Thirty-Four Weeks

Thirty Four Weeks means we're getting ready to head into the holidays, into Thanksgiving and all the Christmas wonders. This year we'll be staying put for the holidays seeing as we've got a baby on the way, and I don't exactly want to deliver a baby at a gas station in Bronson, lol. I'm finishing up the last few days at work before Thanksgiving and I'll be off for the entire week! Ready to finish that nursery!

November 13, 2013
34 Weeks, 1 Day

Yesterday I looked in the mirror and thought, man I'm beautiful.

Okay maybe that sounds weird, but my mom always says that none of her children ever had self-esteem problems, lol. And I'll also attribute it to the fact that our bathroom has this crazy great flattering lighting at about five or six in the afternoon and I was standing in that bathroom at the time.

But mostly I say that because I'm 8+ months pregnant and I have deep purple stretch marks even though I put lotion on and drink water like it's going out of style. I don't fit into any of my old clothes and I'm starting to grow out of the t-shirt that I ordered many sizes too large for my kids class at church. Sometimes I feel like a bit of a whale when I can't get off the couch and when I can't for the life of me figure out how to roll over in bed. Sometimes my mascara's in my face after I shower and I have dark circles... sometimes the mascara's not there and I still have dark circles. Some days I get tired just from sitting at my desk typing, like physically difficult to lift my hands to type while keeping my eyes open.

But this morning I got on the scale for my weekly weigh-in and I, for the first time in my life, (including the summer I gained 20 pounds when I lived in Alaska) I weighed 190 pounds. I'm a dietitian and I've gained 35 pounds (at least) at only 34 weeks. It's over the 'recommended' weight gain, and you know what, I think I look amazing.

I worked out with my 'good friend' Denise Austin last night and I feel like I'm in great shape. I'm carrying around a human being, and not peeing on myself when she kicks me in the bladder. I'd consider that success. I am tired some days, and others I'm repainting furniture in my garage and planting a garden at school.

But I'm growing a human!

I don't want to seem like I think gaining tons of weight when you're pregnant is the healthiest thing. If you've put on 150 pounds you may have gone a little overboard. I think pregnancy should be a time in your life where you work hard to take care of your baby and your body and when you eat all the vegetables and fruits and nuts that make your baby smart and healthy.

I also don't take all the credit for growing a human either. Kyle had a little to do with it all and well, the Lord is the one working this crazy miracle that people can actually grow other people. If you don't believe in miracles, think about how babies come to be and think again...

But today I weigh 190 pounds, my stomach is huge, my skin is stretched to the max. And I think I look amazing... and for that I'm very, very grateful.

November 17, 2013
34 Weeks, 5 Days
Today we had our final shower in our little town of Lindale. I can't tell you how loved we feel in this town. The girls came together and made some of the most delicious and beautiful treats for the party. It was neat to see a community of ladies that have become such a family for us over the past few years. And let me tell you what, we got some wonderful gifts because many of these ladies are moms or new moms and they totally knew exactly what we'd need. The decorations were wonderful the treat table was right out of a magazine and I didn't get one picture... oops. But I think some of the girls got pictures, so I'll share those later if I get any copies.

But oh we feel so very loved. Can't wait for this little girl to get here and meet all of her Lindale friends :)

November 18, 2013
34 Weeks, 6 Days

We have a stroller AND a car seat! I'm probably a little too excited about all this stroller/car seat business, but when you're mind is built like mine is, it's kind of a thing.

They say certain personalities or character traits are learned, but that some are just ingrained in us from the start. Example: Gatti-land was a popular arcade inside of a pizza place where birthday parties were quite popular growing up. You'd go to a friend's birthday party, eat pizza, eat cake, and then get 5-10 tokens to run around Gatti-land and play a million games. Or more like 5 or 10 games. There were the kids who ran to the first game they saw and put all their tokens in and had a blast and then ran to ask their parents for more tokens. That kid was not me. I would stroll around to the games, check out each one, see how many tokens I really thought the game was worth, and then choose carefully. Those 5-10 tokens would last quite a while. Sometimes my mom would offer to buy us more tokens, but I don't remember ever really wanting tons more. Seemed like we could save our money for better things than tokens right? (Mom correct me if I'm wrong here).

I tell that story because I feel like I grew up wanting to get a good deal and save money. Blame it on Gatti-land, blame it on the $100 I won on the radio in the 4th grade that I immediately opened a savings account with, blame it on the high prices of the American Girl doll magazine and the low prices of the thrift store where I bought my 'Samantha doll' desk that I loved so dearly.

