Happy Friday!!!

My maternity leave officially starts NOW!!  Woo hoo!!  Now we just need Julian to decide to leave his comfortable home and finally make his debut!  :)  Any day now baby...officially 39 weeks this weekend and will have more news hopefully by (if not before!) my next doctor's appointment on Tuesday...


In the meantime, here's a couple of pics from the past two weeks of my massive belly!

37 weeks-WHOA! (Notice the Budweiser pajama pants-some of the only ones I can fit into!  And yes, they are Josh's! haha!)

38 weeks...!!  Please excuse my messy counter...that's on my "to-do" list for next week!

Baby on the brain

This week has been so strange.  I feel like it just started and yet it's already almost the weekend!  Which means this is my last actual week of work until MARCH!  So.weird.  Which also means I'm THAT much closer to finally meeting Julian Michael Johnson!!  (9 (10) months of anticipation finally coming to an end...)

Being able to work from home this week has been such a blessing.  I'm really lucky to work from a company that's so flexible and accommodating when it comes to these things.  My manager is awesome-she had a baby last year and did the same thing before she went on maternity leave so she's been really understanding.  Just being able to wear comfy clothes and not get ready for work is amazing but also being able to rest a little bit in-between calls and last-minute work assignments has done wonders for me this week.  I'm feeling very well-rested and not as much pressure to have things outside of work done before he arrives!

This also means I have all of next week to either a) mentally/physically prepare for Julian's arrival or b) do things to distract me while waiting for him to arrive.  Kind of one in the same I guess, but you get what I'm saying.  That's a lot of time to think.  But I'm very grateful for it.

The hardest part for me is not knowing when the big day is going to come.  At my appointment on Tuesday, the doctor basically said not to plan on him coming before his due date.  At least she's honest with me...then she started talking induction.  Kind of freaked me out, but I know so many people that have gotten induced that it makes me feel better about this possibility...and it wouldn't be so bad to have an actual date planned out to look forward to!

Ah, I just can't wait to meet him...he's pretty much all I think about 24/7.  (same with his Daddy!) I'm trying not to get too nervous about the actual labor and delivery part...when I do, I try to talk to other mom's or read up on positive birth stories or just use the power of positive thinking but my favorite thing to do is look at his ultrasound pictures and remember what all of this ultimately leads up to...us finally meeting him!  I can't even imagine what that will be like.  So surreal. (have I used that phrase too much on this blog? haha! I feel like I have but how else do you describe something as monumental as this?!)

I keep reminding myself is that this is something our bodies were made to do, women have been doing it from the dawn of time and I'm delivering at a great hospital with a doctor who has a lot of experience. (hopefully she's the one to deliver!)  Just trying to stay focused on the positive and get more excited/less anxious.  I think these last few days have helped me get more in that frame of mind...

Happy/excited/anxious.  Thanks for listening! :)

For laughs...

I thought I'd share some of the things I've been trying in an attempt to get Julian to make an appearance before his due date...just for laughs...

(Side note: I went to a midwife today because my doctor was out of town this week for Thanksgiving and no progress since Friday.  I did, however, lose a pound!  Definitely not expected, especially because I have been retaining a lot of fluid so thought the opposite would happen!  More on that later...I read that losing weight could be a sign of labor to come soon...but...not getting my hopes up!)  Also, baby is in perfect position for birth!  Even though I didn't make much "progress", she said I am in a good spot for being a little over 37 weeks and effacement is all that really matters at this point.  So...until next week!

Supposedly helps bring on labor naturally...so far, it seems like an old wives tale and I don't enjoy eating these so fine with that!

 

Tried some spicy Thai food last night...(I asked for a 7 on a scale from 1-10, 10 being the hottest!)

Pineapple-supposed to help soften the cervix...I love pineapple and eat it almost every day so it's really a win-win :)

WALKING.  This is a result of walking a lot (and possibly consuming things with too much sodium in them so I am looking out for that now.) Almost didn't post because of how scary this looks but they checked me out today so nothing to worry about!  Just a lovely side effect that can happen once you get to be full-term!

This just makes me laugh.  I love when she does this.

Random pic but also cracked me up last night:  Josh couldn't decide what to eat for his "second dinner" so he wrote his choices down and picked from the pile.  One of the many things I love about him...he can always make me laugh! :)

I know I've already said this a million times, but Josh has been incredible throughout this whole pregnancy.  (and all the time, really) He's always helping by making things less stressful at home whether it's cooking or cleaning (I still try to help out but sometimes I am too tired by the end of the day) or just being supportive and listening or finding ways to make me feel better.  He opens up his Daddy book almost every night and knows more than I do about certain things!  I know he is going to be the best Dad-very hands-on already and we are going to be great partners-in-crime for this whole parenting-thing :)  My heart swells up every time he talks about how excited he is for him to get here already, things he can't wait to do with him and just seeing him get things ready for the big day.  He packed his Daddy bag last night for the hospital (another image I love seeing).  We're ready, baby! 

