39 weeks

Baby is still in there! I'm trying to be patient because I haven't even hit my due date yet but I was really hoping he'd come early. Which can still happen...

I had my weekly doctor's appointment on Friday. The cervix has softened a bit, so a slight change from last week... but still no effacement or dilation. Total bummer. The doctor decided to go ahead and schedule my induction, so he had to call the hospital to coordinate my schedule (which is wide open!), his schedule, and what they have available at the hospital... who knew they'd already be booked up the week of 9/2?! :( As of right now we're scheduled for Sunday 9/8 at 7:30am, but the doctor seemed hopeful that we wouldn't need it. Fingers crossed!! :)

Next week at work is our biggest event of the year. The top agents at Nationwide, along with the managers I work with, come into town for "Life University" for a 3 day conference. I'm really not looking forward to it, only because I'll be 39 weeks pregnant, working long days and on my feet a lot and having to *mingle*. It's a great event, but just not what I want to be doing at this point. Hence, why I've been trying a few "natural" induction techniques this past week.

All the spicy food has done is leave me with heartburn. The pineapple was yummy but obviously didn't work either. Next on my list is to try the "coffee potty"... I know I am crazy for thinking of trying it, but some girls have said it works and I'm willing to try almost anything  :) The doctor said castor oil is supposed to work, but I was reading that it will give you diarrhea and it's really not recommended. There are some other methods I might try as I get more desperate.

Side note... baby really likes my right side... this was him giving me an alien belly again the other night! {p.s. something is totally wrong with my iPhone camera when I try to take pictures in the dark?!}

Milo is really going to miss my belly...

How far along? 39 weeks
Maternity clothes? Absolutely! My outfits are pretty repetitive but I don't care :)
Stretch marks? Yep, we're going to call them "love marks" instead
Sleep: It's been okay this week; some nights I don't even wake up to go to the bathroom!
Best moment of the week: Starting to feel Braxton Hicks finally!
Miss anything? Running, I've been in the mood lately
Movement: Yep, he's supposedly cramped but I still see and feel him moving a lot
Food cravings: Chocolate lately
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yep, it's pretty obvious
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: Braxton hicks here and there, cervix has softened
Belly button in our out? It's poking out a bit
Rings on or off? Off
Looking forward to: Relaxing until his arrival

Evolution of the bump - updated

Note to self - next time only wear dark colors!

38 weeks

Hi! I feel like my weeks are getting more boring every blog post.... mostly because I don't feel like doing anything anymore! Which is probably good, I need to take advantage of this time to rest and relax while I can.

I had my weekly doctor's appointment on Thursday. Matt was able to come along, which was nice, because his work is super inflexible and he's not been able to come along to many of them. Everything is still the same, my cervix is not effaced or dilated and is still posterior, meaning not "ripened". The doctor said anything could happen though, so just try to be patient but also be prepared.

Since everything is prepared in the nursery and with all of his stuff, I took advantage of free time this weekend to make some freezer meals. I got the idea from Pinterest to make some meals ahead of time and freeze them, since cooking will be the last thing on my mind when baby comes and we won't want take out every night.

My mom is AMAZING and actually made us a few things already, including my favorite chili of hers, and a yummy ground meat casserole that she makes. I made a few things too....

Here are the recipes:

Slow cooker pulled pork

Slow cooker pizza bake

Raspberry chocolate chip muffins

I was at the grocery store and thought I should grab some Summer Shandy before it's out of season, then noticed a few other seasonal beers and thought "hmm, better stock up now so I have it on hand for when I can start drinking again..." :)

Baby boy weighs about 6.5-7 lbs right now and his organs have matured and are ready for outside the womb. He still continues to move like crazy and is making me more uncomfortable every day. It's amazing how difficult it is to get off the couch and out of bed! All things considered I don't feel all that bad. Just impatient and anxious!

How far along? 38 weeks
Maternity clothes? Absolutely! My outfits are pretty repetitive but I don't care :)
Stretch marks? Yep, we're going to call them "love marks" instead
Sleep: I woke up to my own snoring this week - so weird, I never snored before pregnancy!
Best moment of the week: Gluttony at the Food truck festival
Miss anything? Having more of a wardrobe, I miss my old clothes but am getting excited for Fall clothes!
Movement: Yep, he's supposedly cramped but I still see and feel him moving a lot
Food cravings: Corn on the cob - I've been eating it soo much lately
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yep, it's pretty obvious 
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: I think I've felt some BH, but can't tell for sure
Belly button in our out? It's poking out a bit
Rings on or off? Off
Looking forward to: Relaxing until his arrival

Have a wonderful week :)

37 weeks

Hey there!

Life has been pretty quiet lately, and I like it. We're in nesting/resting mode and trying to take advantage of this time, just the 2 of us, while we can.

I went and had the car seat installed on Tuesday at our local fire department. I guess not a lot of fire departments do this sort of thing anymore so we're considered lucky to have their help. The fireman was very pleased that we have a Britax, so that was reassuring. I said "if it's good enough for the royal baby, it's good enough for our kid". :) It's so weird to see it in the back seat!

Friday evening I went out with some girlfriends. We started the night off making candles at The Candle Lab which was so much fun! The store has over 100 scents to choose from so we walked around and smelled and narrowed it down to our 3 favorites. I was going for a Fall candle scent so chose hazelnut, brown sugar and vanilla bean. Yum! We mixed with the wax then made a label. It had to dry overnight so I still need to go pick it up and see how it turned out.

 Saturday night Matt and I kind of did a repeat of last weekend and had dinner and walked around Easton. We were both in the mood for Mexican so visited Abuelos for some of their yummy salsa and queso. Shh, I know I'm not supposed to have queso, but at this point I really just don't care. :)

During some lounging this weekend, baby boy decided to flip around and make my belly look very awkward. He must like my right side!

Sunday morning I was feeling domestic and made some french toast sticks via Pinterest. They were very yummy!

In pregnancy news, all is pretty much the same around here. I had another checkup on Friday and still no change with my cervix. The doctor told me to "be patient" {UMM hello what do you think I've been doing for the past 8.5 months?!} and even said we could schedule induction for September 6th. I told him we'll hold off on that for now and hopefully won't have to make that appointment! He said he would guess baby boy is around 6 lbs and would be a little over 7 at delivery.

I'm still feeling big and uncomfortable but taking my time wherever I go and trying to rest as much as possible. Baby boy is full term and his lungs are fully developed. We seem to be going back and forth between feelings of anxiety and excitement but I think we are both extremely excited to meet this little guy. :)

How far along? 37 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yep! My outfits are pretty repetitive but I don't care :)
Stretch marks? I spotted the first one the other morning :( We're going to call them "love marks" instead.
Sleep: I'm used to the lack of comfort at this point
Best moment of the week: Spending some QT with Matt while we still can :)
Miss anything? I know I've said this one before but shaving my legs has become a CHORE - I miss being able to do this quickly in the morning
Movement: Yep, he's supposedly cramped but I still see and feel him moving a lot
Food cravings: We had Chinese food last night, mmm
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yep, it's pretty obvious 
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: None - still oblivious to the Braxton Hicks contractions
Belly button in our out? Flat - starting to look like it might poke out soon!
Rings on or off? Off
Looking forward to: Relaxing until his arrival

Pregnancy must haves and annoyances

So I have some preggo friends, and friends that would like to be preggo at some point, and thought it would be helpful for me to go over my personal pregnancy must haves and the things that have annoyed me the most... just for fun :)

Dana's Pregnancy Must Haves:

-Be Band from Target. 

This thing is essential for the first 1-2 trimesters if you are trying to save money and still wear your "normal" pants. It allows you to leave them unbuttoned/unzipped and your pooch to stretch out while still keeping the pants up. I can still wear 1 pair of pants with this thing at 36 weeks, and I know it will be good for the transitional period after baby. It's pretty amazing and I might just keep it on hand for Thanksgiving and any time I overeat. :)


-Maternity leggings. 

I purchased mine from Motherhood Maternity and they have been a staple in my wardrobe from about 16 weeks. I wear them around the house everywhere. When you are huge and nothing fits anymore, you don't give a sheeeet what you look like. :)


-Pregnancy pillow. 

