First of all, I'm absolutely loving this weather! Fall is officially here! Because of my self imposed caffeine/coffee restraint, I haven't flocked to Starbucks to get a Pumpkin Spice Latte like the rest of America (I drink it black anyway!), but I have managed to consume (pretty much on my own) three lovely loaves of homemade pumpkin bread. If I'm feeling particularly domestic at some point soon, I'll bake another batch and perhaps even share the delicious recipe with you lovely people!
Even though I've admitted to being lazy the past couple of weeks, there have been some definite highlights and fun things happening!
Two weekends ago (September 13), I hosted, along with my friend Candra, a baby shower at our house for my dear friend, Jessie! Jessie and Dustin are about 3 weeks behind us and their little one is supposed to arrive around November 1st! We're so excited for them and can't wait to see if they are having a little boy or a little girl, as they have decided not to find out.
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| The "theme" was yellow and gray- the colors in Baby Mayfield's nursery! |
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| Jessie looked beautiful, as always! |
The class made the reality of what's going to happen soon really sink in, which is ultimately a good thing, but scared me after the first class. I feel so much more informed about the stages of labor, what to expect during each stage, when I should actually go to the hospital, what to expect when I'm there, breathing techniques and pain management. The instructor was extremely knowledgeable and answered our questions well. I would definitely recommend it! Highlights from the class were:
- Watching Austin put on the pregnancy belly and having him get on and off the floor! I do wish he could wear it around for an entire day and see how he feels after that :-)
- Getting to meet other expectant couples and hearing their stories.
- Taking a tour of the Labor and Delivery wing of the hospital! I feel so much more comfortable being able to visualize where I'm going to be when Claudia makes her grand entrance! Everything is so cute and smells so nice and clean (I hate how hospitals smell! Can you tell the Lord didn't make me for the medical profession?)
- Being there with Jessie and Dustin!
- Getting Chick-fil-A milkshakes after class
The last night, we were presented with a certificate of completion which is going directly into Claudia's baby book!
This past Saturday, we went to Austin's grandparent's home in Greenfield to take some maternity photos! Mary was our enthusiastic and capable photographer. It was very special take photos there, as it is so near and dear to both of our hearts. I'm so thankful that Claudia gets to become a member of the Ward family! The entire album is on facebook, but here are my favorites:
Hmm...I think I'm a fan of the back to back pose! Anyway, we had fun and enjoyed a restful weekend after that.
Now that I'm in the final weeks, I've been going to the doctor every week. As long as you don't have a high-risk pregnancy and everything is normal, you start out going every month until you reach Week 28, then its every two weeks until Week 35 and from that point it is every week. The Week 36 appointment was pretty normal- my blood pressure was good, Claudia's heart rate was great (she's an acrobat like her daddy!) and my weight gain was on point. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was that I didn't have any belly measurement increase, which was apparently a good enough reason for the doctor to order an ultrasound for the following week.
Being the "are you sure everything is okay?" first time mom that I am, I admit that I worried about this way more than I should have. When we did get to see Claudia on the screen and see that everything looked perfect, I was so relieved! The last time we had an ultrasound was at 19 weeks when we found out she was a little girl! It was so amazing to see her and to see how much she has grown! I think she was trying to sleep when we were trying to get a good picture of her, because she had her right arm across her face! The ultrasound tech was able to somehow delete that part of the photo and we got to see her precious face for the first time:
She is so beautiful- I can't believe it!!! Both Austin and I are totally in love with her. I can't wait to kiss her little face in person! It turned out that the reason I was measuring smaller is because she's a smaller baby. Her development is exactly on point, she's just smaller. She weighed 5 lbs. 13 oz. according to the ultrasound. I was only 6 lbs. 8 oz. when I was born at 41 weeks! Maybe that means she'll be petite like her mama! She's in the head down position and we were able to see some hair! Sadly, what appears to be beautiful eyelashes in this picture are actually just shadows. Hopefully those will come later, though!
Claudia continues to be active, especially in the early morning and in the evening. She's so big that her movements are very obvious- they look like ripples across my belly! Austin and I enjoy talking to her and I'm trying to be intentional about reading to her. She already has quite a collection of books!
This is the point in pregnancy when everyone has started asking me how I'm doing. I must look huge and miserable or something ;-) The pregnancy waddle probably gives me away too. The fact that I am just 2 and half weeks away from my due date is a bit unreal to be honest, but I've definitely experienced the shift from wanting Claudia to stay in me to develop more to wanting her to come out!
I've really been trying to take it easy and will continue to do so. I try to get at least one household chore done a day and have been really trying to cook dinner each night. To be honest, cooking dinner isn't some selfless act on my part- I'm simply sick of take out. We've eaten out so much during the past several months, I just want to cook my own food. Ha! I have been able to find some new recipes that we enjoy, though!
Any time I leave the house during the day, I try to combine errands so I only have to get out once. If I come home and get on the couch between activities, its over! "Say Yes to the Dress" and "Cake Boss" are my current Netflix binges. Other shows just get on my nerves right now for various reasons. I've been trying to convince Austin that I need to order some lobster shell pastries from Carlo's, but the $54 price tag (they overnight it!!) is a bit much for him. Ha ha!
I'm pretty restless. I think this is mainly due to three things: 1) I don't sleep for long periods of time at night, so my sleep schedule is messed up, 2) My body is generally uncomfortable (sore tummy, swollen feet, aching hips and difficulty moving around) and 3) I'm really really ready for Claudia to be here! Poor Austin has experienced more grouchiness from me at this stage and has had to calm me down when I'm being irrational (thanks, hormones!). I know I've not been the easiest person to be around recently. I'm thankful for a husband who loves me unconditionally and laughs at me when I make sarcastic comments and say that he's the only person I feel like talking to. Seriously.
Claudia is considered a term baby now (37 weeks gestation) so she could come at any time! This is so wonderful and yet so terrifying! For so long my fear was that she would come too early. Now, she can come whenever the Lord wants her to, but that means I have to be ready! Being the planner that I am, not knowing when those labor pains will start is a bit challenging for me. As always, the Lord is teaching me to take everything a day at a time and to simply enjoy this time I have with Claudia before she's no longer in my womb. Knowing that He's been actively involved in forming our precious one and has carried both of us this far brings me such peace and joy. I continue to pray for our daughter and for the delivery to go as smoothly as possible. No matter what, He is good!
There are a few finishing touches I have to do in Claudia's nursery, but I'm really hoping to do a post about that in the next few days! Stay tuned!
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