For My Son...

Here is a great quote I ran across on Pinterest (if you haven't become a member of this site, I highly recommend...CAUTION- it is highly addictive, but oh so much fun!!)

My Son
I wish you the strength to face challenges with confidence...
along with the wisdom to choose your battles carefully...
I wish you adventure on your journey and may you always stop to help someone along the way...
Listen to your heart and take risks carefully...
Remember how much you are loved...
I am so proud of you!!

It feels like a bowling ball...

Wow--lots to update since my last post a few weeks ago.  Crazy how fast time can fly by (and yes, I know it'll go even that much faster once Baby is here :))  Anyway, I am 33 weeks today, only 7 more weeks until D-day (as in Due date) and while some have asked if I am ready, my response is usually, give me a few more weeks! We are so excited to meet him, to love all over him, but I would love a few more weeks to get things together...I'm thinking anytime after Thanksgiving would be great (like I have ANY say in this matter--haha!)  Anyway, here's what's been going on lately:

• Monday, the 17th, I had an appointment with Dr. Wittek (as I was fighing off a nasty cold that I couldn't shake.  Hopefully that's the only one of the season, it's so much harder to fight off a cold while pregnant!)  and we got to do another sonogram!!  Mostly it was to reassure us that there were no longer spots on his brain, and there was not!!  So, that was a huge relief and it was so fun to see him again.  They did tell us that he has' quite a bit of hair' :)  It's so fun picturing him coming out with hair, and trying to think of how else he may look!  But, he is still measuring within a day of his due date, Dec. 13th, and as I asked how the  head was measuring, they said at 40%.  So, good to hear!  We also loved that during the sonogram, he turned us face directly to us and was staring us right in the face!!  Looks like he may have some chubby cheeks, that I just can't wait to kiss and squeeze!

• Another thing pregnancy has brought on in me is baking!! I'm not sure if I have mentioned it, but I seriously love baking and I can't get enough!  I'm sure it's because I'm enjoying eating it all too, but it's so therapeutic and I love baking in any free time I have.  I also am not very humble about my treats, and like to mention how delicious it all is, which Patrick finds pretty funny. 

• It's also getting harder to get in/out of bed.... it's usually accompanied by some grunting, rolling around, and takes a bit to get comfortable....thank goodness for body pillows though--highly recommended for anyone that's pregnant!

• Never understood why pregnant women waddled... I always thought they were just kind of exaggerating or making it seem worse than it really is.... ok, now I completely understand and am pretty sure have joined the waddle-world. :)

• Other noticable side effects as I continue to grow, and get closer to delivery:
•  my gums bleed big time when I brush them or floss, it's crazy to see all the blood come out when I spit
• I can no longer kneel in church on the kneelers, b/c my belly bumps into pew, so I have to lean back on my knees,
• my feet have been spreading out and feels better when I wear shoes a 1/2 size bigger, but I feel like I am stretching out some of my shoes (in fact, I held myself back from wearing a pair of Amy's that I was borrowing, b/c I didn't want to stretch them out for her and ruin them!)
• Really sharp pains in my sides, along my rib cage.  Dr. Wittek says that's from my uterus ligaments continuing to stretch out.  It literally takes my breath away sometimes, and I have to hold my side, but luckily it comes and goes...I definitely prefer when it goes!
• Lastly, Dr. Wittek had mentioned the last few appointments that pretty soon it may start to feel like I have a bowling ball sitting on top of my va jay-jay.  I didn't really understand what she meant, until about 2 days ago!  Oh my goodness, that's exactly what it feels like!!  I guess since his is head-down, he is working down there further and getting into place, but it seriously is hard and it hurts to cross my legs, to lift up my leg to put on my pants, etc.  Anyway, I guess this was surprising to me, as I hadn't heard of many other people that felt like this (I guess I was thinking I would maybe feel like that 1-2 weeks before, but not 7!)

