Weeks 35-38..the last leg!

Week 35 (June 18-24th)

Somehow these weeks are starting to blend into each other.  I think a big part of it is just waiting for the inevitable.  This week the baby feels like it got bigger.  He moves so much and it's incredibly painful at times.  Sometimes, there is this strange grinding-feeling like bones on bones heheh..I've also started to have more frequent Braxton-Hicks contractions.  I've had these since the beginning of the pregnancy so I'm not alarmed by them.  Unfortunately, I'm still congested from my cold and it seems to be taking forever to clear out. It probably doesn't help that I daily use nasal spray hehe. 

We are still clearing and unpacking, as some of it, we just don't have anywhere to put yet.  It's interesting how much more frequently you are cleaning the same stuff in a house than an apartment.  For example, before there was one bathroom to clean and now there's 3 that need cleaning at different times. Keeps you perpetually busy, that's for sure!

I had to pick up the laminate flooring on Friday from Lumber Liquidators in Rockford as we placed the order late and didn't realize the Arlington Heights one wouldn't have it in stock. Wow, what an ordeal! I took the 90 tollway, which was under heavy construction the entire way and just two lanes, and on top of that, one of the heaviest thunderstorms I can remember, hit as I was driving.  The rain came so hard that I couldn't really even see a few feet in front of me.  I was praying so hard, one-because I was worried I'd crash or drive off the road and two, with this kind of crazy storm, I was worried I'd have early labor or something! Robert was also working downtown that day, so I'd be on my own and I kept thinking, how am I going to cut the umbilical cord by myself! Hahaha-what your mind does sometimes..but thank God-all went okay and I made it safely even though it took over 2.5 hours to get there.

Week 35

Week 36 (June 25th-July 1st)

Yay! We've reached the 9th and final month! It's incredible to think how long it takes for a baby to form. Here is some fun facts on gestation periods, to put it in perspective (according to Wikipedia):

Animal	Average gestation period (days)
American opossum	12 - 13
Golden hamster	15 - 17
House mice	18 - 20
Rabbits	33
Foxes	51 - 63
Cats	62
Dogs	65
Coatis	76-78
Leopards	94
Lions	108
Pigs	115
Beavers	122
Sheep	145
Baboons	187
Moose	245
Humans	259–294
Cattle	283
Horses	336
Tapirs	380-400
Giraffes	420-450
Sperm whales	480–590
Rhinos	487
Elephants	600–660

Crazy huh? It could always be worse.  Elephants are pregnant for almost 2 years!

Okay, so back to the blog :) This week was busy as usual, getting things done around the house.  The painting  downstairs is done but I decided to try my hand at painting the bathroom upstairs. Overall, it turned out okay but I couldn't reach the ceiling very well and, let's just say you can tell.  I finally also finished my online course for work which was such a pain because I had to write papers and read articles all during this craziness.  Some friends also came over to begin working on the floors so that was exciting. 

Robert and I took a "New Baby, Now What?" course at the hospital where they talk about installing car seats and also what to do with the baby once he arrives.  Unfortunately, the speaker did not seem very knowledgable and a lot of what she said appeared as personal opinion.  We did practice swaddling and changing diapers-which I have done neither to-date! 

Baby Busan is moving around so hard, it's at times incredibly painful and I can't figure out what sort of motion he could possibly be making.  It almost feels like he's trying to swim. Other times, you can tell he's trying to stretch out and wow! does that hurt or what. I think there is just so little room in there that I feel all his movements. I've had trouble sleeping and relaxing as unfortunately he is nocturnal :)  We also had our 36-week ultrasound/doc appointment and all is good. My BP is fine and baby is estimated at 6lbs 10oz so far (+-20%) so he's already a decent size. I will be going in weekly from now on to see the doctor.

Ultrasound of baby's face at 36 weeks (face is sideways)

36 Weeks

Week 37 (July 2nd-8th)
This week the floors were finally finished, thanks to the hard work and kindness of several friends! Robert and I appreciate it very much :) Our dishwasher was even installed by a very nice man who we just met that day.  We thank God for everyone who has been so willing to be there for us and help out of the kindness of their heart! 

As we've reached full-term now, the baby's room is finally completed, I set up a glider and put up the decorations. Car seat is installed and bags are packed.  We are ready to go (at least physically)! We went to see Star Trek the movie for one of our final dates before we have to worry about finding a sitter. 

What can I say about the baby-he's moving? This is nothing new and I feel like a broken record :) I've had Braxton-Hicks more frequently and even on Sunday I had like 5 in a row so I got a little nervous.

