Blessed... {36 weeks}

Last week one of my co-workers surprised me with a baby shower at work. She was planning this for I think a month and I had NO idea. She said that a on a number of occasions people from the office almost blew it by saying something to me, but I never caught on. Thank you pregnancy brain. Haha. It was such a pleasant surprise. So many people were there celebrating this wonderful time in our life, I just wish that Brad was able to be there.

Some pictures taken by my Chief.

I wish that I had a picture of me standing in my uniform to show how tent-ish it really is. I will have to remember to take one this weekend.

After all the excitement of the baby shower, and after washing and putting away all the baby clothes that we got from the baby shower, the weekend just kept getting better. Our friend Ali flew down from Michigan to take our maternity pictures for us. Getting your pictures done by a friend (who is also an amazing photographer) is the best because you don't feel nearly as nervous and awkward. You feel comfortable with the person and you know that they want you to LOVE your photos. So it was a pretty fun weekend for us. Here is a sneak peek of one of the shots she took with her iPhone camera. (No, she did not use her iPhone camera for the whole shoot, she just wanted a few to have on her camera. Haha.)

Photo by Ali @ Alison Claire Photography

My belly grows larger every single day. You would think that it would have evened out by now, but no. And I am pretty sure I am about to lose my belly button any day now. Haha.

From BabyCenter.com:
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.
At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

I do have some bad news. I forgot to upload the pictures of the nursery so I don't have them with me right now. I will either add them tonight or do a post for the nursery tomorrow. Promise!

This weekend our friend Anna is coming to visit us and we are having a baby shower at my friend Helene's house. This has been a really good month. I love 2012 already. :) Then next week we have our maternity tour and baby classes. The next 26 days are going to FLY BY. Holy crap, we are going to be parents.

<3 Brad, Jenna, & Bean

Guess her arrival date! {35 weeks!}

This past weekend we took a wonderful trip to Annapolis, Maryland and I fell IN LOVE with this cute little city on the harbor. It was gorgeous and quaint and completely picturesque. We got to see the Naval Academy and the pier where the Slaves from the book Roots were brought it. We also saw tons of Midshipman in their uniforms walking around and three lonely people trying to "Occupy Annapolis" (really?!). We went out for dinner at a seafood restaurant on the waterfront and then relaxed in bed the rest of the night. It was a much needed break from being in our house.

Being silly in the hotel room :)

Taken by Brad <3

Taken by Brad <3

Gorgeous sunset

We are coming down to the wire now with only 33 days left until Bean's due date (yikes!) but I wanted to start a tally of when you all think she will be making her grand appearance because from what I have heard babies normally never arrive on their scheduled due date. While we were on our babymoon in Annapolis, we saw a sign, if you will, about when we think she will come. Our room number in our hotel was 222, so we took it as a sign and now think that Bean will arrive on 2/22, just one day after her due date. What do you guys think? :)

Our room.

Well, we had an OB appointment yesterday and it was probably the worst we have had so far this pregnancy. I recently read up on the difference between military care and civilian care for pregnancy and there seem to be a lot of differences. One of the main differences is that when you are in civilian care you will most likely see the same doctor through all of the prenatal appointments. However, in military care we have seen a different nurse, midwife, or doctor every single visit. And that honestly does not bother me, except when you run into a rude nurse, which is what happened yesterday.
This lady was condescending from the get go and I did not like her tone. She asked us if we had the hospital bag ready yet, to which I replied no because I still have 5 weeks left. And she was like "You don't want to wait until the last second, do you????" Um, no. But I don't need it to have it packed 5 weeks before she should even be arriving lady. Geez. And then I was told at my last appointment that we would be getting an ultrasound to ensure that Bean isn't breech, but of course that didn't happen either. When I asked about it, the nurse said that they normally don't do that until 36 weeks but then she said she didn't want to see me again until I was 38 weeks. None of this makes ANY sense to me. 37 weeks is considered full term and I was told that I should be being seen every week by now, but my next appointment is three weeks away. Brad suggested that we stop mentioning on the blog what we are expecting from our next appointment because it's always wrong and disappointing. So, all that happened at this appointment was we got to hear the heartbeat, they measured my uterus, and I got a strep test done. Who knows what is going to happen in three weeks. I'm starting to think these appointments are pointless. Luckily, between now and our next appointment, we have a Maternity Tour, an Infant care class, and a Childbirth class.

