Weeks 34-35-some of 36

Whoops, got a little behind!  The last couple weeks have been full of us getting the house ready for our little biscuit's arrival, lots and lots of growing belly, tons of hiccups, and guessing games of what limb is what!

Kevin has been reading to her most nights, and she just loves his voice!  She's starts this funny little shimmy when he talks.  When he puts his hand on my belly, though, she just goes still.  I'm hoping this means he will be a very calming presence for her!

She had a very quiet couple of days.  She was moving around plenty, but the movements weren't as jostling!  I decided to count her movements just to be on the safe side, and she's moving just fine.  I emailed the midwives with my "Is this normal?" query, and of course, as soon as I hit send, she's been nothing but a crazy dancing baby in there!  :)  Ha!  Tricky little lady!

We had our first home visit with one of the midwives yesterday.  Can't believe that starting next week, we will be able to have her at home!  The window is 37-42 weeks for a home birth, so just a few more days til we are in the green light zone.  Though, preferably she will stay in there at least until after June 18th, because we have a Sounder OPEN CUP MATCH to go to!  Wooooohoooo!  :)  We discussed good spots to put the birth tub, showed off the nursery, and listened to the little lady's heart beat.  She seems to be a tricky girl for "baby-mapping" as they always think she is on one side when the palpate my belly, but then when they go to find her heart beat, it is inevitably on the other side!  So while my chart notes this week say she was ROA, she was really LOA, just where she has been for several weeks now, and just where I'd like her to stay!  I also had to do my Group B strep swab, which hopefully comes back negative so I don't have to take antibiotics to start her life, but if I have it (like a good proportion of the population does) then we will roll with it and get some good pro-biotics going for both us ladies!

The nursery is officially cleared of all of our stuff, and only baby and birthing related things remain!  That felt really really good to get done!  I also washed all the clothes from newborn to 3 months, along with all the wonderful blankets and swaddlers and adorable little diaper covers.  It took FOREVER!  But now she's got a dresser bursting with the cutest little outfits and all the blankies a girl could ask for!

Speaking of clothes, how in the heck does one choose baby's first outfit!?  If she is born on the 4th of July, I'm covered, but otherwise, I just don't know!  It's a pretty big decision, right?  ;)

We bought a GIANT freezer last weekend, which will be delivered next week.  I'm really excited to start filling it up with some yummy meals to get us through the first few weeks!  Plus, having some extra freezer storage is something we've needed for a looooong time, and will be so nice to be able to stock up on fruits and meats in the future!  Plus, storing breast milk for when I go back to work.

We also met with Kate last night, which was great!  Went over some hopes for the big day, but mostly just visited.  Having your sister-in-law for your doula means there is a lot of side tracking into talking about family!  The kids are all so so excited for Frammy to arrive, especially Jackson!  Before Kate left to come over, he got all excited because he thought that meant that I had had the baby, and he was just itching to come meet her!  It's pretty darned adorable for a 6 year old boy to be this excited about his cousin!  We aren't really sure how much he really understands about it, but he loves his baby step sister Scarlett like no other, so I have no doubt he will be smitten with our girl as well!

I need to have more photos taken of me.  These gym selfies are not really what I want to look back on in the future!  I feel so good and I love my pregnant shape!  I don't think I've ever felt this confident and beautiful!  It's really wonderful, and I would like to have some more photos of me in real clothes!  So if you see me, snap a picture or two!  :)

36 weeks, and getting very slow at my 3 milers!

How far along? 36 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +26...hrmmmm well we're almost done right?  :)
Maternity clothes? Yup.  
Stretch marks? Just the ones I already had!
Sleep: Not good at all. My hips hurt and I wake up at 2am almost every night and can't get back to sleep for a couple hours.  At least Fram keeps me company, Kevin just snores right through it! 
Best moment this week: Getting the nursery done!!!
Have you told family and friends: Yup
Miss Anything?  Not really this week.
Movement: After a brief period of not so much, she's been doing some excellent movements all week!
Food cravings:  Yup, still fried eggs!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Have you started to show yet: No denying it now!  People don't even think twice about asking me how much longer til she is born!
Gender prediction: It's a GIRL!!!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Innie. Getting down to the last 1/4 inch or so though!
Wedding rings on or off? Took them off yesterday.  Not sure if I am actually swelling or if I was just hot, but I think I might just keep them off for the duration...
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy happy happy girl!
Looking forward to: Still need to finish her blanket....but most looking forward to getting to 37 weeks and knowing we are good to go on her being born!!!

