50 Days Left!!!

I can't believe Elijah will be here in around 50 days! That's around 7 weeks. 7!! J was figuring out our bills for the next month and a half, and we both only have 3 paychecks left until he's here!!! Craziness. We still need a lot of things before he gets here, which adds to my already-stressful-nature. BUT luckily I've been scouring craigslist, and we found a super cute Pack-n-Play (portable crib) that we're picking up tonight :) So at least baby will have somewhere to sleep! I am pretty sure little man won't be here until right up to, or after, he's supposed to, but you never know with these things! He comes when HE'S ready, not when mom and dad have bought all the necessary things for him. haha :) Lots of other ladies who were due in July have already had their babies, so it definitely happens! Woo-saaaaaaaaaa.

Still super duper uncomfortable, but I'm managing. Work gets harder every day, and some days I feel like I'm not going to make it much longer. But I'm a strong lady, and come from a VERY strong lady, so for now I'm just sucking it up and dealing with it. Thank goodness my boss is the best EVER, and totally understands when I need to take things easy. And he wants me working up until I go into labor, too, because he needs me. :) Lately he's been saying he's going to be emailing me my office stuff, so I can still get that done and he won't have to do it. I totally don't mind, as long as they pay me! :)

I am not sure what position E is in...I kind of think he's diagonal, based on his movements, but that's not super normal. He has found my hips. Mostly my left one, because his butt (or whatever it is) is always poking out of the top right of my belly, right under my ribs. It makes me giggle to watch him poke it in and out. And he does these "tremors" or "crazy dance moves" (as I like to call them) often, and it's so strange! I wish I could see what he's up to...I realllllly hope we get another look at him before he comes out, but my doctor is pretty laid back and not concerned with anything going wrong in here, so I'm not sure if it'll happen..

Since I missed last week, here are two pictures for you!

32 Weeks

33 Weeks

Even though I'm not feeling 100%, at least I look good! :P I get tons of compliments on how good I look, and that I'm all belly. :) I live for these moments!

How big is baby?: As big as a Ukelele or a Durian fruit! (whatever that is) or 17-19 inches and 4-6 lbs. He's getting SO big!!! I'm feeling it.

Stretch marks?: they are ridiculous.

Maternity clothes?: Oh yes. I need some new ones because I'm bored with the old ones, but it seems silly to waste the money at this point..

Sleep: Sleep SUCKS. My back hurts all.the.time now, so it makes it really hard to fall asleep. I always wake up once or twice in the middle of the night, and have a hard time falling back asleep. It's ridiculous. I felt E hiccup in the last week, which was cute. But it was 3:30AM! And it's impossible to fall asleep when there's a fetus hiccuping inside of you.

Best moment this week: Hmm...the other night J and I were watching TV, and J put his hand on my belly and just kept it there. When E first started kicking on the outside, J wouldn't touch my belly much and he seemed a little freaked out by it. So I LOVED that he voluntarily put his hand there, and E was very active for him. :) I absolutely love my husband, and often sit back and just think about how great my life is, because of him. :) I'm a little nervous about how much this little man is going to change our dynamic, but since we're both super clingy to each other, I have a feeling it'll make me fall in love with him even more. :)) OH! And my sister came down for a day last weekend, and finally felt baby move! I love seeing someone else get so excited over my little creation :P

Movement: Frequent and STRONG still. Monday I didn't feel a whole lot of movement, but Elijah made up for it on Tuesday! I feel his kicks most when I'm sitting still, so when I feel a kick or jab while I'm standing or walking, it really takes me by surprise!

Food cravings: ICE CREAM. and Cake. I would REALLY love some. Right now.

Gender: still my little man!

Labor Signs: Just the "practice contractions"...they don't hurt so much as they're just uncomfortable.

Belly Button in or out?: still in, but barely! i hope it pops soon..

What I miss: There are too many to mention. Mostly having energy to do things. And my back not hurting. And being able to drink and eat anything I want to. And carrying things.

