37 Weeks! Beasting my To-Do List!

Week 37 - February 20 - 27, 2014

 

This week definitely has been an incredibly busy one. For weeks I had mapped things out with the idea that I needed to get all my major to-do's done by the time I hit 38 weeks. It seemed kinda reckless not to, and besides if I did make it into 38 weeks it would be nice to relax and soak in the quiet while I could, right?

37 weeks! Hannah's almost ready to go!

 

Thursday started off with Daniel dropping Holly off at the vet for her surgery. The vet had recommended we have her spayed between 4 and 6 months and...it was kinda now or never. A newborn and a post-surgery keep-her-quiet puppy? No thanks. My 37 week pregnant self would prefer to chase/hobble after Holly and thank myself later. The first night though? She was far more pitiful than I was prepared for! Daniel was really freaked out and I could focus on nothing else but trying to keep her comfy. She cried out if she moved the wrong way and frequently whimpered. She spent the entire evening burrowing into me on the couch and seemed to feel best when she was deeply snuggled into me.

 

She spent the night sleeping in the crook of my knee (I don't move much as I can only sleep on my left side) and I had my first super mom moment at about 4 in the morning when I woke up from a dead sleep to the dreaded "I'm going to be sick" sound and rushed her into our bathroom in seconds. (Daniel didn't even stir). Poor poor puppy. But puppy getting sick on tile versus our bed? I felt triumphant and awesome. Once she went for a walk in the morning, got her first dose of pain medicine, and ate a little breakfast she was like a different puppy and has bounced back incredibly fast! (Blogging from week 38...they told us to keep her calm for 10-14 days and tomorrow is the 10th day and she is still doing really well! Hooray!)

 

Friday I got up and immediately got to work prepping the house for company and even pulled everything together with enough time to relax for an hour or two before they arrived! My Aunt Mary-Michele and Grandmother came to visit us from NJ! My Aunt Mary (also my Godmother) had graciously agreed to paint several pieces for Hannah's room and wanted to drive down to deliver them and see me! It was all so very sweet and fun to visit with them, show them our new home, introduce them to Holly, and show them what I had pulled together for Hannah so far! It was a quick visit, but we really enjoyed catching up with them! And...the artwork was beyond perfect and beautiful! SO in love with it! She did such an amazing job! My aunt also brought a whole collection of sweet books for Hannah's library as well!

Four generations! My sister Ali, myself and Hannah, Aunt Mary, and my Grandmother

My Aunt and Grandmother brought some pictures for us to see...my Mom with a Baby Beth!

Baby Beth!

Little Beth and Pam with some of my Aunt Mary's fun artwork and troll collection...

 

Saturday we bid my aunt and grandmother farewell, I prepped and ran my weekly tutoring session (I'm tutoring a student in San Diego via Skype for AP Euro - 95% of the time I really enjoy having a history teacher outlet), we crashed for a little while, and then finally made an inaugural trip to Baltimore for a double date night with our friends Stephanie and Brendyn. Definitely a place we need to frequent more often and we were really glad to finally make it out there!

 

I ran a bazillion errands with my sister on Monday and started day one of my four day saga to register my car (explained further below). We had agreed to try to meet up at least one more before my attentions were a bit (great deal) more focused on Hannah. And Monday night we had a lovely double date night with the Kunkles and enjoyed a childless dinner out, (one of their first) and one that we all recognized was probably going to be our last together for a long time!

 

Monday night I had an "is this it?!" moment. Before going to bed I had felt quite crampy and nauseous (not normal for me). Around 1:30 am I woke up with some serious rumbly tumbly and found myself shaking/shivering/trembling uncontrollably. (Both top signs of early labor!) I ended up in the shower thinking "well, I'll either feel better after my shower or at the very minimum I'll be clean and have my legs shaved if this is the real deal!" It wasn't. I got out of the shower feeling way better, but unable to go to sleep until I organized some hospital-bag type things just in case. (My glad was to have a bag packed by the end of the week. I had lots of things in the mail, desperately needed to laundry and just all around was not remotely ready). Would things have been fine if it was the real deal? Yep. But...I had truly thought I had at least through 37 weeks, really I have secretly thought I had until at least 39 and change, but wanted to be good to go by 38ish to be safe. Needless to say, Tuesday I spent the day a little wide eyed, a little manic, and a little obsessed with making to-do lists. Was I worried about the having Hannah part? Not really, it was more just the fact that I had about 100 loose ends and that if I had until the end of the week I would have 90 of them wrapped up.

