Dev on Running

Now that Evie is a whole month old (!!!), I figured I should finally share her birth story! I’ll start where I left off in my 40-week pregnancy update:

On Thursday, April 28, my alarm went off at 6 a.m. and I relaxed in bed for a few minutes before getting up. I noticed some minor tightening low in my abdomen — nothing painful, but definitely noticeable. It happened again about 10 minutes later. Could these be real contractions? 

I started working from home at 7 a.m., and continued to experience the tightening every 10 minutes or so. I figured these had to be contractions, so at 9 a.m. I began timing them using an app I’d downloaded.

The contractions were never perfectly regular, but the app tracked the average frequency and duration over time (for the last hour, last six hours, etc.) and they continued to be about 30 seconds long and 10 minutes apart until I stopped working at 3 p.m. Lots of Googling revealed that these contractions were consistent with early labor — the real thing! Woo-hoo!

Aaron and I figured this would be our last night as just the two of us, so we decided to go out to dinner. I showered and finished packing the hospital bag to bring with us, just in case. While I was getting ready, the (still painless) contractions increased in frequency to 7 minutes apart. By the time we left to go out to dinner at 6 p.m., they were closer to 5 minutes apart.

We got to the busy restaurant around 6:10 and waited about 15 minutes for a table. While we waited, we watched a mom with two young boys become increasingly frustrated with her kids as they played with little bouncy balls and made a ruckus in the waiting area. She asked them to give her the balls and go wash their hands in the restroom, but they blatantly defied her and kept on playing. Finally they complied, and she turned to us, looked at my giant pregnant belly, and said: “Good luck. I hate them.”

Aaron and I were horrified. Who says that about their kids, and to complete strangers, no less?? I tried to laugh it off and told her I was actually in labor at the moment, and she proceeded to give me all sorts of advice on what kind of epidural to get. I smiled and nodded politely while secretly deciding to ignore any advice from someone who trash-talks her children. (I’m sure she doesn’t actually hate her kids and just said that in a moment of extreme frustration, but Aaron and I agreed we would never say that about our child. We may not like her very much at times, but we’d never hate her.)

Anyway, we were finally seated at a table, then promptly forgotten by the restaurant staff. We ate chips and salsa and waited for 10 or 15 minutes for someone to come take our order, but no one did. 

By this time, my contractions were less than 5 minutes apart, about 45 seconds long, and becoming painful. I told Aaron my order and went to use the restroom. As I walked back to our table, the contractions were painful enough that I worried we’d need to go to the hospital before we finished dinner. Aaron was in the middle of ordering, but I interrupted and said we should probably get our food to go, or just bag the whole thing completely. Since the restaurant was so busy, we decided to just leave, and the waitress felt so bad that she gave us a $30 gift certificate. Score!

I was upset about not eating dinner since I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat once I was admitted to the hospital, but the contractions were becoming too painful for me to feel very hungry anyway. As we made the short drive to the hospital, I tried to call the birth center to let them know we were coming, but I’d put the wrong number into my phone and got the voicemail for the closed OB/GYN office instead. I scrambled to find the correct phone number online and couldn’t, and got really irrationally upset. I was all like, “We’re supposed to call ahead! We can’t just show up!” Aaron assured me it would be fine, but I was beyond reason at that point and practically in tears.

We left the hospital bag in the car (in case we got sent home) and went straight to the birth center. As we walked up to the front desk, I burst into tears, still upset over not having called ahead. The staff was kind of baffled by this, and rightly so. 🙂 It was about 7:00.

A nurse weighed me, then brought me to a triage room, put a fetal monitor around my belly, and checked my cervix. I was definitely in labor, she said, but I was still only 3 centimeters dilated — the same I’d been the day before, when my doctor swept my membranes. This was frustrating to discover after a full day of contractions! She told me to go walk around the lobby for a while, then come back at 8:30 to be checked again.

Aaron and I went to the lobby, and I quickly decided I didn’t want to be talked to or touched at all. The contractions were becoming more and more painful, and any additional stimulus felt unbearable. So Aaron settled into a chair while I walked big, slow loops around the main floor of the hospital by myself, sometimes going outside when I got too hot inside. Every time a contraction hit, I sank onto the nearest chair or bench and closed my eyes to ride it out.

I’m not going to lie: This part really, really sucked, and felt like it took forever. Based on the increasing pain of the contractions, I figured I’d for sure be ready to be admitted at 8:30, but alas — it wasn’t so. I was still only 3 centimeters dilated! I couldn’t believe I could be in that much pain and not have made any progress.

The nurse gave us a few options: I could go back to the lobby and continue walking around to encourage progress, or go home and try to relax for a while. She said she could give me a shot of morphine to dull the pain of the contractions and help with the latter option. I couldn’t imagine continuing to walk around, so I opted to get the morphine and go home. 

Almost immediately after she gave me the shot, I threw up violently all over the floor several times. Hello again, chips and salsa! I guess it was a good thing I hadn’t eaten dinner after all. That was the only time I ever threw up during my entire pregnancy.

We live about 5 minutes away from the hospital, so going home wasn’t a huge deal. I felt sleepy from the morphine, so I don’t really remember the drive. Aaron got me settled in bed, then made himself some food since we’d missed dinner. I wasn’t hungry at all.

I don’t know how much time passed, but it felt like it was only 10 minutes or so before the contractions became excruciatingly painful. The nurse had said the morphine wouldn’t really help once I was in active labor, and that’s when we should go back to the hospital. I was determined not to get sent home again, though, and wanted to ride it out at home for a good amount of time to make sure of that. 

The morphine allowed me to relax in a dreamy, half-asleep state in between contractions, but every time one hit, it felt so horrible. I don’t know how to describe the pain other than it was way, way worse than I had ever imagined. I hugged my body pillow in between contractions, then dealt with them by getting on all fours and burying my face into the bed with my backside still up in the air. It didn’t help the pain much, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time.

Aaron came up to check on me and immediately suggested we go back to the hospital after he saw how much pain I was in. I think it was about 10:30 p.m. at that point. Somehow I made my way down to the car, then firmly closed my eyes for the ride back to the hospital — even looking at things hurt.

We had to go in the emergency room entrance since the main hospital entrance was closed, and I sat in a wheelchair while we waited for someone from the birth center to come and escort us up there. I still had my eyes closed and was miserably squirming around in the chair with every horrible contraction. 

Finally, someone came and wheeled me straight to a labor room. I was 6 centimeters dilated and they said I could get an epidural right away — HURRAY!!!!! I was like yasssssss, give it to me nowwwwww!

I had always pictured laboring in a hospital room for hours on end, bouncing on a birthing ball, laboring in the tub, etc. But NOPE, I went straight to the drugs.

I think it was about 11:00 by the time we got settled into the room, and Aaron says I got the epidural around 11:30. This part is really fuzzy in my memory since I still had my eyes closed and was in so much pain. I think Aaron finally texted our family and friends at this point to let them know we were in the hospital, but pretty much everyone was asleep. We hadn’t wanted to alert people earlier in case it was a false alarm.

Here are some pre-epidural photos. NOT LOVING LIFE.

I hear a lot of women say they’re afraid to get an epidural because of the giant needle used to administer it, but I had no anxiety about it and sure as hell didn’t care about any sort of pain I might have compared to the pain of the contractions. I had a dream epidural experience and only felt a few minor needle pricks from the initial numbing injections in my lower back. Aaron said the procedure was gnarly looking, but I didn’t feel a thing.

GIVE ME THE GOOD STUFF, DOC.

I wanted to kiss that guy, or possibly name our kid after him. The epidural is the greatest invention of all time.

