Almost 37 Weeks!

This is not one of my official updates, but not much has changed so I thought I would just write a general update and talk some about my birth plan. It's so hard to believe that 9 months have gone by already and it's only 3 weeks until my guess date! 37 weeks is technically full term, so baby Andrew could come almost any time from here on out and be a very healthy little baby boy. I'm so excited to meet him!!

This afternoon we will have our final ultrasound. It's a growth ultrasound that my doctors recommend to all women with gestational diabetes. Basically, they just want to check the estimated size and weight of the baby to prepare them for any potential complications during delivery. I have my reservations about going and have almost canceled the appointment a hundred times, but in the end, we have decided that the more information we have, the better decisions we can make for our son. I think what bothers me is that from the moment I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes (way back in week 17 I believe), people have been telling me that I'll be having a huge baby. I'm so sick of hearing it.

Lately, I've been hearing talk from one of my 3 doctors about early induction due to a possibly 'big baby', which upsets me. I can't remember how much I've really talked about this here on the blog, but my hope is to have a natural, unmedicated birth using Hypnobabies self-hypnosis techniques. I realize that induction can be great in certain situations (as can c-sections when they are medically necessary), but I also know that once you get on the intervention train, it's hard to get off. I would rather not start my birthing time with an intervention like early induction.

You may be wondering, what the heck is Hypnobabies?? It's amazing! It's exactly what I was looking for when I got pregnant and started looking into birthing classes and techniques. I have always known that I wanted to have an unmedicated childbirth. For some reason, that simple statement tends to bring out the worst in people. I can't tell you how many of my friends have said things like, "Don't tell me you're going to be one of those stupid people who doesn't get an epidural?" People also have laughed at me and told me that once I start to feel the pain, I'll be begging for meds, etc. Wow. I never expected so much judgment about my decision to do this without medication. After all, women have been doing that for thousands of years and coming out just fine. Still, for some reason, there is a belief in our culture that childbirth has to be this almost traumatic, extremely painful event. I don't believe that at all, which is why I went searching for an alternate attitude.

Hypnobabies is all about the belief that childbirth is a beautiful, natural, and safe process that a woman's body was designed for. George and I signed up for a local six week class that we started back in January, and I feel it is one of the best things I have done for both me and my unborn son. I don't want my birthing time to be a medical procedure full of fear and anxiety. I want it to be a joyful day filled with love and happiness. Through the classes, I learned how to use self-hypnosis techniques to help my body relax and produce a powerful, natural anesthesia that will help me have a painless childbirth. I believe in the techniques 100% after using them now for several months, and I'm actually really excited about my birthing time.

Unfortunately, some people hear me talk about my hopes for a 'painless' childbirth and they immediately become worried about me. They insist on telling me that I'm setting myself up for disappointment and then proceed to tell me all kinds of horror stories about the pain and trauma of childbirth. I honestly don't understand why people can't just be happy for me and trust me to make my own decisions and have my own experience, but such is the way it goes with pregnancy I guess. I simply choose to continue down my own path and let those horror stories fade into the background.

It's my belief that the mind is a very powerful thing. What we believe with all our hearts is more likely to come to pass. If we believe that childbirth is going to be painful and horrible, then it probably will be. If we believe that it will be beautiful and that we can make it through without medication, then that's how it is most likely to go. Of course, nothing is 100% predictable, but I'd rather set myself up for success than for failure or pain.

Our birth plan is to stay at home as long as possible during my early birthing time. We have a doula so hopefully she will be helpful in deciding when it's time to go, especially since we've moved to UNC now, which is a 30 minute drive! When we get to the hospital, we are putting up strings of dim white christmas lights to set a calm mood for my self-hypnosis. I have hypnosis tracks downloaded on my iPod to listen to, and I also just bought a few new CD's on iTunes with ocean sounds and relaxing rain storms and such with calming music just in case I don't want to listen to the hypnosis tracks. Every time I envision my birthing time, I smile because I know it's going to be a joyful and powerful time in my life. I can't believe it's really so close now!!

