Baby Fred - 40 Weeks!

Date: 
August 17, 2015 - The Due Date!!

How far along:
40 Weeks!!

How many weeks to go: 
As many days as baby chooses, I guess!

Baby size:
A Pumpkin
Approximately 20+ inches

Baby milestones: 
She should be just about done in there, I would think!!

Maternity clothes: 
YES... I've outgrown all of my shirts now... This weekend I accidentally shrunk my one shirt that was long enough that I didn't have to worry about my belly hanging out the bottom. So that's fun...

Stretch marks: 
You betcha...

Have you started to show yet: 
Affirmative

Belly button in or out: 
Out

Symptoms: 
Same ol'... A huge belly, a bit of a sore back, sore fingers, larger than normal feet and fingers, and a sore pelvis. I haven't had any real bad heartburn, acid reflux or breathing problems when I sleep for the past few weeks, so that's good! I'm excited to give my body a bit of a break here pretty soon, though!

Movement:
She's still moving around in there, letting me know she's having a great time right where she is...

Labor signs: 
I've got nothin...

Mood: 
I'm in a good mood, I just tend to get a little frustrated at times, but it's only my due date, so it's not like I have a ton to be frustrated/discouraged about yet!

Sleep: 
It's not bad other than being really sore when I get out of bed. It takes a little convincing to get myself to muster up the energy to get myself rolled over or sitting up so I can get out of bed. And that happens at least 3 times throughout the night and then in the morning, so that's super fun.

Dreams: 
I had one last Tuesday that our baby was going to be born on the 14th and that it was a boy. Obviously that dream didn't come true!! :)

Miss anything: 
Not being in pain or feeling like I have to pee every time I walk. Having clothes to wear. Being comfortable wearing pants...

Gender prediction: 
Boy

Names: 
Same story - We have names, but middle names aren't 100% decided.

Best moment of the week: 
Same story here. We're just living every day anticipating our baby's arrival, so there's nothing too exciting going on. We worked like normal during the week and then spent the weekend at home. We went out to eat on Friday night. Another "last date" perhaps - I think we've had several "last dates" by now. (I think of everything as possibly being my last before baby comes... last meal, last time washing my hair, last day at work, last time getting gas, last time seeing our families, last weekend, last time peeing in a cup at the Dr's office with this big belly (never knew that'd get to be such a hard task) etc... so far none of them have been the true last.) On Saturday, I slept in again and then I tried to stay active during the afternoon on Saturday to try to get baby moving towards the exit, but I'm not so sure it did anything other than wear me out. I went and got my "last pedicure" (I thought the one before that was going to be the last) and then picked up Chipotle for supper and we watched "What to Expect When You're Expecting". Sunday, I was super lazy and watched a lot of Criminal Minds and Forensic Files... I went on about a mile walk in the evening and did some stretching and sitting on the exercise ball as well, so hopefully baby is getting the hint that we're ready!! I can't wait for my "best moment of the week" to be that baby has come!

Nursery Things:
Nothing going on in there... The room is just waiting for its occupant to arrive.

Looking forward to: 
Having a baby!! Sometimes when I feel her little heel or something stick out of my belly, I imagine what it will look like when she's really out here and we can see her for real! I can't wait to hold our little baby!!

Other things: 
At our appointment last Friday, baby's heartbeat was 160, which was a lot faster than normal. The doctor said it was probably because baby was moving and then we could hear it slow down again, but she didn't give us a new number. I'm assuming it's the same mid to high 140s.

Baby Fred - 39 Weeks!

Look at that belly!! That shirt sure is getting a work out!

Date:
August 10, 2015

How far along:
39 Weeks!!

How many weeks to go: 
SEVEN DAYS!!! (ish)

Baby size:
Watermelon (they said "mini-watermelon" in the weekly email... but I think we've got a full grown one!!)
Approximately 20+ inches

Baby milestones: 
She is continuing to build a layer of fat to help control her body temp after birth.

Maternity clothes: 
YES

Stretch marks: 
Yep. It looks like my belly is going to burst open right above my belly button now, too. Trent assured me last night that that isn't going to happen (but he did say it'd be pretty gross if it did), so I hope he's right :)

Have you started to show yet: 
Affirmative

Belly button in or out: 
Out

Symptoms: 
The biggest symptom I have of being pregnant is a giant belly! That has caused some back pain in the last few weeks. The cramping and tightening that I feel in my belly has really picked up in the past few days, and I am soooo hoping that it's a positive sign of things to come! I'm still having finger pain at night and my feet got pretty swollen again at the end of last week, but they deflated over the weekend since I was able to stay off them for longer periods of time.

Movement:
Still moving around in there and trying to show off her legs and arms by sticking them out of my belly!

Labor signs: 
I couldn't tell you what's a real labor sign or not, but in the past 24 hours, the cramps and tightening have been more of a pain than just a pressure... so maybe that's something?

Mood: 
Just fabulous!

Sleep: 
I still get up at least 3 times a night to go to the bathroom and flip over to my other side. I'm pretty stiff and sore when I get out of bed, but I just need to walk it off usually.

Dreams: 
I had a dream on Saturday night that I don't remember much of but I told Trent that I thought our baby was in it and wearing a Nebraska shirt. He assured me that our baby would never wear a Husker's shirt in real life, though :)

Miss anything: 

The space between my crotch (sorry if that's a bad word!) and my stomach where my pants used to sit comfortably!
Being able to get up off the couch without having to scoot forward a few times and really push myself up with my arms! And I miss being able to just throw on a t-shirt to wear around the house... my belly hangs out of all of mine and Trent's t-shirts.

Gender prediction: 
Boy

Names: 
We have our girl and boy name and we have two middle name options for each one right now as well.

Have you told family and friends: 
Yep - Everyone knows!

Best moment of the week: 
Nothing too exciting happened this week (other than I had a flat tire last Tuesday, so I got to be that helpless pregnant lady standing by her car in the parking garage waiting for her husband and a tire-fixer-guy to come to her rescue while everyone in the area came by to ask if I needed help... good times) -  it was another week just waiting to have a baby!! We had another nice weekend at home together. We really are trying to enjoy our time together and I really am trying to relax before this baby decides to make his or her entrance into the world. Friday night we made a trip to the grocery store together and then Saturday night we watched two movies (A Million Ways to Die in the West and Top Gun) and had popcorn with M&Ms. We slept in both Saturday and Sunday and got a few little things done around the house. Even though part of me would love to be out and about doing something with our free time, it's been nice to just be able to hang out and rest as well!
Who knows, maybe that was our last weekend without a child for the rest.of.our.lives!!!

Nursery Things:
Nothing happened in the nursery this week. It's as done as it can be!
Mattie has enjoyed hanging out in the chair in the nursery as she's waiting for a new sibling as well!

Looking forward to: 
Having a baby!!
Hoping this is my last Monday at work for a while! We shall see!

Other things: 
At our appointment last Friday, baby's heartbeat was between 144 and 147. 

Baby Fred - 38 Weeks!

How far along:
38 Weeks!!

How many weeks to go: 
2 Weeks!

Baby size:
Pumpkin
Approximately 18.9-20.9 inches

Baby milestones: 
She may have an inch or so of hair (I'm hoping our baby has hair!), she has been working on her grip (can't wait for little baby finger holding!) and her organs are most likely fully developed and ready for life outside the womb.

Maternity clothes: 
Same ol' thing here... of course I'm wearing maternity clothes

Stretch marks: 
You betcha... I don't see how they could have been avoided with how big my belly is! (especially the part below my belly button now that baby has dropped down there)

Have you started to show yet: 
Uh... ya. Why do I keep asking myself this question?!?

Belly button in or out: 
Out

Symptoms: 
I don't feel like I've had as many Braxton Hicks this past week (but what do I know). The only time I've noticed them is if I've been up and moving around too much or if I have to pee... My fingers are still hurting at night and then some days as well when I straighten them out. My back hurts some when I get up and walk and when I wake up in the morning (and in the middle of the night) it takes a little while for me to be able to walk straight.
I hate to talk about things that are negative about this pregnancy, but I'm just being honest... I know it's all going to be worth it in the end. I guess if there's a next time that I'm pregnant, I will try to do things a little different to see if that helps... who knows, though.
This is pretty much what I think (and I wouldn't even classify how I feel as "feeling like crap":

Movement:
She goes pretty crazy at times and my belly really moves a lot. I think that sometimes it probably is noticeable to people sitting around me in meetings at work and stuff. There are times where it has started to hurt when she moves, it even surprises me sometimes and I think I make funny faces because of it, She also gets her feet up in my ribs at times as well! I still don't think I'm used to feeling her move in there!

Labor signs: 
I don't feel like there have been any unfortunately.

Mood: 
Good for the most part. I let myself get discouraged at times that the baby isn't here yet, but then I remember that I really am only 38 weeks along and it's not time yet, so I just need to cool my jets!

Sleep: 
I, thankfully, got to sleep a lot this weekend, which was nice. It made going to sleep on Sunday night not so easy, though... so when that happens, I just go hang out with the dogs in the living room and read and bounce on the birth ball for a while... I have a little bit of trouble with some restless leg syndrome at times and I have the weird breathing issues keeps me from sleeping as well, but it hasn't been too bad. By the end of the week, I usually can sleep pretty well cuz I'm so tired except for the whole getting up at least 3 times to pee.

Dreams: 
Nothing baby related that I remember, but I had one on Friday night where I was doing something with recording equipment and then when we were done doing whatever it was we were doing in the dream, Kellsey wanted to sing "A Whole New World" from Aladdin with me. I woke up before I found out if I was going to sing the girl or the boy part - I'm sure she was going to make me sing the boy part, though!

Gender prediction: 
I think it just HAS to be a boy... I seriously will be surprised if it's a girl!

Names: 
We still haven't talked about it for a while, but I think we have it pretty narrowed down to one boy name and two possible girl names.

Best moment of the week: 
Nothing too exciting happened this week. We're just patiently waiting :)

My mom came on Friday night for a while and we went out to eat at Tanner's (I've wanted some chicken strips and cheese balls ever since I saw in the Westside Socials that my mom, brother and Kenzie went to Bloomer's in Carroll for Kenzie's bday a few weeks ago) before going to Hallmark and getting a baby book (which I think is the last thing on my list to get!!) and doing some other little shopping.
She also brought a few things that my aunt had made and/or printed for the nursery, so we got those hung up!

Saturday we had a nice unplanned visit from Mel and Russ and the girls! They had been out hiking in the morning in the Loess hills and so they stopped by. It was fun to hear about their trip and see them one last time before baby comes! I love talking with Taylor and Jenna about the baby and about whether it's going to be a boy or a girl and what they think we should name the baby! Jenna sat on my lap for a while (after I assured her there was room and I wouldn't let her squish the baby) and she would put her hand on my belly and told me she could feel the baby kicking. Jenna also told me that she liked my belly and it had grown since the last time she saw me (which it very much has!) Makes me smile! I can't wait for them to meet their new cousin!!
It was also nice to relax most of the rest of the weekend (even though I'm about over staying home every weekend since this is our third one in a row... it's so unlike us but I'm sure Trent is loving it!). We slept in late both days and just hung out around home. It got pretty old by the end of Sunday, but it was still nice. We, unfortulately, had to miss the Bell Reunion this year due to my pregnant state... the whole traveling when the baby really could come at any time and the fact that it was SO.HOT and the reality that I probably would have gotten pretty worn out made up our decision to stay home. I think this is maaayy be the 3rd Bell Reunion I've missed in all my 28 years (and that might be a high number) so it was sad to think about not being there. But NEXT YEAR we'll be there with our little one! :) Who knows, it may even be her birthday when we're there!

Nursery Things:
No big changes. We just got two more things put into frames in the room and continue to wait! :)

My Aunt Doreen made the print above from 1 Samuel and then I got the heartbeat print made from a seller on Etsy of the baby's heartbeat from our 36 week appointment. After the baby is born, we'll get it reprinted in a color depending on whether it's a boy or a girl.

Looking forward to: 
Having a baby!! Someday soon...

Baby Fred - 37 Weeks!

Date:
July 27, 2015

How far along:
37 Weeks!!

How many weeks to go: 
3 Weeks! (or less, I'm guessing!)

Baby size:
Winter Melon (WTH is that?) or a large cantaloupe
18.9-20 inches long

Baby milestones: 
She's considered "full term" now and is just in there practicing her skills of inhaling, exhaling, sucking, gripping and blinking. (We saw baby practicing breathing during the ultrasound last Friday!)

