Closer and Closer!

It's almost Baby Month! It's hard to believe, I don't know where these last 8 months have gone! Last week we had a doctor's appointment and we had our last ultrasound before the baby comes. This was basically just to check the growth, do some measurements and make sure the baby was in the correct position - head down. Everything looked great! Baby is head down and measurements were right on track! The doctor estimated the baby was weighing in right around 5 1/2lbs. So if the baby gains about a 1/2lb a week from here until my due date, that would be about a 7 1/2lb baby! Again, all just an estimate, but that's a size I'm okay with! :) I also had the Group B Strep test done and that came back negative so no antibiotics during the birth. So, overall the appointment was great and things are progressing already. During the ultrasound as well, we tried to get another look at baby's face but again, it had a hand up there the whole time! Throughout this entire pregnancy, every ultrasound has shown a little hand in front of the face! The doctor made a comment that this is probably how the baby is going to sleep when he/she arrives! I don't doubt it! But I am eager to finally get a good look at this little one! :) 

That appointment was also the first of our weekly visits! We're now at the doctor's every week until this baby comes. So we had another appointment yesterday! This was just a quick belly check - measuring right on track at 36 1/2 weeks! And listening to the baby's heartbeat, which was in the high 140's. So everything is great! 

Now that we're basically a month out and that the baby could come early, we spent some time this past weekend making sure we have everything ready for when this baby comes! We got the bassinet set up in the bedroom. Looking at it, it's hard to imagine that soon a little baby will be sleeping in there! I also got most of the hospital bag packed! I just need to add a couple more things and then some clothes for Austin as well. One thing that we meant to do, but didn't get done yet, is install the car seat! Need to make sure we know what we're doing before this little one arrives! 

I also have a small list of things to go and buy that I would really like to have or need before the baby comes. Hopefully we'll get that done this weekend. And finally, just going through all the amazing things we got from baby showers and sorting out what we need right away and what can be packed until we move. 

Austin finished with school last week, or at least with students. But that doesn't mean he hasn't been any less busy! Right now he's been spending a lot of time working on the choir CD and getting that finalized. Riverside is actually doing a Celebrate Riverside day this upcoming weekend and Austin will be there, along with the new director they hired, to showcase all the amazing accomplishments the choir had over the past year and sell CDs. It will be his last hurrah at Riverside, so a bittersweet day for sure. He's also been busy packing up his office at the school and I'm amazed at how much stuff he's accumulated over the past three years! 

A couple of weekends ago, we traveled to Dubuque for my sister's graduation from Wartburg Seminary! It was pretty awesome to see her graduate after four years of hard work! I'm excited to see where the next phase of her life will be! It was also nice to spend some time with family while we were there, even if it was just a short trip. Although I must also say, that this trip was my last before the baby comes and I was very excited about that as well! Long car rides have just gotten too uncomfortable for me! It's nice to know I don't have any long drives until after the baby comes! This past weekend, Austin went back to Tipton for a friend's wedding. It's never fun being apart from him and I was praying the whole time he was gone that I wouldn't go into labor! But I think he had a nice, and again short, trip back home. It will be nice once we move to be closer so that these short trips won't be as much of a hassle - especially since we'll have a baby to bring along! 

So that's about it for us. No big plans now until this baby arrives! I'm hoping now that Austin is done with school, he'll be able to do some more packing around the house for me. :) He'll also be doing some voice lessons up until the baby comes. I'm also still working and plan on working as long as I can. Although it is getting a little bit harder every day! As the due date gets closer, I'm becoming more uncomfortable. I've also had some of my morning sickness return, which isn't fun at all. Let me tell you, it's a lot harder to bend over a toilet at 8 months than it was during my first trimester! Ha! I'm also have more and more heartburn when I lay down to sleep at night, so that's been keeping me up as well. I know, I know - the lack of sleep is just preparing me for when this little one is here, but I'd sure love some sleep now! :) 

Hello Third Trimester!

For whatever reason, for both Austin and I, it seemed like our time between our last doctor's appointment until now has been forever! And yes, there was an extra week in there due to my traveling but it felt much longer than it actually was. We sure to like being able to see this little baby or at least hear the heartbeat! :) But because of my traveling, we ended up having two doctor appointments, just a week apart - no big deal to us! 