 

Tuesday I continued the car-based errand running saga (again, see explanation below) and then came home to finish the nursery! It was a very long jam-packed day, but my experiences the night before had thrown me into a nestling-level of focus. I may or may not have been up at 10:30 hanging pictures on the walls, but...having the nursery decorations done done done was definitely one of the things on my to-do list for the week! And it made me feel so much better (and honestly, I could be more thrilled about how it all came out!!!). I'm going to put a separate post together about the nursery - click here to see Hannah's Room!

 

By Wednesday I was 37 weeks 6 days and decided that if I were to answer the "how are you feeling" question honestly the answer would be miserable. I am relieved I managed to get within 15 days of my due date before I would use the term to describe myself, but that doesn't change the fact that I just feel crappy. All.the.time. Everything hurts and sleep sucks and I pretty much can't get comfortable. But...again, fifteen days out from my due date, sooo...it is what it is!

 

Reality check?

Rings still fit! Shoes fit if I loosen my laces, I don't have the killer chipmunk cheeks I was picturing...but I have those pregnant cheeks, especially when I look at a picture of myself from the fall. My innie has been an outie for a week or two now. Biggest complaints? I have pain right at the pubic symphysis spot that only seems to be getting worse. Carpal tunnel is still an issue, but one that I keep in check with a splint on my right wrist each night, so I can't complain about that too much, it is very manageable. I can trace Hannah's profile with my hand along my belly...and can feel her spine, bottom, and how her legs are curled! This past week her movements have slowed down and my little wiggler has grown so much she is now only able to be my fairly big squirmer. But it's a sign of progress for sure!

 

My Car Saga - Adventures in Becoming a Legit Resident of Maryland

To get my car titled and registered in Maryland....

1. We couldn't register my car within the standard 60 days from when we moved because we purchased it new in 2007 and it was the fall of 2013. Problem? For seven years my car is considered a "new car" in Maryland. To register my car I would have to produce a bill of sale and if I paid less than 6% sales tax I would have to pay the difference to the state of Maryland. We bought my car in SC which caps at $300 so we were going to owe 700-1000 dollars. No thank you. My car is awesome, but not remotely new at 90,000+ miles. We decided to wait until the house sold to register my car and claim I was a FL resident up until that point. (And if the house wasn't selling then we would keep our Homestead Exemption as well)

 

2. Maryland does not allow my car to be tinted up to the level that it is. So to keep my tinting We decided to see if we could get a medical exemption for my complexion and super high skin cancer risks (pretty much everybody in the next two generations of my family have had some form of skin cancer, and for Hannah's sake there's a melanoma risk on her dad's side as well). So I...

a) called the MVA (which is much more popularly known around America as the DMV) hotline and verified what I needed to do...this was a 40-60 minute phone call

b) called a dermatologist to set up an appointment to get a letter that defended my need to have a tinted car. After forty minutes of run around I was told I actually needed a letter from a general practitioner. Really?

c) Day 1 - I called a general practitioner, waited two weeks for my appointment, and saw a physicians assistant who agreed with me and issued a letter identifying that my tinting was a medical necessity.

d) Day 1 - when I called the MVA they said from there I would need to take the letter to a MVA to get a certificate prior to going for my car inspection. I went to the local MVA in our county only to find out at 4:20 that I needed to actually go to the "full service" MVA (out of county) to see an ASED officer (which closes at 4:30). I waited for quite a while to find this out.

e) Day 2 - I was supposed to have a Honda service and car inspection at 8 am...but the full service MVA office in Glen Burnie doesn't open until 8:30. I called them, told them I would be late, and this morning I went to the Glen Burnie MVA office where I met with an ASED officer who told me I actually needed a letter signed by an MD and that a PA (physician's assistant) was not enough. Sigh. I said I had an inspection this morning and asked if I needed to return to the MVA once I got my letter before I went to the inspection and they said no. Okay!

