38 week Update

Technically, I'm 38 weeks and 4 days so this post is a little late, but better than nothing!

Look at me! I'm all belly now. 38 weeks, 1 day.

Sanchito is doing GREAT! As of last Tuesday (8/17) his tummy grew from the 12th percentile to the 46th percentile so there's no need for inducing labor. Plus, I've also grown to 34 cm, I'm 2 cm dilated, and 80% effaced. And I've gained more weight....but we won't get into that. My migraines have come back and I don't like it one bit! From the weather changing, to my lower back aching, my hormones fluctuating, and the stress and anxiety compiling, I usually have a migraine every other day. Before, in the winter, I would just put a steaming rice bag on my head and all would be fine. But, I really don't want to do that in 80 degree weather and ice just makes it worse. So, my doctor ordered me to drink some caffeine and take Tylenol as needed. I've hardly consumed soda my second and third trimesters and I've had absolutely no caffeine. I forgot how yummy cherry vanilla Pepsi is and it's hard not to drink it. I have to remind myself that it is for medicinal uses. And it works so well. No migraine tonight!

I thought my tooth died the other night. It was hurting so much and the gums were bleeding pretty badly. Steven asked me when the last time I went to the dentist, and all I could remember was that it was last year and it was snowing. So, I figured it was time for another check up and cleaning. The total number of cavities I have is............................ZERO! I was pretty surprised but over all very grateful. My teeth and gums just hurt because of all the swelling from the pregnancy. I was scared the baby had sucked out all the calcium from my teeth but I guess popping tums daily has paid off.

I have to go right now. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and milk half an hour ago and promised myself I wouldn't eat it until I had written on here. It's pretty soggy. I hope it's still good. Thanks for reading!

Is he here yet?!

37 weeks done, 3 more to go. I want him RIGHT NOW!!! Nothing much has happened as of late. I did grow 1 cm last week, and we'll find out on Tuesday if Sanchito has been growing too. It's getting unbelievably hard to breathe and do things. I can be active for twenty minutes or so and then I need to go rest for half an hour. My ribs on my right side have been hurting like none other. It feels as if the muscles around my ribcage are being ripped to pieces. As my tummy gets bigger, it gets droopier, thus stretching all the skin down. I am definitely going swimming this week to get the weight off. Sanchito is getting very strong. His kicks have been leaving me breathless and motionless. If only he could kick the amniotic sack open and finally be born.

Poor Mayfield. I think he realizes that something cuter than him is coming. While my mom and I sorted baby clothes, he fell asleep in the pile. I covered him with all the blankies I received at the baby shower.

37 weeks. Bleh.

My awesome baby bag. I love the pattern and colors. It's made out of material that is easy to wipe down and the inside has lots of pockets.

Our Snuggle Nest! This is one item I have been very excited about. I saw it in a magazine and knew right away that I wanted it. It'll keep the baby near us at night, and the railings will keep us from rolling onto our child. I hope the baby likes it as much as we do.

Baby Nursery!

I can't believe we finally have our baby's room already to go! For more than a year, this room has been known as "the back bedroom." I referred to as the Room of Requirement as it turned into whatever room I needed it to be. But mostly, it was a junk room where all our mess went that we didn't want to clean up. But now it is officially the baby's nursery.

BEFORE

AFTER

For its conversion, we baptized the walls in a light cucumber green paint. We don't have an official crib yet. We're going to buy a brand new one a few months when the baby gets bigger and grows out of the small portable crib that was donated to us. I still need to do some finishing touches like make cute curtains, put up some pictures on the wall, and put some shelving up.

A few months ago, we went to the Salvation Army to look at furniture. I knew I did NOT want a brand new dresser from Wal-Mart or Target that was going to fall apart within a year. The cheapest dressers I could find from those stores go around $100 and they are made of particle board, aka the sausage of wood. We went to the Salvation Army to look for a real dresser made out of real wood and found one in amazing condition for $60. We also saw a glider rocking chair for $40 but we figured $100 was pushing it for our baby monthly budget. We went to purchase the dresser and found out, since it was Memorial weekend, everything was half off including furniture! We were so happy to be able to buy both the dresser and the glider for $60! Our thriftiness really paid off. My family came over in the beginning of July to help us paint the baby's room, strip the dresser for painting, and fix up the rocking chair. I'm so glad everything turned out so well!

BEFORE

AFTER

Little Mrs. Crafty Pants

Boy, have I been busy these past few weeks! To keep within my baby budget, I decided to make some items that I could have bought at the store, but then we wouldn't be able to pay our hospital bills. My mom and my friend Amber let me use their sewing machines and I thank them so much for it!

I made a nursing cover for around $5! I used these directions: http://blisstree.com/live/free-pattern-to-sew-your-own-nursing-cover/ My sewing wasn't perfect but I don't think the baby will mind. You can call it a "nursing cover," an "utter shutter," or a "hooter hider."

Look at those cute little footsies!

I bought the fabric at Hobby Lobby for $3. Having a boy, I didn't get to add anything pink the nursery. I figured pink was okay in the nursing cover since nursing is a very womanly thing.

My second project was my Boppy pillow. A pillow already packaged with a cover costs about $50 at the store. But an uncovered pillow at JoAnne's was $20. My friend, Mindy, and I decided to buy the JoAnne pillows and make our own covers. We used Amber's sewing machines and her help, and the pillows turned out cute and very comfy.

