Third Trimester

Ready for baby.

I’m wrapping this blog post up as I enter my 39th week of pregnancy. 39 weeks … 273 days … 9.75 of months of growing our little one. My belly is round and full. Our to-do lists are all crossed off. Now, we just wait for baby. The time went by fairly quickly, and it is a little hard to believe baby’s due date is approaching, and we will soon have him or her in our arms.

How I’m feeling …

The start of the third trimester hit me in a few ways … 1) the bump seemed to grow substantially overnight 2) it started to feel very heavy and 3) I felt like I was having to pee ALL THE TIME. Beyond that, I’ve felt pretty great the entire third trimester. I think I got more used to the extra weight out front as the weeks went along. I am still sleeping fairly well; even though I’m now getting up 3-5 times a night to go to the bathroom. I get the yawns most days around mid-afternoon but never fully crash or need an after-work nap. I’ve been so lucky and haven’t experienced some of the last trimester hardships … extreme swelling, back pain, heartburn, etc.

Bump Photos

Here’s a look at how much the bump has grown this last leg of the pregnancy! Thanks for Ryan for taking these every week!

My first Mother’s Day and Ryan’s first Father’s Day

Although I’m not officially a mother yet, I felt the love on Mother’s Day. Ryan gave me a sweet card and cupcakes — just what a pregnant lady needs! Obviously carrying this baby has given me perspective on what the experience was like for my own mom. It really is a sacrifice to share your body with a growing baby! For Father’s Day, I knew I wanted to give Ryan a little something. When I ran across these corn booties months ago, I knew they were it! He has been support and sweet to me during this pregnancy and I’m very thankful!

Maternity Photos

I was able to convince Ryan to take some maternity photos. It was a beautiful evening without heat, humidity and bugs. Thanks again to my mom and sister Paige for making these happen for us. I created a book of our maternity photos and included a poem I wrote for the baby within it. Hopefully they will look back on this when they are much older and feel the love and anticipation we had for his/her arrival. I also drew a couple illustrations inspired by the baby that didn’t end up in the book.

Showered with love!

My sweet neighbors threw me a shower in mid-May. It was so nice to get together with some girlfriends and talk baby things as well as non-baby things! Jen had bought a bunch of onesies for the baby and created fun vinyl sayings and artwork for us to apply to the fronts (or bottoms!). It was really fun and now the baby will be styling with custom attire! Ryan was gone for the weekend, so it was fun to show him all the fun stuff we got when he got home. Putting diapers away in the dresser/changing table made it start to feel all so real.

We held a second shower celebration at our house in late June. It was a couples shower that was all about good food and beverages. We had a lot of friends and family travel from out of town to join us. We received some awesome gifts and had a really fun afternoon/evening. Ryan and I both thought it flew by, however, and we didn’t get a chance to talk to everyone as much or as long as we would have liked. We asked our guests to guess the gender, weight and birthday of the baby. We saw way more boy guesses (5 to 3). My vote was for a boy and Ryan’s was a girl … one of us will be right, anyway!

Beyond all the goodies we received at the shower from our friends and family, I wanted to extend a special thanks to our sister Jess for their Pack and Play, hangers and coat rack, my aunt Janice for a bassinet and our friends Steve and Abby for the other baby items — you all helped us a ton!

Nursery complete!

Baby’s nursery is all complete. You can find a full post here. If you want to take a closer look at the dresser Ryan fixed up for the nursery, see this post. I truly love this little room we put together for baby.

Classes

Ryan and I attended a labor and birth class at the hospital in early June. Hearing how painful labor is has me totally jazzed about the whole thing (sense my sarcasm?!). Luckily, it is all eventually over and from what I hear, totally worth it! :) I also attended a breastfeeding class in July. Breastfeeding is giving me more anxiety than labor. I know it is hard, I know it is all-consuming and I know I will feel like quitting at times. Wish me luck!

Nesting

Mom came and stayed with us a few days before Jess’ wedding at the end of May. I took the week off from work and wrapped up a lot of loose ends with the nursery, did a little shopping, manicures with the girls, and dined out. I had looked forward to this week for as long as we had planned it. Special time with my mama before I become a mama. I also took an extra day off around the Fourth of July to handle the last “nesting-like” activities — freezer meals, washing baby items, packing the hospital bag, cleaning the house, etc. I’m not sure I have felt a strong nesting instinct … more like a “let’s get this stuff done” mentality!

Enjoying our last days as just the two of us.

Ryan and I have slowed down these last couple weeks to enjoy the time we have left of it being just two. We sleep-in when we can (if 8 AM is sleeping in!), sip on coffee while watching TV, go on evening walks and dine out occasionally. Ryan fit in some fun that has included a fishing trip to South Dakota, a bike ride in Des Moines and a visit from his best friend Steve. I have pampered myself a little with a prenatal massage, manicure and pedicure and eating far more ice cream than I should! We made one last visit to Remsen around the Fourth of July for a little fishing and quality time with Mom and Dad. Next time we see them, they will be grandparents! We know everything is about to change but we’re ready for this next stage in our life together.

Reflection

Coming to the end of this pregnancy, I have a number of emotions. I’m honestly a little sad it is about to be over. There’s something about the baby movements and overall anticipation that I feel I’m going to miss. I’m truly surprised to find myself feeling this way because I was one of those people (even though it sounds a bit vain) who wasn’t overly excited about the pregnancy side effects and restrictions. Maybe it is because my pregnancy has been an easy one or maybe it is the connection I already feel to the baby, but I think I’m going to feel a tiny bit of void when my body is no longer carrying him/her. It really has been a blessing to bring this little life into the world for us to parent. I really don’t have a clue on what to do once he or she is here, but I guess we will figure it out!