Once it kicked it, I was able to smile and relax! Just as no words can describe the pain of the contractions, no words can describe the relief I felt. I was pleasantly numb from about the waist down, but I could still partially feel and move my legs. Most importantly, I felt zero pain.

If you have given birth without drugs, I salute you. That shit is crazy.

Our doctor was on call that night, so she popped in and it was so nice to see a familiar face. She told us to get some rest, and we tried our best to sleep. My breathing felt really shallow for some reason and I kept worrying that I’d drift off to sleep and stop breathing completely, so I tossed and turned and I’m not sure how much sleep I really got. But I must have gotten some because it seemed like just minutes went by before the doctor woke us up around 1:00 a.m. to check me.

I was 8 centimeters dilated, and she said my water was so close to breaking that she could easily break it and deliver our baby before her shift was over at 7:30. I told her to go for it! This was pretty uneventful, since I couldn’t feel it. Someone cleaned it up, and we went back to sleep.

The next thing we knew, our doctor woke us up around 2:00 a.m. and said, “You’re 10 centimeters! Do you want to start pushing and have this baby?”

I had that weird feeling you get when you’ve woken up from a nap in the middle of the day and don’t quite know where you are or what time it is, and I was sort of confused and shocked that it was already time to do this thing! Wasn’t there more, like, laboring I was supposed to do? All I did was sleep!

Because my doctor had phrased it as a question, I turned to Aaron and was like, “Should we do this now?” as if it were actually a decision to make. Duh, of course we do this now!

I began pushing at 2:18 a.m. We had not taken any birthing classes, so I had no idea what to do, but there were plenty of people to instruct me. A few nurses watched the monitor to let me know when a contraction was coming, and then when they said go, I took a deep breath, held it, and pushed for 10 seconds, then repeated that twice more (so three sets of pushing for 10 seconds per contraction). 

At first I felt like I was pushing more with my face, since I couldn’t feel anything below and didn’t know how to direct my energy down there, but they told me to push like I was pooping, and to try to “poop up” toward the ceiling. Ummm, OK? I tried my best to do that, and they said yes, that was great!

No wonder it’s common for women to actually poop during labor! (For the record, I didn’t.)

The nurses did such a great job of encouraging me through each pushing session, and I was able to relax completely between contractions. Sometimes I’d go several minutes between contractions and almost fall asleep because I was so relaxed! I felt no pain the entire time, and it seemed to fly by.

Aaron was also very encouraging, but since I wasn’t in pain, I didn’t need to squeeze his hand or anything like I’d imagined I would. His main job was to give me sips from my cup of water every now and then. Plus, he took great photos — especially of the baby actually coming out! He stayed up by my left shoulder and didn’t get any super-graphic images, but I think it’s better to keep those ones private anyway.

I pushed for an hour and a half before Evelyn June Pass made her grand entrance at 3:50 a.m. I was fully alert and watched in awe as the doctor pulled her body out. When she was midway out, Aaron snapped a priceless photo of me looking back at him with tears in my eyes and a huge smile on my face.

I felt such an incredible mix of joy, love, and disbelief as the doctor placed Evie on my chest and a nurse wiped her down. She let out a big, healthy cry right away.

She was a vibrant purple color with dark hair and a funny cone-shaped head. 🙂

Her skin gradually became pink as I looked down and tried to see her sweet face. I kept asking Aaron, “What does she look like?? Is she cute?”

Of course she was — the cutest in the world. 🙂

She gives a good stink eye. That’s my girl!

I did tear during the delivery, so my doctor quickly stitched me up, and I delivered the placenta without much effort. Aaron cut the umbilical cord and Evie stayed on my chest for quite a while before being weighed and measured. She was 9 pounds even…

…and 20.5 inches long.

We had trouble getting her to latch on my breast to eat, so a nurse showed me how to hand-express colostrum (the earliest form of milk) into a little cup while Aaron danced around the room with his daughter. Someone had tears in his eyes. 🙂

We stayed in the labor room feeding and getting to know her until around 7 a.m., when we moved to our recovery room. We were so exhausted, but so happy.

Look at that chubby little face!

Our parents — who basically woke up to the news that she had been born — all came and visited that day.

Evie was very sleepy and continued to have trouble latching. She wasn’t getting enough colostrum to stabilize her blood sugar, so I wound up using a hospital breast pump in order to feed her. We also supplemented with formula after the colostrum alone wasn’t enough. 

The blood-sugar issue was stressful, as a nurse kept pricking Evie’s heel every few hours to test it, and even after she drank a good amount of formula (after refusing the bottle at first), her blood sugar was still low and nobody could figure out why. It finally leveled out the next day, and we were able to leave the hospital late Saturday night.

Pretty much everyone I’ve talked to has said they also had some feeding-related issue with their baby after birth, so just know you are not alone if this happens to you! I had assumed breastfeeding would be natural and easy, but it definitely takes some practice. 

We fed Evie a combination of formula and pumped breastmilk for several days after coming home from the hospital, as attempting to breastfeed was way too stressful for both of us at first. With the help of a nipple shield, we gradually transitioned to breastfeeding when I’m with her, and Aaron feeding her pumped breastmilk when I’m sleeping or away from her. We also bring a bottle of breastmilk when we’re out and about, as I’m not super comfortable with breastfeeding in public yet and it’s faster and easier to feed her with a bottle.

We feel so lucky that aside from a few bumps with feeding, Evie is perfectly healthy and a pretty easy baby. I’m also so grateful to have had a relatively fast, pain-free (after the glorious epidural), and positive birth experience! I think it helped me to go in with no expectations, as I wasn’t stressed about sticking to a specific birth plan or having things go perfectly — they just went the way they went. After getting so upset about not calling the hospital ahead of time, I can only imagine how awful I would have felt if I’d had a detailed birth plan and then things went awry!

Our hospital has photographers on hand to do newborn photo shoots, but because of all the blood-sugar drama, we didn’t get a chance to do one with Evie. When we got home, I was sad we’d missed the opportunity, so we called the hospital and were able to go back and do a quick shoot when she was four days old. I’m so glad we did!

It’s 2 a.m. as I finish writing this and Evie is snoozing on my chest. She’s almost five weeks old and so much bigger than she was in these photos! I can’t believe how quickly time is passing; I’m savoring every moment with her.

When I was pregnant, it was impossible to imagine what life would be like as a mom, but I sure did try. I’m happy to report that it’s immeasurably better in every way. ❤

In case you missed the big news, our daughter was born early Friday morning, April 29, at 40 weeks and 3 days! I still want to remember the details of the last few days of my pregnancy, though, so today we’re going back in time to cover what happened the day before my due date and beyond.

If you don’t care about any of this and just want to see lots of baby photos, head directly to my Instagram. 🙂

Monday, April 25, was my first day working from home. I had hoped to go into labor over the weekend to avoid working from home at all, but no such luck! I put in my eight hours at the computer, then set out on an afternoon walk with Aaron — who was also working from home so he wouldn’t miss anything — to try and get the baby moving.

We walked about two miles in the gorgeous sunshine, but it seemed to have no effect. After I Instagrammed this photo, a few mom friends said they went into labor while hiking or shortly after, so Aaron and I did just that on Tuesday — my due date.

We did a three-mile loop on one of Aaron’s favorite mountain-biking trails — the same one where I started trail-running last summer! It was beautiful, and I was so happy to be able to enjoy a nice hike at 40 weeks pregnant. I always imagined I’d be completely miserable at this point, but thanks to staying active throughout my pregnancy, the only discomfort I felt was when I squatted to pee behind a tree. 🙂

Still, I didn’t feel anything happen that night. On Wednesday, we had a doctor appointment, where my doctor reported that I was 2 centimeters dilated! I told her to do anything that might help move things along, so she swept my membranes — meaning she vigorously swirled her fingers around up there as high as they’d go; not a great feeling — and that further opened my cervix to 3 centimeters. A membrane sweep can cause bleeding (from irritating the cervix) and cramping, and may ultimately stimulate uterine contractions. The doctor said she hoped to see us back the next day to have the baby!