Anyway, pair this with my obsession for rules and safety and it's an impossible task to find and purchase a car seat and stroller. Which one is safe, which one is the most versatile, which one is still reasonably priced? Why would anyone pay $700+ for a stroller, why would I buy a car seat without the best safety rating, what kind of stroller will work well in the rocks and mountains of Colorado and the little towns of East Texas?

So after a few weeks of chasing deals that disappeared all too soon before I could buy them, we snagged a deal of our own. Buy the top-rated stroller and converter bar for the infant car seat attachment, get the top-rated infant car seat for free... yes, thank you. Dear REI, we are friends now, and I may have wanted to dance when we were checking out. But I held it all in.

I was probably way too excited. We loaded the new baby gear into the trunk and headed home.

And then I stared at it all night. Done with the research, done with the sale tracking, ready to fill that little seat with a little, sweet, safe, price-conscious baby, lol.

34 Weeks and our baby is the size of a butternut squash. And for this week's bump pictures I made sure to include the new stroller... excited? Yes I told you I was, lol.

Thirty Four Weeks, how'd we get here so fast?!?

Thirty-Three Weeks

Who would have ever thought we'd we 33 weeks pregnant and on the side of the road with a broken down car and very-very limited cell service... in a town where the only business is a gas station that closes at 7:45 pm? Imagine this place at night...

Well that will surely mark 33 weeks for us.

This week I worked quite a bit on finishing the dresser for the baby room. I put the last coat of paint on the dresser this week and hoped to move it back into the house soon. Then I realized it needs a coat of polyurethane to make the paint job really last, so we'll see when the weather warms up for me to get a coat of poly on it.

And this weekend we headed down for a 'quick trip' to Lake Charles. It had been a while since we'd seen my family and some of our Lake Charles friends and family were throwing me a baby shower!

Friday night at about 7:30pm we found ourselves in Bronson Texas with an engine that was very overheated. The car wouldn't drive more than 20 yards without overheating and so we pulled in to the local gas station. We bought a gallon of water for the radiator and then realized that the lady was closing down the shop for the night. Luckily she left the outdoor lights on for us.

It was then that we realized our limited cell service. As we tried to look up ways to fix the car or call friends or family we saw how impossible it would be to get a call out. We tried a few things, they didn't work, we texted a few friends and family, and eventually my parents and brother (who were 3 hours away) decided to come to our rescue.

So we waited... for 3 hours.

A car pulled up to the gas station somewhere in the 3 hour span and a girl hopped out with crazy socks on. Then her mom got out. Both of them were soon on the ground looking underneath the car. The other two sisters got out and we heard "that was the biggest raccoon I've ever seen!" So Kyle got out to help the ladies. They had hit a raccoon and done some damage to their car. Kyle ended up using a stereo cord to Magiver their bumper back together so they could get to the next town. It was quite entertaining and helped us pass the time. They said maybe God had us on the side of the road so we could help them. They apologized for not being able to help us in return, and headed off.

We laughed. Then we waited.

At some point when we were adding water to the reservoir Kyle mentioned he could maybe take off the radiator cap and add water directly to the radiator. To which I replied 'NOOOOO! Don't take the radiator cap off!!!" like it was going to end the world. All I knew about radiator caps is that if you take them off while the car is hot they spew out liquid fire and burn the living daylights out of everything...

Apparently this was an over exaggeration on my part. But Kyle obliged and so we sat and waited. Only for my dad to arrive a few hours later and say "Did you try taking off the radiator cap and adding water directly to the radiator?"

I felt like an idiot. I explained, for Kyle's sake that he had wanted to do that earlier. Apparently once you let the engine cool, you can use a large towel for safety just in case, and remove the radiator cap without much issue. I had no idea. We did that and the car ran just fine. Ooops...

Then 30 miles later with mom, dad, and Jared following behind us, it overheated again. We added more water and started back. 30 miles after that we stopped again for the men to take a closer look at the car, buy a few gallons of water, and for me (at midnight) to finally get dinner as the lights and computer were shutting off at the local McDonald's.

It was a long trip home but we got the car to Lake Charles. We got to my parents' house about 2:30 in the morning and headed straight to bed. This pregnant lady was tired...

