34 Weeks

How far along: 34 Weeks

How big is baby: She is the size of a butternut squash this week! 

Weight gain: I'm somewhere around 153 lbs now, I'm still around the average weight gain of 25-35 lbs.

Maternity clothes: I dug into my stored-away fall/winter clothes today and pulled out my leather looking leggins that just barely fit. I'm having to look for longer shirts and tank tops this week now that she's dropped lower down, my belly sticks out of everything else! And trust me, no preggo wants to look like she's going to a white trash bash with that belly look going on. 

Best moment of the week: Julie came over and we painted a design on one of the walls of Harper's nursery! It's so cute. We have some touching up to do but here's a preview of it so far: 

It will go perfectly with the little hanging chandelier that we just got in for the corner of her room since the design looks like mini chandeliers. We used white, silver and metallic gold paints for it so when the sun or light hits it, it's so pretty. 

We also chose and bought the furniture for our front room finaaaally! So that's all put together and that room is starting to look like a normal living area now, it just needs a lamp, an area rug and some picture frames. The cubby on the right in the picture is for all of Harper's toys and things so that the room is like an under-cover play room :)

To top off the week, Adam and I went to his friend Derek's house for a bonfire and s'mores Friday night. It was the perfect ending to the week and start to the weekend. 

 

Food Cravings: S'mores ice cream! And Costco poppyseed muffins warmed up with butter. So unhealthy, I know.

Symptoms: I'm starting to lose sleep over the checklist sydrome...I constantly have things running through my mind that we need to get done before baby makes her debut. Today I have some aching in my lower right belly that feels like I was running a marathon all night/morning so hopefully that goes away since it's really limiting me this morning...I have calf cramps, exhaustion, bursts of energy that apparently comes with the nesting instinct of wanting to get everything spotless and in order.

Belly Button: stretched outtie, it definitely changes when she moves and shifts positions.

Swelling: Ring on! No swelling but I'm going to be cautious and take it off once I hit 36 weeks - in TWO weeks.

Happy or Moody: Happy, anxious, excited, a little nervous. 

Movement: The doctors are right about movement, it slows down a lot around this time since she is running out of room so I don't get to feel her as often but she still really moves as much as she can.

What I'm looking forward to: Her arrival!! Officially 6 weeks to go.

What I miss: Nothing.

Next Appointment: August 11th for 36 week checkup.

Other news: I have a new found love for reading and the library! I went a little crazy and checked out almost every pregnancy and Baby's first year books I could get my hands on, I also checked out a book for Adam that is dedicated to all the "freaked out new dads." His book was written by a comedian from a man's point of view and Adam seems to really like it so far.
I also finished Baby Laughs by Jenny McCarthy in 2 nights. She is toooo funny. I love her books!

33 Weeks

How far along: 33 Weeks

How big is baby: Harper is the size of a durian...which I found out is a really strong smelling fruit from Southeast Asia. In comparison to size, it means Harper measures 12 inches "crown to rump" and up to 19.5 inches head to heels. She weighs around 4.5 lbs and gaining around 1/2 an ounce a day!

Weight gain: Somewhere around 153 lbs. I started at 125 lbs so I'm still within the average range of weight gain (25-35 lbs).

Maternity clothes: I can still fit into some jeans that I have and some that Julie gave me so I wore those a couple nights ago with a belly band and I'm still insisting on mainly wearing dresses/skirts.

Ella & I went to the butterfly pavilion this week where a butterfly fell in love with baby Harper and wouldn't leave my belly...

 

Best moment of the week: Adam and I had done the 3D/4D ultrasound session at First View Ultrasound in Westminster when Harper was around 17 or 18 weeks and we wanted to do it again towards the end of pregnancy so I called them yesterday and tried to set something up for August 10th when I'll be 36 weeks only to find out that is way too late to get good pictures of baby since she'll be so big by then so luckily I'm just past week 32 which is typically the last week they take good pictures. The technicians there said that the best time to come in is between 28 - 32 weeks, so we scheduled the appointment last minute for the same day I called and went in at 32 weeks 5 days but still got great pictures of her! I'm so glad I called because if I had waited instead of attempting to plan in advance then we would have missed out!

