36 & 37 Weeks

August 15 & 22,2013

Baby news: Our baby is 19.5 inches and 6.8 pounds!

How far along? 37 weeks- Madison is officially full term! If she were to be born now, she would be very healthy and a good size. 

Total weight gain/loss: 18 pounds...definitely feeling these 3 pounds over the past couple weeks. My belly button is still hanging on, but starting to stick out a little more. 

Sleep: Thankfully I have been sleeping a little better. I still wake up every 1-2 hours and rolling over is extremely painful. I am thankful that I have been feeling more rested lately. I get up at least 3 times a night to go to the bathroom, between midnight to 6am, which is comical at this point. 

Best moment this week: I have almost made it through back to school week for the teachers! I knew this week would be busy with professional development, but it hasn't been as rough as I was expecting. Monday I didn't feel great most of the day, but the rest of the week has been good. 

We also got Madison's bag for the hospital packed! 4 onesies, 3 pants, 2 bows....makes perfect sense for a 2 day hospital stay! I have started to get stuff together for my bag, but need to finish it up. 

Cravings: I still can't get enough orange juice! I have also been eating alot of ice lately. 

Movement: Poor little lady is running out of room. =( She is trying to find extra room and loves to cuddle in my rib at night. Last night she must have been trying to stretch out because I have never felt her push on my stomach that hard. 

Wedding rings/Swelling: Rings are officially off. I have been wearing another ring that I have in place of my wedding rings. Since I can't wear my wedding rings, I took them to the jeweler to get cleaned and fixed. They will look like new when I can wear them again! 

Mood: My mom said it perfect when she said the last month feels like all 9 rolled into 1! When I am feeling good, I have great days and feel like I will have no problem making it 3 more weeks. When things get rough, it makes the day pass slow. It is getting exciting to think that I could go into labor any day now! I am a planner, so of course I want to try and control everything.  I am definitely not in control of things right now, it's all on Madison! I guess it is just preparing me for motherhood. =)

Looking forward to: This weekend we are going to see Michael, Heather and the kids. It has already been a month since we saw them and the twins have grown so much! Looking forward to seeing all 4 kiddos before school starts and before Madison gets here. 

Anything Else?? A little backstory... Before we went to Disney World, Tegan and Cainan got Michael and Heathers old iPhones so they could play games and take pictures of their own. Tegan recently found out she can text and FaceTime us through an email address. Heather added some contacts to her phone so she can text us and other family members. 

Tegan has definitely enjoyed texting and face timing this summer. I get. Good morning text almost everyday and my heart melts. Last week we were talking about Cainan, Brennin and Westin's birthday, which are all on the same day in September. It is also shortly after Madison's due date, so I was telling Tegan that I didn't think we would be coming to their birthday party this year. Her words of wisdom..."bring Madison and I will keep her in my room so no one touches her." She is going to be such a great big cousin! 

 Madison's coming home outfit...a girl has to have choices! 

 Finding the joy in being 9 months pregnant...using your belly as a table!

We are pretty much obsessed with the Geico Hump Day commercial right now. I think Eric is secretly hoping Madison will be born on a Wednesday. =)  http://youtu.be/kWBhP0EQ1lA 

34 & 35 Weeks

August 1 & 8,2013

Baby news: Our baby is 18.5 inches and 5.75 pounds!

How far along? 35 weeks- Madison's birthday is quickly approaching!

Total weight gain/loss: 15 pounds...silly as it may sound, I have lost track of the exact amount since I go twice a week. I have been fluctuating up or down a couple pounds the last 2 weeks. 

Sleep: Thankfully I have been sleeping a little better. I still wake up every 1-2 hours and rolling over is extremely painful. I am thankful that I have been feeling more rested lately. We have had a few days on the weekend where we just stay home all day and I will take at least a couple naps. 

Best moment this week: A couple weeks ago we had an amazing baby shower thrown by Georgina, Leslie, Carol and Heather. We were showered with love and presents for Madison! The whole weekend was fun and we enjoyed getting to see many special people in our lives. My Aunt Donna, Uncle Mike and Meme came and stayed with my parents. We had Brandi, Drew, Tripp, Brody, and Michael and Heather's crew stay at our house...yes...that's 10 people staying at our house. 😉

We also celebrated my moms birthday with a Bachelorette finale party! We enjoyed chicken and rice & bundt cakes for dessert. 

Cravings: Orange juice! We bought two cartons at the store this week, hopefully that will last the week! A few weeks ago when Madison wasn't moving much I had to drink a lot of orange juice over a 2 day period. Apparently it turned into a craving. 

Movement: Madison has been moving a lot better since I have been getting monitored twice a week. She isn't making as many kicks, but there are tons of huge movements across my whole stomach. I am nothing but baby now! I feel her everywhere in my stomach. 

Wedding rings/Swelling: Rings are officially off. 😔 It has been so HOT lately that I can't stand to have much jewelry on. Still no true swelling, but it is definitely hot outside!

Mood: I have been trying to stay positive. Most days are good, but there are starting to be some tough days. I keep reminding myself how fast the next 5 weeks will go. I have slowed down within the past week and I'm finally having to admit to myself that I need more help and can't do as much as I would like to be doing. My parents and Eric have been great helping me get things done. 

Looking forward to: Slowly there are more people coming back to school. It is nice to see more of the teachers and I can't wait to see the kids on the first day of school. We are supposed to get another ultrasound in the next couple weeks, so I can't wait to see Madison again. I keep trying to figure out where all her body parts are as she moves around. 

Anything Else?? My doctor's visits have been going well. It takes some planning to be able to go twice a week with being back at work, but it makes me feel better to get Madison checked on. The day after my mom's birthday (Tuesday 8/6) I went to the doctor. I didn't feel great and was really tired. I was monitored for about 30 minutes and the nurse said Madison wasn't showing what they like to see, so the nurse had me lay on my side and drink some water. She moved a little but not much. After a few more minutes, the dr came in and said he was going to shock her to get her moving. I barely had time to ask what that meant before he did it! He took this little thing that looks like a microdermabrasion buzzer for your face and buzzed my stomach. She went crazy! You can see on the picture...to the left of the writing is before the shock and to the right is after the shock. She has been much more cooperative since then!

Here are some more pictures from the past 2 weeks.