My lovely friend Lauren let me borrow hers but if she hadn't I would've definitely bought one. Sleep gets uncomfortable early on and you eventually need to support the growing belly when you get bigger (since you can only lay on your side)- a body pillow would probably do just fine but it's nice to have the support in your front and your back.


-A good pair of flats. 

Heels will just be annoying at some point (for me, 20 weeks) and you become more clumsy in pregnancy so heels aren't really recommended. Have 1-2 pairs of comfy flats to get you around.

-1 decent pair of maternity jeans. 

I don't wear jeans a lot so I get by with 1 pair because who wants to buy two pairs of maternity jeans? I got mine from Motherhood Maternity for around $30. 

-Start off small with your maternity clothes wardrobe and see what you can make do with... Try to borrow or get resale or take advantage of clearances. It sucks buying clothes you can only wear for 6 months. 

I love my maternity tee's from Old Navy.

-Belly lotion. 

It's supposed to help with stretch marks... I thought it was helping with me until I spotted some at 36 weeks :( Either way it's helpful to keep the skin moisturized, it gets dry/itchy from all the stretching.

-Back support belt. 

I had some back pain so this was helpful.

-A good book to get you through the 9348398493 pregnancy questions you will have. 

I liked this one, and I know the 'What to Expect' series is always a good go-to.

-Tylenol for pain, when needed. You can't take Ibuprofen.

-TUMS for heartburn.

 I have MAJOR heartburn and this has been a life saver.

-Apps on your phone to track pregnancy and development. 

I like babycenter, sprout and babybump.

-A partner that deals with your crazy emotions and takes your weekly belly photos and goes to get ice cream with you :)

Dana's top 5 pregnancy pet peeves:

-"Why are you having a baby in August? Aren't you sooo hot?!" Umm yes, I am. I understand I did have some decision in the baby making process, however, nothing is guaranteed and mother nature kind of has the decision in her hands more than anyone. Shut your face.

-"Ohh congrats! Were you trying?" First of all, that's none of your business. Second of all, do you think I'd really tell you if my kid was an accident? No. Butt out.

-"Why do you want to know the sex? Don't you want it to be a surprise?" It was surprise enough that my husband and I were able to create a baby given that it's such a blessing as some people aren't able to. It was also surprise enough when we found out the gender at 18 weeks. I'm a planner, and I wanted the room and clothes to match the gender.

-"Oh you're drinking coffee/pop, aren't you supposed to eliminate caffeine?" If you'd done your research you'd know that you can safely have 200 mg of caffeine a day while pregnant. I mix decaf with my coffee so it's not nearly close to 200mg. I'm tired as heck, and leave me alone stranger.

"You're not having a natural birth?" That's right, I'm getting the epidural. I'm a wuss and will need all the help I can get, I just know it. I'm not trying to be a hero and will take the drugs gladly. 

That was fun to get off my chest! :)

36 weeks

WE.ARE.READY. Bring on the baby!

No, I'm serious. We are just about 99.9% prepared for our little man's arrival. A little early, yes... but I have 2 friends that delivered a month early and this sent me into full-panic-let's-get-everything-ready mode. We spent the last week/weekend finishing up washing clothes, cleaning toys/pacifiers/etc, putting together the car seat & stroller (yay Matt!), baby-fying the downstairs with the swing/bouncer/pack 'n play, organizing his closet, and putting my hospital bag together. Exhausting, yes, but I'm so relieved that in case he makes an early debut, we are ready!

At this point all we need to do is get a few personal items (*cough witch hazel and maxi pads cough*) and get the car seat inspected by the fire department (on Tuesday). I've been ignoring my 'What to Expect in the First Year' book with all the other things we have been doing, so I'm looking forward to catching up on reading. Heck, we might even finish Breaking Bad Season 5 to get ready for the season premiere next Sunday! :) Oh, and I keep telling myself I'm going to make some "freezer" meals to have on hand after he arrives so maybe that will even happen too.

Since our week was consumed by getting ready for baby, we didn't do much outside of that. My coworkers threw me a surprise shower so that was pretty awesome. It was supposed to be a joint shower, but my coworker Lindsey had her baby girl early (refer to earlier mention of 2 friends having babies early) so she's already on maternity leave.

