40 Weeks Pregnant / When Does This End??

 Well, today's the day. The day we've been counting down to almost all year. My due date! It's finally here! ahhhnnnd no baby. It's okay, I never expected her to come early. But now that I'm full, full term, it's time. I'm getting antsy and excited and impatient and even bigger, and swollen and people are calling and texting to see if I have had that baby YET and everywhere I go strangers are commenting and asking me when I'm due and saying I'm about to burst...and this JUST NEEDS TO END NOW!

At 40 Weeks Pregnant:

The Good:
- I cannot stress enough how much better I am feeling now that I'm taking iron supplements! I have gotten more done in the past 3 weeks, than in the past 4 months, even though I am getting bigger and more uncomfortable by the day I just have so much more energy!
-NESTING!! It's a good thing I have all that energy because I have been cleaning and organizing like crazy around here! It's awesome. If vacuuming and doing laundry and going up and down my stairs and cleaning bathrooms would put me into labor, then I would've had this baby days ago!
-Also I had a GREAT birthday week last week! I guess it started the Friday before with a fun date where we made caramel apples, then Saturday we had our ward Halloween party, I hung out with friends pretty much every day during the day and Wednesday a bunch of us decorated Halloween cookies. Wednesday night our good friends had us over for a delicious dinner where we got to play with their new puppy! Thursday/Halloween/My Birthday Kyle made me a yummy breakfast and we watched a couple episodes of one of my birthday presents, the 6th season of the big bang theory! Then, I went out to lunch with a bunch of my friends, lunch was a ton of fun and I am just so thankful for the great friends I've made since moving here:) And that night we went to a Halloween party hosted by more of our friends and had a great time there!

This was at our Ward Party.
You can't see the bottom of Kyle's shirt, but he has a hamburger and chicken wing:)
And I have a very happy skeleton baby!

Our good friends Sean and Carlee showed up wearing almost the exact same costumes haha,
except they wore theirs to announce their pregnancy, so exciting!!

The Bad:
- Sleeping really sucks. I hate going to bed right now, I just always feel so uncomfortable in bed, no matter how many pillows or different positions I try and I don't sleep well and I just always want the night to be over already so I can get outta there!
- Oh also, my feet are definitely swelling now. And it's getting worse every day. Whenever I take my sandals off now I can always see the straps imprint on my feet:( And sometimes even my new ring bling feels too tight!
- My life is kinda at a stand still right now, I really can't make any plans or think ahead much. Now that my due date is here, every day is just waiting around, hoping something happens sometime soon.
- Overall, I'm just feeling really big and uncomfortable, and things hurt, like my back, and my feet, and all my inside organs that my baby likes to push against, and the magical journey that has been my pregnancy just needs to end now. Have I said that enough yet? But I am still happy these days, and getting very excited to meet my daughter!

Last Week at my Dr Appt, my Dr said I had a cervix of steel haha, this week i was dilated to a 1, so things are slowly happening, however I will be induced sometime next week if Baby doesn't exit on her own soon, so send good thoughts, vibes, and prayers my way over the next few days!

Oh and I couldn't resist taking a couple more belly shots, scroll down if you dare!

38 Weeks Pregnant + Ma Big Bare Behlly

At 38 weeks pregnant every time I look in the mirror I'm always a little shocked at just how big I am! This belly is getting out of control! I always forget how far it sticks out now and when I go to open a door or a cupboard I don't leave enough room and I always hit myself in the stomach. A lot of my maternity shirts are starting to get just a little too short, and my belly button has completely popped!