Turns out that we cracked a head gasket in the engine, and while they can't say exactly why... I'm pretty sure it's because I hadn't checked the coolant level and the car overheated and cracked the gasket. In our old Saturn I checked all the fluid levels every time I filled the car with gas because it was so necessary... I guess I'd gotten used to the new fanciness of the Camry and not having to add a quart of oil every time I filled up and I forgot to keep checking the coolant too... Luckily, Kyle doesn't blame me...

Saturday, a mere few hours later, we headed to the shower and had a great story to tell.

The shower was wonderful. The best food, the best people, friends and family and one girl who flew down from NYC just to surprise me. That Caralie...

It really was a wonderful time, so many people were at the shower who have been a part of our family and friends for a long time. We took tons of pictures, but I only have a few on my camera. For some reason (maybe obvious) I look quite large and in charge in almost all of the pictures so we're going to limit the amount I post... but notice that the baby bump looks like I just attached a ball to my front side... right?

See that crazy, looks like that baby is trying to pop out of that belly...

The weekend turned out great, great time with the fam, although we had quite an experience with the car breakdown and then trying to rent a car and then Kyle heading back to Lake Charles to finally retrieve our car after it was prepared. 33 Weeks was quite exciting!

It just keeps getting closer. Here's our durian fruit-sized baby, although I'm a dietitian and haven't ever seen a durian fruit in person. But at least I'm all dressed up in my fancy clothes... pregnant lady's gotta look professional sometimes, at least to make up for wearing pajama yoga pants about 99% of the time I'm not at work...

33 Weeks, we're almost there...

Thirty-Two Weeks

Note: Almost there on the catching up...

Thirty Two weeks. This is getting crazy close. I know we've still got eight weeks until the due date, which is an entire two months... but let's be honest this baby could come at any time really. Right? Does that sounds crazy to anyone else but me?? I bought my new-favorite juice in the store and the expiration date was my due date! Crazy...

This week Kyle is off traveling, but he is also planning for a big weekend at camp. This past weekend was the Mother-Daughter weekend they host at camp. It's a weekend full of girly things and wonderful moms who are learning about loving their girls well. It's the cutest thing ever and it made me think about how maybe we'll go someday: me and my little girl. But it also made me pray that our baby wouldn't be born this weekend. There's kind of a history of camp's employees going into labor on the Parent-Child weekends. Crazy coincidence, but you know I still prayed, lol. And no baby yet... :)

October 30, 2013
32 Weeks, 1 Day
This morning I woke up and got ready for work, just like I always do. I had a few extra minutes and with a stack of brand new books for our little girl waiting in her room, I decided to read her a story.

So I picked up the book that everyone raved about at the shower. One mom said, 'you'll want to read this to your daughter everyday until she is married.' The book is called The Princess Kiss. It's about a sweet princess that has been given the gift of her first kiss from God via her parents, the king and queen of course. The princes of each kingdom come along trying to ask for the princess' hand in marriage and her 'kiss' or her heart, but their motives are all wrong.

Then I got to the part where the farmer boy comes for the princess and declares his love for her. He offers up his own first kiss that he had been saving for her. He asks her to be his wife. And that's where I stopped reading out loud to our little baby-in-the-belly. I stopped because I was sobbing.

I imagined our sweet girl growing up and finding love. Praying that her heart would not be broken. Praying for the man that the Lord has to be her husband. That his parents would be praying for him too. I guess it's the first time I've thought about the fact that he may already be out there somewhere. And I prayed for him like I'd been praying for my own husband all these years.

I had to finish reading the book in a whisper so the tears wouldn't stop me. I love this sweet girl so much already. I prayed for her already this morning, for her heart, for her husband, for their love, for their kisses.

And the sun's not even up yet.

I guess this is what being a mom feels like. She already has so much of my heart.

October 31, 2013
32 Weeks, 2 Days
So today I was that pregnant lady that wore a pregnant lady costume all day. I stayed up, probably too late last night getting my costume ready. Since I work at a school with younger kids I figured I'd be festive. Turns out I was one of few in 'Halloween attire' so I'm glad I didn't go too crazy.

Found a shirt online and thought about buying it, then realized overnight shipping wasn't my most cost-effective measure. So I found this blog post about using freezer paper to make shirt stencils and I was ready to go! I printed out my design and got ready to trace and cut and paint...

Then I proudly walked around town all day. So excited about little baby's 'first' Halloween costume. I even had a baby doctor appointment, so you know they thought that was cute (or thought it was the 215th shirt they'd seen that day just like it...).

