pregnancy update: weeks 38 & 39

Week 38

Still no progress at my weekly appointment... dang it!

I had a feeling I'd have him this weekend (end of 38/beginning of 39), but I was wrong and am now convinced I'll be induced at 41 weeks.

Pregnancy is finally starting to hit me. I feel exhausted. My belly is so tight I don't know how it's going to get bigger. Every time little boy moves I feel it so prominently because there's not much room left in there! I've been having bad cramps, pains and aches all over my stomach and back. I've never broken my ribs, but I think I got a taste of what it feels like this week! I almost had to pull over the car because I couldn't breathe it hurt so bad.

Still no stretch marks!

And still living off cereal!

 Mike and I have been going on walks during the evenings. It's definitely not what I use to consider "exercise" but somehow I still manage to feel tired after them now. Sometimes we go on short ones, sometimes we venture all around town and are gone forever. I love them and look forward to them because it's special time with just Mike and I before we have our baby. We spend most of the time laughing. He will always make me laugh.

Mike's latest joke is "why don't you just have the baby already??" As if I had any choice in the matter! But he can joke about whatever he wants because he got me ANOTHER prenatal message this week. He takes such good care of me. I can't wait to see him with our baby.

BELLY! I got bigger... again.

Week 39

 (At least part of it - I only made it halfway through the week. Baby boy is already here but I thought I'd finish the final week so I'm playing a little catch up.)

The weekend came and went and I finally gave up my hopes of having the baby anytime soon. At my 39 week appointment I still was barely dilated and we made plans to make plans at my next appointment to induce me the follow week (Week 41). That seemed FOREVER away but at the same time it was pretty cool to realize that no matter what, I would have a baby in two weeks.

Another frequent saying of Mike's this week was "I'm over it. We're never having a baby" haha poor guy had gotten so excited that we would have him early and then lost hope. 

Life really slowed down for me this week. Mike and I kept going on walks but my body was tired. Before Tuesday I had really kept up a semi-normal routine with getting out of the house, doing things and keeping busy. I stopped working with the BYU football team the end of August but I work(ed) part-time for Mike's dad also so I still had things to do. Tuesday was when I really noticed a change and didn't want to move (I didn't really - oops!) After another lazy day on Wednesday, I decided it was time to be productive and get some things done on Thursday. Little did I know the day would have something entirely different in store for us!

My back and stomach pain picked up a lot this week. I had little contractions here and there but nothing significant and nothing that lasted long enough to even flirt with the idea of me being in labor.

I slept good this week. Probably because I wasn't really doing anything! I'd stay up way too late with Mike and then sleep in half the day (I had to take advantage while I could! There will be no more of that!)

Still no stretch marks. I know gaining weight is normal and healthy during pregnancy but I had a goal to lose X amount or less and I'm happy that I was able to stay under that. I definitely enjoyed the foods that I wanted to but tried to not "pig out" and "let myself go" completely. I wanted to stay healthy and while I know I could have done a better job, I'm happy overall.

Another thing I don't think I'm mentioned in any of these - prenatal vitamins are amazing. My hair has always been really long and healthy (I've never dyed it), but it has only gotten better since being pregnant and has grown really fast! After a couple months of being pregnant it was down to my bum and I chopped off 4 inches. For me - that is HUGE (I hate cutting my hair). But luckily it keeps growing back! Pretty please don't let my hair fall out after the baby!!

The last two pictures of my bump. The top was taken two days before I went into the hospital.

baby shower

My amazing sister Shelby (with help from my mother-in-law and a couple incredible friends) threw me the BEST baby shower! I was in the hospital the day before so I was grateful to be able to make an appearance at the party :) Thank you so much to everyone who made my night so special!

The cutest elephant cookies I have EVER seen! Thank you Shelby!!

My sexy sister Shelby!

We had so much yummy food - topped off with a frozen yogurt bar! My favorite!

pregnancy update: weeks 34-37

Week 34

 I have three words for you. Heartburn. Heartburn. Heartburn. 

No more cough! (for the most part)

Baby boy is head-down.

I'm out of breath a lot. It's embarrassing.

I'm sleeping ok. Some nights I toss and turn a ton. But I did notice two nights that I didn't wake up once!

Baby boy is getting bigger. I can tell I'm slowing down a lot. My belly is weighing me down!

