35 week appointment

Yesterday was my 35 week appointment and it was a good one. Kelsey was able to go with me, and that always improves my blood pressure, even though the day started out stressful with a call from work. I really thought going into it that my blood pressure would be SKY high. I even told the nurse that it might be high and to keep that in mind, but it was only 126/71, which is great for me! That just proves that having Kelsey there makes things better..he calms me down!

So then they did the exam. They had to do a swab for Group B which I still have no idea what it is, but it's not harmful at all for Mommys but is very harmful to babies, so if I have it, I just have to take antibiotics. The things I've learned....then she did an internal exam to see where he was sitting and if he had dropped. The first thing she said was, "He's facing the right direction!!" And then she said he had a nice, hard head. I said he gets that from his Daddy, and Kelsey said he gets it from BOTH of us, which is so totally true. Then she said he had dropped a little bit, but not completely. WE're getting closer!

I have to say, I really love my midwife. I was reading an article the other day that said of women who saw a doctor for their prenatal care, 65% said they were satisfied with it, whereas women who saw a midwife/nurse practitioner reported a 85% satisfaction rate. I think it's because midwives have more time to sit down with their patients and answer questions, and they answer them in a more relaxed way than doctors do. I know I've had problems with doctors before who seem too busy or "uppity" to care about my concerns. Sharon, our midwife, sat down and just talked to us about our concerns, and always tells me how well I'm doing. Of course I love that. :)

With all that being said, I'm really excited about his arrival. It's funny, I'm a little bit torn between loving my baby belly so much that I'll miss it, and him being here. Now , this doesn't mean that I'll be wanting to pop out another little one as soon as he's out, but there is something really cool and comforting about him being in my belly moving around...it feels like I can control that situation. But I'm also really looking forward to holding him and hugging him and seeing Kelsey do the same (and of course, Aunt Sis, Grammie, Grumpa, and the rest of the crew). Everytime I see one of his little onesies or diapers I just wish he was here now. It's a good place to be in. I wouldn't want extremes either way (like, devastated that I wont' be pregnant anymore or begging for him to get here soon). Knowing that he could really come anytime in the next 4 weeks is so exciting!


Mom and Dad are leaving today to drive down for the weekend, my shower at work is today and we're doing maternity pictures this weekend! So it should be an exciting week!


Here is my 36 week picture:

Baby shower at Cornestone!

Yesterday we had a baby shower at Kelsey's school. Instead of doing individual gifts, the school had families/kids donate and they bought our gifts with that money. Two women were "in charge" of it and they did the most phenomenal job. It was really amazing how much love they poured into us. I just am blown away about how much people love this little guy, and he's not even here yet!

The theme was "monkeying around", just like the theme of our nursery, and it was in nursery colors, too. Most of the kids at the school wore baby blue in honor of the shower and our baby! We walked onto the patio and they were serving banana splits. The tables were decorated with bananas and balloons, and there was a diaper cake on the side. For those of you who don't know, here is it:

Basically, it's diapers made into a shape of a three tiered cake. This one was made from a whole case of diapers and had little odds and ends stuck into it, like baby nail clippers, swabs, lotions and that kind of thing. The monkey was like a little cake topper!

There were a few individual gifts, like some clothes, a little picture frame, lotions, little storage containers, and a few other things. Then we got into the rest of the gifts from the offering. Our nursery has little blue, green and brown storage boxes, so some of the gifts were placed in those. We got all sorts of clothes, hats, booties, sleepers (which we needed), mittens, gowns, bath stuff and other goodies. We got our diaper bag, which was a "5-piece set" including a smaller diaper bag, a changing pad cover, a "dirty duds" bag and an insulated bottle holder.

Another set of gifts were in a monkey hamper...SO glad we got that one! This package had a lot of nursing things, like the breast pump I registered for, some bags, then lots of sheets, flannel pads for the bed, and pack and play sheets.

The "big gift" from the staff was a second car seat for the other car! We were super excited about this one, as it was really the only other "big ticket" item that we really needed to get. It's a booster carseat so he can use it when he's bigger!

I was just overwhelmed by the love that the school showed to us, for a little baby boy who isn't even born yet!! I just feel so blessed that he's being taken care of.

