Maternity clothes: Same as always! I started stocking up leggings and loose T-shirts now so I'll have something that fits me when leaving the hospital.
Best moment of the week: Welllll we had the 36 week appointment which I thought was a big deal but it turns out my pregnancy is pretty uneventful so there was nothing new or different about this checkup. No dilation or effacement and she is still really high up so I'll be starting to do a lot of walking and bouncing on the exercise ball and drinking my raspberry leaf tea religiously.
Adam's birthday was also this weekend! At midnight when Adam was getting home from working an event, I surprised him with balloons, wine, and a homemade lemon frosted strawberry cake and a little gift. Since we have Harper on the way we've both been taking things easy so we had a really mellow celebration by making breakfast together then he relaxed all day and my family invited him out for dinner in Louisville at the Waterloo where he fell in love with their burgers. :) it wasn't the happiest birthday for a few bizarre reasons/events that took place during the day but I did my best to make sure he knows how important his birthday is to me!
Food Cravings: cereal, salmon and avocados, zucchini and squash, some other random things.
Symptoms: Braxton hicks, less sleeping, back ache, throbbing achey feet!
Belly Button: outie
Swelling: My ring is officially off now but I don't feel like I look swollen at all anywhere. <-- still the same from last week.
Happy or Moody: Happy, anxious, excited, getting nervous.
Movement: she moves a little less now with minimal room but I still feel her feet/legs whatever it is in my ribs since she refuses to drop!
What I'm looking forward to: the next 3 weeks hopefully flying by.
What I miss: being able to squeeze and hug Adam really close! Haha
How far along: 36 Weeks How big is baby: The size of a honeydew
Weight
gain: stay tuned.
Maternity clothes: Same as always!
Best
moment of the week: Just hitting 36 weeks, technically full term, is exciting enough! Adam and I have continued to push ourselves to get out of the house more, take the dogs on walks each night, and spend as much time as we possibly can enjoying each other's company as just the two of us together before Harper gets here. I took him on a surprise picnic date this week too!
Food Cravings: ice cream, sweets, and fruits and veggies. Adam's gramma gave us a family recipe book for Christmas and I fell in loooove with her Glazed Grapes recipe. It's grapes in a creamy mixture with almonds - it tastes like snickers to me! Perfect craving satisfaction.
Symptoms: Braxton hicks but not as crazy as a few nights ago! I'm drinking Raspberry leaf tea on some days which is said to help with labor and delivery preparation so I'm hoping it does for me! I have crazy back ache and throbbing feet. I'm also sooo exhausted and having trouble sleeping now since it's hard to get comfortable, or she kicks too much to let me sleep, or I have to get up to go to the bathroom.
Belly Button: outie
Swelling: My ring is officially off now but I don't feel like I look swollen at all anywhere.
Happy or Moody: Happy, anxious, excited, a little nervous.
Movement:
Harper's little feet or knees glide all around my ribs and right side.
She loves moving around breakfast time and again like crazy at night,
usually around 8-10 when Adam and I are unwinding from our days. - The doctors say not to worry if movement decreases or slows, but this little girl is SO active still. I don't think she sleeps ever...
What I'm looking forward to: Getting through the next couple of weeks! My big checkup is tomorrow where we get to find out where I stand with dilation and all of that.
What I miss: Not sharing my body anymore! But I know that once I say this I'm going to take it back after having her and miss feeling her in there hah
Next Appointment: August 11th for 36 week checkup. Coming this Monday
How big is baby: according to these baby apps she is the size of a coconut and also the size of a large cantelope
Weight gain: I don't even want to know...we never unpacked our scale when we moved into this house before when I was just barely pregnant and to confess, it's been by choice that it hasn't come out still.
Maternity clothes: Let's just count Adam's clothes as my go-to maternity wear from here on out.
Hence the basketball shorts in this picture. I'm so classy. Exhaustion really does a number on my getting ready routine, like diminishes it actually.
You can probably tell when you put pictures from the last couple weeks next to this picture that she has dropped down lower, which means she is getting ready to come out! I can't remember if I already wrote about her positioning or not from the ultrasound at 32 weeks but she is already head down and staying that way until her birthday.
Best moment of the week: Adam and I went on some cute dates together and we also bought a new patio set for our backyard so now we can enjoy our meals/wine/coffee/tea together outside with our little mountain view and the sunsets. He is such a good husband I don't know how I got so lucky, he's constantly uplifting me and telling me how beautiful I look and how much he loves me just because. He especially manages to catch me on those off days when I'm not feeling all that pretty or refreshed. Adam is definitely perfect.
Food Cravings: ice cream, sweets, and fruits and veggies.
Symptoms: some major calf cramps at night, crazy back ache and to add to that I now have really achey feet too like they are wanting to give out from the weight gain. My stretch marks are about the same as when I first got them and you can actually see them in the picture above. Adam thinks they will disappear really soon after she's born.
I'm also having frequent braxton hicks but half the time I don't really notice them because I've gotten so used to them. I read somewhere that you should call your doctor if you have more than four in an hour so last night Adam and I timed them; they were 3-5 minutes apart but without any pain or other symptoms so we called the nurse hotline just to be sure. They said that I'm fine and to drink more water and walk around to relieve them.
Belly Button: outie
Swelling: I think I've somewhat started to swell on and off in my feet. Just to be safe I took my ring off and I feel so naked without it :( I might put it on a jewelry chain and wear it as a necklace until I can actually put it back on.
Happy or Moody: Happy, anxious, excited, a little nervous.
Movement: Harper's little feet or knees glide all around my ribs and right side. She loves moving around breakfast time and again like crazy at night, usually around 8-10 when Adam and I are unwinding from our days.
What I'm looking forward to: meeting our mini-me! We are pretty much all ready just minor details to finish!
This week I had an amazing photographer take some maternity pictures of me and my belly so I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome. The first picture of me above is just a little sneak peek from the shoot that we did at her father-in-law's gorgeous 14,000 square foot home in Boulder. I'm a little bummed that I haven't had a real maternity session with Adam so I'm hoping he and I can try to get a bunch of pictures of us together before she gets here!
What I miss: Nothing.
Next Appointment: August 11th for 36 week checkup.
Here are just a few pictures I fell back in love with this week:
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!
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.
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.
