39 Week Belly Pictures and Updates

Hi everyone,

We decided to take 39 week belly pictures in case we don't make it to week 40, so here they are:

Here are two bare belly pictures, for those of you wondering how weird that looks...

So as you can see, my stomach is rather huge! Baby is out of room and will hopefully be making his appearance any time. We are 39 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Our due date is next week Tuesday.

At the doctor today there wasn't much different from last week, I am still 2 cm dilated, 65% effaced and baby is at a -1 station. My doctor said that it could be anytime, or we could go over the due date, its hard to tell. We have booked an induction for Sept 29 (one week after my due date) so if I haven't gone into labor by then we know it will be happening that day! We're hoping that I will go into labor naturally because being induced doesn't sound like much fun, but we'll see how things go.

We have everything ready to go - the hospital bags are packed and we're just waiting! I am still working this week, but I'm getting pretty uncomfortable. Sleeping is definitely a challenge now, I am up several times every night. I am ready for the pregnancy to be done and for our little guy to be here!

If we go into labor anytime soon, this may be our last post before baby gets here (lets hope)! Otherwise I will post again to update everyone on how things are going next week. Please say prayers for us that everything goes smoothly with the labor and delivery!

Till next time,

Beth and Adam

Nursery

Hello!

We finally finished the nursery, except for window valances that are being made. Here are pictures of the (almost) final product!

Here is the view from the door. We left a bookshelve and desk in the room. They are being used mostly for baby stuff, except inside the desk, which has files for bills, etc. It made a nice spot for a small tv for late night nursings!:

Here is my glider. Boppy pillows are ready to go, and there is a night light lamp on the baby dresser for us to turn on at night for a bit of light if needed:

The crib and changing table. We put the comforter from the crib bedding on the wall, and you can see the majority of the wall stickers are on this big wall. They are adorable, and add a lot of color!:

Here is a picture of us in the nursery. This was taken today, 2 days before we hit week 37!:

So that is the nursery! We are excited to have it done. All of the baby's clothes, blankets, etc. are washed, and we are stocked with all of the essentials (diapers, wipes, etc.). Now we just need our little guy to arrive! :)

We had a doctor appointment last Thursday, and I was 1 cm dilated but not very effaced. We go again on Wednesday Sept 2, so we will see if anything has changed!

Till then,

Beth and Adam

35 Week Belly Pictures!

Hello!

Here are the 35 week belly pictures:

Belly is so heavy!!! :

Is it a beach ball? A planet? No...that would be my belly:

So as you can see, I'm getting pretty big! Only a few weeks to go, thank goodness! I used to think that I didn't know how I could be any bigger, but now I really think that there isn't much room left for this kid to grow any larger!

We are almost done with the nursery, and will post pictures soon!

Until then,

Beth and Adam

Baby Shower and Update

Hi everyone!

Last Saturday was my big baby shower, and it was a blast! My mom and sisters did a great job planning and decorating! Thanks ladies! :)

Here are a few pictures:

Me with the adorable/delicious cake:

Mary (baby's grandma, Adam's mom) playing the guess what's in the diaper game:

Theresa (baby's other grandma, my mom) measuring me for the guess how big Beth's belly is game:

The room full of ladies (sorry to those of you that aren't in this picture):

We had a great time! I got tons of stuff for the baby, lots of cute outfits, the crib bedding (which looks adorable), an awesome swing (that also vibrates! bonus!), a baby monitor, a baby bathtub, boppy pillows, toys, blankets, and tons of other fun gizmos and gadgets. We do have a few other things to pick up, and I have one more smaller shower with my coworkers where I might get a few of those items. We have been blessed to have so many people provide things that we need!

Here is Adam putting the swing together:

And this is a funny picture of me and my dad comparing belly size (I'm totally winning):

This week we've had a marathon of baby-related things: Tuesday we started our childbirth class (which runs for 4 weeks), Wednesday doctor appointment, Thursday breastfeeding class, and tomorrow morning Adam goes to Baby Basics for Expectant Fathers (a class I coordinate through work). At our 34 week doctor visit this week everything was still great! Blood pressure is good, weight gain is good, baby's heartbeat is good, my tummy measurements are good, so it seems that my body is still handling pregnancy without a problem! :) Our next appointment is at 36 weeks, on August 27. That is the first appointment where they will check me to see if I'm dialated, effaced, etc. We'll see what they say!

I'm still feeling good, I just get tired a bit more easily. When I could normally shop for a long time without needing a break, I'm now finding that walking around Target for 30-45 minutes is more than enough for me. I don't have as much energy, but I think that is to be expected when I'm carrying a watermelon sized tummy with me everywhere I go! We are still out and about all the time, we just have to take it at a slower pace.

Also, sleeping has become a bit more of a challenge. I now use four normal pillows and a body pillow every night in order to get comfortable. Poor Adam doesn't have much room anymore! I'm also finding it difficult to get up when I am in certain positions (lying on the couch, sitting on the floor, etc.). I'm certain that this will continue to be a challenge over the next few weeks...lets just hope I don't reach a point where I am really stuck and can't get up!

Well, that's about all for now...

Until next week (belly pictures!),

Beth

Nursery Work Part One: The Battle of the Crib

Hello all!

We decided to start work on the nursery a little earlier than planned...we were excited to start and figured, why not? So here is our preparation for the office to nursery switch (including the Battle of the Crib):

As stated above, we are turning our office/guest bedroom into our nursery. We decided that we should move our computer to a different spot, and decided our bedroom would be the best place (it was either that or the basement, which I'm not a huge fan of). On Friday we got a small computer desk and made that switch. We had some internet problems once the computer was in its new home, and Adam had a blast figuring how what was wrong with it. Its a good thing he's a patient guy...

