32 Weeks and Feeling It.

Baby boy is the size of a winter squash/pumpkin this week. He's over 4lbs now. He's busy looking around, practicing breathing, and grabbing whatever he can. 

It's going super fast and also slow lately. When the specialist said that if something didn't happen before they probably wouldn't let me go past 39 that really got my attention. Part relief to have a real end date in sight, and part nervous that this is actually happening.

October's checklist is basically finish everything so that if Baby came it would all be done, and finishing all the loose ends before November comes and we have tons of Drs appointments. More than we go now, crazy right? I am so grateful to still be pregnant, I honestly thought we would have a baby by now. While I'm prepared at every drs appointment to be told it's go time, I'm really enjoying the bonding time I'm getting right now. I know he's big enough to recognize our voices  and it makes my Mama heart swell to feel his big strong kicks during family prayer. Especially when we're praying for him that his umbilical cord continues to get him what he needs to grow big and strong. 

I love talking to him about how great Scott is, and about all the members of our extended family. Telling him how many people love him and are praying for him to keep growing. He loves it too he always moves more when I'm talking to him. 

I went over to my friend April's this week and she has a 15month old miracle little boy, and while I was holding him he would tap on my belly and my baby would try and kick back. It was the cutest thing ever. I'm guessing they were friends before, and Mr. T is so excited for his friend to join him down here. I know they're going to be the best of friends. 

I guess the theme of this week has been MOVEMENT! Baby, not me haha. I was so worried about kick counts, but in contrast from last week, Baby is getting so STRONG and never sleeps. He's strong enough to kick me awake at night. His other favorite trick is kicking my ribs and seeing how high he can get his feet. Scott tried putting his hand at the top of my ribs to encourage Baby to scoot his legs down so I could breathe better and Baby kicked Scott 4x in a row. Such a sasspot. 

We went to a class at the hospital on breastfeeding and Scott was sweet enough to come with me. It wasn't overly intense but we got so much good information. I've tried to read a couple books on it, but that just wasn't the right format for me. I'm really glad we went, and I'm so glad Scott came with me. I have no doubt once I get the hang of it it won't be a big deal, but it's really nice to know that Scott cares about as much as me and is so supportive. Highly recommend. 

We washed and folded all the baby clothes and got them put away this week. We have been given so many cute clothes! I can't wait to see our baby in them! They're so tiny!! Baby Boy has so many people who are spoiling him, I hope he knows how loved he is. Grandma & Grandpa Daly sent him a box of clothes in all sizes (which made us realize we should probably buy things in other sizes than newborn. Oops.) and they even sent him treats from their Alaskan cruise! 

We also started making a plan for the blessing in church for early next year, and family has started to book tickets to come! We are so excited to see everyone. This is our first Christmas where we aren't going anywhere, and it will definitely feel like Christmas to me to have family and a full house next year! 

We're headed to Car Seat Safety on Saturday and then have a Newborn Class next week. Classes are really our jam. I think we're both pretty good at going with the flow and figuring things out day by day, but we both get a thrill out of being overly prepared when a situation pops up. 

His nursery is just about done too, I was talking to my Mom awhile ago and she told me she wanted to pick a special present for each grandkid and not be locked into one specific thing each time. Which I'm all for, because she saw tepees at Target within days of me seeing them and brought it up as that could be their special present for Baby. I can't even handle it. I made a teepee with my best friend a few years ago and we even sold a couple! One of my first dates with Scott we played cards in the teepee. It was such a symbol to me of "I bet I could do that." After we moved here to Texas I gave it away to a happy grandma with kids to love on it.  We kept baby's teepee a surprise from Scott  and I facetimed my parents in today to see him unbox it. Pregnancy hormones basically make me a chihuahua. I was so excited I was shaking and crying haha. Scott loves it too and we got it set up in the nursery. I can't wait to read our little adventurer stories in it. I really hope we instill in him he can conquer the world.

I think both of us are feeling that it's not just going to be the two of us anymore. We both seem to be looking for excuses to spend more time together. Tonight the plan was to go to the AT&T store and get Tdap vaccines. (Which is what we've chosen for our family. We've researched it and have have decided this is what we want.) What should have been a few quick errands turned into a much longer adventure ending with dinner in the car discussing politics, our first date, and just holding hands. I really love our marriage. 

