36 weeks

Alright, I'm 9 months pregnant. At this point, they won't stop me if I go into labor. It was surreal to hear the doctor say that, I remember when I was pregnant with Bria and they said that I literally thought I was going to go into labor within 24 hours. Funny me :)

My appointment on Monday went well. I had the strep B test and she offered to check my cervix but I declined, I'll wait until my next appointment which is Monday. This little girl's heartbeat sounded slower than last week which was good since it was so high, I think we did just catch her at a really active time. My belly measured 35 weeks so almost right on.

This week went pretty well, I slept a little better which was nice. I'm slowing down for sure, on Tuesdays swim lessons with Bria I kept thinking how glad I was that it was our last week because I wasn't sure I could do it much longer. I really enjoy swim lessons and obviously Bria does so I didn't think I'd be anxious for them to be over, but that's how tired I am I guess.

I had my family baby shower on Sunday and it was so much fun. I loved how intimate it was and loved being able to celebrate this little girl and her impending arrival. We got some adorable footed sleepers for her, lots of diapers, burp rags, bows, and I am thrilled to pieces. I've already done all the laundry from it and I am just so excited to meet this little girl.

She's been staying pretty active and Tuesday night she was stretching and rolling all over the place, it was so painful! I seriously never remember it being so painful. I'm still sore from it, I think she bruised my insides, strong little girl in there!

Brian's big 4 day hike around Mt. Hood is this weekend and I wish I could say I was excited for him because he is like a little boy awaiting Christmas, but I'm just looking forward to it being done. I just hate that I won't be able to reach him if something were to happen, plus I don't like that he'll be doing somewhat dangerous hiking right before I birth our second child. So if ya'll want to say some extra prayers that all goes well that would be fabulous :)

I didn't realize I was hiding the belly so much with my outfit, next week I'll make sure to wear something that allows you to see just how big this belly is!

My arm is kind of in the way here too, I seriously have a huge belly.

Front shot of the belly :)

How far along? 36 weeks

Total weight gain: 32 pounds

Sleep: Not horrible, not great.

Movement: Oh yeah!

Food cravings: sweethearts and cereal

Labor signs: Just braxton hicks, they are getting pretty uncomfortable

Belly button: In

What I miss: Sleeping

What I am looking forward to: Getting a pedicure

Milestones: Being at the stage where I can go into labor safely!

35 weeks

Holy cow, I cannot believe I am 35 weeks along!!! 35 weeks along and 35 days to go, insane.

I'm being really good about going for walks, every morning after breakfast I get ready and put Bria in the jogging stroller along with snacks, books and a doll. I do a fast paced walk for about 40 minutes and it feels really good. I pretty much have one long braxton hick while I walk, I remember getting them a lot when I was pregnant with Bria and doing my walks with MJ at night. Poor MJ, I know she wishes she was my walking buddy but there is no way I could handle her and Bria, it would be way too much.

Physically I'm feeling pretty darn good...during the day anyway. The nights are difficult, it is nearly impossible to get comfortable, I pee a lot, and I have a hard time getting back to sleep. Mix that with Bria getting a molar in and I am seriously behind on sleep. And don't even tell me that it's natures way of preparing me for the newborn days, that is crap. I should be getting extra sleep right now to get ready, but it's just not in the cards right now.

My mom and sisters are throwing me a little intimate baby shower this Sunday and I can't wait. Since this is our second child and it's another girl I felt bad having another shower, plus we have almost everything we need. But I'm really happy that this little girl still gets a little celebration party and it'll be a lot of fun. Plus, my moms group totally surprised me by having a shower for me! It's in about 2 weeks and I was so floored that they offered, such sweet friends.

I had an appointment yesterday and the doctor was good. She wasn't overly friendly, but I honestly liked her. She asked about my previous pregnancy, about this one so far, and looked at my chart and history. That right there made me very happy since no other doctor has taken the time to do that. She said I'm measuring right on and felt that this little girl was head down. She said at my next appointment they will do the strep B test and then do an internal.

Here are some pictures of the nursery. We still don't have anything on the walls and the brown rocking chair will soon be replaced with the glider that Sara got us (the brown rocking chair is going downstairs in the playroom so I have a place to sit and nurse her while Bria plays). Also, the room is small so it's hard to take a picture but you get the idea.

The crib

I love the color of purple, it's perfect.

*I'll have belly pictures later tonight

So there's the nursery, like I said, we still have finishing touches to make but I'm really happy with it so far.

How far along? 35 weeks!

Total weight gain: 31 pounds

Sleep: Horrible, absolutely horrible.

Movement: Tons, I love it.

Food cravings: cereal, sweethearts, and fruit

Labor signs: Nope

Belly button: In

What I miss: Sleep

What I am looking forward to: Putting the ottoman together (thanks Sara and Jon!) :)

Milestones: 35/35!

