39 Weeks!

I can't believe how close this is all getting, only one more week till the due date and then only two more weeks tops after that! I really do think that We'll see the due date before the baby but only time will tell.

Size:

The average baby now weighs the same as a WATERMELON, about 7 lbs 8 oz... my midwife thinks our baby is a little smaller than that, I guess once again we'll see when this little one decides to come. The vernix (white goop that used to cover the baby's skin) has been shedding and may be all gone by the time the babe is born. In any way it isn't long until we meet this baby! 

Pregnancy Symptoms:

Well as time goes on this list gets longer I suppose. Still feeling lots of BH contractions. Waiting for the real ones can be tricky when you're constantly getting the fake ones.

 Just in the last week I've been waking up once or twice a night to go to the washroom, I feel super lucky that my sleep didn't seem to be disturbed until now and even now it's really totally bearable. I would make an AWFUL pregnant woman if I didn't get a decent sleep every night. 

I'm definitely feeling more pressure due to the pushing down of the baby. I walked to my midwife appointment this past week and for the next two days I felt like my back and hips were broken... 'they' say it's good to walk though, so I'm going to keep doing it. Speaking of midwife appointments, I only have a few more of those at the most too....ahhhh....

Life Happenings:

Boy am I enjoying maternity leave...well, I don't know if I'm technically on it yet considering the baby isn't here yet...but boy is it nice to have some time off. I'm trying to not feel guilty about relaxing since I know that that's what my body needs and that any day now I won't have the luxury and the really scary part begins! 

We're still picking up things here and there for the baby/birth, but I feel like we are prepared. I have our guest room packed to the brim with all the supplies we'll need. Hopefully when I go into labour Ben will be able to wade through it all and get everything set up properly in the case that I'm incapacitated, which, let's face it, I most likely will be. I'm pretty nervous about how I'll treat the poor guy when the big day arrives. I've watched all these birth videos where the couples almost look like they're enjoying the process and are so loving and kind to each other. This is how I've always wanted to be, I can pretty much guarantee you that won't be me...I'll be the irritable, mean woman screaming at everyone around her. I'll have to write apology letters to everyone afterwards for all the mean stuff I'm bound to say, I'm just sure of it! 

In other news....I now know why people love the weekends so much! It's soooo nice having two days off in a row with Ben. Every night after work he's pretty much a zombie who doesn't want to do anything but sleep and eat, and that's only if I happen to make something that looks appealing to him (not common). Because of this somewhat unfortunate happenstance, the weekend is now the best time in the world! We get to sleep in (well, Saturday at least) and then the WHOLE day is ours to do whatever we wish, plus we've been allowing ourselves to go on extra dates guilt free since we know that they're basically over indefinitely once this babe gets here. It's a really novel idea! This weekend we...slept in, went out for lunch with Ben's mom, washed the car, installed the car seat, did some window shopping for diaper bags, went out for supper with a friend, went to a movie with that same friend, got my teeth checked by my uncle (he IS a dentist so not so weird), went to church, relaxed, got groceries, hung our with some friends! It was a great weekend!

Weekly Highlight:

As painful as the aftermath ended up being, walking to my midwife appointment felt REALLY good. I just felt so proud of myself for getting off my lazy butt and actually doing it. I have yet to decide whether I'm going to walk to this weeks appointment (I have my doubts), but I really hope that I do. Maybe this time it will kick-start labour! 

Here is the 39 week belly.

38 Weeks!

Well, still pregnant and very much ok with that! 

Size:

At this stage babies differ so much in size and all that but our little leek should be somewhere between 6lbs  9oz to 7lbs. He or she is also somewhere near 20inches long. Still putting on weight and developing that brain! 

Pregnancy Symptoms:

Still getting lots of practice contractions. We've been diligent to take a walk every day and boy does walking sure bring them on. Even though the Braxton Hicks are strong, I do realize that I could have upwards of 4 weeks of this left and that wouldn't really be all that bad, the more practice I get, the more ready my body will be for the real showdown! 

