Let's Shower this Baby! (Week 35 & 36 Updates)

How far along:

35 weeks

Baby is as big as a:

Coconut

Total weight gain:

27 lbs

Maternity Clothes:

Now I feel like my bump is so big that my half panel maternity pants are sliding down my belly. I just have to readjust more often to keep them up ha! I can still wear some of my normal shirts but I think I'll grow out of those in the next couple weeks. 

Sleep:

I am still sleeping okay however I'm not as comfortable. I've adopted pillows all around me which is comforting and claustrophobic at the same time. I still keep ending up on my back which I'm not sure if that's a good thing. I get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom more often than not and I usually wake up like SO THIRSTY so I always keep water by my bed

Movement?

Instead of kicks and jabs I feel rolls, elbows and knees pushhhhing outwards. It's kind of cool but at the same time he's pretty strong. I don't count kicks because I would lose count. I feel him all the time, every hour of the day and usually 4 am as well! He also still gets hiccups very frequently.

Best moment this week: 

I had my doctors appointment this week. They tested me for GBS and took my blood for some routine testing. The blood draw was basically painless, first vein they poked and so easy but for some random reason I bruised up so badly! I should have taken a picture but it took over a week to heal. So weird. Everyone kept asking me about it. This was the first week the doctor checked my cervix and I'm at a 1! I wasn't expecting anything and I know you can been at a 1 for a while but at least it's a good indicator that my body is cooperating and my cervix is actually preparing for a baby.

Weird pregnancy moment:

Having people jump to my rescue when my car died. I'm sure they would have helped anyways, but the baby bump probably is a little more compelling right? More on that story below!

Symptoms:

My back ache has been the most prominent this week. I'm glad it feels more muscle than joint pain. It's only on the right side in the middle of my back. I feel it when I'm sitting down which I think is strange. Even if I'm sitting up straight I still have no relief. I've had to lean back my seats a bit when I'm driving to avoid it.

Food cravings:

Chocolate. And milk, of course. Um chocolate milk now sounds delicious right now.

What I'm looking forward to:

Dan's birthday and organizing the baby's room!

So much has happened in the last two weeks, it's just been constant excitement!

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary by having dinner at PF Changs. When we lived in Boise we would go to PF Changs for different occasions and we hadn't been there in a while. It was as usual delicious and we had a great evening. I am really passionate about the importance of family and marriage and I love being able to reflect on our marriage. It's not perfect but I'm always filled with so much gratitude and thankfulness to have a husband that loves me, will work on our relationship, is fiercely loyal to me and works so hard for our family. He's a good man and will make a great father.

Since we celebrated a few days before we didn't do anything specifically ON the day of our anniversary, however Dan did come home with my favorites! He knows me so well.

Here are some nursery sneak peeks

And here's what my front porch looked like when all of it came on the same day!

The weekend was super exciting because family came into town and it was my baby shower! I worked half a day on Friday then left to go pick up my mom at the airport. I called her to see if she had got her bags yet and she said, 'We're waiting for the bags now.' I thought, 'who's we?' but just assumed she meant herself and everyone else collectively who was on the plane. When I got out of the car to hug her she didn't SQUEEZE me like she normally does and I remember thinking, 'Oh, that's weird' and then she wanted a picture of my bump like right there at the curb side pickup of the airport. But hey, what ever mama (soon to be grandma) wants right? She really hasn't seen the BUMP because last time I saw her in April, I wasn't bumpin yet. I chalked it up to her excitement and went with it.

While she's taking the picture she's telling me about this lady she met on the plane, started talking to and wanted me to meet her. I'm thinking should I still be smiling? Did she take the picture yet? Maybe she can't figure out her new phone? Who's this lady? Maybe she happen to meet someone I know? I was confused. My sneaky mom was in cahoots with my sneaky cousin who flew out and surprised me for my baby shower! 

Kelsey and I became close when our family had a reunion at Aspen Grove when we were somewhere in our early teen years. When they moved from Michigan to Idaho Falls  we also got to see each other more often and grew closer. We went to EFYs together and roomed in college together. She is the closest thing I've had to a sister while growing up. Now that we're adults, me in Texas and her in California we haven't seen each other as much so this was an amazing surprise!! The video is on my facebook and instagram if you haven't seen it.

Throwbacks

After I stopped freaking out and crying we went and had lunch at La Madeline's then did some light shopping before heading home. We relaxed and got settled then went out to dinner when Dan came home. We went to Mi Cocina and it was delicious! Dan had been before, but I had not. I'm glad we went.

The next day was baby shower day! We relaxed in the morning and hung out until we headed over to the baby shower just before 11am. My mom and I love helping and organizing parties so it was very weird for me to just show up and NOT help. My sister in law Jen and a friend from my ward Aubrey hosted the baby shower and they did perfect! I kid you not, it was the best. Super tasty food, good set up, simple games, adorable decorations, time to talk and catch up then gifts. It was casual, fun and so enjoyable. I owe a HUGE thank you to Jen and Aubrey for putting it all together, I know they put in a lot of work. Surprisingly I didn't cry there but I was so overwhelmed with the love and support all my friends and family showed me. We got a lot of needed things and I left feeling so thankful for knowing such kind and giving people!

