37 Week Update

I cannot wrap my head around the fact that I'm now 37 weeks pregnant & considered full term! How did this even happen?! When I think about my pregnancy it kind of all blurs together... Reese is now weighing 6 1/3 pounds & measures a little over 19 inches... Like a stalk of Swiss chard. What the hell is Swiss chard?! Come on Baby Center, use more well known fruits & vegetables!



How am I feeling? Pretty hormonal & tired. I've had more bouts of waking up during the middle of the night & being unable to fall back to sleep which has been incredibly rough. Otherwise my aches & pains have just been intensifying, especially my groin pain. Walking has been a major challenge these days! My leg swelling is also pretty bad & barely subsides at all so it's here to stay until our gal arrives. Reese's movements are super strong & I'm trying to savor them, knowing she'll be out before I know it. I've been getting shooting pains which I know are contractions since I felt the same thing with Cam at this point & my Braxton Hicks contractions are also intensifying. And again, even though I'm not sleeping well, I'm still savoring it & NOT looking so forward to being up many times a night with a crying baby!

The above picture is me with Reese now at 37 weeks & below was me with Cam at this same time! I think my belly was a bit pointier with Cam..



Any new changes this week? Not really. I'll be going to my weekly OB check-ups starting Monday we we'll see if I'm dilated. Otherwise, I'm just trying to finish up last minute baby preparation. I'm trying to get as much in order as possible before my gal arrives!

Weight gain? 18 pounds!



Here's Reese's room which is still a work in progress... I've kind of taken on a black & white theme which I'm pretty happy with. We already had our black & white Chicago pictures in that room so I grabbed onto that & went with it. I'll post more pictures as things get more organized.



And our helper Cameron is always standing close by!

Loving the Weekend!

Since the weekdays can be so very busy & hectic, it's awesome to have the weekend to relax & have some fun family & friend time.



We headed to the pumpkin patch on Saturday morning & had such a great time enjoying the gorgeous day.



From the pumpkin patch we headed to Lauren's parent's house for a fall weenie roast which was so awesome! It was seriously my perfect evening... cool weather, good friends & food & just relaxing around a fire. It felt like a mini vacation & as we headed home, I had a very peaceful feeling inside. I would love to live a little off the beaten path some day.. not too far but just far enough to get away from the hustle & bustle.



Cam & Leah wanted to explore the "spooky forest"...



And take a ride around the property on the golf cart...



And we even visited the three little bears!



Cameron got to experience his first roasted marshmallow! We had a few issues with the metal skewer since Cameron kept waving it around & wanting to jump & run with it. Last thing I wanted was a skewered face or eyeball so I was a bit of a nervous nelly at times.



Sunday we met my parents at a German restaurant that we'd gone to just five days before Cameron was born. We thought it would be a little tradition to do right before our kiddos were born. Although the tradition will likely end here since we only plan on having 2!! The place is so warm & cozy though & the staff makes you feel right at home, so we definitely plan on going back. The owner was there again & she told us she remembered us from when I was busting at the seams with Cam in my belly. I really believe her too! She gave me a huge hug on our way out... what a doll. And next time we go, I'll even get to enjoy a German beer!

36 Week Update

Holy moly, I'm officially 9 months pregnant! Ahh! Reese is gaining about an ounce a day & weighs nearly six pounds at the size of a crenshaw melon. What the heck is a crenshaw melon anyway?!



How am I feeling? After my baby shower on Saturday, I was so full of energy that I organized all the gifts, washed & put everything away, painted the letters of Reese's name for her wall, applied the paisley decals to her wall, wrote my thank you cards & generally never stopped moving until 11pm. Well, I sure paid for that because Sunday I was dead prego walking & could barely muster up the strength to get out of the recliner for church. Unfortunately my post-church nap came to a screeching halt when we got the phone call letting us know we had a house showing. Time to haul myself out of the recliner to clean, clean, clean & clean some more! No rest for the weary! And speaking of rest, or lackthereof, I've been dealing with insomnia every so often, waking up completely wide awake & staying up for hours at a time. It makes for a very interesting work day when that happens! And as I get ready to publish this very post, it's 4:15 in the morning! Yay, me! Guess I'll be going into work early today... But I am trying to bask in my sleep, knowing it's going to come to a screeching halt when Reese is born. I'm also trying to enjoy the rest of this pregnancy despite the aches & pains, knowing it's likely my last. I'm so incredibly thankful to be blessed with a healthy pregnancy & every kick & squirm I feel, I am amazed by. Before you know it, Reese will be here & I won't even be able to truly remember what it feels like to be pregnant.

