Phase one of Nesting

I'm guessing it will come in phases, this nesting thing, but phase one has definitely hit. I've found myself putting together my birth plan and a playlist in case we have time and think of wanting music on while in labor. I've been dreaming of unpacking all of the baby stuff still tucked away (probably next week... I'm trying to pace myself). I've put together a little "light reading" for hubby that will give him some ideas on how to be my coach and big supporter while in labor. He must be feeling that nesting bug too because when I told him I had done this he didn't even blink. He just said "ok" and is ready to read it once I print it.

 I find myself thinking about this baby girl that I have yet to meet, that I can't wait to meet. I'm excited about delivery, mostly because I just can't imagine labor being worse than it was with Josie. I'm excited and hopeful (so so hopeful) to go into labor on my own and not have to be induced.

I'm dreaming about my girlS now, not just Josie's future. I think about have two girls to dress up, two girls to be my daily companions, two girls to win over daddy's heart.

I've been rearranging furniture to get the very best set up for when there is a newborn in the house. I've been working hard to keep the house at a certain standard of cleanliness so that it doesn't get overwhelming. My body even seems to be prepping more and more. I can tell she's moving her way down, since she isn't up in my ribs as much as she was this last weekend and my back pain/discomfort has shifted to hip discomfort. All of this is great! It means progress. It means she's coming. Soon.

Today, I am 36 weeks. Four weeks from now, we will have a baby girl in our arms and Josie will get to meet her sister for the first time. 



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Go team go

In our busy eventful weekend, we managed to fit in going to the NDSU Bison homecoming game. Something you should know, though - we aren't really "go to the local teams' sporting events" kind of people. Hubby happened to get tickets from someone he works with, so we thought, "Sure why not?" I do feel a little guilty because the game was sold out and I kept seeing people mention how they really wanted to go to the game but couldn't get tickets.

So glad we didn't give them ours. It turned out to be so much fun! They really put on a show now that they are big deals in the football world. (The football program has grown leaps and bounds in the last 10 years and is great for the school in general). So please enjoy this photo collage along with a few explanations found underneath.

1. I wanted one picture of us that was decent. I didn't look too closely at it after we took it and loved that hubby couldn't take his eyes off the game for even that photo.

2. See all of that yellow and green? We fit right in. Also, our seats were amazing. I mean seriously great. We sat right behind the handicap section so there was a railing in front of us and nobody to block our view since that section was down like 10 feet. We also got cushioned seats and could see all of the action as it entered the arena.

3-5. The huge helmet head is set up just for the purpose of the team running through. They also make a huge production of it (which I don't remember them doing to this extent before) and blast the music with the lights off and all of these theatrical effects. It was pretty sweet.

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying food with friends, catching up with TWO old friends, sleeping a little, and going to church. It seemed busy but wasn't overwhelming.

I did a lot more walking than usual and felt that on Sunday morning! Then I was helping in the nursery on and that really pushed me to the point of Nap=Necessary. It's crazy to think that in just a few weeks I will be back to being just me but will also have a NEW BABY to take care of. I cannot even wait.

Off to walk some more and make some supper. Happy Monday!

"Mom, take a picture of me in this sweet hat I found" - the hat is for an infant but we went with it.

"Ok maybe its better now that my hair is out of my face"

"You have to tell me when you are taking the picture so I can smile! Ok CHEESE!"

Always a ham.



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Baby #2 Update - 35 Weeks

How far along: 35 weeks

How big is baby: Coconut

Average size: 17.2-18.7 inches, 4.2-5.8 lb.

Weight gain/loss: Only up a 1/2 lb this week but I think part of that is because I was up so much a couple of weeks ago and in reality that was mostly fluid. It all averages out anyways.

Maternity clothes: Mix and match with a few nonmaternity shirts and sweatpants

Stretch marks: No new ones!

Sleep: So.much.better. I'm sleeping almost through the night only getting up once to go to the bathroom. I find that I can nap on command without having to worry about getting comfy for 15 minutes which saves a lot of time. Usually I only need a 20 minute nap once a day to keep me going with a good amount of energy.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: Ice water, chocolate, fruit

Exercise: I've gone on a few walks and done my stretches but have not been doing anything that resembles a true workout.

Gender: Girl!

Movement: All the time. She's moving and stretching and kicking and its fun to watch my stomach move along with her. Hubby hasn't got to feel the movement too much since she seems to always do it when he's not around or busy doing something else.

The belly: Big! But not too big to be uncomfortable yet. I've been told numerous times this week that I do NOT look like I'm having a baby in a month, but I feel like I definitely do! It's all about perspective I guess.

What I'm loving: I haven't had any more swelling and my back has felt pretty good. It was a good week for comfort.

What I miss: Caffeine, oh so much! 

Symptoms: The usual 3rd trimester stuff

The nursery: All set and ready just waiting. I still need to bring in the bassinet, wash the sheets, get the car seat cover down, and set up a few of the bigger things like the swing and bassinet basket we'll keep either upstairs in the living room or downstairs in the family room.

What's different/the same this time: I'm so much more comfortable and not as anxious at this point in the pregnancy

Best moment of the week: Josie has been mimicking mamas and spends a lot of her playtime mothering her baby. It is so sweet! I think she's going to be really excited to have a baby around (most of the time) and that thrills me. At one playdate, there was a baby just a couple of months old playing on a play mat. Jo stuck her face over the baby's and start making sounds and silly faces. She was only a couple of inches away but she was so gentle and didn't even touch the baby. It was too sweet!

Last appointment details: I just had an appointment to with my midwife, who I have never met. The first impression was not quite as warm and welcoming as my nurse/obgyn combo at the clinic, but generally I liked both the nurse and midwife enough that I won't be disappointed later on. My blood pressure was 138/52 (or something close to that) so the top number is still high, but she said since I can check it myself she trusts that I will call them if it gets extra high. Note to self: CHECK BLOOD PRESSURE DAILY...

Also, she said that because Josie was such a big baby, they don't necessarily want me to going over my due date at all to avoid this girl being huge. I told her I really really didn't want to be induced and would like to do it without any drugs, and she said we'll see how it goes and that she understands that. She advised me to sit on an exercise ball in the evenings to help open things up down there and to make sure I'm walking a lot and staying relatively active. I so wish that I had a jogging stroller here so I could go on longer walks during the day. Right now I only have the umbrella stroller and the double stroller and I feel ridiculous taking that, so I've been using the umbrella stroller. It's just not as comfy for Jo and easy to push for me.

The midwife told me that the main difference between her and the OBGYNs is that she does not do any cutting (ie C-sections) and they try not to intervene unless necessary (ie pitocen, epidurals). She also clarified for me (since I had heard different views on this) that there is a midwife there 24 hours a day and that the midwife on call will be with me for most of my time in labor. She said that she likes to be there the entire time I am pushing instead of waiting until the last 10 minutes. I was very relieved to hear that. 

Next appointment: I now start the weekly appointments although I did push them back a couple of days to avoid having 5 appointments instead of 4. She'll be checking me each week to see if there is progression and she said we'd see about stretching the cervix and doing other things like that to help things along without using drugs. I'm pretty happy with that!


If you want to see how much I've grown from last week, check out the Baby Girl page. I was planning on adding the picture of me pregnant with Jo at 35 weeks but apparently I skipped over a bunch of weeks and don't have another one until 38 weeks... silly me...

35 Weeks

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