After the shower we came back to see what was happening for our little block party. They had a giant slide on our street. Dan, his dad, Phil and the kids went swimming then came back and played on the slide. We just relaxed in the after noon, took some naps then went out to dinner at Chuys- all ten of us! My mom, Kelsey, Dan, me, Sylvia & Eric (Dan's parents), Jenny, Phil and the 2 kiddos. Dinner was delicious and fun because we had both sides of the family together.

On Sunday we went to church where everyone assumed that because Kelsey was my cousin, so was my mom. They were so surprised to find out that she was my mom it was funny, and a compliment to her. After naps we headed over to Jenny and Phill's to play, talk and relax until I had to take Kelsey to the airport. We dropped her off, said our goodbyes (which are really see you later's) then went back to Jen's for dinner. We played games and celebrated Dan's birthday while his parents were in town. The one thing Dan wanted to do was to play Bean Boozled. Seriously Dan? Everyone played 3 rounds but I only did one. I almost lost my dinner last time when I ate a rotten egg one.

My mom was in town until Tuesday so our monday was a big day! FREEZER MEAL DAY! We got up early and headed to WinCo to purchase all the supplies. I got the recipes from This Blog but I didn't make all the meals she did. Here's the ones I picked out:

Cook n Freeze

Cheesy Taco Bake
Tuscan Pasta Bake
Teriyaki Chicken Thighs
Beef & Broccoli
Lactation Bites

Freeze Mac & Cheese

Southwestern Chicken & Rice

Pepperjack Chicken Taquitos

Beef, Bean, Cheese Burritos
Breakfast Burritos

Bag n Freeze
Freezer Crockpot Beef Stew

DIY Lactation Smoothie Packs

Obviously the top ones are fully cooked and only have to be warmed up before eaten and therefor are more time consuming to prepare. The second list and ones to thaw and throw in the crockpot minus the lactation recipes. I feel like I could have organized the day better and made it more efficient but we were so busy partying with family, I didn't have any prep time before to plan. We went with the logical thing and cooked all the meats first then we kind of ended up doing an easy bag and freeze, then a cooked one and went back and forth. We took a break for lunch to introduce my mom to Whataburger, now she's a true Texan right! Other than the lunch break we were cooking from like 11am-4pm ish. It took us all day and it was a workout! I was tired. Lots of dishes to do all day, bagging wrapping, writing, cooking, tasting, so many smells in my house but overall we came out with an AWESOME haul and I'm so glad I had help! I couldn't have done it without my mom. Because there's only 2 of us I was able to split the recipes up into smaller pans instead of cooking 1 big one. Here's the break down: 

Cheesy Taco Bake - 2 square pans - 4 meals

Freeze Mac & Cheese - 2 square pans - 4 meals

Southwestern Chicken & Rice - 1 medium pan - 3 meals

Pepperjack Chicken Taquitos - 20 taquitos - 4 meals

Beef, Bean, Cheese Burritos - 8 burritos - 4 meals
Breakfast Burritos - 8 burritos - 4 meals

Freezer Crockpot Beef Stew - 2 bags - 3 meals

Teriyaki Chicken Thighs - 2 bags - 3 meals
Tuscan Pasta Bake - 2 square pans - 4 meals

Beef & Broccoli - 2 bags - 2 meals

Total: a rough estimate of about 35 MEALS. We can make it stretch a lot farther than most families because there's just 2 of us right now. These are going to be so helpful when help is gone, mom's are gone and I'm settling in to this caring for a baby thing- if I feel overwhelmed that day, dinner is a simple fix. I'm preparing and trying to make my life easier when I'll be learning a lot of new things!

After cooking all day I had Dan make us dinner and grill some chicken and corn on the cob, appropriate right?

Tuesday my mom and I went shopping for baby essentials that I hadn't received and had fun looking at baby things and me TRYING to make decisions. My mom was a huge help to me while she was here and I don't think I'll ever be able to thank her enough. On our way home I got gas, we were going to go grab some lunch then take her to the airport. Suddenly at the Costco Gas station my car wouldn't turn on. It just died. Straight up died. There was NO indicators up to that point that something was an issue. No flickering, chugging, blinking, no nothing. I was stunned and it took me a second to get my brain straight. The gas attendant helped us pop my car into neutral and push it (with help from another random man filling up) out of the way. I discover my jumper cables aren't in my car so they go asking for some. This other gentleman who was probably on his lunch break kindly jumped my car and we drove straight home. 

It was about a 20 minute drive which I thought would be enough to charge the battery however right when I turned it off when I got home, it wouldn't do anything. On the way home I'm calling Dan and brainstorming how I can get my mom to the airport so she doesn't miss her flight. I'm thinking of all the people from church I could call to see if I can borrow a car or if they can take us. I drive up to my house at around 1 and see my neighbors are home early that day. Shane and Jaclyn are the best neighbors and friends hands down. They've helped us out a lot in this new adventure of home ownership. Anyways they let me borrow one of their cars  and I took my mom to the airport and said see ya soon.

