38 Weeks

When did I get so BIG? It seems like it just happened so suddenly!

So I've arrived at 38 weeks. Today was the last field trip of the year for us--I've been on 4 this month--the dairy farm, the zoo, another farm, and French Grove nature area. I only need to keep Aidan in for another 9 days, and then he can come anytime--I'm getting really anxious to meet him :D

Only 2 weeks to go!

I can't believe we only have 15 days until I am due! It has been a pretty busy time around here, so here's a little update on all the stuff we've been doing!

35 Weeks:

36 Weeks:
I was realizing the other day that I haven't talked much lately about how I am feeling and what the pregnancy has been like for me, and I originally started this blog to help me remember the random everyday stuff that happens to us, so here's some random "stuff" from this pregnancy:

• Throughout the whole pregnancy I have had 2 consistent cravings--fresh fruit and dark beer. I can't get enough fruit: I ate half a watermelon on Tuesday after school, and then I ate the other half Wednesday when I got home :/, by myself... As for the beer, I haven't had a chance to indulge that one, but I do smell Mike's when he gets one.
• I weighed 150 lbs at my appointment on Wednesday, which is the most I have ever weighed in my life.
• I am dilated to 1cm and have not begun to efface yet.
  
• My belly button is an outie for now (and the kids at school ask about it all the time--they wonder if its the baby :)
• I have not had a student ask me how the baby got in there, but I have had lots of them ask how he will get out. Another kindergarten teacher tells them, "The doctor will help me," so that is what I have begun telling them, and they seem to accept that answer.
• I only have 1 stretch mark, right above my right hip bone.
• Aidan likes to kick out the right side of my stomach, several times a day I watch his foot/knee poke out my side and slide up or down under my skin.
• I can watch Aidan "breathe" under my skin.
• The most difficult time of day for me is when I am trying to fall asleep--I still haven't become comfortable as a side sleeper. I have to use 4 pillows--1 for my head, 1 between my knees, 1 to hug, and 1 to go under my belly.
• When Aidan is in certain positions, I will suddenly get a pain in my left groin area and then it will go numb for about 10 seconds... so if you suddenly see me flinch and raise my knee up and down several times, that is what happened.
• A few weeks ago I was terrified of childbirth. Mike and I took a childbirth class, and I am still scared, but not so much terrified anymore. The things I am most scared about are all the unknowns and things I can't control: when is it going to happen? how long will it last? how bad is the pain going to be? will there be complications?
• We took a breastfeeding class two weeks ago, and I truly hope that I am able to breastfeed Aidan when he gets here.
  
• My students are very interested in how the baby gets food or if he is mixed in with the food I eat. To them, the baby is in my stomach, which is where my food goes, and because they haven't yet learned about body systems and how we have different organs, they don't know any differently. To help them understand more, I have explain to them that the baby is in his own bubble, kinda like a water balloon--and this blows their minds too because they wonder how he's not "drowning" living in water--so he doesn't get mixed up with my food. I had a very interesting conversation with some kids about how the baby gets food one day at lunch. They thought that he just ate my chewed up food, so I told them that he gets his food from my blood--which immediately grossed them all out, "EEWW, SO HE'S CHEWING YOUR BLOOD?!?!" No, he's not chewing my blood, gets his food from my blood through his belly button--and after a few "Oh my god, are you serious?" looks from them, they all, as if it were planned, lifted their shirts and looked at their own belly buttons. So I explained to them that they "ate" through their belly buttons when they were in their mom's tummy. They were completely amazed by this conversation.
  

We had another ultrasound at 36 weeks just to check on his growth because I was still measuring 32 cm. when I should have been measuring 36 cm. At the ultrasound, we found out that Aidan weighed 5lb 4oz as of May 3rd, which is just about the 20th percentile--he's completely healthy, and he's just a small guy... and the tech said that Mike and I aren't big people, so Aidan is just the right size for us.

Here's his cute face :)
And here's his scrunchy face:)


Since we are moving 3 weeks after our due date, Mike and I aren't setting up a nursery for the baby--we just plan to have him sleep in the bassinet in our room for the first few weeks, and then he will have his own room when we move into the new house. Because Aidan doesn't have a room of his own, all of his baby stuff is in our bedroom... and babies need A LOT of stuff :)
Because we are waiting to put together the nursery, Mike and I haven't had much of a chance to assemble things and get them ready (the crib and dresser are at Mike's mom and stepdad's house in Ankeny until we move)... so here are some picture of the two things we have gotten to put together :)

I did the bouncer all by myself:)



I have been slowly sewing some things together for the baby as well--here's the quilt I made:
And the diaper bag:

And some burp clothes:
Moving 3 weeks after I have a baby is going to be exhausting, so to start getting ready, I have packed all the stuff that I know we won't need to use in the next 5 weeks, and put them in the spare bedroom. The cats enjoy climbing on the boxes :)
So our shelves and cupboards look kinda bare, but I want to have as much done as possible so I don't have to do it when Aidan is here.