I worked through the rest of Wednesday morning and early afternoon. Aaron took this photo of me because my belly looked so basketball-like and ridiculous.

I experienced some bleeding, cramping, and back achiness similar to being on my period, and had to sign off from work early because the icky feelings grew in intensity to the point where I couldn’t get comfortable sitting at my computer. I also felt exhausted and just needed to nap. I slept for about three hours that afternoon, and then woke up feeling… perfectly fine. Dang!

On Thursday, my alarm went off at 6 a.m. and I relaxed in bed for a few minutes before getting up. I noticed some minor tightening low in my abdomen — nothing painful, but definitely noticeable. It happened again about 10 minutes later, and then again every 10 minutes after that. Could these be real contractions? I began timing them using an app I’d downloaded, just in case.

That’s where my pregnancy story ends, and Evie’s birth story begins!

…

Thanks for sticking with me through 40 weeks of pregnancy updates! It’ll be fun to look back on them to remember what the experience was like (I’ve already kind of forgotten, since I now have a baby to focus on!), and perhaps Evie will someday enjoy reading about what her mom was up to while she was growing in my belly.

In the end, I gained a total of 36 pounds between my first doctor weigh-in at nine weeks and my final doctor weigh-in at 40 weeks. Here’s the before-and-after comparison:

I was worried that I would look in the mirror by the end of my pregnancy and not recognize myself, but luckily, that didn’t happen! I always felt like myself, and actually kind of didn’t (and still don’t) recognize myself in the “before” photo. 

As the weeks went by and my belly — and everything else — filled out, I stopped being plain ol’ me and grew closer and closer to becoming a mom. The “before” me had no idea what was in store. The “after” me survived food aversions, nausea, fatigue, an achy back, and seemingly endless anxiety to grow a beautiful 9-pound baby who brings me more joy than I ever could have imagined.

My body made this human?!? I still can’t wrap my mind around it.

Next up: Evie’s birth story!

Aaron and I are thrilled to announce that our daughter was born Friday, April 29, at 3:50 a.m. Evelyn June weighed 9 pounds even, measured 20.5 inches long, and completely stole our hearts from the moment we met her.

Although Evie (pronounced like the word “eve” + y) joined us three days past her due date, she did us a big favor by arriving quickly! I’ll share her full birth story soon, but the brief summary is that I got the greatest epidural of all time upon being admitted to the hospital — I was alert and able to move my legs a bit, but felt zero pain — pushed for an hour and a half, and gave birth less than five hours after we arrived.

It was the strangest experience of my life — the whole time, I really couldn’t believe it was happening — but also the best. Pre-epidural, the contractions I experienced were far, far more horrible than I’d ever imagined, but the seamless way things went down after the glorious epidural more than made up for the pain. 

Plus, of course, the end result was our daughter — the light of our lives.

We stayed in the hospital Friday night, went home late Saturday night, and have been enjoying baby bliss ever since.

That daddy/daughter nap happened today, and I just sobbed after taking this photo because it was so sweet and these two make me so, so happy. Postpartum hormones be nuts!

We are exhausted, of course, but Evie has been an incredibly easy baby so far in that we’ve always been able to soothe her crying in just a few minutes. I know this may not always be the case, so we’re celebrating small victories as they come! 

She seems to only cry to let us know when she’s hungry — although we try to look out for her early hunger cues to prevent her from getting to the crying stage in the first place — and she’s eating like crazy all the time! We can tell she’s growing, too, and it sort of breaks my heart already, even though she’s only a week old. Stay little forever, please, my sweet girl!

Every parent thinks their child is the cutest in the world, and I am no exception. You can fully expect my Instagram to be flooded with Evie photos for the next, uh, forever. I’m not sorry. 🙂

More to come on the blog soon, including a final pregnancy recap of week 40 and the few days leading up to Evie’s birth, plus her birth story!

From there, I may write more about becoming a parent and share Evie’s progress and hilarious moments. I definitely plan to write about being active and running again, once I get to that point. Who knows! Life will never be the same again, so this blog probably won’t, either.

Both Aaron and I are amazed by the way our hearts seem to have grown a million sizes since Evie came into our lives. I couldn’t have imagined the way she makes me feel — like nothing else in the world matters more than her happiness.

When I was pregnant, I sometimes worried that I’d miss life as just the two of us. Now that she’s here, I’d never, ever go back. Aaron and I often look at her and then at each other in amazement, saying, “This is the best. She’s the best.” It is. And she is. 

Ahhh, now I have to go snuggle my baby and cry all the happy tears again. Stay tuned! 🙂

I’m still pregnant! Despite the few times this week when I felt like labor was about to start, our baby is still just hanging out and enjoying herself in there.

So far, she seems to take after me in that I take for-ev-er to get ready and wait until the last minute to leave, but ultimately show up wherever I need to be just in time. This tendency certainly frustrates Aaron, whose philosophy is that if you’re not 10 minutes early, you’re late. What can I say? I like to take my sweet time, and apparently our baby does, too.

This was my last week going into the office for work, and Aaron and I drove together each day instead of taking the bus in case I went into labor and we needed to get home/to the hospital quickly. I even had a little emergency kit prepared if my water broke at the office (extra pants, undies, a towel, and a few heavy-duty pads), but of course that didn’t happen.

Now I’ll work from home until the baby actually arrives, as there’s no sense in wasting my paid time off or maternity leave just to wait around. But I’m not a huge fan of working from home, so I hope she comes soon!

I made sure to take some dorky photos to remember my last week at work. Here I was on Monday, in the dress I wore to Carly’s wedding but layered over a tank to make it more work-appropriate. It definitely, uh, maximizes the belly! But it was $35, is super-comfy, and will probably be something I wear quite a bit through this summer since it’s made of a stretchy knit fabric in a faux-wrap cut that will work well for breastfeeding.

Thursday was my final day, since we had a doctor appointment on Friday and planned to work from home anyway.

Jeans and a t-shirt, plus some sort of cardigan on colder days, was my go-to look these last few weeks. I’ve never been an especially fancy dresser, and my maternity wardrobe was no different. Thank goodness for a casual-ish work environment! Some people certainly dress to the nines, but I’ve never felt out of place in what I’ve worn, especially since I had the ultimate excuse to dress for comfort.

I felt a little “off” all day Thursday and thought it might be the day I’d go into labor. I used the restroom more than usual and regularly had minor Braxton Hicks contractions, which felt like tightness throughout my belly mixed with menstrual-like cramps. 

When I got home, I had a serious craving for a chocolate milkshake and made one out of nearly a full pint of chocolate coconut-milk ice cream and a little coconut milk, chugged it, then passed out watching a Khloe & Lamar marathon on E!. What, like you’ve never done that??

I hadn’t felt that strong of a craving or that exhausted in a long time, so I spent the whole rest of the evening anticipating I’d go into labor, but then… nothing.

Our 39-week appointment was the next morning, and the doctor reported I had finally made progress — one whole centimeter dilated! OK, so one centimeter out of the 10 centimeters I ultimately need to be dilated to deliver the baby doesn’t sound like that much, but I’m thrilled to be progressing at all. It’s nice to know that the weird feelings I had on Thursday moved things in the right direction.

In other news, the baby’s heartbeat is still nice and strong, my belly continues to measure on track, and I gained less than a pound since our last appointment, so I’m still up 36 pounds overall.

