The time has come and gone!

How Far Along? 38 1/2 weeks!

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she is over 19 1/2 inches long (about the size of a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.
Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.) (FYI: Clark is well over 7 pounds at this point!)


Total Weight Gain: As of today at the doctor, I've gained 37 pounds.  Still- quite a bit less than with Grace.

Maternity Clothes: I am seriously struggling to find things to fit!  Things are getting really questionable when I get ready in the morning!

Stretch Marks: As ginormo as I'm getting, stretch marks are still staying away.  Super lucky so far--hopefully it stays that way!

Sleep: I sleep in intervals at this point...if I'm lucky.  As soon as I get home, I take a 30-45 minute nap until Mike & Grace get home.  Then, I pass out on the couch at 8 after I put Grace to bed.  Around midnight, I take bathroom break #1 and move to the bed and sleep for about 2 hours--- until restroom break #2.  I do a little phone surfing until I get my last 2-3 hours in.  *Last night, however, I had zero sleep.  I look like I've been smoking pot for a week!

Best moment of this week: Every week is getting more and more exhausting- the larger I get. BUT-- last week was nice because on Thursday I cashed in my 1 1/2 hour massage and Friday I got a much needed pedicure!  Even though they were very relaxing, I was hoping the accupressure would spur some labor!  No such luck! :(

On Friday, I braved the Charlie Robison concert at the Granada.  I went with Tom, Patsy, Mike, & Matt.  My parents came into town for the weekend and Landon & Whitney were generous enough to play with Grace while we were at the concert.  I think Tom was a little stressed I might go into labor, but again- no such luck.  The concert was actually really good, but the midnight curfew was a little later than I'm used to!  Oh, how times have changed!

Not a great picture, but Grace and Pops are both having their bottles before bed!

Saturday was an awesome 'Fall' day full of overcast and chilly temperatures!  My mom got up and started cooking--so great to have family in town!  She made some caramel apples, a big pot of stew, and my favorite- peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream.  Yummy!  After watching Tech KTA against KU, we quit delaying the inevitable and started putting together Grace's swingset!  It took probably about 4ish hours, but I was quite pleased with the process.  We didn't have any major setbacks, and everything went according to the directions! When does that happen? *Thanks Dad and Landon for the help!--Couldn't have done it without you!  A little view of the finished product!  She is LOVING it so far!

I also spent some time putting together our new stroller...courtesy of Tom & Patsy!  What do people do without inlaws??  It was also a pretty big piece of cake and is going to be awesome with the two kiddos!

Got the carseat in and everything!

Look at all the different options- very exciting for a lame mom!

Grace loved it too--I think she's confused about where to sit though?

 

A not so fun part of this week is dealing with car issues! Ugh.  Is there anything worse?  Ever since I got the Expedition inspected this summer, we've been putting off replacing a piece that connects to our battery.  It had gotten corroded, and it was only a matter of time until the piece broke off.  WELL... needless to say, we put it off too long and the piece broke.  Yesterday, we went to Auto Zone and Mike bought the replacement piece.  No problem, right? Wrong.  Today, when I was driving home from the doctor, I was sitting at a red light and everything started shutting off.  First, the radio turned off.  Then, the A/C quit working and the lights started dimming.  I was starting to seriously panic.  I was sitting right in the middle of 5 o'clock traffic.   Thankfully, I was able to get home.  When Mike got home with Grace from gymnastics, we tried to start the car and NOTHING.  So, we jumped the battery and tried to make it to Auto Zone, which is literally about 1/2 a mile away.  Sadly, the car died right in the middle of the street.  There we were--two cars parked right in the middle of the road with one giant prego and a 2 year old.  Fun times.  This time, the car wouldn't even start with a jump, so who knows what the problem is.  We put it in neutral and were able to get it to a curb on a neighborhood street.  Currently, I'm not sure what our plan is.  I suppose we'll call a tow truck tomorrow and see if we can get it somewhere?  Gotta love it.

Miss Anything?: Just the same ole same ole.

Movement: Still moving like crazy!  I'm waiting for my students to start seeing the bulges and freak out!  I NEED to capture it on camera!

Food Craving: nothing new

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not really.  Mike was eating Frito's last night and I thought the smell was going send me over the edge!  For some reason, he thought this was hilarious.

Labor Signs: I don't think so.  My guess for labor was October 8, so I was wrong.  :(  My time has come and gone!

I decided on Sunday to start researching and attempting any and all 'self' labor starters. (<--does that make sense?) Here's what I'm trying so far:  Evening Primrose Oil (I take about 4/day) and I'm drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea like crazy.  (4-6 cups a day).

Red Raspberry Leaf tea was quite difficult to find... I went to about 6 different stores.  The Vitamin Shoppe is where you can find it--in case anybody's wondering.  I've been doing accupressure any time I think about it and also doing a little jumping on Grace's mini tramp.  Everybody keeps talking about Castor Oil, but I just can't make myself do it yet.  Everything I read says that it will either work OR you will get terrible you know what.  I don't think I can handle that AND this huge pregnancy at this time.

Symptoms: Nothing new really.  I've definitely reached a point in the pregnancy where I'm bigger than I ever was with Grace.  Even laying down is exhausting.  Teaching is becoming a struggle.  It's embarrassing because I'll be in the middle of walking around and teaching and literally have to stop and catch my breath.  Ridiculous.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Just 'eh'.  Just depends on the day and what's going on.  I am getting more and more anxious, but just counting down the final days.

Looking forward to: I don't think it's any secret what I'm looking forward to.  I am MORE THAN READY to get this 'little' one out of me and meet him!  I feel like I've been spending so much energy on school, pregnancy, and just the details of preparing for a baby- that I haven't really taken the time to mentally prepare myself for how exciting and wonderful having another little lovebug will be.  Even though I am a little anxious about a crazy boy, I'm beyond excited and ready!