Bump Date: Week 36 & 37

Oreo wanted in on the action 

Week 37

How Far Along?  37 weeks today! Baby G is technically full-term, though we hope he makes it to 40 weeks. :)

Size of the Baby? Baby G is the size of a watermelon. He is anywhere from 19-22 inches long and likely around 6.5 pounds. 

Maternity Clothes? Nothing truly "fits" anymore. My maternity pants for work are hanging out at my ankles because they are pulled up around my belly so much now.  Stylin'. Also, my feet are about a half-size bigger from being a little swollen, which makes me thankful for the pair of shoes I've kept that were always a little bit too big! 

Stretch Marks? I plead the fifth. 

Gender? Boy! 

Name? Ben Garbe! 

Sleep? I get some sleep. 

Cravings? I'm back to the beginning: lemonade, baked goods, iced lattes (oh wait, that's all the time, even when I'm not pregnant). 

Also these: 

What I Miss? All I think about is running. I miss running. I won't miss it so much when I'm starting to run again. ;) 

Movement? Yes! He seems to be more active during the daytime hours now. :) 

Symptoms? Tired! Mornings are great, but by the time I get home from work I am exhausted. When people want to do things after work, I think they're crazy. ;) I'm also swelling a bit, but nothing too bad. I still have my wedding ring on, though I haven't been wearing my engagement ring in case I swell up suddenly and it needs to be cut off. ;) I'm definitely nesting --- we sanitized all of his bottles/feeding supplies and have been organizing every weekend (which really just tells you that we haven't truly organized our house since moving in almost, eh, 5 years ago....). His bedding/0-3 month clothes/towels/burp cloths have been washed and are ready to go!

Belly Button? Still in! 

Best Moments of the last couple of weeks? Nursery is nearly complete! I still have to get one more decoration up and make a ribbon mobile. I'll take some pictures soon! We've been organizing our room and have a few more baby items to pick up before baby arrives. 
Looking forward to: Meeting Ben! We have our hospital tour today, and I've got my bag (mostly) packed and ready to go. We're going to pick out a "coming home" outfit for Ben this weekend and finish up getting/organizing the last of the baby items. I'd love to spend the next three weeks just relaxing and enjoying our last few weeks of being married with no children.

And maybe get a pedicure. (hint, hint daddy-to-be!) ;)

Happy Friday!

Bump Date: Weeks 34 and 35

Week 35

How Far Along?  35 weeks today!

Size of the Baby? Baby G is the size of a large cantaloupe. He is anywhere from 19 - 22 in and 5.5 lbs. (He'll probably just gain 2 more pounds in the next five weeks and be the perfect size. Right?!?!)

Maternity Clothes? Yes, ma'am! Even that's starting to be a bit of a struggle. Yoga pants should be part of an acceptable "maternity dress code" at work. ;)

Stretch Marks? I plead the fifth. 

Gender? Boy! 

Name? Benjamin Andersen Garbe. 

Sleep? Sleep is not going so well, but I'm getting used to it. 

Cravings?  Wendy's frostys ---- I had quite a few home visits this week, and (understandably so) no one else has the air conditioner blasted to the arctic temperatures I've gotten used to at home. There is a Wendys two blocks from the hospital...at $1 a frosty, how can an 8.5 month pregnant woman say no?? 

Yesterday I also got a large lemonade from Panera after two challenging home visits. They have the best lemonade. I've also had approximately one thousand iced whole milk lattes from the local coffee shop. 

Though I recognize we've basically had Fall weather all summer, I'm still hot, people. ;) (Thank you, weather gods.) 

What I Miss? I've gotten to the point where I feel like a whale. So, I guess I miss not feeling like a whale.  

Movement? Yes! He's kicking me in the ribs all the time. He parties all night. He seems to sleep when I'm walking/active. 

Symptoms? Heartburn hasn't been as bad this week (yay!). Fatigue hasn't been as bad, either. I don't know why, but I think weeks 32-34 were really tough for me and this week has been pretty nice. 

Belly Button? Still in! 

Best Moments of the last couple of weeks? 34 week appointment went well! He's growing right on track and heartbeat sounds great. We met our Pediatric ARNP and she seems wonderful. I'll be happy to have her taking care of Ben after he's born and the clinic is a 10 minute drive from our house. We booked our photographer for newborn photos. I went back and forth about whether it was really "necessary" to take professional newborn photos --- but, um, YES, in the end we decided it was 100% necessary to have photos of our squishy newborn with some sort of cute hat on/in a wagon/in a basket/any other ridiculously cute scenario. Our hospital tour is scheduled for two weeks from now (literally the day I am technically full-term!) and I meet with HR today about maternity leave. We're getting a lot of these super important tasks completed and it makes me less anxious every week! I had a work shower a couple of weeks ago, and it was such a sweet shower. One of my co-workers ordered this awesome "diaper cake": 

So cute!! 