So here's our little computer nook:



Saturday was the big work day. Adam and I went to my parent's house in Appleton, picked up their truck, drove to my sister Jenny's house, dropped off a "big girl" dresser for Katie (my niece) that was in the truck and loaded in the baby dresser and changing table that Jenny and Brian are loaning us, and drove back to Neenah to start work on the nursery. Thanks to Jenny and Brian for loaning us lots of baby stuff!

Brian, my brother-in-law, helped Adam carry furniture in and out at his house, then came to Neenah with us to help Adam with carrying furniture up and down the stairs, putting the crib together, etc. They had to take down the futon that had been in the nursery and store it in the garage, then carry up the crib (still in its box) from our basement and the baby dresser and changing table.

Then came the epic Battle of the Crib. I enjoyed sitting and watching as Adam and Brian tried to figure out how to put it together. There was minimal confusion throughout, and they mastered it pretty quickly. It took about 45 minutes from start to finish. I think that as far as putting cribs together goes, they are both "the man" (or "the men"). They showed that crib a thing or two!

Adam getting it out of the box:

Sorting through it all:

Growling at and threatening to destroy the directions (to put them in their place):

Getting it figured out:

Getting close!:

Almost there...

Just about done...

Finished! :

Here is the nursery as it now looks:

After the baby shower this Saturday, we will be able to put up the wall appliques and other fun things to finish it off! I'll post pictures once its all done.

Yay for getting ready for baby! :)

Bye for now,

Beth (and Adam)

30 Week Belly Picture

Hello everyone!

We are finally making time to post our 30 week belly picture...so here it is:



I am getting pretty big! And to think, I have another 10ish weeks to go...

Here is Adam's 30 week belly picture (I laugh every time I look at this):



Here is another one of Adam. His belly really hasn't changed much since week 10:



And here is another one of me, thinking "hmmm, this tank top can't stretch much more...":

Things have been going well! We went to the doctor for our 30 week checkup last week, and everything is still good. My blood pressure is great, all of the different things they check are right on, and the baby's heartbeat and growth is perfect. Also, my sciatic nerve is all better! Besides being unable to comfortably tie my shoelaces (thank goodness I have a loving husband) and having to take a bit of time to get comfortable at night, I am doing great! We are very blessed :)

We start going to the doctor every other week now, so we have another appointment next week already. Crazy! We will have a 32 week appointment (next week), 34 week, 36 week, and then every week after that (37, 38, 39...).

Today we are actually officially in week 31, so our due date is 9 weeks from today! We will probably update the blog a bit more regularly now to keep everyone up to date on how things are going. It is nuts that we only have 9 weeks left.

I am excited for my baby shower on August 8th! The weekend after the baby shower we have designated the "Getting Ready For Baby" weekend, so we plan to take the futon out of our second bedroom, put up the crib, move in the other baby furniture and put up the wall appliques that my sister Jenny got for us. They are adorable, with lions, elephants, monkeys, alligators, etc. They are perfect for our jungle theme! We will post pictures to let everyone see the final product :)

Adam has been wandering around aimlessly as I write this, so I've decided to ask him to add his own little "preparing to be a daddy" section to this post. So, here's Adam:

Hi. This is Adam. You can tell by the change in font style.

The fact that I have a little boy brewing in my wife's belly has become very real to me recently. I spend many nights reading books to the little karate master. I started with Diary of A Wimpy Kid and moved on to A Series of Unfortunate Events... As I write this, I wonder about the implications of those titles... But I like to believe baby appreciates our bonding time. He let me know just the other night by kickboxing me in the face through Beth's bellybutton.

Bottom line, I'm not wasting any time when it comes to building a relationship with the bugger.

Adam out.

Third Trimester!!!

Hi everyone,

Well, we are finally in the third trimester! Woo hoo! We have 87 days to go until our due date...hopefully they will go fast!

Adam and I went to Build A Bear last week to make baby's first teddy bear. We've planned to do this since we got pregnant. It was fun! :) Here is a picture of him:

Other exciting things - last weekend we had our first baby shower with my mom's side of the family at a family reunion. We had a ton of fun, and got a lot of great stuff including our stroller, which Adam put together right away. It is exciting and a reality check to have all of this baby stuff in our apartment! :)

So, an update on how things are going...still pretty well overall. I have been having a bit of trouble with my sciatic nerve on my right side, which has been rather unpleasant the past few days. It makes it painful for me to walk, climb stairs, bend over (Adam has been picking things up off the floor for me), or really put any weight on my right leg. It is one of the normal pregnancy woes, and it will hopefully improve within the next week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that!

Otherwise, things are good. I am carrying pretty far out front, so everyone likes to comment that my due date must be wrong, that our baby is going to be a 10-pounder, etc. From the side I look very pregnant, but from the back you can't tell at all. I'm hoping that I will start to widen out a bit, otherwise I'm going to end up looking like someone stuck a watermelon the long way under my shirt! But what is really important is that baby and I stay healthy, and the doctor said I'm right on track with belly measurements and weight gain, which is good! Baby really moves a lot now, and keeps me awake some nights. Adam can feel him moving really well every day, which he loves. Sometimes I am shocked by the strength of the movements - this kid can really pack a punch (or kick) sometimes!

As Adam mentioned in his post, I have crazy baby dreams regularly. Last night I dreamt that there were leaves in my belly button that I was pulling out, and that it was a secret of mothers that everyone has leaves in their bellies for every time they eat a fruit or vegetable. I have no idea where these dreams come from...

Well, that's it from our end. We will post a 30 week belly picture in about two weeks. Until then, say prayers that our little guy keeps growing strong!

Beth (and Adam)