Our doctor said she’d be on-call all weekend and would love to see us back on Saturday or Sunday to have the baby, and we had our fingers crossed, too… but no such luck. Other than waking up Friday night with more minor Braxton Hicks contractions, I haven’t felt much happening, and it’s got me feeling a little bummed. Now that our calendar is completely clear and we have nothing left to do but have the baby, the waiting feels endless.

The good news is that I’m still sleeping really well and physically feel great. I didn’t set an alarm to wake up on Saturday or Sunday, and slept from 9-6 each night with just a few restroom wake-ups. I keep hoping to wake up to some real contractions or my water breaking, but in the meantime, I’ll enjoy these last few restful nights of sleep while I can.

I’ve been eating pineapple every day and had spicy food for dinner Friday and Saturday nights in the hopes of encouraging labor — both old wives’ tales, but they can’t hurt and are delicious to try! I also vacuumed this weekend (the urge to keep our house clean is strong) and we went to Costco, but vigorous cleaning/bulk shopping didn’t do the trick, either.

Finally, I went for a long walk today. I stopped by the gym 1/3 of a mile in for my first bathroom break and to capture my sweet basketball-belly look.

I did my usual 4.5-mile route and it started pouring about halfway through. I had a rain jacket and umbrella in my backpack, though, so I stayed warm and dry! I know I like to brag and post pretty pictures when Seattle is warm and sunny, but it does look like this a lot of the time, too. I love it anyway.

It’s supposed to stay cooler (in the 50s and 60s) this week, which is much better for walking (and new-baby snuggles) than the high-80s heatwave we just had! I’ll have to get out for a shorter walk every day now that I’ll be working from home to continue encouraging progress and keep myself from going stir-crazy.

I don’t want to sound ungrateful about waiting for the baby to arrive — I’m so thankful to have carried her to term, and hope that she’ll be very healthy and ready to take on the world when she does arrive — but I never expected the mental aspect of this last bit of pregnancy to be challenging; I always figured it would be physical discomfort that would get me down. I probably should have planned more activities to keep myself distracted from the waiting! “A watched pot never boils,” goes the saying, and I definitely feel like the pot right now.

I know much bigger challenges await after the baby arrives, so I don’t want to wish this time away, but I also just can’t wait to meet her!!!

Aaron is doing a better job of keeping busy than I am, as he’s been going out for bike rides and “man-dates” with friends — ha! He even went for a ride with his mom this morning. Look how cute they looked in their neon!

Plus, he’s busy cooking something delicious for dinner as I write this. 

I really haven’t given Aaron enough credit in these weekly posts for all the amazing ways he’s supported me throughout this pregnancy — from cooking me breakfast and packing lunch and snacks for me to take to work every day, to finding all our nursery furniture on Craigslist, to singlehandedly assembling our baby registry and stocking up on things like breast pads and nipple cream (!!!) that he somehow knew I’ll need. He’s so excited to be a dad, and he will be the best. I mean, he wants me to teach him how to braid so that he can eventually do our daughter’s hair! I can’t say enough about him. I may be the one physically carrying our baby, but he has carried me through this whole thing. Talk about things to be thankful for. ❤

Our next doctor appointment is on Wednesday — the day after the baby’s due date. Cross your fingers for some action before that!

I would love it if she comes on her due date after all, just like her just-in-time mom. 🙂

I’m starting to get Facebook messages and texts from family members who live far away checking in to see how I’m doing, so I know people are officially on baby watch! 

There’s absolutely nothing going on yet, and I’ll be 39 weeks along tomorrow. I’m simultaneously prepared to go into labor at any moment and convinced that I still have a week or two left to go. In fact, my mom commented over the weekend: “You’ve got plenty of time; you aren’t nearly miserable enough yet.”

And I’m not! I’m really surprised to feel so good this late in the game. I visited my chiropractor twice last week, and I had another awesome prenatal massage earlier this evening. I think those two things, plus maintaining a decent-ish level of activity, have been key to staying fairly comfortable. 

I’m getting impatient for the baby to arrive, but I think that’s more due to the fact that not knowing when she’ll come is driving me crazy rather than the fact that I’m physically sick of being pregnant. I’m not. Yet.

Anyway, let’s rewind to our doctor appointment last Friday to start this update! I got checked again and the baby had dropped a bit; the doctor said she was at -2 station compared to the previous week’s -4 station (completely dropped would be 0). My cervix was 80% effaced (thinned), but still not dilated at all. 

The doctor said none of this info had any bearing on when I’d go into labor, but in my completely non-scientific opinion, the baby seems quite comfy in there. I also haven’t been feeling any Braxton Hicks contractions that would indicate some sort of progress — although I’ve talked to a few moms who didn’t feel any contractions until they were actually in labor! So basically, I know nothing.

I put on another pound since our previous doctor visit, so I’m up 36 pounds total. As I write this, I’m working on my second bowl of ice cream today — temps hit 88 degrees, which is nearly as hot as it ever gets in Seattle — and I officially DGAF. I should probably start thinking about reestablishing better eating habits so I can be my happiest and healthiest postpartum self, but no. Just no.

Actually, my understanding is that I’ll need to eat even more calories once I’m breastfeeding, so yay! They probably shouldn’t all be ice-cream calories, but yay anyway!

We clearly made it through all the activities we had planned this past week and now have nothing on our calendar. Aaron turned 30 on Tuesday, and we celebrated by going out to dinner and a special Teatro ZinZanni circus show with friends! Teatro ZinZanni is typically a dinner-theater event, but this one was just a mish-mash of performances. There were singers, dancers, aerial artists, and even a lady who juggled umbrellas with her feet! It was a late night out for us, but so much fun.

Isn’t Aaron just the cutest at every age?? Happy 30th, my love!

On Wednesday, we took an infant safety class at our hospital, where we learned how to perform CPR on incredibly creepy baby mannequins.

That thing will now haunt your nightmares; you’re welcome.

We also learned what to do in the event of choking, how to baby-proof everything in our house, and how to minimize the risk of SIDS by ensuring a safe sleep environment. It was an extremely helpful class, and now we feel ever-so-slightly qualified to be parents! Once we actually have our baby, we’ll quickly realize we know nothing, so I’m savoring this brief moment of feeling educated.

On Saturday, we had a bunch of friends over to celebrate Aaron’s birthday with a potluck brunch. The key word here is potluck, which is code for, “Please come be a guest in our home, but bring some food while you’re at it.” Genius! We provided the essentials (fruit, bacon, mimosas), and our friends filled in the rest to make a delicious spread. 

I’m aware this photo looks about as fun as an AA meeting, but it was the only one I snapped, near the very end, when everyone was gathered in the living room chatting together. It made my heart happy to have so many of our favorite people in our house for what will be the last time before we have our kiddo. 

On Saturday evening, we celebrated Aaron’s birthday and my mom’s birthday as a combo, since we’ll likely be busy celebrating another birthday around the time of my mom’s (April 30).

My mom and her husband recently got back from their belated honeymoon to New Orleans (they got married last July), and they brought back such cuuuute stuff for the baby!

It’s already clear who’s the star of the family since she got the most gifts that night and she’s not even born yet. 🙂

Sunday was nice and low-key. Aaron saw a movie with his best friend, and I went for a long walk in the sunshine. I even dusted off my Garmin to see how far I go on my usual route, since the health app on my iPhone typically says about 4.5 miles, but it doesn’t feel that far. Sure enough:

Notice I was actually moving for 1:23, yet I was out and about for 2:32. The downtime includes multiple bathroom stops and about 40 minutes of sitting on a bench, eating snacks and soaking up the sun. That part is very necessary for me to be able to walk so far at this point!

It was the loveliest day, and I’m so happy I was able to go out and enjoy it on foot. Soon enough I’ll be taking my daughter on this same walk! I’ll need to bring about 50,000 more things than I bring for just myself, and our snack break will probably be more for her than for me, but we’ll have fun just the same. 