We have a working vacuum!!!!! 

Also loving coming home to some surprise gifts from Ben's Grandmas and Aunt! Adorable outfits, handmade keepsakes, and books --- it really brightens my day! (Read: I get all giggly and turn to mush.)

Looking forward to: Decorating the nursery this weekend! All of our artwork should be here by end of day today or tomorrow, so Sunday will be the day we put everything together. :) I'm also really looking forward to meeting Ben. I really hope we get to 40 weeks for all the health benefits, but as we get closer to 37 weeks, I'm so happy to get to the point where he'll be considered full-term and we don't have to worry as much if he arrives early. :)

Bump Date: Week 32 & 33

Week 33

How Far Along?  33 weeks today!

Size of the Baby? Baby G is the size of a honeydew. He is approximately 19 in and 4.5 lbs. 

Maternity Clothes? Yes, ma'am! And yoga pants all weekend long. Yoga pants are the best --- and you don't even need maternity ones!! 

Stretch Marks? I plead the fifth. 

Gender? Boy! 

Name? Ben! 

Sleep? My blissful nights of sleep are over. If it's not heartburn waking me up, I'm going to the bathroom 3x a night or having some serious pregnancy insomnia. Gotta get used to it. ;) 

Cravings? Still loving homemade pancakes, any tacos, ranch dressing on salads. And maybe this happened last night after a rough week: 

Baby loves ice cream. 

Disclaimer: That WAS split between Dave, myself and baby. ;) We haven't gone out for ice cream all summer ----- it needed to happen!! 

I won't get into how many times we've been to Chipotle since it's opened. 

What I Miss? Walking quickly. Even when I think I'm really moving --- I'm like a tortoise. 

Movement? Yes! He's definitely running out of room and now it's mostly BIG movements. I can also feel him hiccuping, which is pretty much the cutest thing ever. 

Symptoms? The worst. heartburn. of. my. life. TUMS are my best friend. I'm also tired all. of. the. time.

Some quirky aversions: A coworker brought in angel food cake for her birthday. I took a big bite (usually love it) and had to immediately spit it out in my garbage can. Sorry, office mate! And parsley --- I am not usually a big fan of parsley anyway, but I can at least stand it if it's mixed in a pasta or something (we're oregano and basil types around here). I had a smart ones (was trying to be good because I was craving fettuccine!) and it was COVERED in parsley. I had to throw out half my lunch after gagging. Boo to parsley. 

Belly Button? Still in! 

Best Moments of the last couple of weeks? 32 week appointment last week was great --- everything is looking good so far! I love hearing that heartbeat. :D Next appt is at 34 weeks, and then I'll start going in weekly from 36 - 40. We finally finished our childbirth classes --- I feel a little more prepared than before, though having a baby just seems like something that you can't prepare yourself for, no matter what! 

We have a functioning garage door!! This happened quite a while ago, but our garage door bit the dust. We knew it wasn't going to last very long after last winter, but finally the spring broke and we had to fix it. Not a bad time of year for the door to break --- I'm so glad it's fully functioning prior to Ben's arrival! 

Worst (and funny) moment: Also a bit ago --- our Dyson AND our backup vacuum stopped working at the same time. Initially, I wasn't too upset about it ---- but there maaaay have been a weekend when I maaaay have started to cry about it while sitting in the nursery (just thought I'd give a good visual of my hormonal distress). Dave may have been the best husband ever and vacuumed our entire house with a vacuum attachment. This memory had to be documented. ;) 

Seriously, though, you can't have a golden retriever and not have a functioning vacuum. Woah. This nester needs to vacuum every inch of the house, like, weekly. ;) 

Looking forward to: Ben's final baby shower is this weekend (we have a couple planned post-birth, too --- this kid is spoiled!!). A few coworkers are putting together a brunch with my favorite people from work. I am also looking forward to decorating the nursery this month!! We have a few things on Etsy we are planning on ordering and here is a sneak peak of the adorable bunting Nana Patti sewed for the nursery:

 So cute!!!

Nana Patti also sewed some adorable burp cloths for Ben!