Weekly Update: Week 37

Week 37 is finally here! Baby Girl is officially full-term and can come out whenever she's ready! Unfortunately, she has me and Gavin as her parents which means she's prolly all snuggled inside my belly, laughing at the idea of joining he real world anytime soon. I mean, why come out when you have all you need right there inside a warm, ever expanding home?? Well Mama has given her a whole list of reasons but she's just as stubborn as her parents. Oh the joy I have to look forward too. Haha! 

Baby Girl's weight: who knows ... The average is 6-9lbs

Baby Girl's size: Swiss Chard or Winter Melon (yeah, not helpful to me either)

Cravings: Popsicles

Best part: the end is near ...

Worst part: I have PUPPP. See explanation below or Google it. 

Her development: She's fully developed!

My development: I've increased in size and all the fun 3rd trimester symptoms are appearing. 

Doctor update: I have weekly appts now. At the last appt I pointed out that I had started to itch on my hands and had a little "outbreak" of hives. Weird right? Well it's called PUPPP and basically it's a rash that affects about 1/150 pregnant women -usually first time mothers. It's supposed to start with the stretch marks but mine started on my hands and quickly spread to the rest if my body. Arms, back, shoulders, knees, feet, and then the tummy. And the itching is driving me INSANE. I wake up having itched an entire body part firey red in my sleep. The doc gave me a mild steroid cream and told me Im only allowed to use it twice a day (which sucks since the tube says you can use it up to 4 times/day). I took a baking soda bath last night but that didn't help, so tonight we're gonna try an oatmeal bath. Ice packs help too when the itch gets super bad. Other than that, she said me and baby are perfectly healthy. 

Ahhh ... Im going crazy

I know, I know, I haven't updated in a bit. Gavin and I moved most of our life into the new house, but Comcast won't catch up with us until next Wednesday. Lame sauce. Hard to post updates without Internet though (until you remember you have the Blogger app on your phone). 

Everything with Baby Girl is going great! Im officially 37 weeks along tomorrow, which means she will be fully developed and able to come out anytime now-any good vibes or bribes you can send her way to persuade her to do so would be awesome! 

I have a doctor appt weekly and things with me have been okay. I have a totally normal pregnancy rash called PUP that the doc gave me a steroid cream for. The rash makes me itch like CRAZY so the cream is helpful. I've also had a good dose of "morning sickness" again, which Im told is because of the amount of hormones flooding my body again. Thanks Baby Girl. Everything else is normal. 

Gavin and I moved into the new house in Kent, and last week I did the massive baby-stocking shopping trip with my mom. $1200 later I think this kid might survive ... My bank account didn't. Haha! 

Sorry there's no picture. I haven't taken one recently, but I promise to take one ASAP. In the mean time here is one I posted to FB of Gavin assembling our new Pack N Play. 

Weekly Update: Week 35

Just 5 weeks until "D-Day"! I'm getting nervous and excited and, I'll admit, a little scared. The idea of labor and delivery is very intimidating; and then the thought of having a tiny human depending on us for everything is kinda overwhelming. It'll be the biggest challenge of our lives, but we are so excited to introduce her to everything the world has to offer.

Gavin and I have some exciting news: We get keys to our new rental house on Monday! It's a really nice 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath, 2-story house, built in 2010. It's in Kent just 3 minutes from where we live now, which is perfect for visiting all the grandparents and keeping our work commutes under 20 minutes. It also has a good size yard for Lucky to burn off some energy in.

• Baby Girl's size: a honeydew melon (about 17-18 in.)

  

  9am baby bump photo shoot!

• Baby Girl's weight: 5lbs.-ish
• Cravings: hamburger, anything cold to ease the heartburn.
• Best part: shes moving a lot more -its like she's doing interpretive dance in my tummy. Haha!
• Worst part: Sleep is more elusive, and the aches and pains have intensified.
• Her development: Her kidney's are completely developed and her liver is fully functional. She has moved her head down by my pelvis, but she could go in and out of this position over the next 5 weeks.
• My development: Braxton Hicks have intensified and are mixed in with the occasional "warm up" contraction. My body is just getting ready for delivery.
• Doctor Update: My next doctor appointment is Tuesday and then I'll have them weekly.

Weekly Update: Week 34

Apparently when I forget to post weekly updates people notice and blow up my phone with text messages to remind me. Kinda makes me feel special. So here is a nice long update for the last 2 weeks of happenings in mine and Gavin's life.

Last week we had a fun filled weekend of family and friends. Gavin's mom and sister, Candy and Marlana, came to Washington to meet me and my family, and of course see Gavin. I thoroughly enjoyed learning little things about Gavin that I'd never known (*cough* Jonas Brothers *cough*), not mention Candy and Marlana are two pretty amazing women. We had a fun filled weekend of Pitch Perfect, The Labyrinth, EMP, Dicks burgers, and of course a true Gill-Wendler family dinner, where the two of them fit in perfectly. Side note: I had to explain Dick's Drive-In real quick to Candy and Marlana when Jen made a comment that all you needed to do to get Christina to come home was to set out some Dicks ... it was an awesome moment.

That leads to the other epic moment of the weekend: Christina was home! Jen flew Christina home for my baby shower after I made an off-handed comment about wishing she'd be able to be there. It was the BEST surprise I could have gotten. The two of them were able to surprise everyone, especially Mom, who walked right into the room and looked at Christina, but didn't realize it was her for a good 30 seconds. Her reaction was priceless!!! (I'll post the video soon.)

Baby Shower #1 was a ton of fun last weekend as well. A HUGE "Thank you!" to Kelsey and Jennie for hosting and planning and throwing me one great party! And "Thank you!" to everyone who came and made it wonderful! Setting aside the memory of the "How Big is Karie's Belly" game (thanks a lot Tiffany and Julia ...), I realize how much love and support Gavin and I are surrounded by.

Okay, sentimental part done, I'll get to the part you're really reading this for:

I took this right after a shower but before I'd put makeup on ...

• Baby Girl's size: a butternut squash (about 17-18 in.)
• Baby Girl's weight: 4.5 lbs.-ish
• Cravings: Popsicle, ice cream, anything cold to ease the heartburn
• Best part:I get a lot of foot massages and I don't even have to ask.
• Worst part: She is big enough to put significant pressure on my nerves, so I'll get weird pains in different places thanks to her. 
• Her development: She could start moving into the correct position this week, or she could decide not to and hang out by my ribs some more, then change her mind and move down again ...
• My development: My tummy has expanded enough that depending on how I sit and her position, my belly button disappears! It's a very troubling experience (and probably Gavin's favorite part). 
• Doctor Update: All is perfect with me and Baby. Doctor appointments are every 2 weeks now. She advised packing our hospital bags just in case.