For now baby seems to be happy right where he is. I went to the midwife yesterday and she did an internal exam (ouch!) and said I wasn’t dilated at all and she guessed that I was 50% effaced but couldn’t really be sure. I wasn’t really surprised or disappointed, it is what it is. Baby will know when it’s time to come. I haven’t had any signs of labor yet. I have been able to feel and identify Braxton Hicks contractions which is something I didn’t really feel until a few weeks ago.

So, how does it feel to be 39 weeks pregnant? It’s kind of hard to describe. On the one hand this has become the new “normal.” I am so use to being this size and having a living, moving, 7lb being inside of me it’s hard to imagine anything else. On the other hand I get excited and anxious to meet this little guy and finally start the next chapter in our lives.  I also feel like I can’t commit to anything. It seems like every email I send I have to say, “Oh and by the way, I’m due to have a baby in one week so if you can’t contact me….” Or, “I might be at this event or that event but who knows.” I have every thing set up at work, “just in case” I should go into labor so a lot of people are waiting to hear from me or are surprised when they see me at work. My plan is to work until I go into labor. I thought about just setting a date and stopping work but I  was afraid that I would get bored sitting at home. Speaking about getting bored, I kind of am. I purposely arranged my schedule to be slower at this time be cause I knew physically I would not be able to work so many hours and late nights. Plus I’m not teaching fitness classes and I’m done with grad school so nothing to work on there. There are a ton of little “projects” I’d like to do around the house but physically it just wears me out too much. I am trying to enjoy this down time by doing a lot reading because I know once the little guys makes his arrival my downtime will be VERY limited. I’ve also been cooking more. Throughout my pregnancy I kind of lost my desire to search out new recipes and try them. People asked me if I was cooking ahead and freezing meals for when the baby came but that just did not sound like a fun idea to me plus Brian does a lot the cooking so I wasn’t worried. This week though I made two types of veggies burgers and froze them. I thought it would be good to have something quick and nutritious to have one hand for lunches once the baby is here.

Physically I feel pretty good. I am still doing yoga, swimming, and walking. Except for one night last weekend where I had a really hard time sleeping I feel  good. Of course I feel like the little guy is running out of room in there and sometimes my whole belly moves from side to side!

The only thing I’m worried about  is that I won’t be able to tell when I am actually in labor. Every woman who has ever had a child, including my midwife, has told me, “You’ll know!” So I guess I’m not really worried about that right now!

I guess that’s all for now. Stay tuned! Your guess is as good as mine as to when this little man will make his appearance. It’s sure is an exciting time!

As I mentioned yesterday I feel ready to have this baby. I have all the essentials ready in the nursery. Sure there are a few little things I would still like to hang up and my mom is going to help me make a book sling but other than that we are good to go! Now, I must confess I am NOT a decorator or really that much into detail. I mean, I like things to look nice but I am not really good at coordinating things or dealing with the finer details of decorating. I guess I just think the simpler the better and I’ll take function over form any day. I think that our nursery turned out pretty cute and reflects my laid back style in regards to home decorating. This room really is different from what it was. To see some photos from what this room looked like before as well as in progress check out these posts.

Into the Black Hole

Progress

Winding Up the Weekend

Nursery Progress

Here is the dresser/changing table area as well as the glider. The light green item in the foreground is a hamper. Not sure if that is where that will stay, it kind of looks out of place and gets in the way but I’m still not sure where to put it.

Here’s a closer look with the decorative lamp on.

Check out these cute shelves Brian put up with some keepsakes on them. My youngest niece gave our baby the dinosaur and I will probably take it down and give it to the baby when he’s old enough. But until then it holds a special place on the shelf.

Here is the crib/toy area. I really like the matching deer art that goes with our set (thanks mom Johnson!) The bassinet you see was actually used by me AND my mom. It is SUPER sturdy and well made. It probably won’t stay in the room and will be in our room or where ever we happen to be in the house.

Our crib with the matching mobile.

And our “practice” baby. This was a doll I had when I was little. We brought it  to our house so Izzy could get use to us carrying around something. It was also useful in trying out our car seat and practicing swaddling. I have to admit Brian is a much better swaddler than I am!

I also really like the matching window valance (sorry bad picture).

This last corner is kind of a catch all right now.