That brings us up to speed! I’ll try to check in on Instagram every few days to let y’all know if we’re still waiting around or what. 

We probably won’t be posting a baby announcement right away, since I’d like to make sure all our family and friends know first, and I don’t want to get caught up looking at social-media notifications in those first few days when I should be savoring time with our baby. 

I haaaate it when I’m Facebook/Instagram stalking someone who is about to have a baby and they don’t post anything for like five days after their kid is born, but I totally get it; you never get that precious time back. But, we also might be too excited to hold off. We’ll see!

I have a feeling I’ll be back next week with a 39-week update anyway. 🙂

Holy crap! I don’t have many more of these updates to write! 

All of the baby’s systems are now pretty much developed and she would probably be perfectly fine if she were to arrive now. Of course, it won’t hurt for her to hang out for a while longer and continue to fatten up. I’d been on high alert for signs of labor since I hit 37 weeks (I’m almost 38 now, as I write this), but after our doctor appointment on Friday, I’ve relaxed since it looks like the baby is in no rush.

My doctor “checked” me for the first time, which is a nice way of saying she felt my cervix (not super pleasant) to see if I’d made any progress toward going into labor. She said that my cervix has begun to thin out, but hasn’t dilated at all, and the baby hasn’t dropped. At this point, I’m feeling pretty confident I’ll make it to 39 weeks. Our next appointment is this coming Friday, when I can get checked again if I’m curious — of course I am! — so we’ll see if there’s any progress then.

Everything else is still looking good: my blood pressure is normal, the baby’s heartbeat is strong, my belly is measuring on track, and I’ve gained a total of 35 pounds. The recommended weight gain throughout an entire pregnancy for someone with my pre-pregnancy BMI is 25-35 pounds, but I strongly believe that should be adjusted to take Girl Scout cookie season into account. 😉

I continue to feel surprisingly good, other than some tightness between my shoulder blades that was bothering me this week. I visited my chiropractor for the first time in a long time, and he cracked the crap out of my neck and back — so good. He recommended I come in twice a week until the baby arrives, which I’m more than happy to do to stay as comfortable as possible. I also had a prenatal massage, which took care of the lingering tightness. I’ve scheduled one last massage for 39 weeks, so we’ll see if I make it!

The weather continues to be beautiful in Seattle, so dresses are still my jam. I attempted to make this maxi look slightly different by layering a shirt over it instead of a denim jacket. It… sort of worked? At least I was comfortable!

My co-workers threw a baby-book shower for me this week, which is the tradition for our team since we’re a bunch of word nerds (copywriters and copy editors).

For some reason I expected there to be a super-casual pile of books, but I was so touched by the effort everyone put in to make it a really sweet shower! It was a lunchtime potluck with plenty of food and desserts (yesss!) to go around.

I was sweating and red-faced the entire time I opened gifts because it was slightly stressful to have everyone looking at me. I’m still one of the newer members of the team, as I only started my job in July, but I’m so thankful to have such wonderful co-workers who I really love working with (seriously, not a bad one in the bunch!) and who keep me laughing pretty much all day, every day.

Fun story: Technically, day one of my pregnancy was also the same day I started my job! A pregnant woman’s due date is calculated as exactly 40 weeks from the first day of her last period, and I vividly remember getting my period on my first day of work, July 21. I wasn’t actually pregnant at that point, of course, but I got pregnant shortly after, and that’s just how doctors calculate the due date. Weird, huh?

So thank you, co-workers — and especially my boss — for being so supportive of the new girl who wasted no time in getting knocked up! 

At a baby-book shower, you might expect there to be repeats of some classic books, but the only repeat I got was one I wasn’t expecting: Corduroy, times three! This was amazing because Corduroy was actually my beloved childhood bear, yet none of the three women who gifted it to me knew that; they all just loved the book when they were kids.

Now we have copies for our house and for the grandparents’ houses. 🙂 Corduroy is pretty pleased with the whole situation.

Aaron and I finished off the week by touring our daycare and paying a deposit to secure the start date! Again, I’m so relieved to have this taken care of before the baby arrives. I have no idea what the daycare situation is like in other cities, but in our kid-packed suburb, daycares give priority to families who already have an older kid who goes there, so it’s hard to secure an infant spot as a new family. I’ll pass along the same advice we got early in our pregnancy to other new parents-to-be: Get on those waiting lists NOW!

The weekend kicked off with one of the most spectacular weather days we’ve had in a while — blue skies, a few puffy clouds and temps in the low 70s. Aaron went on an all-day mountain-bike ride with a big group of friends, so I took a meandering two-hour walk (including plenty of bathroom breaks and bench time to rest) and covered 4.5 miles.

It was sooo nice to be outside in shorts and a T-shirt, soaking up the sun. I did wear SPF 30 — no worries, Mom. 🙂

Aaron got home Saturday evening just in time to rinse all the dirt and blood off his legs (standard mountain-biking life) and get ready to go to a 30th birthday pizza party thrown by our friend Gillian for her husband David.

It was warm enough to eat outside!!! Yayyyy, Seattle!!!

Gillian made the most delicious cupcakes! How cute is this couple?? That night also happened to be their six-month wedding anniversary. I was a mere 11 weeks pregnant at their wedding, and I remember being hyper-aware of the teeny-tiny bulge in my belly at the time. In fact, I never posted this photo anywhere because I thought someone might notice. HAHA.

Back to the pizza party — it was so much fun, and my friends’ gentlemen were very fascinated by the belly. They kept thinking they felt the baby moving, but it was just me laughing at them.

The next day, we got a head start on celebrating Aaron’s upcoming 30th birthday by having a wonderful lunch with his dad and stepmom, and then dinner with his mom, stepdad and grandpa.

Have I mentioned how much I love both sets of my in-laws?? They are the best! I’m a lucky girl to have become part of their families.

I don’t know anyone who loves her son as much as this lady. 🙂

And that brings us up to speed! Aaron’s actual birthday is tomorrow, which is also the day I hit 38 weeks. Things are looking good for Aaron to not share his birthday with his daughter, which is great since we have fun plans to celebrate!

Hopefully I’ll be able to write next week’s recap to share it with you all. After that, we’ll be ready for this kiddo to come anytime!

We took this photo at about 7 p.m. the day I turned 36 weeks pregnant, and it was still sunny and warm enough for short sleeves! Oh, how times have changed from when we had to take photos in the early afternoon on weekends because it was way too dark on weekdays. I’ve never loved spring more than I do this year! Warmer weather and longer days means baby time is not far away.

My pregnancy app says she was about 19 inches long and in the 6-pound range this week — about the size of a papaya. I go back and forth between thinking my belly doesn’t look that big (because I’m so used to it) and realizing how huge it must look to other people. The baby feels huge, too, since I can feel her pressing from all angles as she wiggles around. As I write this, it feels like she’s trying to bust out! I’ll be 37 weeks along tomorrow, so maybe she really is…

This was our last week of not having a doctor appointment, and starting this coming week, I’ll have one every week until she arrives. I can’t wait to see if our doctor will find any signs of progress this week!

I finally took off my wedding rings because I got way too nervous about waiting until they actually got stuck on my finger, and now I wear a simple hammered-silver band that my mother in law gave me a few years ago as part of a set of stacking rings. It’s plenty big to easily slip on and off, and I feel so much better about wearing it! Plus, my rings will feel extra-fancy when I start wearing them again. 🙂

It was warm enough in Seattle to wear a dress to work a few days this week, and I hope that trend continues because I’m soooo much more comfortable wearing dresses than pants! I only have a few that fit, so I’ll definitely be wearing them on repeat for the next few weeks, but luckily I stopped caring about anything other than comfort long, long ago.