I have high hopes that the ultrasound today will show that Andrew is measuring normal and healthy. My fear is that if they say he's measuring large, they will try to push an induction instead of letting me try the natural childbirth I've been dreaming of. At first, I was pretty upset about the ultrasound in general, but I am trying to change my attitude and just see it as one last time to see our baby on the screen before we meet him.

Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to talk about Hypnobabies and to just put it out there that even if you have a different view of childbirth, it's never the right thing to judge someone else for their choices - especially when it comes to something so incredibly personal. The best thing to do is just be supportive and loving. Thank you so much to the people in my life like my mom who have been 100% supportive of my choices and my hopes for an unmedicated birth since the beginning. :)

35 Weeks!! Only 5 to go!

This was not the best week of my life. It's been tough, to be honest. And I hate that. I remember the pain of not being able to get pregnant and yearning for this with all of my heart. I wish I could say that all that yearning means pregnancy now contains nothing but glowing joyful moments. Every time I complain, I feel guilty - as if I am somehow saying I'm not grateful. But after the discomforts of this week, I realize that I'm only human. No one can be joyful and grateful at all times when they are dealing with pain. It doesn't mean that I'm not happy and so thankful to have a sweet baby boy coming into our lives in just a few short weeks.

That being said, it was a rough week. I pampered myself by getting my hair done (bangs!) and even though I love how my hair turned out, I came home from the appointment feeling awful. The next day, I had an elevated temperature of 99.8. My whole body was aching and I felt nauseated for a couple of days. Then, just when my temperature went back to normal, my entire body broke out in hives. I'm talking head to toe. And it ITCHED like crazy. Turns out I had some sort of allergic reaction to the shampoo I bought at the salon. I barely slept for three days. Today, I woke up with very much improved on the hives front, but now my hands are super swollen. I can't even close my fists, it hurts so badly. In fact, all of my joints ache. I hope this is just temporary, but all of these things coming back to back has been bringing me down.

So now it's time for an attitude adjustment. I have spent way too much time over the past six or seven days focusing on the aches and pains and discomforts. That's not the way I want to remember the last few precious weeks of my pregnancy. This is possibly the only time I will ever experience this, and I don't want to focus on the negative. I want to focus on all the happy, beautiful things that are happening in our lives. I want to spend my time thinking about the positive things in my life. I mean, how many pregnant women get to set their own schedule and take all the time they need to try and feel better? I'm extremely blessed, and that's what I want to remember.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, here's my 35 week update (hopefully with a positive spin!):

How Far Along: 35 weeks, 2 Days


My Baby This Week:


Weight Gain: 20 lbs.


Baby Bump: George took this pic on mother's day. A friend of mine saw it and said she thinks it looks like Andrew has dropped! I thought I had noticed that my shape changed a little bit. It's exciting to know he's getting into a good position for birth!

Sleep: It's rough. I can't sleep more than about an hour at a time before I get uncomfortable or have to go to the bathroom. I figure it's just good practice for when Andrew gets here and wakes me up all through the night.


Best Moment of the Week: Hiring painters finally to come paint the interior of the house, including the nursery! It will be so awesome to have that final piece of the home renovations done. It's going to look amazing!


Movement: Andrew moves around so much, and I love it. I am constantly feeling what I am pretty sure is the heel of his tiny little foot jutting out. So cute!


Symptoms: Pretty much everything I listed above. I honestly only thought pregnancy got super uncomfortable in the last two weeks or so, but apparently it can start much earlier, yikes!


Food Cravings: Water. I can't get enough. And sugar of course, but I try to ignore that craving.


What I Miss: Being able to walk without pain.


What I'm Looking Forward To: A positive birthing experience and meeting Andrew for the first time!

Weekly Wisdom: Don't put anything off until the last month of pregnancy. Not shopping or renovations or decorating or anything. I always thought I would get this nesting instinct people talk about and just be full of energy, but the truth is that walking around the mall or even making a thirty minute trip to Target is very uncomfortable at this point. I wish I had finished these things sooner so that I could just rest!

Emotions: All over the place. I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself this past week with all the discomforts, but I'm working every day to pick myself up and stay positive. My focus for the next four or five weeks is going to be on all the blessings in my life.

