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! 

Bump Date: Week 29, 30 & 31

31 weeks. Bye toes!

Week 29/30/31

How Far Along?  31 weeks today! We're in the single digits! 9 weeks to go!

Size of the Baby? Baby G is the size of head of lettuce. He is likely measuring 18 inches long and 3.2 lbs. Baby G is going to gain about 1/2 lb a week until we get to his due date!

Maternity Clothes? Yes, ma'am! 

Stretch Marks? None from pregnancy so far! Burt's Bee's Momma and Baby oil has been good to my growing belly. The ones from before.....eh, they weren't going to disappear so who really cares. ;) 

Gender? Boy! 

Name? Benjamin Andersen Garbe! 

Sleep? Sleeping very well, most nights. :) Also taking a lot of naps ---- I took two the day of the baby shower. ;) 

Cravings? Pancakes and tacos. And salads (drenched in ranch, obviously). 

What I Miss? Energy. Family. Framily. :) 

Movement? Yes! Moving a lot ---- more big movements rather than kicking, which my body appreciates. ;) 

Symptoms? Feeling hot. I love this polar vortex. :D Heartburn (they say to avoid spicy food, but I can't give up my tacos). I'm starting to get leg cramps. Those are fun. ;)

Belly Button? In, but it's making it's way out! 

Best Moment of the last three weeks? Schaumburg Baby Shower! Seeing my best friends and framily!

Looking forward to: Continuing to work on the nursery and not having to travel again until after Baby Ben is born. 

Some random thoughts from the last three weeks: 

Last week we toured Ben's future daycare. It was the definition of bittersweet. I'm so glad they were able to accommodate us in their infant program ---- I was told a couple of years ago to put our name on the waiting list "the second you know you're pregnant" and I practically did --- at 9 weeks right after our ultrasound! The center is really secure, clean, and (most importantly) highly recommended by many good friends. The babies looked really happy ---- and the idea that Ben will get to see and play with other babies kind of makes my heart melt (so cute). I also almost cried at one point thinking about leaving Ben to be cared for by someone other than myself or Dave. But! Such is life when you want a career and like to shop travel!

Dave and I have been going to a series of childbirth classes that I've found to be pretty useful. I had a love/hate relationship with this week's class --- it was focused on Comfort Skills and I can tell already Dave is going to be an AWESOME labor partner, but I also felt like the whole "labor is painful" thing was a liiiiitttle bit glossed over. During a video, women were saying things like "when I relaxed my face, it's like the pain just disappeared". Please! I'm not believing that for a second. I also just scheduled a meet and greet with a Pediatric ARNP and also registered at the hospital for labor. Feels great to be crossing items off the to-do list, and it also heightens my anxiety that we've only got about 2 months to go!

We had a baby shower in Schaumburg last weekend, which you know about if you're reading this! It was so beautiful and it was so great to see people who have been such a significant part of my life since childhood. Truly my "framily". I have some really talented and creative people in my life ---- everything was absolutely perfect, and I kept a few decorations for Ben's nursery. I know I keep saying this, and I don't want it to seem disingenuous, but I really am overwhelmed by the amount of love and support we've received during this pregnancy. Everyone is so excited for Ben's arrival, and he has already been spoiled beyond belief and I have a funny feeling that's going to continue. ;) Thank you so much to my lovely hosts!! Some of my favorite pictures from the day:

*Random note: My hospital recently started playing Brahms lullaby over the main intercom whenever a baby is born; however, initially I did not know this and thought I was genuinely having some baby-related hallucinations. Though a cute idea in theory, there were 100 babies born within a ten day period. I'll let you decide if that song gets annoying after a while.

Bump Date: Week 28

Week 28

How Far Along?  28 weeks. Officially in the 3rd trimester! 

Size of the Baby? Baby G is the size of a head of cauliflower. He is approximately 16 in, 2.5 lbs. 

Maternity Clothes? Yes, ma'am! 

Stretch Marks? I plead the fifth. 

Gender? Boy! 

Name? Future US soccer star Ben Garbe! 

Sleep? Been sleeping fairly well. I get up a lot at night and try not to trip over my furry friend Ginny. 

Cravings? I don't even know anymore. Can you just want food? Like, all the food? 

What I Miss? Running. Sitting for a period of time without getting a back ache. ;) 

Movement? Yes! Lost of movement. 

Symptoms? HEARTBURN. But I'm not helping anything by wanting to eat Mexican food all of the time. 

Belly Button? In, and I suspect will be in for quite a while! 