How long will I keep going to work, anyway? At least through this week and probably next week — through 38 weeks — and then it might be a good idea to work from home until I go into labor. I find it very boring and isolating to work from home for more than one day at a time, so I don’t want to start doing it too early and then feel stir-crazy for weeks on end. In the meantime, I need to bring a change of clothes to the office in case my water breaks while I’m there. I know multiple women who’ve had that happen, so it’s a real possibility!

Side note: The more things I do to prepare for going into labor before my due date (April 26), the more I believe I’ll actually go overdue and it’ll all have been for nothing. But it’s always better to be prepared!

I went on one three-mile walk in the sunshine this week and felt great. I’ve outgrown my biggest pair of workout shorts, so I resorted to wearing the maternity jorts I bought a few weeks ago in anticipation of warm weather! 

I have these Liz Lange ones from Target. They are super soft and comfy, and I figure I’ll be able to wear them even after giving birth since I definitely won’t fit into my regular shorts for a while.

I’m still sleeping really well, and my legs/feet only get swollen when I’ve been on them for a while. The only physical thing that’s been noticeably different over the past few weeks is that I’m so thirsty all the time. Part of me is interested to track how many ounces of water I’m drinking each day, but another part is scared that the number will be at or above the “drowning myself from the inside” level. I’d rather not know.

We got great news about daycare this week: I checked in regarding our wait-list status and discovered there are three infant spots available around the time we’ll need to enroll our baby! We’ve chosen the most convenient start date based on her due date and are completing the paperwork this week to secure our spot. HUGE RELIEF!!! Remember, we joined the wait list last October. Daycare competition is real!

Thanks to those of you who weighed in re: feeling an instant connection to your baby after birth. Most women confirmed they did feel it (including my own mom — aww, thanks Mom!), with one woman saying it took her a few months to really feel a connection. I suspect it takes many women a while to feel it, but they are probably more hesitant to talk about it. 

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, and while I’d love to feel an instant connection, I recognize there’s a chance I won’t. It wouldn’t mean I love my kid any less; it just means something completely crazy happened to turn my whole world upside down, and it might take a while to comprehend it. I really won’t be surprised if my first reaction to seeing our baby is, “WTF! That came out of me??” We’ll see! I’ll share my honest experience either way.

Last but not least, the most exciting event this week was my longtime friend Carly’s wedding! This was the wedding I was originally afraid I’d miss, since Carly and Nate got engaged just a week after we found out we were expecting and immediately started planning an early spring wedding. Luckily it was early enough that Aaron and I were able to attend, and it couldn’t have been a more beautiful event! The weather was perfect, the venue was stunning, and the bride and groom were so incredibly gorgeous and in love.

We stayed at the same hotel where Carly and her bridesmaids got ready, so I was able to hang out in her suite for a bit and visit before the wedding, plus grill one of the bridesmaids who just had a baby eight weeks ago about her birth experience — that was very helpful! I also got to see Carly have her “first look” with her dad, which was so special. Her dad is the best; we joked back in our junior high days that I was his fourth child, since I lived so close by and was at their house a lot. It was really emotional to watch him see his daughter in her wedding dress for the first time. ❤

I didn’t take many pictures the whole day, as I’m consciously trying to be on my phone less and enjoy life in the moment, but here are a few I do have.

The hotel was within walking distance of the venue, and it was so nice to walk there with our group of friends in the warm sunshine!

The wedding was held at Union Station in Tacoma, which is a former rail station featuring an amazing rotunda filled with tons of natural light and Dale Chihuly glass art. It was definitely the most elegant venue I’ve ever been to; the wedding photos are going to be incredible!

The ceremony was so personal and heartfelt, and of course I cried. Aaron and I snagged a little family photo during the cocktail hour, during which I ate two of every appetizer and drank a ton of water. 🙂

I kept holding my belly not to be that obnoxious lady who’s all, “Look, I’m pregnant!” (although I am that lady anyway… welcome to my blog), but because my dress was pretty tent-like without a little helpful definition. It was super comfy, but made me look huuuugely pregnant. I guess because I am.

I was hoping to get on the dance floor a bit after dinner, but I must’ve been on my feet more than I thought because my legs and feet were all swollen and I just didn’t have it in me. Plus, right as I was mustering up the energy to go dance, a bunch of Domino’s pizzas were delivered and Aaron and I made a beeline toward those instead. 🙂 It was fun to watch the dancing, though, and I jumped into the photo booth a few times, so it looks like I was partying hard.

Look at that gorgeous bride! #1 stunna. Huge congrats to Carly and Nate!!!

Their wedding was the first milestone I was hoping to make it to before giving birth; the next is Aaron’s 30th birthday on April 12. After that, I’m happy to have this kid come at any time. Cross your fingers that she’ll hang in there for at least that long!

We’re in the home stretch!!! I’m just finishing up my 35th week of pregnancy and can officially say to people, when they ask when the baby is coming, “Sometime in the next month!”

She was apparently 18-19 inches long and weighed 5-6 pounds this week — about the size of a bag of carrots, which was fitting for Easter. 🙂 

I had a doctor appointment this past Friday, where we found out I’ve gained a total of 32 pounds and my belly is measuring right on track for 35 weeks. After I told our doctor I thought the baby might have switched positions, she did a super-quick ultrasound and saw that she is still head-down (woo-hoo!) but had flipped her body so that the little feet I used to feel kicking the right side of my ribs are now kicking my left side. Our doctor said it’s pretty rare for babies to move out of the head-down position once they’re already in it at this point, so I’m feeling good about that.

Later that day, we toured the birth center and got the scoop on where to go and what to do when I’m in labor. We visited one of the many identical birthing suites, which is huge and has everything from a Jacuzzi tub and jetted shower to a TV with access to music stations and movies. The vibe was more comforting than clinical, which I really liked. Plus, the baby never has to leave the room, as they have everything needed to take care of her right there. 

I have nothing else to compare this room to, but it seemed pretty great to me! It’s nice to be able to visualize where I’ll be laboring and giving birth, as before I was just picturing some anonymous hospital room like you’d see on TV.

We also visited one of the post-birth recovery rooms, which we’d actually seen before when we visited Aaron’s best friend Adam and wife Kim after they had their son. It’s a much smaller version of the birthing suite, without the Jacuzzi tub and baby-related equipment, but still with a private bathroom and shower. Someone advised me on Instagram to make sure I shower at the hospital while there are plenty of people around to watch the baby so I can feel fresh and ready to face the world, so I’ll make sure I do that!

I’ve got the hospital bag about half-packed, but I’ve written a complete list of everything I want to bring, which will remove the guesswork if I have to pack the rest in a hurry. Here’s what I’ve got on there:

CLOTHES
– Nursing bras (I’ll probably already be wearing one, since I wear it all the time at home; I also bought a bigger size in case I need it after my milk comes in)
– Lounge pants & shorts
– Stretchy tank tops
– Comfy hoodie (I’m not really a robe person)
– Cozy socks
– Slippers
– Outfit to wear home – maybe a comfy maxi dress?

TOILETRIES
– Chapstick
– Hair clips/ties/headband
– Toothbrush, toothpaste, face wash, etc. – I already have a little bag of travel-sized everything that I keep packed and ready to go, so this was easy!
– Nursing pads & nipple cream

TECHNOLOGY
– iPhone charger
– Camera, extra battery & battery charger

FOOD/DRINK
– Snacks, like Larabars, dried fruit strips, etc.
– Coconut water – I’m constantly thirsty and this helps so much!
– Gu gels – who knows whether I’ll actually eat these, but I might as well have them in case I need energy when I’m not allowed to eat anything solid while in labor
– Water bottle with a straw – great tip via Instagram from a new-mom friend!