Maternity clothes: 
It goes like this... I wake up for work, put on one of the three maternity dresses that I have or force myself to put on pants (this only happens once a week... maaaybe twice) I go to work and sometimes put on nice shoes, but end up wearing my Nike flip flops most of the day - especially if I'm not going to see any of my superiors. I come home - If I'm wearing a dress, I might just keep it on for the evening, otherwise I change into yoga pants or my PJs and a shirt... one that may or may not cover my stomach at all times... When it's time for bed, I wear my PJ pants (most of the time - sometimes I just say 'screw the pants' altogether) and a light shirt to bed, which usually doesn't stay over my belly most of the night... wake up and repeat. 98% of my closet doesn't get worn right now. It's sad.

Stretch marks: 
Still there and multiplying...

Have you started to show yet: 
Showing it off for everyone to see! 

Belly button in or out: 
Out

Symptoms: 
Random tightening of my belly (contractions, maybe?) stronger at some times more than others... still have pain in my fingers throughout the day and it's definitely worse at night (which is what they say is common), my feet aren't normal size, but I'm still able to get them to deflate if I stay off them, which is a slight bright spot!

Movement:
Yep - she stays pretty active in there most of the time. She was pretty still for a while on Sunday which I let freak me out a little (and I made the mistake of getting Trent freaked out as well) but after laying down and eating and doing some kick counts, she was back at it. She must have just needed a little nap ;)

Labor signs:
 I don't know what you consider a "labor sign" at this point... I don't feel like there's anything, but maybe some of these Braxton Hicks are doing some good and getting us closer to meeting this baby!

Mood: 
Pretty good, I think. There's plenty I could complain about, but I hope I'm doing a pretty good job of not being a whiner! 

Sleep: 
I have a feeling that it's going to be a good 10-15 years before I'm able to have the same relationship with sleep that I did just a few months ago! I used to LOVE sleep and loved sleeping in, but it's just not the same anymore! I have troubles getting to sleep a few nights a week and have started to get a little restless leg syndrome stuff going on occasionally. And I don't like that at all! I have to get up every few hours just to turn over (which is a lot of work these days) or to go to the bathroom. And I can't really sleep in because I am pretty hungry by the time morning rolls around. And then, during the day, I get so tired at times that all I want to do is take a nap! If only I could just sleep at night and then I wouldn't have to be so tired during the day! :) Luckily we've been having some pretty low-key weekends that are good for sleeping as much as I can in the morning and then taking naps in the afternoon, if needed! So I'll just keep taking advantage of those as long as I can!

Dreams: 
Saturday night, I had a dream that I was in labor at the hospital. I don't remember much about it other than there was a big black snail there and I was trying to get it or kill it or something. And then when I told Trent about the snail, he told me that he wished it was a tan snail... Whatever that means!
When I woke up, I kept thinking/hoping that was a sign, but obviously it wasn't :)

Miss anything: 
Not having back pain, being able to fit into more clothes, and just not hurting when I'm walking around.

Gender prediction: 
I really can't change my answer now, so I'm going to stay with boy. But I can't wait to find out!

Names: 
We haven't talked about them much this week. I think we're still pretty set on first names (we might have two girl options at this point) and middle names are still to be decided, but I have my top picks for those, too.

Best moment of the week: 
The best moment of the week was probably seeing our baby one last time by ultrasound. It's pretty crazy how much the baby has grown since our 20 week ultrasound. At that time, they could get the baby's whole body on the screen and we were able to see all of her at once. Now, they aren't even really able to get the baby's whole face on the screen!
The pictures that we did get of the baby's face were pretty comical this time. Baby looked pretty grumpy!! If she's really that unhappy in there, she should just come out and be with us, I guess!! ;)

The weekend that we had was also pretty great, in my opinion. We had another nice weekend at home getting things prepared. We had a list of things we wanted to get done and I am pretty sure we got it all finished! Trent washed and sanitized all the bottles and things. I got my pump on Friday, so I washed and sanitized everything that came with that. We cleaned the bathrooms so Trent could move back into our master bath when the time came for us to have guests and we cleaned and got the guest rooms ready for company! I got pretty worn out with all the cleaning, which made for a not-so-fun day the next day, but I'll be alright!
Trent also got the car seat put in the car. It's still strange to look in my rear view mirror and see it back there! :)

We found time on Saturday to go to see Ant Man in the theater. It was a good movie! And then we went to eat at Chipotle. (I think I could eat there every day... or at least several times a week!)

Nursery Things:
I think that we're as ready as we can be in the nursery now! I got everything hung up on the walls and all the clothes that we have is washed and put away. Now we just need a baby to go with the room.
There are a few frames that are still empty because I'm either waiting to receive what I am going to put in them or because they are going to have pictures of the baby in them, but the hard part of getting them hung straight on the wall is done. Now it should be pretty easy to put whatever needs to go in the frames in there and then put them right back in their place!

Here's the book ledge wall all done:

Below is a cross stitched prayer that my mom made when my sister was a baby (she's pretty sure that's when she made it anyway!) and I can remember it hanging up in my room pretty much my whole life. I had it reframed to go in our baby's room and just got it back this weekend and hung it up right away. I love having it in the room! The frame ended up costing more than I wanted to spend, but if it stays framed and used for another 30 years or so, I'd say it was a pretty good investment!

And here's the whole wall that you see when you walk in the room: 

Looking forward to: 
Meeting our baby whenever he or she decides to join us!

Also looking forward to wrapping up our birth class on Wednesday and having weekly appointments now!

Other things: 
At our ultrasound, the tech told us that our baby was estimated to be about 9lb 6oz or so, which is crazy! That means that the baby would have grown about 4lbs since our last ultrasound 4 weeks ago. The measurements obviously aren't a fact, but it sure does get everyone all riled up! (I really don't see how the baby could have gained 4lbs in 4 weeks because that's pretty much how much I've gained in 4 weeks, so that would mean that I would have had to gain all baby... doubtful)
After the ultrasound, we had our regular appointment. Baby's heartbeat was in the high 140s and then shot up to the 150s as she was moving around! (During the ultrasound, the heartbeat was in the 130s, which is the lowest it's been the whole pregnancy!)

Baby Fred - 36 Weeks!

Date: 
July 20, 2015

How far along:
36 Weeks!! Our baby would officially not have to go to NICU if born today and everything looked good!! (per our hospital's guidelines)

How many weeks to go: 
4 Weeks!

