Belly Shots - 39 weeks and 4 days

I've been just a little busy lately, but wanted to post the pictures that my friend, Lauren took a week before Ethan came. I'm really glad that we took the time to take pictures of my belly as big as it was because it's hard to believe that it was ever that big now. Thank goodness it goes down fairly fast after birth. But, more about all that in my next post. Enjoy the pictures! Thanks, Lauren!

Still waiting...

39 weeks.

No baby yet! It's funny how a few days ago everyone started asking if he's here yet! Nope, we'll let you know ;)

Ken & I are very ready for Ethan to come already. The house is ready, we just need a baby. I keep making guesses as to when he'll arrive, but I'm wrong. My body is definitely getting there, but since I've never had a baby I have no idea how close I am. I've had some contractions, but nothing regular. Sometimes they are a couple days apart and other times I've had 3 thirty minutes apart. At my 38 week doctor's appointment last week the doctor said that Ethan was at a -3 station, so at the top of the birth canal, and he was dropping, but had a ways to go. I think he's made progress since then or maybe that's just wishful thinking. She also said she believes he'll be between 7 and 8 lbs at birth if he comes on his due date. She thinks he'll be here on the 15th or a few days after. Luckily, my doctor's office automatically schedules an induction between 41 and 42 weeks at the 40 week appointment if they don't see significant progress. At least that way we'll know there's an end in sight. I really hope we don't have to be induced because I'd like to go into labor on my own and with induction there's more of a chance of a c-section being needed.

Unless I'm late this will probably be my last post until he arrives. Keep your fingers crossed that he's not late.

We're getting close!

I'm about 37 1/2 weeks pregnant now and ready to go! Time is standing still and now that I'm off work it's even slower. I'm bored. It's nice to be able to make my own schedule, but when the schedule involves television and a nap it gets boring really quickly. I'm told that I should enjoy this boredom because I will never be bored again. Lately, I've been trying to make some plans for each day and to hopefully get out of the house. One day I went to Starbucks & Kohl's and today I met up with my dad for lunch.

The baby is still moving a lot! His movements are not as jerky as they were before since he's getting wedged more and more. He's still headdown and still enjoys spending half of the day with his butt under my right rib, which is really uncomfortable. I've been having a harder time sleeping at night, but it's nice that I can take a nap in the afternoons.

We finally finished Ethan's room this last weekend. My sister, mom and I finished getting the house ready on Saturday by putting receiving blankets, diapers, wipes, etc in Ethan's room, my bedroom, and downstairs. My sister also put together a diaper bag & nursing baskets for upstairs and downstairs. We cleaned all the infant toys and put them in toy baskets and then got started on finishing his room.

We got his bedding from Goore's and its been on his bed for the last week or two. We're still waiting for his matching nightlight and lamp & shade. Other than that the last thing to be done in his room is to put up the poem about little boys above his changing table, another picture frame and a sports shelf to the right of his changing table. Here are the pictures of his room. Ethan's daddy is very proud of the room.

Ken's Forty-Niner Way sign is now Ethan's

His bed with a little monkey.

The co-sleeper is set up next to our bed. Just needs a baby ;)

Ethan's take home from the hospital outfit. Courtesy of his dad.

Ella has been very into baby Ethan (Eaton as she says). We ask her where he is and she will pull up my shirt, lower my bellybands and give him kisses on my bellybutton. I think she actually thinks he is my bellybutton. She looked at me confused last week when I told her he was going to come out soon to play. I'm pretty sure she is going to be all over him when he comes out.

Hopefully, I'll get one more post in before he comes, but if not you'll see pictures of Ethan soon! Only 19 days to go!

26 days and counting...

We're getting closer to E-Day as Ken's been calling it. We've been really busy the last few weeks. A week and a half ago, my sister, mom, and mother-in-law gave me a wonderful baby shower! I couldn't believe how generous people were. The only problem Little Man will have is helping Mommy pick out an outfit in the morning. He has, no joke, forty to fifty 0-3 month short sleeved onesies and about 50 blankets. Many of the things we have were hand-me-downs, but he still managed to get more really cute clothes.

I can't believe how much bigger I've gotten. My belly continues to grow out and not side to side. I look like I have a basketball or a watermelon under my shirt. I've officially gained 33 lbs.

Ken and I went to the Dr. today for my 36 week appointment. Ethan is headdown, with his butt just under my right ribs, and his back downward to my left. The only position I can guess is that he's hanging with his head down and his back all along my front. Whatever floats your boat, son!Dr. says that it looks like he is about 6 1/2 lbs right now, and if I make it to 40 weeks he will most likely be between 8 and 8 1/2 lbs at birth. It is quite uncomfortable when I sleep because he seems to like that position during the night. It's getting harder to sleep on my side and I have to get up 4-5 times a night to go to bathroom now. I'm already feeling really tired, but thank goodness, I am now off of work.

My last day of work was Friday. It was very sad to leave. Surprisingly, I didn't cry all the way home like I originally thought I would. I've got plans to go pick up a kid or two at the Weaver's over the next week or two.