I think I'm also experiencing a little bit of pregnancy insomnia. I don't even like using that word because it sounds so serious, in actuality it just takes me a while to fall asleep. I'm used to being asleep BEFORE my head hits the pillow and for the last 3-4 days I lie awake for about an hour. I have no idea what causes this, I'm not uncomfortable or anything, perhaps it's my body prepping itself for being up all night long in a few short weeks. 

At my midwife appointment this week she said the baby is even more stuck down in place and that there was no 'wiggle room' which I guess is a good thing... It sure explains why every time I stand up I feel immense pressure...oh the joys of pregnancy! 

Life Happenings:

Life has been absolutely perfect lately! I love the summer weather. I love that Ben and I get the full weekend off together now! (probably the first time that this will be a regular occurrence since we DATED!) It's so nice having him home at 6ish every day. We have been taking advantage of all the free time knowing that it won't last long, so it's been date night for us almost every day, even if that's just watching a movie at home or taking Rose to the dog park.

I feel like I'm finally ready for this baby to come if he or she chooses to now. I have all the things ready for the birth and all the clothes washed and ready to go on a beautiful little body. I've collected the diapers that we're going to use and hopefully someone can show us how they work because I'm not creative enough to know how to transform a big rectangle of material into a diaper... Ahh all the learning that we're about to experience! 

Weekly Highlight:

One of these days my weekly highlight is going to be having a baby but for now it's not quite as interesting. This week it was going to the new Batman with Ben on Saturday. I was kinda dreading it because I knew it was 3 hours long and I always seem to end up feeling disappointed in movies that get so much hype, but it was actually good! We went to the noon showing which was nice in itself. We got up, had a little breakfast, parked on the other side of the bridge and made a little walk out of going to the theatre. Then after the three hours of decent entertainment we still had hours of sunlight left! Maybe I'm just so used to working Saturday but boy did this past Saturday just feel SOOO long and perfect! I can't wait for a full year of Saturdays spent with Ben and Rose and our little baby! 

Here is the 38 week bump! Still growing by the day!

A lovely picture of Ben on one of our beautiful Summer dates!

I painted my toenails pink and blue so that while I'm pushing I can look down and gather some extra strength knowing that in a few short minutes we'll know what this little baby is! 

Only a few of these updates left at the most! 

37 Weeks, hello full term!

So I am officially the worst and missed last week! I don't know what got into me I just didn't finish the post, not to mention I didn't get a decent picture snapped. This week I am determined to post something even if it is a couple days late. So we have officially come to full term, 37 weeks! I can't believe we are at the 'any day' phase, although I am quite certain this baby will not be here any day...I'm thinking maybe another 4-5 weeks or so, at least I'm hoping so considering how unprepared I feel. 

Size:

Size at this point is so relative. Most likely the baby is over 6 lbs and around 20 inches long, about the length of a swiss chard. At this point our little baby's lungs should be ready for the outside world and any extra time that he or she stays inside is just bonus time for growing and fattening up.

Pregnancy Symptoms:

Wow have the practice contractions been coming on strong! Otherwise I'm feeling great, sleeping great and so on. At my midwife appointment last week the baby had dropped and seemed to be sitting in a pretty position for his or her impending trek into the world! It seems I've also developed a little bit of acid reflux when I lie down. Only roughly a month to go! 

Life Happenings:

I'm done work!!!! Saturday was my last day of work and it sure feels great to be done. I was quite touched, everyone brought my favourite snacks and we had a little mini going away party for me. I can't believe I won't be back to work for a whole year. 

My days are now filled with puttering around getting everything ready for the birth, catching up on cleaning and enjoying a nap if I feel like one. Oh, and Rose has been a lucky dog now that she's getting a nice little walk every day. I also try to spend a bit of every day doing some stretches and mini workouts with my exercise ball.