What I am looking forward to: My birthday is on Tuesday!!! I think this is the least excited I've ever been for a birthday. I guess once you're past 25, there are too many other things to worry about! All I want is some cake and ice cream. or ice cream cake. :P Also have a doctor appt on Tuesday. And work. BUT I do have next Friday and Saturday off! Can't remember the last time I got a Saturday off....VERY excited! :) J's little brother graduates next week, so we'll actually be able to make it to his graduation party on Saturday :) SUPER SCARY how fast time is flying!! <3 

31 Weeks ♥

I am 31 Weeks today! It feels like such a milestone. Only 9 weeks left! That's single digits!! Had a great doctor's visit this week. I'm measuring 32-33 weeks, and I've only gained 8 pounds the entire pregnancy!!!!!!! I feel like I've gained 100 pounds. J swears the baby is already 8 pounds, because he can't imagine what else would weigh anything...haha. I would DIE if baby was already 8 pounds. Noooooo thank you. Although it's not like I have a choice. :P

We finished up our baby classes this week! We had one on nursing on Monday night, and our second one on Newborn Care Thursday night. We got very informed, and I feel a little more ready for Elijah to get here. Now we just need the physical stuff for him!

Speaking of--my shower was last Saturday! It was great seeing my sister, mom, a good friend, and J's family and friends :) We got lots of goodies (we're all set on newborn onesies!) and it was fun spending the afternoon/evening with such wonderful people :) Later this week, my brother and his girlfriend brought over a bunch of presents for us...we got 3 huge boxes of newborn diapers!! SO excited about those, because that was the one thing we had nothing of and I knew we'd need a bunch before E's arrival!

Here's a picture from the shower. Me and J next to the cake my mom made :)

And the belly picture for the week!

I have been sooooo uncomfortable all week. My belly is constantly hard when I stand up. It's uncomfortable to move, and uncomfortable just to stand there. Not having the best pregnancy week, and I'm sure it's going to get worse...joy. With the tightness, though, comes LOTS of movement! Elijah has been kicking up a STORM, and in every direction possible. It makes me smile. :) Even though it hurts sometimes...

How big is baby?: The size of a pineapple! Yum! or 16-17 inches and 3-4 lbs. He's getting SO big!!! i'm not sure how he's fitting all up in there..
Stretch marks?: nothing new.
Maternity clothes?: Oh yes. I wear the same outfits on a weekly basis. I tried to pair a wide belt with a tshirt today, and it looked super cute, but I thought I was going to suffocate!
Sleep: Sleep has been strange this week...one day I'll wake up when J does (around 4:30!) and not be able to go back to sleep, and the next day I'll sleep til 10 or 11. Not a fan of the early days. Today was one of them. But luckily, since J has to wake up at that time every day, he was ready to go to bed right after dinner! He's currently sleeping, and I'm sure I'll be joining him soon :)
Best moment this week: Not sure if there's a "best"...I've worked mostly days this week, and this has been the week where J works 5 days (next week he only works 2!), so we've been able to spend most of our nights together :) AND Sonic has 1/2 price milkshakes after 8pm! So that always makes me happy :P
Movement: Frequent and STRONG. I'm glad he's getting muscles in there, just wish it didn't make me double over some times!
Food cravings: Back on my milkshakes kick :)
Gender: still my little man!
Labor Signs: Not yet! Hoping to keep him in at least another 6 weeks..
Belly Button in or out?: still in, but barely! i hope it pops soon..
What I miss: Not having such a hard time moving!! The EASIEST things have become hard for me :(
What I am looking forward to: No doctor appt until my bday because my doctor is out of town the next time I'm due for one. Maybe she'll give me an ultrasound as a bday present??? :D 26 sounds so olllllllllllld.

Can you believe it's practically June??? Just over 2 months til Elijah's due date, and come June I can say "I'm having a baby next month" HOLY. COW.