I spent the weekend up at camp and in the garage with my crazy safety mask on painting the dresser and the mirror for the baby room. Sneak peek... safety first guys :)

This week's bump picture brought to you by Halloween. Baby's the size of a squash they say. Since it's fall now, I guess that's appropriate.

Also, note I'm having trouble getting great focus on the camera when I set the self timer and I'm the only one in the picture. The camera focuses on the back wall when I press the shutter and then counts down from 10 before the pictures take... when Kyle's home it focuses on him so we're sharp. Anyone know how I can have the camera re-focus before it snaps the picture once I'm in front of the camera?

Anyways, Happy Halloween. And Happy Fall! Oh it's such a good time of year (nice and cool) to be a pregnant lady :)

Maternity Pictures

It's funny when you say maternity pictures what people think about. There are some crazy websites with 'awkward' maternity pictures where you honestly could spend hours laughing at these poor pregnant women. So when I thought about taking 'maternity pictures' I thought about some of these crazy pictures... One lady asked me if I was going to take any 'tasteful' maternity pictures that involved me wrapping myself in a sheet or something with no other clothes on...

Nope. I can only imagine the look of my child one day traumatized when they'd find that picture in an album somewhere. I'm trying to keep from messing up my kiddos too much...

Luckily my good friend Jill Pfalser has better taste than that. Jill was the professional photographer for our engagement pictures and for our wedding day. It's nice living in a small town to have such a good photographer so close by. And the fact that she's now one of my closest friends makes the shoot loads of fun.

So when she asked about maternity pictures, I remembered how much I loved the maternity pictures I'd seen her take. They're kind of like engagement pictures with a big ole belly and she has this way of capturing pregnant ladies and making them look stunning. And when you're weighing more than you ever thought you would in your life... anyone who can capture you looking anywhere near 'stunning' is kind of a miracle worker.

Jill recommended taking maternity pictures around 30 weeks... once you have a bump to show off, but before you feel all ugly and pregnant. I think she said while you still feel 'beautiful.' For me thirty one weeks was perfect timing.

Not saying "look at me, I'm stunning," but maybe that's how I feel after seeing these pictures...

I can't get over the fall light in this picture. I have no idea how Jill caught this... oh wait, she's talented. 

I love that Kyle is in so many of the pictures too. He is the dad, you know. And I think this next picture shows off how absolutely handsome Kyle Hess is. You guys should see the way he takes care of me, not to mention how well he takes care of me now that I'm pregnant. I think this picture needs to be in the baby's room so that when I want to yell at him in the middle of the night when we're both tired, sleep deprived, and the baby won't stop crying I can look at the picture before I yell crazy new-mom things at him...

This next one makes me think I should be a model in a magazine or something. Maybe I'm dreaming, lol... But I love how this one's all about the baby. And the boots, we can't forget about the boots.

And I think this next one is my favorite. For some reason it reminds me of the picture in the movie "The Family Stone," the one of the mother when she's young and pregnant. For some reason I think about my kiddos finding this picture someday and being impressed that their mother once had less wrinkles and less gray hairs and maybe they'll fight over who the baby was, and maybe they'll even call me 'stunning.'

Then this one reminds us that we're expecting a little girl. For some reason it's so cute to me to see Kyle holding a little sparkly shoe. Oh how that little girl is going to steal his heart...

I'm so glad we took these. Glad we weren't deterred by the crazy maternity pictures you see online. These are more what you'd pin on Pinterest and all your friends re-pin, lol. Right?

And Jill, like I mentioned, shoots engagement sessions and weddings, but she also shoots maternity pictures,  infant photography and Jill is wonderful at family photo sessions. So with the holidays and Christmas cards needing pictures, she'll be booking mini-sessions for holiday pictures soon. If you're in the area and interested let me know, I've got all her contact info!

So get out there preggo ladies, get you a good photographer and get some memorable, beautiful pictures. Because from what I've heard, for the first few months after baby, you probably won't be posing in front of the camera (with your maternity pants still on, lol).

And as always, Happy Friday. Enjoy the beautiful fall weekend and the wonderful light the fall brings.

Thirty-One Weeks

We were quite busy at the Hess House at thirty one weeks. I returned from the FNCE conference and Kyle was able to be home all week with no overnight traveling for work! After a few days of rain, we squeezed in maternity pictures and then headed off for the weekend to Dallas. I had big to-do list of all the things we needed to do in Dallas and we didn't have near enough time to do all of them (like seeing my dear Aunt Billie was on the list but this pregnant lady was so pooped after a busy Saturday that we over-slept on Sunday!)