The Good:
- I have so much more energy and feel so much better now, and I mean just in the last few days!
Reason: At my 36 week blood work they discovered that I was anemic and in looking back at my old blood work we realized I'd been anemic for a while, probably since about halfway through my pregnancy, which explains why I always felt so drained and exhausted and had no energy ever. So I began taking iron supplements about 2 weeks ago and just in the last 6 days or so I've really begun to feel so much better! Yay! Too bad we didn't discover that earlier...
- Since I have so much more energy I've gotten a lot done in the past week, we pretty much have everything now, all her clothes are washed and put away, things are unpacked and sorted, whenever she decides to arrive I'm finally ready for her!
- It's almost over. 13 days till d-day...
-I don't weigh as much as Kyle. Yet. Close, really close but I might just make it to the end without catching up with him.

The Bad:
- I feel so much better this week that it's hard to really complain, but when you get this big you can't expect to feel too comfortable so:
- Sciatica pain has gotten a lot worse lately
- My feet continue to KILLLL
- Back Pain is getting worse
- I am so hungryyy

Ma Big Behlly:
-I think its pretty cool/a little scary how much my stomach has grown and stretched over the last 9 months so I decided to document what it looks like before this baby shows up!
-In the closer up picture you can really see how vein-y it is, especially around my belly button where the skin is thinner you can see a ton of veins, it almost looks like bruising.

Warning: Bare Belly Shots Below!

36 Weeks + New Bling on My Ring Fing

Remember how last time I posted I said that I hadn't had any swelling and could still wear my wedding ring? Ha, well that's over! In fact the very next day after that post I started to notice my ring feeling just a little tight and uncomfortable and about a week later it was off for good. I had to jam it on my finger for my maternity pictures! But a trip to Macy's and $15 bucks later I've got some new bling--and I'm loving it! It's just so big and sparkly!

In other news, I'm in the home stretch now! Only 4 weeks or so to go! Although I've had a few friends and a sister-in-law who naturally went into labor and gave birth at 37 weeks, so I could have a baby as early as next week--eek! But probably not, so I'm not getting my hopes up:)

36 Weeks Pregnant!!

The Good:
- While my fingers have decided to turn into sausages, I still have not had any swelling in my legs or feet. Of course because I typed that they'll probably start swelling tmrw...
- We had our Dr. Appt yesterday and everything's looking great, good blood pressure, baby is head down, good heart beat, and when my OB was prodding and poking my baby she said that "she's a small baby" which is good news for me because smaller babies are a lot easier to push out! Of course at this point baby is suppose to be putting on 1/2 a pound every week, so depending on when she decides to come she may not be so small anymore.
- Since I'm now pretty big and obviously pregnant, I feel like people in general are nicer and friendlier to me, which is really nice:)
-We had a cold front move in on Sunday and the temperature actually dropped into the 70s!! It was glorious, we opened our windows and went for a walk during the day. This pregnant girl was in heaven!

The Bad:
-I'm still so tired and exhausted all the time
-and it doesn't help that at this point sleep sucks. It's so hard to get comfortable and fall asleep, and then I wake up either because I'm uncomfortable or I have to pee, and then I can't get back to sleep.
- It's often very uncomfortable to walk, it feel likes there's a bowling ball in my stomach that's pushing out and down at the same time.
-my feet kill. this one has gotten really bad lately. I'll stand in my kitchen making dinner or something and within 5-7 minutes my feet will hurt and ache so bad that i have to sit down, same thing in the shower I can only last on that hard surface for a few minutes before it just hurts too bad! Kyle has been great though and has been giving me foot rubs lately:)
-back pain. and stomach pain = growing pains and indigestion and important organs that are being squished/kicked.
-I get dizzy and see spots really bad if I move too much or too fast, or get too hot, or get up too fast.
-also i still have heartburn, acid reflux, and hormones that make me cry easily.

Cravings
-food.
-all food. I am SO hungry all the time now. I always can and want to eat. and just about everything sounds good.
-also if I don't eat regularly or enough I'll start to feel really sick and dizzy/light-headed.
-I'm especially enjoying spicy food right now, lately I've made some spicier chili, curry and fajitas and I loved it, even though it gave me heart burn and I knew it would, they were worth it!
-also ice cream. and fruit. and salads. and beans, and lentils, and cheese, and cereal, and cookies and bread and pancakes and eggs and i think you get the point. i love food right now.

