35 Weeks

How far along: 35 weeks, 4 days
Size comparison:  Baby Hawk is about the size of a honeydew melon, a little over 18 inches long and approximately 5.25 pounds.

Baby nickname:  Baby, Baby Hawk, Chupaloop 
Baby bump:  Feeling like we might be starting to drop a little?!

Gender Prediction:  No comment.

Weight gain: 29 pounds.  

Maternity clothes:  I'm all about maxi dresses.

Stretch marks: None.  Knock on wood.

Belly button in or out:  In.

Wedding rings on or off:  Off.  And really hoping I will be able to wear them after the baby is born... I miss them!  Otherwise I will be getting my bumpers taken off ASAP.

Sleep:  Same as usual.  I'm real tired this week.

Best moment this week:  We got our maternity pics back.  We love love love them!  Now to figure out which ones we want for the nursery and the stairway.  Grandma and Pappy also came to KC for Easter weekend and helped clean our house.  Like, scrub the oven racks kinda clean. So awesome and a huge help!

Worst moment this week:  Carpal tunnel, fingers that feel arthritic.  Am I preparing for birthing a baby or my 80th birthday?

Miss anything:  My sanity, feeling like I have my $h!+ together.

Movement:  Feeling some really low movements and some pressure, lots of kicks to the ribs.  Baby Hawk really likes Mom's right ribs.

Cravings:  Salads.  And chocolate. Still.  

Queasy or sick:  Heartburn is back and worse than ever.  It.is.awful.

Labor signs:  Nope!

Happy or moody:  Happy!

Looking forward to:  Packing my hospital bag, installing car seats and purchasing a bookshelf for the nursery!

My hawt cankles.

34 Weeks

How far along: 34 weeks
Size comparison:  Baby Hawk is about the size of a cantaloupe, almost 18 inches and 4.75 pounds.

Baby nickname:  H., Baby H., Peanut
Baby bump:  I can barely zip up my North Face... It is tight.

Gender Prediction:  I am actually indifferent right now... My coworkers have pointed out I started referring to the baby as a "she."

Weight gain: 28 pounds.  

Maternity clothes:  Maternity clothes to the end.  Still love dresses.

Stretch marks: None.

Belly button in or out:  In, believe it or not.

Wedding rings on or off:  I think the wedding band has been officially retired.

Sleep:  It feels pretty non-existant these days.

Best moment this week:  Maternity pictures!  We saw a sneak-peek and they look great so far!

Worst moment this week:  I may or may not have shed a few tears one night after I couldn't find my planner... Hormonal, much?  

Miss anything:  I would love a Boulevard right now.  More than 2-3 consecutive hours of sleep.  Upper shoulders that don't ache. 

Movement:  Baby has officially moved and is no longer breech!  Lots of full body movements and rolls, and tons of kicks to the ribs.

Cravings:  Coconut water, chocolate.  Anything with chocolate!

Queasy or sick:  Feeling great... Just tired.

Labor signs:  None yet.

Happy or moody:  Happy.  Minus my planner meltdown. ;-)

Looking forward to:  The weekend.  Purchasing the rest of the items on our baby registry and making the final preparations for baby!

33 Weeks

I apologize... I realize that I've only been doing weekly updates, and we have so, so much more to tell you about!  So much going on and tons of prep work for baby gives me a lot of updating to do, but not much time to do it.  Hopefully things will be calming down a bit, and I can tell you about everything that has been going on.  Until then, here is the latest bumpdate!

How far along: 33 weeks
Size comparison:  Baby Hawk is about the size of a pineapple (holy moly.)  17+ inches and a little over 4 pounds.

Baby nickname:  H., Baby H., Peanut
Baby bump:  I feel so huge.  Seriously.  Ginormous.

Gender Prediction:  Boyyyyyy.

Weight gain: 27 pounds.  

Maternity clothes:  You bet! Still loving maxi dresses.

Stretch marks: No, but I have a feeling my time is nearing...  Last night, I thought I noticed a couple, but I must have just scratched my stomach because it was gone in the morning (I've underestimated the size of my bump and actually bumped into the doorway once... or twice.)

Belly button in or out:  In.

Wedding rings on or off:  Wedding band is tight some days.  Still staying strong, though.

Sleep:  Still waking up a few times per night.

Best moment this week:  Dubuque baby shower!  Loved every second of seeing some of my family (including my sister-in-law who flew in from Colorado!) and some of my friends. :)

Worst moment this week:  I am wicked uncomfortable.  Baby needs to turn/move/something.  Annnnd, looking at the picture above and realizing just how flabby my arms have gotten!  Embarrassing.  

