Because I have a new shirt on

Well if you have been hoping that I would post one more I-am-so-pregnant-I-could-pop-any-minute-now picture (ehum... Meredith :-) ), today is your lucky day! I bought this shirt before I was even showing b/c it was like $3 at Old Navy, but then it was summer and it was hot and this shirt is grey and it's like a wool blend material, so I could never wear it... until today! I do still feel like a whale, but at least I am a whale in a cute new shirt. Hopefully this will be the last picture I ever get to take of myself pregnant (sorry it turned out blurry). Jason got me a maternity massage for my birthday, and I learned today that there are certain pressure points they can focus on to induce labor. So I am going to that appointment at 5:00 and am going to request the Labor Induction Massage (surely they have that on the menu, right?).

Annndd.... sometimes I am bored at work (they have pretty much stopped giving me stuff to do) and I have too much fun with picnik...

Comparison

Or maybe I should say contrast?  Please look at this picture compared to the one below. Please give me those legs back.

holy guacamole

I mean, is that not the biggest belly you ever have seen?? Still so high... still so content inside me. At least I know I have a hospitable uterus. 

Yes, I cropped out my head b/c my face is puffy and one eyebrow was cocked a lot higher than the other... and I'm 38.5 weeks pregnant and I can do that if I want :-)

Come out, little girl, and allow us to make you feel welcome in our home as well!! You will like out here much better, I promise. Your daddy and I are two of the funnest people around town (at least we like to think so).

Seriously, no signs of progression. Lots of BH contractions - and they're getting more frequent - but no real ones. We are majorly amping up the walking, stair climbing, etc. this week.  I am open to any tips for making babies come out of bellies.

These Mice Ain't Mighty!

WARNING!! The following post may not be suitable for young children, weak stomached men, or those with a really really soft spot in their heart for mice...You have been warned!



I bought some of this...

 To feed these.....

 

On this...

But one of these.....

Got into this....

 

   So I borrowed some of these...

 Which helped me do this....

  So now he is in this.....

Thursday

Today was awesome. It did not get above 83 and it felt so good (not that I was outside enjoying it, but on my way in and out of work it felt good). It's not supposed to get out of the low 80's all weekend and that makes me happy. Welcome Fall and welcome football season. I wish I could be in Clemson this weekend with a bunch of my girl friends for the game. But I don't want to drive there. Or stand for 3 hours while watching the game. I want to magically transport myself to Clemson and then watch the game while seated... but who does that?

On a completely unrelated note, here are a few of the comments I received today at work:

(Walking by the VP of Advancement's office, I noticed a look of sadness and pain on her face)
me: What's wrong?!?!
M: Well, you just look so.... BIG.
Thank you for your sympathy.

(A man who likes to occasionally pop his head in just to say hello and offer me donuts popped his head in today...)
J: How do you feel?
me: I feel pretty good, thanks.
J: No you don't. I've seen you walking around here this week. I can tell you don't feel okay.
Oh you're right. I must have forgotten. 

(A woman stops by the office to ask a favor. On her way out she asks...)
J: So can you still drive?
me: um, yes.
What!? Can i still drive? Do I seriously look handicapped?

*I must add that I got a few positive, encouraging comments today
as well. I just posted those so that you could laugh with me on this beautiful Thursday.

"Shield your eyes... She's gonna pop!"

Yes, someone at work actually said this as she passed me in the hall last week (why people think that comments like that are appropriate is still a mystery to me). Unfortunately, as much as I look like it, I am not about to pop (as far as I know). I still have 28 days left until my due date. I have not had any contractions (besides the fake braxton hicks kind), and I have not been to the doctor in a couple weeks so I don't know whether I'm even starting to show any signs of labor yet. I mean, anything could happen, but I'm certainly not banking on her coming early.

Without further ado, here is my 36 week + 1 day picture (not 42 weeks, despite the appearance of this belly).

I must say, for the most part I feel pretty good. Besides getting up to pee a lot, I am still sleeping well, which I am extremely thankful for. Also, the puking has mostly stopped; it only comes randomly about once a week for some reason, but I can definitely handle that.

