baby's nursery

Dear baby, your daddy and I are so glad that you're safe and healthy.  

I know you like being cuddled up inside me, but aren't you running out of room in there?  

I know your due date isn't for another two weeks, but we'd be happy for you to show up anytime now.

We've got your room all set up.

And let me tell you, people already LOVE you.  

You should see all the wonderful things you've been given.  

I guess for now I'll just show off your room to everyone else.

But just so you know, you have a comfy crib waiting for you.

And a wonderful glider to rock in with me. 

I made sure to put the basket with all the blankets right next to it, so you'll always be warm.

Wanna know a secret?  I was rocked in that very same glider when I was a baby.

My own momma used to hold me and rock me when I was just a tiny little thing. 

And she kept it all these years, so I could have it to rock you in one day. 

Of course we got new foam for it and re-upholstered it, so it's just like new now.

Your little dressers are already filled with clothes. 

Your daddy and I love us a good deal, and we got a great deal on these dressers!

We found them at a yard sale for $5 each.  

We added some new dresser pulls that we got at Ikea ($6 for all of them) and with a little paint, they look like new!  And they are the perfect baby-size dressers.  

You have 36 pairs of socks my little love.  Can you believe it?  36! Those toes of yours will never be cold.

And with all the hats we've collected, neither will those cute ears of yours.  

  

And speaking of cold, we've already hung up all your adorable little jackets and sweatshirts in the closet.

We've got your changing area all ready too.  We decided not to buy a changing table, but to just use the top of the dressers.  You have a comfy changing pad to lay in and I've got all the supplies (diapers, lotion, burb cloths, etc) right next to it.

We've been decorating your room with Hawaiian-themed and ocean artwork.

Your dad in particular wants you to love Hawaii as much as we do.

We brought back some prints from our favorite Hawaiian artist, Heather Brown, just so we could hang them in your room.

We also hung this cool mosiac sea horse artwork that I got from Costa Rica years ago.

And finally, we have a little bookshelf where we've already started your library.

I hope you end up loving to read.  Reading is seriously wonderful.

So what do you think my little love?  Doesn't your room look nice and inviting?  

I have to confess I go and sit in there pretty often.  

Your daddy is currently using it as his study room, but that'll change once you get here of course.

And not that you'll be using it for awhile, but I can't wait for you to see your high chair.

It was actually my grandpa's high chair when he was a little boy.  

You are one lucky little man my love.

I can't even tell you how much I love you already.

And I know everyone else is going to love you too.

I'm just worried I'm gonna have to fight to get time with you once you actually show up.

Because then everyone is gonna want their turn holding you.

*sigh* I have a feeling you're gonna be a bit of a momma's boy though. 

And that's quite alright with me.

Love you forever, 

Momma

37 weeks

Pregnancy/Baby Stats:

How far along: 37 weeks

How big is baby:  Exact size?  No idea!  Getting pretty big though.  Still at watermelon status though.  

Total weight gain: I'll find out my official gain at my appointment tomorrow.  So for now, let's just say 28lbs+ and I'll have a more accurate number after tomorrow.  

Stretch marks:  Still in the clear thankfully.   

Best moment of the week:  We finally found a pediatrician!  We had our interview with her on Monday, and we really like her, soooo, looks like baby has a doctor finally!

Gender:  GIRL!!!! We had a shocker and found out our ultrasounds have been wrong this whole time!!!  Ahhhh, just kidding of course.  Still a boy.  I really should take this "question" off, since I don't believe my answer will ever be anything other than "boy".....

Movement: Still quite the mover this little man is.  Aren't babies supposed to run out of room and therefore have a decrease in movement at this stage?  Sheesh, I swear the lack of room only makes me feel him more.  He especially loves sticking his little bum up.  Hubby and I have determined that he's perfected  the booty dance.  

Have you started to show yet:  Obviously yes.  This is another of those "questions" I should maybe take down.  Clearly I'll never answer this any way other than "yes" at this point.   

Belly button:  I'm calling it.  It's officially an outie.  I have a nice bruised-looking pattern circling my belly button, because frankly, all that skin used to be inside my belly button and has now been pushed out.  Yep, pregnancy makes you sexy alright....

Mood:  Happy happy still!  And maybe just a wee bit sarcastic.  I think I'm just getting anxious, and the "any day now, huh?"  comments are not helping.  

What I miss: Feeling normal.  All those people who say they love being pregnant?  Yeah, I'm not one of those.  I haven't even had a difficult pregnancy, but I definitely don't enjoy it as much as I thought I would pre-pregnancy.  