*shudder* this is the Glen Burnie MVA...are all those one way signs really necessary?!?

**I also had difficulty leaving the parking lot because a couple was fighting in their car, with the door open in a way that blocked my ability to back up...and I had a really hard time getting their attention as they passionately screamed at each other...Sigh.

f) Day 2 - I drove back to my doctor's office in Columbia and gave them the letter and an "info sheet" from the ASED officer and asked for an MD's signature. I waited a few minutes and ta da, had a letter with both signatures, one of them MD. Check.

g) Day 2 - I drove to Ellicott City to the Honda dealership for the inspection and 90,000 service. I have since been told that before my car can pass inspection I need to return to the Glen Burnie MVA with the new MD letter and get a special "tint inspection and tint waiver" form. Then I can bring that back to Honda and they will be able to give me my inspection certificate. Then I have to go back to the MVA to register my car with the state of Maryland. I also have to have the MD's letter and the tint waiver letter from an ASED officer at all times to present to them if I am pulled over. If Daniel is pulled over and I am not in the car, he will be issued a repair order which can only be repealled if I go to an MVA office in person. My two rear tires also failed the state inspection...by like a milimeter. So frustrating. I made the guy show me to be sure and yes, in some places I was down to the wear bar, but still. Frustrating. Honda also wanted $362 for two tires. I laughed.

h) Day 3 - after my chiropractor appointment I drove to the Glen Burnie MVA (MVA trip # 3 for the week) and as soon as I parked a woman slammed her door open into my car. (I opened my door and shouted "Seriously?!?" at her), but she had taken off running as the male passenger from the car chased her through the parking lot, abandoning the kids they had in the car. Yikes! What is it with this parking lot?! I finally managed to find the ASED officer who looked at the letter and asked me to pull my car up to the inspection area. I did and he promptly glanced at my car and signed the official waiver form, stamped it, and sent me on my way! WOOHOO!

i) Day 4 - I had called around and priced tires and found some for a far more reasonable price ($162 after taxes). So I went to my OB appointment (38 weeks!) and then went to my tire appointment.

j) Day 4 - after the tire appointment, I rolled across the street to the Honda dealership and gave them my tinting waiver and told them the tires were replaced. It took a little longer than I had hoped, but after about 30-45 minutes I left the lot with a clean car (they ran it through the carwash - hooray!) and an inspection certificate! YAY!

k) Day 4 - I headed onto the Glen Burnie MVA (this would be MVA trip #4 of the week...seriously). No domestic disputes this time! The last potential hurdle was the fact that for some weird reason (I think the fact that Daniel had taken my car to get titled in FL on a Harris Friday) the title was only in his name. He had signed it over to me and we had even filled out the "spouse gift" form just in case, but that was the last potential snag. ...I had to wait a while, but all my paperwork was just right and after spending the standard fees ($270+) I walked away triumphantly with plates and registration in hand and a title in the mail! Hooray!

l) Day 4 - they transferred my ticket to the licensing area and I had to change buildings (it was after 4:30 now so I had to show evidence to get into the building "after hours" and I stepped in to find it sweltering and packed and my heart sank. The restroom had no toilet paper and I was really lucky to find a free chair amongst the 150+ people. Yuck. Just as I was messaging Daniel that I truly had no idea when I would be home my number popped up! Really?!? I almost missed it because it popped up so soon! And again, for this I had everything I needed! Woohoo! This lady was quite personable and in a short matter of time I was walking out with my driver's license as well!

 

So...4 days, 4 MVA visits, 2 docs office visits, 2 Honda dealership visits, and 1 tire place and I am finally a legit resident of Maryland who still has the tinting on her car AND didn't pay back-taxes on a purchase from 2007! I WON!

