Baby Update #4: We're Alive!!

These last couple of months have been SO busy.  Just barely within the last week or so I've felt like I had enough time to even take a breath.  I'll post an update about what we've been up to, but I have a couple of belly pictures and other baby info I wanted to post first.  So, here we go! 

32 weeks--size of a cabbage

35 weeks--size of a honeydew melon

Our belly picture locations have been all over the place.  I was hoping to keep them somewhat consistent because I think it makes for a cool effect when they are all side-by-side, but moving and everything has made that really hard.  Oh well!  Here is the questionnaire.  

How far along: 37 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain: 27 lbs

Maternity clothes: Yep!

Stretch marks: I've been happily surprised in this department.  The stretch marks I had from Morgan have become more visible, but I really haven't seen any new ones.  Hooray for that! 

Sleep: This last week or so sleep hasn't been very good.  I find myself just tossing and turning all night, unable to really get comfortable.  Typical end of pregnancy stuff.   

Best moment this week: Getting started on the nursery

Movement: Lots!

Cravings: Juice, fruit, and MEAT! 

Anything making you sick: Not really

Belly button in or out: Out! It never came out fully with Morgan but it is definitely an outie this time around. It's weird. 

Wedding rings on or off: Both off

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy for the most part, some feelings of anxiety/apprehension about upcoming labor and delivery

Labor signs: Lots of pelvic pain and braxton hicks contractions

Big brother to be: He is getting pretty excited.  He keeps talking about how he is going to hold the baby and give her kisses.  I'm interested to see how he feels when she actually arrives ;-)

Looking forward to: My doctor's appointment on Monday. 

The 3rd trimester of pregnancy this time around has been so different than what I experienced with Morgan.  I am carrying her a lot lower than I carried him, so the pelvic pain is unreal.  With Morgan it was sciatica pain, with this one it is pelvic/lower belly pain.  I am also having a ton of contractions, some of which are kinda painful.  I never really had any braxton hicks with Morgan, so that has been a noticeably different thing this time.  

I am also in full on nesting mode right now.  I've been cleaning all of our baby gear (carseat, swing, bouncer, etc.) this week and seriously loving the process of scrubbing them in preparation for baby girl.  We've also [finally] gotten started on the nursery and I am excited to get it polished off in the next few days.  I've made a list of what things I want to take to the hospital so I can get my bag packed in the next week or so.  I'm finally starting to feel ready for this girl to come!

As far as other little annoying pregnancy symptoms, I've been struggling a bit with low blood hemoglobin.  It leads me to feeling even more tired than what is normal for this stage of pregnancy, along with some dizziness and feeling faint at times.  It's also the reason I've been craving meat like crazy.  I am not typically a meat person at all, so this has been a very interesting craving for me to have.  Jeff has been loving it!

We had maternity pictures taken a couple of weeks ago, so I will post them on here once we get them back.  I'm excited to see how they turned out!  Morgan was pretty cooperative throughout the photo session so I'm hoping we've got a few good ones of him especially.

I seriously cannot believe it is already June and my due date is in 2 1/2 weeks!! It seems so unreal.  It's strange because I feel like the due date has really snuck up on me, but it also feels like I have been pregnant for forever.  With Morgan I was seriously counting down the days until his arrival and this time I can hardly even remember how far along I am.  Being super busy has been good in that it has made these last few months go by really fast.  She will be here before we know it!