The Taylor Family are some of our favorite people. Larry is the headmaster at one of the bigger schools in Plano and he and his wife Delinda come up to Ute for three weeks to host family camp with us. We think they're just the best thing ever. And this year after they heard about our little baby on the way they insisted on hosting a shower for us and the families that come to family camp from their school.

It was a blast. All the families were welcome: moms, dads, kiddos in soccer uniforms! It was wonderful. There really were kiddos and people everywhere. It was great to see all the families that we hadn't seen since the summer, and since many of the counselors were there the kids were suuuper excited to get to see them too!

Then of course we had to get pictures with the hostess of the party... she's just as beautiful inside as out!

Then they had us pose with the sign...

We really were so blessed. I keep teeling Kyle that it really is so convenient to be getting things for the baby, but that most of all I'm blown away at how many people love our little baby girl already and want to bless us. And buy her cutie little outfits and even hot pink-soled leopard-print sparkly infant Mary Jane Toms :) I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like those! (Ignore the large nostril flare... that happens to me often, it's a shame someone caught it on camera...)

Then since so many of Kyle's sisters are now in the Dallas area they surprised us by coming down to the shower too!

And then the men: Kyle on the left of course, me and the belly in the middle, and Delinda and Larry (hostess and host) on the right. Oh we just love them!

After the shower we had other events to attend to in Dallas, we were helping host the Ute Trail Alumni Reunion. I was helping take pictures. So I snuck this one of Kyle and then made him swing me and my belly around the dance floor for a night of good friends, barbeque, and lots of Western dancing. Isn't my baby-daddy the most attractive man you ever saw?

October 27, 2013
31 Weeks, 5 Days
After a busy day yesterday with the shower and lunch with Kyle's family and the Ute Trail Reunion last night, we slept in with our light-blocking curtains in our hotel this morning, like we really overslept-in. And the craziest thing happened...

I think I may have had those things they call Braxton-Hicks contractions. They (the medical professionals) say that they can start anytime in the second half of pregnancy and say they aren't a sign of labor, but simply your body's way of working out the labor muscles ahead of time. And since I'm way past halfway, I figure this could be the Braxton-Hicks contractions starting.

I woke up this morning and it felt like our little girl had the hiccups. But it was like a 'hiccup' every second for more than a minute and although she was moving around, the location of the 'hiccups' were all in the same place. I got out of bed, walked round the room, got some water, and laid back down. They went away for a moment and then came back. Kyle offered me some water and I told him what I was feeling. Apparently I was shaking the bed, lol, he felt the bed moving and asked if that's what it was.

For a moment I started to worry that they weren't going away. But then a moment later they stopped. Baby still rolling around, but no 'hiccups.' And I wondered if they were hiccups, and I wondered if they were the beginning of Braxton-Hicks contractions, and I everything got a little more real. I think I realized that one day in the near future, I might add, I'm going to wake up and it's going to be the real deal and this baby's going to be on the way...

Exciting, and maybe even a little bit scary...

Here at 31 weeks, with some people saying baby is the size of a pineapple (although another app told me baby was the size of a pineapple at 33 weeks...) we've got a whole lot of baby bump to go around. This week the 'bump' pictures are via Jill Pfalser photographer extraordinaire. So here's a sneak peek, we're have more about the maternity photos on Friday ...

Thirty-one weeks... this baby will be here before we know it...

Thirty Weeks

Note: We're catching up after a little computer glitch... but we're getting close to real time :)

Thirty Weeks! Feels like some kind of crazy milestone to be at Thirty Weeks!

October 18, 2013
30 Weeks, 3 Days
Kyle's been home this week so we've been moving things around and getting projects done. Although not everything in the nursery is ready (AKA pictures are not hung on the walls), I feel pretty good about things. We've got a Pack n Play that is rockin' thanks to some sweet friends. We've got the crib put together and installed (thanks to those same sweet friends #lovehandmedowns) and the new 'safety brackets' in place. I've even got one crib sheet on the mattress. We've been given some fun baby girl clothes ans I have those sorted out in the closet according to size...