• Newborn Care Class- we went to this last Thursday and it was really helpful and we learned lots of good Baby Basics, and really good tips from the instructor.  Basically they talked about, products/items you'll need before baby (and those you can live without), installing the car seat, giving baby a bath (always holding them by the theigh if you worried about them being slippery, or ever dropping them), changing diapers, especially with umbillical cord and circumcism, when changing clothes, go over the crown of baby's head, vs. the biggest part, and I thought was really interesting, was that right after delivery the skin to skin contact is so important to regulate baby's temperature.  And Mom can heat/cool baby by making their own temperature go up or down by 4 degrees!  Isn't that crazy??  So cool--even outside of the womb what your body does to adapt to baby's needs!

In other news, this past weekend we celebrated the wedding of a good friend from Beatrice, Justin Villafane and his wife Kelly, and had their reception in Lincoln.  We also celebrated Emma's baptism in Kansas City with all the family, and I am so very honored to be Emma's godmother.   And sadly, this past weekend, we also lost my Uncle Randy to cancer that he had been fighting for the past 500 days.  He truly was one of the kindest, most humble guys that I have known and Patrick and I have said that if our little guy could be the kind of man Randy was, that we would be so lucky.  Please keep my Aunt Denni and my cousin's in your prayers.

I have included a few pictures from the past weekend (32 weeks)

Updates from Week 31

Well, this past weekend we completed our first childbirth class.  It was very interesting and we learned quite a bit!  It was very helpful to know more of what to expect, to learn what your body is going through, and even better we got to tour the hospital and get a feel of the room (s) we will be in!  So, very exciting and well worth the long day of class.  It was fun being a room with all other expectant moms and hearing their stories... (and the bathroom line was always pretty long during breaks!) That evening we had a nice date night--with dinner and a movie, enjoying all these quiet nights :) 

More updates -- I am still so lucky to be feeling so great.  I have noticed over the past couple weeks that I am swelling a bit more.  Actually, just a few weeks ago, my ring started feeling pretty tight on my finger (especially when I'm on my feet more often)  So, I bought a Target $20 ring that I have been wearing instead and will have to do until swelling goes down!  My feet also are getting pretty thick *yes, even 'thicker' than they usually are!  Ha!  So, long days of being on my feet is getting more difficult, and as I am going through our long Cerner Health Conference, I am doing my best to stay off my feet, but the feet swelling and backaches are hard to avoid.  Otherwise, I'm getting a few sharp pains up in my rib area---which I guess just means things are squishy up in there, and he is getting so much bigger and taking up more room! 

Only 9 more weeks left!!  (actually we learned at our class, that the average first-time mom, actually goes 41 weeks and 1 day....that would put us at Dec. 21st - the Wed. before Christmas---we'll see if they let me go that long if he doesn't decide to come out before!!)

This says it all..

Gramma J found this in a magazine and sent to me.... it's such a perfect way to express exactly what I'm feeling...all the thoughts and emotions as we anticipate our sweet baby's arrivial.  Mama can't wait to see you, to hold you, to snuggle with you, and to watch you grow from my baby to my big boy. 

I'm scared.  I'm excited.
I feel like I'm going to throw
up.  This is what I've dreamed about since
I was a little girl playing with dolls, but I'm not a little
girl anymore.  And this won't be a doll.  I'm going to be a mom. 
A real mom.  I am growing a baby inside me.  If this didn't happen every
day, I'd think it's a science fiction movie.  My friends have had babies, but you
just don't know how bizarrely cool it is until it happens to you. Will he look like me?
Will he look like his dad?  Both?  How can something so close be so far away?  I know him,
but I don't know anything about him.  I can hear his heartbeat.  His kicks practicially lift me off
the ground.  But is everything all right? I mean, is he developing all right?  Is everything okay?
I can't wait to see him.  I hope he looks like me. Or his dad. If he's healthy, I'm good either way.

30 weeks!!