I would have to say that currently the most uncomfortable thing about being pregnant is the swelling. I am convinced that I have the worst case of pitting edema in history. Okay, I'm sure that's not true, but it certainly feels like it and I think it's gross. I mean, you can literally push a little on my shins and it just sticks like that for like 10 seconds. Schub bought me a maternity massage for my birthday, and I'm almost too embarrassed to use it b/c I don't want someone to massage my legs and watch my skin just stick in place. I am just trying to figure out the right combination of keeping my feet up and walking around for circulation, and I have figured out that wearing tennis shoes instead of flip flops/dress shoes is a HUGE help (it's just difficult to wear tennis shoes with my work clothes). Also, I am trying to drink TONS of water. The nurse that taught our child care class the other day said I should be drinking 4 liters of water a day!! It seems like a ton to me when I picture a two-liter of coke and when I imagine how much I already have to pee. But I have been working on it and today I can proudly say that I have had 4 liters of water, and I'm trying to cut down on my sodium intake.  Hopefully all that will make a little difference after a few days.

I told my boss last week that I won't be returning to work after my maternity leave. It was such a huge relief, and she was extremely supportive and understanding. That's the wonderful thing about working with mostly women. Everyone in the office totally understood and said I was making the right the decision, so I'm really happy about that. I'll have to work right up until she comes, but after that I am home free :-)

I was supposed to have my dr.'s appointment this week where they check me out and make sure she's head down and tell me if I'm starting to show any signs of labor, but I had to reschedule it for next Monday b/c of stuff at work.  After that I will be going every week! Hopefully I'll begin to see some progress and it will give me a better idea of when Adelaide will want to make her grand appearance. But if the crazy dancing in my belly is any indication of how happy she is in there, she will not be coming out for a while!

Ready whenever you are

Well, I FINALLY feel like I will be ready for Adelaide to come any time now.... for the most part. My amazing parents came in town this weekend and helped us set up her "room" (more like her little space/corner) AND they scrubbed and organized our house from top to bottom. I'm not just talking sweeping and vacuuming (of course they did all that too). I'm talking scrubbing baseboards, washing walls, cleaning our windows inside and out, washing our siding, moving furniture, cleaning out the fridge, and reorganizing the pantry (MOST of this on Saturday while Schub and I were at a birthing class from 9a-5p!)... as well as putting this baby space together and helping us organize our piles mountains and mountains of baby stuff.  Here is the outcome.

We only have a 2 bedroom place right now and Schub works from home, so an office for him is a necessity. SO we cleaned out half of the office (the walls were already this color) and made the other half into a space for Adelaide. We figure she will sleep in a bassinet in our room for the first few months, and hopefully by then we will have found a new house to move into where we can set up a real nursery.

My sister/bro-in-law gave us this glider and it is awesome.

Here is the dresser that I refinished... but I haven't finished the knobs yet. Hopefully I'll get to those this week. Do you recognize those tissue balls from earlier in the summer?

Yes, we are going to attempt cloth diapers. We do have some disposables to start out with, but will hopefully move into these cute cloth ones quickly. We ordered mostly gender neutral colors so that we can reuse them with kiddo #2.

The bag is the wet bag for the cloth diapers, and above the door is the license plate that my dad made for Addie this summer when he was in Ghana.

Sweet picture frame that Dana and Brad got for us before they left for China.

This quilt on the back of the glider is actually from the bedding that we ordered. We realize now that we don't really have room in our current space to set up her crib, but we wanted to still incorporate it somehow since we love the pattern and colors so much. When I paint the knobs for the dresser, I'm going to try to make them somewhat match the bedding.

There she is! Picture frame compliments of sister Brooke :-)

This mobile is something else my dad brought back from Ghana this summer. We love it! We don't have the crib set up to hang it over, but it looks PERFECT in front of the window.

What girl's room would be complete without a closet full of clothes??

Her bassinet... all ready to go in our bedroom.

The moses basket all set up downstairs... another hand-me-down from my sister who had 3 boys. My mom felt the need to girly-it-up a little with some pink blankets that Jason's mom Trish a few other people have given us (yes we will take the blankets out before we put her in there).

It has been such a crazy busy summer. I seriously have been getting anxious thinking that we would NEVER get organized and cleaned up enough to have a baby come home with us. This whole weekend has been such a huge relief. I think I'm finally getting to the point where I feel like I'm just ready for her to be here out in the world with us and not in my tummy anymore.  I finally feel like I can get excited and not just freak out (which is how I've been feeling the last few weeks/months).  My house feels clean, there is a place for Adelaide to sleep when she comes home, we have found a space for every baby item we've received, the carseat is in the car, and my belly button is out! Sounds like ready to me!