Baby size:
Head of Romane Lettuce/Honeydew Melon (it said that last week, too)
17.2-18.7 inches long

Baby milestones: 
She's very close to being able to breath on her own without any issues. Her skin is getting smooth and soft. Most of her systems and organs are good to go!

Maternity clothes: 
You betcha... Just wearing and rewearing the same things. Comfort over style these days! I've gotta be extra careful to not show too much skin at work cuz my belly tends to stick out the bottom of some of my maternity shirts now...

Stretch marks: 
Unfortunately... And they are getting worse, I'm afraid...

Have you started to show yet: 
Yes... Enormously

Belly button in or out: 
Out

Symptoms: 
A few belly cramps here and there, a big belly, big feet, feel like I have to pee ALL the time (even when I really don't), constricted breathing at times, what I think is slight pregnancy carpal tunnel (yes, that's a thing!)... Still happy as a clam, though!

Aversions: 
None really... I just can't eat as much these days, so not everything sounds good at times...

Movement:
I feel her move around quite a lot. Sometimes she gets little twitches or hiccups but other times, she's just tumbling around in there (with what room she has left anyway)

Labor signs: 
None that I'm aware of

Mood: 
My mood is good, I just feel tired and like my body hates me at times and I'm sure that shows on the outside occasionally.

Sleep: 
Getting up every few hours to pee most nights (I did sleep the whole night one night last week, though!) Sometimes my breathing still gives me issues, but most nights I can fall asleep pretty well. The mornings come way too early, though!

Dreams: 
I had one that had a bunch of random people in it... our auditors at work, Trent, people that I haven't talked to since college, etc. I was at work and then we were in some desert-type place... none of it made sense...

Miss anything: 
Wearing comfortable clothes, not feeling like my belly is going to burst open at times, being able to move without it being a huge effort!

Gender prediction: 
I think a boy still, I think, but we've been talking about our girl name so much lately that that gets me thinking that it's a girl!

Names: 
We have names but have recently started discussing our girl name again because we aren't sure if the one we picked is going to work... 

Best moment of the week: 
We're still getting packages of things I've ordered about every other day, so it's been fun to really feel like we're getting ready! The car seat base for Trent's car came this week as well as some bottles and our monitor (which Trent set up on Friday when he was off work!!). I already feel like our house is being taken over by baby stuff, but I am pretty sure that's just going to be the way our lives are from here on out! (And that's just fine with me!)
I also got to be pretty darn lazy on Saturday, which was pretty nice. I slept in real late and then continued to lay on the couch for most of the next four hours or so... The dogs and I had a nice, restful day!

Nursery Things:
Trent helped me to hang up our book ledges (there was no way I would have been able to do that on my own like I had thought!) and I got other things hung up on the walls and ready to go! I'm still working on what's going on the shelf above the dresser and have more things to hang on the wall with the book ledges, but it's coming along!

Looking forward to: 
Our ultrasound and appointment on Friday. Looking forward to seeing how the baby has grown and hear what our doctor thinks about everything.
Also looking forward to getting our to-do list done (well maybe not actually doing what's on the list, but I'm excited to have it all done). We've got a pretty good list going of things that we need to do to get ready for the baby to arrive like put the car seat in the car, wash bottles and things like that, finish hanging what I have already in the nursery, wash the rest of the baby clothes, and get the guest rooms ready for people to come to town when baby arrives! 

Baby Fred - 35 Weeks!

Date:
July 13, 2015

How far along:
35 Weeks!!

How many weeks to go: 
5 Weeks!

Baby size:
Honey Dew Melon/Coconut
17.2-18.7 inches long

Baby milestones: 
Most of her development is complete at this point. She's just going to spend the next few weeks putting on weight so she can be one healthy baby when she decides to join us!!

Maternity clothes: 
Yes - I really wear the same three dresses every week to work and then force myself to wear pants the other two days and I dislike every minute of it!

Stretch marks: 
I found some last Thursday!!! :( On the underside of my belly where I really can't see, so who knows how long they've been there!

Have you started to show yet: 
Yes... I really don't think how much more I can show... but I'm sure we'll see just how much over the next few weeks!

Belly button in or out:
 Out

Symptoms: 
Random Braxton Hicks, a little bit of acid reflux still, puffy feet by the end of the week... the usual :)

Movement:
Lots of movement and body parts sticking out of my belly!

Labor signs: 
Not that I know of!

Mood: 
Good, I think. I'm sure I look pretty tired and unhappy at times, though... but really, it's more of just the tiredness. I'm very happy :)

Sleep: 
Not too bad most of the time. Sunday night I had quite a rough time falling asleep and ended up laying in bed for 3 hours and that wasn't so fun...

Miss anything: 
Same ol'... Wish I had comfortable clothes to wear all the time and I miss being able to move without it being a huge effort.

Gender prediction: 
Mostly boy but I just can't wait to find out!

Names: 
We have names! We still have the right to change them, but I think they're pretty set :)

Best moment of the week: 
We had our hospital tour during our birth class last week. That was pretty exciting!! It won't be long before we're there for real! I feel so much better knowing where to go and slightly what to expect when we're there and learn about all the hospital has to offer.
My sister came on Friday night to get pedicures and go out to eat and spent the night, so that was a fun event for the week! My feet are so much prettier now that they are painted nice. It was much needed since I have resorted to wearing my Nike flip flops pretty much every day at work these days...
I spent two hours at Target on Saturday purchasing everything else I thought we'd need off our registry. I had also purchased some stuff online earlier in the week from Target, Amazon and Buy Buy Baby, so we've been getting packages every day pretty much. I feel like we're finally almost fully prepared in the "stuff" department to have this baby!
I also did my first load of baby laundry on Saturday and packed the baby's bag for the hospital! I also have my bag about 90% of the way packed and it will hopefully be all ready to go or I'll at least have a final list of the last minute things we'll need to grab when we're headed to the hospital to have a baby!!! Woot!!

Nursery Things:
I put a fun set of sheets on the bed, which really "funs up" the room. I put a few things on the shelf that Trent's dad put up last weekend and printed out some of our maternity pictures to put in frames. My projects for this week will be to hang up the frames and the book shelves that I have!!

Looking forward to: The weekend to be here :)
But really, just looking forward to getting more done in the nursery in the evenings this week and then this weekend for anything that doesn't get done before then!

