Let's get this party started!

37 weeks and 4 days in and I am ready to go! I am cramping up most days and baby Weeks has definitely dropped over the last weekend. At my weekly appointment today, she concluded I was a "tight" 1 cm dilated! This makes me hopeful that he'll be on time and make his grand entrance in 2.5 weeks! These cervical checks are not fun though, let me tell you (1 finger is in 1 cm, 2 is 2, then they just start spreading to see if you're further, one would think medicine would have advanced past that, but no). The doctor warned me I may be sore and spot for a while afterwards and that is just what's happening now.

Thus after my first day back to teaching (no breaks with 125 15-17 year old sophomores) and getting checked today, I am spent. I'm giving up on housework for the day and even ordering a sandwich out instead of cooking.

Unfortunately, my doctor was booked all of next Thursday and Friday afternoons, which puts me back for a checkup on Wednesday, my birthday. Hopefully I'll be able to fit in something fun - J has law school Wednesdays so maybe my folks will come up for dinner! I will definitely keep you all updated, I am getting more excited by the day!

Coming Home

As the days pass by, the arrival of baby Weeks becomes more and more imminent. The moment has been made all the more real with the arrival of a good friend's little one. I got to meet him this past week and he is simply precious - I am just over the moon that my little guy already has a good friend himself :) We also got to take a CPR/Infant Care class this week thanks to a generous gift from another good friend. Both J and I feel more confident in preventing SIDS and and ensuring we could help our little one if he ever did get into medical trouble. Additionally, we had a quick check up where we got to meet another doctor in the practice - we liked her as much we like our regular doctor, and she liked everything about baby Weeks, even declaring him head down!

Most exciting for me was finally getting J to Carter's to pick out a couple outfits for baby's homecoming. I've been taking care of their coupons (20% off your total order) for months now stocking up, but with law school insanity J hasn't had time. He has a great eye for baby clothes, and once he shook off his nerves really dug right in. We chose a newborn outfit and a 3 month outfit in case he's really big. And for your viewing pleasure:

It's the final countdown...

30 weeks down, 10 to go!
It's been an exciting time, even more exciting now that the end is near(er). We spent part of the weekend painting baby Weeks's room - it's a yellow called "Chilled Lemonade" that I think is absolutely perfect, I'll be doing a picture post when I get home from work this afternoon! I've also started feeling some of the aches and pains of pregnancy that I've thus far avoided. There's a spot in my mid-back that acts up almost daily and I can't get past the night-time hip pain, so you bet I'll be getting to a massage ASAP.
Although school's out, my part time job has been more hectic than I've imagined. I work 11-8 on Mondays not counting driving, then 8:45-3:30 on Fridays. It doesn't seem that bad, but the kids need full energy from me, something that is rare to have a lot of these days, especially in this heat. Jesse somehow got me a pool pass last week, so I'll be taking advantage of that on my days off, fuller belly and all which I think will really help!
I've also discovered my first stretch mark, it's tiny and on my right boob - not on the belly (yet), but makes me nervous that a whole lot more are to come. I've been doing my best to stay fit this pregnancy, I even signed up for 6 more weeks of yoga, but an extra 30 pounds is an extra 30 pounds no matter how you swing it.
As the weeks wind down, I simply get more and more excited, I'm sure that anxiety of giving birth and having a child will come with time, but for now, I'm just pumped. Baby Weeks has been giving me LOTS of movement in the last couple of days which is extra reassuring and always brings a smile to my face.
In sadder news, I found out last week that my grandmother has Stage 4 lung cancer. At 89.5 years old, there's not much they can do for her, so the waiting game begins all over again. After losing my grandfather a month ago, I am totally not prepare to go through all of the grief again, but for now, all I can do is love her.
Next weekend we're attending an 8-hour epic birthing class, so definitely expect a post then and I'll update with pictures of the baby's room and my ever expanding belly tonight!

No news=Good news

I keep growing week by week, both physically and mentally. I've come to terms that baby Weeks is really going to make it and in the meantime is growing like a weed. Seeing my feet now only happens when I break out my yoga moves, twist at an odd angle, and crook my neck to look down; and don't even get me started on the last time I've seen my "lady parts" - that is a post for another day.

All the while I get more and more excited for his arrival. Over the weekend Jesse was away camping with his brothers, which left me to myself and my cleaning. I was a maniac. I swear you can now eat off of any surface in my home, and I mean any. The outside looks just as good - I trimmed all of the hedges, hoed the garden, cleaned the gutters, washed my car and hung the laundry outside. I also fit in time to put together baby Weeks's changing table. This project made his arrival so much more real. There were hundreds of pieces and directions that might as well have been written in Chinese, but I was determined and head-strong. Hours later, every piece was in place and the table was standing strong and ready for many a diaper.

The other big happening was a big doctor's appointment Friday - I had reached the all important 28 weeks - officially 3rd trimester! This means the beginning of the end of my pregnancy as well as a barrage of tests. The biggest is the GD (gestational diabetes - more info here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001898/). I walk in and the nurse hands me a 10 oz bottle of orange colored liquid and tells me I have 5-minutes to finish the whole thing. I flashed back to my Keystone Light chugging days and told myself I could do it. Plugging my nose the entire time, I downed the most overly sweet, disgusting beverage of all time in under a minute on an empty stomach (you have to take the test after fasting for at least 4 hours, I had eaten since dinner the night before).

Unfortunately, this was only the beginning. I went in quickly for my regular exam, then was ushered upstairs to get my blood drawn. Starving and shaky, my blood was extracted and I was sent downstairs for one final torture. It was time for the update of my Rhogam shot, so I dropped my drawers and got a shot in the bum.

