34 Weeks and READY!

As I have bragged to most, I have had a very easy pregnancy.  Nothing has changed other than I sure know how to cook 'em!  This baby girl was estimated a week and a half ago to be about 5lbs 6oz!  Yes, they can be wrong (supposedly only a pound either way), but still, she is in the 89th percentile!  The doctor so reassuringly (and humorously) told us "well someone needs to be in the 89th percentile, and it looks like it is you!"  I would be more than ok if Baby Girl makes her appearance after the next couple of weeks.  She will be for the most part fully cooked at 36 weeks, and just putting on more weight! 

She and my belly are getting bigger and bigger, and with that comes discomfort and pressure.  Without going into the nitty gritty details, she is big, and running out of room...fast!

John and I feel we are all prepped and ready to go.  The first week of October we attended a full weekend of baby classes at Amma Parenting Center.  We had Newborn Care, Breastfeeding and a full day of Preparing for Childbirth.  I think we feel we will make a good team throughout this process!  Nothing came as a shock (phew!) during the classes so that was good!  They gave a lot of great information, resources and offer support before and after labor.

On Sunday, October 13, Kiki and my Aunt Teresa, with the help of Katie and my cousins Tacjana and Krystyna they threw me a wonderful baby shower.  They did a ladybug theme of red and black to match Baby Girl's room.  So many friends and family came and were SO generous!  They asked everyone to bring a favorite book to help start Baby Girl's library- so many fun books!  It was great to see everyone at my house, and show everyone my big growing belly :)  When John came home to all of the wonderful gifts and stories of the afternoon we both felt humbled and thankful that this baby is so loved and we have so many fabulous people in our lives that support us. 

In another attempt to prepare, Kiki and I made freezer meals on Monday!  With the help of Pinterest and our other recent experience with Let's Dish we found recipes, shopped, cooked and froze lots of meals.  We figure it will be much easier to throw something in the crock pot or in the oven pre-made instead of cook when we are in the haze that this baby girl will bring to our lives.  More to come on how the meals actually taste :)

So now that we are educated, will be fed and were showered with gifts for Baby Girl, we had a tour of the birthplace last night!  I will be delivering at Fairview Riverside.  They have a brand new beautiful Amplantz Children's Hospital.  We feel that if for some reason, something goes wrong, we are in the best hands possible.  That, and Kiki works at Riverside so she will make sure we get the best! With that, we feel like we are really ready to bring this baby into the world!

The last couple items on the checklist are:
1. Install the carseat next week (I have rental car through the end of this week as a few weeks ago wonderful person side swiped us on the highway, and kept driving, - yes we are all ok, just the drivers side of my car was damaged)
2.  I need to finish packing my hospital bag.  This has been a little overwhelming because I am an overpacker by trade.  You just never know what you will need!  So I complied a few lists from the trusty internet, consulted with some friends who have recently had babes and I think I am on the right track.  It's not like I will be in a foreign country or can't send John home to get me something, but I also like to be prepared for all situations and not feel scattered! 

Of course there are many things we cannot prepare for, but such as life.  We do not know when she is coming, how she will make her grand appearance, what we will act like with little sleep and having a newborn, and many, many other things!

Now that you are caught up on all of our baby prep...here is the latest bump pic...getting big!

When I get the shower pics from Kiki, I will post all of the fun.  Hope all is well.  xoxo, Andrea