Other things: 
We had our first appointment with our new doctor last Thursday. It was nice to be able to ask questions about how delivery will go and what she thinks about certain things and know that when she answers them, she will be the one who is actually going to be there to deliver her baby. She has been delivering babies for 16 years and both Trent and I thought our first meeting went great and we both like her a lot. I think everything will go great with her!
We scheduled another growth scan in two weeks to see what baby's estimated size is again and then we scheduled all the rest of our weekly appointment up until our due date!! So hard to believe that the end is in sight!! 

Baby Fred - 34 Weeks!

Date:
July 6, 2015

How far along:
34 Weeks!!

How many weeks to go: 
6 Weeks! Ahh!

Baby size:
Cantaloupe
(I'm not even going to put a weight here anymore because whatever is "average" and what our baby probably is, are most likely not the same thing!)
About 18 -18.7 inches

Baby milestones: 
Her layers of fat are developing so she can regulate her body temperature when she's born and her lungs are continuing to mature so she can breathe like a champ once she's born!

Maternity clothes: 
Yes - I'm constantly making my shirts are still covering the bottom of my belly... putting on clothes is probably the worst part of being pregnant right now :)

Stretch marks: 
Not that I've seen

Belly button in or out: 
I'm going to say officially out.

Symptoms: 
Same things going on... Braxton Hicks contractions occasionally (even though they don't quite feel like what I thought they would) and I have to pee quite a lot. My feet are pretty big these days and it's just an effort to move as well... But I'm not complaining :)

Movement:
I can feel the baby pretty consistently these days and when I can see or feel body parts sticking out, I always try to guess what body part it is... Who knows if my guess is right, though!
While Trent's family was here this weekend, they all got to see the baby move from the outside while I was sitting at the table. I had a shirt on with polka dots on it, so that made it easy to see when the baby was moving. Taylor and Jenna also got to feel my belly when the baby had hiccups for the first time (that I noticed). When I started feeling very consistent movements, I realized that they were probably hiccups and Taylor and Jenna came and put their hands on my belly and could feel it. Taylor's face was great when she felt it, I think she thought it was cool but it also may have been kind of strange. Jenna kept asking why the baby was kicking in there, so I'm not quite sure what she thought about the whole thing. It was pretty neat, though!

Labor signs: Nothing "real" I don't think...

Sleep: 
Not bad. I had trouble getting to sleep on Sunday again because of my whole heart beating like crazy thing, but once I get to sleep it's usually all good.

Miss anything: 
Having clothes to wear that is comfortable and not hurting/look like I'm in major pain any time I get up to walk.

Gender prediction: 
I don't know at all these days... I think that I still think it's a boy, but I'm not as strong in that thought as I once was.

Names: 
I think we have picked names!! Still have several options on middle names, and I'm sure we could still change our minds, but it's pretty fun to think that we could have a child named one of the names we picked out!

Best moment of the week: 
Trent getting back from his work trip to Florida on Wednesday! It's just so much better/easier to have him home!!

We also had a great weekend celebrating birthdays and the 4th of July with Trent's family this weekend. We didn't go anywhere, but still had a busy and fun weekend at our house. We grilled out for lunch and supper, put together a puzzle, opened gifts, and lit off some fireworks and sparklers and other fun things. And, of course, we had an abundance of birthday desserts to eat as well, one for each birthday person! 

The birthday people!

Watching fireworks!

I also spent a LOOONG time on Sunday afternoon/evening figuring out what we all needed to buy from our registry so we could officially be ready for the baby... We have gift cards and coupons to several places, so I was trying to figure out what to buy from which place in order to get the biggest discounts and things like that. It was a lot more work than I had anticipated! I got stuff ordered from Amazon and Buy Buy Baby and made one purchase from Target, but I had a little trouble with purchasing the rest of the things on Target.com, so I still need to get that worked out. Everything should start arriving this week, though, so it is going to be like Christmas each day when I get home from work to see what's arrived!! :)

Nursery Things:
I really need to get a move on in the nursery! EEE! Trent's dad, being the super helpful and giving guy that he is, helped me to hang a shelf in the nursery this weekend while he was at our house. I know I never would have gotten that hung myself, so I'm super thankful to have his help! Now I just need to get all the frames hung and figure out what's going in them!!

Looking forward to: 
Our birth class on Wednesday. We get to take our tour of the hospital that night, and I'm pretty excited about that! I am curious as to how it's going to make me feel - either really excited or possibly terrified... or both! haha
We also have our first appointment with our new doctor on Thursday. This is the doctor that will be delivering our baby. I hope everything goes well with her!!

Other things: 
This weekend, while the girls were over, they hung out in the nursery for a while when Trent's dad was hanging up the shelf. They both sat in the chair in the room and had stuffed animals that they thought would be the size of the baby and were practicing rocking them while singing "Rock-A-Bye Baby." It was pretty adorable. They both said they would hold the baby if I said it was okay :)

They also were very thoughtful with the Beanie Babies and picked out ones that they thought could be the baby's favorite toys. Taylor picked out one for if it's a girl and one for if it's a boy. Our baby is going to have very loving cousins!

Baby Fred - 33 Weeks!

Millie snuck her tail into this picture!

Date:
June 29, 2015 - My Birthday!!

How far along:
 33 Weeks!!

How many weeks to go: 
7 Weeks!

Baby size:
Pineapple
4.2-5.8 lbs (but we know now that the baby may be close to 6lb by this point.
17.8-18.7 inches

Baby milestones: 
Baby is keeping her eyes open while awake and starting to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing. 

Maternity clothes: 
Yes - and my belly is hanging out of some of those even!

Stretch marks: 
Negative (I know it could still happen, but I just kind of think my body is meant to be big, so it was prepared for this - or something! haha)

Belly button in or out: 
I think it is more out than in these days...

Symptoms: 
Random tightening of the belly and my heart beats like crazy at times... My pubic bones started hurting on Saturday morning and my back hurts pretty much whenever I'm not sitting down, but it could be worse.

Food cravings: 
Nothing specific that I can think of...

Movement:
Quite a bit of movement. Baby goes crazy in there every once in a while - especially after I eat.

Labor signs: 
Nope

Mood: 
Good - Just let myself get too tired at times.

