38 Weeks

Weeks along: 38

What's new with baby: Baby M is the size of a Ukelele, or if you want a more generic comparison, a pumpkin. He's anywhere from 6-9 pounds and 19-21 inches. Right now he's growing hair on his head (if he'll have any at birth) and is just about fully cooked.

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Symptoms: Just uncomfortable, and definitely moody as a result. I know we're not even at 40 weeks, but I'm kind of done being pregnant.

Cravings: Nothing in particular this week, although that doesn't mean I've been staying away from eating crap :-)

Workouts: One 3 mile walk, a 35 minute elliptical session and another 20 minute elliptical session and 25 minute walk. Not too bad this week, but the walks are slow and my belly and back are definitely sore afterwards.

Baby Purchases: I almost forgot to purchase a baby book! I'm glad I had some friends remind me last week so I could order one off Amazon to arrive in time. It's now in my hospital bag so they can stamp his little feet/hands in it when he's born.

High point of the week: Sunday after all the Easter activities Nathan and I just relaxed on the couch for hours. While the couch isn't really comfortable, it was nice to get to spend time with just the two of us.

Concerns/Issues: Him coming late and having to induce. Nathan has a work conference towards the end of April so I don't want to go too far over my due date and risk us not spending time as a family.

Missing: Moving around without requiring considerable effort, my feet at their normal size, not having a baby pressing on my ribs, wearing regular clothes, sleeping (although this won't change).

Sleep: Still sucks :-)

Looking forward to: Being done at work and spending time as a new family.

37 Weeks

Weeks along: 37

What's new with baby: All my apps tends to have some discrepancies when telling me height/weight, but this week I've really noticed a difference! At this point our baby could be anywhere from 6.2-9.2 pounds (please, not 9.2 pounds!) and 19-21 inches long. He's considered "full term" as of this week.

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Symptoms: Oh sciatica pain. I never knew the joy of it until I started getting pain radiating from my lower back down through my legs. Round ligament pain has also made it's way back into my life and I can now feel my legs/ankles (although at this point they're really cankles) swelling. These last few weeks are just making me feel super glamorous and attractive ;-)

Cravings: PB&J sandwiches with milk have definitely made their way up the list this week

Workouts: Two 2.5 mile walks. Pretty tame this week.

Baby Purchases: Nothing this week

High point of the week: Going out to dinner with a few other couples from our birthing class on Saturday. It turned into us hanging out for 3+ hours, and it was really nice to get to meet new friends and all talk about being first-time parents. We also had our growth scan. He's measuring just a couple days ahead and is already an estimated 6 lbs 10oz (around the 60% percentile). It was great to be assured that everything looks great, and it was especially awesome that he happened to be in the perfect position that the tech could switch over to 3D so we could see our little guy's face one last time before we get to see it in person!

Concerns/Issues: Labor/delivery, although at this point I'm ready to get it over with and not be pregnant/FINALLY meet our son!

Missing: Mobility.

Sleep: Blech, not awesome. I'll get maybe one decent night followed by another one where I'm getting up 6-7 times completely awake.

Looking forward to: Having this baby and finally getting to meet the little guy. I know he's more likely to come on/after his due date, but I'm still crossing my fingers that he comes a little before then :-)

36 Weeks

Weeks along: 36

What's new with baby: Baby M is now the size of a Cabbage Patch doll (or a honeydew melon). The only thing that isn't entirely developed with our little guy is his digestive system, otherwise everything is up and running. At this point my doctor told me they won't stop anything if he decides to come early, so the final countdown has finally begun!

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Symptoms: Just uncomfortable, but I feel like that's to be expected at this point :-)

Cravings: I killed a whole box of Life cereal in 3 days this past weekend. It was a smaller box (trying to make myself feel better here), but yea, I went to town on it. Nate thought it was pretty funny considering I think I've bought Life maybe once in the past 10 years.

Workouts: One 2.5 mile walk, one 35 minute elliptical session and another 2 mile walk outside with Nate on Saturday morning.

Baby Purchases: I bought myself some lovely nursing tank tops (sarcasm), does that count?

High point of the week: Having brunch with some friends in KC this past weekend. The food and service were awesome, and it was so nice to squeeze in some girl time before little man comes.

