Nakita Grinie

6.17.14 | I refuse to accept the (seemingly) new definition of 'full term' being at 39 weeks. Hog wash, newer standards of today's pregnancies (since I'm so seasoned and all)! I'm full term according to me!!



The Good: This week went so quickly I barely know what to put here!! Oh yes, I had my 36 week appointment and baby is certainly head down, my blood pressure is still really good (always a relief at this stage in pregnancy), and his heart rate was 150. My OB did the Group B Strep test (I've been positive both other times, so we will see if I'm lucky enough to have it every time!) and therefore an internal exam. I was not hoping for any type of dilation since I've never ever been even a 'fingertip' dilated until actual labor. Seriously, my appointment 2 days before I had CC showed I was 'totally closed up'. But this time? 'I am touching your baby's head right here, and you are 1 cm dilated.' WHAT?? WOAH. Obviously this does not mean anything for early labor but hey, 1 cm down and 9 to go! Maybe those creepy, consistent contractions last weekend did a little something? I go back this Thursday to get the strep results and after that I will have only two more weekly appointments remaining. Holy cow.

Along with this idea of 'holy cow---stuff is about to go down'? I have exactly 7 days of work remaining at the most. I have two Mondays, two Fridays, and three Wednesdays ahead of me. Which, as you will read soon enough, is a very good thing.



I know it's dangerous to believe I will go early. I annoy myself with these thoughts, for sure, but baby boy just seems like he is gearing up to go SOON. Lots of contractions all week long but nothing quite as regular as the weekend where they came every 8 minutes. I feel like my belly is stretched to capacity, I'm exhausted, and mentally I truly question my sanity for three more weeks. We shall see, I suppose.

I was able to walk a bit more than the week before, and we had a great/active weekend that felt doable and not like it was going to send me straight into labor. So that's good! Celebrating Nate, Tony, and my dad for Father's Day will always be a highlight. And although the days at home with the kids are not easy, we have had some really fun times together just being silly and soaking in these last days with just Mommy, Truman, and CC.



Truman took this picture and it was all his idea. Seriously.


Lucky kids



The Bad: Are you ready for this whine-fest?? Well, I'm exhausted for one. I seriously took about three naps last week and STILL felt tired, along with a new bedtime of pre-10pm. It's hot and humid outside by Wisconsin standards and especially by 'end-stage pregnancy' standards. I'm like a freaking heater myself and even Nate said when I touched his arm one day it almost scalded him. True story. NOW I understand why women dislike being super pregnant in the summer.

And aside from the heat and the fatigue we've got going on up here, I truly do not know how much longer I can last at work. Yesterday I saw six patients, most of which kept their homes at a 'comfortable' 85 degrees while boasting the lowest, most challenging-to-stand-from chairs in the history of ever. This means I was in and out of my van no less than 16 times total, in the heat, with this heavy belly that just won't quit. Forget the amount of patience it requires to deal with six people all day long---I just don't have it anymore. And forget the ability to make it more than an hour without peeing, which, again poses a major problem when working out of patient's homes all day long.

And finally, in this 'I'm-Hitting-The-Wall' complain-fest? My upper back is jacked. It might be from work and it might be from pregnancy and is definitely not helped by that combination. But my left upper back (T6 for those healthcare people out there) is taking my breath away it's so irritated. Also the front of my ribs are killing me, which makes sense because that is where this troublesome rib in the back meets my chest bone in the front. I'm certain it's one entire rib that is causing this problem (front to back), and I've had my personal PT work on it a few times now (ahem, Nate). It feels a little better after he works his magic and I KNOW I need to work extra hard on my posture right now but OMG, an 'injury' like this makes me feel so freaking old. I'm very lucky not to have had any true pain before this in pregnancy but right now. True. But now I cannot turn over in bed, sit up straight, slouch, pick up a child, or carry anything remotely heavy without searing pain. Sometimes it's hard to take a deep breath. It hurts and it's not going away.