Best Moment of the week? USA advancing in the World Cup! Grandpa Andersen visiting! 

Looking forward to: I needed today off. Maternity leave could not come at a better time for me at work ---- although I will caring for someone who 100% depends on me (and Dave!!), it will be ONE person that I can focus on rather than the 200 patients I've accumulated on my caseload (read: burned. out. big time!). This girl needs a change of pace ---- even if it's a huge, adorable, presumably perfect (what?), life-altering change of pace! I'm also looking forward to putting the dresser together today with my dad, Dave putting the crib together today with my dad, and figuring out what artwork we want in the nursery. :) 

Some pictures from our weekend! We ran up to Dickeyville, WI for some New Glarus beer (I stored some away for me post-baby!) and stopped by Park Farm Winery in Bankston, IA for some wood-fired pizza, wine (I maaaaybe had a delicious sip or two), and a gorgeous view.  

*that glass picture is Dave's. Though pre-pregnancy that was my definition of a "sip", it is not currently. Sadly. ;)

Bump Date: Week 27

Week 27

How Far Along?  27 weeks (last week of the 2nd trimester!)

Size of the Baby? Baby G is the size of a cucumber. He has new measurements now ---- so rather than being crown to rump, he is head-to-toe. Baby G is 15 inches and 2.2 lbs.

Maternity Clothes? Yes, ma'am! Except for US Soccer jerseys and flowy dresses. ;) 

Stretch Marks? None from pregnancy so far!

Gender? Boy! 

Name? Benjamin! Likely my maiden name for his middle name. 

Sleep? I either have a hard time falling asleep and staying up late or I'm falling asleep promptly at 9PM once my head hits the pillow. I also seem to be waking up a bit after midnight when Ben starts kicking a lot. 

Cravings? Sour cream with taco seasoning. Don't try it. It's addicting and guaranteed to give you heartburn. Tacos. I think Dave may need to take me out on a taco date this week! 

What I Miss? Energy. 

Movement? Yes! Lost of movement. I did an interesting 1990's prenatal yoga dvd and Ben kicked the whole time. He also seems to kick a lot during soccer games. ;) 

Symptoms? Tums are my new best friend. Also Zantac. My back is aching, too, if I sit at work for too long. I think I may bring in a big workout ball to sit on. I'm hot all the time, so I'm glad the weather hasn't been too terrible! 

Belly Button? In, and I suspect will be in for quite a while! 

Best Moment of the week? Best: US win over Ghana last Monday. Worst: US tie in the last 30 seconds to Portugal yesterday evening. Though, there was an adorable baby girl at the bar yesterday wearing the onesie shown above and a really cute red/white/blue tutu. How could that not make ya smile. :D 

Looking forward to: A visit from Grandpa Andersen this weekend! Hopefully a win/tie over Germany! Crib and dresser set-up and guest bedroom done! And also some much-needed days off from work. My last days off before baby Ben arrives this Fall. Oh --- and here's hoping I pass my glucose test on Friday ---- a summer without ice cream would be no fun at all. ;) 

Bump Date: Week 26

Week 26

How Far Along?  26 weeks (last Friday...) 

Size of the Baby? Baby G is the size of an eggplant. He is holding out at 9 inches long but is now 2 lbs!

Maternity Clothes? Yes, ma'am! 

Stretch Marks? None from pregnancy so far! Go figure. ;)   

Gender? Boy! 

Name? Benjamin! Likely my maiden name for his middle name. 

Sleep? Still sleeping well once I fall asleep ---- hoping to keep that going for a while. Having some odd dreams, but that's pretty normal for me anyway. 

Cravings? No big cravings this particular week. 

What I Miss? Family and friends. I had an emotional moment last weekend in Schaumburg thinking of how wonderful it was to grow up in that suburb and wanting to end up in a great place for Ben to grow up. 

Movement? Yes! Lost of movement. :) 

Symptoms? Tums are my new best friend. 

Belly Button? In, and I suspect will be in for quite a while! 

Best Moment of the week? Heading to Schaumburg for the weekend and going to our first baby shower for Ben! I had a much needed day of rest on Saturday followed by the wonderful shower thrown by the Garbe family on Sunday. My jaw hurt after the shower from smiling so much. Thanks for taking some wonderful pictures, MommaDonna! I'm going to have to download some of those pictures for Ben's digital baby book. 

Looking forward to: A quiet weekend at home --- I am looking forward to working on our projects this weekend (painting closet doors, continuing to paint trim white; etc.) as well cheering on the USA to win over Portugal on Sunday!

Some weekend pictures: