It's the Final Countdown! Weeks 34-36

This little guy is packing on the pounds!
At least I would like to think that it is him gaining all this weight and not me.
There are lots of changes happening to my body that it has now become an alien force that I am unfamiliar with.
I now have fingers and toes that no longer look spidery but sausagey. It takes all the strength in the world to move from my right side to my left side once I've laid down in bed. I'm like a reverse turtle.
I also find several of my limbs falling asleep from just sitting or laying down. Like I said, alien body.
It is also 100% impossible to find any outfit that covers my belly. That sucker cannot be tamed.

I am now officially full-term; meaning that if I go into labor I will be able to deliver him at the birthing center and have him be healthy.

There was a slight scare the other day when I had my midwife appointment for my 36 week check up. She did an exam to check my cervix to see how it was doing. She said I was 1 centimeter dilated and my cervix was softening nicely. After the exam was done I began bleeding a lot. Enough to scare me and the midwife. We ended up doing an ultrasound to make sure my placenta was in a good location and not compromising anything.
The ultra sound found that everything was normal and our little guy was doing just fine. He is head down and facing the correct direction and everything.
Eventually the bleeding stopped and I was able to calm down. Apparently it is fairly common for bleeding to happen on those types of exams, it was just very worrisome. I wasn't prepared for that kind of a scare.

After my midwife appointment, I was really able to feel my Braxton Hicks contractions. Before they had been painless but now I could really feel the pressure. I can't help but feel like this is a sign that he is going to be slightly early. That and he is monstrously huge.

Today is also my last day of work at Evolution Graphics. It is bitter sweet because I hate to leave the job but I am also excited to be able to relax a bit before this little guys comes.

Now for the freak show...My belly:

Balloon Tops and Baby Drops Weeks 32-33

When I first got pregnant Mike and I sat down and made a list of all the things we were going to need as new parents. Needless to say the list was very over whelming. How on earth were we going to have enough time or money to gather all of these essentials?!
Little did I know, that with the amazing support of my family and friends this list would not only be fulfilled but then some! These last two weeks we were showered with even more amazing generosity!
My older sister Jen, who as most of you may already know, lives in California. She came up with the brilliant idea of throwing a shower by mail. This way family and friends who live far from the lone star state could help outfit our little baby bean (that's right no name yet) and get him ready for this world! The shower was themed to go along with the nursery idea we have for his room:

Each guest mailed a gift and an alphabet letter. I can't even explain how fun it was opening these gifts! We signed on to Skype and via internet I opened some of the most spectacular gifts and letters. With the exception of just a few letters, I am almost ready to decorate the alphabet wall. I will hopefully have it all put together to show pictures in the next blog post.
My sister, even though she was so far away made this day so special, she even surprised me with balloons!

As if this weren't incredible enough, this past weekend my amazing friend Kendall threw me a shower with all of my friends from Austin. I couldn't believe how many people gathered together on Mike and I (and bean's) behalf! It wasn't until I sat down to open my gifts and looked around at all my friends that it hit me how absolutely blessed the three of us really are.

I just want to thank everyone and I mean EVERYONE for not only helping us fulfill our baby "necessity list" but supporting us in this exciting adventure of new parenthood.
I am so grateful to have such amazing family and friends that would bend over backwards for us. I can't even express enough how much I truly appreciated all of your generosity. It is bringing tears to my eyes just thinking about how absolutely blessed we are. Thank you all so so much.

On a quick note about Baby Bean, he is now head down (yay!) and my iron levels are back to normal. He is still moving around like crazy all the time. This past Friday he was trying to kick his way out through my belly button which really hurts! It kind of freaked me out so I called the Birthing Center to make sure that something wasn't wrong. I feel silly now but at the time I was thinking "is this was a contraction feels like?" I was assured that it was normal to feel pain around the nerve endings in the belly button if he's moving around there and no, that is not a contraction. It's really crazy to think that in about 7 weeks he will be here. I forget sometimes to appreciate these quiet moments in my life because soon they will be no more.

I now present my belly!

I had a bit of a shocking realization that he is still going to double in weight before he is born. Where on earth am I suppose to put that much baby?!

Decision 2012...The Name

Not having a name for our unborn bean is driving me bonkers!
I've worked up a survey so you guys can put in your opinion and help me pick a name in the process.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2CG68PV
I look forward to seeing what you think!

Woah! Put That Thing Away! Weeks 28-31

I am not doing so hot with keeping up with this blog every two weeks am I?

It has been a pretty hectic past 3 weeks. It started off with a shared shower in Fort Worth with my sister in law Stephanie who is due any day now!  Most of the turnout was from Mike’s side of the family who were so generous and great to hang out with! I also got to see my friend Jayne who I haven’t seen in almost 5 years!

This is also the busiest time for work at my job. I would typically thrive on being super busy at work but having a human strapped to my abdomen definitely makes it difficult. Sitting for too long makes my ribs ache and standing too long makes me dizzy and have to pee. It pretty much makes me feel like a whiney beast all the time.

It was all worth it though because of this past weekend. Me, Mike and our friend Dehron all flew to Colorado (last flight before the baby!) for a fun-filled extended weekend.  My amazing friends Shannon and Heather threw me a spectacular shower where not only did we get a plethora of children’s books and wonderful gifts I got to see friends who I haven’t seen since we moved to Austin.  I was in heaven.

The weekend’s greatness just continued from there. We attended our dear friends Grant and Abbey’s wedding (the main reason for being in Colorado) that was held in the snowy mountains of Estes Park. All in all is was dream-like.

Enough about what I’ve been doing, let’s talk about baby bean!

I know you’re probably wondering, have you picked a name yet or what?! The answer is no. We do have a list started though. Unfortunately nothing we have our hearts set on. I had no idea how difficult this naming business would be!