You’ll notice our hospital bag/stuff in the corner and the car seat. Obviously those won’t be staying there. The swing will also probably not stay there either. I’m sure it will go in our living room. Notice I did not show you the inside of the closet or the drawers. They are pretty full with stuff we will need but not until he gets a little older as well as blankets, sheets, and towels.

So that’s it!

Hope you and our little guy likes it!

I realized that last week I was so focused on my pain that I didn’t even mention the size of the baby.  This week my “little” guy is now about 6.8lbs and 19 1/2 inches long! When the midwife felt my baby she said he felt like he was about 7lbs. I asked her if she could tell if he was in “the right” position (meaning anterior vs. posterior) but she said she didn’t like to “scare” her patients incase baby was posterior. She said that as long as I was feeling relief from the pain he was probably settling into the correct position. She thought his back was on the front of my right side. She said if I wanted to continue spending 10 minutes twice a day on my hands an knees I could, especially if it felt good. It does, so I’ll keep doing it. Everything else blood pressure, heartbeat, belly measurement, looked good and she said I have seemed to have topped out (for now) 41 lbs. gained. Still over the 35lb limit but she didn’t seemed concerned so I won’t worry about it either.

I haven’t been able to stick with my workout plan due to the pain and basically just because I have been listening to my body. A lot it has to do with sleep. I have been sleeping surprisingly well for being this far along in my pregnancy. I definitely don’t sleep through the night but I get a decent amount of sleep. If I wanted to stick with my workout plan I would have to get up at 5:30am a couple times a week, right now, sleep is more of a priority to me and I can easily sleep until 7 or 7:30 and still get to work on time. Last week I went to yoga twice and swam once. This week I plan to go to yoga twice and swim once or twice plus trying to enjoy the weather with some walks. Lifting weights just doesn’t sound fun any more! I am totally ok with this. I am just trying to focus on listening to my body and saving up my energy for “the big day.”

Speaking of my little guy’s birthday in theory it could be any day now! Also, it could be 3-4 weeks from now if I go late. I feel ready as far as having the nursery ready, having things in place at work etc. Physically I feel ready too. But, at the same time I’m trying not to get into an anxious mind-set of ,”today could be the day!!” It’s kind of hard not to though, especially when I have plans (and back up plans) at work or with people and you just “never know” if you’ll be there.

One final note, check out the shirt I am wearing in my weekly photo.

I was sent this sweater to review from Seraphine. They specialize in maternity and nursing clothes. See those decorative snaps along my arm. The open up for easy access. Probably the best part of this sweater is that you can wear during and after pregnancy. It is made out of SUPER soft material and is really comfortable. I think that it emphasizes the parts of my body that are still “normal” sized but also had plenty of room for my ever growing belly. I will also review the sweater after the baby is born. My only complaint is that is hand wash only. I don’t know that that is very practical with a messy baby around. I guess we’ll have to see. For the most part I felt pretty fashionable today for being 38 weeks pregnant. It should be notes that as soon as we were done taking pictures I changed into my “comfy clothes.” 

You’ll also notice we’ve been taking our pictures in the nursery. I promise a full tour later this week (unless this little guys decides to make an appearance)!

Until next time!

I don’t often write about work on this blog, mainly I only mention it when I’ve been busy and not had time to write. To be honest I originally started writing this blog as kind of a get away from my church job choosing to focus on fitness and food, something different that what I do at the church. A the church I am the coordinator of Youth Ministry working with the teenagers in our church and  I also hold the title of Associate Campus Minister. Our church is a Newman Center meaning that we are the Catholic Church connected with the public University in our town so I also get to work with college students. I can hardly believe that this is my sixth year working at the Church. A lot of people often comment on how great it must me to have my job. Today I can confidently say that I LOVE my job but the last six years have not been without challenges and doubts. It took me awhile to get into a groove and discover how I can use my talents and skills to best do my job. Of course I know that there will always be challenges and kids who don’t like coming to church but I love working with teens and college students and helping them to grow in their faith.

One of the most cool things that I have gotten to experience while pregnant is sharing this journey with the young people I work with as well as other members of our parish. Some of the first people that I told I was pregnant were the kids that I took on the mission trip last summer. I debated telling them since it was so early but I just wanted them to know why I wasn’t doing certain things or if I should happen to not feel well why.  I’m glad I did  because they have essentially been with me since the beginning. Some of the kids I work with are super excited and always ask me tons of questions about the baby. They also have been an AWESOME group to work with this year causing virtually no challenges to me this year. My college kids are also excited and have been such a great help to me in working with the teens. That’s why this last shower was really special to me.

