Week 36: Final Stretch!

We're in the home stretch now and with all our other activities having slowed down, I've got nothing but time to anxiously await Baby Girl's arrival! We took our last prenatal class last Wednesday, we've toured the birthing center, had our last baby shower last Thursday, rehearsals for Sound of Music are done and there's only one weekend left of performances....besides our weekly doctor appointments, we have nothing left on the calendar besides Jon's family reunion this weekend and a big, fat, red circle around August 24th!

We got a ton done this week including finishing packing the labor bags, ordering the final "must haves" off of our registry, and folding and organizing all her clothes into the Ikea drawer organizers that we bought.

We pretty much spent the entire weekend cooking up a storm with my sisters to prepare a freezer full of meals for after baby gets here. We did around 14 different recipes that each made a TON (some filled 2 or 3 freezer bags) for about $250 and I'm sure we'll be very grateful we have so much stocked up in those first sleepless weeks. Click here to see my post on all of the prep and the recipes we used.

We also had our 36 week appointment this morning where my doctor started checking for any dialation. Nothing yet, which is probably a good thing so that she has plenty of time to get good and strong before she gets here, but I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed. Hopefully next week I'll have made some progress.

How far along? 36 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 21 lbs up...nothing gained for the last two weeks now. Maybe I never will hit the 25 lbs goal.
Maternity clothes? Almost exclusively
Sleep? Very little. Between running to the bathroom and waking up with lower back pain, I'm up every couple of hours or so.
Stretch marks? Bah! All over around my belly button (which is 100% out now, there's no denying it anymore) and my desperate attempts to stop them with the Bio Oil are proving futile.
Best moment this week: My last baby shower with my family :-)
Miss Anything? Sleep and margaritas. What I wouldn't do for each of those right now...
Movement: She's definitely cramped for room in there! She'll get in between my stomach muscles and just knead away with her elbows and knees and it HURTS! I'm excited to see all those movements on the outside!
Food Cravings: Lemonade and diet coke
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really
Gender: Baby Girl
Pregnancy Symptoms: Feet and ankle swelling, back pain (especially my lower back), restless legs are back with full force, and some Braxton Hicks
Labor Signs: I still haven't had a ton of Braxton Hicks, but they're becoming more noticeable when I do have them. And no dialation yet :-(
Wedding rings on or off? On....my pinky. They still fit on my ring finger but I've been periodically checking to see if they were still easy to get off and yesterday when I checked I had to pry pretty hard to get them to budge so I decided I better move them before it gets to be too late.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy that we're so close to the end! Every day of pain brings us one day closer to meeting Baby Legg! I'm even past being scared of labor for the most part....I just want her to get here!
Looking forward to: Meeting our baby girl!

To Do List:

Make Hospital Bag packing list
Pack Hospital Bag
Fold and organize baby clothes
Write out birth plan
Make list of "must do" items for when Baby gets here (breast pump delivery, short term disability form, etc)
Purchase remaining items off of registry
Make up some frozen meals for post baby
Write thank you cards for work baby shower
Write thank you cards for friends' baby shower
Figure out daycare
Stock up on postpartum items
Baby-proof the DVD shelf (have Jon attach it to the wall)
Put up the corner protectors in Baby's room
Figure out which insurance plan to set Baby up under
Write thank you cards for Legg family baby shower
Write thank you cards for Williams/Kammer family baby shower
Clean the house top to bottom

We're ready for you, Baby Legg!!!!

Week 35: Achy, Achy, Achy!

Well, I have officially hit the uncomfortable stage this week! The terrible pain from last week has subsided, but my back pain has gotten worse again and is making sleeping difficult. I can't even roll over in bed without my entire lower back cramping up to the point I have to wake up Jon and have him help me get up because I physically can't move. I also woke up in the middle of the night with my first ever Charlie horse the other night....wowza is that terrible! Waking up screaming in pain with no idea what the hell is going on is not fun!

Besides the aches and pains, we had a pretty great week! Wednesday we had our tour of the birthing center at St Cloud hospital that was absolutely incredible (video tour can be seen here). Super happy to be giving birth after all the renovations! Plus taking the tour made it feel really real that I will be there in a few short weeks!

On Saturday, my mother-in-law threw Jon and me a lovely baby shower, and tons of Jon's family came out to celebrate Baby Legg with us! We had a great time and are super lucky to have such a great family!

