.

First baby shower and 35 weeks.

Wow! I can't believe that we've only got about five weeks left. If he's like his daddy, he'll come before that. Andrew was 5 weeks early. I need him to stay in there til October at least! haha. I had my first shower on Saturday. It was a shower for my family thrown by my awesome sis-in-law Shannon. It was a sweet time and a lot of fun. I COULD NOT BELIEVE how big I was when I saw the pictures. It's like all of the sudden I'm HUUGE. I'm having a shower with friends tomorrow at Bayley's house and we just found out that our church is also throwing us one. That is AWESOME news.

I will post pictures of our nursery soon. It is better than I imagined and I can't wait to reveal it. Andy and I have always been blessed with very talented friends and family and our nursery definitely shows that. :)

Here are some pictures from the shower.

31 weeks

It's been almost a month since I last posted, so quite a bit has happened since then. One of the biggest things is that I got a new job, subsequently lost it, and simultaneously went down to freelancing hours at my old job. All of this piling up to equal one frantic, stressed out pregnant lady. But, the Lord has been good to us, providing in ways that are truly amazing big and small. One of the most amazing ways was through our church. We went to lunch with our sweet friends, the Sadlers, mainly just to talk and get some advice. A few days later, Susan emailed me to tell me that our church wanted to pay off a doctor's bill that we had for a biopsy I had done (it was benign). It was a huge burden off of our backs and an unbelievable blessing. This has really been an interesting and challenging time in our lives, but I know in hindsight we will look back in awe of God's love and providence.

In other news, Andy's best friend Tei has moved back to Franklin. I have to get used to this because it means catching up on LOTS of lost guy time. :) BUT...I must say. I love it. I love Andy's friends moving back and I love his friends. Tei and his wife, Shanna, just had an absolutely BEAUTIFUL little Asian baby doll. We've already put in an order for our kids to continue the tradition by being best friends like their daddies.

Andy's job is going really well. He is meeting all kinds of crazy people that can "talk shop" with him. I must say, this has been good for our marriage. I can only listen to "physiological dynamics of muscular . . . " for so long before my eyeballs glaze over and I have to start nodding dumbly.

The pregnancy is bumping along quite nicely. I tested negative for gestational diabetes, so that hump is over with. My self-esteem you ask? Still taking a ferocious beating. Some women say that they feel beautiful during pregnancy. Well...good for them! I think the baby is sucking all elements of attractiveness out of me. For one, and only one, thing, my nose has gotten bigger. Andy did not believe this for some time, but I finally proved it to him. My friend Paul came into town. I haven't seen him since before I got pregnant and I'm thinking Paul will tell me the truth! So i say: Paul, has my nose gotten bigger? Paul: Yeah! It has! What is that about?! I don't know. Maybe Paul thought I got a nose job. haha. Not only was I not offended by this, I felt grateful to know that: No, I was not crazy. And no, it's not just the pictures that are making my nose look that big. THANKS baby!

I have just now gotten to the point where I'm starting to be uncomfortable. I can only imagine how bad its going to be in the last couple of weeks before having him. Oh dear. Oh dear. He better be worth it. ;)

Our Pooch

We get a lot of crap for our dog. He is a pit bull, possibly mixed with something, possibly not. Pit Bull websites and books tell you that as an owner of a pit bull, you are taking on the responsibility of forever being good PR representatives for this breed that gets a lot of bad attention and bad publicity. I don't know about others, but we think ours is the biggest baby in the world. He might look meaty and scary, but really he's just hard up for a good cuddle. Here's some more pictures of our ferocious beast in action, attacking some dirty clothes that have been piled on top of him.

Our First Garden

Andy's aunt Nancy and uncle Frank came in May to help us plant our first raised-bed garden. They are experts and we nodded our heads a lot and tried to absorb as much information as we could in one day. But, two months later, we are growing, growing, growing. We planted tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, onions, green peppers, cilantro, and basil. mmmmm....sounds like some good salsa. ;) Anywho, here are some pictures of our flourishing veggie patch. And one of Jack, with our favorite look that we call "Cauliflower ears." He will walk around for about an hour with his ears docked before they finally fall down. It's pretty dang cute.

26 weeks

Well....its getting harder and harder to take a somewhat flattering picture. Andy took a hundred and most were met with: Oh dear God! Do I really look like that?! At least I'm laughing. This last week was a weird one. I had my very own psychotic pregnancy breakdown. I started laughing and it turned into weeping...back to laughing. Poor Andy. He didn't know whether to laugh or to comfort me. Whew.

This week we have been going over to the lake near our house. Andy's mom and stepdad let us in on a little secret sweet spot. Its 15 minutes from our house and it's free. We've been going over there several times a week to get some exercise and some relief from the 100 degree weather we've been having.

I hesitate to share this because its a less than flattering story, but its too funny to skip over. Last Sunday when we were at the lake, it was wavy like the ocean. I've been having terrible heartburn for the last month or so. TERRIBLE. They say there is some correlation between the amount of heartburn you have and the amount of hair the baby has. Alls I'm saying is that that little turd better come out with a full mane.

Anyways, back to my less-than-flattering story. We were bobbing up and down in the waves, not helping my heartburn in the least. I dont' know if you guys have ever had heartburn, but it feels like you are drinking acid. So, I start swimming away from the group because I feel like I'm about to hurl. Andy says: Where are you going?! Me: Get away from me, I'm gonna puke. And so I did. And right when I did, a wave came. And you could guess the end of the story. The throw-up went right back into my face, and into my eyes. I felt very elegant to say the least.

In other news, Andy has started his new job at the Y. He has only been there for a week but he has gotten the chance to meet some really cool people and it looks like he will be getting the opportunity to advance his skills in different aspects of training that he has yet to experience. We see loads of possibility there and only anticipate what will come.

Other than that, nothing too crazy has been happening. Besides the heartburn and feeling like a barn, I hardly notice being pregnant.

This week inside the womb:

Look who's looking. Your baby's eyes — which have been closed for the past few months (so that the retina, the part of the eye that allows images to come into focus, could develop) — are beginning to open at 26 weeks pregnant. What this means is that your baby is able to see what's going on now (unfortunately the view in your uterus isn't all that exciting). But do try this at home for kicks (baby's that is): Shine a flashlight at your stomach. Your baby might kick in response (as in: "Get that light out of my eyes!").

The iris, the colored part of the eye, still doesn't have much pigmentation (that'll fill in over the next month or two), so it's too early to start guessing your baby's eye color. Even the color your baby will be born with might not be the permanent shade; so you may be kept guessing until your baby is close to six months old.


Look what else is going on this week: Your baby's brain-wave activity is kicking in at this stage in fetal development, which means your little one can not only hear noises but can now also respond to them. Not in so many words, of course, but with an increase in pulse rate or activity.

And talking about activity, at your baby's current height and weight (about nine inches tall and two pounds), and at the rate he or she is growing, your baby will soon be feeling a little cramped in your uterus. Not to worry, there's still plenty of room for your baby to grow. It just means your gymnast will have less room for those somersaults, cartwheels, and other Olympic feats.