BABY STUFF
– Two going-home outfits – one newborn size, one 0-3 month size – you never know!
– Two blankets/swaddles
– Binky – I’m sure we’ll have one from the hospital, but just in case

MISCELLANOUS
– Snoogle – is this overkill? Several moms on Instagram recommended I bring my own pillows, and I think I might really want this during labor and/or after
– Birth certificate paperwork, filled out as much as possible ahead of time
– Copies of our birth plan – a very brief one with a few preferences outlined in bullet points

We also now have a car-seat base properly installed in each of our cars, thanks to our visit on Saturday with The Car Seat Lady, aka Sue Emery! She surprisingly doesn’t have a website, but is well-known in the Seattle area as an expert who has helped parents learn about car-seat safety for more than 20 years.

We made an appointment with Sue via text message (her preferred method of communication) for Saturday afternoon, and she met us in the parking lot of our hospital to check out our seat situation. She walked us through how to properly install the Chicco Keyfit 30 base (referral) in my car, then had me do it myself, and then did the same with Aaron and his car. She also showed us how to insert and remove the seat itself (couldn’t be easier), and advised us on a few key points, like how long to use the newborn insert in the seat (until the baby weighs 11 pounds).

The whole appointment was about 20 minutes long, and Sue left us with some handwritten notes to refer to later. This lady knows her stuff! Sure, we could have educated ourselves by reading the instruction manual forward and backward, but Sue’s hands-on expertise and answers to our all questions were so helpful. If you live in the Seattle area, call or text her at (206) 619-2871, or email her at sueemery@aol.com to make an appointment. She doesn’t charge for her services, but she does accept tips.

I want for a little walk along a path around the hospital after our appointment since it was so nice and sunny on Saturday, but didn’t make it very far before I had to hit the bathroom again — even though I went right before I started walking. The peeing situation has become serious. I’m so thirsty all the time, and the kiddo likes to dance on my bladder, so I’m now living the always-peeing pregnant-lady cliche.

I went on another walk today (Monday) that was much more successful, as I walked a little over a mile uphill to the grocery store, grabbed a few things for dinner, and walked back home with only one bathroom stop. The weather is going to be really beautiful this week, so I plan to get out walking as much as possible! 

The weather was not beautiful for Easter Sunday — torrential rain poured all day long — but that didn’t stop us from enjoying a lovely brunch buffet (a pregnant lady’s dream!) at Echo Falls with my dad and brother, and later dinner with Aaron’s mom and stepdad. The rain stopped just long enough to get a few pictures after brunch; I stole these from my dad off Facebook:

My dress is a non-maternity maxi from Ann Taylor that I’ve had for a few years now, and I was shocked to find that it still fit really well when I randomly tried it on last week! It must be made of some magical material, like those pants from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I may even pack it to wear home from the hospital, since it’s so comfy and forgiving.

We have versions of this exact picture going back several years!

2013 — my dad was emulating the Dos Equis guy with his beard:

2014 — Aaron had just had shoulder surgery and was probably on lots of painkillers in this photo:

2015 — Aaron’s turn to have an epic beard:

And next year, we’ll have a sweet little girl with us to do the Easter-egg hunt!

One last thing for this week. I’ve been thinking a lot about giving birth and the moment I’ll see our daughter for the first time. The question I keep turning over in my mind is: Will I recognize her?

I don’t mean that in the sense of recognizing who in our family she looks like, but in the sense of recognizing her as my daughter rather than some random baby who just showed up out of nowhere. Will I feel that instant bond with her as her mother?

I discussed this with one of the girls at Carly’s bachelorette party who has a toddler, and she said yes, it seems crazy, but I will instantly recognize her and be prepared to give my life to protect her. The conversation made me cry then, and remembering it is making me cry again now! 

I can’t imagine what that moment will feel like, but just thinking about it is so overwhelming. It’s that moment that occupies my mind more than anything, more than the packing list or the birth plan or the car seat. It’s that moment when our daughter, who we could only imagine before, will become real and change our lives forever.

OK, I’m officially an emotional mess now! Time to wrap this up.

Tomorrow, I’ll be 36 weeks pregnant — nine whole months. Aaron and I don’t have much else to do to prepare besides tie up a few loose ends and enjoy our last little bit of time as just the two of us. 

I wouldn’t say I’m completely mentally ready for this to happen, but I’m also not not ready. I think the idea of going into labor — the uncertainty of when it’ll happen and what it’ll feel like — is freaking me out a bit, but I’m hoping I’ll be calm and have my game face on when it does happen. We’ll see! In all likelihood, I’ve got at least a few more weeks to become nice and ready. 🙂

We officially entered spring this week, which means I’ve now been pregnant during all four seasons! Here’s a fun comparison of fall (16 weeks) vs. spring:

That tree has changed quite a bit, but perhaps I’ve changed more! Those clothes are certainly working a lot harder these days. In fact, I busted open the butt seam of those jeans this week! That should come as no surprise since I’d been wearing them nearly every day for months, and they look pretty stretched to capacity in this week’s photo. 

I really didn’t want to buy a new pair of jeans with just a handful of weeks left to go, but I found this pair on sale for $20 and they are much more comfortable — plenty big and stretchy to last me until the end, and nice and roomy through the legs for when mine swell.

My pregnancy app says the baby is about 18 inches long and 5-ish pounds this week. She’s become really active lately, although her movements are now more like subtle shifts and pushes than kicks since she’s running out of room. I hope she’s still head-down, but I think she may have shifted because I’m feeling consistent movements in different parts of my belly than I’m used to. Maybe it’s just because she’s bigger? We have our next doctor appointment this Friday, so hopefully our doctor will be able to determine her position!

I’m still feeling really good, and I think I owe it to being extremely lazy. I didn’t work out at all this week, but thanks to enjoying lots of R&R, I avoided the back pain and leg swelling I’d been experiencing during previous weeks after too much activity. I know light exercise would still do me good… but at this point, I kind of don’t care anymore.

My sleep quality is still amazing, although I have gotten a few more leg cramps in the middle of the night. They go away as soon as I can get on my feet, but that’s getting harder and harder! It’s quite the scene as I flail around in bed, whispering expletives in an attempt not to wake up Aaron.

I’m feeling thankful that my hands haven’t swollen up (yet) and I can still wear my wedding rings. I’m terrified about them getting stuck! And I continue to be far too pleased about my incredibly clear skin. I’m probably in for a rude awakening when my hormones go nuts after giving birth, so I’ll just make sure to appreciate it while it lasts.

I didn’t pack my hospital bag this past week — I will this week, I promise!! — but I did get quite a few things squared away:

TAXES: They are done — hooray!

PASSPORT RENEWAL: I’ve filled out the paperwork, written the check and printed a new photo; I just need to pick up the print from Target and then mail everything in. I initially made the mistake of paying $10 for a horrible passport photo at a drugstore, but then realized all the guidelines for taking your own photo are available online, and the Department of State provides a handy photo-cropping tool that helps you proportion it correctly and even saves it to the proper 2″ x 2″ size for you. I had Aaron take a photo of me in front of a white wall at home, used the tool to crop and save it, and then printed two copies of it on one 4″ x 6″ print at Target for a whopping $0.19. 

So easy and so cheap! And now I don’t have to live with a horrible passport photo for the next 10 years.

MATERNITY LEAVE: I completed all the paperwork and confirmed with my boss and HR the amount of time I’m taking off; I just need to give some paperwork to my doctor for her to fill out. I’ll be taking 12 weeks off, including six weeks (for a vaginal birth) or eight weeks (for a C-section) of partially paid disability leave, and then however many additional weeks of unpaid leave to bring me to 12 total.