She definitely has Adam's nose! Maybe my eyes. She kept sticking out her tongue and was very active during the session. It was so magical seeing her and knowing that we get to meet her in just 7 or so weeks! She already has chubby little cheeks and the technician said that she looks like she may be a bigger baby than average already, uh oh.

 Harper gave us the peace sign...

 We asked the ultrasound tech if she had any hair since I've been experiencing mild to severe heartburn lately, and he said that the white spikes all over where the arrow is pointing is her head of hair and that it looks like she has a full head! Adam and I were both born with a lot of hair too :)

 She was constantly putting her hands in her face so the tech had to shake my belly or make sounds on it with a rubber glove to get her to react and move them away from her face for pictures.

 Sleepy eyes

 Yawning

 I am starting to think this baby never sleeps because she is so active and had her eyes open the majority of the ultrasound session which was about 20-30 minutes long

 Adam really wanted a side profile picture of her so this is one of the ones that the tech got along with whatever you can see on the video below..

 Little arms

She licked her arm hahaha :)

This week, Harper's crib arrived and so did some adorable gifts from my best friend, Tess! 

The day the crib was delivered, Adam set it up right away and really quickly too, he is such a manly man! He dressed her bed and put the cover on the changing pad and he also put together her organizer for her closet. We are almost there!!

Here is what her nursery looks like so far, I'm currently working on it with decorations and adding other big things like the nursing chair, etc. but at least we got the crib/changing table and little dresser up! To the right of her crib is a corner where the chair and a little end table will go and I bought a hanging chandelier that will go just above it. I'll keep adding pictures as we update it! 

Food Cravings: Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Jelly Jam Session ice cream! This stuff is soo good! 

 

Symptoms: Same stuff going on, I sometimes have calf cramps in the middle of the night too. I also had my 32 week checkup on Monday where the doctor gave me the Tdap shot to vaccinate me and baby against whooping cough and tetanus. My right arm is still somewhat sore and recovering! I'm also nesting like crazy, getting spurts of energy either late at night while we have been working in her nursery or at the most random times. It would be nice to have more of that energy though.

Belly Button: stretched outtie

Swelling: Ring on! No swelling :)

Happy or Moody: Happy, exhausted though. Today I slept in until 8 (yes, that's sleeping in for me) and then after eating breakfast and doing some little stuff around the house I went back to bed for a nap at noon and woke up around 2:30 but I feel like I could have slept the whole rest of the day.

Movement: Heels in my right ribcage, and she moves her butt a lot which is right above my belly button. She is head down now facing my right side with her back to my left side right in the middle of my belly.

What I'm looking forward to: Her arrival!!! Also, getting the rest of her stuff in for her room.

What I miss: Nothing.

Next Appointment: August 11th for 36 week checkup.

32 Weeks

How far along: 32 Weeks

How big is baby: Harper is the size of a squash or a large jicama

Weight gain: 153 lbs! The doctor said I gained 3 lbs since my last appointment, which is good news since I was lectured last time. Harper is measuring right on track and seems to be head down, her heartbeat is strong and she is getting ready for her big debut in 8 weeks!

Maternity clothes: Skirts, Dresses, Rompers, annnd Adam's clothes. I have one pair of maternity shorts that became mandatory once the temperature hit 80.

Best moment of the week: We had our baby shower for my mom's side of the family and everyone went in on buying our stroller! We were pretty adamant about this teal stroller with the bassinet attachment, which is exactly what they got us :)

On top of that, Julie helped me pick out and then bought Harper's stroller over the weekend and it is perfect. We get it on Wednesday, July 16 and then we will finally be able to put her room together! We're still missing a few little things but I have them all picked out on Amazon just waiting for checkout. I'm so grateful and fully appreciative of how supportive and amazing our family is. We truly are blessed, I have no doubt in my mind that Harper will be raised with so much love.