Any new changes this week? I had my routine OB appointment Monday & all looked good. My doctor discussed the fluid in my kidney & said it would indeed be the cause of me waking up in excruciating pain with a condition called renal colic. He said if it continues to be an issue, I could be referred to a urologist & have a ureter stent placed. Because it hasn't been an issue (knock on wood) since the night of Cam's birthday a few weeks ago, I'm thinking there would be no sense in going through that this close to the end of my pregnancy. Especially since delivery will solve the problem with Reese acting as my obstruction vs. a stone or something else. Every now in then I have a dull ache in my right kidney, but I can deal with that.

Weight gain? 16.5 pounds.

Showered with Love!

When my mom broached the subject of hosting a baby shower for us, I hesitated since it didn't seem right to have one for baby #2. She insisted on throwing one though, and Saturday it was finally time to celebrate the arrival of Baby Reese with family & friends!



The shower turned out beautifully & I felt so special! It was so relaxed & low-key which was perfect! You'll see in the above left picture, there are three pregos! Kelly is one week behind me & Cheryl is 4 weeks behind me. And my friend Lauren B who was there is also pregnant so we had 4 pregnant girls all carrying girls!!



The decorations were wonderful & Lauren made me an amazingly beautiful diaper cake! I was majorly impressed with her skills & it's now proudly displayed in Reese's room. I'm not sure if I'll ever have the heart to disassemble it to use the diapers though!! Melanie designed the candles since she's working at a great candle company & I was thrilled when I saw & smelled them!



Opening presents for Reese was so exciting & I was extremely thankful for everyone's generosity & thought. We didn't want Cameron to feel left out so he got a Lightning McQueen car from his baby sister.



And he had a blast playing with his cousins as always.





I'm so incredibly thankful to have such wonderful friends & family to come & celebrate our baby girl!!

35 Week Update

Here I am at 35 weeks & Reesey Piecey is over 18 inches long & weighs about 5 1/4 pounds! Although, I'm guessing she weighs less since she's measuring a week behind & Cam was a peanut while measuring on track. The majority of what's happening now is some fattening up since most of her basic physical development is now complete.



How am I feeling? Lots of energy this week which I think is related to the never ending to-do list that's constantly ticking off in my head. With D-Day quickly approaching, I'm trying to get as much done as possible! I have such a range of emotions lately... super excited & feeling ready one second to nervous & feeling utterly unprepared the next. I'm wondering how I'll handle having two kids & how my relationship with Cam will be affected. That's probably what scares me the most. Since we only know what it is to have one & give Cam our undivided attention, I can only guess how it will be with two! I know I have enough love for two but it still weighs on my mind since I do not want Cam to think he's loved any less.



My lower back has been super weak & sore & I have raging heartburn, but otherwise I can't complain. I had my ultrasound done last week for my gallbladder & it turns out that all looks good there. Apparently though I do have quite a bit of fluid buildup in my right kidney which is a condition called hydronephrosis. I guess it's pretty common in pregnancy since the baby puts pressure on the ureter, forcing urine back into the kidney. From what the nurse told me over the phone, my doctor doesn't plan to intervene in any way. So, I still have no idea why I've woken up twice in the middle of the night recently in excruciating pain with all the symptoms of a gallbladder attack?! I'll see my doctor on Monday though & possibly have a better clue. It could be related to the fluid in my kidney, but I'm not sure at this point.

Any new changes this week? Just getting bigger! Reese has been getting the hiccups more often over the past couple of days. I can tell she doesn't love them since she gets really squirmy during that time. Poor gal!

Weight gain? 14.5 pounds.

What's For Dinner?

One of the most amazing sandwiches I've ever eaten was what was for dinner tonight!! I've been reading the Pioneer Woman's blog & browsing her recipes lately so when I realized she had a new show on the Food Network, I was super excited. This was one of the recipes she made on the show & it's her husband's favorite sandwich. I now think it's also my husband's favorite sandwich too!



