36 down, 4 to go!
I feel like I say this every week, but I can’t believe time is going by so fast. I’m still loving being pregnant but definitely getting anxious about finally meeting our little girl.
It’s been another great week with plenty of memorable happenings! Thanksgiving was absolutely wonderful and it was so sweet of my dear mother-in-law to take care of the majority of the cooking! I did, however, make the worlds most delicious macaroni and cheese {recipe post coming soon}. We ate, we laughed, we relaxed, we ate some more, and we had a great time. The holiday also gave me something else I was extremely happy to accept… 4 consecutive mornings of sleeping in! Granted… my “sleeping in” usually doesn’t go past 8:30 {lame} but it felt like I was sleeping till noon and was much-needed!
Saturday we had a wonderful visit from my dear friend Jen and her boyfriend Will. It was so great seeing them and getting to catch up, even though most of our conversation had to be yelled over the ROAR of UGA/GT fans during lunch at Taco Mac! After they left {P.S. Jen… Z and I LOVE Will… great choice!} our friend Christian came over and did some maternity pictures. It was a beautiful night and I think we got some really great shots. Here is a little taste of his work… from a post wedding photoshoot he did for Z and I:
HAmazing, right?
He’s super busy with school at the moment so we haven’t gotten any proofs back yet but I’ll be sure to show them off once he gets them edited! My hope is to use one or more of them for this year’s Christmas card… but time is sneaking away from me so we’ll see if I can get my act together and get them made/sent!
Monday we had the first in our weekly midwife visits {now until Keelin is here} and I had the standard 36-week GBS test done. I provided a link so I won’t have to bore you with too many details but it’s basically a test to see if a certain bacteria {Strep… yes, like strep throat} in the woman’s body is active or not. It can be extremely dangerous for your baby, particularly during natural birth, so if your test comes back positive there’s a simple antibiotic you’re given and you’re good to go. We’ll find out the results next Monday.
We were able to see Diane, our midwife, and she filled us in a little more on the drama that has resulted in us needing to switch hospitals {more on that when I fill you in on last night’s Hospital tour!}. She gave us a handful of helpful hints and tips on some things to bring for the birth that we may not have thought of {we hadn’t at all} and told us we needed to go ahead and get our bag packed if we hadn’t already. It was then that I realized that, with all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I had totally forgotten about packing a hospital bag. Don’t worry it’s on the top of this week’s to do list! Diane also surprised me when she asked if I wanted to know if I was dilated.
{Inner monologue:} AHHHHH!!! That’s only a word they use when things are REALLY happening and the baby is coming…like soon… and you’re struggling not to strangle your husband for getting you “into this mess”, right?
After my little internal “moment” I replaced anxiety with excitement and said, “sure, why not?”. FIY… its not the most comfortable thing to go through. She checked, gave me a huge smile and informed me that I’m already 1 cm dilated. That’s nothing in the grand scheme of things {considering I’ll be at 10 effing cm when Keelin’s ready to come out and many women walk around at 2-3 cm for a month or more before they even go into labor} but it’s a great sign that my body really is in full prep. Holy crap!
That night Z and I went on a shopping/returning adventure to both Target and Babies R Us. We returned a handful of things that were repeat gifts or things we really didn’t want need and we pooled our total gift cards to make one of our final {and extremely important, considering the hospital won’t let us take Keelin HOME without it } purchases… this beauty!
The Chicco Keyfit 30 from Babies R Us. I absolutely love it and keep having little visions of sweet Keelin all bundled up on the way home from the hospital! Thanks to a fantastic Cyber Monday sale, we got it at a GREAT price online, can pick it up at the store {hello no shipping charge!} and still have plenty of gift card mula left over!
We also gave Z’s mom a heads up on the sale because she had been waiting to get us this…
YES… that is a JEEP LIBERTY stroller {so proud of the hubs for picking it out and not at all surprised that it’s an actual car model}! SO EXCITING! She’d been waiting until all of my showers were over with so she could get us one of the left over items that we most needed and this was definitely at the top of the list! The carseat/carrier fits inside the stroller and it’s a great size that will grow as she does. Plus, how adorable is that little steering wheel? AND, it’s got an iPod connection so you can actually play music through the stroller for the baby. Thank you genius Jeep people for being so creative and AWESOME!
I’m sure there is plenty I’m leaving out from the week {although how can that be possible with the amount I’ve just rambled} but I’ve got a lot in the works for the upcoming posts to make sure you’re totally filled in {or totally bored with my constant baby chatter}.
Anyway… here are this week’s pics and stats!
classic mirror pic
The hubs was sweet enough to take another picture for me!
*How far along? 36 weeks 2 days today!
*Total weight gain/loss: healthy healthy healthy!
*How big is baby? 19 to 22 inches, 6 lbs +
*Maternity clothes? You bet! Although I don’t normally like the cold I’ve been excited to finally bust out some of my WINTERY maternity clothes!
*Stretch Marks? Nope… still buttering up the belly morning and night!
*Best moment this week? SO MANY… ordering our car seat, going on the hospital tour, hearing her heartbeat again, taking maternity pictures, and learning that I’m 1cm dilated!!!
*Movement? All the time! She’s way past the kicking stage and mainly gives me full rolls and stretches. I still can’t get enough of all her movin’ and groovin’!
*Food Cravings? Nothing in particular this week, although I have had a lot of hot chocolate. 🙂
*What I miss: Birthing class… we didn’t have it this week because of Thanksgiving so I’m excited for it to pick back up again this weekend… we’re talking about Birth Plans which is something I’ve been excited about!
*What I am looking forward to: Picking up and installing the carseat, packing our hospital bag and continuing the full prep for Dday!!!
*Nausea/Vomiting? nope!
*Labor signs? Plenty of Braxton Hicks! They have a tendency to get right on top of one another once I’m relaxing at home in the evenings.
*Gender? Sweet girl!
*Belly Button in or out? Flat!
*Wedding rings on or off? Still on! 
*Sleep? Still waking up once, if not more, to use the bathroom but I actually slept a little better this last week. Perhaps it had something to do with 4 consecutive chances to sleep in!
*Weekly Wisdom: Having faith that God has and will continue to take care of Keelin, Z and I throughout this life-changing event has given me such peace. I find myself more and more mystified that I’m so calm and at peace with all the craziness that’s about to engulf my life. I highly recommend a big dose of trust in God!
Until next time…
I don’t know if this is something I really SHOULD be at all excited about… but I am. I’m so used to people telling me how small I look that when the guy at Little Caesar’s {YUM Hot N’ Ready pizza!!!} told me I looked like I was about “to pop”… I was SO incredibly happy and flattered. Yes, I’m a total nut job.
Pierce Family Circus 