Brad's mom recently asked me if I think my belly has dropped any. I am going to go with no. It just keeps getting bigger. I am slowly (and sadly) watching my belly button disappear. (Please don't go little belly button.)
From BabyCenter.com:
Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds. Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

I know I said I was going to reveal the nursery this week, and I will, but there is so much going on in this post that I don't want to over crowd it. I will be posting the nursery this weekend though. :) It looks SO cute!

Now, before I close this blog post I want to take a few moments to mention something that happened to our dear friends Isaac and Hannah. They were expecting their first baby and Hannah was about 9 weeks behind me. She had some problems throughout her pregnancy and was on bed rest most of the time. Then on Friday, Hannah began having contractions at 26 weeks. They rushed her to the hospital and did an emergency C-Section. Samuel Isaac was born at 4:30pm on Friday January 13th and he passed away an hour later. My heart broke for them but they are strong and have God on their side. They got to meet their son and spend an our with him. They were blessed with the chance of being parents and amazing ones at that. Take a moment of your day and say a prayer for them. They are having a memorial service for him this week. I really wish we could be there with them. {Love you guys!}

<3 Brad, Jenna, & Bean

Is 9 months enough time? {34 weeks}

Okay, a pregnancy is technically 10 months long, but that first month you are still in the finding out process so you miss out on a whole month of preparation right from the start. But even as the months go on, you don't want to start doing things too early in case something happens. So by the time you are comfortable with actually preparing for this baby to arrive you are around 20 weeks along. Meaning you have 20 weeks to get a nursery together, get some baby clothes, baby gear, and mentally prepare yourself. That is just not enough time.
But here we are with a little less than 6 weeks until our due date, STILL getting things ready. With that being said, no nursery reveal this week. Haha. We have a few more minor things to do before I want to show it off in all it's beautiful glory. So let's cross our fingers for next week. ;)

We did get some of her laundry done and put away though:

Baby clothes are SO small!

We are finally doing our "babymoon" this weekend. We initially wanted to do a long weekend somewhere exotic and warm, but came to our senses and opted for something that we could afford. Haha. So we found a Living Social deal for a one night stay at a Marriott (which is our favorite hotel) in Annapolis, Maryland. So we will be going there this weekend. We are pretty excited as we haven't been to Annapolis yet and from what we have seen in pictures it is gorgeous. Plus it will be a nice break from being at home where we have so much to do. I'm ready for our babymoon. :)

Don't mind my swollen fingers, haha.

People keep asking me if I am uncomfortable and ready for the baby to come already. The answer is no. Not at all. I mean, okay, it can be uncomfortable at times. I have trouble getting comfortable for bed. I am easily winded. Pregnancy is hard. But I seriously love every second of it. I love my belly. I love her kicks and movements. I really think I am going to miss this a lot. Plus, she still has 6 weeks of growing to do.

From BabyCenter.com:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies. 

Our next appointment is next Wednesday. We will be getting another ultrasound, so maybe I will try and have Brad record a video of it. :) I'm excited to see how much she has grown from 20 weeks.

Until next week...

<3 Brad, Jenna & Bean

The Year of the Bean! {33 weeks!}

My dear friend Ali dubbed this "The Year of the Bean" when she was sending me a Happy New Year text. I thought it was adorable and fitting, so I stole it. ;)

So we are officially under 50 days now. We only have 47 days until her due date. FOURTY. SEVEN. Where did this pregnancy go?? Are we ready? Absolutely not. Not ready mentally, physically (like can I carry around a 10 pound baby for even 15 minutes??), or in any other aspect. Luckily her nursery should be pretty much put together this weekend, which means I can FINALLY post pictures next week! YAY! I have a small laundry pile started for her with some of her bedding and clothes in it. The dresser is *almost* done. We have put in a total of 6 hours of labor into this dresser and it's still not complete. But that is because they gave us two screws that need a square tipped screwdriver which we didn't have, so we had to get one. Then we just have to hang some stuff and decorate. It is easily my favorite room in the house. :)

Brad putting the dresser together.