Our first appointment was Monday, the 25th. At this appointment we had a 3-D ultrasound to get pictures of the baby's face. Well apparently this baby is going to be stubborn like both mommy and daddy... :) Baby Z kept both hands in front of it's face the whole time! At the very beginning, it even had a foot up there as well! Maybe it just didn't want to be photographed today! The doctor did measurements and everything is measuring perfectly, which is great! He kept going back to try and get picture of the face, but nothing. We tried talking and getting the baby to move, and it was moving, just not the hands! :)

I've said from the beginning that this baby is going to come out talking, something it'll take after it's father... ;) Well one of the first things we saw at this appointment was the baby with it's mouth open in a little "o". Already practice talking in there! 

Here are some pictures from this appointment: 

This is about the best we could do for a face shot. It's a side profile, you can see an ear, an eye, some of the mouth and of course that hand up in front of the face!

See that fuzzy stuff? That's hair on our baby's head! :) 

This picture makes me smile but it's really hard to see. It's a straight shot of the baby's face. There's a small arrow pointing to a black hole - that's the baby's mouth, wide open and probably talking away! :) 

The nice thing was since we were going to be back at the doctor's in just a week, they said we could try again to get some better pictures then! 

Our next appointment was just this past Monday. At this appointment we again were going to try to get some pictures of the baby face, but the biggest event at this appointment was my one hour glucose test. This is a test to check for gestational diabetes. Basically they make you drink these orange drink full of sugar and then an hour later, take your blood to check that your body is processing sugar correctly. If you fail this test, you then have to go back in for a three hour test. 

I have to tell you I was dreading this appointment. I don't always do the best with drinking weird drinks and I'm definitely not good with getting my blood drawn! So needless to say, I was nervous. But I will admit that the drink was not nearly as bad as I was expecting and it was pretty easy to drink. Then getting my blood drawn, I lucked out and got someone who really knew what he was doing and again, it was pretty painless. And then we had to wait for the results. 

I got the call the next morning and I'm happy to report that I have passed the glucose test!! :) I can't even tell you how happy this makes me! I did not want to have to go back for the three hour test. Any time I don't have to go the doctor, I'm going to take it! So I'm one very happy pregnant lady! 

Back to the appointment... we did try another 3-D ultrasound to get pictures of the baby's face. All day before the appointment, the baby was moving around so I was really hoping we'd have better luck this time! The nurse also joked that after drinking the sugar drink, maybe that would get the baby moving! Well, instead we got to see our stubborn little baby! It still had a hand up in front of the face, along with the cord. And then the little bugger kept moving it's face towards my back. So we unfortunately didn't get any pictures. This baby just really wants to surprise us when it arrives! :) 

They did check measurements again and it seems that this baby is growing at a fast rate! At the time of the appointment I was 28 weeks and 1 day along. The baby, however, was measuring at 29 weeks and 2 days! I've joked all along that I didn't want a real big baby, but it's not looking too good for me! :) The doctor said they'd keep an eye on the size though. We'll have another ultrasound closer to the due date to check for growth. 

Overall, things with the pregnancy have been going well. I haven't had any complications or any real problems, and for that we are very grateful. I am, of course, dealing with a variety of the "fun" symptoms that come along with pregnancy however. But I suppose it's all just part of the package! :) 

The baby has continued to be on the move inside of me! The movements have been getting a little bit harder but still pretty constant at times. I have to say, this is one of my favorite things about being pregnant. Now, I won't say that if the baby is kicking away at me and I'm trying to sleep, but for the most part, I love it. :) It's still crazy to think a little baby is growing in there but the movements make it so real. I've actually gotten sad thinking about once the baby is born, I won't have those movements inside of me anymore! I will, of course, have the little baby to hold in my arms though! 

It's hard to believe but I'm now in my third trimester! Last leg of the race, I guess! We're now going in to the doctor every two weeks. We start our baby classes next week and soon we'll have to start getting things ready like our birth plan and packing a hospital bag! June is going to be here before we know it! I was just telling Austin the other day that it feels like this pregnancy has just flown by. But if you were to talk to me during that first trimester when I was feeling sick every day, I would have told you it could hurry up! Now I think it could slow down a little! :)