I am wearing a pink belt with this dress, but you can't see it since it has been sucked into the abyss created by my pregnant chest and belly.....

Sunday we went to a Twins game which I was super excited about because I didn't think we would make it to one this year. It was HOT, but we had awesome seats, nachos, and lemon ices to make it all worthwhile. It wasn't the best game, but we had the best time!

I may look like a whale in this picture, but those are pre-pregnancy jeans I'm rocking (with help from my belly band) so take that, world!

In world news, Prince William and Kate Middleton had their baby boy yesterday. Sigh...Princess Kate, always trying to steal my thunder.

How far along? 35 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 21 lbs up...nothing gained this week despite my valiant efforts to eat as much as possible at the Twins game.
Maternity clothes? I'm still using the belly band with pre-pregnancy stuff on the rare occasion, but dresses and maternity pants are just so much more comfortable at this point!
Sleep? Getting more and more difficult!
Stretch marks? Several dark ones around my belly button (which is generally more outie then innie these days) but I'm hoping Bio Oil will stop any more from forming and/or keep the current ones from growing.
Best moment this week: Too many to choose from! Birth center tour, baby shower, and the Twins game were all highlights!
Miss Anything? Being able to have a beer in the heat at the baseball game.
Movement: Definitely not as much movement as before, just a lot of body parts sticking out at weird angles. I freaked Jon out Sunday night when I showed him how my belly had momentarily turned into the shape of a pyramid....I think she had her knee up in the middle of my belly or something. It is the most bizarre thing to watch happen to your body!
Food Cravings: Woodchucks, hot dogs, Diet Coke...all things I can't have!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Gender: Girl! Oh, man...please be a girl or we're screwed!
Pregnancy Symptoms: Back aches, especially my lower back and tail bone. Swelling in my ankles and feet have been pretty bad since our garage sale a month back, but it isn't painful and some days are better then others.
Labor Signs: If I've been having any Braxton Hicks I don't even notice them anymore. I am wondering, however, if she's started to drop at all because my heartburn has been less severe but my back pain has increased. Guess we'll find out at our appointment a week from today.
Wedding rings on or off? On and not too tight. Maybe I'll make it all the way through with them!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Back to being happy despite the discomfort. It just reminds me how close we are to the end!
Looking forward to: My last baby shower on Thursday with my family, prepping some frozen meals this weekend with my sisters for after baby gets here, and our 36 week appointment on Tuesday!


To Do List:

Make Hospital Bag packing list
Pack Hospital Bag (almost done!)
Fold and organize baby clothes
Write out birth plan
Make list of "must do" items for when Baby gets here (breast pump delivery, short term disability form, etc)
Purchase remaining items off of registry (shopping list made)
Make up some frozen meals for post baby (that's the plan for this weekend)
Write thank you cards for work baby shower
Write thank you cards for friends' baby shower
Figure out daycare
Stock up on postpartum items
Baby-proof the DVD shelf (have Jon attach it to the wall)
Put up the corner protectors in Baby's room
Figure out which insurance plan to set Baby up under
Write thank you cards for Legg family baby shower

Week 34: Getting Sore!

How far along? 34 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 21 lbs up
Maternity clothes? Dresses, maternity tops, and leggings are still my go to's. And man has it been HOT this week so dresses are a life saver.
Sleep? Almost none this week. EXTREMELY uncomfortable over here!
Stretch marks? I found a few around my belly button this week! Wah wah :-( I've started up my Bio Oil again to hopefully stop them from growing/more from forming.
Best moment this week: Finishing writing up our birth plan! That one was stressing me out! We also had another newborn class last night that was WAY more interesting and well taught then our one last week. We spent our weekend getting quite a few checks done, too. Mostly some around the house repairs that aren't completely baby related, but things I'm glad will be finished before she gets here!
Miss Anything? Sleeping and moving around comfortably
Movement: She's getting so strong! I can feel the difference each day!
Food Cravings: I've been craving Diet Coke pretty bad which is weird since I gave that up before pregnancy
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Gender: Girl :)
Pregnancy Symptoms: Ugh tons of pain and discomfort! These next 6 weeks need to fly by!
Labor Signs: One or two Braxton Hicks a week that I'm able to notice anyways
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: A little moody with the aches and pains.
Looking forward to: Our tour of the birthing center tonight and our last two baby showers coming up on Saturday and next Thursday!

