32 Weeks

32 weeks - I feel like time has just flown. I asked at my last appointment (a week ago) and my midwife said she was pretty sure the baby was head down (yea!) and everything is looking great. I go every two weeks now so I will be back at the end of this week. I also asked asked and found out that they will just let the baby be born after 36 weeks which would be before my birthday even - yikes! Hopefully PIME does not want to come that early though because the end of February just seems way too soon!

Apparently I am huge since people keep asking me if I am due any day and they always look quite surprised/concerned when I say the due date is March 20. Then people like to ask questions like "are you sure you're going to make it?" lol - I don't feel huge though and I wouldn't say I am all that uncomfortable so I am thankful for that.

I am starting to feel more ready for the baby too. I am sure there is still loads of stuff we "need" but I think we could make due with what we have now if we needed to (although a few more things would certainly be nice). I am really looking forward to my baby showers and so excited to share this exciting time with my friends and family.

We are really enjoying our Bradley class and I am so glad we decided to take it. It is a big time commitment but I love all the information and it gives me a lot of confidence that we can do a lot to positively influence the birthing process. We have learned so many great maneuvers and exercises to do for pain relief, labor, pushing, and to help the baby get positioned correctly.

Jesse has been enjoying "The Baby Owners Manual: Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting tips, and Advice on First Year Maintenance" which was recommended to him by another engineer friend (thanks Brandon!). It is so funny (ie "installing a diaper" and "taking the baby to the service provider") but useful at the same time. I have started reading "A Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" - it has really great information about all the medical interventions that are used today and the pros and cons of each and when and why they are used. It definitely reinforces my desire for a natural, unmedicated birth but gives good advice (backed by studies) in case intervention is necessary.

Now picture Time!

30 weeks

31 weeks

Week 30 already!

We had a great Christmas - Jesse and I had a nice relaxing morning at home with just the two of us (and the bump of course). We made a coffee cake from scratch together, opened a couple presents (and played with them), and just savored our time together. In the afternoon both of our parents and my sister came over. We did more presents and had Christmas dinner together (ham - yum!). I realize that I neglected to get a picture of everyone but we had a great time.

We picked up Rock Band for Christmas so enjoyed playing that with everyone. Molly, as it turns out, is awesome at the drums and my mom rocked with bass guitar. Doug also did a great job on the bass guitar. We had a great time and got some good laughs too :)

Prior to Christmas we bought a little Christmas ornament for our little family this year. There is the ornament and us posed like it :)

I took the week between Christmas and New Years off from work so I could get some things knocked off my to do list that have been weighing on my mind. A friend of ours also painted the nursery during that break and it looks great! We still haven't arranged the furniture in there but I will get a picture up eventually . . . I found the crib mattress I wanted at a local store and got it bought (I had picked out a specific kind and brand that I wanted that isn't carried by Babies R Us or any of the normal chain places). I also started an online registry at onebabyregistry.com for all the specific stuff we want that we can't get at the chain places. (We are now registered there, Babies R Us, and Target).

We have also started taking various classes in preparation for the baby. Yesterday was a Pediatric CPR and Safety course which had some very good information and just makes me feel more at ease knowing what I am supposed to do in various situations. This week we are doing our tour of the hospital sort of class which I am really looking forward to. We also picked up our glider yesterday - it is in the living room for now and we will move it to the nursery once the baby comes. I really like it and am enjoying rocking and writing currently :)

I had an appointment at the end of December which Molly got to go to with me. Everything looks great and I have appointments every 2 weeks now! my belly measures perfectly which is reassuring to me since I keep hearing from people how huge I am :) Hard to believe I am already at 30 weeks - time really has flown and I can't believe in about 10 short weeks this stage will be done and we will be holding our baby!

Things have really been coming together lately (not too soon though - I am definitely getting big and it is getting harder for me to do things or be on my feet for a long time). Below are pics from weeks 28 and 29 (we will take a week 30 later today).

I am also so excited because I have recently found out several other couples we are friends with are also expecting! I am so excited to have so many great people that we get to raise our babies together with!