34 Weeks

Time is definitely flying by! Baby time is really just around the corner. Today I am 34 weeks, 2 days pregnant, but today is almost done, which means I really only have 5 1/2 weeks remaining until my guess date. That's so hard to believe! I can tell George is feeling the closeness now too. When we laid down for bed last night, he stared over at the co-sleeper and said, "Can you believe Andrew will really be in there sleeping in just a few short weeks?" There was definite awe in his voice.

Right now, I'm definitely feeling anxious about the fact that due dates really are just 'guess dates'. I read somewhere that only 5% of babies are actually born on their due dates. Sometimes they can come as early as a month before or as late as two weeks after. With gestational diabetes, I know my doctors are NOT going to want me to go past my due date, so I'm really hoping Andrew comes a few days early so we don't have to deal with arguments about not wanting pitocin and such. I talk to him every day, encouraging him to come just a teeny bit early. June 10th'ish would be perfect! Haha.

How Far Along: 34 weeks and counting!


My Baby This Week:  Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies. (From www.babycenter.com)


Weight Gain: So far, I am right at 20 lbs gained. Not too bad!

Baby Bump:


Sleep: I'm just trying to sleep whenever I can these days! I am up about every hour to hour and a half during the night to use the bathroom or toss and turn. I take lots of naps, haha.


Best Moment of the Week: Before I can get to the best moment, I need to mention the scariest moment. At my doctor's appointment on Thursday, she thought she heard a very slow heartbeat. They hooked me up to an older monitor and even though Andrew's baseline looked okay, he kept dipping below normal. Basically, she freaked me out and set up an appointment for me to have a modified BPP (biophysical profile) done Friday. I was honestly scared to death something was going to be wrong with my baby.

I barely slept at all on Thursday night. Friday, we had to sit in the waiting room at the hospital for about 2 hours just waiting for them to create an open slot. Finally, we got in and I was hooked up to a heart rate monitor and a contraction monitor for about 20 minutes. (This is called an NST or nonstress test, which I'll be getting very familiar with over the next 5-6 weeks.) Luckily, what the test showed was that Andrew's heartbeat is normal. Yes, it does dip down to about 105 every now and again, but the tech said it was nothing to worry about since it pops right back up. She said all he has to do is bump against the umbilical cord and his heartbeat will drop for an instant. Well, during our 3D ultrasound the little guy actually had the cord in his hand. For all we know, he's in there squeezing it! Hehe.

Hands down the best moment of the week was finding out he was okay. They also measured my amniotic fluid and all is normal there. I will have to go back now for weekly monitoring in addition to my normal appointments, but I think everything is going to be fine and we will have a healthy little boy. A trouble-maker maybe. But a healthy one. :)


Movement: He's moving around a lot. I think I'll miss that the most after he's born. I love feeling him in there. I'll never be this close to my baby boy again.


Symptoms: Aches, especially in my pelvic region! I guess everything is stretching out, which is a good sign! It's just getting hard to move around and get comfortable these days! Also, the heartburn never ends.

Food Cravings: I do have one major craving!! Honest Kids juice packs. It's insane! These are low sugar juice drinks for kids, kind of like Capri Sun, only organic with a lot less sugar. They don't spike my bloodsugar since they are only like 6 ounces each, and I've been downing them! Tonight, George actually bought me like 7 cases, haha. It's an addiction. I'm half afraid I'm going to OD on vitamin C!



What I Miss: Having a brain that works at full capacity :P.


What I'm Looking Forward To: Enjoying these last few weeks with Andrew tucked safely inside. I hope I can stay focused on the happy things instead of the aches and pains!


Weekly Wisdom: Try not to freak out and get worried about something until you know for certain it's a problem. Positive thinking is so much healthier in the long run.


Milestones: Completed our hospital tour and got all of the baby clothes washed!


Emotions: I'm so happy Andrew is healthy. I'm anxious to meet him, but determined to find happiness and joy in these last weeks of being pregnant.

Hospital Tour!

