Week 34

Well, what a week this has been! Walking around and standing has been getting much harder as I am having lots of lower abdominal soreness when I do. Apparently something is up because on Friday morning, after our morning meeting at work, I lost my mucus plug (apologies for the graphics). I called my doctor's office to find out if I should come in early to my appointment or not. (I wanted to make sure that what I thought had happened, actually had.) The NP told me just to come in at my appointment and we'd talk about it then. So I went back to work and eventually went to my appointment. Apparently I've lost a pound since my last visit 2 weeks ago and my blood pressure, though good, was slightly elevated (likely because I didn't know what to expect at this visit after what happened and was a bit stressed). We did the strep test and then Dr. Howick checked to see if I was dialated. Thankfully, I wasn't. However, I have begun effacing. She said it could be a few days or a few weeks, we just don't know. She said she would prefer if he hung out until at least 37 weeks, but if he decides to deliver at 35 weeks, we will. So there you have it. It seems that Gabe is wanting to join us a little early. We'll see how that goes!

Week 33

So much has happened this week! Shawn threw my baby shower on Sunday at Culver's. We had a turtle custard cake and an oreo custard cake. My two supervisors came, as well as two of Shawn's co-workers and about 6 of the girls from Lane Bryant. Jo and Mom were there too. Everyone was very generous and gave us lots of cute stuff and necessities. The girls from LB even pitched in and gave us a carseat. I am so grateful!

Shawn fixed my car this week as well! He took the dashboard cover off and fiddled around in there and got the car working again! Hooray!!! I really do have a fantastic husband! He also made our reservations for the rest of the classes at Altru this month and next. He is going to re-take the Daddy Care Basics class because he wants to learn with an actual baby. I just keep thinking how lucky I am to have a hubby that cares so much about this pregnancy and becoming a dad that he will do anything it takes to get it right.

Shawn and I worked on painting the room this week. The ceiling has been painted and the top portion of the mural wall. Once we get the chalkboard portion of the wall done, we'll finish up painting the trim and Shawn will start building the shelving unit. Our mattress for our crib arrived this week. Actually, it arrived the same night that we found our travel system. Oh, that was wonderful. We had a black travel system picked out through Walmart online but we had stopped at Target to pick up a diaper bag that Shawn liked that was on clearance and while we were there we found the exact same travel system in a black/taupe plaid color for $54 less! Oh, we were thrilled! It is actually more cute than the original one we had chosen, but we got a much better deal and it is the exact same item! So we are set if Gabe decides to arrive early. We have our crib, mattress, two car seats and a stroller. His wardrobe is basically complete and I have his quilts and boppy cover completed. Oh baby, 7 weeks!

Week 32

This week I found out that I have one more 2 week appointment and then we are down to 1 week appointments. I can't believe the end is that near! Oh goodness, am I ready for this?? We had family come this week. Shawn's mom came to visit on Thursday. She flew in from Billings. We went out to a really nice dinner at Red Lobster. Then on Friday, Jo came to visit from Madison. It is nice to have family in town. Maggie is learning how to behave with company. We got a training collar for her as a last resort and it seems to be working for the most part. She still needs some work with it, but overall her behavior with our company has vastly improved.

Gabe has gotten big enough that he is waking me up in my sleep moving around in there. Shawn could feel him jabbing me through the flannel duvet and down comforter. It freaked me out the first time it happened and now it is happening more often. I also had my first Braxton-Hicks contractions this week as well. They are quite uncomfortable but thankfully few and far between.

Week 31

We have daycare!! Hooray!! One-on-one with a certified elementary teacher, $25 a day and we don't pay for days Gabe isn't there. The weekdays Shawn has off, we can keep Gabe home. Oh it is a beautiful thing!!

Christmas was good. Maggie ate one of my presents. Shawn woke up and asked what smelled so good and I told him it was Maggie. I was confused though because she smelled like peppermint and we don't have candy canes this year, so I asked him if he put food under the tree. He said no and then got mad. He went out in the living room and starting yelling some uncouth terms. I came out and a Burt's Bees gift set was shredded all over the living room floor and down the hallway. It seems that Maggie loves those all natural ingredients. The funny thing was, that present had been sitting under the tree for days and she never showed any interest in it until Christmas morning....