Awesome. This post is so uplifting, isn't it????? Gotta get it all out there, lest you think I am one psychotic pregnant lady who loooooooooooves every second until the bitter end. I do love it, yes, but right now is a bit of a pill with the heat/work/fatigue/and rib pain. It's hard growing a human, I suppose.

The Belly: I feel huge but know I am not compared to other girls' 37 week bellies. The bump is round and compact and so freaking veiny/stretched to the max, especially at the end of the day. I'm not all that hungry anymore (again), I've gained a total of 29 pounds (shocked it's not more!), and a lot of my maternity tops are daringly short now. Boo.

(Is this an offensive photo? I feel like it might be shocking to see my bare belly but I want to remember it, so hi. It's just so veiny and it feels like one of those fake bellies strapped to my body sometimes. No stretch marks yet but I wouldn't be surprised if I got my first battle scars in the next few weeks)


He's still a mover and a shaker, and a baby that hiccups at least 5 times per day. A few of his kicks and punches are pretty painful and I'm getting these new ovary zaps that are cray. I mean I will just be walking around and my legs will feel weak from the pressure/zing to the ovaries. Not the cervix, but the ovaries. Yes, I know I'm going crazy. Weird stuff is happening in my body.

Fun comments from patients this week: 'Are you SURE that's a boy in there?' (ugh, YES, people!!).  'You look....so....tiny for having 3 weeks left. I bet you haven't gained more than 18 pounds, have you? That's all I ever gained when I was pregnant, you know.' (ha, well, thanks? But yes, I have gained more than you did FOR SURE).

The Comparisons:

At 37 weeks with Truman, I was writing my LAST PREGNANCY POST. I was induced beginning on 37w5d and finally had him at 38w0d. Woah, buddy. I was just finishing up our final baby shower, was really struggling at work with my blood pressure, and had no clue I'd be induced just a few days later. I also think my belly with Tru was always SUPER small until this week. Now I think my first time belly and third time belly are very similar but just different shapes. I gained a lot more with Truman than I have with this baby with the pre-E (was up 37 pounds already) and I can't help but wonder if this baby boy will be as 'big' as his brother was (7lbs10oz two weeks early). Love that this comparison includes Truman in the womb and then as a big boy, ready to meet his little brother. Cecelia was not interested in photos, obvi.



At 37 weeks with Cecelia, I was still annoyingly upbeat about life but I did admit that by the evening hours I was impatient and grumpy. Maybe I wrote that post in the morning? Note to self: write the rest of these posts in the morning. Also, had just finished CC's nursery, was really proud to avoid pre-E so far, and was hanging in there at work. I had gained 30 pounds and I don't have a good comparison shot of that pregnancy compared to now, but I do think my belly was smaller with my girl.

Fun with shadows


So that's it. Full term according to some. Getting very very close to meeting this boy no matter what. Mentally getting very close to being d-o-n-e. Trying to take it a day at a time and hoping it cools off/my energy returns/my rib knocks it off already.

3/26/17 | 25w1d

Twenty-five weeks seems really far along, doesn't it? I mean, fifteen more weeks until my due date or about 3.5 more months? That's insane, I can hardly believe it.




This week baby is the size of a cauliflower and his kicks keep getting stronger, consistently happening whenever I eat, sit down, or try to fall asleep. I told Nate that 8pm seems to be this kid's most active time and we agreed that seems to be par for the course. I've caught myself wondering what it would be like to have a child that sleeps well, within his first year of life. I cannot imagine and know I shouldn't even get my hopes up to have a 'good sleeper'. 

In that same vein, Porter slept through the night last night for the first time in weeks, perhaps months. Can I get an 'amen'? Sticker charts really work for our children, point taken. Hopefully he keeps this up, mama needs some freaking sleep because I'm tired. My sleep is still fairly light and restless but at least I didn't have to physically get out of bed until 7 am this morning---the glory. 

