Weeks 36-39

36 Weeks (Sunday, July 5)

Size of baby: A honeydew melon, 17.2-18.7 inches, 4.2-5.8 pounds

37 Weeks (Sunday, July 12)

Size of baby: A winter melon, 18.9-20.9 inches, 6.2-9.2 pounds

38 Weeks (Sunday, July 19)

Size of baby: A pumpkin, 18.9-20.9 inches, 6.2-9.2 pounds

39 Weeks (Sunday, July 26)

Size of baby: A watermelon, 18.9-20.9 inches, 6.2-9.2 pounds

Milestones: Her skin is getting smooth and soft, her gums are rigid, circulation and immune systems are good to go, she can flex her muscles, her hair and fingernails are growing.

I've started dreaming about things that I've missed while being pregnant.  It's been surprising how many things I took for granted before I was pregnant.  I miss being able to lay on my stomach.  I've never been a stomach sleeper, but it's still nice to just be able to be on my stomach for a minute when I want.  I miss eating sandwiches with lunch meat.  Thankfully, I love PBJ sandwiches, but I'll be sure to eat a turkey or ham sandwich shortly after baby is born.  I've missed having normal temperature regulation.  I'm pretty hot-natured, so I'm used to being warm but combine being hot-natured, having hormonal hot flashes, and being 9 months pregnant in July, and it feels like I may never be cool again.  I've also missed being able to wear all of my shoes.  I went to put on my black dress shoes the other day, and it just wasn't happening.  I've been sticking to flip flops and tennis shoes.  I've missed Sonic Happy Hour Dr. Peppers.  I'm over cherry limeades.  I've missed having my normal level of energy.  The other night I slept for 9 hours, woke up for 2 hours, and then took a 2 hour nap.  I know, I know...I'll miss that "luxury" once baby arrives, but since when was 11 hours not enough to survive the day?  I miss being able to go for a walk and not walking at a snail's pace.  I still walk every day, but it's slow and steady that's for sure.  I miss non-swollen feet and ankles.  I miss being able to wear all of my clothes.  It'll be like having a whole new wardrobe when I can wear my normal clothes again!

Hey, here's one thing I don't miss - cleaning out the litter box!

Baby Classes

Robert and I took three classes through Cox Health in preparation for baby: Baby Sense, Breastfeeding Basics, and Prepared Childbirth.  Baby Sense was first.  Cox describes this class as:

Take this class during the last two months of your pregnancy. Valuable information on basic baby care and safety, including bathing, diapering, baby proofing your home, car seat safety and more.

I would say this class was about as basic as it gets.  Robert said it best - basically, this class if appropriate for someone who has never seen a baby before.  The best part was car seat safety, and we scheduled an appointment with their experts afterward and they helped us install a car seat in each of our cars.  It was nice to confirm that they are installed correctly and safely.  Otherwise, the class was pretty boring, and we actually left about an hour early because the last hour was discussing how to find a safe childcare provider.  We don't anticipate leaving our daughter with strangers as I'll be staying at home full time, we have family nearby, and we have plenty of people we know and trust who could watch her a couple of hours as needed.

About a month later we went to Breastfeeding Basics.  Cox describes this class as:

Take this class during the last two months of your pregnancy. Learn nutritional and emotional advantages of breastfeeding and "how to" breastfeed

I had already read The Breastfeeding Book by Martha and William Sears and The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League, so this class repeated quite a bit of what I had read, but if I hadn't read either of the books then this class would have been very informative.  It was a good two hour intro for Robert which was nice.

Our final class happened in two parts and lasted a total of seven hours.  Prepared Childbirth is described as

Prepared childbirth education in two consecutive weekly sessions. Learn about labor, delivery, breathing and relaxation techniques as well as pain medications and what to expect postpartum (after delivery)

We covered things like natural pain relief, epidurals, intervention, and postpartum.  The class also included a tour of the hospital.  Cox South opened up a new women and children's wing on Tuesday, and we got a tour of it on Thursday.  Labor and Delivery will still happen in the old wing, but two hours after delivering, the three of us will move over to the new wing.  All of the rooms are private and pretty big.  Of course, they're super clean and up to date.  Just hoping the strong smells of glue, paint, and plastic die down a bit before I'm there.  It kind of took my breath away!