Sleep: 
I sleep well after I fall asleep, but there were a few nights where I had just a minor challenge falling asleep. Not as bad as a few of the nights over the last couple weeks, though.

Dreams: 
I had one last Monday night before our ultrasound that I had some blood test done to find out if everything was okay with the baby and when I looked at the results, it said that the baby was a boy... I remember being sad that I knew the gender before the baby was born, so that kind of solidifies our decision to not find out the gender for me. Must have been the right choice! We'll see if my dream was right!

Miss anything: 
Being able to move without feeling like it's a huge effort!

Gender prediction: 
I still think boy but Trent is pretty convinced it's a girl now, I think. He's said it's a girl for a while now, but during our ultrasound last Tuesday, the Ultrasound Tech said "Her" at one point. She says she said "our" and not "her" and that she didn't even know the gender herself, so who knows what the truth is... But that just fueled his fire that it's a girl!

Names: 
Nothing new this week with names.

Best moments of the week: 
Last week was a week full of fun and exciting "best moments"! One of the best moments was seeing our baby last Tuesday during our growth scan. It wasn't quite the same as the 20 week one where you see every part of the baby and they spend a lot of time showing you different things, but she showed us the baby's face and even took some 3D pictures for us! It's so crazy to get to see a little more clearly what our baby is going to look like!! I love looking at the pictures!

My coworkers threw me a surprise baby shower on Tuesday afternoon! I thought I was going to a meeting to talk about asbestos reserve accounts, so I was totally surprised when I got there and all of my past and present coworkers and bosses were all there! They all went together and got us our car seat and a 4moms MamaRoo swing! I am pretty sure my face was red the entire time because I was surprised and embarrased from being the center of attention. It was all so great, though. I really felt so loved!

We also moved our maternity pictures up a week, so we had those taken on Thursday evening. I wasn't 100% sure if I wanted any taken, but I didn't want to regret it if I didn't. I figured I could always just hide them and never let anyone see them if I don't like them! :) I'm glad they are done so I don't have to worry about getting any bigger before taking them! Overall, I'm glad we had them taken and even if I don't love me in all of them, it is nice to have them!! We got the pictures back last night, so I'll share the ones I like in a post later this week. But for now, here's a couple good ones! I had better get them shared before they become old news and we all just want to see pictures of the baby and not of my big belly!!

The best picture we could get of our little family!

The dogs and I also took a quick trip to Westside this weekend. Although it was a little rough being a single parent while being away from home (never a dull moment with Millie around), it was nice to be there and spend some time with my mom! The dogs and I were all exhausted when we got home and spent much of Sunday just resting and recuperating from our little day trip.

Nursery Things:
I didn't really do anything new in the nursery this week, I cleaned everything out in anticipation for taking pictures in there, so now I need to work on getting everything back in there and in it's place!
I did have to buy a set of crib sheets from Target on Wednesday night so we had some on the bed for our pictures. I also ordered some online a few days prior, but since we moved our pictures up, they weren't going to be here on time.
Jared's girlfriend, Kenzie, was nice enough to paint a shelf that I wanted to put in the nursery for me this last weekend, so we can get that hung up along with some frames and things in the near future!
I really had better get moving on getting everything done or the baby's going to be here before we're ready!

Looking forward to: 
Celebrating June birthdays with Trent's family this weekend and celebrating the 4th of July with them. And I'm looking forward to Trent returning on Wednesday as well! :)

Other things: 
Our ultrasound was quite an adventure this time. It was about half as long as the 20 week ultrasound, but I got very light headed at one point, so I rolled over onto my side and Trent fanned my face with a clipboard for a while and the ultrasound tech gave me an ice pack to put on my chest. After I felt better, I rolled back onto my back and we started again. That lasted about another five minutes before I started to get hot and feel sick again and, this time, I threw up in a little barf bag that the ultrasound tech gave me. Fun times! Luckily the ultrasound was almost over by that time, so that was the end of all the excitement.
We found out during our ultrasound that our baby is looking like she's around 5lb 7oz right now. I don't remember what percentile the baby was in, but at our appointment on Wednesday, the doctor started throwing around scheduling a C section if the baby gets to be too big. I, of course, got upset because that's totally not part of "the plan." If a C section is necessary to keep the baby safe, then that's fine, but I'm not comfortable with going through major surgery without even trying to birth our baby naturally! God gave me big hips for a reason and I am completely confident in my body's ability to birth big babies! No one here is shocked that our baby is on the big side! I am pretty sure that our doctor was just trying to prepare us for what may come, but it still made me upset at first.
I feel much better about it now :) One of my friends and coworkers sent me a blog post that I really liked and it really drove home the point that I can't let the pressure of one day's plan overshadow the miracle of a lifetime! I totally trust and have faith that everything will happen how it's supposed to happen!
We see our new doctor next week for the first time, the one who will be delivering our baby, so we will see what she says about the whole thing. We also have to go back for another growth scan when I'm around 36 weeks and then we'll know more about what the baby's size will be closer to delivery. We also had a good talk with our birth class instructor and she had some good advice on how to handle the whole situation, so I'm definitely feeling more at ease about the whole situation for the time being.
Besides telling us that the baby is big, baby's heartbeat was 147 during the ultrasound on Tuesday and "in the 140s" at our appointment on Wednesday. My fundal height was at 36 weeks this week.

Baby Fred - 32 Weeks!

Since I'm posting this so late in the week, there are a lot of things that have happened since the official 32 week mark, but to make it "real" for when I go back and read this later, I'm saving those things until next week! So, some of you know how some of these things turn out already that I write about in here, but you'll just have to read about it again next week!

Date:
June 22, 2015 - Trent's Birthday!!

How far along:
32 Weeks!!

How many weeks to go: 
8 Weeks!

Baby size:
Squash
About 3.8 lb
Almost 17 inches long

Baby milestones: 
Baby should be in the head down position now (she is) and getting ready for her decent into the world even though birth is likely still 2 months away. She's probably feeling pretty cramped in there - I try to think about sitting up more these days, which will hopefully give her some more room in there!! She will gain a third to half of her weight in the next few weeks - about a half a pound a week.

Maternity clothes: 
Yep! Same 10 shirt rotation! :) 

Stretch marks: 
Not yet - but probably should try to be better about putting on my Belly Balm... not that it probably would help if the stretch marks are imminent

Have you started to show yet: 
Of course! I have pretty much outgrown Trent's T-shirts now as well. My belly hangs out the bottom even when I'm standing up now...