To Do List:

Make Hospital Bag packing list
Pack Hospital Bag (started!)
Fold and organize baby clothes
Write out birth plan
Make list of "must do" items for when Baby gets here (breast pump delivery, short term disability form, etc)
Purchase remaining items off of registry
Make up some frozen meals for post baby
Write thank you cards for work baby shower
Write thank you cards for friends' baby shower
Figure out daycare
Stock up on postpartum items
Baby-proof the DVD shelf (have Jon attach it to the wall)
Put up the corner protectors in Baby's room
Figure out which insurance plan to set Baby up under

Only a few items left!

Nursery Reveal

The finishing touches on the nursery are finally complete and I can't wait to share it with you! The pictures don't even remotely do it justice...I'm so in love! Here's your first view as you enter the room:

And then some panoramic shots from inside the room:

Dresser Painting Tutorials

Owl Stuffed Animal

Dresser Painting Tutorial

And now for some detail shots:

Ikea Chandelier, Paper Lanterns

The Kristaller Chandelier ended up looking great in the room but it was kind of a pain in the butt to hang up. It came with an adjustable chain that it hung from the ceiling on, but the shortest that the chain would go left it hanging at about head height due to a long pole that was not adjustable. Why they won't make the pole removable or allow you to shorten it more, I don't know, but Jon had to McGyver a solution by cutting and removing the chain and the pole, clipping and shortening the wires, and purchasing a new plate to attach it to the ceiling. I'm so happy with the results, though!

Also notice the perfection of the stripe on the top of the wall. I'm so impressed with how well this turned out as I can never seem to get a straight line without bleeding when painting. The technique we used was one I had found online a few weeks prior and it worked like an absolute dream and was really simple. I will be posting a tutorial on it soon so watch for that coming up!

Silhouettes by Etsy Seller MonkeyCs, Ikea Frames

For the silhouettes, I did a custom listing with Etsy.com seller MonkeyCs. She did all of the princess cutouts for me in the sizes I requested and then I purchased scrapbook paper from a local craft store to mount them on and displayed them in Ikea frames. LOVE them! Cute and girly but still modern.

We were looking to fill an empty spot on the wall but were worried about putting up something too overwhelming or distracting since we already have so much going on in the room. Then it hit me...what better then Baby Girl's own chalkboard?!

Changing Pad Cover, Urban Outfitters Rug

Ikea Drawer Organizers

We've already begun the organization of the Baby Girl's drawers with these awesome drawer organizers from Ikea. They worked great in the changing table and we already have a bunch purchased for her clothes, though we're holding off on organizing that until after our last couple of baby showers.

Glass Canisters (received as gift) Similar here

The containers were a wedding present from my family that work perfectly to display the already crazy amount of headbands and bows we have for Baby Girl. The two adorable stuffed animals were crocheted by a co-worker.

The drapes were made by us with help from my mother in law. The roman-style shade part at the top was actually super easy! We took a yard of pink fabric and made pockets about 1.5 inches wide on the top and bottom for the rods to go through (just fold over the fabric and sew, leaving a 1.5 inch gap). We then put a tension rod through the top and bottom, as well as two tension rods in front of the curtain evenly spaced out. Then we just pulled the fabric over to cover the rods and voila! Better instructions with pictures can be found here.

The toy baskets were another project I enlisted my mother-in-law's help for, and she did a great job with them! The original idea was to store the baskets under the crib, but the crib ended up being too low to the ground to fit the baskets we had purchased. I actually have grown to really like the look of them though and kind of like them sitting out displayed. We got the baskets at the dollar store and then I found the fabric at a local craft store and my mother-in-law constructed the liners. 

Ikea Picture Ledges

One of the first ideas I fell in love with when looking for ideas for the nursery was displaying her ever growing library. We got picture ledges at Ikea for $10 a piece that worked great!

Baby Tutus, Thirty One Organizing Utility Tote, Skip Hop Versa Diaper Bag

Baby Girl already has a pretty well stocked closet going! Notice the blue interior? That was all me, baby ;-)

The closet organizers were another idea that I wanted to incorporate, but I couldn't justify spending the money on them that I was seeing online so I decided to make my own. I bought some thick foam sheets from a local craft store and then full sheet printable labels. I found cute background designs that I liked online and used Photoshop to fit them into CD templates that I could print out onto the labels. Using the labels as a guide, I cut out the foam in the shape I wanted and used a box cutter to cut out the center circle. Super easy project and super cheap and you can do it with any design that fits your nursery.