Miss anything:  Feeling comfortable. 

Movement:  Lots of full body movements lately... Hoping that means baby will be turning soon?!

Cravings:  Non-citrus fruit (grapes, blueberries, cantaloupe and strawberries are tops now) and veggies with ranch dressing.  Thanks to the weekend home with my dad, I'm also really digging egg and cheese sandwiches using English muffins.

Queasy or sick:  Feeling pretty good!  My heartburn is getting better now that I have eliminated EVERYTHING I like.

Labor signs:  Nope.  I will die when I say yes.

Happy or moody:  So very happy!

Looking forward to:  Staying home with my hubby this weekend!! :)

32 Weeks

How far along: 32 weeks
Size comparison:  Baby Hawk is about the size of a jicama (I had to look it up).  16 3/4 inches long and 3.75 pounds.  Feels more like 10.

Baby nickname:  H., Little H., Baby H.
Baby bump:  Growing more and more each day!  Although I have been told that I don't look as big in person as I do in the bump pictures.

Gender Prediction:  Boy!  More and more people are also voting boy.

Weight gain: 25 pounds.  Supposed to be gaining about 1 pound per week from here on out.

Maternity clothes:  You bet! 

Stretch marks: No, but I have a loooong 7.5 weeks to go!

Belly button in or out:  In.

Wedding rings on or off:  Wedding band is on but getting tight.

Sleep:  Same as always... Although I've had a couple nights where I only got up once.

Best moment this week:  Omaha baby shower!  Aunt Paige and Great Aunt Kristen hosted an absolutely beautiful and fun baby shower.  Baby Hawk is awful lucky and loved.

Worst moment this week:  Feeling a little under the weather this weekend.  Lack of sleep, long days at work and heartburn really took a toll on me... Thankful for the baby shower for a nice pick-me-up!

Miss anything:  Intense workouts like I used to do. I would give anything to run a half marathon right now... Throw on an Insanity workout... Anything.  I feel super flabby and lazy. 

Movement:  Movements are changing... Less constant, little movements and more slow, big movements these days.  I'm waiting for a leg or arm to come through my skin ;-)

Cravings:  Nothing specific.

Queasy or sick:  Still battling heartburn/reflux...  I'm also trying to battle the slow start of a cold/sore throat/sinus congestion.

Labor signs:  No. Despite what I told my husband as an April Fool's joke! 

Happy or moody:  Happy!

Looking forward to:  Our trip to Dubuque!!  Although this trip to Dubz will be unlike any other that I've ever had (no late night boozing with my buds.  Weird.)

31 Weeks

How far along: 31 weeks
Size comparison:  Baby is the size of a coconut.  16 inches long and weighs 3.3 pounds... And supposedly heading into a growth spurt!

Baby nickname:  H., Little H., Baby H.  Can you sense a theme, here?
Baby bump:  Definitely growing!  Bryce and I can often see how the baby is positioned, and we can definitely see when he/she is all curled up because it makes a nice lump on my stomach.  So funny!

Gender Prediction:  Still going with boy... But I'm really dying to find out.

Weight gain: 25 pounds... ish.  Honestly, I vary between 23-25 pounds depending on when I weigh myself, how much water I've had to drink, and if I have used the bathroom recently or not.  I am a little bummed because 25 pounds is the total I wanted to gain for the pregnancy... and I still have 8.5 weeks to go.  Yikes!

Maternity clothes:  I love dresses.  They fit and are super comfy... So I will likely be living in them until H. arrives. 

Stretch marks: None.  Although I've noted some skin darkening around my belly button (they say this can occur all over the body, including the face.  Luckily that's not the case for me so far.)  My linea nigra has now extended from the top of my belly button to a couple inches under my rib cage.

Belly button in or out:  Staying in.

Wedding rings on or off:  Wedding band is on.

Sleep:  I average about three trips to the bathroom per night.  I'll let you decide how I'm sleeping.

Best moment this week:  On my feet all day with minimal swelling.  I will take it as a pregnancy win!   

Worst moment this week:  Went to my first wedding while pregnant... Not only was I one of three total sober party-goers, but my heartburn was OOC (out of control) so I couldn't eat, and I looked/felt like a whale.  Ummm... I also woke up the next morning feeling like I had a wicked hangover.  WTF?!

Miss anything:  Drinking and dancing like a fool at weddings.  

