35 weeks down... 35 days to go!

34 Weeks Pregnant

Current Progress: We have made it to the final countdown! 35 weeks down! At this point, the baby should still stay inside for at least a few more weeks. But at the same time, if it arrived early, it is probably past NICU time. The weeks have been flying by! With 5 weeks left, Joe and I both feel like we're in pretty good shape.

Weight Gain & Body Changes: My weight gain has been right on target for a healthy pregnancy. I think I've gained about 25 pounds at this point. I've had some friends and coworkers tell me I look "tiny", which seems crazy to me! I feel pretty darn huge :)  The nice thing is that the weight and growth has stayed concentrated where it should be-- mostly in my midsection. There are some days that I think it practically looks like I stuffed a basketball under my shirt. 

Anytime I'm at home,
I go straight to wearing my sweatpants.
A cute look, for sure!

How I'm feeling: READY. Physically, I'm excited to have a baby on the outside... this is getting pretty uncomfortable! Mentally, I'm so excited to meet the baby, and feel as prepared as I'm going to be. There are still some nerves with delivering the baby, but I am confident that the whole labor and delivery process will go smoothly in the end. My body is ready for this, and my mind is ready too. 

What I'm thinking: I'm thinking the nursery is so cute, and I'm thrilled with how its turned out. Cozy and sweet enough, but not too frilly or babyish, either. It very much fits with our tastes.  I'm also thinking I have so many good friends who already love this baby a ton. This was proven yet again this past week, when my book club did a little surprise shower, and had a cake and tons of sweet books for me and the baby. Ziggy already has a pretty solid library started. 

Recent milestones:   I'm not sure if it counts as a milestone, but Joe and I think we've chosen names! Whether the baby is a boy or a girl, we're about 98% settled on the names. That was a tough decision! We 'graduated' from our prepared childbirth class at the hospital, and just have one more breastfeeding class we plan to take this coming week. At our 32 week ultrasound, we found out that I'm growing a big baby. It was already about 5 pounds, which puts baby at about the 85% for weight!  Hoping I don't have to give birth to a 10 pounder...

Upcoming appointments or events: Since the baby is pretty big, we have to do a growth scan at 37 weeks. We also will check the position of the baby at our next appointment, a week from Friday. Hopefully it's scooted to a nice head-down position, as we get closer to the big arrival. After next Friday, we're doing weekly appointments, and will only have 3 or 4 of those before the baby should be here!  

At 35 weeks, I feel like it's a pretty sizable belly!

This might be the last updated I manage to post... so wish us luck if that's the case!

Pretty soon we'll have a new (tiny) roommate!

After months of planning, ordering, building, and waiting patiently, I think the baby's nursery is just about done! We're still waiting on curtains and a crib skirt, which my mom will be making. We also want to wait to buy some of the decorations to hang on the walls. I think it will be nice to know the baby's gender and name before that part. But otherwise, we're done!

Let's start from the beginning, though :)

There was a decent amount of time when the room looked like this.
I was having trouble dealing with that, with my type-A personality!

So this guy came along to save the day!

He's pretty handy. A good guy to have around!

 

Ta-da! It's a real crib, with a mattress and everything!
This was at 34 weeks, so right about the time I started
freaking out a little about the lack of time remaining.

This weekend we really kicked baby preparations into high gear. We installed the carseat, attached the diaper sprayer to the toilet (cloth diapers are glamorous!), and got the babies room almost completely set up. The floors are clean, the rug is down, and we picked up our glider from Buy Buy Baby. There is a decent chance I'll be spending a lot of time in that glider in the coming weeks. It's a recliner, and is so plush and comfortable! And stylish, too... I'm kind of obsessed!  

Ok, little baby! We're ready when you are :) With 5 weeks to go, it is exciting for us to say, "See you soon!" Anyone have last minute bits of advice to share with us?

And then there was a baby shower!

Having a baby is keeping me reeeeaaaaly busy! I'm still working full time, plus a prenatal yoga class and a childbirth prep class each week. I'm trying to squeeze in time with all of my friends, too. We're getting things in order, though, which is really exciting! A really fun part of baby preparations was our recent baby shower!

We had the shower two weeks go, when I was 32 weeks pregnant. It was perfect timing. I was still feeling pretty good, but it was also late enough in the game that it didn't feel ridiculous to be getting so much baby gear. Our friends and family were so generous and thoughtful! I felt so loved and well cared for, and thought it was pretty much a perfect day. Here's a few pictures from the day, capturing some of my favorite moments and people. 

This is the girl who used to be my baby sister.
Now she's months away from college graduation and becoming a 'real adult'.
She's awesome!

Joe made a brief appearance. I have the most handsome baby daddy!!

I got all sappy for a minute before opening the gifts.
I am so amazed at the community of friends we've
made in Chicago, and also how many friends and
family traveled to Chicago to help celebrate!

This is my "OMG ADORABLE" face.
It made many appearances that day!

People say that they can tell we're related :)
Side note: cake with chocolate butter cream and ganache is amazing.

Baby Joe and Baby Erin

And now, lots of pictures of my beautiful friends and family...

My 'running friends'... though it's been a while since we're done that!

Some of my favorite co-workers.

A combination of  book club and Mizzou friends.

More Mizzou and book club ladies.

Joe's aunt and cousin joined us for the party! And my friend Angela is
someone I met through a neighborhood home brewing group,
and she is officially my neighborhood friend, since she lives about 2 blocks away!

My friend Kristen got to know Joe's mom during the lunch. Smiling faces all around :)

Sisters! I love and miss you guys! Move to Chicago, ok?

My mom and her friend Jennifer studied abroad together a few years ago :)
Now they always catch up when my mom visits Chicago.

A great picture with my mom and sisters!
Thank you for a wonderful baby shower and weekend!!

After the shower it was so fun to start putting things together in the baby's room. In the last two weeks we've built the crib, cleared out the bedroom, washed all the clothing and diapers, and really gotten things in order. It's getting pretty evident around our house that a baby is coming soon. We've got a stroller, high chair, car seat, bassinet, and so many cute tiny little things! Things are getting real... six weeks to go!