Today, George and I went on a tour of the hospital where our little boy will be born! We are having him at the UNC Women's Hospital in Chapel Hill. It's a bit of a trek to get there compared to the hospital here in Cary, but I am so glad we switched to this new hospital.

After feeling that my care at Triangle OB/GYN was negligent (to say the least), I just knew the right thing to do was find a new doctor. I searched for a doctor who would deliver here at WakeMed Cary since it's just a few miles from our house, but none of the doctors I spoke with had a philosophy that matched mine. They all seemed eager for C-Sections, inductions and any intervention that would get them through my labor faster. Definitely not what I wanted for my birthing experience. It took some work, but finally I made the decision to move to UNC Family Medicine Center in Chapel Hill. That meant switching hospitals and driving a little farther to get there, but Wow! It's been so worth it! I can't say enough great things about the doctors at FamMed. They are AMAZING! They actually listen to me, they are up to date on all the most recent research, and they are going to do everything they can to help me have the natural childbirth experience I am hoping for.

On our way to the hospital tour today, I was hopeful that I would find the same comfortable feeling at the hospital that I have every time I walk into the Family Medicine Center. And I did! Everyone was so incredibly nice and willing to answer any questions. What's even more comforting is that the actual answers to those questions were exactly what I wanted and needed to hear. There are no crazy consent forms to sign when you get to the hospital (you know, the kind that say you give the doctors permission to do whatever the heck they decide they want to do - like give you pitocin so they don't miss their golf game at 5). The rooms were nice and spacious and laboring mothers have a lot of freedom to walk around and be comfortable.

I will be allowed to eat during my birthing time. We can bring in white Christmas lights for mood lighting. I can have a yankee candle air freshener. There are squat bars on the beds and nice tubs in the rooms. I'm so excited to see that the hospital is lenient and wants mothers to be as comfortable as possible. Also, before any nurses or doctors do anything or give me any drugs or whatever, they will actually discuss it with me and my husband first. I love that. (I mean, I understand that an emergency is a different kind of situation, but I'm not planning for any emergencies, lol.)

As soon as our baby is born, hospital policy is that he'll go directly onto my chest, skin-to-skin, and any tests will be done right there. We'll have plenty of sweet bonding time without the nuisance of nurses hovering to take him and weigh him or clean him off. In fact, the baby will stay with us at all times with the exception of two things: 1) the hearing test, which we can go with him to get and 2) his circumcision, which George can still go with him to watch and comfort him. I'm so happy that we are going to be at a hospital that encourages breastfeeding and family bonding time like that. Even the pediatricians come to the room instead of having the nurses take the baby out of the room for the pediatrician to check.

I thought it was cool too that they actually have lo-jack for babies, haha. There are these ankle bands that have alarms on them and anytime the baby gets close to the doors to the maternity ward, the alarm sounds. If the band is at all tampered with or loses contact with the baby's skin for more than a few seconds, an alarm sounds. So cool and comforting!

Overall, I was extremely happy with our hospital visit today. We even found out that instead of having to park our car and walk, they have "stork parking" which is a valet service for mothers in labor. We simply pull up to the hospital, grab our bags and hand our keys off to the valet. They park the car for free for us for 24 hours. George will have to go re-park at some point, but it's nice to know I won't have to be experiencing contractions in the parking lot, haha.

I am currently 33 weeks and 1 day pregnant (almost 2 since it's 11pm, ha). George has felt all along that Andrew will come a little less than a week early, so if he's right, we're looking at just about 6 weeks until we're back at the hospital for the real thing!! I'm getting so excited and so anxious to meet our little man!!! Now, I'm going to go back to packing our hospital bags and daydreaming of the day we actually bring Andrew home!

Pregnancy Update: 33 Weeks!

Well, almost 33 weeks. Today I am 32 weeks and 4 days, but close enough right? Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but there is so much going on! First of all, remember all those home renovations I was talking about earlier? Well, my brother came up the weekend before this past one to do a lot of the work!! We have all new wood floors downstairs, a new floor in the kitchen, new countertops, newly painted cabinets with all new hardware - the list goes on and on! It's beautiful and I'm so grateful to him for coming up here and working his butt off for several days to get it done. Also, we decided to go ahead and have the carpet on the stairs and all the upstairs rooms replaced. And let me tell you, it was worth every penny!! The carpet is so luxurious and beautiful.

