35 Weeks

What’s Happening This Week: Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

WOW. So nuts. I can’t believe her basic physical development is done…basically she’s growing cute baby fat. I love it :)

How far along? 35 weeks and 1 day

Stretch marks? None, still holding strong! yay :)

Sleep: Sleep? What’s that?

Best moment this past week: Matt and I are trying to cram in as many dinners with friends as possible before the baby comes! We figure we should be social now :) We had several great dinners this past week. It’s always lovely to be with good friends!

Food cravings: Ice cream cake. Hoping this craving passes soon…I purchased some skinny cow ice cream sandwiches…those are working for now :)

Labor signs: I’ve had some mild cramping, which I’m assuming are just my Braxton Hicks contractions ( just a bit stronger than I’m used to). I have a doctor’s appointment today. We’ll see what she says!

What I miss: my wedding band and engagement ring! I haven’t been able to wear them for awhile, which makes me sad. I think I could get them on, I just don’t think I could get them off!

What I am looking forward to: My good friend Lora is coming into town on Friday (she was one of our students at K-State) AND my younger brother, Trent, is coming in for business this weekend, too! I’m so excited to see two people that I love a lot.

Weekly Wisdom: To relax during this last few weeks of pregnancy…It will be hard to do seeing as there’s much to accomplish at work and at home, but I’ll give it a go! :)

Milestone: I’ll be full term in 2 weeks.  Can you believe it? Yeah, me either.

Doctor’s appointment today at 11! I’ll update if there’s any news at all!

34 Weeks

What's Happening This Week: Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which she'll need to regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

How far along? 34 weeks

Stretch marks? Still don’t have any, which I don’t understand because my belly is pretty stretched!

Sleep: In my weekly email from BabyCenter.com there is always a section called “How Your Life’s Changing”…I think this week’s paragraph describes how I’m feeling pretty accurately.  By this week, fatigue has probably set in again, though maybe not with the same coma-like intensity of your first trimester. Your tiredness is perfectly understandable, given the physical strain you're under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning, while trying to get comfortable.

Best moment this past week: I finished organizing her closet! YAY! This was a big accomplishment for me. This child has so many outfits, I’m going to have to change her 20 times a day just to show them all off! :) I bought super cute closet dividers to separate her clothes by age (newborn, 3-6 months, etc), which helped tremendously with the organization process :)

Food cravings: Pretty much anything that’s bad for me…I wake up in the middle of the night wanting to eat an entire cake. It’s a good thing I don’t keep junk food in the house! haha

What I miss: Never thought I would say this, but I miss working out. Walking around the neighborhood is all I can really do at this stage. I’m actually looking forward to getting back to the gym.

What I am looking forward to: Our friend Kelly is coming to stay with us Saturday! She’s coming in from another part of Houston (near Rice Village) to hear Matt preach on Sunday. Should be fun!!!

Weekly Wisdom: "Babies need a diaper change about every 2 hours, feel free to change her without being asked!” haha That was advice given to Matt. These are very wise women :)

Now that the weather is perfect here in Houston I’ve been taking more walks outside with Matt and our dog. It’s been nice getting the fresh air and a little workout!  We live right on the greenbelt trails, which is amazing. I can’t wait to take walks with our daughter in the stroller :)

33 Weeks

What's Happening This Week: This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

How far along? 33 weeks

Stretch marks? Not yet…

Sleep: I give up!

Best moment this past week: The nursery got painted! The color is "Springtime" by Sherwin-Williams. It makes me super happy. Matt also put the crib together and moved some of our furniture into the room (glider and two dressers) He loves me!

Food cravings: Nothing really...I’m just hungry all the time. It’s hard trying to manage eating healthy and knowing when I actually need to eat more.

What I miss: Feeling like myself

What I am looking forward to: Working on the nursery this weekend

Weekly Wisdom: "I went 3 days without a shower the first week my baby came home and I live in PJs for the first month. Totally normal :)"  Um, I kind of do this now...

So I mentioned that we finally started the nursery...I am so excited. It's the little things :) One of the sweet women from my young moms group gave me the most adorable rug yesterday! I feel so blessed by her generosity.  It works perfectly with the nursery, too!  Here are some of the promised photos. Please ignore all of the accessories, as they are not in their proper places and some things are changing (like the green lampshade!) But at least you can see the wall color and some of our furniture! The changing table is supposed to arrive tomorrow...get excited! I'll try to post some pictures of our progress this weekend.

I have a doctor's appointment later this morning. At our last appointment our doctor said she's between 4.5 and 5 lbs. Good gracious! I wish I knew if I was going to get an ultrasound anytime soon. We haven't had one since 20 weeks...that was 13 weeks ago! I want to see her :)

YAY!

Today is a happy day. Not only is it 80 degrees outside, but the nursery is getting painted as I type...I'm pretty PUMPED :) I'll put up pictures once it's complete! Horray for progress :)

32 Weeks

I've been so busy with my mom that I forgot to post yesterday! For shame! :)

We're starting to make some real progress with the nursery...YAY!!!!! Something VERY exciting happened yesterday. We were at Pottery Barn Kids and they had a floor sample of an AWESOME rocker/swivel chair that was for sale. There were a few stains on the slipcover, but I felt confident we could get them out, and sure enough-WE DID! The chair itself is in GREAT condition, and I knew I wouldn't find anything this nice for any less money. We got a $1300 chair for 1/3 of the cost. Amazing. I'll post pictures of it SOON. I know I'm super behind on posting pictures...I'll post from the shower very soon, promise :)

My mom and I also found the cutest owl light switch covers from Anthropologie, along with a fantastic door knob for the closest door. It's beyond fabulous. When I started putting together the nursery I created a story board to track my progress and to insure that everything was cohesive. I keep meaning to post it, it's FAR from complete...I need to update it with pictures of the 2 dressers (both painted furniture from my parents' old beach house), the mirror and various accessories, but this will give you an idea of where it's headed! One thing I can't wait to add a photo of is the chandelier! Mom and I found a FAB chandelier for $5, we just need to paint it. I can't wait...it makes me happy :)

Main Colors: pale pink, spring green, and pale blue
Themes: woodland creatures! birds, bunnies, owls, etc :)

Click Picture to Enlarge

32 Weeks Update

What's Happening This Week: By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

I don't know what in the world a jicama is, but I can tell you I feel huge.

How far along? 32 weeks
Stretch marks? Not yet…
Sleep: None...sigh.
Best moment this past week: It was a GREAT week. Not only did my mom and grandmother come in town, but I also had two fabulous baby showers! One was thrown by my prayer group and it was SO fun! The other was thrown by some of the women from church. I am still overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. This child is already loved by so many, and that's the real gift!
Food cravings: The SUPER yummy pimento cheese that Debbie Welch made for me...Love her and her pimento cheese!
What I miss: Being able to lift things! I love to get things done on my own and have a difficult time asking for help!
What I am looking forward to: Seeing my girlfriends this weekend!
Weekly Wisdom: "Don't let your wife try on her pre-pregnancy clothes for at least 6 months" ...great advice given to Matt at Young Mom's. I do miss my old wardrobe though