I've definitely hit the point where I'm sore and tired all the time. I sleep a lot and FaceTime my people. I'm still trying to get out and go places, but I really can only handle being out for 30-45mins. And it's supposed to get worse. So there's that. 😳. I was thinking a lot about how my limit is 30-45mins before I need to lay down. Church is so important to me, and I know that once baby gets here Church won't be able to happen for awhile with him being born during RSV/Flu season. So I have continued to pray that I can make it through all three hours and have enough energy to get put together before church and without fail, I have been able to make it through all three hours. Not just endure, but actually learning and being able to focus on the speakers and lessons. Sure I pack snacks and water and Scott has to hold onto me to get me to class so I'm more steady, but I make it. It means so much to me. It really recharges me and helps me make it through another week. Another miracle of this pregnancy. 

This coming week is our last relatively slow week before things really get amped up, so we're going to savor it. 

31 Weeks !

I've been keeping updates mostly to my Instagram lately mostly because the past six weeks have been survival mode and I try to limit the emotional breakdowns on Facebook to like two a year. It's just a smaller circle on IG. But the short version of the last six weeks my brain hit it's breaking point on not being able to have medication for my ADD for a year. And that combined with being 7-8months pregnant is a real party. Truly this year has been the hardest thing I've ever done.

I lay low most days physically exhausted, mentally exhausted and nausea headaches have made their return. I did discover that Wendy's by our house now serves the best ginger ale ever. I'm flirting with white trash with how often I go get one.


There certainly have been quite a few days where I worry I'm going to be stuck in my head and physically spent forever. Those are the worst days. But as soon as I hit the lowest of lows we have a Dr's apt. And I get to hear our sweet boy's heartbeat and see his sweet face. We continue to defy the odds that have been stacked against us since day 1. And it's worth it. Being down is not one of my best skills and I hate it, but it's working. This is what it's going to take to get a healthy baby here safely.

I get anxiety every time we go to the specialist. It has always been a possibility that we go to that apt, and they say it's time to have a baby right now and wheel me right to the hospital. We no longer have placenta previa. We're currently keeping a very close eye on the umbilical cord. A normal umbilical cord attaches to the center of the placenta where it is strongest. For some reason ours attaches on the very edge of the placenta. So my body has built some extra something (I wish I remembered what he said.) to keep things attached. Although the possibility of that becoming detached is small if that were to happen it would mean immediate delivery. The other issue is major blood vessels could be compressed and we would have a very high bleeding risk and/or it would/could cause some complications for our Little Man.

Today we were so lucky to hear that Baby Boy has nearly doubled his weight in 4 weeks. He's getting plenty of blood flow and nutrients from the cord! Which means that for now I'm just looking out for the usual symptoms that you would need to call your Dr. For. We see our regular dr in 10 days and then the specialist in three weeks. Once we make it to that specialist apt we will see both drs every week. The specialist also said that if something doesn't happen before 39 weeks we'll be induced. Which I'm pretty excited about. 39 sounds like a magical number to make it to. So we'll probably have a Thanksgiving Baby instead. Baby is kicking like crazy and I throughly enjoyed the ultrasound today watching him hiccup and feeling it at the same time. These pictures of his sweet face are just incredible to me. I think he looks like Scott already, and I'm not mad about that one bit. We already have chubby cheeks! With plenty of time to chunk up some more. Keep growing sweetheart!

Things are definitely getting real with how many medical appointments we've been keeping up with. We also threw the hospital registration, tour, and several classes into the mix. Oh! And we sold my car. It was hard to say goodbye for a couple hours, but then we found my new car and I'm not sad at all. It has all the features I want and is so comfortable. I'm so glad we pulled the trigger on that. The nursery is pretty much done, and some of my dear friends are throwing me a baby shower in a couple of weeks!

With how many things we've got going on, and the things we're crossing off the list it really feels like we're in go mode. 8 weeks. We've made it this far, surely we can make it these last few right?