Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, which means you make your plans for Lent and what you're planning on giving up for the next 40 days.

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to give up this year. My first thought was soda, but then I realized I only drink about 1 a week, and mainly steal sips of Troy's when he goes to the bathroom if we're at a restaurant.

Swearing? Hmmm...I'm planning on a natural birth and my baby has a really huge head. Perhaps swearing isn't the thing to give up right now.

I then read something online this morning about a woman who instead of giving stuff up, decided that she was instead going to give out three compliments a day. I like the positive spin to it, so I'm going to plan on doing that myself!

35/35 today and I have conquered the Moby!

Today I'm 35/35! 35 weeks along, and 35 days left to go!

At 35 weeks, Jack is continuing his reign of gigantism and moving and kicking with a ton of force. I forgot to mention that at the ultrasound, they determined he is indeed heads down, and it is indeed his legs that are constantly up in my ribs. Once he turns 2 and gets past that fragile stage I'm going to creep in to his room and put MY feet on his ribs when he's peacefully sleeping. When he wakes up and asks what is going on, I'm going to be all like "so how's that feel dude? Feel good? Didn't think so"!

At 30 weeks it is supposed to be all downhill, but I'm still feeling pretty damn fantastic. I have a little knot in my ribs/upper back that no amount of massage can get rid of, but it's tolerable and likely not forever. Occasionally I get a weird sharp twinge in my right hip that lasts for about 5 seconds and hurts like a bitch. As soon as I realize it hurts though, it goes away so thank goodness for small blessings!

Starting this past Saturday I've begun the "freezer stash" process. Troy and I purchased a small chest freezer for the garage a few weeks ago in preparation for Jack's arrival (see dad, I didn't call him the Spawn. Happy?). To date, I've made 2 servings of BBQ pulled pork, and 3 meals of chili. Today I'm tackling freezing a ham quiche, and tomorrow is lasagna day! Last Tuesday my sister and I also made ~420 oz of applesauce. She took some, we gave some away, and the rest is safely stashed in my freezer for late night snacks.

The other biggest change in the last week is that strangers actually ask me if I'm pregnant! This is a new phenomenon as before I just looked like I had a mini beer belly, or just looked "normal". On Friday the cashier at Costco asked me if I was about 4-5 months along. When I told him 8 & 1/2 months, he looked panicked and asked that I not go in to labor in his line. Happy to oblige dude.

Here is my week 35 belly photo. I assure you that in person my boobs are WAY more impressive.



And here I am proudly showing off my mastering of the Moby Wrap. For those of you who don't know what a Moby Wrap is, it's a 5 ft long piece of jersey fabric that is in one long strip. It requires a lot of wrapping and twisting to eventually get to a place where a baby could comfortably be wrapped in it. It looks complicated, but after a few practices (thank you YouTube videos), I think I've got it down! Special thanks to my friend Colleen for the Moby as a shower gift, and also thanks to my 2 & 1/2 year old niece Ashlyn for letting me borrow her baby doll for a few days for wrap and swaddling practice.

And, ladies beware. That is what happens to your face in the 1st trimester of pregnancy. Note to self: wear MAKE UP when posting a photo of your shiteous face on the Internet.

My new name for Jack

After my ultrasound yesterday showing how big Jack is, I now refer to him as "Fatty McFatFetus".

To quote Heath Ledger...

"Why so serious"? WTF is up with the expression on my face in this photo? I look like such a haughty bitch.

Anyhoo, here is my "week 34" belly shot. I say "week 34" because while I've only been pregnant for 34 weeks, my fat ass baby is measuring over 37 weeks.

In our birthing class (Bradley Method) on Saturday we learned some great techniques for laboring that will prevent tearing and generally will make the mom and baby more comfortable. I was interested in them, but now I need to study them like my life depended on it given Jack's big fat 99th percentile head. Thanks to my dad's side of the family for the gigantism...

Baby Jack update

So the ultrasound was at a place where the tech did the exam and then a doc will review it and then tell my doc tomorrow.

But answer first (the tech was super nice and probably told me more than she should have) is the fluid looks fine and Jack is a wee bit of a fatty!

I'm 34 weeks
His HEAD is measuring almost 38 weeks (OUCH), his body is measuring 37 weeks and his legs are measuring 35 weeks. The adjusted due date is now March 13th, but my doc will probably not change it because at this point the measurments aren't a huge predictor.
He weighs about 6 lbs.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Overdue post and photos of Jack's nursery!

Before I post a bunch of crap and photos, we'd like to ask for prayers for little Jack. At my appointment this am the doctor noted that my uterus is about 2 cm too small for 34 weeks, so I'm going in for an ultrasound tomorrow. She thinks it is likely because I'm so tall, but they want to rule out low fluid, etc. I think it's because he has a freaking Wi Fit in the womb and stays so active that he isn't packing on the pounds. Since the ultrasound isn't at my doctor's office, my guess is the technician can't tell me anything, so I'll likely have to wait until Thursday for results. Balls.

In other news, Troy has been studying VERY hard for a math test for a government job in the area. He was pretty stressed about it, but took it today and ROCKED it. He's pretty much the smartest man alive at this point.

Anyhoo, here are some photos for you!

(Above left): the view from our apartment one early Sunday morning. (Above right), the brownies that "Jack" made me the night I came home from my 2 week work trip. He's such a sweet little guy.

I had my shower on Sunday, and it was awesome and overwhelming! My sister did such a great job; she could be a professional shower planner! There were so many amazing women in my life there, and I can never adequately thank everyone for coming. I also didn't take one damn photo cause I'm an idiot.

Here are some nursery photos. I don't decorate, and I don't do "cute", so here are the results...

(Above left): the shower explosion/aftermath, (Above center): Handy man Pops hanging Jack's artwork, (Above left): the drawer organizers for Jack's dresser.

(Above left): Boba Fett (cause every infant needs a super freaking scary Star Wars cut out in their room...), (Above center): Troy nursing Jack's monkey in the rocker using the Boppy, (Above left): a Noah's Ark painting that was hanging in Troy's room when he was a little boy. Rumor has it his mom painted it! Troy framed it tonight to protect it.

(Above left): the view from the hallway (Above center): what I'm referring to as "poo central". His dressing/changing table, diaper holder, diaper pail, and hamper, (Above left): the crib with the animals on the wall

(Above left): his crib and my chair (from my in-laws. The ottoman is coming soon from my parents), (Above center): a close up of the absolutely gorgeous duckie quilt my aunt made for Jack. She is so amazing and talented! (Above left): the rug that Jack's future mother-in-law "E" got for him. Jack is so excited to be born to meet his girlfriend Lyla.

Having way too much fun with baby gifts

The awesome people who work in my department got me this Ergo baby carrier. We had nothing in the house to try it out with, so I stuffed a "Hulk" fist and a unicorn (inside joke gift from my interns last summer) in to the carrier.

As long as Jack weighs about 2 lbs and has pink fur, I think this will work out nicely!