We spent our New Years Eve with some friends, which was nice. It was very relaxed. We watched the ball drop, listened to some Scottish guys play guitar and sing songs, laughed and had a good time. It was a very mellow New Years and I loved it. But we still miss spending our New Years Eves in beautiful European cities. We are so blessed to have been able to spend three years traveling around Europe.

New Years Eve! <3

Everyday I am feeling more and more pregnant. And not just because my belly is getting bigger. I feel it when I get up from the couch or bed, when I am walking (or waddling, rather), or when I get winded just by putting my jeans on... But yeah, my belly is living proof too. Like how I have to stand really far away from the sink when I do the dishes. Haha. And of course, there is always the kicks. She is pretty active nowadays. I think I read that now that there is more baby than amniotic fluid that her kicks are easier felt. That is a true statement. I also think that she has been getting the hiccups during the past 3 days. Brad felt them last night.

We scheduled our childbirth class and infant care class. January is actually really busy for us, so the earliest we could get into these classes were February 3rd & 4th. The only thing is, I will be 37.5 weeks along which is technically "full term". So keep sending those "stay in there until your due date" vibes, please. Haha.

The. Belly.

From weeks 33-36, Bean is the size of a honeydew! {Holy crap, I am 8 months pregnant! WHOA.}
This week according to BabyCenter.com:
This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Our next OB appointment is on January 18th. We were told that we would get an ultrasound during that appointment to make sure she is head down. You would think I would be able to tell by her kicks, but I have NO IDEA. Haha. I try my hardest to figure it out or even figure what she is jabbing me with but it's nearly impossible.
Oh, and my friend Ali is coming here during the weekend of January 21st to do our maternity photos! {Here is her website if you want to see her work!} I am so excited to see her and spend all weekend with her. Plus get some awesome photos done. :)

Until next week...

<3 Brad, Jenna & Bean

Goodbye 2011 {32 weeks!}

This has been a really good year for us, mainly because we are finally expecting our little baby. :) But we think that 2012 is going to be the best year since we got married. There are so many changes coming our way in 2012 and a lot of unknowns but just like we have for the past 5 years, we will get through it together because that is what we do. We are the best team. {I love you bubba.}

The nursery is coming along rather quickly now. We have all of the big furniture in the house... but we have to put together the dresser still. We picked it up yesterday and it was heavy, so we had to open the box from the Audi and carry the pieces into the house and upstairs bit by bit. There are SO many pieces to this dresser and the instructions have 34 steps to put this together. For all those people who warned us about the crib... the crib has nothing on this dresser. I am going to have to buy Brad lots of beer this weekend so we can get it together. Haha.

A million freaking pieces:

Once we get this bad boy put together then we just have the finishing touches to the nursery and it should done. Hooray. It feels like yesterday I was having a breakdown because I couldn't decide where to even start with the nursery. But now it's almost done and that makes me so happy. And relieved.

Today my belly feels bigger than usual. Which I am sure is right because I guess it still has some growing to do. ;)

From BabyCenter.com:
By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Outside of the usual, getting up and sitting down is now getting a little more difficult. I try to avoid going up the stairs in the house more than I need to because I get winded realllllly easily. And our next appointment isn't for another 3 weeks....

So until next week...

<3 Brad, Jenna, & Bean

The holiday season... {30 & 31 weeks}

Looks like I am doing another double week post this week, sorry about that. Unfortunately, both Brad and I got sick last week and although we are still battling the end of the cold, we are both feeling MUCH better.
So let's recap last week...

I started getting sick around two Fridays ago. I stuck it out through the weekend because I knew that there really wasn't anything that I could take for it, but on Monday I went to the OB just to be safe. And naturally they said that they couldn't give me anything but they did give me the rest of the day off from work! So I spent the day in bed, but sleeping without taking any medicine just didn't help me. I went to work the following day and got sent home again. Finally by Wednesday I didn't feel like dying and now I just have some sniffles. Hooray. Last week we also received a handmade blanket from Brad's grandma. We actually have two handmade blankets now, one from Brad's Nana and one from Brad's grandma. They are so cute.