At my last visit to the midwife I did the glucose test which we passed with flying colors. Unfortunately we didn’t do so hot on our iron levels. I am trying to eat more iron rich foods and I have a supplement I’ve been taking every day.  It’s sad that a lot of iron rich foods are ones that I don’t really like right now like red meat, dark greens such as kale and arugula and kidneys. It’s a shame there isn’t iron in chocolate because I would probably be over-dosing on that!

All in all I think everything is going well, with the exception of morning sickness, achy ribs, over active bladder, the baby kicking the over active bladder, the baby kicking all my organs all the time, and not sleeping. I put that in small print for those out there who don’t want to hear me whine or those out there who are planning on getting pregnant anytime soon. That is what you have to look forward to. Ahhh…

Now behold the next magical act…Britt turning into a killer whale!

This is what I would look like if we were expecting twins!

Nesting and Resting Weeks 25-27

I have officially lost the luxury of comfort. I can't do anything comfortably. Sitting, Standing, Walking, Sleeping, Eating, the list goes on. That is my one bout of complaining and I am done. I don't want anyone to think for a second that I am not grateful for this massive miracle. Usually it just feel massive but I have to keep telling myself how lucky I really am.

The beginning of the New Year has brought with it my nesting bug. I cleared out my craft room and moved it all into our office. It was kind of hard to say goodbye to my personal space but then I looked down at my belly and realized my personal space has been invaded for months now. I also ripped off all the couch covers and did a deep clean on the couch. I don't know why, it just seemed like it had to be done. I also gave our dog Klauss a deep clean and hair cut. Poor guy got sucked into my nesting tornado. He does look like a million bucks though!

Last week we started our Bradley Birthing Class. I really like our teacher Chan. She makes the idea of giving natural birth sound doable and not this impossible torture that can't be done. 

Also on the list of good news, our baby is paid off! Well, the prenatal appointments and delivery anyway. It's comforting knowing we won't (unless something goes terribly wrong) have to pay hospital bills for months afterwards. 

Last subject to bring up is names. No we don't have one yet. Each blog entry I hope to have one to reveal. My hope for the next two weeks is to find one and pin it down! I can say that Mike has been doing some family history searching and there may or may not be some gem names in the family. We'll see...

Please try to hold in your vomit as you see how grotesquely huge I've gotten. Also, don't look too close but the belly button has popped. **sigh**

I am also going to show off Klauss's sweet hair cut. What a hansom man.

Merry Christmas Weeks 23-24

I feel like I have loads to update from the past two weeks. I'll do it in list form because I love lists.

1. I pulled my groin last Monday doing some really extreme dangerous sports...stepping up. Yup, just stepping up. In return, I have an accentuated waddle that makes me look way more preggers than I actually am.
2. I have grown even more! I can't help but feel like every morning I wake up and have an extra 1-3 inches added to my belly. He's a beast!
3 We still don't have any names picked out and I thought it would be easier with more time but it is turning out to be more difficult!
4. For the first time two nights ago I was able to lay in bed and watch my stomach as he moved all around. To me, this is way crazier than feeling him move from the inside. It is so cool.
5. My pregnancy brain is the worst it's been yet. Almost everyday I will start telling someone something and inevitably forget completely what I was even talking about, mid sentence. It's terrible!
6. I can no longer sleep normal hours.
7. My parents and younger brother have come to visit for Christmas and it has been so amazing having them here. I wish they lived closer. Not baby related but true.
8. On a final note I have a very cute story to tell that I will hopefully not forget half way through typing.
On Christmas Eve we were at my Sister-in-law's house enjoying family time. My 6 year old nephew came up and was rubbing my tummy. I said "do you want to say something to the baby? He can hear you." he said "Sure! Open you mouth" I opened my mouth and nephew Alex yelled in it like he was speaking down a long cavern "Hello Babyyyyyyyy!" I was laughing so hard I was in tears!

Smuggling a Bowling Ball Week 21-22

The time is flying by!
I partly blame the holidays which always make it seem like there is never enough time.

As you can tell by the photo posted below I am totally smuggling a bowling ball and I’m pretty sure by the next post it will be a beach ball.

It’s been nice finally having people recognize that I am indeed pregnant and not just gaining a lot of weight from over consumption of chocolate, although, that also may have to do with my large belly. I would not be surprised if this little guy came out covered in chocolate instead of that white gooey stuff.
I have to say that this second trimester has been really really nice. My morning sickness is considerably down and I have so much more energy. My only true complaint is sleeping, or lack of sleeping. It is now officially impossible for me to sleep a whole night through without getting up or waking up for some reason. This sucks because I freaking treasure my sleep and know I won’t be getting any once this little one is born so I have to catch up now!

Speaking of little one, I am now over the shock stage of having a boy and feel closer to him now more than ever before. It helps that I feel him move all the time and even though it sounds strange, I feel like when I talk to him he can really understand me.

We still don’t have a name and I am very open to suggestions. Just keep in mind that these following suggestions will not be listened to:

*Patrick: This is always every one's first suggestions because it is SO funny to think of a Patrick Kilpatrick roaming the streets. We are not creating a monster here folks!

*Super common names. No offense to those out there who have one of these but we won’t name him Richard or John etc..

*Super biblical names like Ezekial, Noah, Jesus, etc . No offense to biblical names, it’s just not for us.

Other than that, let the suggestions flow free!

I should mention that Mike has shut down these names already:
Thunder, Magnus, Hurricane, Hercules, Wolf and Swash-buckle.

I now present…Bowling Ball Kilpatrick!
p.s. That black band around my waist is a Belly Band and also my new best friend. I can roam free with my fly down and no one ever suspects a thing!!