 

...The one way I didn't win? My drivers license picture is my 38 week rounded pregnant cheek self...forever memorialized for the next decade+! Didn't think that part through. Sigh. :-/

 

 

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36 weeks! - SNOW-M-G, Valentines Day, and Baby Gear!

 

Week 36 - February 13 -19, 2014

 

Countdown continues! The beginning of this week marked ONE MONTH until our "due date"!

 

I don't know if a week of my pregnancy has ever flown by so quickly! I woke up so excited to hit 36 weeks and the one month to due date mark and now as I type from 37 weeks it is with wide eyes as I semi-frantically wonder where last week went?!? I am grateful that I wasn't so miserable that I counted down each day...really, I am feeling pretty crummy...the week just still managed to fly by! Yikes!

 

Obligatory reality check?

Rings still fit! I seemed to hit 36 weeks and ballooned in the feet/ankle/cankle department, but most of the time I can still fit into my danskos. And the day those felt tight my sneakers were a wonderful friend. It practically happened overnight - and they aren't terrible every day, I just have to make an effort to put my feet up from time to time. Heartburn? Nah, not really. I want to give my lower back a big hug for being so cooperative and such a trooper! I think I am starting to get the end of the pregnancy cheeks, but have not deemed myself unrecognizable or beyond embarassingly chipmunky yet! I'll take it! So overall? Uber uber pregnant, but hanging in there!

 

I had told myself that if I fell apart after 36 weeks eh. Because really, at that point you have quite the countdown going! This week was absolutely full of fun things and picture worthy fun, so here goes!

 

We had a MEGA, epic snowfall! The biggest snowfall here in four years and probably the biggest snowfall that I've ever experienced somewhere that I actually lived. (The years we were in NJ as kids we didn't have crazy snow). We've definitely visited snow (Vermont!, Iceland!, Switzerland and Austria and igloos!, etc), but I had never lived somewhere with that much. The first day was sooo much fun! Daniel and I played and played with the puppies and really enjoyed the powdery snow - we got about 22 inches and then some - it was awesome! Really, the first few days were exciting! Daniel shoveled the driveway for the first time in his life and we had snow piled up to our waists all over the neighborhood - even higher in some spots! I was SO grateful that Daniel's mom had brought up Stephanie's snow boots for me to borrow when she brought the crib because they were a life saver as I tromped around in the snow with the puppies.

Lots of snow and still snowing!

Holly out trying to make her own path the first morning

Snow wrestling :)

Puppies heading out to check out the snow in the back yard!

Blurry yes, but hilarious. I feel like she is an alligator swimming in the snow!

Back porch mid morning - still snowing!

Daniel shoveling snow! Yes...we don't own a legit shovel, but this worked!

Chance playing rope and Holly bounding! So cute!

 

The biggest issue was that after the first three or four days we started having issues with Holly feeling comfortable going to the bathroom in the snow, I was exhausted from hauling my 9 months pregnant self through the calf to knee high snow drifts for quarter of a mile walks to try to encourage the puppies to go outside, and at night the slightly melted snow would freeze over, creating level of snow that the dogs could run on and that would support my weight some of the time. So each step I took was unpredictable - I might break through and sink down a foot or more, I might not. With each step. But if I didn't walk there Holly wouldn't go. AHHHH. We had a rough couple of frustrating days and I was absolutely exhausted. On a plus side, the roads were impressively clear by the afternoon of day 2 after the snowfall. We were amazed at how well and how quickly our area cleared everything and made it all driveable. (And as we headed into week 37 the sun came out enough that we can walk the sidewalks again and see some grass and she's back to her normal self, whew! It's so much easier to just go for a walk! I realized I wasn't lazy...it was just that the types of walks we were having to take were very physically draining! Simple walk? Sure!)

They play so well together!

Holly loves it! All the pics of Chance were out takes...he's not a fan of the camera

Our beautiful little lady!