I think that's about it. Overall I feel fine. Not great, but not too bad usually. My goal for this week is to finally decide on and buy/order all the baby things I've been procrastinating on like: crib mattress, changing pad, diapers, diaper pail, diaper bag, baby creams and such, nursing bras and nursing equipment and bottles, and baby detergent so I can finally wash all her clothes, sheets, and blankets, whew! That way I can be all ready for baby girl just in case she decides to come early!

For some reason I thought it'd be fun to get a front view too, but with the shirt i'm wearing you cant really see anything from the front. 

maternity shoot

My friend Sarah took some maternity pictures of me, and they turned out so cute! Of course we had to take advantage of the beach, because how often are you gonna live across the street from one?!

But I also love the simple photos taken in my apartment. Especially the ones with some of my baby girl's clothes, because I really will just go in her room, and look at and hold her clothes and imagine what it'll be like once she's here.

Thanks again Sarah!
Here's a few of my favorites:

32 Weeks Pregnant

At 32 weeks pregnant I am starting to feel very big! And it's kinda scary knowing I still have 8 weeks left and that I'm going to get even bigger! I have also started making involuntary grunting noises whenever I sit down or stand up--Kyle thinks they're cute. (or at least that's what he said...)

On the plus side, people can finally tell I'm pregnant which is nice and if my baby was born right now there's a 90%+ chance she would survive!

Good Things:
- I finally met with my new OB this week, and she's great!
- It's always fun watching my baby move and it's easier now for other people to feel/see her move too.
- I can still shave my legs and paint my toenails.
- I haven't had any swelling yet, and can still wear my wedding ring!

Bad Things: 
- I am SO tired! All the time. I just never seem to have any energy.
- I am also very uncomfortable and have a lot of stomach pain, aches, soreness, and indigestion.
- My baby's kicks have finally made their way into my ribs, eeek!
- My legs, feet, arms, hands fall asleep/go numb and tingly so easily. I constantly have to change positions to stay comfortable.

Scary Things:
-Diastasis Recti. Apparently my abs have split and separated from each other, I think it actually happened 5 or 6 weeks ago. But when I lean back my stomach does a weird triangle shape, because my uterus pokes out in the middle where my abs are now split. It's pretty common in pregnant women, but  I essentially have no use of my core muscles now, I always have to have help getting up, especially if I am leaning back at all.

Cravings:
- Cereal. Last week it was Lucky Charms, this week Frosted Mini-Wheats.

Randoms:
- My belly button is starting to pop, if I wear a thinner shirt you can now see it poking out!
- Sneezing. Ever since the very beginning of my pregnancy I noticed I just sneeze a lot more now. I'm not sure if it's just because my nose and sense of smell is more sensitive, but I sneeze at least 5 times a day every day, and sometimes up to 20!

Feeling big and tired.

But I love my baby already and I know in the end she'll be worth it!

second trimester in review

The second trimester is definitely the golden trimester. Wayyy better than the first trimester, and you can start comparing your baby to pieces of fruit, in the above picture (about 15weeks) i'm craddling my lemon-baby! Some people talk about the 2nd trimester as this magical time where you have so much energy and feel so good...uhhh no. At least not for me, I still felt way better pre-pregnancy than I did 2nd tri BUT after the 1st trimester I was more than grateful for the 2nd 3 months to start!

The Good: Finding out my baby was a GIRL! This was definitely the best/most exciting part of the 2nd trimester and probably of my entire pregnancy. After we found out, we bought some girl onsies and girl-colored treats and I put the the onsies in a neutral bag for my parents to open that night. Well, because the first onsie is bluish-purple as my parents opened the bag my mom cried out "it's a girl!" while at the same time my dad said "it's a boy!" haha oops, he didn't notice the polka dots and flowers and pink piping and the pink onsies behind it...