Jellycat Giraffe, Owl Scentsy Warmer

The painting we had bought at Pier One before we even knew I was pregnant for a future baby room. I was worried it wouldn't end up working with the nursery design I had come up with but I think it adds a fun flair to the room.

Jellycat Cordy Roy Elephant, Pig Scentsy Buddy, Jellycat Cordy Roy Giraffe

And then, of course, the amazing quilt that the whole room was inspired off of made by my amazing mother-in-law:

And that's it! Again, pictures just simply can't do it justice. It is even better then I had imagined! Thank you to everyone who helped!!

Week 33: Big Checks!

Well we've gotten some huge things accomplished this week! Yay! Even with all the 4th of July festivities keeping us busy, we've managed to check off some huge items on our list. AND the finishing touches on Baby Legg's room are finally complete so watch for a nursery reveal post in the next couple of days :-D

Along with the nursery, the biggest thing we can cross off is figuring out daycare! *INSERT HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF HERE* We had gotten a list sent to us of recommended centers and at home daycares in our area a few weeks ago, and this past week Jon started going down the list and calling all the ones that met our qualifications. Besides a couple of centers (which we definitely wouldn't be able to afford right now) all of the people on this list either didn't have any infant openings until sometime next year, closed at 5pm (I get off work at 5 and Jon gets off at 6), or both. I wanted to cry as our already small list of options was dwindling fast.

Then, out of nowhere, my amazing mom offered to nanny Baby Girl at our house! Both Jon and I are absolutely thrilled with this plan for about a million different reasons, but the top three being 1) we feel sooooooo much better knowing that she'll be with someone we know and trust, 2) it will be at our house so we don't have to lug all her stuff to daycare every day and we can come home on lunch breaks and see her, and 3) we can put off this awful childcare search for at least awhile longer. SO excited and SO grateful to my family for being able to work this out!

How far along? 33 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Holding strong at 19 lbs gained
Maternity clothes? Pretty exclusively wearing dresses as they're just the most comfortable option. It's been jeans/casual attire at work this week and last week, so I've been trying to squeeze myself into some of my jeans and capris with help from my belly band, but not too comfortably!
Sleep? Again, some nights are better than others. Sunday night I got next to nothing for sleep as it took me forever to get to sleep to begin with, then I had to get up to go to the bathroom a million times and couldn't get back to sleep when I got back. Monday night I slept fine, though. I wish I knew what I was doing differently on those nights that I'm able to zonk out almost instantly!
Stretch marks? Haven't found any yet and my belly button is still shifting back and forth between being flat and almost out.
Best moment this week: Figuring out childcare, hands down!
Miss Anything? Laying on my belly, wearing normal clothes, corn dogs....
Movement: Slowed down a bit this week...I think she's running out of room in there!
Food Cravings: Lemonade and water. I'm thirsty ALL the time lately.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Gender: Girl!
Pregnancy Symptoms: Back pain and a few Braxton Hicks here and there. She has been kicking my lungs like crazy this week and I feel like I can't catch my breath even when I'm just sitting or lying down. A small amount of rib pain and some swelling in my ankles on and off depending on the weather.
Labor Signs: Not really. Very few Braxton Hicks but it barely even feels like anything except that my skin is too tight for my body.
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Another newborn class, our appointment to make sure our car seats are installed correctly, and a tour of the birthing center are all next week. Plus about a week and a half until the next baby shower!

To Do List:

Pack Hospital Bag
Fold and organize baby clothes
Write out birth plan
Make list of "must do" items for when Baby gets here (breast pump delivery, short term disability form, etc)
Purchase remaining items off of registry
Make up some frozen meals for post baby
Write thank you cards for work baby shower
Write thank you cards for friends' baby shower
Figure out daycare
Stock up on postpartum items
Baby-proof the DVD shelf (have Jon attach it to the wall)
Put up the corner protectors in Baby's room

Getting there, but we've still got lots to do!

Week 32: Happy Fourth!

I'm well into week 32 now and the fourth of July is tomorrow! What could be better? Highlights from this week:

*Our basement flooding is finally slowing down! Jon only goes down once or twice a day now to squeegee water into the drain. Hopefully it will be completely done soon so we can get the sump pump installed and we can water our lawn safely again!