My co-worker Kathy did a lot of the planning as well as a few parents of the teens I work with. I literally had no idea who was invited or what would happen. I just knew the date and time. Earlier this month, at one of our youth gatherings the teens excitedly told me that they got my shower invite. They were so excited! I honestly had no expectations for this shower. I didn’t expect any gifts, I was thinking families would offer services like bringing us food or babysitting and that would have been just fine with me!

I was truly surprised with how many teens, college students, and families came to my shower to help me celebrate our baby.

Here are my “kids”!

Some of my college students ( a few arrived late as they were traveling back from home).

I could not believe all the beautiful and thoughtful gifts everyone brought. The invite didn’t tell them where I was registered so all the gifts were picked out by my kids or their parents. I got a TON of adorable clothes, soft fuzzy blankets, cute stuffed animals, and really fun toys!

Brian was also invited and helped was a great help with the gift opening!

But probably the best part and also the most touching part was when my priest offered a blessing over Brian, myself and the baby.

I feel so blessed that I have gotten to share my pregnancy with the people of my parish. I can’t wait for my little guy to grow up in this community, he is already so loved!

Just when I thought my belly couldn’t get any bigger!

Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly slow down any more and just when I thought I sailed through pregnancy without any “problems” last week happened.

I started having some pretty bad pain on the left side of my lower back into my butt and down my leg. Now I’ve had back and leg injuries before from running and over exercising but nothing like this. Probably the worst part was NOTHING I did helped! Not yoga, not swimming, not resting, nothing! It hurt to even walk. I consulted “Dr. Google” and was pretty sure it had something to do with my sciatica. When I went to the midwife yesterday I told her about it and she agreed that that was probably what it was. She also told me the reason I was having the sciatic pain was because of the baby’s position. Remember a few weeks ago when I said the baby was in the perfect position for delivery? Well, now, not so much. He is still head down but he is in the posterior position Which means his back is towards my back.

(Source)

A lot of babies are in the posterior position at the time of labor and then they turn to the more favorable anterior position. Having a baby in the posterior position can cause women to have longer and more painful labor. The midwife also said it was most definitely the cause of my pain. She told me that I needed to try and get him to flip and that I should spend 10 minutes twice a day on my hands and knees. I also Googled other ways to get the baby to flip and reread Gina’s posts on techniques she used to get her baby to flip. For some reason I can mentally handle the idea that if the baby doesn’t flip I might have a difficult labor and delivery but what I couldn’t handle mentally was the thought that I was going to be in pain for the next three (or more!) weeks and would have difficulty walking from that pain. So, I REALLY want this baby to flip. So here is what I am doing to try and get him to flip.

• Spending time on hands and knees twice a day for 10 minutes
• Sitting on my exercise ball even at work
• Just hanging out draped over the ball so that my stomach hangs down (gravity is suppose to get him to flip)
• Only sleeping on my left side (I usually flip to my right a couple times a night)
• NOT reclining which is something I’ve been doing all along since we have a couch that reclines
• Talking to the baby asking him to turn in the right position
• Visualizing him in the anterior position

I have only been doing this for one day but this morning when I woke up my pain was a lot less. I don’t know if I flipped him but he definitely moved so my pain isn’t quite as bad. I have a massage scheduled for later this week and I might try swimming. I swam last Tuesday but my back/leg/butt pain was really bad afterwards. If I don’t get him to flip I might even try seeing a chiropractor something which I have NEVER done.

Other than the pain in my leg I have been feeling pretty good. I got most things situated in the nursery (pictures to come) things are ready a work if I should deliver “any day.” It has just been frustrating to be in so much pain. I have energy and desire to do things but it has just been too painful. For example, it normally takes me about an hour and 45 minutes to clean our whole house but this weekend I had to break it up into two days of cleaning. So frustrating for someone who likes to go go go but I am learning that this little guy will be the one in charge even in utero!

I also had a beautiful shower at the church I work at and plan on doing a full post on that soon!

Tonight Brian and I went out to eat and as we were walking into the restaurant he said, “You know, this could be the last time we go out to eat without a kid.” Whoa! I guess I didn’t think about it that way! Wow we are SO close it is getting more and more real by the day!