The school year is almost over--only 7 days with students plus 2 more days of moving my room! I am getting a new room next year, and that is my main reason for wanting the baby to stay in there until at least May 27. I, like most people, want to be the one who packs my room so I know where to find stuff when I come back in August. I have already finished report cards for the year, you know, "just in case..." :)

And finally, here is a random picture of Charles laying on the ottoman watching Mike play video games... and this is totally not posed, he seriously lays there like this to watch TV.

We Bought a House!

Mike and I bought a house!!

Our new home will be at 1838 4th St. in Nevada. It is near the northwest edge of town. Here's the link if you want to see more pictures.

We have set the closing date as June 20th, which is 3 weeks after Aidan is due :)
I know that this is going to be a very crazy time for us, but I'll be on summer break and have about two months to adjust to the changes before I have to go back to school.

I blogged about this house about a month ago when we first went to look at it. We went back and forth with the people on offers, but they wouldn't go below 123K, and we didn't want to go above 115K. So at the end of March, we just kind of walked away to see what else we could find, even though we both really liked this house. Mike and I went on several other house tours, and nothing else had all the things we wanted (2 car garage, more than 1 bathroom, 3 bedrooms, more open floor plan, open kitchen, usable basement, storage space, nice size yard, larger closets, central air and heat, and no major updates needed... we kind of had a long, particular list...), but this house had it all! So anyway, we waited a month, and last Friday we began the bargaining again, we offered 118K, they countered with 121,500, so we offered 120K, and they accepted, FINALLY :)

I love the inside--the main floor is nicely updated, and we wouldn't need to do anything to get it in livable condition... except paint the bedrooms a color other than pink :)

The basement is "finished," but needs a lot of work. There are no reported water problems, so we definitely want to use the space as a living space. Right now, the family room area has a very sloppily done ceiling job and concrete walls, so in the coming year or two, we plan to redo that to make it look a lot better. We also plan to put an egress into the back room to create a 4th bedroom. Laundry and storage are also in the basement, but we will probably not need to change much about those areas.

When we first visited the house, the only thing I didn't like about it was how generic it looked from the outside--its a plain, white rectangle... but Mike works for landscaping company, and we have already began mentally re-landscaping the whole place :) I think we will wait until next spring to go crazy with the landscaping, so for now that one bush in the front will have to be it.

Mike and I are very excited to finally have a place of our own! It has so much more space than the place we live in now, and with the baby on the way, we are really going to need some more space--did you know baby stuff takes up lots of space?!?! I already feel cramped in our Ames duplex, and the baby isn't even here yet ;) I am looking forward to the move!

34 Weeks

Time is going by so quickly! I am 34 weeks already.... only 5 weeks until school is done and 6 weeks until Aidan is here! I am now going to doctor appointments every 2 weeks. I had an appointment last week, and I grew the 2 centimeters in 2 weeks that I was supposed to, which means growth wasn't as big of a concern this time.... and I also gained 4 pounds in those 2 weeks--YIKES, that's my biggest gain so far!! I'll just tell myself it all went to the baby...

Here's a 34 week photo:

Here's the 33 week photo that I meant to post last week but never got around to doing :)
Mike and I bought the car seat and stroller 2 weekends ago--so of course we had to come home and put it together and play with it! Mike used the Ugly Doll to learn how to use the buckles!

The Ugly Doll is all strapped in and ready to go :)


We even hooked it up to the stroller, and I strolled up and down the hall--can you tell we're excited first-timers?
I am also working on a diaper bag--here's the beginnings of it... I'll post more when I am done :)



Last week was Kindergarten Round-Up, so we got to meet our incoming kindergartners and divide them up into their future classes. Just like last year I was amazed at how young they seemed, and it just makes me realize how far my kids come in a year! I truly have one of the most amazing jobs!