I found out the sex at 17 weeks, and the ultrasound that week was SO fun! This was our 3rd ultrasound of the pregnancy and she actually looked like a baby this time, we loved it! We had another ultrasound at 21 weeks, and that one wasn't nearly as fun because she was too big to all fit in the picture so we just looked at different body parts at a time, but at 17 weeks we could see her all at once!

The Great: I stopped throwing up between 12-13 weeks and my nausea went down around 14 weeks. I would still get nauseous every once in a while, but it was no longer my constant companion--thank goodness!!

The Bad: Almost as soon as my nausea began to fade I started getting the worst headaches. They were so incredibly painful and nothing helped. Or at least nothing that pregnant women are allowed to take. When I had one I just had to go lay in bed, I couldn't handle any noise or too much light, I couldn't watch tv and my head hurt too bad to read or concentrate on anything so I literally just had to lay on my bed and do nothing for hours, which was pretty boring. And I got one of these headaches almost every single day for the first 2 weeks of my second trimester. Sometimes I would go to bed with one and wake up with it again the next morning. I saw my OB at the end of the 2 weeks of straight headaches and she did prescribe me some stronger headache medicine, but she basically said there's not much I can do about them. The pills she gave me helped but they didn't make the headache go away they just took the edge off and made them more bearable, but it would only last for 2-3 hours and I wasn't supposed to take them all the time. So I would try and save it for when I really needed it like at work or before a bigger event or some really fun activity I wanted to do.
Luckily, after those first couple weeks, the headaches did start to decrease to 5 days out of the week and then to 3-4 days out of the week and then it stayed at about 3 days a week for the rest of my second trimester.

The Ugly: A lot of the other horrible pregnancy symptoms you hear about began to appear right away too! Around 14 weeks I also began to have acid reflux and heartburn, which caught me off guard since I had never in my life had heartburn before so I didn't know what was going on at first. But thanks to acid reflux I've pretty much had a chronic sore throat since 14 weeks.
Leg cramps in the middle of the night! Ouch! these started around 19 or 20 weeks, and sometimes i'll get them every night in a row, multiple times a night and then i'll have a blessed stretch of 3-4 days with no leg cramps.
Some sciatica pain. Also, my back would hurt and ache so much faster than it used to! I used to get a sore back after working like 3 days in a week, but in my second tri I noticed that my back would start to kill after just 4-5 hours at work*! And my tailbone would often feel really sore, which i found out is due to progesterone relaxing the joints. And along with a sore tailbone I would just get lots of aches and pains, including round ligament pain all around my stomach. There's probably more symptoms/complaints I could list but I think you get the idea...

Loved: Feeling her move! The first little movements started around 16 weeks, and at 20 weeks I discovered if I lifted up my shirt and watched my tummy i could actually she her little kicks and punches! That became my new favorite hobby. And Kyle first felt and saw her move at 20 weeks, which was pretty sweet.

Cravings: Watermelon and fruit. Smoothies, flavored lemonades! Anything really savory too, I had this cajun shrimp and grits dish at 20 weeks that was sooo good. It gave me bad heartburn, but was totally worth it. Still really enjoyed french fries, tater tots, mac n cheese and cheese and crackers. AND i could eat salads and vegetables again! While i maybe didn't crave salad and vegetables I liked them when I ate them and I tried to make sure I was eating some every day.

20 weeks--vacationing at Kiawah Island!

Overall: Second trimester was pretty good. I was able to do things again, I could play tennis and go for bike rides and walks, go out with friends, go swimming, etc. We went on a couple vacations that I still need to blog about. After the headaches started to go down I usually felt pretty decent, and happy! And it was fun knowing the baby was a girl and getting to imagine the future with her. And feeling her kick and move and having my stomach start to grow made it all a lot more real!

Around 21 weeks.
I remember feeling so big and pregnant that day and now (at 31 weeks) I just laugh-- that was nothing!!

