35 Weeks

Ah, yes. 35 Weeks. My belly has continued to grow. I didn't notice it so much until I saw my weekly picture! Definitely sticking out further than the 34 Weeks picture. Jackson is a growing boy. Which is good, but this probably means for an uncomfortable last 5 weeks!

The promised pictures from my Lynchburg baby shower. Below is the brunch set up. I loved the pictures frames and chalkboard that stated what each bunch item was. The food was so delicious!

The theme was once upon a time. The invites were so adorable! My friends are so crafty!

I had emailed the hostess some of my favorite pictures of Matthew and I as babies. I think Jackson will be a pretty cute baby! The wishing well on the top was for "well wishes" for me when I'm having a particularly stressful mommy day in the future!

We played jeopardy and baby scattergories. These are my fun presents! We got our bouncer seat, bumbo, boppy cover, some books, some hangers (much needed), some bath stuff, and from friends who couldn't make it to the shower: a gift card, a bath towel and outfits, a rattle and bottle brush, and breast milk storage bags and a formula dispenser. Good stuff!

My lovely friends who could attend the shower. The invites got send back in the mail twice, so unfortunately less than half the guest list could make it on such short notice. But it was still so much fun! Here we are making onesies and burp clothes!

Favors! Jack's Magic Beans! Adorable!

Now I'm beginning to feel ready for Jackson to arrive. While everything is not perfect in the house yet, I doubt it will be in the next 5 weeks anyways. There will always be more cleaning and organizing to do!

Preparation: This week I organized the nursery. Most of his things are put away. I still need to hang the wall art and his shelves. It's nice having things mostly organized though. If he were to come now, he would have a nice little home. I'm planning on him staying in our room for awhile in his sleeper anyways, so the crib shouldn't be used too much in the first few months! Speaking of the crib, we ordered and received the mattress. It's a good thing we measured the crib before ordering! Come to find out, our crib is not the "standard crib size" that most mattresses boast! I had a nice organic mattress I wanted but it was just a little too big. I found one that would fit and wouldn't you know, it was a Sealy Posturepedic! Our baby will be lounging in style! When Matt opened it up he was surprised and said, "This is such a fancy mattress!" We used amazon credit we had so it didn't matter that this mattress was slightly more expensive than the other options. We also had our last birthing class. I have begun formatting our birth plan to have all ready for when the time is right. Tonight I plan to pack my hospital bag and Jackson's diaper bag with his outfits and blanket. It's nice that I don't have to worry about bringing diapers and all that stuff that will normally be in the diaper bag. I don't anticipate going into labor anytime soon (soon, being relative of course), but want to be prepared either way! I moved all of his toys downstairs to their home in a storage box on the bottom of the bookshelves. I figure we'll bring some toys upstairs for him during the day, but for the most part his toys will live downstairs. Less distraction that way! Again, not that he'll use his toys much for the first little while, but it's nice to have them all in one central location.

Pregnancy symptoms: I don't know why some people dislike maternity clothes so much. I think the ones I have are super comfy and stylish! I guess it depends where you look. I have a mixture of actual maternity clothes (mostly Motherhood Maternity) and normal clothes that are a size up than my normal size. It's so nice that flowy and stretchy are in style right now! I have been getting more and more rundown each day. By the time I get home from work I am exhausted. On Thursday I was scheduled to go to a breastfeeding class. I skipped it in favor of a nap and a trip to Sweet Frog! Even though we paid for it, I don't feel that bad about skipping it. I'm sure the nurses at the hospital will help me with breastfeeding and I have some resources available if I have trouble. While I still have no stretch marks, the belly is growing. Since my belly pretty much sticks straight out, my lower abdominals often feel very stretched. When I change positions it often takes a couple seconds for the stretching feeling to ease. It is especially difficult changing positions when I am in bed or on the couch. And of course, bigger baby means more pressure on my bladder. Lots of running back and forth for me! Another preggo symptom I had avoided until now... the waddle. I mentioned several weeks ago that I thought I was waddling. I was way wrong. I have walked normally up until this point, slower than my average pace, but from the back you would never be able to tell I was walking funny. When we were at birthing class Matt mentioned that I "had my waddle on". Did he think that was a compliment? After that I noticed that I definitely have begun to waddle and I can't do anything about it. Maybe it's cute? I doubt it. Last week I mentioned my colostrum had come in. Let's just say it'll be good to go by the time baby arrives! May have to go find some nursing pads now!

Baby movements: Baby has been very busy every single day. He is getting ready to run around on the outside of mommy in just a few short weeks. He has the hiccups almost every day to prepare for breathing. He likes to twist and turn all day long- I think he'll be a pretty restless sleeper! He tries to kick out those legs but has discovered that he can only get a partial kick in now. It still hits in my ribs though, so not exactly comfortable. He is definitely head down as I can feel his little rump, knees, and feet along the top of my belly all day. Since I sit in a computer chair at work this makes me very uncomfortable. I try to stretch throughout the day, but I've just gotten used to the tightness and the whack whack whack as he moves. I am very thankful he is such an active baby, but I will be thankful when he can wiggle outside of me! One time this week it felt like he was sitting horizontally. I could feel movements on both of my sides and there was different pressure in the front and the back than normal. There are definite times I can tell he's sitting further back than normal as my back pain increases!

Pregnancy aides: I have discovered two pregnancy aides that should be recommended to all preggos! One, the heating pack. I had read that heating packs weren't advised during pregnancy. But in my birthing class it was recommended for labor. So I tried it on my aching back. Oh my goodness! Such relief! I usually heat it up a few times in the evening after work and put it on my lower back, then middle back, then shoulder area. After it has been loosened a little Matthew has been giving me massages to help ease the knots. My computer chair at work really is a back buster, so the combination of the heat and massage helps my muscles relax. I also discovered the joys of the exercise ball! I will most definitely be using a birthing ball when I am in labor. Matt and I were watching a movie and the couch was hurting my back. So he got out my exercise ball and I bounced on it. I don't understand why, but the pressure was immediately gone! I didn't feel like I had to keep myself upright as expected either. It was a very natural position and was so much more comfortable than sitting in a firm 90 degree position.

I was thinking of his birth date this week. While his due date is April 4, I know the likelihood of his being born on that day is not high. I was trying to think of what date might be interesting and easy to remember. For instance, my birthday is 8-7-87. My anniversary is 6-7-08. So... wouldn't it be fun if he was born on 4-8-12? Yes, that would mean he was late and I would probably be pretty miserable at that point... but it would be neat.

I am so excited to meet my little baby boy! While I still have 5 weeks until due date, I know those weeks will just fly by. I am so excited for that first labor contraction to begin and to count down until I will be holding him in my arms!