*Had my first ever pregnancy massage on Friday! While it was nice (and free, so I definitely shouldn't complain) it was a little bit of a letdown since I like a lot of pressure when I get a massage and my masseuse was very gentle which just makes me feel frustrated (PUSH HARDER!!!!). I don't know if it was just the masseuse's style or if that's a trademark of pregnancy massages since maybe they can't safely apply a ton of pressure? Either way, I still have some killer knots and tight muscles that are longing for attention. The best part, in all honesty, was lying in their specially designed bed that allowed me to lie on my stomach for the first time in months! It took so much pressure off my lower back and made me feel like a normal person for that short hour, and I almost forgot I was pregnant until I had to stand back up and had all that weight on me again! It was pretty heavenly and I kind of wish I could swing buying one of these for home use!

EarthLite Pregnancy Cushion

*Baby Shower! Three of my great friends threw me a fantastic baby shower on Saturday and I had lots of lovely ladies show up to help me celebrate and shower Baby Legg with gifts. The outfits I got for Baby Girl were so flippin cute it was hard not to cry...it made me so excited for her to get here!

Plus the food was all delicious and I got to make myself some bellinis with alcohol-free champagne. Yum! ALMOST as good as the real thing ;-)

*While putting away all our baby shower gifts, Jon gained confidence in his diaper changing skills (one of his biggest worries) by practicing with our new diapers on one of Baby's Jellycats

*Got to see Monsters University finally! Monsters Inc is one of my favorite movies so I had been really looking forward to this, though my back pain did make for a bit of an uncomfortable viewing experience.

Enjoying milkshakes before the movie. That's me in the back right. So pretty...

*32 week doctor's appointment....Baby Girl is already head down! With how short I am, it is pretty unlikely that she'll have enough room to flip back over again so there is a good chance she won't be breach. What a relief!

How far along? 32 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 19 lbs up, close to 20 lbs. I'm no longer worried that I will hit my minimum weight gain :-O
Maternity clothes? Still able to squeeze myself into a few of my pre-pregnancy pants with help from my belly band, but my options are pretty limited to maternity clothes these days. I realized yesterday that I don't even really remember anymore what it is like to be able to zip up pants.
Sleep? Sigh...on and off. Consistently having to get up and pee in the middle of the night and having a hard time getting comfortable with back pain, but my restless legs/feet are virtually gone now that I soak them in hot water every night before bed.
Stretch marks? Still none that I'm able to spot, though I can't really see the bottom of my belly anymore and I highly doubt Jon would ever tell me if he saw any. He knows better...
Best moment this week: Baby shower and finding out Baby Girl is head down!
Miss Anything? Laying on my belly whenever I want, being able to sit comfortably, and with the Fourth of July this week, I definitely miss being able to have a cold one ;-) Maybe I'll pick some Izzes as a substitute for the festivities Thursday.
Movement: Man she is starting to get vicious! She LOVES the right side. 9 times out of 10 she will be nuzzled over in the corner of the right side of my stomach. I often look like I have mini tumors as she elbows the middle of my stomach or pushes her butt out the top of my stomach.
Food Cravings: Lemonade, Izzes, milkshakes, Reeses...all the usuals.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope. I'm pretty picky about when I want something and when I don't, but nothing ever makes me queasy.
Gender: Girlie Girl
Pregnancy Symptoms: Back pain, heartburn, a small amount of rib pain, and a few Braxton Hicks though they've been pretty few and far between. The swelling has been MUCH better this week now that it's not as humid, thank goodness!
Labor Signs: A couple Braxton Hicks but nothing big
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Celebrating the Fourth this week and one of our newborn classes next Tuesday

To Do List:

Pack Hospital Bag
Fold and organize baby clothes
Write out birth plan
Make list of "must do" items for when Baby gets here (breast pump delivery, short term disability form, etc)
Purchase remaining items off of registry
Make up some frozen meals for post baby
Write thank you cards for work baby shower
Write thank you cards for friends' baby shower
Figure out daycare
Stock up on postpartum items (hand sanitizer for guests, pads, stool softeners...you know, all the fun stuff)
Baby-proof the DVD shelf (have Jon attach it to the wall)
Put up the corner protectors in Baby's room

I have not made much progress on this list....probably time to kick it into high gear! Baby Legg will be coming soon!