Symptoms: 

Tired-Still never feeling fully rested.  But I hear that doesn't change much after baby comes.  Can't complain too much though.  I'm grateful I don't have to work right now, so I've been able to lounge around on days when I'm really exhausted, and on other days I have the freedom to make my own schedule.  Not that I've been doing too much I guess.  Lots of organizing (and reorganizing) of the house and baby's room in particular.  Lots of cleaning and tidying up of the house.  And lots of smoothie and bread making.  Hubby really appreciates the smoothies and homemade bread in particular I think.  

Sciatic Pain-Better this week, but still not fun by any means.  I've been fighting through it during workouts lately.  So painful. 

Funny dreams-Still having weird labor and birth dreams just about every night.  I'm just glad to know most of these dreams won't be coming true.  Or so I hope at least.  

Nausea-Perhaps nausea isn't the right description for this symptom, but I've just been feeling kind of off lately.  I'll have days (or even just an hour) where I'll just feel sick.  Definitely some nausea, but maybe more of an "off feeling."  I don't really know how to explain it that well.  Not a very fun feeling though.  

Signs of labor: Still lots of wishful thinking.  Having more contractions, but still nothing regular.  And of course I want my little guy to cook as long as he needs to to be healthy, but if he comes any time in the next little bit, you definitely won't hear a complaint from me.  I just hope he doesn't come on 9/11, because that's hubby's birthday and I'm kinda a birthday freak as my hubby tells me and I really believe birthdays are supposed to be special, so I don't want either hubby or our baby to have to share their special day.  Yeah I know, I'm a little crazy.  But trust me, everyone in my family is a little birthday crazy.  

Looking forward to:  Our midwife appointment tomorrow!

36 weeks

Pregnancy/Baby Stats:

How far along: 36 weeks

How big is baby:  The size of a watermelon!  Hubby says I'm looking more and more round every day.  Of course he says this in a  nice way.  Otherwise he'd be in trouble :)

Total weight gain: Remember how I lost those 2 pounds last week?  Yeah...definitely gained those back.  Plus another one.  So I'm up to about 28lbs total now.  Bleh.  I've given up understanding pregnancy weight gain. 

Stretch marks:  Nope nope.  

Best moment of the week:  No "best moment" I don't think.  Hubby started classes and work this week, so I've been trying to keep myself busy with cleaning and baby preparations during the day.  During in the evenings hubby still sits with me and chases baby's feet around on my belly though.  Our little guy already loves playing with his daddy. 

Gender:  Boy.

Movement: Yep, this little guy is always on the move.  I swear he's perfected them moonwalk already.  

Have you started to show yet:  Clearly.  

Belly button:  An outie?  The top part is definitely an outie.  The bottom part is very flat.  Basically it can't decide what it wants to look like.  I'm just praying it goes back to normal very soon after birth.  

Mood:  Overall very happy.  And also anxious and tired at this point.  

What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach.  Not easy to do when you have a basketball-sized ninja occupying your front.  

Symptoms: 

Tired-I'm seriously impressed with how much sleep my body is craving lately.  I'm still sleeping about 9 hours, but it's like I'm exhausted all the time.  I don't have much trouble falling asleep, but for the last week I've had a more difficult time falling back asleep after all the times I have to get up to pee at night.  I'm not sure if my body is going through some pregnancy insomnia thing or if my sleep troubles have anything to do with hubby suddenly fancying my side of the bed when I'm trying to get comfortable.  Either way, I'm grateful I'm still getting the sleep that I am.  

Sciatic Pain-Getting worse!  It doesn't happen every day still, but when it does happen, boy oh boy is it painful! I've been trying to do certain stretches to help relieve the pain.  

Funny dreams-I think I dream about baby every night now.  I had the BEST dream the other night.  I got to meet our little guy and he was seriously BEAUTIFUL!  I woke up utterly in love.  But of course it was only some crazy pregnancy dream, because aside from the little guy's beautiful eyes and adorable face, he also had a mouth full of teeth...as a newborn.   

Signs of labor: Nothing too definitive.  Having contractions now and then, but nothing really regular.  Mostly just a lot of wishful thinking at this point. 

Looking forward to:  We have our pediatrician interview on Monday (praying it goes well, because I do NOT want to have to find another pediatrician this late in the game).  We also  have another appointment with the midwife next week and we have our last birthing class as well.  I still can't believe everything has gone by so fast.  I'm just ready for my little guy to be here and in my arms.  And just a warning to family...once he's here I may not be letting him go for quite some time.  :)

35 weeks

Pregnancy/Baby Stats:

How far along: 35 weeks

How big is baby:  The size of a large cantaloupe! I'd guess he's probably somewhere just over 5lbs now, considering he was about 5 lbs at our last ultrasound a week and a half ago.

Total weight gain: 25 pounds total.  I've lost 2 pounds since last week.  Not sure why, but I'm sure not complaining.  Baby's healthy.  I'm healthy.  We're happy.