Aaron will use vacation time to spend the first week or so at home with the baby and me, and then he’ll take his six weeks of fully paid paternity leave after I go back to work. Oh yes, you read that correctly: I’m the one popping this kid out, and Aaron’s the one who has a better deal on parental leave. Don’t get me wrong, I’m beyond thrilled that his company recently began offering paternity leave, since that is a rarity, and I’m grateful that I’ll be able to spend three months with our daughter, but WTF! The U.S. just sucks big time when it comes to parental leave.

MOMS’ GROUP: I’m anxious to make friends with fellow new moms out here in the suburbs. While I have a few friends who are moms, I’d love to be able to connect with women who live nearby, are also going through all the same big changes for the first time, and have babies around the same age who can play with our kid. 

So, I attended an info session for a local program that I’ve heard great things about. There’s a weekly group for moms of newborns starting in May that I could attend during maternity leave, so I was hoping to scope out the other women in my area who were interested in joining and see if there were any I could potentially become friends with. Tragically, I was the only one at the info session!

For real. I still chatted with the session leader for an hour, asking all kinds of questions to get an idea of what the group experience is like. I think it would be good for me to join and at least get out of the house/be social once a week. The session leader told me there is currently no one else signed up for the particular group I would join, but there’s still plenty of time before it starts, so I’ll probably just sign up and see what happens. The group will be cancelled if it doesn’t reach the minimum of eight women, so cross your fingers for some mom friends for me!!!

To wrap up, I’ll mention a super-fun day I had with the friends I do have. 🙂 My longtime friend Carly had her bachelorette party this past weekend, and I attended the daytime/early evening portion before things got rowdy! 

Carly wanted to kick off the celebration with spa treatments, and I was more than happy to get a heavenly pedicure and then hang out in the “relaxation room” wearing a comfy robe while other girls drifted in and out for their manicures, pedicures or massages.

There’s the bachelorette in the middle! I took this pic, but then I spent plenty of time lounging in a fourth chair off to the right of this scene. We nibbled on fresh fruit and nuts, and the drinking ladies enjoyed mimosas. Not terrible at all.

The whole spa group. I got way too hot in the robe (thanks, prego sweats) and changed back into my dress early.

Later, we grabbed snacks and drinks at Dragonfish while a few members of the bridal party decorated a hotel room with the most amaaaaazing Harry Potter theme! Carly is a huge Harry Potter fan, obviously. There were HP glasses and wands for all.

You may recognize these girls as the bridesmaids at my wedding! We go way back to junior high. There were a total of 17 girls packed into this room, so don’t let let this photo or the spa photo fool you — Carly has no shortage of friends! It was so fun to watch her open (unmentionable) gifts and play (even more unmentionable) games. I sipped on sparkling apple cider that the maid of honor had gotten especially for me and another pregnant girl — so nice of her! — and then left around 6:30, as the girls weren’t having dinner until 8:30 and that is mighty close to my bedtime. 🙂

I’m so happy I was able to help celebrate with Carly, and I’m even more excited for her wedding in less than two weeks!! It’s one of many events Aaron and I are looking forward to as we count down to baby time. 

Our schedule is pretty packed every weekend with family/friend time, as everyone seems to want to get together before she arrives. It’s good to stay busy, I think — we’re already about as prepared as we can be, and it’ll make this last little bit of waiting fly by!

We kicked off this week with a doctor appointment, and it was surprisingly the first one our actual doctor couldn’t attend because she was off delivering a baby! But it didn’t really matter since we didn’t have any big questions or concerns this week, so another doctor stepped in to measure my belly and check the baby’s heart rate after a nurse took my weight and blood pressure.

I gained a whopping five pounds since our last visit two weeks ago, putting me up 29 pounds overall. My belly also measured slightly big again — just a week ahead this time. I’m not concerned about either of those things since our recent ultrasound confirmed the baby is a perfectly healthy size.

Most days I feel perfectly fine until later in the afternoon at work, when my legs and feet start feeling swollen, and in the evenings, when my back starts to hurt if I’ve been standing or walking too much. I went to the gym twice this week, and I’ve learned to be diligent about getting cleaned up and changed quickly once I get home so I can sit down and relax. Otherwise, I get so uncomfortable and spend the whole rest of the evening trying to will the back pain away.

The leg swelling is typically manageable, but on Friday it was bad enough that I ducked into an empty conference room, lay down on the ground and put my legs up the wall like I used to do after long runs. I could only do it for a few minutes because lying on my back makes me short of breath due to pressure from the baby, but it really helped. Desperate times call for desperate measures! I need to get a little footstool to keep under my desk so I can at least have my legs somewhat elevated as I sit.

Luckily I had a prenatal massage scheduled for Friday evening, and the massage therapist paid extra attention to my legs and feet. It was heavenly, and I felt like a whole new person afterward. Thank you to the health-insurance gods for making these biweekly massages possible!

Mentally, I’m sort of in denial that this baby is actually coming, and coming soon. I’m so used to being pregnant that it’s hard to imagine being not pregnant and being a parent instead. WTF! Who gave me permission to have a kid??

But the reality is that she could come anytime, and I panicked a bit this week when I saw that my former Hood to Coast teammate Andrea gave birth to her beautiful baby boy at 36 weeks! Her little family is doing wonderfully, but holy cow, 36 weeks is not far away for me at all. Andrea cemented my panic today when I liked an Instagram photo of her son and she tagged me in a comment that said, “Get your bag packed!!”

Next on the to-do list: Pack our hospital bag.

This past weekend was jam-packed with activities, and for the first time in a long time, none of them were baby-related! We started Saturday with an early breakfast with my mom and stepdad at The Maltby Cafe, aka the best breakfast joint in the Seattle area.

In all the years I’ve been going to Maltby, I’ve never gotten the Swedish pancakes, and I’ve been doing it wrong. Those things were amazing!

This breakfast actually stretched into two breakfasts for me, as I ate my pancakes and bacon at the restaurant, then ate my eggs and Aaron’s biscuit on Sunday. Aaron wasn’t planning on eating it anyway, and I’d been craving that exact biscuit since the beginning of my pregnancy! So good.

We spent the rest of the day running random errands and seeing a movie (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot — it was meh) to kill time before dinner at my mom’s house to celebrate my brother’s 32nd birthday.

I rarely mention my brother here because we don’t really hang out that much, but he exists! And he’s 32!

On Sunday, my friend Gillian came over to indulge our mutual obsession with The Great British Bake-Off and make a fancy fruit tart — one of Mary Berry’s recipes!

It turned out so well and tasted even better than it looked!

OK, so the crust looked a little janky — that was my bad. But we didn’t care because it was mind-blowingly delicious regardless.

It was such a fun day, and it was so great to catch up with Gill, who is starting a new job and celebrating her birthday this week!

On Sunday evening, we celebrated my brother’s birthday again by going out to a wonderful dinner with my dad. I don’t have pics, but it was lovely and great to see my dad, who I hadn’t seen since Christmas! Clearly I’m wayyyy too much of a hermit.

It was a great weekend spent with lots of people we love. I finished each day feeling pretty worn-out, and therefore had zero trouble getting lots of sleep each night and seamlessly making the Daylight Saving Time transition. This will probably be the last time that happens… ever.

I’m still so grateful that I’m able to sleep like a rock every night and dread that changing as I continue to get bigger and more uncomfortable. I’m thoroughly enjoying every night of good sleep because I know it’s going away sooner or later, whether it happens before or after the baby comes.

That’s all for this week! By the time I write next week’s post, we should have our hospital bag packed (because in real time, I’ll be 35 weeks along then!) and I can report on what we’ve prepped.

I’m not worried about packing the perfect bag since we live incredibly close to the hospital and Aaron or another family member could easily pick up anything we forget, but please let me know if any of you have recommendations for must-haves or things you wished you’d brought with you!