30 Weeks Tomorrow!! :)

Can't believe I'm about to hit the big 3-0! Baby could literally come at any time...but I'm sure he'll stay in there for another 6-10 weeks (or more!). I wish there was a way of knowing when he is going to decide to "pop" out, but I guess that just adds to the excitement! My biggest worry is that he'll come when it isn't "convenient" for J's new job, and he won't be able to be there with me. Since we moved, the hospital is about 30 minutes away (without traffic, and we all know how I-64 can be!), and I don't even know how I'll get there if I were to need to go when I'm at home alone. I do have lots of people I know I could call, I'm just SO much of a PLANNER that I NEED to know when things are going to happen, and how I'm going to make them happen. haha :) I know it'll all work out!

Life has been good lately. J started his new job; the hours are pretty great (except the whole part where he has to wake up at 430am! But he's off by 6 every day, and every other week only works 2 days!). He loves it so far. He gets to carry around hand cuffs! After he finishes the Academy (we're thinking it'll start some time in July), he gets to carry around lots more cool things :P I'm so excited for him! My job has been good. Finally in a rotation with the other manager, so one week I work mostly days, and the next week mostly nights. I like having a little stability! I am mega nervous about taking leave. Like when to take it, how long to stay out, and how work will survive without me! I am SO connected to my job and have invested a lot into it, so I hate the thought of not being able to do my job for 4ish weeks...as my boss said, I'm a control freak. Guess I've been called worse. :P I am REALLY hoping to work up until my water breaks. But we'll see what happens!

Baby has gotten BIG in the last week. This week I've started to feel him rolling around. It's the coolest thing ever! All day today I've been laying around watching and feeling my belly...there is always something poking out! Definitely makes things more real :)

Speaking of real...For real, we have like hardly anything for this child coming! We did put up the crib last week!

And we have a few outfits, but that is it! I think the next thing we'll be purchasing when we have extra money (IF that ever happens. haha) is the car seat. Just in case something were to happen, I want to be able to at least take him home from the hospital!! J's mom is throwing us a shower this weekend, so I'm super excited and hope we get some things we really need! :)

How big is baby?: The size of a cucumber (really?? hmm), or 15.2-16.7 inches and 2.5-3.8 lbs. He's getting SO big!!!
Stretch marks?: nothing new.
Maternity clothes?: Oh yes. I am getting tired of always wearing the same clothes, but can't seem to convince the husband that I need more clothes just for the next 10 or so weeks...
Sleep: Not too bad. I honestly think Elijah sleeps when I do, though I've heard that's not the norm. But he doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night with his wiggling, he is moving allll day long, and when I first wake up it takes him a little to get moving. How glorious would it be for him to sleep through the night right off the bat??? As dark as our room is, it could be possible... :P But I can't get my hopes up!
Best moment this week: any moment spent with the husband! This is his "short week" where he only works Wed-Thurs, but I still feel like I haven't seen much of him. BUT we go to our first (of two) newborn care class tonight, which will be fun :) And then Saturday after I get off work, he's coming with me to our baby shower, and I get to spend the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday with him!
Movement: LOTS!! I'm so in love with his wiggles :)
Food cravings: Nothing weird yet. I've been super hungry all day today, which sucks when you're home alone and don't have a wonderful husband to make things and get things for you! haha :P
Gender: still my little man!
Labor Signs: Not yet! But he *has* started to drop!
Belly Button in or out?: getting closer to popping out. a little nervous about that, since it's off-centered and it'll be way more noticeable, but it'll still be cute! :)
What I miss: Still being able to do things...I was trying to carry a light box at work the other day, and this belly was all up IN my way! And I'm starting to miss sushi. We found a new sushi place by our house, and there's a roll that J swears is like a "slice of heaven" (he's a weirdo), and every time he talks about it, it makes me want to taste it even MORE!! But it has raw fish on top of it, so I can't :( #pregnantladyproblems
What I am looking forward to: my shower saturday! especially because my favorite sister EVER is coming up for it :D and the Chesapeake Jubilee is this weekend! Hopefully we'll have enough extra money so we can stop by for a funnel cake and/or cotton candy! And super excited about our "newborn care class" tonight and next thursday :) and we're going to a class on nursing on Monday! AND I have another doctor's appointment next Wednesday! I have those every other week now. I feel like a pain/inconvenience to my boss, but what can ya do?

