Week 38 or almost 39...who cares?!

So, there's been a big debate going since the first ultrasound of this little guy...which put him "due" right exactly when I thought he would be due based on certain information only I, and not my doctor, would be privy to...like say when conception took place;) Well the first ultrasound matched up exactly to my prediction - and that date was February 2nd...based on the little wheel she used which takes into account just the date of my last period he's due on February 7th. And boy do they love that little wheel. But as we all know due dates are just estimates and arbitrary at best...so here we are, somewhere between week 38 and 39 and all I know is the switch has flipped. Meaning, (if you're listening as I type this baby...) you can come whenever you want.

Don't get me wrong, I know that every day he's in there is another day he needs to be there and I've been more than happy to have such a really fortunate third trimester overall...but in the past couple days there's just this sense of "I'm done." And from the looks of it, I think I look done too. It's reached that point where when I'm out shopping or in any public place for that matter I get those looks. You know the ones I'm talking about...where they look at you partly in admiration for still walking upright and then you look closer and see fear in their eyes that you might give birth in their store's backroom if you stay too long...yeah - lots of those looks.

And lately everyone's favorite thing to say is "it's a boy, huh?" So kudos to those people for getting it right, I guess. But do they really have to follow it up with "Yeah, with a boy you're just so OUT THERE and SO ROUND"?!?! Yes. Yes. I am rotund in a very special way and I am "out there." Thank you - I hadn't noticed when trying to put on my shoes this am...but I digress.

So here we are - my next appointment is this Friday so I'll have "real" news to share at that point so for now you just get a pic of me from this evening - lucky yous.

Glowing or sweating...you decide...

And in much more fun news - I took a few sneak peeks of his room! I was going to make a little collage but picnik went and closed on me and I just don't have the energy to try out the google plus editing thing they told me to use in its place...so now we're back to pictures single-file. Whatever. Enjoy!

Had to blur out his name on his "special" book...thanks to Marissa and Megan for the sweet gifts on this shelf:)

The blocks were a gift from Kelley and I'm nothing short of obsessed. LOVE!

The changing station and a glimpse of our rocker in its new fabric!

More fun prints...

More blurriness as I spelled out his name with Kelley's blocks - but you get the idea;)

All that's missing now is the main event himself...and we just can't wait! Anyone want to start a guessing game as to when he'll come? Leave a note in the comments with your guess!

Baby Shower Fun & Update

As promised, I'm directing you all to Kelley's blog for baby shower picture fun!! Just looking at the pictures makes me SO excited all over again - it was really the most perfect day. And just a funny note as to how well they know me...note the color of the lanterns and the color in my necklace - not planned at all:) In fact, I'm sure they stifled laughter when I showed them what I was planning on wearing...apparently I'm a tad predictable!

Many thanks AGAIN to everyone for making me and baby boy feel so special!

And a quick update - just returned from my weekly appointment and there's good news...

1. Per my last ultrasound, the little guy has chilled out for a bit and is now in the 90th percentile and such, but is not tipping off the charts. This makes my doctor way more comfortable with just proceeding and there was no more talk of c-section for now...she says now we just wait and see!

2. Baby is head down, at "station 3" which means he's still pretty high up there but that she could already feel the top of his head when she checked me and I'm 50% effaced and barely dilated at a 1 or so...while ALL these things mean nothing in terms of when labor will start they show positive progress - so I'll take it!

I look pretty darn close to what I looked like at my baby shower - so let that be your "belly shot" for now...and I'll try and update again at the end of the week! My mom did mention this morning that she agrees that I'm starting to appear a bit dropped, so hopefully by the end of the week we can see the difference in pictures:) We shall see!

Estimated Due Date - January 4th

Things that are funny: Today's ultrasound took into account the length of Little Dear's femur bone and said that based on the length he should be due January 4th. HAHAHA - we all, including the sonographer, had a good laugh at that one! I told Ty he's all to blame on the femur bone extravaganza as clearly the baby is inheriting his legs...what he's inheriting from me? Seems to be my arms - those are the only thing estimated to be "average." So my t-rex arms mixed with Ty equals average:)

So yeah, another ultrasound down. And really it was the least exciting of them all because at this point the little guy is so smashed in there that his head is already shaping to my pelvic bones and there's no chance of getting his face, and we were lucky to get a clear shot of a foot and hand! He's just clearly running out of room in there...So the full report is that now based on the averages that the sonographer produces he's estimated to be weighing in just over 8 pounds and is definitely on the long side...but he's super healthy and everything looks great otherwise! The rest of the measurements put him at an estimated due date of January 28th...which interestingly enough falls closer in line with when I've thought he would be due from the beginning.

