Baby Noble: 37 Weeks!

How far along? 37 weeks.  But according to the doctor I'm 38 weeks.  I probably shouldn't have been so stubborn and should have used his schedule this whole time.  Oh well! Less than 2 weeks until my due date!
Baby Size: She's the size of a pumpkin.  She feels HUGE to me.
Total weight gain/loss: 37 pounds.  I'm hungry all the time.
Maternity clothes? This is my last week of work and I probably could still work next week but I'm honestly just so excited to not have to think about dressing my pregnant body.  I can't wait to have my whole closet available to me again soon.  
Stretch marks? Well, despite my best efforts, this week I had a few pop up.  
Sleep: Sleep is great but I almost dread getting into bed because that means I eventually have to get out of bed, which totally sucks.  My pelvis is hurting a lot more lately and I almost always have to wait for it to pop before I can walk properly once I finally get up.
Best moment this week: I packed my hospital bag and prepared these relief pads for when I come home from the hospital.  I feel as ready as I can feel for her to come.  Now I wake up every day and wonder if today will be the day.  I don't feel any different though and I have a bad feeling that she's going to decide to stay in there for a lot longer.  We're both so excited to meet her.
Miss Anything? Getting out of bed easily.
Movement: I can certainly tell that she's running out of room in there.  

Cravings: Fresh pineapple.

Labor Signs: Still feel pretty crampy at night mostly.  I have A LOT more pelvic pain going on these days.  For a couple of weeks, I wasn't having many issues but it is back with a vengeance.  
Belly Button in or out? Out-ish.
Wedding rings on or off? Just wearing my wedding band and I'm not able to take it off any more.  The heat + pregnancy makes for a swollen body.  I've also been having crazy carpal tunnel things going on with my wrists and fingers.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: We have an ultrasound scheduled tomorrow to check on her size and weight.  We haven't seen her in 18 weeks so I'm really, really excited.

Our doctor offered to 'strip my membrane' when I had my visit last week.  He said he would basically just 'tickle her head' and it could potentially make me go into labor.  I opted not to do it and when I looked it up later, there's no way I want to do that!  I want her to come out when she's totally ready.  But I would kind of love for her to be born in June so that her birthday has a better chance of having some even numbers.

I think we've officially decided to not take newborn pictures, which makes me really sad.  I even have her little white bloomers and headband all ready to go.  We couldn't find anyone to do the photos for under $400!  So, I'm going to do my best to take some good pictures because we actually won 25 free baby announcements from MyPublisher.com and I would hate to have to send a picture-less announcement.  We'll see what I can come up with!

Baby Noble: 36 Weeks!

How far along? 36 weeks but according to my doctor we're 37 so we're officially FULL TERM!  My doctor doesn't think I'll make it to my due date because of how low she already is so we might be parents sooner than we thought!
Baby Size: She's the size of a honeydew.  My doctor is estimating that she's about 6.5 pounds at this point and will be around 7.5 by the time she's born.
Total weight gain/loss: Not sure.  Probably between 30-35 pounds at this point.  I have certainly not had ANY issues eating this entire pregnancy.
Maternity clothes? I'm working with what I've gone now.  It's too late to go buying things now.  Luckily I have less than 2 weeks left at work so I only have to try to make it work for a few more days.  Also, I might not be doing my hair as often these days but I did vacuum my entire house at 6:30 this morning and the baby's blankets, socks, hats, and newborn clothes are all washed and ready to go.  The news from the doctor kinda kicked out butts into gear.
Stretch marks? I'm so happy that I'm still in the clear!  Hopefully I don't get them after I give birth or something weird.  I can't even imagine what all this skin is going to look like once there's no longer a giant baby inside of me.
Sleep: I've still been sleeping pretty good lately!  Some nights I wake up more than once to go to the bathroom but throughout my whole pregnancy, I've been pretty lucky that it's typically just a once/night visit.
Best moment this week: We were so blessed to have 2 wonderful baby showers the past couple of days.  Then, on Sunday, we bought anything that we didn't get at the showers and the nursery is ALMOST fully put together.  We're much more prepared and I feel so much more at ease.  If she were to come tomorrow, we would actually have a place to put her.  The nursery is still not decorated per-say but it has the essentials.  We also went to our first birthing class and went to a baby basics class.  We might have procrastinated, but we're much more prepared this week than we were last week!
Miss Anything? I'm so excited to be able to work out again.  And I'm ready for my pelvis to be re-attached.  
Movement: The best way I can explain her current attitude toward her accommodations is that she likes to lounge in my uterus like it's a hammock.  She likes to kick her feet out of my right side so much that it literally looks like I have a growth pretty much 99% of the time.  Thankfully, she's low enough that her feet aren't in my ribs but it's still pretty funny feeling.