Panoramic view of baby's room

Gizmo trying out the changing table-she gives it two paws up!

37 weeks

Week 38 (July 9th-15th)
A week like this reminds you, you are so close but yet still far, as every minute can feel like forever when you are uncomfortable.  This was a bit of a rough week.  The baby has decided he wants to dance or run in place usually starting around 10pm and not stop until the middle of the night.  I will attach a short video to show what it kind of looks like and that movement doesn't stop for hours. It's a very odd occurance.  I'm not sure exactly what he's doing. This has happened four nights, this week- plus he loooves to punch/push me in the cervix and belly button (sorry if that sounds weird). It is a very sharp, intense pain that stops me in my tracks and if it happens long enough or often enough brings me to tears. I try to push against him to get him to back off but he's very persistant and strong heheh. During my doctor appointments, I always mention his activity and she's like "oh that's so good!". Yes, it is but oh wow so not fun.  Nothing happened yet this week and the doctor thinks I will still be pregnant next week. 

If you look carefully at Mr. S's paws moving-that's the baby.



I went on Wednesday to a breastfeeding class at the hospital and strangely enough everyone brought their spouse. So it was quite awkward watching videos and practicing breastfeeding with a bunch of guys there.

We were able to make it to a friend of ours' wedding on Friday and it was really beautiful.  They had it outside in a garden setting and the reception indoors.  We didn't stay too late as I was starting to feel quite swollen in my feet and the baby was getting crazy. 

Speaking of swelling feet, it's very strange how it starts happening even without you doing anything. I'm okay, and then I feel this tightness in my toes and my feet all of a suddent look like sausages. I have these compression socks (I know, I know-old lady!) that help alot though so I usually put them on at night to relieve some of the pressure.

(I'll post a week 38 pic as soon as I can) Here's one to show Mr. Squeakers' approving of the new floors:

Dun Dun Dun...Yikes!

Pregnancy Weeks: 27-34

Wow! Alot of time has passed since I've updated the baby blog but in my defense-we finally got the house and moved so it's been crazzzyy to say the least.  Moving in your third trimester-not recommended! You feel so inclined to do too much and you're just not physically able to. So here goes...

Week 27 (April 23rd-April 30th):
This week we have been waiting to hear back from the lender on the house.  They keep delaying with all sorts of weird requests.  Even the sellers' lawyer finds them unprofessional and frustrating.  BUT on Monday, the 29th-we became first-time home owners! It was down to the last wire as we sat at the title company with the lawyer and signed papers over and over and poor Robert had to sign them 3 times because they didn't want any part of the signature underneath the line.  We've been packing the apartment as we waited to finally "sign our life away"! But thank the Lord, we got there and what a relief! Now-we just have to move our stuff-Moving: part 2. 

The baby's been active as always-doing karate or tae-bo, not sure!  But Robert is like the baby whisperer-everytime I ask him to put his hand on my belly to feel how much the baby is moving, the baby calms down. I should have him follow me around all day doing that.



V for Victory!!



New House Address (Private)



Not "For Sale" anymore! Whoohoo!

Every new place we move into, we have our first meal on the floor: McDonalds 2 Cheeseburger Meal won this round

Week 28 (April 30-May 3rd): So the moving/packing continues..wowowweewa! This is definitely challenging physically! Robert's been moving most of the bags/boxes into the car.  I'm helping packing and manuever the hotel cart we are borrowing from the office.  But every moment we have free, it's either packing or moving and then unloading into the new house.  At this point, we are just putting it all into one room upstairs.  On Saturday, a bunch of our friends came over to help move the big stuff-many thanks to all their hard work! My mom came Saturday too and poor thing barely had time for lunch before I put her to work on cleaning the new house.  She's the best! It was a terribly hard and busy day-everyone worked so hard and helped so much.  The apartment looks weird now without all the furniture and it's sinking in that we won't be there much more!  My back and legs were killing me this whole week-it's hard to do all this with like a sack of bricks on your belly :) Baby Busan probably was not a happy camper this week-he got bumped and moved for hours as I tried to push myself to get as much done as I could. 
(Sorry with all the craziness, no belly picture this week!)

Cats are clueless about the move

Week 29 (May 7-13) is an insane week! We would go all day and clean and work on the house.  This is the week of the baby shower and the rest of our family will arrive this week as well.  My mom spent many days working on refinishing our cabinets in the kitchen-seriously she is an energizer bunny.  Definitely has more stamina than I do.  Robert is quickly becoming a handy man-and fixing up a bunch of random things we find need to be repaired or changed.  We hit the ground running that's for sure!  We spent a lot of the week cleaning and arranging the house and also moving more things.  Seriously-how do you accumulate so much in an apartment!? I can't even imagine packing and moving an entire house!

So Crina and Eloise came very early Thursday and my dad that evening and we started right away on the planning and prepping for the party.  Aww, so awesome to have the entire family back together again. It hasn't been like this for years.  On Friday,  my mother-in-law and Kristen came and it was great! So everyone right away jumped in and worked on preparing for the party.  Val came by too and we all went shopping.  Full house and it was awesome! Dad and Robert were working on a bunch of stuff in the garage and Robert mowed the lawn in the rain hehehe. 

On party day, Saturday we woke up and were running around doing a ton of last minute stuff! So much to do and so little time-we were exhausted before the party even started but it looked beautiful! I had a wonderful time with all the guests who made it a very special day :)

Great group of girls!



The Siblings



 

Awesome Candy bar



Love them!



Soo glad Mom & Kristen were here!

My darlings!

Week 30 (May 14-May 20th)
Things have finally settled down, everyone has left and the house seems so quiet now.  Robert and I are exhausted, but we still have some more moving, cleaning the old apartment and finalizing all that.  Monday evening we moved the cats to the new place and put them in our room.  Of course they were scared and hid.  It'll take a while for them to adjust, I'm sure. On Wednesday we finished moving the last of our stuff and closed the door to our apartment of almost 4 years! Kind of crazy to think that we won't be returning there anymore but it's a nice feeling we are finally done with this back and forth and can begin to settle in our new home.  The baby seems good despite all the physical toil-I can't imagine he likes all the constant moving and being on my feet but what can you do? He gets me back by kicking nice and hard and often! I had to take the long diabetes test this week because I didn't pass the first one a couple of weeks ago, but thankfully no diabetes and no anemia!





30 Weeks

Last meal at apartment

Week 31 (May 21-27th) was spent mainly unpacking and settling in-alot of work left. The cats are doing better-they feel comfortable now in our room.  We let them out in the hall a little to explore the other rooms-they generally go around sniffing everything and then hear something that scares them and run back into the room! Mr. Squeakers is a little more brave, even coming down by us a couple of times. Gizmo has come down but she gets scared super fast and runs back up! Poor kitties, they've been apartment cats for so long they aren't used to all this space!

 

We bought a fire pit and have been enjoying it a couple times in the evening.  We are burning up a bunch of wood from the cabinets in the garage heheh (don't tell anyone!) and making some smores with the marshmallow Peeps left over from the party.

We went to Door County for our last trip-just the two of us -over Memorial Day weekend.  Door County is a beautiful place in north Wisconsin-we've gone there twice before for our anniversary and had such a good time.  We went to a fish boil, visited a bunch of shops, sat and read at a pier and walked around a trail and lake near the inn we stayed at.  The weather was really pleasant and it was nice to get away and relax.  Ate some great Wisconsin cheese the day we headed back home.  It's definitely bittersweet, knowing it'll never be just us anymore (as it's been for sooo long). Totally carefree-going away for a weekend trip whenever I'd catch the traveling bug.  But instead soon we'll have a third person in our little clan-that we'll miss whenever we go away AND worry about the whole time.  Well, I do always worry about the cats even now so I guess it's not all that different :)

Best friends forever!

31 weeks



What? How is this possible? Two place at once?



Famous Door County fish boil

Baby craving a giant cookie

Beautiful day for reading at the pier!



Drive-in movie theater

Week 32 (May 28th-June 3rd) was pretty busy as usual.  Still settling in, working on repairs, cleaning up the yard while trying to fit our jobs in there somewhere...  My good friend, who was due 3 weeks before me had her baby 6 weeks early on Monday-so we got nervous that the baby's room wasn't ready so Robert put together the crib and I washed and arranged all the clothes.  It is definitely pretty challenging doing all this stuff around the house; my back and feet hurt alot after just a little time on them. I think all the pressure from this sack of bricks :)


Week 32



Week 33 (June 4th-10th) was pretty similar to week 32, just working, arranging things in the house, putting the baby's stuff together. We both caught colds this week so it was really rough-especially the first few days of runny noses, sneezing, and not sleeping well. The baby seems the same, although I think my coughing annoys him.  He's moving around alot as usual, sometimes giving me the impression he may make an early appearance-but so far all is fine, thank God!