In other news, there's a rumor out there right now that I may have dropped a little. I was walking with Kelley around Babies-R-Us on Monday, went to the bathroom and thought "Hmmm, I look different." And as I walked out to ask Kelley if she ever felt like she dropped, she looked at me and exclaimed "Oh my gosh, you've totally dropped!" But it's hard, because now I keep looking and I'm not so sure. Not that dropping is a predictor of anything concrete, but it's a sign of progress all the same.

And while I wish I could share a picture - I can't because I haven't taken any since everyone left this weekend who came in and spoiled me and the baby boy just rotten! It was a gorgeous day all around, and really there are no words to describe what an amazing shower Kelley and Marissa put together for us. I'm so blessed. And to the very many of you who participated in some shape or form, THANK YOU. I really just have the best friends anyone could ask for! As soon as pictures are up I'll be sure to share!

That's the news for now! I'll try and update more often now that we're really in the final countdown!

Moves Like Jagger...

Oh yeah, he's got moves like Jagger already:) As promised, here I am to share a sneak peek of his antics. He does this times ten, but of course every time I try to get it on camera he goes quiet. He also does this with movement, I kid you not, it's like he knows when someone's watching. He also does not like cold hands - really. It's funny. If your hands are cold there's no chance he's going to kick/move for you.

So here's a bit of what he can do...

In other baby news, we had our appointment today and I continue to measure big. It's getting a bit old to hear my doctor laugh when she measures me...apparently she thinks its ALL much funnier than I do. So, as of today I'm measuring 38 weeks. With about 6 weeks to go. For those of you wondering - no, it is not possible to suck in one's uterus. I've tried. It doesn't work. I'm guessing that by the time I do go into have the babe I'll be a healthy 45 weeks:) I bet you guys will LOVE to see those belly shots!

There was also talk of c-section, but it's only preliminary at this point. As she says, "we've got a chunky monkey on our hands." She just wants me to know that if he continues growing at his current rate that the c-section will be a conversation we will have to have...so we shall see! Right now, not all that worried. Oh, and for those wondering about my weight gain, since I'm growing a giant - my weight gain unfortunately did not continue to stay on track with a 2 pound average per month. I took a BIG jump last month w/6 pounds gained in one month and am now about 18-20 pounds up depending on the day.

Alright, so that's all the news for now! I'm off to go get in the Christmas spirit:) Merry Christmas to you all!!!

P.S. I got a massive head cold, so the snorting in the video is not the pugs in the background. That is me. Hot, I know.

33 weeks + a holiday party...

Wonders of wonders! Today marks the start of week 33 for me and lo and behold here I am with an update and pictures - can you even believe it? So we're going to have just skipped over week 32, because apparently pregnancy brain makes me bad at numbers and when I said we'd get caught up at week 32, I really meant week 33. Tomayto -Tomahto, really! Which is exactly how I'm looking these days - ripe, round and ready to bust!

See what I mean, very round these days! All over I might add:) Weeks 31-33 have really been easy save for the symptoms mentioned in my last post - speaking of, do you think I look any bigger?

Overall, I think the biggest thing for me to grapple with at this point is the crazy thought that I'm considered full term in just four weeks. Like a month away. Oh and I'm getting SUPER SUPER excited for my baby shower...which is just TWO weeks away! I remember when dates were being thrown around for it and it seemed like it would take forever for the shower to be here - I mean the shower was in 2012 - A WHOLE other year away;) But here we are just 7 days away from the start of a new year!!!

In the coming weeks there will hopefully be lots of posts on the nursery and thoughts as this whole labor deal gets closer...I cannot tell you the number of unwritten blog posts circulating in my head and I do plan to get them out sooner than later!

Last but not least - more pictures! Ty and I last night at our last holiday party of the season at his work in Dallas - and let me tell you, I'm not complaining about keeping our holiday schedule low-key this year. I wore this same exact outfit and shoes to Sarah's wedding back in September and holy smokes - what a difference those two months have made...I was seriously jamming my chubbed-out feet into my shoes last night. Note to self - TRY on shoes before packing when 8.5 months pregnant! We're in Dallas so I had no alternatives and let's just say the feet did not look pretty last night.

I took an AWESOME (in my opinion) video of the little guy doing his acrobatics yesterday, so I'm hoping to get that posted this week too. Which would really knock my socks off, it's like I blog regularly or something these days! So I'll be in touch soon - hope you're all enjoying the hustle and bustle of the season. Only FIVE more days till Christmas - yay!!!

p.s. Oh my gosh you guys - can it be five days till Christmas and only seven days till the New Year? No, no it cannot. But in pregnant brain it can and does. I hit publish and then re-read my post and started laughing. I'm SO brilliant these days. So for posterity's sake I'm leaving the mathematical error.

Bumpwatch - The Start...

