37 Week Bumpdate

How Far Along: 37 Weeks + 1 day (2 more weeks to go!)

(You can check out my 37 week post from when I was pregnant with Jackson here.)

Size of Baby: (According to babycenter.com) 37 weeks: Your baby is about the size of a bunch of Swiss Chard. She measures roughly 19 inches from head to heel and weighs about 6 1/3 pounds.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I believe its still 29 pounds total.

 Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes and growing out of some of them. :-( I am so ready to be back in normal clothes again.

Gender: Its a GIRL!! Our sweet Avery Rose.

Movement: Yes, she's moving around, but her movements are a little different now that she's taking up so much room.

Food Cravings: No real cravings this week, just really thirsty as I've been this entire pregnancy.

What I miss: Just being able to do normal things without feeling tired or out of breath. I also miss being able to wear my wedding rings, which I haven't been able to wear for quite some time now. :-(

Sleep: Not great. I'm having to get up several times a night to use the restroom and just can't seem to get comfortable sometimes. It's so hard to roll over in bed too. :-(

Symptoms: Feeling very tired, having a few Braxton Hicks contractions, some cramping here and there, heartburn and some minimal swelling in my legs, feet and hands. I'm also having an occasional sharp pain in my pelvis, which is not very fun and occasional sciatic nerve pain again. 

Best Moment this week: A much needed hair cut and color on Saturday and dinner out with  my family for my birthday. Jake and Jackson took me out to lunch on Sunday after church for my birthday which was also fun. :-)

What I am looking forward to: At this point, I'm just really ready to meet my sweet girl on (or before) April 28th!! :-)

 

* I had a Dr. appt. yesterday and am actually measuring about 2-3 weeks ahead now! Wow! I also found out I haven't progressed any more since last week, (still at 1 cm dilated) but ultimately that's not a big deal since I'm having a scheduled c-section anyways. I just kind of like to know what's going on in case I would go into labor early. :-)

**Hoping to get the last few things on our baby checklist done this week so we can enjoy the last week of being a family of 3 just relaxing as best we can. We just have to pack our bags (Avery is already packed), get my car cleaned and install the infant car seat base. I can't believe we are so close already!!

Comparison of me pregnant with Jackson and Avery at 37 weeks.

250 Cakes for 250 Years of St. Louis

This year is the 250th Anniversary of our city of St. Louis. In honor of the city turning 250 years, they have placed 250 4-Foot Fiberglass Cakes all around the St. Louis Metropolitan area at all kinds of Landmark Sites and Local Favorite Places. (Here's the list of all 250 cake locations.) I (and many other St. Louisisans) thought it would be fun to try and visit each cake site before the end of the year when they take them all down. I'm actually a little late to the party, but thought I'd try my best to see them all. 

Last night Jackson and I visited our first cake. It happens to be at a local church in our city of Florissant, so it was easy to stop at on our way home yesterday evening. Jackson thought this was pretty cool!! I'm hoping throughout this Spring and Summer we can get to several more, if not all of them. I'll be posting all of our pictures to Facebook and Instagram as we find more cakes, if you'd like to follow along. :-)

Our first cake encounter @ Old St. Ferdinand Shrine in Florissant, MO.

36 Week Bumpdate

How Far Along: 36 Weeks (3 more weeks to go!)

(You can check out my 36 week post from when I was pregnant with Jackson here.)

 Size of Baby: (According to babycenter.com) 36 weeks: Your baby is about the size of a head of romaine lettuce. Your not-so-little lettuce now measures more than 18 1/2 inches from head to heel and weighs almost 6 pounds (and is still packing it on at a rate of about an ounce a day).

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 29 pounds total

 Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes and growing out of some of them. :-( I am so ready to be back in normal clothes again.

Gender: Its a GIRL!! Our sweet Avery Rose.

Movement: Yes, she's moving around, but her movements are a little different now that she's taking up so much room.

Food Cravings: No real cravings this week, just really thirsty as I've been this entire pregnancy.

What I miss: Just being able to do normal things without feeling tired or out of breath. I also miss being able to wear my wedding rings, which I haven't been able to wear for quite some time now. :-(

Sleep: Not great. I'm having to get up several times a night to use the restroom and just can't seem to get comfortable sometimes. It's getting so hard to roll over in bed too. :-(

Symptoms: Feeling very tired, having a few Braxton Hicks contractions, heartburn and some minimal swelling in my legs, feet and hands. I'm also having an occasional sharp pain in my pelvis, which is not very fun. 

Best Moment this week: My nephew's birthday party this past Saturday and having some down time yesterday. I also had a doctor's appointment today and found out I'm 1cm dilated and 50% effaced!! Yay for progress.

What I am looking forward to: At this point, I'm just really ready to meet my sweet girl on (or before) April 28th!! :-)


And for fun, a comparison from when I was 36 weeks pregnant with Jackson and 36 weeks pregnant with Avery.

A Few Maternity Photos

My sweet sister took a few Maternity Photos for me this past weekend. I'm loving them so much! She just used my camera and I did a little editing on them. I think they turned out great!! I would like to get a few more with Jake in them as well, but I love the ones we have so far. :-) 

 The pictures with Jackson took a little bribing, but we managed to get some great shots. Thankfully my sister is fast and was able to snap some of these split second shots. Ha.