33 weeks and baby shower photos

Whew!  Another busy busy week for us!  We just can't seem to slow down, between doctors appointments, soccer games, visiting with out of town friends, birth classes, and trying ever so hard to get the nursery in order, we have barely had time to think!  Not slowing down anytime soon either!  But we figure it helps pass the time before our most fabulous package arrives in approximately 6 weeks!!!!  Hard to believe we are just a month and a half away from meeting our daughter!

As mentioned last week, we had a truly fantastic baby shower last weekend hosted by my sister-in-law Kate.  It was such a nice day, with so many loving people surrounding us in kicking off the welcome wagon for Frammy!  There were hilarious games to play, lots of thoughtful gifts, sooooo much good food to eat, and great visiting with friends old and new!

I didn't take many photos, but luckily my mama-in-law Susan did and said I could share some! :)  So here's a look into our awesome pink and green Frammy party!!!

Unwrapping gifts with Nick and Kyla 

A few of my fabulous in-laws, Erin, Mark, and Adam, who are all pretty darn excited for Fram!

Our dear friends Nate and Taylor, who came up from Vancouver!

Oh brother!

Matt and Kelly, who have been our go-to resource for many baby-related questions!

Some of the adorable decorations, complete with a diaper cake!

Me and Kevin with Heidi, who has known me since birth!

Kyla and Nicholas, the adorable soon to be husband and wife!

Think I am a little happy?

Showing off our frocks before Isabelle's First Communion!

Matt, me, Kate, and Kevin take a breather before heading to the church!

My lovely sister-in-law and mama-in-law, who both made it such a special day!

Getting a little snuggle in!

It was a smashing success all in all, and we couldn't have been more pleased with it!  Thank you again to everyone who made it and made it happen!

This weekend we had our second birth class with Kate and 3 other couples who are all expecting in June.  We are learning so much, and I am just astounded by Kate's knowledge and fun way of getting information across to us!  She is a super teacher, and we are both so glad we will have her with us the day Frammy is born!  She's lucky to have such a super auntie!  :)

My office also threw me and my 2 coworkers who are also pregnant a fantastic shower this week!  It was a whole lot of fun, and I can't believe the generosity of everyone!  We got a lot of really wonderful gifts!

As for me and the little biscuit, we are definitely running out of room in my short little torso for her!  We've been locked in a ribcage battle this week, where she shoves her foot into my rib cage, I push it out, she kicks it back in, etc!  She's also really been getting the hiccups like crazy lately.  It is a pretty odd sensation, somewhat like having a twitch in your eyelid, but in your belly instead!  She's moving extremely visibly from the outside, and I love watching her moving about!  She is shy about other people touching her though.  She will be going like crazy, and the second that someone other than me and sometimes Kevin puts their hands on my belly, she goes completely still!  I wonder if it's a pressure things, like she is used to how I touch my belly, and other people don't put the right pressure on...it's pretty funny though!

We have a midwife and a doula appointment this week, and we are hoping to nail down our birth plan a bit more.  We also have a couple of exciting birthdays to celebrate!  Jackson is turning 6 and Bella will be 8, both on Tuesday!  So we are doing a big family dinner and celebrating those two rascals growing up waaaaay too fast! :)

33 weeks!  Getting slower than molasses at the gym, but we are still doing it! :)

How far along? 33 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +22.  Not bad considering the heinous way we ate this week!
Maternity clothes? Yup.  
Stretch marks? Just the ones I already had!
Sleep: Getting more and more restless at night...
Best moment this week: My work shower was a whole lot of fun!
Have you told family and friends: Yup
Miss Anything?  Not really this week.
Movement: Lots and lots!!
Food cravings:  Yup, still fried eggs!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Have you started to show yet: No denying it now!  People don't even think twice about asking me how much longer til she is born!
Gender prediction: It's a GIRL!!!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Innie. Getting down to the last 1/4 inch or so though!
Wedding rings on or off? On.  No swelling at all so far!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy happy happy girl!
Looking forward to: Finishing up her blanket!  Got my knitting for other pregnant friends done with this week, so now I can get back to focusing on her!

Catch up! Weeks 30, 31, and 32

Oh dear, I've gotten quite behind!  I'd meant to post a separate blog about our trip to the San Juans a few weeks ago, but we have been insanely busy!  Literally have gone entire weeks where we only have one night off together.  Far too busy, and it doesn't look like it will be easing up until June!  Yikes!