Holly is definitely a snow dog

 

For Valentine's Day we stayed in and enjoyed a three course meal together. We made cheese fondue, cooked meats and potstickers in a broth fondue, and then had one of our favorite desserts - a whipped chocolate mousse that I make topped with berries and pomegranate seeds. Yum! And we started indulgently watching the second season of House of Cards too! Fun!

 

Mmmm cheese fondue!

Second course! Yummy dinner!

For Saturday night we did part two of Valentine's Day - a date night to one of our favorite restaurants - Seasons 52 (they have one in Bethesda but are building one ten minutes away!!!) and then saw Ann-Sophie Mutter perform at the Kennedy Center (she's a world renown violinist that Daniel was super excited to see). It was a lovely night out! We had visited the Kennedy Center for the first time about a month prior...and this time I must have looked that much more pregnant because I had attendants ushering me to special elevators and priority restrooms! Haha.

Our Valentine is still cooking!

View from the second balcony in the Kennedy Center

View of DC from the terrace

 

Sunday we met Meredith for lunch and somehow managed to talk her into helping us assemble some of the baby gear we had sitting in boxes (she loves puzzles and building things...win! cause Daniel really doesn't!) The day was a huge success, although once everything was assembled and we saw how much room it all took up Daniel and I did look at each other with wide eyes haha. I was so grateful Meredith helped though, because Daniel HATES assembling things and gets frustrated really easily, but when it is a project with friends it's fun and silly and full of laughter - and the day ended up being just that. Whew! And? The baby gear is awesome, I am thrilled with how it all looks!

Daniel, play yard Sherpa...

And turtle.

We laughed a lot...

Tada! Beautiful pack and play with a sturdy changing station for the living room! Yay!

Stroller, check!

Daniel is watching...check!

Holy goodness. Thanks graco. This is supposed to be a bouncer glider combo... Yikes!

Daniel playing with dog toys, Meredith hard at work...hmmm.

Baby gear! Hooray! The glider/bouncer combo is from my parents! Yay parents!

Oh dear.

 

Monday I had a doctors appointment and they confirmed it - yep, I had taken on some fluid and packed on quite a few pounds out of no where in the week since they had seen me. (But my feet were definitely evidence of as much). So they did a NST (non-stress test) just to make sure everything with Hannah was still good and she was perfect! I loved getting to listen to her heartbeat for twenty full minutes and watching her heartrate go up whenever she kicked or shifted or wiggled. It stayed between 140-165 the entire time. Everything else looked great, blood pressure was excellent, so they just dismissed it as the pre-baby fluid phenomenon for now. I'm trying to drink extra amounts of water, but really there's only so much I can do.

 

Tuesday night we met up with Meredith and saw the Lego movie - what a cute and wonderful film! Really! It was excellent! Wednesday Meredith came over for dinner and we got into pretty serious trip planning/dreaming mode. This is the longest I have gone without traveling in almost a decade and Daniel and I have been chatting about trying to go somewhere mid summer. Crazy? Maybe...but I think we will never know until we try! It would be different and challenging, but I think we could still have fun! ...We'll see.

Very fun Valentines package from Daniel's mom! The thong rammed pieces on the left were a gift from her friend Kay! Isn't it all so pretty! Super excited!

 

So....36 weeks and staying busy! We're trying to make the most of getting to go out and do things while we can (like catching a movie) and are doing our best to enjoy the time we have together! Things are getting harder, but knowing I am almost there make it easier. I have a few more things I need to do, so I have told Hannah I need to make it past 38 weeks...but really if we could make it to 39 I will be an extremely happy camper! (So far so good!)

 

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Week 35 - Struck With a Case of the Mehhhhhhhs

Week 35 - February 6 - 12, 2014

 

Countdown continues!!! 3 weeks until I am "full term," 5 weeks until my due date!

 

So my sophisticated observation is that by the time you are 35 weeks pregnant you are like...legit pregnant. Like...don't mess with me pregnant. I'm THAT stereotypical pregnant lady.

 

It's true. It makes me cringe and sigh and roll my eyes at myself - but seriously, I'm really pretty darn pregnant at this point! Do not even think about cutting me off when I am trying to park towards the front of the parking lot or squeezing in front of me in the line for the ladies room!