Movement:  We still get a kick out of seeing the baby move inside my tummy!  H. must still be breech, because when I'm not feeling the movements in the middle of my stomach, they are down very low, as well as, off to the right of my stomach (same as they were when we had our sonogram indicating a breech babe.)

Cravings:  Cream cheese...  Especially when used in grape salad!  Not much else that I'm craving these days.

Queasy or sick:  Diet modifications are helping but not controlling things 100%... 

Labor signs:  No.  

Happy or moody:  Happy!  Baby is healthy and apparently very happy... Which makes for a very happy momma!

Looking forward to:  Maternity pictures!  I decided at the last minute I needed to have some maternity pics, so I contacted our newborn photographer and she fit us in for the first week of April!

30 Weeks

How far along: 30 weeks (okay okay, damn well close to 31... but better late than never, right?!  All questions will be answered to reflect week 30!)
Size comparison:  Baby is the size of a cabbage.  15.7 inches long and weights almost 3 pounds.

Baby nickname:  Chupa
Baby bump:  I have strangers commenting on my bump alllll the time.  It's usually "So when's the baby due?"  Once I just want to say "Oh, no baby... Just fat!" 

Gender Prediction:  I'm pretty much ready to put his name up in his room.

Weight gain: 23 pounds.  Ugh.

Maternity clothes:  Still not fitting into all maternity clothes (pants) perfectly...  But I have found a love for maxi dresses.  Thank goodness for our warmer weather! 

Stretch marks: No.

Belly button in or out:  Still standing strong and staying in.

Wedding rings on or off:  Wedding band on.

Sleep: Between baby Hawk partying all night, my heartburn/reflux and frequent bathroom breaks...  Not good.

Best moment this week:  Grandma and Pappy Sandusky came for a visit and spent pretty much all of Saturday cleaning our carpets and rearranging our living room.  So thankful Chupa will have a clean space to roll around on.   

Worst moment this week:  Work sucks when you're exhausted.

Miss anything:  Beers, bars and basketball... It's March Madness!

Movement:  I love watching my belly move when the baby moves :)

Cravings:  Nothing.  Anything that doesn't give me heartburn.  I could eat cereal with milk for every meal.

Queasy or sick:  My heartburn/reflux/acid and sour stomach is so bad it's almost as bad as morning sickness... My doctor said it will likely get worse the further along I get.  Tums are my new BFF and I've had to make some major diet modifications. 

Labor signs:  No... and thankful for that!  Baby's gotta keep cooking until at least 37 weeks!  

Happy or moody:  Happy!  Tired, but happy.

Looking forward to:  My upcoming baby showers in Omaha and Dubuque!  So excited to celebrate the upcoming arrival of my little peanut with my family and closest friends!!  Everything is happening so so fast, and I can't wait!

29 Weeks

How far along: 29 weeks
Size comparison:  Baby is the size of a butternut squash - just over 15 inches long and 2.5 pounds.

Baby nickname:  Chupa
Baby bump:  Getting larger by the day! 

Gender Prediction:  Boy.  Although after the shenanigans the baby pulled during the 3D/4D ultrasound, I might lean a little toward the girl side ;-)

Weight gain: 21 pounds.  WHERE is the weight coming from?!

Maternity clothes:  I reached a new milestone today... My maternity pants are just a bit too big, and my belts obviously don't fit, so, I had to borrow my husbands belt.  Yep, true story. 

Stretch marks: Still knocking on wood.

Belly button in or out:  Somewhat in.

Wedding rings on or off:  Wedding still standing strong.

Sleep: Not good.  Not good at all.  I'm fairly sure you can see the exhaustion on my face in the above picture.

Best moment this week:  Our ultrasound!!  It was so good to see our little peanut!!!  I cannot wait to meet him/her! :) :) :)

Worst moment this week:  I'm really, really tired.

Miss anything:  Sleep.  Feeling comfortable.  The ability to stand on my feet all day.  Drinking a glass of wine after a ridiculous day at work.

Movement:  All the time!!  Except when we want it...  I've been feeling somewhat painful kicks on my left side and down low.  Baby is getting strong.

Cravings:  Nothing, really.  There isn't much that sounds good when everything gives you heartburn.

Queasy or sick:  Exhausted.  I'd love more than two hours of sleep at a time.  Isn't this the time when I'm supposed to be getting my rest?  I guess it's just good prep for Bryce and me.

Labor signs:  Nothing so far! Thank God!  

Happy or moody:  Happy!!

Looking forward to:  Sleeping.