Still a few big projects (paint the dresser) and little projects (hang the shelves and pictures and garland) to get done. But I'm not in a state of panic or anything. Sure the one thing they say you need before baby comes is a car seat, and we don't have one yet... but we've got one picked out and I'm sure we can send someone to the store for us in case baby comes super early for some reason... We've still got to get the stroller and the pumps and bottles and onesies, but I'm feeling like maybe we're on track.

I've got the registries all lined up so we'll know what to buy when the time comes. We've got wonderful friends and family that have offered to throw us baby showers and I can't wait to get to see everyone and show off this big 'old baby belly!

We're on lesson 4-ish of 12 in the childbirth book we're reading at the house. And although I feel like I know nothing about newborns, I'm learning more about birth every day. And the birth part comes first, right?

They say 9 weeks and 4 days until the due date... it's coming fast...

October 19, 2013
30 Weeks, 4 Days
So I'm in Houston at the Food and Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE). When I called to book the hotel I made sure there was a shuttle to the convention center from the hotel by saying (I'll be like 8 months pregnant during the convention and I'm not sure how far I should be walking from the hotel..." The customer service lady replied, "you'll be 8 months pregnant?! why are you going?" So why am I in Houston at almost 31 Weeks pregnant?

Because I can be. And because I'm a big ole nutrition nerd. The FNCE Conference is the national conference and it's kind of a big deal. Usually the conference is in Vegas or New York or somewhere expensive to travel to and expensive to stay. This year it's in the state I live in! And my work is paying (mostly) to send me to the conference! And well, until the government shutdown my VA dietitian buddies were going to be coming too for a full on party...

So I picked out my very most professional (yet comfortable) maternity clothes and I headed down to Houston. I downloaded the FNCE app, picked out the sessions I wanted to attend and I'm praying that my feet don't choose this weekend to decide to start to swell.

Conference starts tonight, and then there's an 'event' afterwards. I packed a dress for the occasion, but this preggo lady may be snoozing early tonight instead...

Thirty Weeks... Me and my healthy cucumber baby at FNCE. Figured it was fitting to get a pic in my conference hotel room, lol...

Twenty-Nine Weeks

Note: Still catching up from the computer snaphoo... we're actually at 32 weeks this week, and it's actually November now! But we should be caught up on posting by next week!

Twenty-Nine Weeks and it's been raining like crazy this week. The weather's cooling down and it's surely fall. It's funny because this is how Christmas feels like Lake Charles where I grew up. Just cold enough to justify a thin sweater, but not so much to go all out on a real Christmas sweater.

It feels like Christmas. And that's when our baby comes. I can feel that the air will be filled with Christmas joy and magic already. Like the butcher said, a Wonderful time of year to have a baby." I keep thinking about how the hospital will have Christmas decorations and how we can play Christmas music at the hospital without looking like looney tunes playing Christmas music in February. I see pictures of little newborn babies in long slinky striped Santa hats and it makes me excited.

It's going to be a wonderful Christmas.

But for now it's only October. We're bringing out the pumpkin candles and I've found my stash of hot cocoa. We're getting the baby's room all ready and going to childbirth class.

October 12, 2013
29 Weeks, 4 Days
Today we went to Childbirth Class! It was exciting, well, for me. Kyle came with me because he's such a good dad, but I'm sure he wanted to laugh at times when we were 'practicing breathing' and I know poor thing probably wasn't a fan of watching videos of other ladies give birth. They aren't exactly modest, lol.

We got to class early Saturday morning. When we walked in we were the only couple there. I got a little nervous, but the teacher was there too and said even if no one else showed up that we'd still have the class. A few minutes later three other couples showed up and we took a tour of the hospital, walked down to the OR (which I hope we don't actually have to go to for delivery), and sat in our lecture classroom for about 5-6 hours. We covered labor, newborns, and all the fun terms that go along with birth. I LOVED it, because I love class and I love anatomy and I love information! 

I'd recommend the class. For Kyle it was way longer than it needed to be, but for me I'd say it was way shorter. But we've got a few books we're going through at the house to prepare and I think that'll be good information for me to have. Did I mention that I love information?

Twenty Nine Weeks feels so close to thirty weeks! And thirty-something weeks is when people start saying "my baby was born at thirty-something weeks." Ahh! At least we've got the Childbirth Class under our belts. Now they say we need to find a pediatrician, gotta get to work. Here's me and our acorn squash baby (gosh I love acorn squash!). Feeling like I'm growing... every once in a while I look down at my belly and realize that yep, it's huge!