 

This week has not been my favorite, although again, I am trying to make the most of it all. But...I think by week 35 I can complain a little. (I remember a few months ago telling my very-pregnant-at-the-time friend that she had officially reached the point where complaining was legit and vindicated...she was 35 weeks along). So here goes...and then I'll go into all the other happy, fun, oh-my-gosh-we're-really-in-counting-down-mode stuff.

 

This week's reality check -

My rings still fit! My shoes still fit! I don't look in the mirror and find myself unrecognizable (in other words the killer chipmunk cheeks have not surfaced yet...but I'm bracing myself). Heartburn and lower back pain are really minimal and virtually non-existent! And I still managed to have a day or two this week where I felt good! (It has sharply inversed from a few weeks ago when I only felt crummy 1 or 2 days a week, but hey, I'll take a few good days over no good days!)

 

My complaints at 35 weeks -

-I have a cold. Mehhhhhh. Having a cold sucks, but having a cold when you are pregnant just seems grossly unfair. And we all know there's lots of drugs for pregnant ladies. Ha. ...I think I can technically take more than I am...but I feel safest sticking to guaifenesin and benedryl. If I start coughing to the point that hacking up a piece of lung is a concern I will reevaluate. I'm actually thrilled that this is only the second cold I have had during my pregnancy. I am not thrilled that like my other cold, this one is hanging on and enjoying each day it is allowed to habitate my body (you know how they tell you colds can last up to 10-14 days? Yep...mine will take 14 guaranteed if it is anything like the last one). However, I have patted myself on the shoulder and thanked myself for not being absolutely miserably sick with this cold. It's an annoyance, not the full plague. I have however wiped us out of almost every single box of tissues we had in this house. And...Daniel went to Sams and picked up tissues just a month or two ago. :-/

 

-I have been developing carpal tunnel syndrome over the past few weeks...but it hit an all time high this week. ...As in I woke up with shooting pain in my right thumb that would only subside if I physically got out of bed at 5:30 am (who needs sleep, right?) and would only stay away if I moved around. ...When it went away I tried to go back to sleep and it came back almost instantly. Yowzers. After it happened two different nights and I found myself at the nearest CVS buying a night time splint so I can sleep. (It's working btw. Amazing!). ...When I take the splint off in the morning half my hand goes numb. ...In fact...during various points in the day when I flex my hand in various carpal tunnel inducing ways I lose feeling in my thumb, index, and middle fingers. Like...when I'm driving my car and trying to grip my steering wheel. (You can drive with your pinky and ring finger, right?) Or sometimes when I'm walking the dogs and gripping the leashes. (They can walk themselves, right?). Sigh. ...It's something that is supposed to get better post-baby. It has to do with fluid build up (although that makes me nervous because as of now fluid build up is minimal...rings still fit...if the pre-baby swell kicks in I am concerned I'm really screwed). It is not as constant as I make it sound, but certainly an annoyance.

 

-Between the cold and the pregnancy stuffiness and out of breathness OMG do I breathe loudly. ALL THE TIME. I am SO tired of being able to hear myself breathe. It's just so freaking disgusting. Gross gross grossity gross.

 

-(Not) Surprisingly my fatigue is not improving. Especially on my carpal tunnel attack days or the days I have a cold (oh, right, that will be for fourteen days, awesome). But sleep? I frequently go to sleep, actually sleep (so I know I shouldn't complain...so many of you are not sleeping) and wake up feeling...exactly the same as I did when I went to bed. If I'm lucky there's a ten percent improvement. Some days I am oh so completely beyond spent.

 

-I've loved feeling Hannah move...and when I get frustrated with her movements (which is only when they are downright painful) I try to remind myself that in just a few weeks I will never get to feel her like this again. But that said - the kiddo has an obsession with her feet and my right side/ribs. Sometimes it's just really not cool. It's the one movement I could do without. Everything else? Still super awesome. She's not somersaulting and flipping anymore (no room for that!) but I do have a wiggly one who is continually wriggling and adjusting.