Belly button in or out: 
Getting closer and closer to an outie!

Symptoms: 
Having occasional breathing problems at night still and my feet are puffy - probably from all the walking on Friday. I also feel like I have to pee when I walk all the time... even when I KNOW I don't. Not a big fan!

Food cravings: 
Nothing really...

Movement:
Feeling quite a bit of movement these days.

Labor signs: 
Nothing "real" I don't think

Sleep: 
Once I get to sleep, it's not so bad, but sometimes falling asleep is not so great because something feels uncomfortable or I am all up in my head about trying to breath comfortably.

Miss anything: 
Being able to move without feeling like it's a huge effort!

Gender prediction: 
Thinking boy, but I don't really know!

Names: 
I think we're getting pretty close to having a top boy and girl name... or at least we have some very strong contenders. I think if we had to decide today, we would be able to say what the name is. There's still quite a few options for middle names floating around, though.

Best moments of the week: 
Only working 4 days last week and spending Friday at the Walnut Antique Show with Trent's family. We also got to spend Friday evening and Saturday morning with Trent's parents and do a little early Father's day celebration with Trent's dad.

I got a few naps in on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning (it was needed after Friday's adventures) and then went to the pool for a little while with Lauren on Saturday afternoon.
We made a quick trip home on Sunday to celebrate Trent, Kellsey, and I's June birthdays, eat some Pizza Ranch, watch Alex play basketball, and have a little family time!

 
It was nice to have a three day weekend, but I needed another day to help me to recover!

Nursery Things:
The shelf is up in the closet, the baby's clothes are hanging up (even though they all have to be taken down to be washed still), and the navy totes have found their home on top of the shelf! With the great help of his dad, Trent got the shelf up this weekend and it's so fun to start really putting things away where they belong!

Looking forward to: 
Seeing our baby through ultrasound on Tuesday and our appointment on Wednesday. Hopefully everything goes well...
Not looking forward to Trent leaving again on Friday! Boo! I think it should be the last time before the baby comes, though!

Baby Fred - 31 Weeks!

Date:
June 15, 2015

How far along:
31 Weeks!!

How many weeks to go: 
9 Weeks! SINGLE DIGITS!!

Baby size:
Coconut or a Pineapple (depending on which app you ask)
About 3 1/3 lb
Over 16 inches long

Baby milestones: 
Baby is supposedly heading into a growth spurt. She's accumulating more fat underneath her skin and moving around a lot. (Agreed)

Maternity clothes: 
You betcha! I had to go buy some more tank tops this weekend because I was afraid I wasn't going to make it through the next few months... Crazy how the weather has changed since I started wearing maternity clothes!

Stretch marks: 
Not yet

Belly button in or out: 
It's changing some more, but it's still flat and the top is sticking out

Symptoms: 
Had a little trouble breathing comfortably at night on Sunday, but it's nothing too bad. I'm not concerned that I'm not getting enough air or anything, it's just not comfortable is all. I am also still having random heart palpitations, which doesn't help with the breathing situation, but they are definitely less often than they used to be.
My belly also gets pretty heavy at times and feels like it is stretching a lot, and that's not always the most comfortable thing.
I for sure have to pee more than I used to! I can tell that the baby is squishing my bladder quite a bit these days. I'm trying to drink a lot more water to help keep the Braxton Hicks contractions and any cramping away though, so that doesn't help with the whole having to pee all the time thing... That's the way it goes, though, I guess.

Food cravings: 
Nothing really... We've been eating our fair share of DQ lately, which I'm not complaining about :)

Movement:
There are spurts where there's quite a lot of movement. Sometimes my belly gets kind of lopsided or gets lumps in it from the baby pushing on the outside. It's pretty cool, and I usually feel where the baby is pushing, but I am also afraid of pushing back too hard and bruising the baby. Is that a thing? haha

Labor signs: 
None that I know of...

Sleep: 
I've been pretty sleepy this week. I'm not sure if it's because the baby's growing or because I've been working hard or what... Other than the night that I had troubles breathing and woke up pretty often, I have been sleeping well, though. I even tried out the nursery chair this week and slept in it for a few hours one night when I couldn't sleep. Sitting up in the chair seemed to be what it took to get to sleep... the good news is that the chair is comfortable and nice to sleep in!

Dreams: 
I had a few dreams last week with some coworkers in it... I don't remember too many of the details, though. I also had one Sunday night when I had gone to lay on the couch for a while hoping that it would help me feel better with the whole breathing thing... In the two hours that I was laying there, I had a dream about some scary creature being in our room and making it so none of the lights worked and stuff. It didn't freak me out enough to keep me from going back up to bed, but it still was creepy.

Miss anything: 
Same ol'... miss having a lot of clothes that fit and I miss being able to get off the couch without it being a big ordeal!

Gender prediction: 
Still boy for the most part, but my feeling isn't as strong as it once was

Names: 
Nothing new here. I'm hoping that we have some sort of sign of what our baby's name should be or something like that :) I am pretty sure it's probably going to be a final decision that's made after the baby's here... as much as we say we'd like to have a final boy and girl name before then...

Best moment of the week: 
The weekend was pretty great. Trent and I just hung out around home, slept in, watched some Netflix, he played some games on Sunday afternoon while me and the dogs all napped, I went and did some shopping, he did some work in the hard... it was just a nice weekend.
Life is pretty good these days!

Nursery Things:
We went to Lowe's on Saturday morning and bought the shelf and rod for the baby's closet, so we will get that hung up next weekend! I put some of the stuff that we got from our baby shower away in the nursery and laid out what clothes we have so far so I can figure out what we need to get by the first few days of our baby's life before we are able to start buying clothes specific to the baby's gender!
The nursery feels like it's kind of a mess right now, but hopefully things will start coming together soon and looking more organized!

Looking forward to: 
Having Friday off of work! We're going to the Walnut Antique Show with Trent's family. It looks like it's supposed to be a nice day weather-wise, so hopefully my body can handle me walking around all day and it will all just be fabulous!
We're then going to see my family on Sunday to watch Alex play basketball and then have a birthday party at The Pizza Ranch! Woot! Should be another fun weekend!