Life Lately - 7.6.15

June was such a fun and busy month!  When I started working at Insite Solutions in North Carolina I quickly became friends with my co-worker Mary Beth, and we realized that we had both come from MO to NC for SEBTS.  MB came to MO for a week of summer vacation in June, and she and I were able to hit up Tea Bar and Bites, catch up, and visit Robert at work.

Random picture to document the fact that Mittens willingly hopped up on the couch to sit by me.

Love sweet, thoughtful gifts for Baby V.  This one came from Leigha and is written by one of her college friends.  Go buy it for your baby here.

I helped in the preschool room at Vacation Bible School this year.  We had about 10 kids, and they were very cute.  Memorable quotes include "What is wine?" "Why is your stomach so big" and when I asked a girl why she had a band-aid on her cheek "I feel on the sidewalk trying to pick up a Cheeto."  Classic.  I think we had 125+ kids total in VBS, raised $1500 for missions, and saw two kids accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Journey off the Map

Baby V made VBS extra exhausting

We also managed to squeeze in some extra youth activities in June including a trip to play putt putt and games at the church as well as a trip to Sonic with some sand volleyball as well.

We were encouraged to see how well Mittens did with a 4 year old boy when he came over to hang for a bit one morning.  He did a great job of letting Mittens sniff him, and then she was happy to have him pet her.  I think there's potential for Mittens and Baby V to be the best of friends!

Mittens gets work done!

Mittens has become a pro at riding to and from our house to my parents' house to stay while we're out of town.  The rides are much less traumatic for all involved now.

My dear friend Leigha took some maternity pictures for us.  This segment is Robert's favorite!

Robert turned a quarter of a century old on June 22.  That was the first day of summer camp, so we celebrated with a trip to Ruby Tuesday, and it was a combo celebration for Father's Day as well.  Happy birthday, RCV!

Ready for some baby carrying with his Father's Day present

We went to Camp Revo at John Brown University in Arkansas, and it was everything that camp should be - a time for learning more about God, a time for worship, and time for fun, and a time for no sleep and sweating a lot.  Let it be known that I survived summer camp at 34 weeks pregnant when every day was 90+ degrees.  Definitely didn't participate in recreation.

Summer Camp Robert

Reunited with Mittens after camp

The day after we returned from camp we went on the most epic shopping trip ever.  We had received registry completion coupons from Babies R Us and Target (15% off remaining registry items), I'd saved all the gift cards we had received, and we had lots of random coupons for free things and 20% off of items.  It was thrilling for the saver in me.  Yeah, it took 4 hours, but we got this bad boy for free:

Is it a baby swing or a spaceship?

4th of July was so much fun!  Our three 4th of July experiences in NC were kind of lame with no town show and no fireworks allowed at our apartment.  We made up for it this year with a delicious dinner, fireworks as a family, and the big town show at SBU.

Some of my favorite ladies!

My pyromaniac 

The boys with their ladybugs and punks

A new favorite

Memaw always does such a great job of decorating for events!

Robert held a guys night at church on Sunday night and was reminded of a sad fact: he is no longer 16.  I think it took two days for him to recover.  The night included Jurassic World, capture the flag, kickball, video games, pizza and junk food, and about 45 minutes of sleep.

Playing some 2 base kickball before the girls were kicked out for the night

And finally, after begging for over a year Robert is the proud new owner of a new guitar!  I wanted it to be a surprise, but I quickly realized that there are about five million options, and a lot of it has to do with personal preference, so it couldn't end up being a surprise, but Robert still told me it's the best gift he's ever gotten, so it was a win.  Now he's reading to serenade Baby V off to dream land!