They really have become close friends! It makes Daniel and me so happy to see them so content to be together!!!!

 

This little one is growing too! Long and lanky at just over 4 months!

Such a cutie!

Okay, complaining over! Despite my cold and carpal tunnel nonsense I did my best to enjoy the past week and continued to chip away at my never-ending to-do list.

 

My rite of passage this week? I attended and survived the county TotSwap! Not as amazing as I had hoped, but I left with a big ole bag of adorable clothes to fluff out Hannah's wardrobe. :) I have done several loads of laundry and marveled at the fact that dryer lint can actually show up pink! The nursery is coming along! I'm super excited to share pictures, but am trying for everything to be completely done first! Soon!

Trying out the sling I snagged at the tot swap. Not proclaiming I have my "baby" remotely positioned correctly, but it was a great way to see if I could get it to work!

 

We went bowling with our friends on Saturday - and this 35.5 week pregnant girl bowled a 153 and 139 with her bowling ball belly! I was pretty proud of myself! Evening entertainment this week has been watching my belly (oh and the Olympics!), but we have had fun observing what I call Hannah rocking out and what Daniel refers to as a scene from Alien. ...Pretty amazing, huh? I'd read somewhere that their movements tend to decrease by around 35 weeks because they are running our of room, but honestly this week she seems as active as ever!

 

I also need to give a shout out for Daniel. The kid is a beast. He never shares this with people (unless they directly ask). He runs a LOT. Almost each week last year he ran 35 miles. 5 miles M, T, W, and R and 15 miles on Saturday. This Saturday he ran 17 miles. Super excited for him! (jealous as hell that he can work out like a normal human being...or super human human being...but he's actually allowed to elevate his heartrate over 140 or 150?...I can't remember what the pregnancy limit is...but it's low and disappointing for people who enjoy working out). Anyway - I wanted to give him a shout out because I was super impressed! :) He's also run here through the winter - like even when the temperature is 2. TWO. He's loving this weather though!

 

Monday night we totally broke the standard Monday night mold and went to see Monument Men with our friend Meredith. Movie on a Monday night? Yep, embracing the baby-still-on-the-inside while we can. Tuesday I couldn't believe how incredibly grumpy I felt for no good reason (thanks pregnancy hormones, you're making my life even easier). But I found myself grumpily stumbling through my favorite day of the week instead of getting to relish it. Sigh. I included a pedicure to try to cheer myself up (I have wanted one my entire pregnancy and hadn't caved yet...I decided at 35 weeks 5 days it was time) - so my Tuesday was the chiropractor, a pedicure, and prenatal yoga - not bad! And by the time I got home? I was in a better mood and slept awesomely that night.

 

**Funny image for all of you...because of the impending snowfall I wanted to pick up a little Valentine's Day treat for Daniel earlier in the week in case we were snowed in. So post pedicure, before yoga, I dropped by the liquor store...uber pregnant...in the little neon foam flip flops (because I forgot that now that I don't live in FL I don't have 2-3 paris of flops in my car at all times! And my danskos were going to destroy my pedi if I didn't wait a while) and waddled around the liquor store like that. ...I am sure I was memorable. And hilarious. Yep.

 

Wednesday was my happiest day of the week - I woke up after sleeping awesomely and for the first time all week felt semi-rested and pretty good! I discovered there is a Trader Joes near our home, did the obligatory snow is coming grocery stock up, spent the afternoon blissfully working in the nursery, and the evening cooking dinner and hanging out with Daniel and Meredith. Awesome day.

35 weeks! I actually thought to take a picture of myself from the back - made me feel much more justified in the fact that some days I look in the mirror and feel like I strapped on a front-sided fat suit haha.