34 weeks

I've had a pretty good week pregnancy wise, my only complaint is sleep. The past few nights I have a hard time getting back to sleep after I've gotten up to use the restroom, which is once or twice. So I try to take naps but they don't always happen, either I can't get to sleep or I'm nesting and trying to get things done.

We got the bedding! Not only that but we got the nursery all set up! I'm so happy to have that room all set up, it makes a huge difference and even Brian admitted that. He was giving me a hard time about wanting to do it since we still have another month and a half but after it was all set up he said he was really glad we did it. Something about having that visual helps make everything more real. Since everything was all set up I decided to do my next favorite thing: wash and hang baby clothes :) I LOVE going through baby clothes so I know it's a little early but it's just so fun. Plus this time it was extra fun since I had memories of baby Bria in the outfits.

With the room all set up it was easier to take inventory and see what last minute things we need. We just got our new monitor in the mail today and we're really excited. It's an Angelcare and I think it's gonna be so nice to have. It's pretty fancy and already it's gone up in price from when we purchased it, score us!

Anyway, there's only a few things I think we'll get before she arrives:

changing pad & cover for the changing table (ours is really old)

laundry hamper

mattress cover (again, ours is really old)

closet organizer (something like this maybe)

bottles

I think that is about it, then of course diapers and wipes.

I called today and got a tour of the hospital scheduled for September 8th, I'm excited for that. We are also looking into registering for an infant CPR class, I really want to take one and think it's so important.

My next appointment is on Tuesday and it's with a doctor I haven't met yet so I'm hoping it goes well, I'd really like to get a better feeling about this doctor's office soon.

The belly

How far along? 34 weeks

Total weight gain: 29 pounds

Sleep: Not great

Movement: Lots and lots, she is strong!

Food cravings: cereal

Labor signs: Nope, just braxton hicks

Belly button in or out? In, it's funny because it totally looks like an outtie through shirts, but I swear, it's not.

What I miss: Sleeping all snuggled up in any position that I want.

What I am looking forward to: Putting lots of pretty headbands in her hair :)

Milestones: Her lungs are almost fully developed.

33 weeks

Look at me just sprinting through this pregnancy, my word!

Bria and I both had colds this week so it's been pretty rough. It was Monday or Tuesday that I wanted to "call in sick" so bad, but couldn't because Brian had meetings. I was up with Bria at least twice a night and then up myself since I had no medications I could take in the house so I didn't get much sleep. For some reason I couldn't nap either, I think because I was so incredibly uncomfortable and too lazy to go to the store to get pregnancy safe drugs.

Last night we finally both slept a lot better and I'm grateful for that. Due to the lack of sleep, being sick, taking care of a sick toddler, and being very pregnant I had my worst pregnancy day this week, thus far. A day where I cried and cried for no apparent reason and just wanted to call my mom but didn't have anything to say, just wanted to cry.

I'm feeling better now thankfully. My mom and I talked for an hour last night and she gave me courage to call and reschedule my next appointment with a different doctor in the group, I'm done with Dr. B, aka Dr. Bitch.

Since I've been sick I haven't gone on walks in a few days and I really miss it so I'm anxious to feel better and get back out there. I've been eating fruit like it's going out of style, I made a big thing of fruit salad today so that when I'm hungry I can just grab some of that. It's seriously delicious: pears, nectarines, grapes, strawberries, watermelon, bananas, and clementines. The only things missing are raspberries and blueberries. I'm seriously loving fruit.

This week it's been very difficult to hold Bria, I use to be able to hold her above the belly with her kind of resting on it but it's getting really painful. I guess I assumed that I would be able to hold Bria right up until I delivered, but I don't think that's going to be the case. It really is so incredibly hard to pick her up. Makes me sad, but we still cuddle when I'm sitting so that'll do for now.

The bedding is suppose to be delivered tomorrow and I can't wait! I told Brian in order to prepare him to get the furniture and stuff arranged in the nursery, if I could do it myself I totally would, but it requires big muscles.

Pregnancy wise I've felt very lucky, I don't have near the cramps or aches and pains that I did with Bria (knock on wood). I really just feel large in the tummy region...and the thigh region...and the butt region. But otherwise I'm feeling good and am enjoying feeling her move all over in every direction :)

33 week belly

How far along? 33 weeks

Total weight gain: 28 pounds

Sleep: Horrible, it's not fun being sick :( Propping 53 pillows up behind me helped though.

Movement: Tons, she kicked so hard the other night it was really painful! But I still laughed. I love feeling her little feet stick out my side.

Food cravings: fruit and coffee

Labor signs: Nope

Belly button in or out? In

What I miss: Holding Bria comfortably while standing/walking

What I am looking forward to: Touring the hospital, gotta call them

Milestones: She's gaining 1/2 a pound a week at this point...that's what the books say anyway :)