Ultrasound #3 at 31 weeks

My tummy was measuring small at the last appointment (measuring 27wks when it should have been measuring 29wks), so the doctor scheduled us for an ultrasound just to be sure Aidan's growing was on track. As of today Aidan weights 3 lbs. 9 oz, which is 36th percentile and his heart rate was 128 (which the tech said is a very "boy" heart rate). Of all the measurements they do (head, legs, body, etc), the tech said that Aidan's head is measuring in a higher percentile than the other parts of his body... I guess that means more work for me :/ We got to watch him suck and "breathe" while we were there too!

And just to be sure, we checked again, and he's still a boy--and it is very obvious on the ultrasound that he is a boy now--so we're safe sticking with Aidan Michael for a name :)

After the ultrasound, we had an appointment with Dr. Leeds for a check up, and my bump is still measuring small. I am measuring at 28 weeks when I'm 31 weeks, but since the ultrasound shows that our baby is the right size, he says that how I measure doesn't mean anything, its the ultrasound measurements that will tell us how the baby is growing--and he is perfectly healthy! I don't know why I'm measuring small, but I am and, thankfully, the baby is not, which is ok with me :)

Here's how I look as of today!

This is another picture of Aidan's face. It isn't as clear as the one we got last month, but I still think he's cute! His cheeks are starting to chub out a little ;)



Here's him sucking--if you look closely, you can see that his mouth is puckered.

I have been feeling very blessed lately. I have a wonderful husband who is the love of my life, I have a healthy baby on the way who I know will be loved beyond words by his parents, grandparents, and family, we have great families that I know love and truly care for us, and I have job that I love and look forward to that challenges me and rewards me in ways I never imagined--and everything else just seems smaller and less important when I think about all the great things I have in my life... and this is new to me because I am usually a big worrier and stresser... I am just feeling a new calm lately, and I know everything will be ok because I have everything I really need.

30 Weeks

Here's a 30 week picture--only 10 weeks to go until we meet Aidan Michael!

We had an appointment last week, and once again I am measuring small. We are going to have another ultrasound next Thursday just to make sure Aidan is growing the way he should.

Aidan continues to be a very active baby! He kicks, punches, and rolls all the time. I keep trying to figure out how he is positioned in there because he will be kicking above my belly button, below my belly button, and out my right side at the same time--and I know he only has 2 legs and 2 arms, but sometimes it feel like more :)

He is also a big hiccuper! He gets hiccups 3 or 4 times a day, and he gets them almost every night at 10 when I am trying to fall asleep.

And sleep.... sleep is becoming difficult. I am a stomach sleeper, and even though I have been sleeping on my side for a few months now, I still haven't gotten used to it. I am looking forward to when I can sleep on my stomach again... My body is also making a bad habit of waking me up at around 4:oo in the morning, and then I can't fall back asleep for an hour or two... so about 5:30-6:00 I am finally falling asleep again, and then its time to get up for school. Maybe this is just my body's way of getting me ready for being awake at night...

The house hunting is continuing. I still LOVE the Zearing house, but its in Zearing... and its just very inconvenient for both of us :( We have toured one in Colo, and it was was a beautiful house but it had no "extra" space at all. We have been to 4 more in Nevada, and found 2 that we like. The 2 that we like are completely opposite too--one is newer, nicely remodeled, and ready to move in, but its kinda generic looking, here's the link ... and the other is older and has lots of things for us to update and change (it has robin-egg blue kitchen counters...), we love the look of the house, the yard is large, it has lots of extra space, but the cost of the extra projects could add up fast (even though nothing has to be done right away--its completely livable as is, but it would be so fun to change all the stuff) here's the link. We are going back to both houses tomorrow night for a 2nd look.

In cat news, the vet told us Charles is too fat... well actually he called him a basketball. So we have started limiting his food even more than we had before, and he has lost 1 lb so far! I think he looks thinner ;)

Baby Shower in Harlan

On Saturday, my sister hosted a baby shower for us in Harlan! We had lots of yummy food, like fruit, veggies, cake, meat and cheese with crackers, nacho dip, cracker spread, and punch. We played 3 games--The Price is Right, where you guess the cost of baby items like diapers, wipes, etc., another game where the labels are taken off jars of baby food, and you have to guess what the baby food is, and a game where people try to guess how big around my belly is.



Mike and I received many wonderful gifts! We are so grateful for everything that we have been given--here are the pictures of gift opening:







This picture isn't from the shower, but it is from our trip to Harlan. Last week our school had their annual book fair, so I picked up some books for Ashton, I just couldn't help myself :) Grandpa read Ashton all four Elmo books Sunday morning--he seems to be enjoying them :)