Concerns/Issues: Labor/delivery and handling life as a new (sleep-deprived) mom

Missing: Shopping for cute new clothes! I'm 1000% over my boring maternity wear, and the only shopping I've been doing lately is for matronly-looking nursing bras and camis. I can't wait until I have options and don't have to worry about factoring in an ever-growing bump :-)

Sleep: Still sucks for the most part. I had a decent night of sleep maybe a couple nights where I only got up 2 times to use the bathroom, but otherwise it's usually waking up every hour or two to either flip over (cue lots of grunting) or pee.

Looking forward to: Our growth scan on Wednesday and the following weekend! Baby M was actually measuring 38 weeks at my 35 1/2 week appointment, so the doctor ordered a sonogram to see if he's really measuring big or was just positioned weird. Saturday we have dinner with 2 other couples from our birthing class. It'll be fun to connect with some new people around our age that are having babies the same time as us, and the plus is that we're all having boys!

I also got a shot of the pigs both taking over the snoogle (and yes, Max usually has his tounge sticking out when he's super-relaxed with the best derpy face ever). I think they're going to have separation issues when it goes away :-)

35 Weeks

Weeks along: 35

What's new with baby: Out little guy is about 18 inches long now and around 5 pounds. Across all the different pregnancy apps he's been compared to anything from a honeydew to a rabbit to a kid's size backpack.

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Symptoms: Still some lower back pain/lower belly pain, especially on the days where I get some activity in. At night the babe also likes to be right up in my rib cage so in order to be comfortable, I've been leaning over an exercise ball on my knees when watching TV. It's quite the sight.

Cravings: Pancakes and crepes. My family came over for breakfast this weekend and I had more than my fair share of both :-).

Workouts: Walked 2.5 miles 2x during the week at lunch and then hit up the dog park for a 30 minute walk with Nate and the pigs. Speaking of the pigs, I couldn't help but snap this picture when I was getting ready for work the other day. Daisy + the snoogle = true love.

Baby Purchases: I actually think this is the first week where we haven't purchased anything specifically for little man ;-).

High point of the week: Going to my sister-in-law's house on Saturday to play with our nephew and new niece. We got in lots of newborn snuggles, relaxed on their porch and grilled out.

Concerns/Issues: No change from last week - still good ol' labor and delivery.

Missing: Mobility, sleep, not being able to breathe.

Sleep: Still not great. Waking up 3-5x a night to use the bathroom isn't horrible, it's waking up because my hips start to ache and flipping over to the other side that's a pain. I told Nathan I feel like a beached whale at night :-).

Looking forward to: The weekend! We have no plans and it's glorious.

34 Weeks

Weeks along: 34

What's new with baby: Baby M is now between 4-5 pounds and about the size of a butternut squash/basketball hoop. Between now and 40 weeks he's mostly just packing on the pounds.

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Symptoms: Lower back and belly pain, but I think that comes with the territory at this point.

Cravings: Fruit and Reese's eggs. I think everyone can agree, Reese's eggs have the perfect ratio of chocolate to peanut butter :-).

Workouts: Four workouts this week, which I'm calling a win! Did two 2.5 mile walks and two 35 minute elliptical sessions. I've kind of backed off the weight training as it seems like my body is a fan of cramping up when holding/lifting weights, but I'm going to shoot for at least 2-4 days of activity as long as I can. At this point I consider anything where I'm required to waddle/move around as a workout.

Baby Purchases: We purchased the rest of our registry stuff we needed. Thanks to all of our friends and family, we only had to buy a few nursing/pumping odds and ends. I know I've said it before, but this kid is already spoiled, and we are blessed to have so much support.

High point of the week: Meeting our new niece! Nathan's sister had a beautiful baby girl this past Wednesday, and getting in some baby snuggles made us even more excited to meet our own little guy. She's a beautiful baby, and I can't wait to get all of the cousins together for some play time.

Concerns/Issues: Labor and delivery. This hasn't changed, and probably won't until it's over and done with.

Missing: Mobility, sleep and my old body. This is the first week that I started to feel more self-conscious about how I look. Up until now I've been loving the bump (and I still do most days), I just already feel huge and can't imagine growing for another 6ish weeks.

Sleep: Still sucks. Last night I woke up at 1:30 in the morning wide awake and seriously contemplated getting up for the day. Luckily I forced myself to go back to bed, but getting a 2 hour stretch of uninterrupted sleep is rare right now. I'm sure my body is just getting me ready, but it would be nice if that kicked in the last 2 weeks of pregnancy instead of the last 6 :-)

Looking forward to: The weekend and spending it outside! We've been fortunate to have 60-70 degree days here and it's been so nice to go on walks, enjoy the weather and sit on our porch swing with the pups.