Today, at 36 weeks I feel GINORMOUS!

Without the sweater!

I wore this same outfit about 7 weeks ago. My how things have changed!

Me at 29 weeks pregnant.

I am very grateful that I bought some extra large shirts. They felt big and billowy at first but now fit just right! Plus some of my size large shirts are definitely getting too small!

This week the baby weighs almost 6 pounds and is 18.5 inches long.

I am feeling more and more uncomfortable these days. Not only does it feel like there just isn’t possibly any more room left inside me for my baby to grow I feel uncomfortable just doing every day things. I finally got over my cold but now seem to have another nagging problem, a terrible pain in my left glute/lower back. It feels like an injury I would normally suffer due to over exercise but I’m pretty sure I just turned the wrong way in bed or got up funny and pulled something. When my “normal” back problem flairs up I am usually in pain from sitting too much. This pain however hurts when I move around. This has made it very hard to get ANYTHING done around my house! I didn’t even do my “normal” cleaning chores this week. I went to yoga yesterday and that didn’t seem to hurt it. However, I tried swimming this morning which usually helps my back, I felt fine while swimming but after wards not so much! Right now, after sitting all day at work, I actually feel ok. I guess it’s time to REALLY start slowing down!

In addition to my belly growing I also feel like my face has gotten A LOT fuller and rounder. I didn’t notice it until I looked at pictures from my shower last weekend. Another thing that has changed is my appetite.  I really don’t feel like eating anything, not even “bad for me” things like cereal or ice cream. I mainly eat because know I should. I don’t even really feel hungry half the time.

Lately I’ve been thinking about how AWESOME it will be to finally meet this little guy. I just can’t wait to see what he looks like and hold him and kiss him!

Despite how uncomfortable I am right now and how much I am anticipating holding my son for the first time I am still trying to enjoy these last few weeks of pregnancy and stay in the present moment. Every day I  feel very thankful that I got to experience being pregnant, especially when a year ago I didn’t even know  if it would happen. Sometimes I am almost moved to tears because I feel so blessed to be able to have this experience. I certainly will not take it for granted!

From the first year I dated Brian (over 10 years ago!) Brian’s family welcomed me with open arms and treated me just like family! I immediately inherited these to lovely ladies Caren (on my left) Brian’s brother’s wife and Julie (Brian’s sister) as my own sisters. They have provided me with a wealth of knowledge as I prepare for my first baby. Plus they threw me this beautiful shower at the Country Club where we invited women from Brian’s side of the family, friends of my mother-in-law and the mom’s of Brian’s very good friends who might as well be family!

My adorable nieces!

The Ehle girls!

The Callan clan!

The moms! From left to right: Christy, Brian’s friend Bob’s mom, Ceil, Joe’s mom, Beth, Brian’s mom, and Pam, Trent’s mom!

A collection of Beth’s friends and neighbors.

My ADORABLE cake made by my sister-in-law Caren.

And my mom who took all these pictures! Thanks mom!

Today I went through all the beautiful gifts I received and I can’t even express how blessed I feel that so many people came to my shower and want to help bring this little guy into the world a little easier for me and Brian by giving us such generous gifts. Really there are only a few things I feel that I NEED in order to take care of this baby. Most of the toys/clothes/books/baby care items etc. have all been give to me as gifts.  I really just can’t get over how wonderful and generous everyone has been! I definitely have a better appreciation for new mom’s and will remember this generosity when other women I know have their first baby. I just feel so loved!!

This week the baby is a little over 18inches long and 5.25lbs! I wore this exact same outfit when I was 17 weeks pregnant and commented on how much room there was grow.

17 Weeks Pregnant

I’m glad there was room to grow!

35 Weeks Pregnant

It’s really hard for me to believe that he is going to get bigger but according to my sources from here on out my baby is pretty much completely developed and will now continue to gain weight at approximately 1/2 a pound a week. He still likes to hang out on my right side and I kind of feel like I have  a pole stuck inside of me. It is increasingly difficult to bend over to pick stuff up!