Completely unrelated to pregnancy but I'm plunking it here anyway: Truman lost not one but BOTH of his top teeth this week, within 24 hours of each other. I'm not sure why these teeth got me, but they did. My biggest boy, weren't you just cutting those teeth yesterday? He looks so different. So big. Hold me.







Let's talk about this comparison for a second. Yes, my hair was crimped. 1988 was a great year. And come on, people who say Truman only looks like Nate!

Back to this pregnancy...

I had my first comment of, 'Oh, you are due in July? That is so SOON. You are going to have your hands full, aren't you?' I mean, don't we already? Our hands were full a long time ago, this will just be a new dimension of 'full'. But of course, our hearts will be even more full than our hands, with more love, more loudness, more memories to be had with our bigger family. I've been feeling overwhelmingly blessed this week and humbled by this baby in my belly. Bear with me here, I feel lots of emotions coming on during this post.




Also, I've noticed a gross, acidic taste in the back of my throat after I eat. I don't know if this is heartburn or reflux or what, but it's pretty annoying. I've never had heartburn before and figured it would be more in my chest--this feels like my food is too acidic, if that makes sense. It doesn't matter what I eat though, everything makes that taste appear. It's not painful but it makes me want to drink water and not eat as much food. Novel concept!

There were several more hours spent in the attic this week, sorting and purging and creating boxes to go to Goodwill. I finally went through my 'keepsake baby boy' boxes and nearly cried when I found that I've saved lots of tiny boy clothes. Anything remotely sentimental, with memories attached from the other boys, were in those boxes. I love hand-me-downs so much (it's the comparison thing, I can't help it) and am so happy that I didn't actually purge everything we own last summer and fall when I couldn't handle our attic anymore. It's looking really great up there! I have three bins of girl clothes that I'm trying to pass down to our friends, but everything else has been donated or stored for safe keeping. The baby has two bins of toys that I'll keep. I think we found a car seat to purchase from a friend. Still looking for a mamaroo. And of course, no nursery to decorate until the fall or winter when our addition is fully finished. 

OH, and the floor plans changed again. We have decided not to mess with the attic because the beams are not the correct size and there will be many structural issues if we push for the walk-up attic becoming a fifth bedroom. (Read: TONS of money). Instead, we have a new plan for adding a fourth master bedroom, master bath, master closet, and a fifth kids' bedroom in our second floor addition. This fifth bedroom will probably be the baby's room and will be the same size as Porter's current nursery. I've wanted five bedrooms since we started this process and to see it all drawn out is so satisfying! Now we just need the structural engineer to make his recommendations and then we sit in front of the board for our suburb and cross our fingers that everything passes. I'm guessing we will break ground in May or June. Really hoping we have a roof on our house when I give birth but we will take it as it comes, I suppose!

I must be highly emotional today, this is the third time I've almost started crying when typing this post. Hormonal pregnant woman alert.

With Porter, we were coming off a horrible round of illness for the family and I had gained 17 pounds so far. This time I'm at about 15 pounds according to my (rarely used) scale. With Cecelia I hit the 20 pound mark at 26 weeks, and with Truman I was at 18 pounds at 25 weeks. I know, NOBODY CARES about my weight gain and when it happens but these things are fascinating to me. I love comparing pregnancies and also my children, as bad as that sounds.

All three times before this we had named our baby by 25 weeks. This time we are down to two names and of course I prefer one while Nate likes the other better. I might just agree with his top pick, since I did choose both names anyway and love that choice also. Or I might keep working on him to fall in love with my top name choice. Or maybe we will just wait until the baby is born to decide but that thought makes me panicky for some reason. (Type A, so different than what we've done before this). 