Stretch marks:  Nope.  And still praying they don't come.  I can tell my skin is getting thin though.  My sides are looking vein-y.  Not so cute.  But 

Best moment of the week:  This isn't actually a moment, but more so a bunch of moments I guess.  Every night hubby and I have been cuddling up on the couch watching a movie or something and hubby always puts his hand on my protruding belly and plays with baby.  Baby is at his most active time during the evenings and hubby suddenly loves feeling all his "earthquake-like movements."  Not that he didn't like feeling baby's kicks before, but I always had to grab his hand and put it on my stomach.  Now that baby's movements are so strong and consistent, hubby is the one always initiating it.  And if baby isn't "awake and ready to play" hubby has no problem waking the little guy up haha. 

Gender:  Boy.

Movement: Still LOTS of movement.  I think he must be getting pretty cramped in there, because some days I swear he's fighting to get out.  My poor insides must be bruised.  I finally caught some of his funky movements (and hiccuping) on video this week though.  He's usually camera shy, so this was a big accomplishment.

Have you started to show yet:  Very much so. 

Belly button:  It really depends on where baby is sitting.  Sometimes it's really flat and other times it's very much an outie.  Either way, it's not so cute anymore...

Mood:  Very happy still! And always a tad stressed and overwhelmed.  But still very happy.  

What I miss: Being able to sit up straight when I'm laying down.  At this point I often feel like a turtle trapped on my back.  I have to roll myself this way and that, just to be able and pull myself up without feeling like I'm going to rip my poor abs apart.  

Symptoms: 

Tired-Still sleeping like a champ these days.  I guess I'm lucky I don't have trouble sleeping this late in pregnancy.  I seriously sleep 9.5-10 hours every night though.  And I swear my body needs every minute of it to be able to function.     

Sciatic Pain-Still comes and goes.  Catches me off guard every time too.  Luckily it doesn't last but for a few seconds at a time usually.  

Funny dreams-Can I say that funny pregnancy dreams are a symptom?  I think they are.  So far I've had dreams with my baby in it (though he was very Taiwanese looking), I've had dreams about the exact day that I'm supposedly going to go into labor (we'll see if that one ends up being true or not), and I've dreamed about being a mom to a grouchy toddler who had the exact face of one of my friends and wanted nothing but their pacifier (though I'm not saying which friend this was). 

Looking forward to:  Another appointment with my midwife on Monday and an upcoming "meet and greet" with a potential pediatrician the following week.  I start having midwife appointments once a week now.  Can't believe I'm that far along already.  

A little look at our lives...

So, what have we been up to lately?

Well, quite a bit and not too much all at the same time.

We left Hawaii on June 1st and up until the middle of July we were bouncing around visiting family.

We stayed with hubby's family, my family, and my grandparents.

Before we met up with family, we took a short stop in New Orleans though. 

I was there for about five days, presenting at the National AIR conference for work.

Hubby unfortunately was only able to stay in New Orleans for a day.

He had to fly out early to go to Nashville for a fellowship interview at Vanderbilt.

The good news?  He got the fellowship! Meaning his graduate tuition is being waived.

SUCH a blessing for us.

While being able to visit with family was great, we were eager to have our own space again.

In the middle of  July we moved into an apartment in Nashville.

Hubby starts school at the end of August (next week actually), but we wanted to be settled beforehand.

We wanted time to get comfortable with our house/location and also with my new doctor.

Since I'm well into my 3rd trimester, we didn't want to risk moving too late.  

It's been more than nice having our own place to live again.

I think we've gotten everything unpacked now.  

The nursery is set up too.  Just missing a baby now.

I'll do a separate post all about the nursery later though.

Now that we finally feel like our lives have settled down a bit, I hate to say it, but we're actually getting kinda bored.

We love the area that we're living in, but we're on a tight budget, which doesn't leave much for us to do. 

Plus we still don't really know anyone, so we're just hanging out together these days.

And between the crazy hot/humid weather we had and the now, rainy weather, we haven't really been dying to go outside.

Good thing the Olympics kept us plenty busy the last two weeks.

One more week until hubby starts classes and work though.

Sooo, not too much happening right now.  

Mostly just waiting.

Waiting for hubby to start school/work.

Waiting for baby to make his arrival.

And waiting to see just how crazy our lives are gonna become.

We're really happy though.

Happy to be together. Happy to expand our family soon.

And happy about all the many ways our little family has been blessed lately.

So for now, we're content to have uneventful lives.

Because I have a feeling things are about to change pretty soon.

In a good way of course.

34 weeks

I'm actually almost 35 weeks now.  I wrote this post earlier, but never posted it.  So they'll be a 35 week post coming in the next couple days as well.

Pregnancy/Baby Stats:

How far along: 34 weeks

How big is baby:  The size of a cantaloupe! He measured about 5 pounds at the ultrasound earlier this week.

