35 Week Pregnancy Update

I just got back from my 35 week OB and everything still seems to get going well. I measured 36 cm and weighed 149 lbs. So far I've gained over 30 pounds (about 4 in the last two weeks)! I am having a lot of people tell me that they can tell I've gotten bigger in just the last two weeks and I guess my previous sentence backs those comments up. I do feel like I am "rounding" out and am bumping into things with my belly a lot more than before. Today at work Janice said "Your baby really sticks out pretty far!" and I had people at the spa last night ask if I was due any day now! See for yourself in this picture that John took on Tuesday night (just before bed, thus the pj's).

Yes, you read correctly above. I did write S-P-A, spa. For my birthday, John got me a gift certificate for a "Mommy-to-be Pampering Package" and I am taking advantage of it between last night and tomorrow morning. Last night I got a pedicure and manicure and Saturday morning before our baby shower. The lady who did my nails told me that she's had women go into labor during pedicures before as a result of the leg and foot massage which hits all the pressure points. She did go light on me and I'm still here! Not ready for the baby yet!

We are getting more prepared for the arrival, however. Since my last post, we've gone to our birthing classes which taught us breathing techniques and gave us a tour of the beautiful birthing suites and postpartum rooms. We also went to a baby care class, painted the nursery a very soothing light green and got the crib up. The nursery is definitely taking shape. With the help of our parents, we were able to paint the nursery, move in the fish tank, glider rocking chair, bookshelf and changing table all last weekend! (I just noticed that the nursery color is similar to the background of the blog. Hopefully most of you will also get to see it in person but I will try to get pics up after everything's in order.)

Along with gaining the weight and bigger comes the fun of getting more awkward and slow down. Up until just a few weeks ago I could still keep up with most people while walking. It is getting a lot harder to walk fast now and notice myself getting more out of breath. Luckily, at our new work location I was placed pretty close to both the printer and restroom, both of which I use very often! Next week I start my 24 hour work weeks and am really looking forward to relaxing at home a little more and getting even more prepared for the baby. 5 more weeks - I know these weeks will fly and Baby Lewis will be here before we know it!

Our Series of Unfortunate Events

I knew the new year was not going to start off on the best foot and our recent series of unfortunate events proves it. John says that things come in three's so hopefully we're good for awhile now. The good thing is that in the end, everything eventually turned out OK.

The first unfortunate event happened the first week of January. Our laundry area is right where you come in from the garage and on the floor we have a collection of carpet samples covering the linoleum. We noticed one night that some of the squares were drenched with water. At that time, we couldn't feel that anything else was wet and just left it alone. The next night I investigated even more and noticed that there was water under almost all the carpet and the water was coming from the washing machine. I mopped up all the water and when John came home he turned off the water. We did have to do laundry so turned the water back on and a few days after we noticed more water coming out. Luckily, John was able to figure out that it was just a water hose that had come loose. He had to clean out the area and move the washer & dryer ahead, but he was able to secure the hose and now no more water leaks!

The second unfortunate event happened on January 14th. We knew that things are going downhill for the company I work for and that changes were going to be coming/announced that week. It just so happened that I was told my position would be eliminated and my last day would be in 2 weeks. They let me go home for the afternoon and work from home on Friday. John and I immediately started thinking of switching over our health insurance to Home Depot's and making other such plans. My two other team members at work were so upset that I was being let go that just a few days later they came up with an idea where if they reduced their hours maybe I could stay on part time, too. Everyone at the company liked that idea. Janice and Kelli will go down to 32 hours/week and I will stay on at 24 hours/week. As disgusted as I am with YA right now that they would do this to me (especially being 8 months pregnant and not even knowing half of what I do for the company), it is nice to know that I am blessed with such wonderful co-workers and also be able to keep our insurance and some money coming in.

The last unfortunate event came on Tuesday night, January 19th. As John was driving home from work (he closed that night so this was around 9:30 or 10), he noticed his car acting up. The dashboard lights started to get dim and he noticed a funky smell. He took the 101 exit off of 212 and made it a block from Kwik Trip when his car completely died. He called his dad and they tried to jump start his car but each time they did it only went a few seconds before dying. A state trooper happened to drive past and push John over to the Kwik Trip. Since my dad is pretty good with cars and anything with a motor, we called him up for advice. We all kind of figured it was the alternator that had gone out so the next day he picked up John, picked up a new alternator and headed over to Kwik Trip to put it in. They got lucky and it worked! John was also a little excited that he got to help fix his own car! I'm just glad that we were able to fix it with our parents' help and didn't have to get a tow and pay for labor.

This has definitely been quite the month but glad that everything seems to be working out in the end. Tomorrow, my team at work will be moving to a new building. Right now we are in Chanhassen but since the lease is up on the building we are moving to the Young America building. I am excited for a much shorter commute. That mixed in with my shortened days (I will probably work four 6-hour days and have Friday off) should help me relax this last month of my pregnancy.

Not John!

This incident happened about a month ago, but is still blog worthy. I think this is one of the funniest John stories ever!

It was Monday, December 21st, and John and I had just gotten back from the hospital where we went to visit my Dad who had just gotten out of gall bladder surgery. Since we went to the hospital right after I got home from work, neither of us had eaten anything for dinner. So, around 9:00 we started cooking. I boiled up some rice noodles (very nutritious, I know) and John prepared a box of mac & cheese. Being that it was late at night we just wanted to unwind and planned on eating in the living room. John headed into the living room first while I finished plating my food in the kitchen.

I remember seeing John sit about half-way down on the couch, stand up really quick and then call me over to him. I first started thinking that he split his pants when he went to sit down. But, even better! When he turned around for me to look, there was a huge circle of wet, orange, mushy cheese along with a few noodles hanging off the bottom-side of his jeans. He had set his plate of mac & cheese on the couch and sat on it! As John was sitting down, he remembered thinking "where is my plate and what is so squishy... oh, no!"

Needless-to-say, we had quite a good laugh over this. I hope this story brightens your week!

Almost 32 Week Pregnancy Update

I am almost 32 weeks along already - about 8 more weeks to go - only 2 months from yesterday!

John and I have renamed January "the month of preparation". I think what's made the pregnancy go so fast is the fact that, while we're excited about having the baby, we haven't been doing a lot of real prep work. The Christmas season also helped keep our focus else-where. It did just hit me, though, that I really only have 2 months now to get the nursery and house ready and learn how to take care of a baby!

What do we have planned for this month? We have birthing classes scheduled for January 16-17, hoping to paint the nursery on the 23rd (ended up finding the bedding at BabiesRUs on Monday so now we can get the paint color), need to register for the breastfeeding class on the 28th, and our baby shower is scheduled for the 30th. I'm still going strong now, but just thinking about all this is making me tired! We kind of forgot to create our registries until just last weekend so at least that part is done and out of the way!

Everything still seems to be going well with me. Emotions are running wild and my appetite is kicking in again and so are BIB's movements. So far I've gained about 27 pounds, although I don't know where it all went to. Maybe we'll have a big baby! I have to go in for more blood tests tomorrow just to make sure that nothing is changing. The doctors think that my antibody levels reading abnormal just because of extra sensitive equipment. I am still sleeping pretty well throughout the night...once I get to sleep, that is. BIB seems to get the hiccups every night which makes it harder to get to sleep than the kicking alone. John doesn't know how I am able to sleep with all the kicking. I'm probably just so tired that it doesn't matter!