Now, reading back through my three previous blog posts at 25 weeks, something really sticks out to me. This was me at 25 weeks pregnant with Truman:

That's it... jumping back on the fitness train, and packing on the lbs marks my twenty-fifth week. I really love being pregnant you guys. At least right now, at this point in the process, I'm feeling incredibly happy and blessed and ready to pop out another 3 after this one. But I suppose I should bite my tongue until I experience the glory of labor and delivery, the frenzy of living with a newborn, and lack of sleep. Call me naive but I cannot wait:)

Twenty-three weeks: 2.1.12




Photo thoughts: Sort of random to take these with Truman in the stroller, but we HAD to get out and enjoy our heat wave with temps in the 40s! You can't really see it, but he is eating a giant cake pop from Starbucks. He requested a 'pink ball' and since they were out of pink ones, he got a white (Peppermint brownie). He did not complain.

Size of baby: either a mango or a papaya, and since both were hard to find in the stores I allowed Nate to get creative during his grocery trip. I told him about 11 inches and one pound and reminded him that last week, I was a spaghetti squash so we needed this fruit baby to be even bigger. And he came back with a pomegranate---which is seriously as small as my 18-weeker bell pepper or something. Sigh. I think he just wanted a pomegranate to eat. At least it's pretty but next week I vow to be more specific with my fruit/veggie choice. Pet peeve that this week's fruit is way too small.

Cravings: Still downing a cold one (pregnancy style, Diet Dr Pepper, baby!) almost daily. If you cut me I would also bleed pure sugar. Mostly, I am totally famished in the evenings and I cannot seem to get enough food in my belly. I love/hate this stage of pregnancy for the never-ending pit of a stomach.

What I love: Belly, movement, being really REALLY close to that 'viability day' of 24 weeks. Basically, all of it.

What I'm looking forward to the most: Pulling together her nursery in our new house. I bought a rug which will be the base of the whole room and I cannot freaking wait to go from there!

Worries: This is really ridiculous now, being on the other side of a pregnancy-hormone breakdown from the other night, but I was a mess over the fact we still haven't picked a name for baby girl. I had convinced myself that Nate and I are no longer on the same page with ANYTHING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD because we cannot agree on a name, and also because he said one of my paint color ideas for the new house was 'a little bright'. Totally lost it and I blame hormones and probably lack of sleep. But other than that overly dramatic evening, I'm totally zen, man!

What is different this time around: With Truman at 23 weeks I was feeling super chunky and not looking that pregnant. We had just decided to get our BOB stroller, were in the heart of registry building, and I'm pretty sure the nursery was basically done. And now? I don't really feel that 'chunky' because my belly is actually a round bump at this point. Just starting to think about what we'll need to buy for baby #2 but I'm definitely not immersing myself into baby gear research like I did for Truman. And the nursery? Um, I bought a rug. Does that count?

Symptoms: Not much, other than random tightening sensations. I'm not calling them Braxton Hicks contractions because my OB isn't worried about it but it's still really weird.

Sleep: Not bad. Found myself laying flat on my stomach the other night and sort of freaked out about it since I really didn't think that was possible at nearly 6 months pregnant. And Truman still likes to wake at 5:30 every day which is about the time my bladder nearly explodes anyway.

Movement: Big kicks. And although I was worried last week about how 'low' the kicks feel right now my OB assured me that she is actually in the lower part of my belly right now, thus the lower kicks. Not sure if I expected her to be kicking my ribs already or what, but duh.

The belly: It's there! I sort of love it. My belly button is holding on but just barely and a lot of my new maternity tops I got for Christmas are fitting fairly snugly already.

Milestones: Had a great 22 week OB appointment last week---BP is fab and my weight is up 12 pounds. So officially less than what I had gained with Truman at this point, which is totally comical since I was running three days a week back then and I have not exercised at all since my threatened miscarriage/bleeding episode scare at 6 weeks with this baby. I'm sure I will still gain at LEAST 30 pounds, and probably closer to 40 but I still don't care at all.

Also? This is a pretty sweet day because I am exactly 23 weeks pregnant and Truman is exactly 23 months old!! His monthly post is to come, of course, but I'm totally celebrating this magical '23/23' marker day that I made up for this specific pregnancy.