I received the best news today, however - no news. They said if I didn't hear from their office by 5pm today, my results were normal and I don't have GD! Woohoo! Now it's time to keep moving forward and looking forward to every milestone in the final 12 weeks!

What a belly!

25.5 weeks!
I had another great doctor appointment today, good heartbeat and fundal height still on target (actually measuring a week ahead right now). I'm working hard to eat healthier and work out more to help curve weight gain, but it seems impossible right now. My only concern has been some pretty intense hip pain at night - the doctor assured me this is totally normal, and that it is due to hormonal changes so not much is going to help. I also booked my big 28 week appointment where I'll do the 1-hour gestational diabetes test, get another RHogam shot in my tush (for those who don't know I have a RH negative blood type, more info on being RH negative here http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/rhfactor.html), and get a bunch of blood drawn. Fun, right? For now - my gigantic belly!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

• We go back into the Dr. Thursday for a routine checkup. I'm nervous. Big surprise.
• Baby Weeks has been kicking me on a regular basis for the last couple of weeks, this makes me crazy happy.
• Sunday night, Jesse took a quick break from studying for finals to spend some QT with me. We decided to indulge in Magnum bars (thanks to rec's from my mom, my friend Amie, and a whole lot of advertising). I was initially annoyed at the $5/box of 3, but after seeing that one bar has 70% of your daily allotment of Saturated Fat, I was pumped there were only three. Anyway, I indulged, and then WHAM! Super baby kick of awesomeness. I called Jesse out of his office and he came running just in time to feel the baby for the first time. :)
• I had a great Mother's Day with my mom and became even more excited that next year, I'll be a mom, too!
• My boobs are officially out of control. I've been falling out of my new bras for a week so got re-measured and picked up some cheap-o ones at Marshalls. 36C. Holy crap.
  
• I've been on a maternity clothes shopping spree lately. I feel pretty good about everything I've bought to this point and I think after a couple tanks and shorts and one nice dress I'll be all set.
• Jesse and I have been good at saving money lately. We're determined to get as much time off as possible to be good parents once Baby Weeks is born. That means sacrifices. I'm totally fine with no vacations and cooking in more if that means another week or two with my little one :)
• I've survived year three of four of Jesse in law school. Next year will be even harder taking care of everything, and I mean everything and having a child. But I know I can do it ;)
  

Whoooa we're halfway there!

Well, halfway tomorrow. But, I am bombarded with work and such so I took my half way picture this afternoon. I can NOT believe everything is flying by as fast as it is. I've continued feeling little thumps from baby Weeks, but nothing that's as consistent as my worrying brain would like. I'm also excited to be sharing in my cousin's joy this Sunday at her baby shower - she's also having a boy and it's so cool that our kids will only be a few months apart!

I couldn't wait another day

To get a visual of my progression! I said I'd do it once a month which would call for a picture at a full 16 weeks, but here I am at 15 weeks 4 days! I wore the same outfit as last time so I could really tell how big I'm getting!

12 weeks!

I also thought it would be interesting to track my physical changes throughout this process. So, I pulled a taking pictures in the mirror move last night to showcase my every growing parts..

Here's the "bump" week 12:



And here's my other new bumps - I am getting much amusement out of this "development" :)

Weeks 1-8, I mean 6?

Pregnancy is a piece of cake (remind me to re-read this in a couple months).

Since the big day, it's been relatively smooth sailing. I've been crankier than usual, eating more than usual, my breasts have been tender and slightly larger. But that's it. I've kept up my exercise routine, encouraged by my two amazing trainers to keep on going throughout this entire process.

The biggest change so far has been dietary restrictions. I never thought of myself as a real coffee addict until I had to give it up. I often wonder if it is the pregnancy that is making me so damn tired or the lack of caffeine in my system. Also on my list of no's: alcohol (which has been very easy to stay away from), lunch meat (slightly harder), hot dogs (I actually ordered one by accident at a concert this past week, took one bite, remembered I can't eat hot dogs, and threw it away), soft cheeses (very sad), tuna and swordfish, and sushi (I actually like avocado and sweet potato sushi just as much as the fish kind).

The hardest part of me so far is to stop worrying. We want this baby so badly, that the thought that everything may not go perfectly is heartbreaking. I spent about a week spending WAY too much time reading pregnancy blogs, trying to get to the bottom of how common it is to miscarry. I spent large portions of every day seriously freaking out, and honestly thanked God aloud when there was no blood on the TP when I used the bathroom. I've started getting better at taking each day as it comes over the last 3-4 days, but that has a lot of to do with our appointment this past Friday!

We met Dr. Neary for the first time very early Friday morning. According to my calendar, I should have been 7 weeks and 5 days pregnant, but upon ultra sound inspection, they found me at only 5 weeks 6 days.

Sidenote: When we were first thinking about having a baby, we told ourselves that we would NEVER have a baby in March. My grandmother, my twin brothers, my father, my grandfather, along with a handful of cousins have March birthdays. For us, March is Christmas part two - there is no way to stay out of the red. When we thought we were almost 8 weeks pregnant, the due date was Feb 20th, but now that we are pushed back, you guessed it, the new due date is March 5th. Even though this isn't what we intended, it may be a sign that this baby is meant to be born the Jones way :)

The baby had a strong heartbeat at 102 bpm - Jesse and I literally wept with joy as we "saw" our little one for the first time. The almost 2 week lack is most likely due to some odd ovulation on my part (and maybe explains why it took so long for us to conceive). The doctor let us know that when you can see the baby's heartbeat and there's been no bleeding, chances for miscarriage drop to under 5%, letting us truly breathe a sigh of relief.

We get to go back for another ultra sound on the 20th to ensure baby weeks is growing well - and I am pumped!

Other than kicking this pain in the butt July cold out of the way, I am looking forward to everything to come, especially for a cruise to Canada with my best friends!