I know every woman since the beginning of time has felt the same way I feel these days.  Strangely, that doesn’t help me to get out of my own head.  There are still 12 days before Reed is due, but I am literally doing everything in my power to try to get him out early.  At least everything natural and not scary.

Saturday we had the laugh-a-thon with the Shulers.  When my friend Nicole was pregnant she went into labor 19 days early after spending the evening with her in-laws (who are hilarious) and so they kindly hosted Randy and I on Saturday night to try to get the same result.  We laughed a lot, but nothing.

Saturday late night we went to my parents house because my uncle is in town.  He is licensed in homeopathic medicine and has successfully used the accupressure techniques in inducing labor on his own wife.  If none of you have ever done this it is painful!  We went through the routine twice on Saturday night and then three times on Sunday after church.  Nothing.  Not even Braxton-Hicks contractions.

Sunday we went to lunch with Randy’s family to celebrate my upcoming birthday.  I chose Maggiano’s and ate eggplant parmigiano (even though I was terrified I would hate it) and drank a glass of wine.  Nothing.

Sunday afternoon we went for a 2 mile walk.  Nothing.

Last night we went for another 2 mile walk.  Nothing.  Then we decided to try the spicy foods thing, so we went to Buffalo Wild Wings.  This kid didn’t even blink an eye!!  My mouth was on fire and he just enjoyed every minute of it.  He didn’t even wake me up in the night.  So again, nothing.

The most ridiculous part about all of this is we aren’t even close to his due date, so I didn’t really expect any of it to work.  I was just being optomistic.  I go back to the doctor today and hopefully he will tell me I have started to make progress.  If not, I guess we will stop trying all these silly antics!!  (Except the walking, that’s my favorite time of the day)

All in all I’m still doing fine and trying to stay positive, except when I’m at work.  I closed all of my audits 2 weeks ago and really haven’t had any work to do since then.  These 9 hour days of trying to stay busy so I don’t get stuck with some crappy stressful project that I will never finish before I actually leave is beating me down.  I don’t want to stay home because that would be boring too, so if anyone has any ideas on how I can stay busy and help the time pass I’m all ears!!!

Julie

We went to the doctor this morning.  Blood pressure, good.  Weight, sore subject.  Baby Reed, still a boy!  I had a panic moment this morning that we would go in for the sonogram and they would say he was actually a girl.  It is a terribly long time to wait between the 19 week sonogram and the 37 week sonogram. 

The doctor estimates he is around 6 pounds right now, which is bigger than Randy was at birth, I guess he will take after his mother.  He is head down, but I have made no progress at all.  I don’t think he will be making his appearance anytime soon!!

This past weekend Randy and I finished painting the stripes in Reed’s nursery.  Hopefully we will have time to take and post a few pictures tonight.

I feel like I am finally in the home stretch.  Yesterday marked week 35, with 35 days to go.  5 weeks still seems like a lifetime, but I know it will be here before I know it. 

In retrospect I have to admit that this has been a smooth pregnancy with little complication.  However, in the last week my feet have begun swelling to sizes I didn’t know were possible.  Overall my joints seem to be stiff and full of fluid.  I wonder if this is what people with arthritis feel?  Did anyone else go through this weird joint thing?  My mom did, but I always assumed that was because she was a floor nurse who worked 12 hour shifts on her feet all day.  I sit in a cube.  Not really an excuse for me!

At my last Dr. appt on Friday he measured my belly and said baby is definitely growing and will probably be a large baby at birth.  Since I was 9lbs 3oz at birth that doesn’t surprise me (but Randy was only 5lbs 9oz!!!)  My only hope for a small to normal sized baby will be if he decides to come early, which I wouldn’t mind at all!

He moves all the time (except at night, weird).  My favorite part is that I can always find him.  He’s getting so big that no matter where he is in my belly I can always feel a big lump of baby.  For some reason I find that encouraging.

I think the best part so far is that I can still sleep through the night.  If I have to roll over I wake up to do so, but fall right back asleep.  Believe me…I’m enjoying every full night of sleep I have left! 

JB

I’m going to give you updates on several things all in one post…

Baby Reed is a very active little boy.  I am constantly amazed that each day he continues to get stronger and move more often.  This week he is definitely going through a growth spurt and I am feeling the stretch in my belly.  Since my belly has gotten significantly larger in the last few weeks people have stopped looking at me and wondering if I’m pregnant or not.  They know!

Now that we no longer have to worry about and dote on Shiloh (tear) we have been able to start doing some of the fun things to prepare for baby.  We went to Ikea to buy a bookcase last weekend and finally put it together last night.  We have lots more decorating to do in the nursery, but a few pictures are attached below.  

We have also finally registered.  For anyone that is not already a mom I have to warn you…it is an overwhelming experience.  Registering for the wedding was fun because I already knew about house stuff and what you do and don’t need.  Even though I have lots of friends with babies and grew up in a large family I realized I know nothing about what baby gear you do and don’t need.  So registering was a challenging experience for us (because I like to know everything before I dive into something!)  Tack on top of the general stress the fact that it was Christmas time so all the stores were packed!!  Thankfully, we have finished.  Any of you mommies out there, if I have missed something or registered for something stupid feel free to tell me.  I’m not too proud ot admit I don’t know what I’m doing!  (We registered at Babies R Us and Target)

Finally, showers start next weekend and I am so excited.  I can’t wait to see friends and family that I don’t get to see very often, but more importantly the presence of showers means we are starting the final countdown!  I am at 30 weeks with less than 10 to go.  I can’t wait to meet this kid that keeps pushing me around all day!!

Julie

In the spirit of keeping this blog a reference for baby Baldwin, I figured I would write about some of the things going on with me. 

First of all is food.  Clearly this child is Randy’s because all he wants me to eat is healthy food.  (We will see how that progresses as we get further into the holidays…)  For the past several months my favorite things to eat are honeycrisp apples, celery and peanut butter, and cereal.  I think I could probably live on that diet for the next 4 months if it was healthy enough.

Baby is moving around a lot these days.  I used to only feel him if I paid attention and even then it was very limited.  Starting a few days ago I feel him all the time.  Sometimes I think he is never going to stop moving.  An added benefit to this increased movement is that Randy finally felt him move for the first time this weekend.

We had another doctor’s appointment on Friday and everything still looks good.  My blood pressure is fairly low as usual, weight gain is still minimal and when the doctor went to listen to baby’s heartbeat it was very distinct, loud and strong.  No compliants from doctor, baby or mom.  Let’s hope all the appointments go this well!!  Next appointment is in mid December when I get to do the lovely Glucose test.

Julie