Once we got these two big things, Adam and I immediately went to Babies R Us and pretty much almost finished the rest of the baby shopping.

 Food cravings: Anything light, refreshing, crisp, and healthy. The other night I wanted cranberry juice for dessert...

I still do have a sweet tooth though so I've been craving Hazelnut Frappuccinos with a banana blended in and drizzled with caramel syrup and caramel ribbon crunch pieces. Heaven.

 My sister makes me delicious fruit juice cocktails too, like this watermelon one. Yum!

Food aversions: Nothing fried or heavy sounds good.

Symptoms: Pregnancy brain, backache, exhaustion, yoouuu knooow - the usual.
 

Belly Button: Outtie

Wedding Ring on or off: On, no swelling there or in my feet and I hope it stays that way!

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy

Movement: She sleeps for longer periods of time now that we're getting close to her due date and is extremely active at night when I'm relaxing with Adam. She loves kicking for him and going crazy in there. Everyday he asks me to "make Harper hurry up and come out" because he said he can't wait to just hang out with her. Melts my heart.

What I’m looking forward to: Baby shopping some more! The little girl clothes are too cute to pass up buying. Adam loves choosing her outfits, especially the neon and bright ones.

What I miss: Nothing really! I just can't wait to meet her!

Next appt: For some reason my doctor's office doesn't do the 4 weeks then 2 weeks then weekly appointments like most other doctors do, instead I've still been going every 4 weeks only and after 36 weeks, which is my next appointment on August 11th, I don't see the doctor again until 38 weeks on August 22nd.

31 Weeks

How far along: 31 Weeks

How big is baby: Harper is the size of a pineapple

We can't wait to meet our sweet girl!! Adam is going to be the best Daddy there is. He might not publicly admit it, but he is loving shopping for baby girl outfits, shoes, and anything that has to do with Harper. He's really excited. Light of my life <3



Alright...I had to take a couple pre-pool pictures to show off my bare-belly. Also, I don't know the people in this picture below but it is too accurate not to put up. I think Adam and I will have to recreate it ourselves with the melons.

 

 

Adam being goofy ;)

Weight gain: No idea until my 32 week checkup.

Maternity clothes: Maxi dresses still and constantly wearing Adam's clothes.

Sleep: Decent sleep compared to what I've read other mamas go through...I only wake up once to go to the bathroom as opposed to something crazy like 6 times. I am having crazy & weird dreams though so sleep is restless sometimes. Plus I have a million pillows surrounding me now.

Best moment of the week:  This week we were in Las Vegas, Nevada for a unique event that RMN (Gutierrez family company) teamed up with UFC for. We held a wrestling tournament in the Mandalay Bay alongside the UFC Fan Expo where 3 of our wrestling champions were awarded in the octagon.

While we were there, Rheanne (sister in law) took maternity photos of me, she is so talented! Here are a bunch of my favorites that are straight off her camera. Except the first one, I think it was just barely edited :)

 

Chicken Soup for the Expectant Mothers Soul - such a good read during pregnancy.

 Food cravings: Lemon Blueberry anything!! I literally craved lemon blueberry cream cheese cake for 2-3 weeks straight until I finally made some (something I would never normally crave outside of pregnancy).

Food aversions: None really but sometimes I'm just not in the mood for certain things.

Symptoms: Pregnancy brain is here to stay...
 

Belly Button: Outtie

Wedding Ring on or off: On, no swelling there or in my feet and I hope it stays that way!

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy happy but with some slight mood swings - mostly when I'm hungry. 

Movement: She has shifted positions so that her feet are always on my right side and up towards my ribs, I love feeling them glide around.

What I’m looking forward to: My baby shower is next Saturday and I'm looking forward to getting our house plus her nursery and everything else in order!

What I miss: clothes! I'll have Harper just in time to shop for cute fall clothes and boots again ;)

Next appt: My 32 week appointment is July 14th.