I'm still hungry all the time, but I can't eat as big of portions. I feel sick from eating [sometimes].

My feet aren't swollen anymore. I think it's because I stay off of them a lot more than I was before.

Week 35

Well... this week was interesting! I woke up Tuesday and had a little scare (I'll save the gory details) so I called my doctor just to be safe, thinking worst-case situation they would have me come into the office for a check-up. Nope! I was told to hurry to Labor and Delivery. I knew I wasn't in labor, but was just worried about baby boy. I called Mike on my way to the hospital (he was in Florida and wasn't coming home until late that night) and told him that everything was ok and not to worry, but that I was driving to the hospital, and told him the story. You could tell he was a little in shock and didn't know what to do or say! I reassured him I wasn't going into labor and he wasn't going to miss his first son being born :) Mike's cousin works as a nurse at the hospital so it was nice having her there to keep me company! They just hooked me up to the monitor for a couple of hours to watch his heartbeat and my contractions (that I didn't know I was having - why can't they stay painless forever!?). They didn't want to check to see if I was dilated because they didn't want to kick-start any labor and wanted my uterus to "settle down". After about four hours, they finally let me go home and said my body had started the process of labor, that my uterus was extremely irritable (based on the pretend contractions I was having - I can't call them real just yet because I know when I really start having them they are going to HURT), that I could go into labor any day up to a couple weeks, and to take it easy. Crisis averted!

After watching the monitor and seeing when I was having contractions/Braxton Hicks, it's been a lot easier for me to recognize them. Some days I have quite a few, other days I don't recognize any. Some are painful, some don't hurt at all.

My body is definitely starting to get more and more uncomfortable as each day passes.

It's crazy to feel him move around my stomach... still after all this time. It's getting pretty dang tight in there so every time he moves, my entire stomach moves. You can see him move his arms and legs across my stomach. Sometimes when I'm resting my arms on my belly, he pushes against me and my arms will move up and down haha he's a ball full of energy!

We got most of all our baby stuff finally! The nurse at the hospital asked me if I was ready for a baby and I said "Yes I can't wait to meet him!" and she replied, "No, are you READY to have him. Do you have everything you need." We decided it was probably time to go get some things :) Mike spoiled his baby (and me) and got just about everything we need. It made me feel a lot better! I like being overly prepared so it was killing me not having everything (or anything for that matter haha) ready. After months of looking online, it was fun to finally go buy things. Thank you Mike!! He helped me put together the bigger nursery items also. I could hang out in there forever! It's crazy to imagine a baby in the crib.

My sister also threw a baby shower for me this week! I will write about it with pictures in another post.

The week kept getting better and better, after the somewhat rough start, and I "worked" my last BYU football game. (More on my final BYU days before my baby adventure later) It was so fun seeing these friends of mine that I hadn't seen in so long!

Week 36

Here come the weekly doctor appointments! To everyone's surprise (according to the hospital incident at least),  I'm not dilated at all. So here's to another few weeks of the bun in the oven! Mike came with me to my appointment and when we left he said "I'm kindof bummed." Someone is getting excited for his baby boy to get here :)

I wake up, without fail, between 3:30-4 every morning. My bathroom trips are becoming more frequent during the night.

I've started to noticed a lot more pressure on my bladder and down below, so I start thinking that maybe he's dropping and getting lower. But whenever I think that,  I'll get a nice big kick to the ribs. Either he's not getting any lower or he's taking after his dad and is one looooong little dude.

My wedding ring is off :( I can still get it on but my fingers swell up at random times during the day and I don't want to risk it getting stuck!

Still no stretch marks! Keep those fingers crossed!

Week 37 - FULL TERM!

Still no progress at the doctor appointment. Where are you baby boy?!

He's feeling lower and lower and it's having a severe effect on my bladder!

Some days I have so much energy and others I'm incredibly tired and don't want to move.

Hello outie belly button! Yikes. I feel like I went through a growth spurt this week. I feel so much bigger than I was before. My bump is a lot more pronounced and sticks out a lot further!

I have completely LIVED off cereal this week.

Mike has been so dang sweet and got me another prenatal massage - it was heaven!

I've been going on a lot of long walks to hopefully "walk" this baby out of me!

Mike took me to my first football game in three years as a true "fan" on Saturday. It was fun sitting in the stands, especially with Mike, but I will secretly always miss being up in the box.

