34 Week Update!

Where have I been!? There has been lots of craziness happening with our little family.  The fiance started moving into my (tiny) two bedroom place on Friday and we have become best friends with Goodwill and the dumpster.  I'm going through a huge purging phase right now... all I really care about is Baby C's nursery which has also relocated.  Everything else can be donated or trashed!  It has been so glorious to finally be able to fold his teeny, precious clothes and put away the toys and books gifted to him by the many people that already love him.  We are beyond excited.  We had two more baby showers this weekend - one Friday and one Saturday - and they were so much fun.  

I was sure that my horrible mirror pics would be eliminated when the fiance moved in (we actually got a Canon Rebel for Christmas), but he is back at his old place cleaning up and wrapping up his last week at his old job, so I'm alone with the pets and my huge belly this week.  Here it is...

~34 Weeks, 2 days

At this stage in my pregnancy, I have finally learned to just laugh to myself when people make comments to me.  For example, a classmate said tonight "your belly gets bigger every time I see you."  -- Really? It's getting bigger?  How odd considering I have a mini human growing inside me!  People also love to comment about how much "huger" I am going to get.  And then the blatant stares are always nice.  

I have another checkup tomorrow and then the dreaded Strep-B screen the following checkup.  It's getting so close!  We are going to have our car seat installed soon, but found out that my fiances sports car hardly fits the car seat and I won't be able to ride in the front passenger seat with it installed.  Yup, I'll be riding in the back with the baby while he plays taxi driver.

Fun fact: My belly button is still an innie.

No matter how crazy it gets, we have lots to look forward to in the coming weeks! 

33 Week Update

Wow, life is craazzzzy right now.  Things are changing in every aspect of our lives.

33 Weeks

-- The fiance has found a new job that require zero travel and we are now finally going to be living together!  I'm hoping to stay with my current employer, but we are working it out right now... sigh.  More on that later.

-- Weight gained: 20 pounds as of last Tuesday (I did a little dance at the doctor's office when I found out I'm right on track with the pound-a-week suggestion - the fiance was not amused).  At this rate, I should gain 28 pounds total.

-- Baby C-Man is perfect so far.  The other day we were gawking at my belly because he must have been laying sideways - both sides of my belly were poking out and my belly button area was sunken in... so strange to look at!

-- Our stroller and car seat came in. We have another hand-me-down set, but apparently you can't use car seats unless they are made within the last few years (we can use the stroller, though!), so we ordered a new one.  My stepsister knows someone who works at Britax so we got an amazing deal.  I've been pushing it around the house like a creep.

(sorry for the poor lighting -- MBA textbooks were calling my name)

-- My hospital bag is halfway packed!  I plan to show you all the contents in a separate post.

-- Grad school is SO crazy right now (hence the lack of posting), but I thrive on the madness.  And I have the best prize to look forward to when it's all over.

Even in all the madness and uncertainty, life is good.

Quotes I Live By

I love quotes.  To me, they mean that someone, somewhere in this world, can relate to you at a given time and place in your life.  Isn't it amazing how similar we all are?

Here are a few that I live by. I hope to add more as I go along.

Life:

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun." -- Katherine Hepburn


"Life is to be enjoyed, not endured."  -- Gordon Hinckley


"Finish each day and be done with it.  You have done what you could.  Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can.  Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Faith:

"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." -- Hebrews 11:1


"Every good and perfect gift is from above." -- James 1:17
(this one perfectly sums up how I feel about our son)


"Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" -- Matthew 6:25

Love

"Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." -- Robert Heinlein
(...seriously, so very true)

"Choose the one you love, love the one you choose." -- Unknown

My view this week

31 Week Update

Today marks 31 weeks!  Only 9 weeks (63 days) to go.  This week is my very last Spring Break which means I get a break from classes but will be working full-time at the office.  I only have 2.5 weeks left before I go on maternity leave, so I didn't want to leave without wrapping up odds and ends.  It will be bittersweet packing up my belongings, taking down pictures, and walking out after 5 years.  

31 Weeks

I realize I'm wearing the same shirt from my 27 Week update, but I also noticed that my belly doesn't seem to have grown all that much since then.  I certainly gained weight at my last midwife checkup, so I know the little guy is fattening up (or maybe that's just me).  I've noticed that he is getting so much stronger!  His kicks and punches are so distinct and he is overall a very active baby.

By the way, I have a confession to make... I'm a preggo creeper.  If I see another pregnant woman anywhere, it doesn't matter who they are, I will want to be their friend.  Usually I refrain, but the other day I ran into a fellow pregnant girl in the restroom on campus and asked her when she was due.  It sparked a "so you can't sleep either?" conversation and I realized how much I wish I had a friend or family member I could share the experience with.  

I've been meaning to mention this - is it horrible of me that I'm getting tired of my friends asking me intimate questions or making comments about my body?  For example, at my baby shower, in front of 15+ people, one of the girls asked how much weight I'd gained.  With all eyes on me, of course I had to answer!  Another asked if I had gotten stretch marks (thankfully, I have not), prompting two more to chime in, "I'd been wondering if you had gotten any!"  (if they are truly worried about that, they have too much time on their hands...).  Several have asked if the fiance and I still have... relations.... which I find to be completely inappropriate, but maybe that's just me?  I am usually an open book, but I wish that people were more respectful.  Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean you can completely remove your verbal filter.  Right?

In other news, how cute is this?

Happy March!

March is such a great month because it (usually) means that Spring will be here soon (March 20th, officially!).  Things I'm looking forward to this month:

• Taking the Parent's Tour of our hospital and birthing center
• 2 more baby showers (We're spoiled)
• Flip flops! Sandals! Open-toed shoes! (I'm going to start becoming best friends with the ladies at my nail salon because reaching my toes isn't happening)
• Wearing dresses
• My growing baby bump.  My Mom sent me several maternity tank tops in the mail today - it's funny how huge the flower on this one gets once I put it on ;-)  I used to wear pretty plain, solid colored tops pre-pregnancy, but now that I have a baby bump I rock anything, especially loud designs and colors. I figure I might as well flaunt it!

30.5 Weeks

• Maternity leave starting in about 3 weeks!
• Finishing our nursery
• Possibly finding new jobs that we enjoy (more on that later)

Happy March, everyone!