New Collage!

Here is the latest collage :) I'd say baby E is starting to DROP!

From 10 to 30 weeks in the same shirt. I can't believe I thought I had a belly back then! HAHA.

28 Weeks! ♥

Only 12 weeks left now! :) It's all happening so fast, but I feel like I still have forever to go. In 84 days (hopefully) our little man will be here! Sometimes I feel like I'm going to have him a little early, because my belly's so big, but other times I feel like he's going to be LATE because I'm a strong person and he's gonna be stubborn like his mommy and daddy both are. We shall see! It's kind of exciting not knowing...(I say that NOW haha)

Life has been good! We're all moved in (though there's still a lot of unpacking to do!), and (most of) the house looks great! There are still a few improvements we're doing to the house, but the landlord said we can do pretty much anything we want to update the house, and we can just take it out of our rent. It's nice having someone so flexible and easygoing to rent from! I'll put up pictures later (once everything's set up and cleaned!), but our bedroom and living room have a beautiful view of the water! All of our new bedroom furniture is set up, our black out curtains are A-MAZ-ING, and the living room is all set up. We have some worker guys over today fixing the guest bathroom and baby's ceiling (water damage). Hopefully once the ceiling is done in Elijah's room I can start setting stuff up! I can't WAIT to get the crib put together so I can just stare at it. :) The landlord did tear up all of the floor and put down laminate hardwood floors in the entire house. It looks great, but I feel like I have to sweep everyday, and every room needs an area rug. But it's fun being able to do all this home improvement stuff!

Baby is doing fabulous. J finally felt Elijah kick the other night! I've been watching my belly jump all week, and it's the coolest thing ever! I still forget I'm pregnant a lot of times, but my inability to move around easily quickly reminds me. :) We had a doctor appt 2 weeks ago where they made me drink the Glucola and then drew blood to test for gestational diabetes. Luckily I passed! I couldn't imagine having diabetes during pregnancy...I am a sugar-aholic!!! J got to go to that appt, and then we scheduled the rest of our appts so that he'll be able to come, too. :) He hasn't been able to come to most of them because of work (and they're only 10 mins or so), but I'm excited that he'll be able to come from now on! These are the most important appointments...I have my next one next Wednesday, and then every other wednesday after that! AHHHHHHHH.

Since I've missed a buncha weeks, here are a few pictures!

25 Weeks

 26 Weeks

(my shirt was REALLY tight on my belly; I think that's why it looks smaller!)

 28 Weeks

And our new backyard!!

How big is baby?: The size of a Chinese cabbage (no idea what that is...), or 14.8 inches and 2.25 lbs. He's getting so big!!!
Stretch marks?: you shut your mouth
Maternity clothes?: Oh yes.
Sleep: Still pretty decent. These black out curtains are amaaaaazing for sleep. :)
Best moment this week: J getting to feel baby kick :) Although now he keeps trying to "kick" the baby with his hand, in order to get the baby to kick back. Only worked once, out of the 20 or so times he tried, and he moved his hand before he could feel Elijah kick back. My husband is so silly!
Movement: all day, every day :) I'm not feeling the kicks get stronger, but they're staying consistently frequent, so I think he's okay!
Food cravings: Everything. I have started getting heartburn, but Tums makes it go right away, thank goodness.
Gender: still my little man!
Labor Signs: Not yet! Like I said, I'm sure he's gonna be stubborn like his parents.
Belly Button in or out?: Still hasn't popped, but I look for it (with a mirror, of course!) every morning!
What I miss: Being able to do stuff!! Mostly lifting. I hate needing help for everything! Also, coffee. I can have a cup a day when I want to, but some days I want MORE!
What I am looking forward to: Getting the nursery set up! And my shower is scheduled for the 19th! I'm also suuuper stoked about getting maternity pictures done :) We haven't set a date yet, but my brother's long-time friend is a photographer and is giving us an excellent deal. I love pictures!! And my belly :P

25 Weeks!

I am 25 weeks today!! :) 105 DAYS LEFT. Holyyyyyyy crap. I'm getting so anxious and excited and impatient!