I'm hoping to get some family shots and some of just Jake and I on the 12th (after I get a much needed hair cut and color). That also happens to be my birthday, so I told him he has to go with the flow that day and not complain while getting pictures taken. ;-)

35 Week Bumpdate

How Far Along: 35 Weeks (4 more weeks to go!)

(You can check out my 35 week post from when I was pregnant with Jackson here.)

 Size of Baby: (According to babycenter.com) 35 weeks: Your baby is about the size of a honeydew melon. Your baby, now weighing in at 5 1/4 pounds and measuring more than 18 inches, doesn't have much room to maneuver in your belly.  

 Total Weight Gain/Loss: I had a Dr. appt. yesterday and had actually lost a pound since my last appt. 2 weeks ago!! Yay! So I'm up 28 pounds total at this point.

I also found out at this appointment that I haven't dilated at all, but that baby is head down! None of this is all that important since I'm having a scheduled c-section, but still fun to know whats going on, even if it isn't much. :-)

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes and growing out of some of them. :-( I am so ready to be back in normal clothes again.

Gender: Its a GIRL!! Our sweet Avery Rose.

Movement: Yes, she's moving around quite a bit. Her movements are quite strong and actually hurt a little sometimes.

Food Cravings: No real cravings this week, just really thirsty as I've been this entire pregnancy.

What I miss: Just being able to do normal things without feeling tired or out of breath. I also miss being able to wear my wedding rings, which I haven't been able to wear for quite some time now. :-(

Sleep: Not great. I'm having to get up several times a night to use the restroom and just can't seem to get comfortable sometimes. It's getting so hard to roll over in bed too. :-(

Symptoms: Feeling very tired, having a few Braxton Hicks contractions, heartburn and some swelling in my legs, feet and hands. I am happy to report that the pregnancy rash that I was complaining about last week, seems to be doing much better and is hardly itching anymore thanks to a few home remedies I found online. :-)

Best Moment this week: Getting Avery's nursery done for the most part (post to come soon) and getting a few Maternity photos taken (post to come soon on this as well).

What I am looking forward to: At this point, I'm just really ready to meet my sweet girl on (or before) April 28th!! :-)

5 on Friday

Linking up with the lovely ladies above for 5 on Friday today! 

Exactly one month from today, we'll be meeting our sweet Avery Rose!! I seriously can't wait to hold her and kiss her sweet cheeks!

I'm also excited because my husband is having a Poker and Pampers Party tomorrow evening. He has around 20 guys coming to play and to get in, you have to bring a package of diapers! I saw this idea a while back and thought it sounded so fun, so I ran it past Jake and he loved it. He loves playing poker and thought it would be a fun night for he and his friends. They're getting pizza, snacks, soda and beer and will play a couple rounds of Texas Hold Em. It should be a fun evening and I'm looking forward to all the diapers we'll get. :-)

The invitation I made for the party.

 With my mom and my sister's help, I'm hoping to get the nursery completely done this weekend. We just have a few decorations and frames to hang up and it will officially be done. :-)

 Lately, my sister has been cutting Jackson's hair and she does a great job, but for whatever reason, Jackson throws a big fit and cries the entire time. So when it was past time for him to get another haircut, I thought maybe I would take him to someone that he didn't know to get it cut and maybe he wouldn't act crazy. I found a fun children's salon here in St. Louis called the Hairy Elephant. So I made an appointment for him for last Saturday and he did great. He was a little apprehensive about it, but he didn't cry at all. The kids sit in cars and he got to sit in the one that looked like Lightening McQueen! They also get to pick a movie to watch while they're getting their hair cut, which was a nice distraction. After he was done, he got a sucker and actually didn't want to leave. Ha. Needless to say, I scheduled another appointment for him for after the baby is born. :-)

 I'm also hoping to get a few Maternity photos this weekend and then a few more after getting my hair done in 2 weeks. My sister is going to take a few for me tomorrow, as long as the weather is decent. Here is one of my favorites that I really want to try of me and Jackson.

via

I hope you all have a super fabulous weekend!!!

34 Week Bumpdate

How Far Along: 34 Weeks (5 more weeks to go!)

(You can check out my 34 week post from when I was pregnant with Jackson here.)

 Size of Baby: (According to babycenter.com) 34 week: Your baby is about the size of cantaloupe. Your melon-sized munchkin now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is almost 18 inches long from head to heel.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 29 pounds total. 

Maternity Clothes: Yes, all maternity clothes and growing out of some of them. :-( I am so ready to be back in normal clothes again.

Gender: Its a GIRL!! Our sweet Avery Rose.

Movement: Yes, she's moving around quite a bit. Her movements are quite strong and actually hurt a little sometimes.

Food Cravings: No real cravings this week, just really thirsty as I've been this entire pregnancy.

What I miss: Just being able to do normal things without feeling tired or out of breath. I also miss being able to wear my wedding rings, which I haven't been able to wear for quite some time now. :-(

Sleep: Not great. I'm having to get up several times a night to use the restroom and just can't seem to get comfortable sometimes.

Symptoms: Just feeling very tired and huge. :-( I'm also having a few Braxton Hicks contractions, heartburn and some swelling in my legs, feet and hands. I also think the pregnancy rash I had with Jackson may be back again this time around. :-( I will check with my Dr. next visit to be sure, but I'm thinking that's what it is. I just have a few itchy red bumps on my belly and it's just really annoying.

Best Moment this week: Getting together with friends over the weekend.

What I am looking forward to: Getting the last few decorations hung to complete the nursery and of course, meeting her on (or before) April 28th!! :-)