Gabe is getting bigger and I have to wear my maternity belt all of the time. I am really sore otherwise. I went to the physical therapist and she said that I don't have to go anymore since I have most of my pain under control now. Though, she did give me a free month at the Therapy pool so that I don't have to go back and see her. I'm excited about that. It really helps.

We started painting the nursery this week. The blue for the bottom of the walls is awesome. It is a really brilliant blue. It is going to be great!! I'll post pictures when we get it all done. It may take about a week and a half to two weeks, so be patient!

Week 30

Hello! This was a rough week! On Sunday the 14th, we had a huge winter storm come through. 48 mile an hour winds, -50 wind chill, blizzard conditions and warnings of life-threatening conditions from the National Weather Service and the Deptartment of Transportation. Needless to say, our District Manager decided we had to open up the store anyway. Oh yeah, that was fun. A four foot snow drift made friends with my car and now my defroster doesn't work. I have 1/4" of ice inside all of the windows. Shawn has spent the week attempting to unfreeze the defroster with a space heater inside the car during the day when he's home. The district manager believes that our lives are worth little compared to the $25 we pulled in that day. Yes, she actually told me that we needed to get over our fears of winter weather and come in no matter what the conditions are outside because it is a business and we just don't matter as much as that.

I went to the doctor this week. That went well. We talked about what I want in the delivery room and all of that jazz. Apparently I am slightly anemic, so I am taking extra iron as prescribed by my doctor. Gabriel is getting huge and I am having the toughest time bending over and getting up and down. It is quite interesting. We had an interview with a daycare provider today and are hoping to hear back from her soon. She was really great and it would be one-on-one with Gabriel. She has a little boy that she is homeschooling for preschool and is a certified elementary teacher. Her husband works for the school district. Oh the day is getting near!!

Week 29

Well, last week was alright. Grandma and Grandpa Weber came over to visit. Their trip was cut short by weather, so the butterball soup was never made. Shawn and I have been trying to find a time to make it in our busy schedule, but it has been to no avail so far. We ordered a crib while they were here and are waiting for it to be delivered. I heard several times about the disappointment of Gabriel being a boy and not a girl, but other than that the visit went well.

I started my physical therapy this week. On Tuesday I went in for my first appointment and my therapist showed me several excercises to help strengthen my round ligaments and back to relieve the stress on my back and joints. She also gave me a support band that is just amazing. I had been holding my tummy up when I would go up and down the stairs at work, but now I don't have to! When I take it off every evening it feels as though I have gained about 20 extra pounds to haul around. I went to the therapy pool on Friday and spent about half an hour doing excercises and hanging on a noodle to stretch my back out and get Gabe off of my hips. Now I will be going to the pool a few times a week on my own time and then on the day after Christmas, I will go in for another appointment with the therapist to see how things are going.

Week 28

This week has been pretty good. I threw up last Saturday while driving in the middle of town. That was an interesting experience. Thankfully I had a bag in my car to use while I was driving. I couldn't pull over because I was in the middle of town and in the middle of traffic. It was rather rough. I was so excited too, that I was finally going to be able to go to a doctors appointment and tell them that I hadn't thrown up at all since my last visit. Hahaha, so much for that!

I've been rather achy and sore. The doctor referred me to the physical therapists. I have my first appointment on Tuesday. I am also going to get one of those pregnancy support bands to see if that helps with the pressure on my sciatic nerve and the strain on my round ligaments.

Shawn went to Daddy Care Basics at the hospital where he learned that it is his job to protect me from decisions being made without my permission, crazy family members and bad nurses. They talked about making the house safe and what they hope for their children. He also put up the sheet rock in the nursery and shampooed the carpets. He has been really busy getting the house ready for Gabriel. He's working really hard in his spare time to make everything baby safe. He is so awesome!!