Ethan's room is almost done. We put his bedding on his bed a couple days ago. It is so stinking cute! I'll take a picture of his room once my sister, mom and I get the last few things done this coming weekend. I'm getting really excited as the days get closer and closer. I can't wait to see my beautiful baby boy's face.

49 days to go!

49 days to go! Everyday I feel a variety of emotions about the birth of Ethan. For the most part, I'm really excited and it feels like it'll never come. Because we are so close I also feel a lot of anxiety over getting everything ready and I think I'm in shock that he'll actually be here in 7 weeks. Despite all the excitement, I also worry that something will happen to him between now and then. I know my fears are out there and the chances are very very slim that he will wrap himself up in his umbilical cord or that his heart will just stop. I think part of these fears comes from losing a baby before. The dream of finally becoming a mom is so close and I can't wait to see Ethan's little face. It makes my eyes well up with tears just to imagine those first few moments with my son.
He still seems to be growing normally. At my 32 week appointment, I measured a week behind, which was irritating since I measured a week ahead just 3 weeks before. It's all still within what's normal, but, of course, I freaked out and worried that he'd stopped growing. I have a feeling this worrying will never stop even when he is here. There will be another set of worries. He was head down as of my last appointment and I think he's stayed that way. My doctor said that the chances of him turning around again are slim since it's getting packed in there. He should be about 4 1/2 lbs by now and 16 or 17 inches long. Supposedly, he will gain 1/2 lb a week from now until delivery.

Almost 33 weeks (Christmas Day!)

My belly is huge! I didn't think my belly button could come out anymore, but it has. I have had a vertical line above and below my belly button for about a month. It's really cool to see the things that they talk about in books happening to me.


In the next couple weeks I'll post pictures of his room. It's still a work in progress. His clothes are washed and put away. His crib & dresser are up and ready to go. We still have a few things to do, but I'll post pictures when we're finished.

10 more weeks!

10 more weeks until baby Ethan will finally be here! Sometimes it feels like it's coming really fast and other times it's really slow.

We went to an all day childbirth class yesterday and learned some really good relaxing techniques. I really like the birthing ball, which is basically just an exercise ball. I'm hoping to use it at home when labor begins and hopefully take it to the hospital with me. After taking the class I am more excited about the process and although I don't think anyone really looks forward to labor, I'm excited to meet my son. I'm so curious to see who he looks like and I really want to hold him.

I have 6 more weeks of work before I go on maternity leave. I'm happy that I will have some time off before the baby comes. It's also a little bittersweet because I'll be leaving 5 little kids behind. I have been watching the Weaver's 3 kids for almost 3 years and I've been with the Jones' for almost a year. I'm really going to miss my kids! This is the beginning of a new chapter of my life where I will no longer will I be taking care of other people's kids. I'm looking forward to having a normal, steady work schedule at an office in May or June and being home with Ethan 2 days a week. The plan is for me to stay off work until the end of May/ early June and after that Ken's mom is going to take the baby 3 days a week so I can go back to work.

At my last doctor's appointment I had officially gained 24 lbs. At a pound a week it looks like I will most likely be at around 35 lbs when he's born. I took the glucose test on Tuesday and I don't have gestational diabetes, but I am anemic so now I'm taking iron supplements. Oh, and I'm measuring a week ahead, but that could just be because he's bigger than normal.

Lately, Ethan has been moving more and more. I can feel every twist and turn. He likes to move the most between 7pm and 11pm and every time I move from side to side at night he kicks around to get situated for a few minutes. I'm mesmerized by the fact that he is going to be 3 1/2 lbs by the end of the week and 18 inches long and he somehow fits inside my belly. We are both doing great! I feel more tired now than I did last trimester. I can get up at 8am and by 10am I'm ready for a nap. 6 more weeks until I can actually take that nap. I can't wait!

If you give Erin a box of decorations...

...she'll probably want a tree to decorate.

The day after Thanksgiving I felt like I really wanted to get all the Christmas stuff out of the garage. We only have 1 box of Christmas stuff and it's mostly ornaments that my mom has saved for me since I was a baby, ornaments we have received as gifts and hand-me-down decorations. Once we got it all out, I really wanted a tree. Ken and I have never had a Christmas tree which I know for some people is insane. We've always been so tight with our budget that we never wanted to spend money on a tree, especially since we don't have kids to enjoy it. We've always wanted to buy a fake tree too and they are expensive. So, for the last few Christmas' we either haven't put anything up or had a 2 ft fake tree (found in the hand-me-down box) which doesn't hold any more than a few ornaments. One year Ken strung lights around our apartment, but that's about it.

Anyways, once we got the decorations out I started thinking that maybe we should just buy a real tree this year just so we had something to put up. It all started with me saying, "Why don't we just go take a look?" and ended in us buying our first fake Christmas tree. We found an 8 ft tree at California Backyards for $300 so with the cost of a real tree it will pay for itself in about 6 years.

Here are the pictures of us setting it up and finally getting all the ornaments out of their boxes. It turned out really nice and we had a nice night listening to Christmas music and hanging out together.

The first set of branches

Pulling down the branches

Me getting all the branches spread out.