Life has been good lately. Just lots of working! I love my job, and the people I work with. We're starting to get busier and busier, and it's definitely exciting! Overwhelming at times, but I love it! J starts his new job on the 8th of May, and he found out what "team" he's on today, and if he calculated his schedule correctly he should be off on my birthday, and for the baby's due date weekend! Here's to hoping...

No pictures in this post...my last blog was of my "progressive bump". Super cool to look at! I remember when I was 10-11 weeks pregnant and I thought my belly looked soooo big :P That was NOTHING compared to now!! Everyone keeps asking me if there's more than one baby in there, and while that would be super exciting (!!!), I would hope the doctors would have noticed by now! I've had 3 ultrasounds, and there's never been a "hiding baby" (or two) :P

We move in a week and a half!!! Cannot WAIT to get my hands on this nursery!! :) :) I wish we had more things to put in his room, but I'm sure once we have the space for it, we'll get more of the things we need. We have zero idea IF we're having showers thrown for us, or when they'll be, so we're planning on getting most things ourselves. I'm too impatient to wait TOO long!!


How big is baby?: The size of a rutabaga (whatever that is)! About 13.5 inches (head to toe), and 1.5 lbs :) It's hard to think that something that large is in my belly!
Stretch marks?: you shut your mouth
Maternity clothes?: Oh yes.
Sleep: Still pretty decent. I haven't had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom lately. I do wake up between 7-8 every day though!
Best moment this week: Still the kicks :) My favorite are the ones early in the morning after I wake up. I feel like Elijah is saying "Good Morning mommy!" I started feeling his kicks on the outside this past week, and the little nudges are SO adorable!! J still hasn't felt them, though. He isn't patient or gentle enough...haha. He often shakes or hits my belly (lovingly, of course) and yells "WAKE UP BABY!!!!!" :P He's gonna be such a good daddy :) OH--and we bought a new car a couple weeks ago. We traded in my old Focus (that I had been making J drive), to get a baby-safe car that's MUCH nicer and man-lier. :P
Movement: all day, every day :) it doesn't wake me up at night, though, which I'm okay with! Maybe he's sleeping through the night already?? haha. Wishful thinking!
Food cravings: Do chocolate milkshakes still count???
Gender: still my little man!
Labor Signs: No thank you. But J did inform me today that at 27 weeks I might start feeling Braxton Hicks. Can't say I want those, but it was adorable that he even read about them!
Belly Button in or out?: Getting shallower and shallower! I giggle every morning when I feel my bellybutton and see how different it is every day :P
What I miss: Roller coasters :(( Every summer my little brothers and I always talk about roller coasters and what we want to ride that year...not me :( I want to see if there's a way I can go to Busch Gardens or something after August...not sure what the recovery time is for getting back on a coaster, though!
What I am looking forward to: Moving! I mean, I won't be doing any of the actual moving (haha), but I'm looking forward to being a Chesapeake resident!! All I can think about is how much gas we're going to be saving by living near everything we usually go to. My job will be the same distance away, and once J starts his new job, it'll be 5 mins closer than his current job is from our current house. His new job is right by my job, too! Buttttt his shifts are like 6am-6pm, so there will be no carpooling. Haha!

Belly Growth!

Created this today and thought I'd share! :) Watching my belly grow has been the coolest thing ever! And I *promise* to try and write a blog update this Friday or Saturday!