Mmm

Callie was a bad girl and escaped from Matt and sent him on a 2 hour chase through the neighborhood the other day.... we submitted the picture to Dog Shaming so we'll see if she gets her internet debut.

I got pictures back from my shower 2 weeks ago and wanted to share the amazing quilt my sister in law made. She's not quite finished (she's been sewing it with a sprained wrist!) but I can't wait to see it in the room!

In pregnancy news, I'm getting closer to the "I hate pregnancy and I want this baby out of me NOW" stage. I'm exhausted and uncomfortable and don't know how I can get any bigger. Matt said I've been snoring a lot too :(. I had a doctor's appointment on Friday and he did my first cervix check (ow!). Baby is head down, which is good, and the doctor could tell he was pretty low. I'm not yet dilated, though. My checkups are weekly so we'll see next week if that changes. By the end of this week he'll be considered "full term"... crazy! He's about 6 pounds right now and the size of a bowling ball.

How far along? 36 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yep! My outfits are pretty repetitive but I don't care :)
Stretch marks? Nope, the lotion seems to be working - but still 4 weeks of stretching to go
Sleep: I'm used to the lack of comfort at this point. :)
Best moment of the week: FINISHING the nursery!
Miss anything? I don't miss alcohol nearly as much as I used to but Great Lakes Oktoberfest is out and it's really getting me excited for Fall beers!
Movement: Yep, he's supposedly cramped but I still see and feel him moving a lot
Food cravings: Ice cream, always.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yep, it's pretty obvious 
Gender prediction: It's a boy!
Labor signs: None - still oblivious to the Braxton Hicks contractions
Belly button in our out? Flat - it's so weird!
Rings on or off? Off
Looking forward to: Relaxing until his arrival

Keep scrolling down for separate posts on the nursery reveal and maternity photos! :)

Nursery reveal

The moment has finally arrived! It feels like I have been talking about the nursery for 83483 weeks and it is finally FINISHED! :) It took A LOT of work, I'm not gonna lie... but it was worth every ounce of hard work and I am so happy with how it turned out.

I realized yesterday I didn't get a photo of the "whole room" so here are some crappy iPhone panorama pictures.

Here are the detail shots:

Scrapbook paper banner instructions

I wanted his name above the crib (which I know has become cliche by now) and wanted something modern... so I made the letters myself with the tutorial in the caption below.

Anthropologie knock-off letters

Pottery Barn crib sheets

Etsy print

Print no longer available on Etsy

The prints are quotes from my favorite song and favorite poem.

Coarkboard DIY

Pottery Barn Kids blackout curtains

The changing pad fits well on the dresser and it saved us from having to get a separate changing table. Diapers, wipes and lotions are in the baskets on each side. We'll see if this system lasts.... (P.S. we have a downstairs changing station set up in the pack 'n play since I know we won't be running upstairs for every diaper change.)

IKEA basket

Alphabet letters

IKEA spice rack (painted white)

Cube organizer

The lamp is from IKEA and is the perfect amount of lighting for nighttime feedings. As you can see he had WAY more books than what just fit in the wall shelves, I hope he likes to read! The navy boxes are from IKEA too I just can't remember what they are called.

Glider

This glider was a huge splurge for us, but I wanted something that was comfortable and that could eventually become a living room piece of furniture. It came in a box that didn't even fit in our front door! That totally worried me (will it fit up the stairs?!) but it was in 2 pieces and Matt said it luckily wasn't too heavy. It is SO SO SO comfortable. It reclines and has a pullout footrest. I'm worried I might fall asleep in it during feedings...

Nighstand

Prints

Rocking "horse", purchased on Zuilily

The rocking giraffe was obviously unnecessary this early but I saw it on Zuilily and couldn't resist.

IKEA drawer organizers

I organized his dresser drawers by size {Newborn & 0-3 months, 3-6 months, and 6-9 months). It took a while to figure out a system but this seems to work best. The rest of the sizes are in the closet for now.

I hung his sweaters and sleepers (and organized by size with these)... as you can see his closet is TINY so I had to make do. I got a closet organizer for extra storage which was helpful. The boppy pillows and newborn sleeper are stacked on top of his laundry hamper for now. :)

I'm so glad to have everything washed, put together, and organized. Now what will I do with my time?!