So to play a bit of catch up!  I decided to treat Kevin to a trip to the destination of his choosing for a long weekend getaway that I planned.  He has done the planning for pretty much every trip we've take in 14 years together, because I despise trip planning.  So I decided as a nice treat to him, I would do the let work this time!  He picked going to the San Juans, so I found us a sweet little cottage near Friday Harbor, picked a good weekend, and off we went!  He made it easy on me by not having to take a plane anywhere! :)

We had a wonderful time, relaxing, eating lots and lots of good food, taking hikes around the island, enjoying sunshine, and then loving the excuse to stay snuggled in our cottage when the rain came!  We needed the chance to just get away from everything and decompress! I'll post more pictures this week!  Promise!  :)

Checking out the dock at English Camp

Mother of Dragons!

Jackson's Beach, you can see out cabin behind me

Waiting for the ferry home

Me and my love!

Since we got home, we've mostly just been busy little bees with soccer, tutoring, appointments, visits with friends, getting little projects done here and there!  It's amazing how it all just adds up to not having much time for each other.  But we've also had a whole lot of fun, and certainly enjoyed the sunshine last week here in Seattle!  It was HOT!  Which also made me very thankful that my little lady is coming in early summer, because I was definitely overheated much of the week!  Now we are back to cool and rainy...not ideal either, but much more comfortable!

Walking along Alki on one of the 80 degree days!

This weekend was lots of great fun!  We had our baby shower!!!  My sister-in-law Kate and my brother Matthew hosted, and my mama-in-law Susan and other sister-in-law brought all kinds of yummy food, and it just was so much fun to have a house full of people so excited for the arrival of Framboise!  There were fun games, including Pin the Sperm on the Uterus, which ended with me being blindfolded and pinning my egg to a sperm to determine the winner; a bottle chugging contest (which I guess I won. but as the guest of honor passed along the glory to an actual guest!) plus hilarity when reading everything K and I said while opening presents back to us as if it was the night of conception.  Read: "Oh my god, it's so cute!" and "Oooooh nipple cream"!  As you can imagine, there was a whole lot of laughter!

I'm ever so thankful to have such a loving and supportive family surrounding us, and so many stellar friends!  It was such a great day! I don't have any pictures, so I am hoping someone who did take some will pass them along to me!

We followed that up with our niece Isabelle's First Communion.  She looked so beautiful and grownup, and while Kevin and I are not cut from the same religious cloth, we were so glad to be part of her special day and support this lovely young lady!  I'm constantly amazed that somehow she isn't blood related to me, because she is seriously my mini-me in so many ways!

Today we had our first birth class with Kate!  It was fun and informative, and gave us a whole lot of information we didn't know.  I'm feeling really good about our decision to have a home birth, and looking forward to seeing what I do in labor to get through it all!  Kate will also be my doula, so this is also a really great time for Kevin and I to see her in her professional setting, and I am really glad we made the choice to have her with us!

We had a midwife appointment on Thursday which went swimmingly!  We are measuring 32 centimeters at 32 weeks, heart rate still up in the 140 area, and we got a really good listen this time!  She is also now in the LOA (left occipital anterior) position, which is JUST WHERE WE WANT HER!  :)  She is just doing perfectly well, and so am I!  I'm feeling really healthy, my back pains have mostly subsided, and while my activity levels have decreased a bit in the last couple weeks, that's more to blame on finding time to get to the gym than anything else!

She is super active, especially a bit after I've eaten, right when I lay down to go to bed, and she is now my 5 am alarm clock!  Seriously, I don't think I would need to set an alarm, she is so regular!  It's pretty remarkable.  Kevin and I have been enjoying (and feeling somewhat weirded out) watching my belly do weird bulging and wiggling.  We will hit 50 days til due date tomorrow, and 33 weeks on Tuesday, so things are starting to really fly now and feel real!  Lots more work to do ahead of us, but we are feeling ready in so many ways!

How far along? 32 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +21.  Looks like I won't be keeping it under 25 pounds, but I'm okay with it.  We are both doing well, that is all that really matters!
Maternity clothes? Yup.  Got a bunch of clothes at a swap the other week that weren't technically maternity but sure work for it!
Stretch marks? Just the ones I already had!
Sleep: So much better now that I have a body pillow!
Best moment this week: Our lovely shower!
Have you told family and friends: Yup
Miss Anything?  Not really this week.
Movement: Lots and lots!!
Food cravings:  Yup, still fried eggs!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Have you started to show yet: No denying it now!  People don't even think twice about asking me how much longer til she is born!
Gender prediction: It's a GIRL!!!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Innie. Getting down to the last 1/4 inch or so though!
Wedding rings on or off? On.  No swelling at all so far!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy happy happy girl!
Looking forward to: Getting the nursery organized.  Gotta find places for all the fantastic loot our girl got!  :)