I'm a little behind on posting, but I'm trying to get back on track! As of today, I am 37 weeks, 5 days along...crazy! So much has happened in the past couple of weeks as we prepare for the baby. Two weeks ago I had a baby shower hosted by my sisters-in-law, the other Sarah Nichols and Amy, with the help of my sister-in-law Jayne and mother-in-law who flew out to Colorado from South Carolina just for the shower. The decorations were great and the food was amazing! I'll try to get some pictures together of that this week to post. I had such a great time with everyone that was able to come to the shower and am so thankful that they came to celebrate such an exciting time for us! I have been amazed how many people are thinking of us and supporting us through this wonderful time. We even received a gift from one of my dad's co-workers that I have never met, and all of the people at my mom's work ask her daily if we have had the baby yet!A week ago I had my first nesting spurt and washed all of the newborn to 3 month clothes, all bedding, blankets, bibs, toys, etc. trying to make some progress in the nursery. I don't think it was a full blown bout of nesting like they talk about, because usually that comes along with an increase in energy by a usually tired pregnant woman. I was still incredibly worn out, but my desire to clean and organize was driven more by panic that I hadn't done anything yet. Whatever my drive, I still got a lot done and felt very accomplished at the end of the weekend. I was also able to finish our wedding album that same weekend. Since finding out I was pregnant, my big goal for myself was to finish our wedding album since I knew that once the baby was born it would probably never happen. I can now proudly say a year and a half into marriage that we have a wedding album! Right now it's sitting in a computer software program waiting to be ordered, but when I have the urge to order it I can :).
My last goal for myself before having the baby is to make our apartment look like a girl lives in it. We have always used Jonathan's furniture, wall art, etc. from his single days, which makes our apartment always look a little bit more like a bachelor pad. I never really minded since he has really nice furniture. Decorating is really not my thing or my first priority in life, but I really want to make our place look a little more homey before bringing home baby. Yesterday we were at Target and I made my first step in decorating by purchasing decorative pillows for the couch...not anything major but progress in the right direction. Assuming the baby stays put through next weekend, I am planning to do a picture collage on the wall either behind our couch or over the fireplace to personalize our place.
So now that we're caught up on the happenings of the past two weeks, I am very excited to say that we are almost done with the nursery. If he came today, we're ready for him! Yesterday we bought 99% blackout curtains for the nursery and hung them (well, Jonathan hung them while I supported him from a comfortable chair). Everything we need for immediate use has been washed, and we are about 75% done decorating. We ordered a humidifier last night, and all we need is a table top fan. There are a bunch of boxes with our pack n play, high chair, stroller, play mat, etc. in the corner of the room that we still need to move out, but that will be out of there in the next few days. So, here is a picture of our nearly completed masterpiece :) :
To finish everything off, I am framing a verse that I had done in vinyl art and placing it on the top shelf of the built in shelving unit in the corner of the room. We also ordered about 200 vinyl art blue and orange fish that we are going to design and put on the walls. As you can see we have gone withe a blue, green, and orange color scheme. I love blue and obviously we are having a boy, but too much blue would make me go a little nutty. Oh, I almost forgot...our cloth diaper service is delivering the first load of diapers this Friday so we can be ready for his cute little booty. We are also having our last prenatal meeting with our doula on Wednesday to talk about the birth plan for the big day.
Survey Update~
How far along: 37 weeks, 5 days
Maternity clothes: Always and bracing for the fact that I'll still need them for a little while even after the baby is born :)
Sleep: Not so great. I definitely have my good nights and my bad nights, but I have gotten really uncomfortable. I wake up almost every hour or every other hour to flip sides.
Best moment this week: I would say getting the curtains up in the nursery and the continued joy of being able to feel things like his feet through my stomach
Movement: He's definitely fallen into more of a noticeable pattern of sleep/wake cycles. When he's active his a bit of a killer on the internal organs. I've grimaced and hunched over in public a few times.
Cravings: My appetite has started to decrease a little bit. I've been craving grilled cheese a lot and cheese quesadillas.
Gender: Still a boy...unless it's a shocker at the end!
Labor Signs: He definitely feels like he's dropping causing trip after trip to the bathroom. I've been having more frequent and uncomfortable Braxton Hicks Contractions, but nothing regular or increasing in intensity yet.
Belly Button: I think I'm going to win the bet Jonathan and I have going, because it's staying put in there. It's definitely pushed out quite a bit compared to how it used to be, but it's not an outtie!
What I miss: Agility. My dream now is to run through an open field and maneuver through obstacles with ease. Instead, it takes about 5 minutes to get into Jonathan's Xterra and get out of bed. Jonathan calls it pregnancy speed.
What I'm looking forward to: I Cannot Wait to meet our little baby and see what he looks like!!! I want to snuggle him so bad and shower him with kisses.
Weekly Wisdom: People are so nice to you when you're pregnant, but they are super nice when you tell them you are due so soon.
Milestones: Reaching term and getting everything we need to make it through the first month of parenthood (I think)
I had that uh-oh moment when I walked in and saw her, but I have to say I laughed pretty hard when I saw this picture. People already comment on how funny we look walking next to each other and how they don't want to drink the same water as us, but we have really gotten a few looks today :). This picture marks 35 weeks, 1 day for me and 34 weeks for Lindsay. It's been really fun having someone you see most every day as your pregnant buddy.