Cravings: Still chugging OJ every night.  Sprite and Sierra Mist are still especially delicious.  I really need to stop with the sugary drinks.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!  Like I said above, eating has been no problem at all for me this entire time.  Unless I eat too much. 
Labor Signs: I've been feeling what I think feels like really mild period cramps (if I remember correctly...it's been so long!) so I'm guessing those are Braxton Hicks contractions things.  
Belly Button in or out? I think it's as out as it's going to get.  It's been the same amount of half-in/half-out for the past couple of weeks.  
Wedding rings on or off? It's been pretty hot lately and I swell a good bit when I'm hot so I've just been wearing my wedding band this past week.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: Her arrival!  I can't believe it's so close!!

We're pro babydoll diaper changers (and swaddlers) now.  

We're also slightly obsessed with our peach trees.

June Birchbox!

If you've spent any amount of time with me, I've probably brought up my love of Birchbox at one point or another.  Even if it ends up being a bad box, I still get so much weird joy out of tracking the package.  When I get the email saying that my box has shipped, I check it every day to see where it is.

Now that we live on the West Coast, it takes a lot longer to get it and sometimes I cheat and look online to see what I'm getting.  But who doesn't love getting mail!?

June's box was pretty great!  This month, they shipped a nail polish color to everyone and I was really hoping I would get the white color but I got a mint green color.  I'm still excited to try it.  I'm also excited about the Origins charcoal mask I got.  

Carson thinks I'm absolutely crazy for how much I love Birchbox but it's only $10 a month and if I can eventually gain enough points to "buy" full sized products for free--that's a great deal!

Baby Noble: 35 Weeks!

Notice that we officially have peaches on our trees!  We ate our first peach over the weekend and it was delicious.  We're so excited to take them to church and work once more of them are ripe!

How far along? 35 weeks!  But according to my doctor, I'm 36 weeks and only a few days away from officially being full term!  We need her to stay in there for at least 3 more weeks though because we procrastinated and are just now taking all of our baby classes...our last one is June 29.  Fingers crossed she's super cozy where she is. 
Baby Size: She's the size of a coconut...if you ever saw an almost 6 pound coconut.
Total weight gain/loss: I haven't weighed myself lately but I have been eating like crazy so I'm sure I'm up more than I should be at this point!  Weekends are the worst.  
Maternity clothes? I'm trying to steer clear of anything really restricting on my belly.  Even my maternity jeans, the oh-so-perfect maternity jeans, are bothering me after a while because of the stretchy band.  That, plus my support band, gets to be a bit too much.  
Stretch marks? None!  I've switched to Raw Shea Butter at night just in case.  That stuff doesn't even come off when you wash your hands with soap.  
Sleep: I've been sleeping REALLY good lately.  In fact, I slept pretty much all weekend.  I don't know what has changed but all I want to do is sleep.  My pelvis has been feeling a lot better lately and if it pops, it just makes it feel better so I'm not as afraid of it like I used to be.  My mornings are definitely easier/better when Carson helps me out of bed, though. 
Best moment this week: Eating our first peach!
Miss Anything? I'm already getting a little sad that soon I won't be pregnant.  I'm really going to miss feeling her move and stretch and punch and jab.  
Movement: I finally googled what baby hiccups feel like because I was sad that I wasn't feeling them and then I realized that she has them ALL the time.  I don't know what else I thought all thap tapping was...maybe just that she was practicing keeping time...I don't know.  But I feel the hiccups way low so that gives me hope that she's already head down!

Cravings: I'm back to orange juice.  I wake up between 12-2 every night and drink a glass of oj and it's basically the most delicious thing ever.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.
Labor Signs: I don't know if they're dreams, but at night I feel a lot of pain in my stomach.  Totally possible that it's not really happening though.
Belly Button in or out? It's the worst when I laugh.  Carson will literally leave the room if I start to laugh and my belly is out.  I can also "flex" my stomach in a weird way that freaks him out.  The middle of your belly button is blue by the way.  The things you learn while pregnant...
Wedding rings on or off? On but the Aggie Ring is a no-go.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!  I love that I'm almost in single digits of days left at work!