So, where are the pictures? Well, even though the floors are in place and a lot of the work is done, the house still feels like a mess in places! We had to move everything upstairs first to make room for the work downstairs. Then, as soon as Douglas left, we had to move everything downstairs to make room for the carpet people. In the middle of all that, I stepped on a rusty nail. While pregnant. Ugh. Talk about stress! I haven't had a tetanus shot since 1997, so I had to make a decision about whether to get a vaccine while pregnant. Long story short, I decided against the vaccine and have been taking it easy on my foot to make sure I don't get it infected. It's mostly healed now, but with all the work and stress, I've been totally exhausted! Anyway, I promise to post pics as soon as we have things more put together.

Then, there's the whole 30+ weeks pregnant thing, haha. I never knew it could be so tough. I don't want to whine, but wow! Just two trips up and down the stairs with a handful of baby items exhausts me to the point where I have to sit down. (I lost 2 pounds this week, btw, if that tells you anything.) So, my blog has gone ignored. Hopefully I'll remember to post at least a few more times between now and the time baby Andrew is born.

How far along: Almost 33 weeks! Only 7 more to go!!!!


Picture of Baby:

My Baby This Week: By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.


Weight Gain: 18 lbs.


Baby Bump:

 

Sleep: I am not getting very good rest, unfortunately. I'm up every hour and a half on the dot to pee, haha. Plus, the vivid dreams of the first trimester have returned, so I feel like I'm never really into a deep sleep. My hips are starting to ache, too.


Movement: Andrew is moving all the time these days! It's not always kicks. Sometimes, it is more like he's just rolling around, hehe. I love it though, because I can see him move from the outside and it's like a little alien moving around in my tummy. I love it!


Symptoms: The third trimester has brought headaches as a new symptom. Yuck! Also, I'm very forgetful these days.


What I Miss: Being able to eat anything with sugar! I also miss being able to sleep through the night (not that it will change once the baby comes, ha!) and being able to walk around without some kind of ache or pain. However, let me just say I would go through this for another year if I had to in order to make sure Andrew is a healthy baby!!! It's all so incredibly worth it!


What I'm Looking Forward To: Meeting the baby! Sometimes I can hardly believe it's happening so soon, but most of the time, it just feels like 7 more weeks is forever. I want to see him and snuggle him so badly!


Weekly Wisdom: Don't let doctors bully you into something you don't feel comfortable with. A doctor might tell you that a vaccine is "completely safe", but when it comes to your body and your unborn child, it's worth it to take a little bit of time to research that vaccine and its possible side-effects. In the end, it's still your decision. Doctors are wonderful, but they don't always know what's best for you.


Emotions: There's a lot of crying going on at my house these days, and the baby isn't even here yet :P. I'm very emotional, and I know that it's okay. It's all a part of pregnancy. Overall, I am incredibly happy and excited, but there are also moments where I feel overwhelmed. Thank the Lord for bringing me such a wonderful, caring husband who is extremely patient and loving with me during this time!

3D Pictures of Andrew!!!

Yay!! Yesterday George and I went to a local 3D imaging center and got to see our precious little baby boy on the screen for nearly 30 minutes!! It was seriously one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Of course, I know every parent would feel that way, but so far, we have only seen these rather skeletal black and white images of what our baby looks like in there. The last time we saw him was around 17 weeks, so needless to say, he's grown quite a bit now that I'm brushing up against 30 weeks. And let me tell you, he's ADORABLE! Just wait until you see his chubby little cheeks and his sweet little lips!!

It was so cool that my parents in Georgia were able to watch the whole thing live too! 

More than anything, it was just so great to see him looking so healthy. The tech said that he looked perfect. His chubby cheeks tell us that he's probably already developed most of his major organs and is now concentrating on adding healthy fat and letting his lungs develop. Also, he kept opening and closing his fists, which she said was a sign of healthy neurological development. My smart little man! In some of the pictures, you will see a weird sort of rope across his cheek - that's the umbilical cord. He was holding it in his left hand almost the whole time, lol. I am guessing when he is born, he is going to like having a binky or a blankie to hold!

