37 Week Update

So I realized it's been awhile since I've posted an update, so I figured I should do one, especially since Hank could make his arrival anytime! I am officially considered FULL-TERM!!! WOOHOO!!!! And I am feeling it!! Haha!

Okay, so since my last post, things have been a little quieter but still very exciting!! We had our maternity photo shoot, which was tons of fun! You can see all the pictures here :-) It was wonderful and we had such a fun time! I cannot wait for the newborn photo shoot! I have a feeling that it will be amazing!! 

We also FINALLY picked up our new "Hank-mobile!!" It was time to trade in my Challenger for a new family friendly 2013 Dodge Durango! I am LOVING it!! It drives so nicely and the carseat even matches it!! :-) 

The Student Accounts office threw me a surprise baby shower which was amazing!! It was so thoughtful and of course the food was amazing as always! You can see pictures from the shower here :-) I got so many wonderful and thoughtful gifts! :-) 

I've been finishing up the nursery and it is really coming together nicely! It is a jungle theme, I hope Hank loves monkeys as much as I do!! I uploaded some pictures into a facebook album here :-) I still have to have Casey hang up the "Henry" wooden letters above his crib made by my awesome friend Beth! And I'll still probably hang up a few more appliqués to finish it off!! Now we just wait for his arrival! I also have my bags packed and ready to go in the Durango, come on Hank!! 

Hank has been a very active baby this last trimester, I sometimes describe his movements as violent! Haha! He likes to beat up his Mama sometimes! He's even getting such strong hiccups that make my belly jump! They are so funny! Such a sight to see! He even lets Casey feel him more which has been so nice! But it's only when Casey gets home from work when I'm sleeping haha! So he's still very stubborn! I am quite uncomfortable at this point! I'm very large and everything is a lot of work! Haha! 

My appointments have been going well, they are happy with my weight gain, how my belly is measuring and what a strong heartbeat he has! I've had some swelling in my feet which can get a little painful! I had higher blood pressure last week but thankful that was down this week! So hopefully it'll stay down the remainder of my pregnancy! Since I had more swelling on one side than the other, the doctors wanted to be cautious and make sure everything was fine, so I had an ultrasound of my leg to show there were no clots, I also had blood work drawn and a 24 urine collection, which all came back good! So definitely good news there! So I'm just coming home after work every day and elevating my feet to get the swelling down, some days are better than others with it! 

I guess that's all I can think of right now, we're just [im]patiently awaiting his arrival! We can't wait for him to come out and play! :-)

32 Week Update

Okay, so holy crap I haven’t written a new post in 5 weeks! I tell myself almost every day that I need to write a new post and by the time I get home, I’m either doing stuff around the house or I’m too tired to think! Haha! So a lot has gone on in the last 5 weeks!

We had our baby shower on March 3 where we had 70 attendees and received more gifts than I could ever imagine! It was so amazing andwonderful! We got all the big items we registered for, lots of other items I needed, and tons and tons of clothes!! He’s gonna be one stylish little dude! We also announced his name at the shower. Casey presented me with the first gift which was a onesie that said Henry (_____) Astry. Since we were undecided onthe middle name, we decided to pass out little ballots where people could vote for Alan, Scott, Floyd, or a write-in for the middle name. Alan won, so his name will be Henry Alan Astry. Alan is Casey’s middle name :) We actually call him Hank, so I hope having a nickname won’t be too confusing, I grew up with a nickname my whole life, so I’m not too worried about it! I made top secret favors out of “Oh Henry” bars, they were too cute! So that was the shower excitement!! 

On March 9 we had a 3D ultrasound, where little Hank wasn’t very cooperative! Haha! I should have known because he’s been such a stubborn little boy, I think he takes after his Momma. Anyways, he had his hands on his face almost the whole scan, I think he’s definitely going to be very interested in his hands when he comes out as well, better stock up on those scratch mitten things! He is head down and facing my back, so we tried getting him to turn a little, but he wasn’t really having it! He was hiding! We did get to see his face a little though which was really cool, he’s such a cute boy! I can’t wait to meet him! He also constantly pushes his foot out to my side and we got to see him doing that on the scan which was really awesome, definitely confirmed what I was feeling! The tech also measured him and he weighed about 3.5 lbs and is measuring in the 60^th percentile! 

