30 Weeks 4 Days

I am completely and utterly amazed that as I sit here to write this, there is a very real possibility that Baby K could be making it's arrival in less than 10 weeks time. Where did the time go? There's only a mere three days left in July. According to my What To Expect pregnancy tracker on my iPhone (yes, they make those), the count is down to nine weeks, three days. NINE WEEKS. That is single digits. That means stuff is about to get real, really soon. The thought crossed my mind this morning that if I were to follow in my mom's footsteps, my first baby would be more than five weeks ahead of schedule. That would put us at just one month from D-day. (Not that a premature baby is either likely nor reasonable to ponder, but still.)

I feel like the days are dwindling by before I even get the chance to acknowledge them. The pressure is on. We're just a couple months to go with so much to accomplish. As some of you know, we've been "in the midst" of moving for several months now. In reality, this looks like my hardworking husband doing all he can to get our house finished and ready to be lived in before the baby comes, while I panic and complain about how long everything is taking. I feel an innate need to organize and clean and prepare before the baby comes, which has proven difficult since moving must first occur in order for me to do that. I am both excited and relieved to say that yesterday Will and I put our paint samples on walls (yes, we have walls now!), and we should be getting them all painted and pretty by the weekend. That just leaves flooring, electrical inspection, and final inspection standing in the way between us and our new home. In just three days time, we will be putting in our 30 days notice and I will be happily spending my days packing our things.

I understand that there isn't a whole lot that one can do to actually "be prepared" for the birth of a newborn. I mean, all one really needs are the body parts necessary to give birth and feed a newborn, right? While this might true, it certainly doesn't feel like enough anymore. Will and I had an encounter with Babies 'R' Us and left feeling like we were ill-equipped to be parents. There were so many life altering decisions to make; bunnies or elephants? Or monkeys? Or sheep? Glass bottles or plastic? I mean, are we going for the natural-organic esque, or cool and chic? I won't even tell you how long it took me to pick a stroller... and I'm still not sold 100%.

I am guessing this is normal to go through these worries. I'll go out on a limb here and say all expecting mommas go through days of anxiety, worry, unsure-ity, and just plain being scared. One would almost be foolish not to go through these feelings. After all, bringing a life into this world is kind of a big deal. All breast pump/crib sheets/ nursery color palate worries aside, the real fear comes down to being a mother. How will I know what to do? Will I be good at it? Will I screw them up enough that they'll need years of therapy to recover? Probably. Only kidding. Luckily, I am not the first woman on Earth to do this thing called have a baby. I am fortunate to be surrounded by many women whom I can seek support and guidance from when I am having a hard time. I am mostly fortunate that my mom is just 7.1 miles away (don't judge me for knowing that) away when I need her.
Which will be often, I imagine.

Oh Hey, Braxton Hicks

I hate you. Each and every one of you irritating little squeezes that start from my belly button and radiate around my uterus. I hate you in the morning, I hate you when I am at work, I hate you after I eat or when I have to pee, and I especially hate you when I am trying to sleep. You are annoying and uncomfortable and occasionally painful. I know we will be getting even more closely acquainted as the weeks press on. Trust me, I am not looking forward to our bonding.

There has been plenty of aspects of pregnancy that have been less than enjoyable. I wasn't too fond of the vomiting part, the joint-pain part(s), or the mood swings part. Although, I'll almost be willing to say out loud that my least favorite part has been the my-uterus-is-practicing-for-labor-and-therefore-wrenching-itself-into-a-rock-hard-pain-in-my-abdomen part. I read that some women are more sensitive to them than others, and therefore feel them earlier on, more frequently, or stronger than others. I guess I am one of those lucky gals that get to experience them through the entirety of my third trimester. Joy.

Well that was a lot of belly-aching. (Pun intended. Insert courtesy laugh here.)

Montana

A week ago, we were making our 670-mile way back home from a (much too short) hiatus to visit family in Montana. My dad, step-mom, and three (not so) little brothers are there, along with all of my dad's side of the family. I figured it would be a fun surprise for everyone to get to see me with Buddha belly, and to make one last trip before baby comes. Here's a summary of the highlights to our 4-day vaca:

• 14 hours in the car (each way.)
• The smell of St. Regis, the first pit-stop in MT
• Huckleberry milkshakes
• Mosquito ambush
• The look on my dad's face when he saw my belly
• The look on my dad's face when he felt baby kick
• Top Ramen, a la my little brother Bo
• Hug from Riley, who is now grazing 6 feet
• Watching Connor and Bo try to get from the ground to their feet without using their knees or arms
• Tamarack's
• Pepsi at the Lake
• Fearing the boat would blow up
• Watching Connor do a flip off of the intertube 
• The rope breaking
• The baby shower/family get-together
• "Yard games"
• Doughnuts for breakfast
• Going to the barn with Mary, and Grace riding with us on the mule
• Huckleberry fritters
• Throwing up in the Harvest Foods bathroom
• Passing a Semi-truck on a bridge, go me!

We had such a good time and were really happy to be able to see our family before the baby made it's big premiere. It made it worth the drive just getting to see my brothers interact with their little "niecephew" as they say. Hopefully it won't be too long until we see them again; they should be making their way our direction here in a few months to meet baby K :) We are so thankful to everyone who blessed us with gifts and advice and love while we were there. We love you all so much and miss you already!