Today is my last day in the office-so crazy!  I'll try to keep posting on this up until the big day...can't believe it's just around the corner!  Cannot.wait. <3

Random thoughts

One of my best friends had her baby yesterday and I am SO excited for her!  Mom and baby are fine-she ended up having to get a C-Section and said it wasn't that bad!  (that made me feel better because obviously it wasn't planned and those always seem to be the scariest stories you hear about!) I am so happy for her and her husband-their baby is beautiful and it just makes me that much more excited to experience the same thing in a few (hopefully SHORT) weeks!

Tomorrow is my last day in the office.  WOW!  I can hardly believe it.  The next week I am working from home and then the week after that I am completely taking off.  I plan on doing a lot of "nesting" ha! (a.k.a. OCD cleaning), going to attempt to make meals I can freeze, cook some festive holiday treats before I can no longer enjoy them guilt-free, big walks and any other old-wives tale that will help get Julian here on time or a little before!  (note to self: don't post about wanting your baby to come before their due date-you won't get the responses you wanted to hear!)

Josh is "man-nesting" I think-he put up our Christmas lights all day yesterday!  They turned out great-I LOVE our house during the holidays!!  It's so cozy and warm.  We're pretty much good to go on holiday decor now.  But...I could see myself getting restless during my time off leading up to the big day and adding more "Christmas cheer" to the place. hehe :)

Here are some pretty pics of the lights:

 

Tried to capture the glow of the Christmas tree at night but hard to do on my phone!

Forgot to add a pic of Julian's first Christmas stocking!

Waiting game...

We had our ultrasound on Friday and it was SO amazing to see Julian again!  Crazy what a couple of months can do!  He definitely has some chubby cheeks, already is weighing 6.6 lbs and possibly has some hair on his head (I feel like there's no way he can't with Josh's thick hair genes :) ) but who knows!

Look at that sweet baby boy-cute little nose and those chubby cheeks!  In love.  Everything looking good!

Anyway, what came from this appointment was that I'm still on track for my December 9th due date.  Also, I am less than 1 cm dilated and 30% effaced...wonder what I'll be at this weeks appointment!  So as of right now...I guess I just need to plan on that date and not get my hopes up!  I would love if he came even just a few days earlier but I'm not holding my breath.  We're just so excited for him to be here already and besides that, this last month has been really hard on my body!  I don't want to complain too much, but let's just say sleep is a thing of the past...and if I hear one more person say, "Just wait until he's here-you'll have even less!" I will punch them in the face. (sorry, but I really might!)

I get it.  My point is-I just can't wait to be able to COMFORTABLY sleep the "few hours" I get after he's here.  (a.k.a. without a watermelon in my stomach, having to get up to pee a million times, back aches, him pushing up on my ribs/lungs, not finding a comfortable position on my side or back, restless leg syndrome, etc.)  So there you have it.  My only rant.  I may try some over-the-counter sleeping aids that the doctor said were safe just to get through these last few weeks...still deciding.  (I don't like taking things unless I really have to)

In the meantime, I have been reading up on natural ways to induce labor and am thinking about trying a few out in the coming weeks once we get closer.  I know they are probably old wives tales, but worth a shot!

The weeks have actually been going by pretty fast and I still go back and forth on getting really excited but also, wanting to take everything in because I know this first time only happens once and everything we are used to is about to change.   But for the most part-it's me daydreaming about the big day with daddy!  Josh likes to read to my belly or at least talk to Julian every day and he is very responsive!  BIG kicks or shifts in my belly when he hears his voice.

So...his room is ready, hospital bag is packed (huge weight off my shoulders for some reason!) and now I am starting to nest...not "crazy" nesting yet, but finding myself wanting to do things like dust and make sure we're stocked up on things we'll need, etc. (even random things like making sure I get Sookie's heartworm medication refilled because I know I am going to forget or not have time to once baby is here for a few months...)



Anyway, to sum this all up-just really happy that he's looking good and healthy, I'm feeling prepared and ready and just going to try to enjoy these last few weeks.  Happy that Thanksgiving is next week!  Hopefully Julian decides to drop by then so I can fit more in my stomach.  :)

36 weeks-whoa baby!

Food, Music, Baby!

I have to start with the most exciting development this week...FREE FOOD IN THE OFFICE!  Our new CEO implemented a free breakfast/lunch/snack policy at work to be more "employee friendly" and it is one of the greatest things ever.  We no longer have to account for breakfast, lunch or snacks!

