I am now seeing my doctor every week to get a check-up on how Baby Wheeler and mommy are doing. I've made it this far in my pregnancy and if she were to come today, I feel good knowing she will be born healthy. My doctor told me that I could have her by my 39th week, but we will see. Babies are unpredictable and you never know when they will arrive.
I have definitely gotten big during my 3rd trimester and will probably keep getting bigger... My belly grew into a basketball! Mostly just straight out. My baby bump is definitely noticeable now. I have gained about 28 pounds so far during this pregnancy. A lot of people have told me that I do not look big, but boy, do I feel it. This baby is taking up so much room in my belly. Not to mention, everything is stretching. It's gotten to a point where I have gotten embarrassing stretch marks on my belly. Sometimes it is hard for me to get comfortable. I always have to change sitting and laying down positions in order to get more comfortable. Everyday, I am literally walking like a penguin. I wonder if it's just me or if people are noticing that I waddle. I've gotten to a point where a lot of my clothes don't fit me anymore. Even some of my maternity clothes have gotten too small... Whenever I find that some of my old clothes work for maternity, I get happy. :)
One major symptom I have had during this trimester is tiredness. I probably look like I have aged about 10 years... I've been getting bags under my eyes. I don't know if it's just because I have to get up at least 3 times in the middle of the night to go pee, but I just always feel tired. Everything I do I have to take slowly because of how tired I get. I have to sit or lay down once in a while. I also get winded more easily because of how big I've gotten. I try to take naps during the day and try to go to bed earlier, which is something I need to work on. I know I need to reserve my energy for when it is time to give birth. I probably have to get used to being sleep deprived, because we won't be getting much sleep after the baby comes.
No doubt about it, I am hungry all the time! I am so glad that the nausea has basically subsided during this trimester. Therefore, I have had a good appetite. I feel like I have to eat every so often or else I get shaky. I can eat maybe 2 or 3 helpings of food. Not to mention, food cravings. I always crave sushi, steak, french fries, smoothies, and sweet treats. Since it's fall, I have been craving soup. Whenever it's soup weather, I take advantage of it and make soup.
There has been an increase in my body temperature. When you are growing another human being, there is always extra heat. It doesn't help that I live in Texas and it literally doesn't cool down until October... By the time the baby arrives, it will probably get cooler. The AC is always on, day and night. Otherwise, I get super hot and sweaty. I also don't go on walks if it's too hot outside. I try to make that more of a priority since I need to exercise.
I've had a roller coaster of emotions during the past 9 months. In particular, during this trimester. The tears just come out of nowhere. As my due date gets closer, I start getting emotional. Mostly because it's hitting me that we are getting closer to meeting our baby girl. The thought constantly goes through my mind of how I will be as a parent. It's mostly happy emotions that turn into tears. Once the tears come, they don't stop. Whenever I am stressed out or overwhelmed with something, I start to cry. The pregnancy hormones have really kicked in this time around. Guarantee I will be a wreck once I am giving birth.
Did I mention pregnancy brain?? It really is the real deal! I have moments where I am a lot more forgetful. I have my funny ditzy moments. We were at Ikea a few weeks ago and I thought I forgot my water bottle inside. Come to find out I had it in my hands the whole time. I am also extremely uncoordinated. I knocked over my neighbor's trash can with my car not too long ago! I was just getting the mail and I guess I didn't realize I parked to close to the trash can. Luckily my neighbors were nice as I came out and frantically said, "I am so sorry!" I was so humiliated. I drove away crying because pregnancy hormones but I just felt horrible for what happened. I look back on it and laugh now. At least people are nice to pregnant women even when they have their "pregnancy brain" moments.
In the beginning of September, we took our maternity pictures. We asked an old friend of ours from our previous ward, Marco Hanson, to take our photos. After planning and coordinating times, the pictures turned out so stunning! He did a great job taking some breathtaking photos. We couldn't be happier with them and will cherish this special memory forever. They really capture just how excited we are to have our first child. We are going to frame one of them in our nursery.
The baby's nursery is almost complete! The colors in our nursery include pink, mint green, gold, and gray. I guess it's kind of a chic theme? I haven't really decided on a theme, but knew what colors I wanted. I think our wedding colors inspired me. :) I feel like it's really coming together and hope that Baby Girl will be comfortable in it. Pics of the completed nursery are coming real soon!
During my 36 week appointment, we got to see our baby one last time on the sonogram. The next time we see her, she will be born! Our sweet girl is very healthy and active. She kicks so much now and sometimes hard. It's fun when she has the hiccups. Collin likes to tickle my belly and that gets her to move. She is most active probably in the afternoon and at night. (Which means she maybe a night owl...) I have recently given her the nickname "Little Foot" because she is always moving her feet around in my tummy. We also call her Junior and Baby Girl. The ultrasound tech spotted quite a bit of hair with our kiddo. We both thought that it was interesting to see. If she does have a lot of hair, she will definitely take after her mom. She had her hands on her face the whole time. The ultrasound tech had to massage my stomach a little to get her to move her hands. She eventually did and we got a glimpse of her cute face. We both think that she is going to look like me. She also has a good size head and belly and at the time weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces. Every appointment I go to, I love listening to hear her heartbeat via Doppler or ultrasound. She is just perfect and we can't wait for the day when we can see what she looks like in person.
This will be the last post about my pregnancy. Also, this will be the last post for this blog. It won't be "Just the Two of Us" for very much longer. I am going to start a family blog. If you have any name suggestions for my new blog, let me know. I love hearing other people's ideas. I really can't believe we are going to be parents soon! It probably will be any day. For now, I am taking things one baby step at a time. I know that things will work out in the end, because Heavenly Father is on our side cheering us on! I always get a reassurance from him whenever I feel nervous or unsure about our future. He has been so good to us this past year and during our marriage. It's been a fun ride! Now to start our next step into parenthood...
28 weeks. Entering the 3rd trimester
Chloe loves snuggling with the baby. :)
32 weeks
The beginning of our nursery, along with our baby shower gifts.
Building the baby's dresser we got from Ikea
Coming along, but not complete yet...
It looks better now without all the stuff on the floor
I decided to put together some old decorations and put it in the nursery
I made those headbands for our baby girl!
Maternity Pictures! Collin was probably whispering something funny in my ear.
Collin helped by using a leaf blower for my hair. Good touch!
We waited almost 2 years for this baby, and it will be well worth it!
Cute pink shoes for our baby girl
I love how Collin is looking at me
Big, round belly...
My little sunshine
I love how tender and sweet this photo is
My favorite of us
We didn't want to leave out Chloe! Our baby is going to love her
Hey, we had to practice swaddling somehow...
Awww...
We took a childbirth and a newborn class. In our newborn class, we practiced on a baby doll on how to properly care for a baby
With all of my crazy cravings, I manage to fit in a healthy meal
36 weeks with my sonogram photos
There's her hair!
"Little Foot"
Her sweet face
Also has a pretty good profile
I finally cut my hair! Funny story behind this photo. I may look freaked out because I was freaking out! I stood on a fire ant hill and they bit my right foot! It burned so bad. I nearly cried... I can now see why people say they're nasty.
It was my goal to make a hair donation and I finally was able to meet that goal. I donated 10 inches of my hair to Pantene for someone with cancer who needs a wig. I also decided to get a "mom cut" right before the baby comes.
I made it to the final stage of pregnancy! 37 weeks!! This maybe the last bump photo unless the baby comes late.
Thanks for joining us on our journey! See you in my next blog!