Amusing comments from the general public: This is a new category that absolutely MUST be added to these posts because I am always shocked at the rude/insane/polar opposite comments that I am getting from 'strangers.' It's been written about many times before, but I really believe that seeing a pregnant belly brings out the worst in others.

This week, I saw one patient whose son stopped me mid-sentence to ask if I was pregnant. I replied, 'Yes, I am' and he was very sweet about it, asking if it was a girl or a boy. Normal, right? The next patient I saw had a daughter there who said something like, 'oh, I THOUGHT I saw a bump when you stood up! But since you are only in the first trimester....[blah blah blah--insert unsolicited advise/opinions here]'. I stopped her mid-sentence to correct this incredibly incorrect assumption. Because, seriously? I'm halfway through my second trimester, lady, and my first trimester was a living hell so don't even bring it up. She was totally shocked when I told her I'm due in May and kind of gave me the side eye, saying the most annoying phrase in the entire universe: 'But you aren't even showing that much!!' Talk about a time warp to Truman's pregnancy when every single person felt the need to tell me that I was 'too small' and 'are you sure there isn't something wrong with the baby's growth?' This lady even asked how big Truman was, thinking that maybe I just gestate really small babies, and when I told her 7 pounds 10 ounces at a whole two weeks early she was even more confused. Dude, it's the long torso. Everyone is different. GET.OVER.IT.

Best moment of the week: My great OB appointment, buying the first item for baby girl's nursery (can I seriously talk about a rug anymore in one post?), and getting our house appraisal back to find it's worth quite a bit more than we paid (holla for instant equity!). I can't ever just pick one 'best' moment, can I?

No new fruit this week since the baby is still the size of a papaya. I'm not sure I've grown that much either, but I'm still rocking the maternity shirts because I'm almost 6 months pregnant, darn it.



I'm not going to lie, taking these weekly pictures really plays mind games on me. Every time I upload a new one I think one of two things: I am NOT showing enough for being ____ weeks pregnant, or Why do I just look chubby instead of pregnant? I know, I know, I'm whining again about the changes my body is making for this pregnancy. But let's do a little look back shall we?

This is me on the day I got my positive pregnancy test, 4 weeks pregnant. It's how I'm used to looking every day of my life and when Nate and I just looked at this picture we were both like, 'Woah, I guess was pretty thin back then.' Not to mention that back in July I actually had somewhat of a tan.


And this is me now. Filling out a sports bra which is really cool, but just with a thicker midsection than before. I mean it's a BIG difference compared to the above pic but still...do I REALLY look pregnant to you? It doesn't help to have a pale + thick belly either.


And if you are too lazy to scroll up and down, like me, here you go:

Over analyzing my usual belly pics made me want to do the sports bra shot, although I planned to refrain from that until the end. Nate was helping me decipher why I felt so chunky with my 'shirt pulled up shots' and I think it's because of my hand placement. (Don't worry, Nate reassured me that I am not actually fat and it's all in my head but considering the fact that he has to live with me and has already dealt with my neuroses for 8 years, he had to do something to make me feel better). So I think the bare belly shot with sports bra helps matters a bit so that my hands don't get in the way of my gut, thus giving the illusion of a thicker midsection. Am I annoying you yet? This was seriously bugging me, so I had to fix it. We'll see what I feel like donning next week. And really, I might not look almost 6 months pregnant compared to other girls out there, but compared to my non-pregnant self I look VERY different, right? I need to stop comparing myself to others and just chill out a bit. And I need to stop thinking my gut is fat because apparently my pregnant body just adds weight throughout my long torso and not a little basketball bump like I'd hoped. Anyway...