Later that afternoon I had 3 of my neighbors looking at my car, trying to jump it and taking guesses on what it would be. 1 said the alternator and 2 said the battery. When Dan got home we jumped the car and the plan was he would drive it to O'Reillys (where we got the battery from) to replace it since everything up to this point indicates it's the battery. He'd get a new battery they I would meet him at the church because we both had scouts that night. Well our plans went haywire when O'Reilly's told him it wasn't the battery and the car wouldn't start when it was jumped. It was a frantic 10 minutes of calling people to cover scouts, calling insurance, getting a tow, seeing if I could stay with the car so Dan could go to scouts, and then me going to the wrong O'Reilly's to pick him up. What ended up happening is both of our scout groups miraculously had people to cover and take over and us waiting 2 hours at O'Reilly's for a tow. Luckily a 7-11 was right next door. 

Poor Oliver!

We towed the car to the mechanic, night dropped the keys, got home late and went to bed. Because our neighbors have 3 cars they graciously let me borrow one for work the next day. The mechanic calls us and tells us it's the battery, not the alternator OR the starter. UHM WHAT? Long story short we had to go to the mechanic to take the battery out of the car, go back to O'Reilly's and yell at them spoke to the manager who admitted who ever helped us did their job wrong, got a free battery (it was under warranty), drive back to the mechanic, pop it in and it starts right up! 

I'm so thankful it was only the battery but at the time it was so frustrating to have such a run around and have my car towed for no reason. Now I can laugh about it and be grateful for all the people who helped me. Random strangers, neighbors and friends. Car troubles stink, but it makes you realize all the good and helpful people around you.


The rest of this weekend has been spent mostly doing baby stuff! Organizing everything from both showers, cleaning up, ordering the last haul that we need and trying to get everything ready. We took a tour of the hospital where I'm delivering so that was very helpful so we know where to go. I'm so excited to have labor day off so I can organize and get ready more!

How far along:

36 weeks

Baby is as big as a: 

Honeydew Melon

Total weight gain: 

26 lbs

Maternity clothes: 

I'm starting to hate clothing in general. Like why is this mandatory? Maternity shirts are the best and the most flattering now.

Sleep:

I'm sleeping through the night (except to pee) but I don't feel like I'm sleeping well. Sometimes when I get up in the middle of the night I can't go back to sleep. The times I do though, I have the craziest dreams.

Movement?

Lots of movement, only on one side though like usual. Hiccups every other day.

Best moment this week: 

My work threw me a baby shower and it was awesome!  And it was Dan's birthday! More on those below.

Weird pregnancy moment:

All my members at work who i haven't directly told that I was pregnant are just now realizing because 1. they don't come in super often and 2. I didn't really show for the longest time. They're all like, 'Congrats! Oh my gosh, this month?!' It's pretty funny.

Symptoms:

Holy heart burn! That's what I get for eating pizza and wings for lunch then fajitas for dinner.. My ribs near my sternum get sore a lot and still the normal back pain. A little more swelling this week. I can barely see it in my fingers and I don't wear my wedding ring anymore. It still fits but I would hate to risk it in this hot humid weather. 

Food cravings:
Soda? I've been like a camel chugging water but I've been wanting root beer?

What I'm looking forward to:

I had a belly check this week and I get a sono next week so that's exciting. Plus we ordered all the rest of the things we need for baby. Can't wait for them to come!

On the actual day of Dan's birthday he had roundtable for scouts and my work threw me a baby shower. So after both of those we met at home and celebrated by eating wings late at night, eating cupcakes and opening gifts. I don't think Dan would have had it any other way. To him, his birthday is just another day, I'm the one who likes celebrating haha.

My coworkers threw me a shower and it was amazing! I didn't expect them to throw me a shower and I honestly didn't want to inconvenience anyone but they went above and beyond for sure. It was casual, simple, sweet and so much fun! Everyone decorated onesies with fabric markers and stencils- they turned out so cute! What a fun idea. We ate quiche, ham roll ups, chips & dip, fruit and chocolate and yummy sherbet punch. We ate, hung out and talked then opened gifts. Once again I was floored by the generosity of the people around me. I felt so loved, it makes me tear up just thinking about it!

Isn't this the CUTEST diaper cake!? Shout out to Tyler!

I had my weekly appointment. No changes, everything is still good and normal. I get a sonogram next week to check size and position of baby! My GBS was negative and my blood work was good.

Friday night we went out to dinner to celebrate Dan's birthday. They just opened an Uncle Julio's near our house so we made reservations because it's been slammed every night. Dinner was SO GOOD! We'll definitely be back and I'd recommend the steak fajitas!

And just for fun here's a  comparison of weeks 30 & 35 because I'm wearing the same shirt. I don't have that many options, I have to repeat!