34 week appointment & breastfeeding class

I had another normal appointment yesterday! My blood pressure was up at the beginning and low at the end (as usual). My midwife measured my belly and said it was the perfect size, so that means he's the right size for his age. She said he must be "stretching out" because she could feel him on both sides of my belly. Next appointment they will do an exam to see how my cervix is doing and at that point she'll determine how big he is (well, it's just an educated guess) and if he's head down. My next appointment is in 2 weeks and starts my weekly appointments...THAT'S close! I will only have 4 more of them left, unless he comes early. His heart rate was great and she didn't have any trouble finding it this week. He was being calm and patient for once!

She gave me a little card and I'm supposed to "count my kicks". This seems like a lot of hassle for me, considering he moves all the time. I have to start counting and when I get to 10 kicks, I stop. If I don't feel 10 kicks in 2 hours, I'm supposed to call their office immediately. In our childbirth ed class we had to do the same thing, but she said to lay on our sides and if he doesn't' move, drink some juice and see if he moves. The biggest problem with this kick counting stuff is the fact that the instructions tell me to lay on my side..now how am I supposed to do that at work? So I'm just sitting with my feet propped up doing it at my desk!

We had a breast feeding class last night and it was really informative. I am very committed to sticking it out because I feel like it's best for him AND (selfishly) it will save money on formula. I'm thinking, why spend all that money on artificial stuff when I could use what God gave me (well, let's hope he gives me enough) and use that money to buy fun stuff for Luke! The coolest thing about the class was them talking about getting skin to skin contact with the baby from the minute he's born, up to an hour, right on my chest! The teacher said a lot of Moms will just fall asleep like that for a little while, with that warm little baby right there being cuddled. I told Kelsey nothing sounds nicer to me. He said later, "I have to admit...that is pretty special. Moms are lucky they get to do that." Then later in the class, he asked the instructor if Dads could give skin to skin contact too!  She said it was a great idea and to hold him as much as possible at first. I can just imagine us all laying in bed napping and cuddling. Can't wait!

The other day we were at Mochi, which is this really yummy yogurt place where you get your own toppings, and I saw a Mom with her baby eating yogurt and just seeing her made me want to cry. I just can't wait to see his little face, and although 6 weeks doesn't seem like a lot, it feels like an eternity!!

We had our childbirth ed class (the first 2 sessions) so I'm going to wait till it's all done to write about that.

Here is my picture from last Wednesday (33 weeks).

Nesting

I've got some major nesting going on, at least I think that's what's going on.

I got on a kick this weekend to clean. Maybe it was because Kelsey was gone Friday and Saturday and I had nothing better to do. I started with laundry folding, then decided to tackle our bathroom which was absolutely disgusting. I've been meaning to scrub the tub, but it's way too hard to get on my hands and knees and do it. I just felt so much better -- more at ease -- when it was done.

Then I started on Luke's nursery and his clothes. He has A LOT of clothes! We bought some bins that will go in the storage unit. It's great because they are little and his things wont' get lost in the shuffle.

Here are the bins. They match the bedding (brown, green and blue). The brown ones have little monkey faces on them. So far I have onesies; sleepers; socks, hats and pants; receving blankets; and bibs & burp cloths. I have about 4-6 more bins, so I'll have plenty of room for other stuff.

How cute are all these socks?? They barely covered the bottom of this tiny laundry basket. LOVE IT!

I continued with my productivity by cleaning out underneath the guest bathroom sink and making room for his bath supplies and his tub, then making his own shelf in our hallway linen closet. This is where I have his little hooded towels, washcloths, crib sheets and blankets.

I have never been able to fold fitted sheets, and as I was folding his freshly cleaned stuff, I realized that was ALL the sheets he has!  So they look terrible. Mom has tried to teach me and I do ALRIGHT, but it still bugs me. I like having things really folded nicely.

I went in his room and tried to put things away as much as I could, but there is still so much to do with the nursery. We need to get the curtains hung, the furniture painted, toy box painted and covered (Kelsey is going to put padding on top and make it an extra seat) and also paint the little wooden LUKE letters that will go in his room. We also have some cute stick ons for the walls and some other artwork to hang. I know we still have two months, but that is going to go by so quickly.

I literally worked until my body just gave out, but it felt so good to be able to look at all those clothes and make some sense of it all. 

A couple friends had babies this weekend, and seeing their pictures makes me want to see him even more!