After the wonderful comments and suggestions from my readers, we've decided to use our REI dividend to get a BOB and we are so excited! Making that decision sparked us to begin our registry, too, and so on Friday night we hit up BRU for some scanning gun action. It wasn't nearly as overwhelming as I feared. In fact, it was pretty much a blast dreaming about all of the goodies our baby boy will use in a few months. We spent over two hours wondering around BRU and if you looked at our registry you'd know who was in charge of the scanner--there are two bibs on there that say things like, 'If you think I'm cute you should see my Daddy' and 'My Dad is cooler than your Dad.' Also, we have about a billion random toys and trinkets on there that Nate could not resist, as a big kid himself. And even though the lady told us NOT to register for all of the adorable clothes that will probably be discontinued soon as the seasons change, we couldn't resist. I mean, seriously....you know how much Nate loves dressing himself let alone his future son:)

While we were shopping I realized that neither one of us had bought ANYTHING for the baby since we found out I was pregnant. Isn't that insane? I know some parents buy stuff for the baby even before pregnancy so I think waiting until 23 weeks is pretty good:) So while we were scanning the most adorable baby boy clothes, I decided we each needed to pick out one little outfit for mister man. And so I found my pick within 30 seconds and Nate took 30 minutes, but baby now has an outfit from each of his parents.

From daddy:


From mommy:


So I spent a better part of my day on Saturday scouring through reviews online, my friends' registries, and our Consumer Report baby gear book to further consolidate our registry. I think the things I'm most excited about so far are the car seat (Graco Snug Ride 35, if you were wondering), the diaper bag (an adorable red and brown JJ Cole style), and all of the fun little entertainers and seats for the baby. Most overwhelming is definitely the bottle and feeding decisions you have to make. My baby will be taking a bottle since he'll be in daycare, but with 10 different brands out there it's hard to know what he'll like before he tries them out. So after even MORE research I added a few different brands and will hope for the best. Any recommendations?

But enough of that boring stuff....the chair cushions are finished! My mom shipped the covers to me last week and I love the finished product. So does Henry:




And even though I hate these crappy panoramic shots, it's the best I can do without a wide-angle lens. And it's rather humorous to see Henry with approximately 8 legs. You can see the full effect of the rug plus fabric plus paint. Just the bedding and some shelves with fun wall decor and this nursery is on it's way to being finished!


Twenty-three weeks: registries, research, and more relentless nursery projects:) I swear I've tried to capture little man kicking my innards on video all week long and he won't budge. But I'm determined! Stay tuned.

First time I'm late with a weekly post for the third baby? Not too shabby! I have a good excuse anyway. We had a big weekend with visitors, then the day after they left (Monday), our seventh anniversary happened on the same day I technically hit 34 weeks (Tuesday). My mom and Memaw also arrived that night for visitors round two. And then CC's second birthday came on Wednesday and we are planning her big party for this upcoming weekend.  I figured all of the big occasions in the past week warrants a later than usual weekly pregnancy post. So many fun things happening right now. I love summer!

5.27.14: Thirty Four Weeks



Geesh, only six more weeks to go? Definitely feeling like I'm nearing the end of pregnancy---and feeling all of the nostalgia and exhaustion that goes along with it.

We had a super active and amazing weekend last weekend with Erin visiting us (post to follow someday, mark my words, but until then you should follow that link on her name for her recap--it's the best!) and I was pleasantly surprised with how much energy I had for jam-packed days and warmer weather. Don't get me wrong: I was wiped out every night and especially after our first round of visitors left, but I felt like I could hang with many of the walking activities, playgrounds, and very little 'down time'. I did have timeable, crampy contractions in the middle of last week which totally freaked me out. But luckily nothing like that since because it's way too early for that nonsense! I have regular Braxton Hicks contractions with almost any physical activity, especially bending down or carrying a child. Fine by me as long as they aren't crampy and regularly spaced!

I also lost my voice and apparently have a little bit of laryngitis or something---really annoying, since I am not 'sick' but cannot speak above a whisper. Maybe I just talked too much over the weekend?

I'm counting down the days until I'm done working for maternity leave. Fifteen more work days, in case you were wondering. Yesssssss. Feeling like flip flopping my roles at home and at work, along with being pregnant and the summer weather finally arriving is a LOT to deal with. But still, time is flying by and I'll often find myself in denial that I'm *this* close to having our baby!