They are still in the testing stages, but as of right now we have access to fruits, healthy snacks, protein/granola bars, milk, pop, salads, bagels, cereal, candy-you name it-and then a different catered lunch each day!  (Hy-Vee is the caterer this week and I think they will probably stick with them moving forward)

It's been amazing.  I know this is a benefit that most don't have, so I definitely do not take it for granted!  You could say I've actually been taking advantage of it a bit ;) just kidding...but seriously, I have been so happy to have access to healthy snacks (especially outside of vending machines!) during my last month of pregnancy. 

To keep myself in check, I kept a log of what I ate yesterday:

1/2 blueberry bagel with cream cheese - breakfast
Grapes

Small bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch with milk - snack

Salad - lunch
cheese stick 

1/2 almond bar - afternoon snacks!
Greek Yogurt with stawberries
mini-kit kat bar (hehe)
Sun chips

As you can see, I like to eat small, frequent meals these days.  They still have things like oreos, M&M's, etc. so I am trying my best to avoid the temptation and swap the bad stuff for the healthy options.  I can't make any promises that this will happen every day, but doing my best!

Anyway, enough about food! 

Last night Josh and I went to probably our last concert for a while: Matt & Kim at the Slowdown.  I surprised Josh with tickets last week because I wanted to find something fun/special for us to do to show him how much I appreciate all that he does for me and the baby already!  Pretty soon the baby will be here and it will be harder to do these types of things, so it was fun to have something fun to look forward to in the middle of the week!  It was an awesome show-they definitely have a lot of energy and if I was able to, I would have been up closer to the front dancing along with everyone else!  But...I was able to make it through 3/4 of the show-woo hoo!!  Very proud of myself.  9 months pregnant and I can still make it through most of a concert!  Julian is definitely going to have some music genes, I can feel it!  (his first concert was Mumford and Sons, duh!)

Something else that is even more exciting than free food at work (if you can believe that!) is that we are going to have another ultrasound on FRIDAY!!!  I was showing about a week ahead during our last ultrasound so to be safe, the doctor wanted to have one at 36 weeks to see how big Julian is and then talk about possibly inducing me at 39 weeks.  If baby gets too big, it makes for a more difficult labor and since I am "so small" (eye-roll) they want to know what they're working with!  (I am hoping he is still showing a week ahead and that we can schedule an induction at 39 weeks!)  I'll keep you all posted...

Some pics from the last week below:

Baby girl in her 2nd Halloween costume

First pic of my actual bare belly-only sharing on the blog! HA!  Look at that baby!

Daddy reading to Julian one of his favorite books from Uncle Jaime and cousin Amanda

Gettin' sassy before the Matt & Kim show!  

 

Mmmm Good Nights pizza before...

At the Slowdown

My drink of choice for the evening: Shirley Temple!  I forgot about this as a great non-alcoholic drink choice :)

35 weeks!

Counting down the days...

I just had the craziest feeling/realization.  Today is November 1st...I'm due in 5 weeks....but next Friday we are having a follow-up ultrasound because I was showing a week ahead of what they originally thought so really, it could be closer to 4 weeks!  And if we want to get even crazier...sooner than that!  (so many people I know are going before their due date...a girl can dream-as long as that dream isn't TOO early :) ) OMG.OMG.OMG.

I started looking at my desk calendar and I only have 2 1/2 more weeks in the actual office.  Then, I am working from home and THEN, the week after that is NEST FEST 2012!  (get it?) 

I just told Josh that it felt like that feeling you get before going on a really big/scary/exciting/new roller coaster at an amusement park (think Universal Studios, not Worlds of Fun).  I am a roller coaster enthusiast-don't worry-but...I always get a little freaked out right before, then once it gets going and I realize there's no turning back, I let go and enjoy the ride!  This is my analogy to impending motherhood?  I like it.  I like it a lot!

I thought at this point I would be getting freaked out and worried about ridiculous little things (we still need this and that, I still need to pack a hospital bag, I don't have visitor-worthy PAJAMAS...etc.) but I really don't care!  I am so excited.  Every day we drive home from the office, we take the exit where we see the hospital where baby boy will soon be born!  So surreal.  Just a few more weeks...

I teeter-totter between enjoying these last weeks as a family of 3 (don't forget Miss Sookie!)...and being so excited to start the next chapter of our lives with the little guy.  I don't want to take any of it for granted!  So excited for what's to come, but also realizing that so much of what we're used to is about to change big time!  Trying to remember to do all of the things we love that will be harder to do once he's here...but dreaming of all of the things we'll GET to do once he's here as well...