Andrew is already head down and in perfect position for delivery. The tech said that he is big enough now that he probably won't have enough room to turn breech, which is great news. Tomorrow I will be 30 weeks, so we're looking at 10 weeks until he makes his big arrival - give or take a few. So exciting! 

We walked away from the u/s with 109 pictures and a video of the entire session. I thought I would share four or five of my favorite images with you.

Our son!!!

From the Front - Look at those lips!

Rubbing his eyes

So flexible! That's his hand and foot both in the picture, lol.

My Favorite! Big Smile!!

29 Week Update

I can't believe I'm already at 29 weeks!! I'll be down to a single digit countdown in no time. Time is beginning to fly by at warp speed. I find myself wondering when little Andrew will make his appearance. Will he come early? (A friend just had her baby almost a month early!) Or will he come late? My hope is that he'll decide to come sometime during week 39, hehe. That way I don't have to worry about them wanting to induce me, but he'll still be close to his due date. Of course, I know better than to hope for a completely perfect scenario. All I can do is exercise and eat healthy and take good care of my body until he arrives!

So here's my 29 week update:

Picture of Baby: I don't actually have a recent picture of the baby. Our last ultrasound was our anatomy scan at 17 weeks. BUT, exciting news! We have our 3D/4D ultrasound scheduled for this Thursday afternoon!! I can't wait to see our little man and see how much he's grown. Also, some of these 4D ultrasounds show really great pictures of the baby's faces! I hope we get to see his face!! I'll post some pics as soon as we get them.


My Baby This Week: Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day. (From www.babycenter.com)

Weight Gain: 16 pounds. Eek! I am hoping to keep the gain to under 25 pounds. Will I make it? I hope so! I'm certainly not going to stress it either way.

Baby Bump: This picture was taken at our mountain retreat this past weekend. We had such an amazing time! It's a billowy shirt which makes me look a little bit bigger than some other shirts, but I still love the pink.

Sleep: Getting up more and more often during the night. Also, it's tough to even turn from side to side, hehe. I'm having to literally roll myself off the bed to go to the bathroom. It's not a pretty picture, I'm sure. I'm definitely looking forward to normal sleeping positions after the baby comes. Unfortunately, I have a feeling it might only be for a few short hours at a stretch once he's here!

Best Moment of the Week: Hands down - the prenatal massage at the resort!! George got the hot stone massage and I'm sure he enjoyed it, but man, the prenatal massage was brilliant!! It was literally the best massage of my life. Not that I've gotten that many, but it was just so needed. I was having some pains in my hips and lower back and for a few glorious days after the massage, there was zero pain. I loved it.

Movement: Wow, our little guy is moving around all the time! We found out at the latest doctor's appointment that he's already head down. That's got to be why I feel him kicking at my ribs all the time, haha. I also feel him stretching his arms out against my side. I love it. And I'm seeing these crazy alien movements on the outside. My entire stomach moves, haha. So amazing!!

Symptoms: I think at this point they are all just starting to run together. Aches everywhere, heartburn, stuffy nose, carpal tunnel, the list goes on. But you know what? It's all so worth it!!

Food Cravings: Apple Juice. I want it so bad! Unfortunately, juices are off limits :(.

What I Miss: Being able to stay up as late as I want. I'm exhausted by midnight!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Holding my little baby in my arms. The closer it gets, the more excited I am about meeting him!!

Weekly Wisdom: Pregnancy is not comfortable, but it's important to keep priorities straight! Growing a baby is hard work, but in the end it's so worth it. I know once it's over, I will miss being pregnant, so I want to focus on the happy things instead of the discomforts.

Emotions: Feeling overwhelmed lately between trying to finish the book and getting things ready for renovations. I am also just so incredibly grateful for all the love from friends and family during this pregnancy. Especially the support of my husband, who is really taking good care of me. And there I go again with the tears.