(From last weekend, with my 'pregnant with our third baby' friends. Both of these lovely ladies were almost 26 weeks here and I was almost 34 weeks. I say this every time I post one of these pictures but it's so fun to share our pregnancies together)



The top of my belly is hurting lately, as if it's just stretching and changing by the minute. But overall I still feel fairly 'small' compared to a lot of other 34 week-ers out there, and yet really 'big' compared to my past 34 week self. It's just so round and compact---still getting a lot of shocked comments that I'm due so soon, but I truly don't even remember them specifically anymore.

I do love my belly though and (don't hate me) still love pregnancy as a whole. It's just so freaking awesome, such a miracle, so WEIRD to think about growing a tiny human inside of my own body right now. The anticipation of meeting him is almost killing me. I.Cannot.Wait.

(yes, I had this picture in our anniversary post, but I like it enough to post twice)



He's still a big mover in there and I can tell where his hard little butt is most of the time (right side) and lots of pointy limbs are sticking out at me through the day. I am officially at the 'must rub my belly at all times' stage just because it's so wild to feel this child.



At 34 weeks with Truman: I was starting to get a little nervous about labor and delivery, and didn't know that the next day after that post, I would spike my blood pressure and the drama would begin with Pre-E. Awww, poor Julia of the past. That really did suck! Obviously, it all worked out just fine but it was pretty scary for the last 4 weeks (!!) until Truman was born at 38 weeks (!!). Woah. That's crazy to consider.

At 34 weeks with Cecelia: I was feeling a little anxious just because of my first pregnancy issues at this point, but was still loving pregnancy overall. I wasn't feeling all that hungry and I guess I'm really not this time, either. I'm thirsty as can be with temperatures finally getting into the 70s consistently but food isn't as much fun as it used to be. The horror. Loving all fruit and definitely obsessed with my flavored/carbonated waters (ie basically diet soda but without the caffeine). I had one that was a pear/peach flavor and about died from how yummy it tasted. Must get more asap.

Belly comparison time! Very pointy third time around, I guess.


Also: I really miss beer right now, mostly because I love carbonation bubbles when pregnant. I honestly haven't missed alcohol in many, many weeks. But hot weather and a cold wheat beer? Sigh. Soon!!

No major waves of dread or fear about labor itself yet and honestly, I'm mostly just excited to have this baby here with us. I hope we make it to the hospital on time and I hope I get an amazing epidural and all goes well, obviously. But when I think about his birthday, I get butterflies in my stomach and figure that I'll remember the mind-numbing pain soon enough. It will suck but it will be so freaking awesome, at the same time.

I try not to think about how much of an adjustment it will be to have three children but this is something weighing heavily on my mind lately. Whenever I feel super tired and lack patience with my two current kids, I wonder, 'Am I really cut out for three? Will we all go bat sh** crazy with the addition of one more?' Basically, I'm trying to think positively and also enjoy the calm before the storm. I have no real expectations going into this big transition: no clue if I will get a good baby or a tough one. I don't pretend to know what it's like to have three kids and am not saying it will be easy AT ALL. It will probably be extremely overwhelming for a bit, just like it's been for the other two kids in our lives. But, if I've learned anything, I know that kids grow up and change SO QUICKLY that it's not worth stressing out about all of the potential stumbling blocks having a third baby just yet.  It will be hard, yes. It was hard before and life is sometimes hard now (although getting easier and more settled each month as the kids get bigger). It will be a 'different' hard and all of that. So I will enjoy having 'just' two little hooligans to run me ragged and will embrace the chaos the best I can once mister man adds to it all. Because honestly, excitement is the biggest emotion I'm feeling right now. Not fear.

So there you have it: ramblings about how I'm feeling good and mostly just excited to move forward into the next six weeks and beyond. I'm tired and happy and there have been so many fun occasions in the last week.