So, as I've been promising for some time now - I will officially start posting REAL "bump" progression photos. Unfortunately, I've gotten off to a rocky start. I took these two weekends ago before we were on our way to a holiday party and just now got around to posting! But at least we're officially making a go of this whole thing...I am going to do my very best to post on a regular schedule from here on out (these will be my famous last words, I just know it!).

So here I am in my 30 week glory - this was taken seriously days after Thanksgiving so there's not that much of a difference. Though I do suspect a bit more of pregnancy face snuck in between the holiday and when these were actually snapped. For those of you who don't know - pregnancy face is when the volume of your lips is only matched by the ratio of your cheeks as compared to your entire face. AKA your face is eating itself alive. Special times, yes?


If you really want to see more of what I'm talking about, you can click on the picture to enlarge on your own screen. Do so at your own risk;)

Other fun symptoms that started around this time include carpal tunnel in my left hand and the feeling like someone took a crow bar to my pelvic bones. I'm sorry if this is too much information on this last part, but I'm having a hard time describing it any other way. But we did find out that the little dear took a growth spurt, because as of yesterday he's estimated to weigh in at 6 pounds and 8 ounces. Just so you know - averages for this point in fetal development would put him closer to a little over four pounds at this time...what can I say? We're just a bunch of overachievers over here! So that growth spurt may explain the recent pain...otherwise we are all (baby included) right on track.

I will try to post a belly shot that will bring us up to date for the 32 week mark after this weekend. Hope you all have a most wonderful weekend!

A Tree Tale...

**Disclaimer - important to the story, I promise.**So something's switched in the last week - it's like week 32 of pregnancy is ushering in this feeling of "oh boy, I AM pregnant." And I'm finally really feeling it. As it goes with many first time pregnancies that go full-term, you don't really SHOW how pregnant you are till a little later in the game, so it felt like it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r to show...and the weight gain was slow and steady as was the bump progression. But tis no more...now we're riding off into the sunset, me and this belly of mine, with lightning speed that's only to be slowed down by a waddle.

And on top of it all, we're what? Less then two weeks till Christmas by my count, right? AND our story begins....

Ty just returned from his six-week (which we calculated out and it was really SEVEN weeks) of traveling, so we're finally just getting to the decorating and general merriment that historically speaking at least, has started much earlier in this household. I tried, believe me, I tried. I even had Ty get ALL the boxes down from the attic in the hopes that I would decorate during the week and he'd return home to a winter wonderland. Instead he returned home to boxes opened and things scattered randomly throughout the house - not so much a winter wonderland, but rather like Mr. Kringle got sick and threw up all over our house. Awesome.

So this weekend we were off to change all that and start with the tree. Only to find that the trees we LOVE and prefer - were - you guessed it, were pretty much gone. (We do a real tree, not a fake one...though I see where the appeal is now in that you never don't have a nice tree...) So, we strategized and we decided we'd give a new species of tree a try - so instead of the Noble Fir we love, we went with what we thought was a really beautiful Fraser Fir. The plus side - this thing smells incredible. Definitely more fragrant. The downside - the thing is the worst to string lights. It took Ty and I well over an hour and a half to get the thing right...but still we were in the spirit of the season and we were finally together doing it all...so we continued! We stayed up till midnight getting the thing juuuust right and drinking our hot cocoa - and there was lots of talk of "this time next year..." and general cuteness going on. Now, midnight is not my bedtime these days, so by the time we went to bed I was exhausted. But happy. We were getting back on track - maybe the rest of the decorations WOULD make their way up!?!

At nine the next morning, we were still laying in bed, we had earned a luxuriously slow start to the day given our holiday efforts from the night before...and we heard a loud swish and crash (enhanced by a lovely glass shattering sound). IS THAT THE TREE? was all I could mutter...and sure enough it was.

Don't ask me how it happened, I really have no clue. Because while it looked like it needed to be a teeny teeny bit more centered, I figured that was just my retentive behavior sneaking in. There were lots of bad words exchanged about the tree and stupid Fraser (obviously IT IS the tree's fault!). And we got the thing back up and surveyed the damage, one glass bulb had made it all the way across the living room and hadn't even broken - talk about a survivor! Really I'm surprised how many made it out alive given the size/weight of the tree.

The tree is now being punished for its bad behavior and is not redecorated. It's in timeout with clear fishing line running from the tree and being anchored to a tool box that sits behind the tree for extra support, since clearly we can't trust this thing. We're keeping our eye on it for the next few days to see if it's still possessed and then we might consider redecorating...the verdict is still out. Remember my disclaimer about the being big and pregnant? Yeah, not happy with this tree. I hope it redeems itself.

But I have hope and photographic proof that it was at one time something beautiful...here it was before the great fall of '11 moments before we hung the final ornament:

 

I'll be sure to let you know how the tree makes out this year - if it doesn't go well, we may just stack our gifts up by the fireplace this year;)