 

I've bargained with myself every week. Like I might think to myself - okay, you may be less comfy, but at least x, y, and z aren't issues yet! And you only have x number of weeks to go, so if they do creep in, you have one less week to deal with it! My target that seemed very optimistic was 36 weeks. I told myself that by that point all bets were off. ...Now that I am heading into 36 weeks I cringe...and yet...it is a heck of a lot easier to tell yourself...okay, you only have to deal with this for a month, you can do this! (Yes, I know I may past my due date...but isn't it just mentally easier to cross that bridge when/if you get there?...then it's telling yourself one day at a time)...Who knows? Maybe it will be less than a month! We'll see!!!

 

At this point we're not going to say "grow baby grow" - she's gotten quite big in there. We'll say "mature, baby mature!" Cause honestly, that's the most important thing she's doing at this point! Maturing those lungs and making sure all her organs are ready to function on their own! At the end of week 35 as we hit 36 weeks my message is - Hannah - two to three more weeks and then you can pick your birthday! :)

 

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34 weeks - Feeling More Like the Stereotypical Pregnant Lady

Week 34 - January 30 - February 5, 2014

 

Countdown! Four weeks until I am "full term," six weeks to my due date!!!

 

This week I have officially slowed down. I would not say I have reached the point where I am so miserable I have declared myself done, but up until this point, even in the third trimester the I-feel-crummy-days were occasional and generally not consecutive...this week? Every day is an I-feel-crummy-day. I have a very positive, but very realistic, friend (aren't those the best kind?!) who had warned me that once you hit the third trimester you just feel run down every day. So as I weathered weeks 28, 29, 30, 31, etc and I would hit a run-down day I would think "here we go" thinking that is how I would feel from that point on. But then the next day I would feel a lot better! And then I reached week 34. Every day has been an I-feel-crummy-day. I woke up this morning and felt maybe 10% better than I had felt when I went to bed and equally as tired (even though it was one of the better nights of sleep I had had this week.) I think I had one or two "hey I feel pretty good days" the whole week.

Snuggling with my Holly

 

So...I'm achier, I'm more relentlessly exhausted, and miss Hannah is getting increasingly bigger (I had a friend who is equally as pregnant note that our babies are growing about an ounce a day right now...seriously?!?). The vacancy at the inn is quickly diminishing! Have I reached breaking point? Nope! But do I see the potential for that to happen in the next month or so? The potential is there...

 

Themes of the week? Crafting and pulling some things together for the nursery! It's not finished yet, but I've made some major progress on some of my projects and am excited about how everything is turning out! :-) I actually started washing her bedding and blankets - I jokingly told Daniel the washer and drier have never seen so much pink! Holly got her final round of shots (hooray!). And on the last day of week 34 I had another OB checkup and was given a thumbs up - Hannah's heartbeat is strong, I'm measuring to size, blood pressure was excellent - so grateful!!!

The weather has also made it trickier to get out...but we finally had a day where it hit a delightfully warm 30* and the puppies and I headed to the park! All that white? A snow covered frozen pond! It has been that chilly! Loving winter!

 

I had told myself that January was a go go go month and February was a month to take it slow. That's not exactly how things are turning out (I've need a few more weeks of errand running to wrap up some big projects), but it has been nice to be able to not feel too guilty this week and to take it a bit easier as I have suddenly felt much more easily fatigued than any week up to this point.

 

Laughable moment of the week? Napkins at dinner? I realized while at a restaurant that the answer for me is now why bother?! My belly now fills the space right up to a half inch of the table...so I might as well not bother to put a napkin in my lap because not only can I not easily access it, but my belly automatically blocks (catches) all food that could be headed for my lap. Hahaha. I couldn't help but laugh!

 

Reality check? Rings still fit, shoes still fit, no major chipmunk cheeks yet, only very minor incidents of heartburn, lower back gets tight sometimes but is doing great, overall I am still so grateful and excited about how well we are doing! Not too long until we will get to meet our little one!!!

34 weeks!

Daniel snuggling with our pups

I swear we did more this week than sit on the couch....but it's a time that makes for some really cute pics with our puppies...

Isn't she a cutie?

Pensive Chances

Classy Daniel playing Rockband with Meredith (one of our new Maryland friends). Thought some of our friends might chuckle at his new Rockband attire if they remember the infamous orange shorts he usually rocks out with...

 

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