Indian Shower

This week William and I were blessed to have his mom throw us our first baby shower! As many of you know, William's family is Indian.. So naturally, it wouldn't be a party without some Indian flare. This came in the form of me wearing a sari, flowers, and gold, holding plates of fruit and eating too many sweets. I'll explain in a bit.
There were lots of ladies (and even some brave men) who joined us from Will's parent's church. We played a few games, my favorite of which was a game whose objective was to guess which traits the mommy-to-be (that'd be me!) would wish for the baby to inherit from whom. There was a list of 25 traits, including eyes, laugh, work ethic, enthusiasm, etc. I went down my list and selected which parent would contribute the best of each. Then everyone else had to guess what I had put on my list! It was really funny. Not surprisingly, Will ended up guessing closest to mine. He only missed three! He thought the baby should inherit his hands instead of mine. Psh. Have you seen my hands? I have GREAT hands. (joking. kind of.)
We were also showered with way more gifts than we would have ever expected. Everyone was so generous and thoughtful. The baby was blessed with lots of things s/he will need, and some fun things too. One of the gifts that stood out the most was a handmade quilted baby blanket made for us by our friend Cheryl. We were in awe! She designed a pattern of Noah's Ark and made everything by hand. Our baby is so blessed to have so many people who love it already!
So back to the Indian-ness. Will's family from Canada was able to come down to the shower as well, which was really great. In case you didn't know, Indian ladies like to dress up- and saris are the dress of choice. For those who don't know, a sari is literally a 15-foot piece of cloth (in this case, silk) that is wrapped around you in an extremely ornate and confusing way. Props to everyone who can tie their own sari- it must be an innate skill, because I certainly haven't grasped it yet. Tying a sari on me requires at least 5 hands. I also wore lots of pretty gold that my mother-in-law lent to me, and topped it off with some flowers in my hair. It's was like playing dress up for adults. Sweet! There were a few Indian traditions that we incorporated, one being everyone feeding me Indian sweets and fruit. I heard that this tradition originated because in India, sweets and fruit are not as readily acessable as they are here. So when a woman is pregnant, they want to make sure that she is getting the food and nutrients she needs, and they bring her lots of fruit. And everyone likes cookies and candy... so they bring some of those too. I wasn't complaining.
A big thank you to all of the people that came out and celebrated with us and helped build our supplies arsenal for baby K. We had so much fun, and our baby is so blessed to have all of you!

playing "Mr. and Mrs. Wright"

My and my mom-in-law

:) 

The whole fam

27 Weeks

This morning came a little too early, and knowing I would be getting shot in the arm with a needle and then made to drink sugar syrup wasn't making it any better. The only saving grace was knowing I would get to hear baby's heartbeat and possibly [read: successfully] talk the husband into taking me to Bagels By The Sea.

Well the RhoGAM shot was just as enjoyable as I had imagined, especially since my regular medical assistant was out of the office. Nothing like getting poked in the humerus by a chipper stranger to start your day. The (always) awesome part of the visit was getting to hear baby's perfectly strong and perfectly loud heartbeat. Is it weird that I always find myself feeling somehow proud of my baby for having such a great sounding heartbeat? Like, "Yeah, my baby got a perfect APGAR score based on it's four chambers alone." So weird. Moving on. It was also pretty exciting when my doctor told us that it's time to start working out the details with labor and delivery, because we're nearing the end. We discussed pain management, circumcision, breastfeeding, all the fun stuff. Looks like Will and I have a lot of things to work out here in the next three months.

To round out our appointment, we were ushered off to the lab for me to get acquainted with the notorious beverage so quaintly named, "Glucose Drink: Lemon Lime". Well, the experience didn't last long, I managed to throw it up about 13 seconds after downing the last drop. The nurse said we would stop the test and she would consult with my doctor. 10 points for pregnancy nausea. For once, I'll take the puking over the alternative, which in this case would have been a blood draw. They'll probably make me do it again soon. Oh well. For now, I'm celebrating my small victory of avoiding two needle-pokes in one day. Go me.

My Little One

I've loved you from the very start,
You stole my breath, embraced my heart.
Our life together has just begun,
You're part of me, my little one.
As mother with child, each day I knew
My mind would be filled with thoughts of you.

I'm daydreaming of the things we'll share,
Like late-night bottles and teddy bears.
Like first steps and skinned knees,
bedtime stories and ABC's.

I'm thinking of things you'll want to know,
like how birds fly and how flowers grow.
I've thought of lessons I'll need to share,
Like standing tall and playing fair.

Before I've seen your precious face,
I've prayed your life be touched with grace.
I thank the Father up above,
and promise you unending love.

Each night I'll lay you down to sleep,
I'll gently kiss your head and cheek.
I'll count your little fingers and toes,
I'll memorize your eyes and nose.
I will linger at your nursery door,
Awed each day that I love you more.

With misty eyes I'll dim the light,
And whisper "I love you" every night.
As mother and child our journey's begun,
my heart's yours forever, little one.
I've loved you from the very start,
You stole my breath, embraced my heart.

-Author Unknown