 

And the belly:

From BabyCenter.com:
Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

And now on to this week...
Two Fridays ago I caught a cold. Last Friday, I thought I was going into pre-term labor. Yeah, it's been a pretty exciting two weeks for us. Haha. I woke up on Friday night with really bad cramps, so I went into the bathroom and the cramps got worse. I am already blessed with Braxton Hicks, so I know what mild contractions feel like, but these felt like full blown contractions. After about 10 minutes they went away though and I was able to go back to sleep. The rest of the weekend I just tried to lay low and not move around too much.
Monday we had our OB appointment. I brought up what happened on Friday and the doctor said that I handled the situation perfectly. Only if my contractions continue on a regular basis for an hour then I would go to labor & delivery. Bean is doing well. Her heartbeat was strong and she was moving like crazy at the appointment. The doctor had the hardest time finding and holding her heartbeat and Brad got to see her jabs to my stomach while the doctor was trying. Our next appointment is 4 weeks away, sigh. That will put us at 35 weeks. After that I think we will be seen at 37 weeks, which is technically full term, and then every week after that until she comes. That leaves us with about 5 more appointments to go! Holy moly! And yes, she is staying in there until 40 weeks at least. As long as she is on time or late then I will be happy.
We finally have all of her big furniture ordered and on the way here. We should have her nursery done by the end on January. It looks cute so far and with the rest of the stuff we got it will easily be the cutest room in our house. :) We also got a box from Brad's parents full of stuff for her. Lots of cute clothes and our first package of diapers. Haha.

My belly is growing and growing and oh yeah, growing. It now takes me a few tries to get out of bed in the morning. I imagine that I look like Randy from A Christmas Story when he falls in the snow. "I can't get up!!!" Yup, that's me. Haha. I have some stretch marks but I do my best to keep them lotioned. I know that they are inevitable, but I am hoping to keep them at a minimum. ;)

 

From BabyCenter.com:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

And since we have been sick and busy trying to get ready for the holidays and the baby, we are behind on getting our Christmas cards out. They will be more like Happy New Year cards at this rate. Haha.

Gah, someone reminded me that I wanted to do a progression picture, so here it is!:

Until next week...

<3 Brad, Jenna, & Bean

I feel nakey... {29 weeks!}

Well, we have good news: I got my wedding ring off! Yay!
We also have bad news: We had to have a jeweler cut it off. :(

Now I feel naked. I miss my ring. I wish it didn't have to come to this. And although they can and will be fixing my ring for me once I am done being pregnant and swollen, it's still really really sad. Also, I told Brad that the second we find out we are pregnant again my ring is coming off and going on a necklace. Haha. We are NOT going through this again!

The weeks are flying by and we still have so much to do in preparation for Bean's arrival. Her nursery has a crib aaaaaand that's about it. We have no clothes, no diapers, no changing table. We are pretty behind on all this. Haha. I hoping to have it all done by the end of January. Let's just go with that for now...

I was asked not to reveal Bean's initials... so we will keep them on lock down for now. :) But earlier this week the top 100 boys and girls names of 2011 came out. I am happy to say that her name is not on this list. So if you would like to know what she isn't going to be named, please take a look here: http://www.babycenter.com/top-baby-names-2011.

Bean is still really really active. It's fun. And I am pretty sure that she is going to be really long because I feel kicks at the very top of my belly to the very bottom at the same time. Haha. It's so crazy. This is one of the best feelings ever. I often tell Brad that I wish he could have her in his belly for a while so he can feel her inside kicks. It's just so weird. It will probably be one of the things I miss most about being pregnant.

We finally moved on to a new fruit. From 29-32 weeks Bean is the size of a squash. Only 2 more fruits (months) left. Eeeeep!
From BabyCenter.com:
Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

Our next OB appointment is scheduled for December 19th, where I hope that we will get an ultrasound but I won't hold my breath. I would hope that at 31 weeks they would want to make sure that she was positioned head down... I guess we will see. :)

Until next week...

<3 Brad, Jenna, and Bean