38 weeks belly photo

38 weeks

Wow, two weeks have passed since I have blogged and I was doing so good before! Oh well, here I am at 38 weeks and Tired. I have been doing so good this entire time but I am feeling it now. Time to just hang out on the couch and wait it out. Yeah right, I wish. I would love to feel ready but really are you ever ready? Thankfully Julian does not seem to be in a hurry. He has not dropped at all and I am not dilating. I do think however that I have started feeling some little contractions in the last couple of days and my legs got swollen for the first time (and I thought it wasn't gonna happen to me :) Sleep is sporadic, I mean I sleep, between 12 and 4 anyway, and sometimes between 6 and 9....

Julie, my doula, gets here in 3 days! yay! I am going to feel so much better about things once she is here. I will have help around the house and know that at least half of my birth team will absolutely for sure be here with me when it is labor time. I'm getting pretty excited. Julian feels so big now, he moves around and I can feel his feet and knees. Sometimes it hurts he presses so hard. I will take official 38 week photos soon but for now, here is a day at the beach a week ago...

36 weeks

I can't believe that I am at 36 weeks already! Only 4 more weeks to go.. I've been nesting away and his nursery is finally almost done. I need to finish with the wall decorations and I still need to complete his bedding and I would love some more accessories but it is already pretty functional. I know he will not even be sleeping in there at first anyway but I would like it to be more or less done. My list is getting shorter. I think he still needs a few things but it is not overwhelming anymore.

I am so excited that daddy is coming to help out with some stuff tomorrow. We need a little daddy time, it has been a while. It will also be great to do something about the tree that fell during the windstorm. I am afraid the fence is gonna fall down. I'm bummed that I am losing one of my trees but it is pretty much dead already :( so sad.

Doctors visit went well today. I have to go every week from now on. He is about six pounds now, right on schedule but hasn't dropped at all. The doc said to expect him to within the next couple of weeks. Great, then I will have to pee even more often! Mom said I didn't drop until late so maybe I will be the same way. Who knows. I'm not in any hurry to have this baby. I really am looking forward to meeting him but I hope he knows we need to wait for our doula and daddy to be up here before he makes an appearance.

Thank you cards

Well, I'm sure everyone has received their thank you cards by now so I thought I would post them. I'm pretty proud of myself for sitting down and making all the cards (and envelopes) from scratch. To make the cards I just cut out balloon shapes from scrapbook paper, printed Thank you off word and added some embroidery thread for the strings. I used a glue stick to put it all together and they turned out great! I almost couldn't mail them because they were too small ( which I didn't even realize could happen) but thankfully they just barely fit into the size requirements. I hope everyone enjoyed them!

Pack n Play sheet

Today I made my first pack n play sheet! I got the pack n play for my shower and although I am supposed to be borrowing a co sleeper from a friend we are having a hard time coordinating. This means it is entirely possible that this will be where he sleeps at first so I needed to figure out a sheet for it. I used some cute striped fabric and it turned out pretty good and only cost about $5. I used this tutorial at Prudent Baby http://www.prudentbaby.com/2010/02/diy-fitted-sheet-for-pack-n-play.html

I didn't put the elastic all the way through since that is my least favorite part but used the 8" pieces in the corners. It works well though I think it would fit a lot tighter with the elastic all the way around. I may make the next one a little smaller to allow for a snugger fit. All in all, I'm very happy with it and so glad I didn't spend $15 or more on a solid colored one from the store. I am really loving all this sewing and will post pictures of more projects soon!

Hospital Bag

Well, seeing as how I have 5 more weeks to go, I figured I should at least start packing my hospital bag. This seems to be a very popular subject in the world of baby blogs. First time mamas apparently always pack too much but oh well. I will try to reach some sort of in between.

My bag so far:

- coconut water 

- toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash

- body wash and shampoo

- lip balm

- maxi pads

- nipple pads and cream

- cheap underwear

- extra contacts, solution and case

- Boppy pillow

Things I plan on adding to my bag

- robe

- socks

- slippers

- going home outfit for me

- going home outfit for Julian

- music

- magazines

- baby book page for footprint

- snacks

- pillow

What am I forgetting? 

Getting crafty

I broke out the sewing machine a few days ago and I have been going at it! Now that I am able to put things in his room I am feeling so motivated to create create create. I prettied up some burp cloths and made a changing pad cover...and it fit! I am so proud of myself. It has been a while since I sewed. Before I moved back up north I'm not sure my sewing machine saw any use other than a hem here and there. I am just so much more motivated to be creative when I live here and being pregnant provides even more motivation. I can't wait to put the crib together and start working on the bedding. Still need to find fabric for the quilt though. I really wish finding affordable organic fabric wasn't so difficult. Future projects: Quilt, bedskirt, sheets for crib and pack n play, more burp cloths, and changing pad cover and maybe curtains? I also need to make some wall decorations.... Staying busy!

Check out this link for a great tutorial on making the changing pad cover. Works like a charm.

http://www.prudentbaby.com/2009/12/diy-changing-pad-cover-tutorial.html

The nursery is finally painted!

Well those of you who helped or heard about my nursery painting know that it has taken a long time but the nursery paint job is finally finished! Thank you so much to the 4 people who spent multiple days helping me make this room perfect. Of course I had to go all complicated with 3 colors and stripes and we had to cover up the dark turquoise that was in there but the end result is totally worth it. Now that the paint job is done, I have been able to start bringing baby stuff out of the cluttered living room too. yay!

I have been in total baby world lately as the due date is getting closer and closer. I've been putting together baby toys, washing clothes, taking inventory and making lists. I'm getting so excited to meet my sweet baby Julian!

A little preview...more pix to come soon