Total weight gain: 27 pounds total.  Hoping not to gain too much more.  My weight gain has started to level off the last couple weeks, so hopefully I won't have any drastic increases before baby comes.  

Stretch marks:  Still none.  Lotioning up the belly, boobs, and butt every morning and night though.

Best moment of the week:  We got to see baby on the ultrasound on Tuesday.  We had an appointment on Monday and the midwife was concerned because I was measuring about 3cm smaller than I should be, so she sent me to get an ultrasound on Tuesday morning, just to check and make sure baby boy is growing properly.  Well, it turns out baby boy is measuring perfectly.  Fluid levels are good too.  Annnnd, baby is head down and ready to go!  At 28 weeks, baby was breech, so I've been worried about his position, but I'm so relieved that he's finally flipped properly.  At the ultrasound the tech surprised us and showed us a 3D of baby's face.  It was so fun to be able and see his cute little features.  I can't wait til he's actually here and I can snuggle and hold him. 

And while this is clearly not the "best moment of the week," I had a wonderful confidence boost yesterday when I found that I could still fit into some of my pre-pregnancy jeans.  There's just something about being 8 months pregnant and still being able to put pre-preggo jeans that boosts your attitude for the whole day.  Mind you I think I'll stick with the maternity shorts and jeans I've been wearing, simply because they're slightly more comfortable, but the fact that I CAN wear my old jeans is awesome.  Think I'm crazy?  See how you feel when you're 8 months pregnant.  

Gender:  As the ultrasound tech said yesterday, "definitely still a boy!"

Movement: Baby is a moving machine!!  I love him, but man do I never get a break.  I wake up in the morning and he's kicking.  I eat meals and he kicks.  I sit down and he kicks.  I go to bed at night and he kicks. I wake up in the middle of the night and he kicks some more.  This kid is gonna be an active one.  On the ultrasound, we found out that he likes playing with his feet up by his head.  Baby boy is also hiccuping quite a bit these days.  Atleast 3 times a day I'd say.  And now that I'm so far along in the pregnancy, it's easy to see all his movements from the outside.  Hubby is impressed with just how strong baby's gotten.  He can produce full on waves on my stomach.  Kinda freaky looking sometimes.  

Have you started to show yet:  Absolutely.  People can't believe when I tell them I'm due next month, but I sure feel pretty big.  I've got a distinctive baby bump though.  As you can see in the picture clearly.

Belly button:  I went from having a very very deep belly button, to some funky looking thing.  It's pretty level with my abdomen at this point, but it's threatening to pop at any time.  Hang in there little belly button, only a couple more weeks!

Mood:  Happy!  I feel like hubby and I are finally checking things off our list, and so I'm feeling less stressed lately.  Just getting a little anxious as we're getting to the end of everything.  

What I miss: Not having my bladder used as a trampoline.  I swear I didn't think it was possible to pee so many times in one day.  Or night.

Symptoms: 

Headaches-Had these since second trimester, and can't seem to shake them fully.  They've gotten less frequent at least.

Tired-I'm getting that sense of exhaustion again.  I sleep about 8-9 hours every night and lately I've been taking 1-2 hour naps in the afternoon as well.  It's amazing I get anything done.  I'm seriously just SOO tired lately.   

Shortness of breath-I've had some trouble breathing lately. Even while sitting and resting, it's difficult to get a full breath lately.  I think my poor lungs are starting to get compressed.   

Heartburn-Very very minor.  I mostly only get it when I eat tomatoes.  Unfortunately I LOVE tomatoes.  Hubby is making me give them up until after pregnancy though.  They're really the only thing that seems to cause heartburn, and even then it's nothing severe, just a slight, acidic discomfort in my throat.

Sciatic Pain-Baby has been pressing on my nerve a little more lately, and I randomly get this shooting pain around my pelvic area and down the top of my thighs. 

Even though I've been experiencing more symptoms lately, I still don't feel like anything has been too terrible.  Like instead of getting the full taste of any one symptom, I've just been given a sampling of them all.  Not too much to complain about.  Though I wouldn't mind if someone could magically give me a bit more energy.  

Looking forward to:  Meeting little baby boy!!  At this point, I swear that's all I can think about.  I have another doctor's appointment in two weeks, and after that I'll be meeting with the midwives once every week until baby comes.  

Other:  Hubby and I have started attending a birthing class.  We go once a week for five weeks.  We've got three more weeks left in the class.  So far it's been really informative and I'm glad we signed up for it.

Overall hubby, baby, and I are doing well.  We're now in Nashville, getting settled with our new life here.  Obviously it's been awhile since I've updated, so I'm really gonna try and be more consistent in my posts.  So bear with me please, cause some days (most days), a nap is just so much more appealing than writing a blog post.