36 Weeks

I can officially say that I am now 9 months pregnant! I look forward to playing that card for a few weeks!

My appointment today went really well. I've figured out that I like my doctor much more in the mornings so I won't schedule anymore appointments in the afternoon with her. She gets too rushed in the afternoon which I don't handle well. Today was the test for group B strep so we'll see how that turns out. If I have it it just means that I have to be on an antibiotic while I'm in labor. We also found out that I'm dilated to 3cm which is exciting but in reality means nothing. I could be here for weeks. She said the baby's head isn't very low so I don't think it will be anytime soon. I'm okay with that for now. Baby can grow a little more and momma can try to get some more things done. Hopefully baby doesn't grow TOO much more though. She had just gotten done telling us she delivered a 9lb baby yesterday so we asked if she could tell how big our baby was and she said "you don't have a 5 pounder but I don't think it'll be a....well, we'll just wait and see". I think that means baby could be big. Not much to do about that!

My legs have swelled into stumps which is oh so attractive. My wonderful husband keeps telling me he hasn't noticed. I'm just glad it's winter and that I can keep them covered.

Baby clothes are washed and hospital bag will be packed tonight. Hats are are made and one blanket. Still a few things left that I'm hoping to get to this weekend. We're almost there!

35 Weeks

Blood pressure was back to normal today. Yay! I have a mind that goes crazy so I had these dramatic fears that it was going to be really high and they'd either put me on bedrest or induce me. Both of these were never mentioned at my appointment 2 weeks ago so those fears were completely irrational. That's what I do!

The doctor said that baby is in position with head down which is good news. Now I can say that every time I look down at my belly I'm staring at my child's hiney. Might as well get used to it!

I've started having a lot more contractions but as long as I can make them stop by lying down they're not an issue. They are just getting their workout in before the marathon. I am looking forward to not having to stop whatever it is I'm doing so that they will quit.

I had another stranger tell me we are having a boy yesterday. She said to start thinking of boy names because she's usually right. She also told me my belly looks like a beach ball and that usually means boy. I don't know what I think anymore.

I've either started looking bigger or just more uncomfortable lately because I keep getting the "you look like you're about to pop" comment. I'm going to say it's the waddle that I've perfected that's making people think I could have a baby at any moment.

3rd trimester tiredness has set in and I could probably fall asleep at most anytime if given the opportunity.

We're slowly getting everything baby ready around here. We went through all of the shower gifts and got everything unwrapped and now I have a pile of laundry to do. I'll probably work on getting a bag packed soon and figure out any other last minute purchases that need to be made. I've finished the baby's first blanket and need to get started on hats now. I want to have a hat for him/her to wear either at the hospital or on the way home. A few other craft type things to get done and things to buy and we'll be ready to go!

(We never got around to a picture last week. I have to be honest and say that I don't really look forward to taking them anymore. I don't feel huge until I see a picture of myself and I barely recognize myself anymore)

34 Weeks

We had a little practice run to labor and delivery at the hospital on Friday. I had a regular clinic appointment and my blood pressure was elevated so they sent me over to get monitored for a bit. I just laid on the bed for 30 minutes having my blood pressure taken every 5 minutes and then 2 monitors on my belly that monitored the baby's heartbeat and if I had any contractions. My blood pressure went down on it's own after laying there for half an hour so they sent me home. They tried to get it down at the clinic by having me lie down and "relax". Not so easy on an exam table. We've been keeping track of it the last couple of days and it likes to shoot up in the afternoon while I'm at work. Two days this week it's been high enough to have to find an empty exam room at work to lie down in. Kind of a pain. We asked the doctor if I should cut back my hours at work but since I haven't had excessive swelling, headaches or blurry vision they said I could keep working full time. Bummer. My next appointment is the 19th so we'll see what happens then.

We had a shower on Saturday that was really fun. Pat's sister did a great job putting everything together. We got a lot of stuff that we needed which is great. We are spoiled.

My mom and sister came down for the shower and stayed until Sunday night. It was so nice having them here helping get things down. We got some sewing projects done which was good. I spent a lot of the day laying on the couch because my blood pressure was climbing. My mom is great at calming me down which was helpful. Our families are such a blessing to us.

It's finally starting to look like January here with the weather. Yesterday it was 50+ degrees out and today I don't think it got over 20 and has been snowing and blowing like it should in January. I definitely look forward to the days where I can stay home with my baby and just watch the snow fall.

33 weeks

7 weeks left! How is that even possible?? It doesn't seem like that long ago that Pat and I were trying to read a pregnancy test. The time has certainly flown by!

This mama has been sick for the last week which has been awful. When you're pregnant you can't take any of the good drugs so I get to just sit here with my box of kleenex and cough drops. Good times.

We spent New Years eve in Ames and then drove to MN on Sunday to spend a few days with my family. I didn't get to hold my sweet little nephew Max at all because I didn't want to get him sick. That was sad. Hopefully I didn't pass my germs on to any of the other kiddos! It was so fun to have all of my family together. I just wish that I had felt better.

We have our baby shower on Saturday which I'm pretty excited for. Pat's sister Kelly did all the planning so we'll see what she had up her sleeve!

Pat made the comment last night about how quiet our house was and I think we'll both miss that a little bit. I think we both have a little bit of sadness mixed in with all of the excitement. We are both so excited to meet this baby and become parents but there's that little piece of sadness knowing that our lives will never look like they do now. I think this is pretty natural when you're on the edge of a major life change but a little part of me feels guilty that I'm sad about having a baby. It's been just Pat and I for 3 years so it's a little difficult to imagine another person in our little circle. 

Pat and I "celebrated" our 3 year anniversary on Tuesday by driving home from MN. We've found that the disadvantage of having a wedding anniversary so close to a holiday is that it makes any type of special celebration difficult. At least at this point in our lives. I think that we've spent every anniversary so far driving somewhere! Hopefully one day we'll get to do something more celebratory.