Other things: We had an appointment last Friday. The baby's heartbeat remains in the 150s again. I measured at 34 weeks, which is 1 centimeter over what they want you to be at this point (They say they want it to be 26 and 33) so I have to go in for a growth scan before my next appointment to see how baby is developing. I always thought it was so strange how people could have so many ultrasounds during their pregnancy, as I always thought there was only two, but here I am about to see our baby for the fifth time! (To be fair, one of those times was very early in the Emergency Room because of the cyst I had on my ovary and we were checking to be sure the baby was in the right and place and then the one other "extra" time was just for like five minutes because the DVD they made at our 20 week ultrasound didn't work... but still) I'm not sure what they are going to tell us from this ultrasound other than maybe that our baby is big (SHOCKER!) but I guess we'll find out...
Our appointment next week is our last one with our current doctor. That's kind of sad because we really like her, but she is a little over a month out from having her own baby, so she won't be there in the end anyway. We're actually switching to the doctor that will be delivering her baby, so I know we'll be in good hands.
We also booked a maternity picture session with a local photographer in a few weeks. I'm not super excited about it because I'm past the point where I think I look "cute" but I did't want to regret not having them in the end, so I'm hoping she can make me look alright!

Baby Fred - 30 Weeks!

Date:
June 8, 2015

How far along:
30 Weeks!! I can't believe we're in the 30s now!!

How many weeks to go: 
10 Weeks

Baby size:
Large Head of Cabbage
About 3 lbs (or a little more!)
15.2-16.7 inches long

Baby milestones: 
Our baby is now said to be strong enough to grasp a finger! (I can't wait for that!) Her eye site is continuing to develop. She can respond to changes in light when her eyes are open, but her eyesight isn't that great. It is said to be about 20/400 and will still need to develop further once she's born. 

Maternity clothes: 
Yep. I'm kind of over wearing pants these days. My coworkers are probably going to be seeing a lot of the same 3 dresses over the next few months!!

Stretch marks: Not yet that I know of

Belly button in or out: 
It's very flat. It seems like it's out because you can see the top of it through my shirts, but the actual belly button is hanging in there still.

Symptoms: 
My feet and ankles are still a little bigger than they should be, but hopefully they aren't too noticeable. (Even though my friend Kaela did tell me my ankles looked big last week... oh well!)
I had about 12 hours of having trouble breathing this weekend. I hate feeling claustrophobic and like I can't breath, and I kept saying that I felt like I had COPD and was in a submarine with an elephant. It wasn't a fun feeling. No matter how deep of breaths I took, I just couldn't get enough air to feel "normal." By Sunday afternoon, it got back to normal and I haven't felt that way since, so we'll see how long it stays away!
I can feel my belly stretching and it gets heavy at times and I have a few random tightening episodes here and there, but other than that, I just feel pregnant. :)

Food cravings: 
I have been loving watermelon lately. That's pretty much all I had at my shower on Sunday and Trent went to the store on Monday night, so I had him pick one up there for me to eat this week, too! (I'm finally getting this posted on Wednesday and I'm sure that the last of the watermelon will be gone by the end of the day!)

Movement:
She's still moving around in there - sometimes more than others, but it is quite the comforting feeling (and strange still) to feel her move around.

Labor signs: None

Sleep: 
I've been sleeping well. Just the one night this weekend that I had trouble breathing, so I'm not sure what's up with that. Not sure if it was the baby's position or something that I ate or what... I am pretty fond of sleeping in my own bed with all my pillows and stuff these days, so I'll probably try to sleep in my own bed every night if at all possible until this baby comes!

Dreams: 
I know I had a few, but the one that sticks out to me the most, I had on Saturday night. In it, I could see the baby's hand sticking up through the skin on my belly and reaching out like she was trying to get out! I had a feeling like the baby was panicking and needed to get out of there! I think I may have been transferring my claustrophobic feelings that I was having that night on to the baby in my dream!

Miss anything: 
Having my clothes fit.

Gender prediction: 
Either a boy or a girl...

Names: 
Trent and I talked a little bit about names when we went out to eat one night last week. Nothing was really decided, but I think we have the list narrowed down a little... We also got quite a few name suggestions from everyone at my shower this weekend. Trent and I haven't looked through them all together yet, so we'll see if any contenders come out of that list!

Best moment of the week: 
I got a promotion last week! For the past three years, I have been a Sr. Analyst, but now I have moved up to be a Manager. My job doesn't change, just my title. So that was a fun thing that I wasn't really expecting to happen this week!

We also started our birth class on Wednesday night and it went really well. It was even better than I thought it would be, I think! I mean, I'm not a big fan of group activities and it IS a little strange to spoon with your husband to work on relaxation techniques in a room with 7 other couples, but I can deal with that. The instructor ended up answering some of the big questions I had about the hospital's policies and standards without me having to ask the questions and calmed some of my anxieties that I had and really just made me more excited and relaxed about this whole birth thing. It was also fun to be doing it along with Trent and to actually be preparing for the birth of our child and not just preparing as far as accumulating stuff. I hope the rest of the classes go as well as the first one!
Of course, having the shower this weekend was one of the best moments of this week as well. My sister did such a good job with planning it! It was perfect and everything was great! There is just something about getting a bunch of people together that love you and having them talk about this baby that is going to be joining us in a few months and making predictions about what they are going to be like. I can't wait to see what our baby really looks like and when she actually arrives and whether the baby is a boy or a girl! Until then, it's fun to just keep imagining! (More on the shower later!)

Trent and I and the baby were also spoiled with gifts. I haven't had a chance to go through everything and show everything to Trent yet because we had company when I got home on Sunday night, so it's all still sitting in the living room, but that's on the agenda for Tuesday night! It is so crazy to actually have real baby things in our house now! I can't wait to get it all into the baby's room and organized so we can be even more ready for the baby to be here!!!

Nursery Things:
There wasn't anything big that happened in the nursery this week - just some little things. The bins that we ordered for the shelf in the closet and a few other storage/decorative bins came, so those are in the room. And we started getting a few baby things in the mail, so those things have started to gather in there as well! I'm looking forward to getting everything in its right spot and start putting things from the baby shower away where they are going to go!

Here's the closet shelf with the new bins in it!

Looking forward to: 
Getting more done in the nursery this weekend. We are planning on getting the shelf that goes in the closet on Saturday and I'll also work on getting things figured out for decorations and getting the gifts put away!

We have an appointment this week and another birth class on Wednesday night, so I'm looking forward to all that as well!!