This sandwich was so incredibly flavorful & easy to whip up on a work night. I guarantee if you try it, you'll love it. Unless you're a vegetarian, of course! Click here, make it, eat it & you will not regret it. You can thank me later!

Go Bears!

Cam got ready for the Bears game tonight by wearing his jersey to school!



Hopefully they win tonight!!!

Working on the Nest!

There's been a lot of nesting going on here this weekend! They say you're getting close to the baby arriving when you begin nesting, but I'm not so sure that could be accurate for me since it's rare that I sit & relax. But, I have been in gear to get as much organized & ready before my little girl arrives. Friday I was pitching out nastiness of mystery Tupperware containers that tend to make their way to the back of the fridge, only to be forgotten for several months when I decided to completely scour the entire fridge. I ended up having an impromptu scrub fest, emptying & scrubbing every drawer & shelf in the dang thing. Works out well though since I always clean the fridge before the holidays since we host Thanksgiving each year. Easier to do it with a baby growing quietly in my belly vs. crying & fussing on the outside!

I made my way through another bin of Cam's clothes that will work for Reese too... lots of Chicago Bears & White Sox gear. It'll be cute to see them wear the same clothes! I also washed a lot of the Velcro swaddlers we had from Cam. He didn't seem to enjoy being tightly swaddled but maybe she will? I've been reading The Happiest Baby on the Block which talks about the concept of the "4th trimester" & swaddling is a big part of calming your hysterical infant. But who knows, maybe Reese will be the perfect baby who just never fusses & cries?! Ha.



We even got the swing & bouncy seat washed & set up too. And we had to buy a new infant car seat since Cam's was a hand-me-down that we didn't want to use again. Luckily we had a 20% off coupon for Babies R Us that we took advantage of.



I'd still like to do some decorating of her room without going overboard since our house is for sale. Still thinking about what I could do... Maybe find some cute decals for the wall? I'm pretty sure we're going to put her name on the wall above her crib in wooden letters. We shall see! But I have to say, it does feel good to be getting things ready for our gal!



And I've also gotten our house spruced up for Fall! Granted, since moving to Florida, Fall is nothing spectacular since the trees don't change colors & a chilly breeze is 80 degrees, but I'll still take it! Better than the hellishly hot Summer!

34 Week Update

I can't believe I'm already 34 weeks pregnant! Reese is weighing in at around 4 3/4 pounds at the size of a cantaloupe & she's nearly 18 inches long! Crazy. The best thing I read this week on Baby Center was that babies born at 34-37 weeks with no other health issues usually do just fine. Not that I'm ready or she's ready, but it's good to know & puts me at ease!!



How am I feeling? This has actually been a good week! Less discomfort & more energy which is nice. I had my OB check-up Monday & the doctor ended up checking to see if I was dilated after I told him about my persistent Braxton Hicks contractions last week. Not dilated! I'm also scheduled for an abdominal ultrasound for my gallbladder tomorrow so we'll see what happens there. So far no more gallbladder attacks but I've been careful about what I'm eating.

Any new changes this week? Not really! Reese is still moving like crazy & her movements are only getting stronger! I was on my laptop this week when she actually kicked it so hard that it tipped backwards. She's pretty cute! I can definitely see a pattern in her sleep & wake times. She loves the morning, around 8am, is quiet mid-morning, up after lunch & super active at night around 9pm.

Weight gain? 13.5 pounds.

Gorgeous Weekend

I was absolutely thrilled with the weather this weekend since it was the first time we had a reprieve from the heat since winter. We decided to take advantage of the gorgeous day & hit Busch Gardens this morning since it's Grammy's last weekend before she heads back to Chicago.



After sweating for the past five months, I cannot tell you just how refreshing a cool breeze felt! Especially at eight & a half months pregnant...



We got to the park as it opened & just wandered around, admiring the different animals, taking the Sky Ride a couple of times & even hopping on the train.



Cam was so excited to see the hippos swimming around the water!



Until the hippo decided to have him for a late breakfast!! Only kidding, these are just fake hippos & Cameron was not harmed in any way...



We had such a fantastic time & enjoyed the heck out of the break from the heat!