A little sickly at 33 weeks

 

We've made it to week 34 (June 11-17)! This week was busy with work and getting the house arranged still. On Saturday, we had some friends come over to buy painting supplies and paint the downstairs living and dining area, the stairwell and hall upstairs.  They did a great job-looks really good and they were able to do it all in one day.  So this was one of the major projects we hoped to get down before the baby came.  That evening we relaxed after a long day and had wings with our friends Chris & Sarah and their kids. 

The baby's room is almost ready, just need to put up one more set of curtains and that should be it!  I'm still working on my hospital bag but the baby's bag is ready to go.  Our colds are better, although still pretty congested but sleeping much better this week. We're heading down the last leg of the race! Having mixed feelings of relief and fear!

Week 34



 

Weeks 22-26

Week 22
This week has been pretty uneventful.  The baby is very active and seems to kick everytime something presses ever so slightly on my belly.  He almost seems

conscious when there is anythng pressing in on his personal space, I can relate :)

My sciatica has been acting up and I guess this is due to the increased pressure of the baby and placenta on all the nerves including this giant one.  It generally hurts when I'm laying on one of my sides and there is this strong burning sensation that runs down the back of your leg.  Also, if I walk too much or too fast it'll start hurting.  There's not much you can do just because of the location of this nerve and the fact that the baby will only get heavier and put more pressure. 

We have finally set a date for the baby shower to be in May :) and what's awesome is my mom, sisters, mother-in-law and sister-in-law are all coming! So it'll be a full house of all my favorite people!

Week 22

Week 23 was pretty uneventful overall except everyone who is visiting for the baby shower bought their plane tickets :) and we finally heard from the loan processor that they are starting on our file so we are hoping this will mean we can close soon. 



Week 23



 

 

Week 24

 

At week 24, I've reached the 6 month mark! Yay! The baby should be about 10-12 inches long now and around a pound and a half.  His lungs are developing and technically at this stage he could survive if he was born obviously with help because he can't breathe on his own.  He can hear sounds including our voices and will be startled by loud noises.  He is sooo active to the point where if I'm working or trying to sleep, it's incrediby distracting. Mainly, because it's not one or two kicks/punches/or whatever body part, but it's like rolling, shaking, kicking for several hours on end. 

 

I went to see the doctor for my six month check up and this time I drove all the way to the Schaumburg office to see a doctor that my friend recommended.  Although, she was much more friendly, she didn't spend alot of time with me either and didn't even introduce herself.  I guess they just are very busy.  But she did answer my questions and even sat down during the appointment-which is better than my normal OB. 

 

We will need to push back the closing date because the lenders aren't ready and just ordered the appraisal.  (Sigh!)

 

Week 24

Week 25

 

Robert and I are still trying to figure out names.  This is hard.  We have a list that we've been working on but nothing set yet.  We've gone through several online lists and come across many, many, strange names.  Robert's fav nickname for the baby is Bobby J (and possibly might be his name if we never come up with anything else!).

 

 

 

We went to get some groceries this one day and as we were checking out, this young bagger girl whispers to me "Congratulations!".  I was a bit surprised because I was wearing a coat and really didn't think you could notice my belly through it, but she was confident that I was pregnant.  Heheh..it's a good thing I actually was huh? Isn't there some well-known rule that if you're not sure, don't ask :) hehehe...

 

Week 25

 

Week 26

 

This week and last week were a little rough.  Without going into too much detail, the pressures of pregnancy are upon me and it's hard to get comfortable.  It's also one of my busiest times of the term with work so trying to concentrate on work is a challenge. 

 

Robert had his office's Open House Thursday, the same day we had the huge rains and floods and the Des Plaines river caused so much havoc! He had to call me to help him figure out how to get home because so many roads were closed. It was pretty bad.  It didn't reach us too bad here because we aren't close to any rivers but I heard a lot of people's basements were flooded. 

 

We again weren't able to close the house by the deadline because of the bank and we are getting so annoyed with them.  It's so surprising how unprofessional professionals can be.  They make so many mistakes and just plain lose your paperwork. Lord help us! We have one more extension before things get tight with our lease ending so I hope they get it together. 

 

On Sunday Robert and I went to a wedding and thankfully the sun had come out and it actually felt warmer than it had lately.  It's funny now to go out in public and have this giant belly.  We spent the evening with some good friends and their cute little boy!



Week 26

Life is still the same for Mr. Squeakers...