Looking forward to: We have 2 baby showers in the next couple of days and 2 baby classes! These next couple of weeks are going to be crazy busy and I'm sure they'll fly by!

Baby Noble: 34 Weeks

How far along?  34 weeks this week!
Baby Size: She's the size of a butternut squash and could weight up to 5.8 pounds.
Total weight gain/loss: I don't know but my body is retaining water like nobody's business.  On the flight home from Texas, I noticed that my fingers and feet were getting pretty swollen and I'm still looking pretty puffy.  Not Kim Kardashian feet puffy (Google it, seriously, it's gross) but getting close.
Maternity clothes? I've finally hit the point where I need to wear leggings under my dresses because they're too short in the front but normal leggings work just fine...it's just a little hot.
Stretch marks? Still none!
Sleep: It's a sore subject for me.  Once I get comfortable, I'm fine until I need to get out of bed.  I used to be able to go a couple of days without my pelvis popping but now I guess the way I'm sleeping is pushing it out of place so when I get up, I'm hobbling and wobbling until it pops because it's rubbing in a weird way.
Best moment this week: Spending time with Carson's family in Texas and being a part of his sister's wedding.
Pregnancy brain moment of the week:  Nothing!
Have you told family and friends: Yep!
Miss Anything? Sleeping on my stomach.  Sleeping well.  Margaritas.  Moving normally.  Running.
Movement: She started jutting out of my right side over the weekend...that was new.  I can tell she has less space to move around in there.  Every now and then she really pushes what I'm guessing is her butt out by my belly button.  It's crazy how much more my skin can stretch.

Cravings: I got really sick last week and every time I drank a glass of water, I immediately threw it up and the doctor recommended I drink soda instead.  When I had that first sip, it was like the most amazing tasting thing I've ever had.  So now I'm on a Sprite/Sierra Mist kick.  Hopefully once I'm done with the ones we have in the house, it will go away.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  I had a stomach bug last week, but it wasn't pregnant related.
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Labor Signs: No labor signs but I have been having heartburn the last couple of days and, like I said before, I'm getting very swollen by the end of the day.
Belly Button in or out? More out-ish.
Wedding rings on or off? I've only been wearing my wedding ring lately.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: Her arrival.

Making Our House a Home

We've been busy the past couple of weeks and I'm thinking it's probably not going to slow down any time soon. We're now officially in the last month that Carson and I will be 'just' Carson and Chelsea.  We have so much left to do to prepare for the baby to arrive.  I'm kind of terrified that she'll come early just because we're not prepared.  If we're prepared, surely she'd be late.

We finally got around to fixing up the front garden.  We still need mulch but it looks SO much better than it did.  I pulled up a chair and pretty much just told Carson where to plant everything.  Being pregnant has its perks ya know.

The following weekend we commemorated the return of Arrested Development with some delicious Bluth inspired frozen bananas.  We had high hopes for the show but after the first 4 episodes it seems like a letdown.  I've read that you have to watch the entire season for it to be funny but at this point we're not impressed.  

The rest of our Memorial Day weekend involved several home improvement projects. We painted the walls and hung curtains in the guest bedroom, purchased a linen cabinet for the bathroom, and Carson hung a monster 70' fan in the living room.  All that's left is to paint and add trim to our new dresser, install yet another ceiling fan and the guest room will be ready (why houses don't come standard with fans I'll never know).  We're really happy to see the guest room coming together, hopefully both our parents will enjoy a place to relax once the baby arrives. 

(Our dogs were exhausted from watching us work all weekend)

Our big ole' fan is going to help out so much on those 100+ degree days when I'm at home this summer.  

We traveled to Texas last weekend for Carson's sister's wedding.  Unfortunately, we don't have any good pictures of both of us since I look terrible in every picture.  Carson looked so adorable though.  The wedding venue was beautiful, right in the middle of the East Texas Arboretum in Athens.  There was a 70% chance of rain but it held off until after the end of the outdoor ceremony and reception. 

It's crazy how quickly one gets used to Bakersfield's dry climate.  Carson and I both were in for a brutal shock from the East Texas humidity (Carson requested no pictures of him 'glistening'  after the ceremony).