*Work--Before I got pregnant I was working 3-4 days a week as a dental hygienist. Once I hit 8 weeks pregnant I felt too sick to keep it up and changed my schedule to 2 days/week, and I stayed at 2 days a week until we moved to Galveston. I only ever called in sick one day during my 1st trimester and one day during my 2nd trimester. Thanks to many prayers, on the days I had to work I usually was blessed to feel well enough to do so. Since moving to Galveston I've worked 1-2 days a week as a temp or sub hygienist, but with the start of school that number might decrease even more, and I'm okay with that:)

28 Weeks Pregnant

Wahoo! Third trimester! T-minus 12 weeks!

To steal a line from my pregnancy e-mail "Your baby is around 16 inches long and 2.5 pounds so pick up a random chihuahua on the street to get an idea of what you're dealing with. Yo quiero Taco Bell!" haha--pregnant chicken

Symptoms I'm dealing with right now: Heartburn, acid reflux, lots of aches and pains, sore ribs, lots of stomach pain and digestive pain, my feet get sore really fast and seem to be a little bigger--ahhh!, so so tired if i'm not working i tend to take a nap every afternoon and im falling asleep by 8 or 9pm, experiencing some pregnancy brain, annnndd EMOTIONS! 

This one totally took me by surprise. I'm usually not too affected emotionally by hormones, and so I always heard stories of pregnant women being super emotional and crying over little things and such but figured that wouldn't be me and I was right. Until about 2 weeks ago. I don't know if I just got a fresh batch of hormones or what but lately I have just felt so emotional and I can just feel my tears right below surface ready to spill over at any moment.

Story #1: It was the weekend, me and Kyle made a delicious breakfast together and were just sitting down to eat, I had grabbed plates and napkins but forgot to grab a fork for Kyle. When he came to the table he saw that he had no fork (and I did have one) he jokingly said "hey you didn't get me a fork, selfish wifey" and went to grab himself a fork from the kitchen, when he got back to the table the tears were pouring from my eyes! Kyle was so confused, he kept saying it was just a joke and i started sobbing and replied I know! And then I cried for a good 10 minutes before I could get myself under control and actually eat my breakfast. Poor Kyle he felt so bad and he has been really careful about what he says around me since then.

Story #2: A few days after story 1, I was in Montana with my mom's side of the family and we went for a hike in the mountains. My mom got some bad information, the hike was suppose to be a relatively short 1.5 miles each way and flat. I thought I could probably handle that and since we left at 10am and figured we'd be back by lunch we didn't really bring anything. The hike ended up being a very uphill 5 mile round trip! By the time we got to the lake I was done. I was tired and hungry and had to pee, and since we were in the middle of nowhere i had to squat and pee outside with all these flies buzzing around me! And on top of that I needed to turn around and hike the whole trail back to the car and then drive for about 40 mins before I could be back at the house and eat lunch. 

It was too much. I started bawling right there on the hiking trail. Since most of the family had already started the hike back, only my parents got see my breakdown. They stopped with me and tried to comfort their pregnant, emotional daughter and about 20 minutes later I was able to start hiking again.

Story #3: It's getting worse. Yesterday I decided to try to talk to my baby out loud and all I got out was "Hey baby girl..." and I started to cry. About an hour later I was writing in a card for Kyle for our anniversary and again started to cry. A couple hours after that I was at the Drivers License Office and they rejected me saying one of my proofs of address wasn't good enough, and I cried. 

It's pretty embarrassing. So a caution to anyone who sees me in real life, I might start to cry at any moment!  

Other than all of that I'm just getting excited to meet my baby! And starting to freak out because we are not ready at all. We don't have anything yet, no crib, no carseat, no baby things and I'm still trying to figure out who/where i'll be delivering with here in Galveston. 

To calm my pregnant self and hopefully avoid another bawl session, me and Kyle have a crib shopping date tomorrow afternoon! And I have an appointment at UTMB Monday, so hopefully we'll start to get things figured out soon!