I still can't believe that we will be parents so soon. Even if I go the "full time," he will be here before we know it. Less than 2 weeks until I'm 40 weeks! My little niece told me on Sunday that our baby has been in my tummy "FOOOORREEEVVEEEER" and I couldn't agree with her more :) And yet at the same time, part of this STILL feels so surreal. I look down at my now very large bump, and feel him move, and can't believe I actually have a baby in me. It's truly a miracle. I've started writing my baby boy short letters that are more personal to me. I look at my little (I've got to stop saying that since they are both bigger than me now!) brothers and my heart wants to explode with how much I love them. I can't imagine the love I will have for my little boy. I will always hope to have a girl someday, but I am beyond grateful for boys and am so happy that he will be my first.

newport beach + a month at home + chad goes on a mission

Way back when (time to play catchup).... We took a family trip (we missed Mike!) to Newport Beach. It is one of our favorite places! It was one last hooray with Chad before he left on his mission. We had the best time riding bikes, surfing, laying out, playing basketball, having game nights, stuffing our faces with the best food... the works. We stayed right on the beach and had a party!

 Yes, we were that hillbilly family that decided AFTER we left the beach, to go to Capital Grill. We got lots of lovely stares :)

We rode bikes everywhere and I LOVED it!!

As hard as I tried, I just couldn't keep up with these two on our runs!

 Rocking a 27 week baby bump! I had a great big growth spurt right before we got to the beach, just what I wanted :)

 I still can't believe Steele is the same height as me now 

(well, I think I still have about half an inch on him!)

Apparently my siblings got all the ABS genes!!

 My brothers are STUDS! I can't believe how much they have grown up.

Our trip wouldn't have been complete without a trip to Rain Forest Cafe. Yes, the food isn't that great, but it is so fun! We surprised Chad (who had his 19th birthday a few weeks before) with a birthday cake. He was in shock and it was hilarious. I was so disappointed that I missed him putting his face in the cake though!

We thought the muscle man represented him well ;)

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to the Newport Beach temple while we were there. It's stunning. There's no place I'd rather be than at the temple with my family!

On our way home we went through the temple together as a family (we're just waiting for you Steele!). It is a day I will cherish for the rest of my life. It was the first time I went through with Chad. We had an unforgettable experience. I can't wait until we get to go again when he gets back from his mission! 

 Tryg and Shelb were married in the LA temple three years ago.

 Tryg's parents, Ole and Marty, were so sweet to join us. We had a great day at the temple and then capped it off with Ruth's Chris. Our favorite! Ole shared the best mission advice with Chad.

Those close to me know how dear I hold my brother to my heart. He is everything in my eyes!

The next day, Chad gave his farewell talk. He did such a wonderful job! I wish I had a copy of it. It was more than just a "I'm going on a mission" talk. He uplifted, inspired, and edified all of us. As he has his whole life. 

Tryg and Shelby had to go back to Provo, but Mike traded places and finally was able to come out. We had a great last week with Chad and enjoyed one last 4th of July with him. 

The week came to an end way too fast and it was time to go home. Chad was entering the MTC on Wednesday so I decided to stay and fly back to Provo with him then, while Mike had to get back on Sunday. Tuesday night came and I decided I needed another couple of days with my mom and Steele. My mom was in charge of all the food at our 4-Stake Youth Conference that weekend (yes, just the DAY after Chad left!) and while she could have done it all along, I wanted to stay and help drive Steele around while she was busy (we live 30 minutes out of town). She did an incredible job by the way, the best food those kids have every eaten I'm sure. Everyone kept complimenting her on it. My mom is wonder woman. 

The day Chad entered the MTC I saw this most beautiful sunset driving home. I know it was Heavenly Father smiling down because one of his elect was answering His call to serve.

My silly little cousin was being so funny one day at the office. Of course I had to capture some of his faces and he wanted to see them after. All on his own, he goes "Send this one to Chad!!!" It was so sweet. But the one he picked just absolutely cracks me up. The second one is my favorite.

I had my flight to come home on Sunday but Mike decided to go to Florida for work. So.... instead of going back to Provo and being alone for the week, I figured another week at home wouldn't hurt anyone :) My two-week vacation turned into a full month (plus a couple days) at home. BEST "babymoon" ever. Thanks to my mom and Steele for letting me invade for so long!

Finally at the airport heading back to Provo.