Despite our awesome weekend away, this last week was probably the worst week of my pregnancy and that was simply because I had a terrible cold and there was really nothing I could take to combat the symptoms. I was just so uncomfortable! I never realized how much I medicate myself when I am sick! For being this far along in my pregnancy I was actually sleeping pretty well up until this point usually only getting up once  a night to use the bathroom. But with this cold I really struggled to get a good night’s sleep simply because I could not breathe! I had a midwife appointment yesterday and she said I could take Tylenol PM to help me sleep. I also found that Breathe Right strips helped. Today was the first time in a week I actually felt better, not 100% but definitely better.

As I mentioned I had another midwife appointment yesterday where I met a new to me midwife who I really liked. Everything looked good. I will see another midwife in two weeks and after that every week until my baby is born. I actually scheduled the rest of my appointments through the end of my pregnancy. Like I said, hard to believe we are this far along!

In other news I am super excited for the baby shower my sister-in-law’s are throwing for me this weekend. It should be a good time! A few gifts have been coming in from some of the guests who can’t make it.

My aunt and cousin came to town after Christmas and brought some gifts as well as some hand me downs from my cousin’s little guys.

Shannon gave me some gift last weekend.

One of Brian’s cousins also sent some adorable clothes!

I feel so blessed that there are so many people who already care about our little guy!

That’s all for this week! I’ll be back with a recap of the shower!

One of my requests was going out for some REALLY GOOD Italian food! Well Gardner came through by taking us to a family owned place called Yarusso’s

How can you not have  good time with these two?

It was also good to spend some quality time with Brian.

I had the Florentine Ravioli which was stuffed with spinach and cheese. It had the most amazing red sauce I have ever tasted! I cannot put my finger on what made it so good but it was truly unique  I will dreaming about that sauce for a long time!

After dinner we headed back to the Gardner’s house where a traditional girls against boys game of Euchre ensued.

The next morning Shannon prepared an AMAZING egg strata which I can not believe I didn’t take picture of! After breakfast we headed over to the Summit Brewery for a little tour and some beer sampling.

Brian perusing the variety of beer on tap!

Baby’s first brewery tour.

My sample of beer, H2O

After the tour and sampling we headed over to a St. Paul Fire Station to visit Brian’s friend Todd who is and EMT and Firefighter. Here’s Todd in his “office” the ambulance.

Brian also got to hop in the fire truck!

We headed across the street to an Irish Bar for some appetizers (forgot to take pictures) we wanted to eat light because we were saving room for a planned BIG feast for dinner.

We headed back to the Gardner’s. I was still feeling pretty under the weather with my cold so I took a nap and also spent some time on the couch reading. While I was resting the rest of the crew was working hard to prepare our dinner feast!

The Brian’s put together bacon wrapped duck and venison for the grill

Shannon made a pecan pie just for my Brian!

She also made some amazing carrots and red cabbage

Gardner also made some FABULOOUS English muffin bread.

My plate!

So good!

This morning we headed over to our favorite breakfast spots The Capital View Café. I planned on having their cinnamon swirl French toast but when the waitress told us the special was caramel apple French toast I had to go with that!

So good!

After breakfast we packed up and headed home! It was such a fun and relaxing weekend with some very good friends! Exactly what I was hoping for on our pseudo “babymoon.”  We know that life will be different with a baby in our lives but we hope we can continue to have new adventures with the Gardner’s with baby in tow. Thanks Brian and Shannon for a great weekend!

To read more about some of our previous adventure with the Gardner’s checkout!

Live Action Blogging

More Adventures!

Our Adventure Continues!

The City Mouse and the Country Mouse

And It Ended With A Blast!

Three Musts!

Speaking of running a half marathons, exactly one year a go on this date, I was all packed and ready to go to Florida to run the Walt Disney Half Marathon. That was such a great race and a great trip with some of my very best friends. Little did we know that for two us this would be our last big vacation without babies!

My friend Becky (2nd in the back) had a little girl at the end of August. She was actually VERY NEWLY pregnant while on this trip and didn’t even know it yet. And here we are going to have a baby next month.

I have a somewhat similar photo to the one I shared with you last year for today!

Brian and I are headed out of town  for one last hurrah before the baby comes! We are headed up to the Twin Cities to visit the Gardners who we always have a good time with! I don’t plan on bringing my laptop and just unplugging for the weekend and enjoying are mini vacation. I’ll be back with full fun recap!

By the way, when we come back I plan on repacking that suitcase and using it as my hospital bag! Hard to believe we are getting that close!