We now only have 4 more birth classes and I'm wondering if we will actually make it to all of them. 

Ben is finally done working both his jobs and is now just working the one. It is so nice to have him home at 6:00 every day! 

Weekly Highlight:

Leaving work after my last shift was probably the highlight of my month so far. Only a few more of these updates before I'll have pictures of our little baby to upload! 

Baby Pool

So I just set up a baby pool for predicting what we're having, when, size, all that jazz. Follow the link and add your two cents! The more guesses the better! I'm getting sooo curious to see what this little one will be!

Ben and Solveig Baby Pool

35 Weeks!

So, I have had this ready since Sunday but had no belly picture. I still have no belly picture and since it's already Wednesday I'll just post the update and add a picture when there is one to add. 


Size:

Our honeydew melon is roughly 5lbs 4oz and measuring around 18 inches long. The kidneys are fully developed and the liver has already started processing waste products. All of the basic physical development are mostly complete, all that's left is putting on weight and maybe some maturation of the lungs! How cool!

Pregnancy Symptoms:

Well I made it July still wearing my rings! I know it's not important but it was a little goal I made for myself and I like to achieve my goals (even when I don't have any control over what's happening...)! 

Still feeling lots of movement. I know movement is supposed to start decreasing slightly in the upcoming weeks, but so far it's still pretty hardcore. There are times that I literally could grab onto what I'm assuming is a foot sticking out my side. I can't believe that there are only a few weeks left until this little baby will be wiggling around and kicking on the outside...crazy...

I still feel really great. I do think that the baby has dropped slightly because Ben seems to think that I now have a pronounced waddle and I do feel a bit like a duck when I'm walking around. Breathing has also become somewhat easier, so I'm sure the baby isn't pushing up on my diaphragm like he or she was in the past. 

Another notable change are these Braxton Hicks contractions. They used to come a few times a day and weren't very intense, now they seem to be pretty constant and can almost be considered painful at times. Hopefully this means that they are doing something and preparing my body for real labour which will most likely happen anytime between 2-7 weeks from now! (I'm hoping for closer to the 7 weeks) woohoo.

Life Happenings:

Only 2 more weeks of work. That's 8 shifts and 66 massages!!! I'm getting as close to counting down the seconds as someone can get without literally doing it. I just can't wait to be off work so that I can have an afternoon nap, it seems every day around 2PM I just NEED to lie down for a bit, I'm definitely looking forward to being able to have those naps in just a couple weeks!

We met with our doula today and it was pretty exciting just talking over all the things that are going to be happening. I feel so blessed to be able to have this amazing women join us in our adventure. I trust her whole heartedly and I know Ben feels good knowing that there's another set of hands that will be there to help out. I've known her my whole life and there is no one else I'd rather have join us (along with the medical professionals as well of course). 

Speaking of medical professionals, we now have weekly appointments with our midwife. It seems pretty crazy that there are only roughly 5 more appointments left! 

Our birth classes are going really well, every week we get more and more prepared and it's nice to get together with other people that are going through the same things that we are, not to mention it helps to see a bunch of pregnant women, I don't feel so huge and awkward when I'm around them. At our last class we watched an extremely graphic video of women giving birth squatting and I think it traumatized Ben a little...He was such a good sport though and managed to watch the whole thing without looking away, I was very proud. :)

Ben has been working like crazy lately. Usually 12 hours a day at least, he's still wrapping up his painting jobs as well as working more than full time plumbing, he's even going in on weekends. I can't wait to have him home at a decent hour and for him to not be so overworked. I am proud of how hard he works though!
I finally feel like we're getting things that we need, slowly and steadily.

Weekly Highlight:
This week was fairly uneventful. Last Monday I had a girls night with some friends which was really pleasant! A couple of the girls I don't get to see very often, and it was nice to spend an evening catching up. Good friends are so important and I feel lucky to have the ones that I do!