Aww, my sweet fake baby snoozing in his Boppy.



I made two covers. One is a froggy design and the other is this cute brown and teal pattern.

Mindy used a cute teddy bear pattern for her pillow.

Mindy and her pillow. She's going to have the cutest baby girl!

Nobody can do it like Mom can

For the past month or so my mom has come over once a week to help me clean my house. It's been such a blessing to have her live close enough that she can do this for me. Without her the bottom half of the house would never be clean. What used to take one second to bend over and pick up now takes a minute of strategy, dexterity, and mobility. So, my mom is now my picker-icker-upper.

Two weeks ago, Mom cleaned my basement bathroom. When my brother-in-law moved out, I had him clean the bathroom since that's the one he used all the time. Sure, it was clean but...something was off. So, my mom cleaned it and she did such an amazing job. Nobody can clean a bathroom like my mom can. Just give her some Comet and she can work miracles. The bathroom instantly had my seal of approval when I smelled the Comet. I was back in childhood when my mom would clean the bathrooms and I knew everything was clean, sanitized, and okay to use again. I almost didn't want to go to the bathroom in fear of tainting such hallowed cleaning, but I didn't want to pee my pants either. I cleaned my main floor bathroom today and used Comet...but it just wasn't the same. There was no special Comet smell, my tub still has a few dirty streaks, and it hasn't been Mommified.

I started thinking of all the things only Mom can do and here's what I came up with:

-hot chocolate: Mom stirs it in such a way that there's never any powder floating on top. Her hot chocolate is never burnt, never too watery or too chocolaty. Mine always comes out with burnt powder islands floating on top.

-scrambled eggs: I think everyone thinks that no one can mimic their own mother's scrambled eggs. I've come up with good enough eggs for me and Steven, but not like my mom's.

-chocolate chip cookies: Mom's cookies always come out big, thick, moist, and full of yummy goodness. I've studied her cookie baking skills to no avail. Mine still come out small, flat, and dry.

-perfect cursive: sure, it's an endangered species of writing but it's managed to thrive through my mom's various notes, shopping lists, and daily thoughts she writes on the family white board. Even her non-cursive penmanship looks like cursive. So neat and tidy. I found faking notes hard to do in school but I did manage to get pretty good at her name.

-sewing patched on jeans: when she would sew patches on our jeans, she made them look brand new. My sewing just looks like barf. Poor Steven has to wear barf-patched jeans to work.

I'm so happy to have my mom as my mom. She's going to come stay with us for a week when the baby is born. Maybe she'll clean my bathroom and bake me some cookies. And I can't wait until Tuesday when she comes again to vacuum! I wonder what sort of things my children will like about me....

Me and my mom at Christmas doing our Snuggie dance.

35 Week Check-Up

I look like a watermelon!

I'm 35 weeks, 3 days today! Sanchito's heart rate was in the 150's, which is good. But I haven't grown in the past week and a half, so the doctor had me get an ultrasound to check weight and measurements. So, I officially say that I am small for being due in one month. The baby's head is of average size of a 32 cm circumference. However, his stomach is on the small side measuring in the 12th percentile. Anything 10 and lower is not good but for right now things are okay. For half an hour we monitored Sanchito on the ultrasound machine. We watched him breathe, move around, stretch, move his fingers and toes and he's doing just fine. He weighs in at 5 pounds, 8 ounces. My next check up is in one week from today. It's too soon to tell anything so I hope I grow in the next seven days. Delivery can go one of two ways: if he's not really growing anymore, I'll be induced for an early labor. Or, if he's slowly growing then it'll be a late labor. I'm not too concerned right now because he moves around a lot and nothing else unusual showed up in the ultrasound. That's about it for the check up. Oh, even though he has a month to go, he doesn't have a lot of hair on his little head. I was imagining he'd pop out with a full head of dark curly hair. He'll just be a baldy, I guess.

It's Raining Babies!

Here are some pictures from my baby shower. It was so fun to be with my friends and family to celebrate. I really appriciate all the love that went into this party and all the support I've received from so many people over these past two years. It was hard getting pregnant but the friendships I made along the way really helped me along. I'm so happy to share this pregnancy with so many people. Thank you all for your love, support, and gifts!

This is what I looked like. You can't really see my lobster red sunburn--I wore pink to not make it so apparent. I had sunstroke all day so I showed up a little loopy from pain reliever.

Baby shoes! When I registered at Target, I passed all these little baby shoes and registered for four or five pairs. I didn't really think I'd get any but I received all of them! I can't wait to put them on Sanchito's little footsies.

One baby game we played was Celebrity Baby Photos. I can't remember who this one was...maybe George Clooney? I don't know!

The prizes for the baby games were these wall hangings. Very funny!

A fleece blanket my two high school friends (Cat and Lexi) made. It is beyond soft! I think I might just go take a nap with it. The trick is making sure Mayfield doesn't find it and cuddle with it.

A little baby robe for my little baby. I think I'll bathe him four times a day just to dress him up all cute after he's squeeky clean.

A little blurry but this is the baby blanket my mom crocheted. She crochets amazing blankets! Thanks Mom!

An adorable elephant outfit.

The diaper cake! I thought this was so fun! It was another game where guests guessed how many diapers it took to create this cake. I think 58...I can't remember. Look! More baby shoes!