I’ve been having a lot of pelvic pressure; it even caused me to stay home from work for most of a day. He’s just really low which causes it, thankfully the doctors checked and we have no dilation yet. I realized I need to put my feet up more and relax; I also got a belly support thing which has been helping! 

I picked up the rest of our cloth diaper stash and started prepping the diapers, seeing all the diapers in his dresser ready to go makes me so excited. I’ve also washed all of his clothes and they’re put away ready for him to come. I’ve slowly been working more on his room too. Casey and I made a Babies R Us run and picked up the crib mattress and some other things, it’s getting there!! 

Other than all this excitement, Hank seems to be doing really well, but I think the poor little guy is really starting to run out of room in there. He tries to stretch out a lot and I don’t think he can stretchas much as he wants. His legs digging into my side can get pretty painful sometimes, so imagine he is quite cramped up! His movements have changed from less kicks to more stretches like yoga, I still feel him a lot during the day though, which I love. He gets hiccups multiple times a day, which is cute but then I start to feel really bad for him because sometimes they’ll last 10-15 minutes at a time! Must be he’s got good, strong lungs! :)

 

Tonight is our maternity photo shoot which I am really looking forward to! I can’t wait to see all of her creative ideas! So I’ll make sure to share the photos once I see them! This is something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time! Each pregnancy milestone we hit has been so amazing; it really makes things more and more real!

27w Update

HOLY CRAP!!! 27w today, seems like just yesterday I was making the daily 100 mile round trip to Buffalo IVF, I was released from their care almost 20w ago! Shit, this pregnancy is freaking flying! PS I miss them dearly and cannot wait for them to meet the little one :-) Anyways, I woke up this morning and realized that we're having a baby in 3 months or less! Every little milestone makes this pregnancy more and more real. We're entering the 3rd trimester, I never imagined even seeing this day! So here's what's been going on over the past few weeks. We finished up our 4 week baby class, which I highly recommend by the way, it was very informative! At my last OB appt, my NP was very happy with my weight gain, yay! I'm definitely ALL baby belly these days, can't complain one bit there, I look as if I'm smuggling a basketball lately! I took my 1 hour glucose test and failed, boo!!! But oh well! So I took the 3 hour test and passed! Yayyy!! No more worrying about that! :-) We just ordered our "baby friendly" vehicle. Time to trade in my beloved Challenger and upgrade to a Durango! I am sad to be getting rid of it, but we really need something that's reliable and that I can drive all year round in WNY! So in 6-8 weeks, we'll be sporting our new Durango! March is going to be a very exciting month for us! We have our baby shower, which I'm super stoked about, I've been counting down since we started the planning in early January! We'll have our last 3D/4D ultrasound at Baby's Bungalow, I can't wait to see who he looks like! It's been a long time since we've had a scan, almost 10 weeks!! I can't wait to see his progress and how much he's filled out! We also have our maternity photo shoot with Martina from Mitchell Photo Studios, she takes amazing pictures, so I cannot wait!! :-) Other than all that, I've been soaking everything in! I enjoy every move I feel. I even see little jabs on my belly! Casey hasn't been able to feel him yet, every time my belly is going nuts, Casey puts his hand on it and little man completely stops kicking all together, we've decided he's very stubborn like his Mommy, lol. Sometimes, I get kicks and punches at the same time, I really wonder what he does in there haha! We've also decided on a daycare which he will start at in mid-July (likely), and they're even cloth diaper friendly, yayyyyy!!! :-) Anyways, that's about everything! I'll probably do another update after the baby shower on March 3!

Anatomy Scan

I'm 19 weeks pregnant today and had my anatomy scan yesterday! Casey couldn't make it, so my Mom went with me. Everything looks perfect!! The tech checked that my cervix is closed and looks good, she doesn't suspect I'll go through pre-term labor, so that's great. Then she checked everything on the baby, his heart, stomach, bladder, kidneys, umbilical cord, everything! I even got to see the blood pumping through his heart, it was amazing! I just love technology and what it can do. He weighs about 9 oz and is measuring right on track! She said that he was very cooperative for the scan so they were able to get all the needed measurements, so I probably will not have to go back for a follow-up scan. He has all his fingers and toes, and we got to see his femur bone too! I wish I could have a scan like that all the time! I love seeing all of his anatomy and knowing that everything is good! I even had her check that he's still a boy, and of course, he is! :-) Below are a couple of the pictures I got and my most recent bump picture. Oh I forgot to mention that I got a whole CD of pictures that were taken throughout the scan too!