36 weeks AKA 9 Months!! WHOA

How far along? 36 weeks 5 days! 

Total weight gain: Gained another pound! The weight just doesnt stop piling on! I keep reading a lot of people stop gaining weight at this point or lose weight, but of course, not I!

Maternity clothes? Wearing my dresses as shirts these days, feeling GIGANTIC!

Stretch marks? No stretch marks but I seriously cant believe I have 4 more weeks of growing to do. 

Sleep:? Still sleeping a lot but it is getting super painful to get in and out of bed these days. Especially when I have to pee, which is constantly. Back pain is getting wayyyyy worse too. UGH.

Best moment this week:  My best friend Shawna's wedding!! It was so beautiful and I felt so honored to be a part of it.  Our other best friend Jen was her maid of honor and the three of us spent the entire time with Shawna, helping as much as we could and doing our best to keep her calm and happy. And happy she was!!

They had over 250 guests and I knew and grew up with the vast majority of them so it was almost like a big reunion. I had a hard time not sobbing hysterically while standing up there... they are just so cute and in love! Shawna just means the world to me and I am SO glad I made it to her big day!! And that I didn't steal her thunder by my water breaking during the ceremony or something.

Also, went to the doctors today and he said everything looks good. The baby is sunny side up which may cause a little more back pain during labor but apparently he still has time to twist a bit so the doctor said not to worry about it too much. I was negative for the strep test which the doctor said to expect since I have been having a "perfect" pregnancy, something Joey readily agreed to. I'm glad my husband and my doctor have had such a breeze with this pregnancy- all the while I've been barfing, having severe back pain and borderline peeing myself daily. 

Went to our 2nd Lamaze class last night at Saddleback, one that Joey and I discussed not attending because we knew they would be showing birthing videos and I didn't want to see them. Not that Joey was itching too either, but seriously, this crap is going to happen to me anyway, I would rather not see the nitty gritty before I have to actually deal with it myself. What is it they say about the anticipation being worse than the actual event? This is def true for me. Regardless, they were also covering pain meds and the epidural, 2 HUGELY important things to me, and since we are delivering at this hospital, it wasn't something I wanted to miss so we sucked it up and went. 

Lets just say the birthing video was WAY more disturbing than I expected. Not because the labor was necessarily so brutal or anything but because it was clearly shot in the 70's and the husband and wife combo were the opposite of who you would want to watch moan and groan and bare their all of. We both watched as much as we could but when I looked over and Joey looked like he might barf while the woman was moaning in the bathtub with her husband peeking over her shoulder, we both starting just laughing and staring at our feet. I'm pretty sure the nurse who taught the class ( different than our normal girl) thinks we have the maturity level of 5 year olds so we might have to do some reputation repairing in case she ends up at our bedside on the big night.

Miss Anything? Being comfortable and not gigantic. Being able to roll out of bed with no problem. Planning out all my holiday cocktails with ALCOHOL in them.

Movement: He has been moving like CRAZY! Like seriously it feels like he is about to punch his way through my stomach. Crap, can that actually happen?

Food Cravings: Super cold apples!! Wethers butterscotch candies.  I actually find myself fantasizing about true food. Raspberry tea and frozen raspberries and blueberries. Baja Chicken salads.

Anything making you queasy or sick: too much of any food, stomach is definitely shrinking but eye for food is not.

Gender: BOY! Boooyaah!

Labor Signs: I have been having more Braxton Hicks and my back pain has gotten pretty severe along with things just feeling like they are happening, which the doctor agreed to.  He said it sounds like things might be getting started and that was a good thing, but he doesn't check to see if I'm dilated or anything like that so its just the big countdown until contractions start.  

Symptoms: Back pain, bloating, braxton hicks,  EXHAUSTION, all the super super fun stuff!

Belly Button in or out? outtie 500.

Wedding rings on or off? ON!!!!

Happy or Moody most of the time: This IS the happiest I have ever been aside from when the daughter in Father of the Bride 2 decides to move to Chicago, someone drinks a bloody mary in front of me, or I find out its the last season of Gossip Girl.

Looking forward to: Being home! Finally no more travel in our future and even my mom is done traveling to Portland until the baby is here! Yay! One of our fav couples is also coming to stay with us for thanksgiving and I am absolutely thrilled to see them. Plus Thanksgiving is in just a few days!! I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!

35 weeks!

How far along? 35 weeks 6 days! 

Total weight gain: Gained another pound! The weight just doesnt stop piling on!

Maternity clothes? Officially purchased a maternity dress. The more I look at it, the more it looks like a moomoo to me. Having trouble accepting my reality much?

Stretch marks? No stretch marks but still itchy belly and everytime I scratch it I leave red streaks that later give me a heart attack when I think they are stretch marks. Do I sound like I am losing my sanity over here?

Sleep:?  I am sleeping super super well right now. Like 11 hours no problem and although I do get up to pee, I almost always fall right back asleep. Had my first crazy labor dream last night where labor was super painful, and then they ended up starting to do a c-section and then decided to wait and sent me home with a big cut on my stomach. I kept calling saying lets do this and they kept telling me they needed to wait another week. It was a nightmare now that I think about it. 

Best moment this week:  Had our 3rd and final baby shower which was absolutely amazing! It was our first "couples" shower so Joey got to partake and it was a blast. Full of dressing up the guys in diapers with tp, playing get the broom in the toilet paper hole etc and basically a ton of inappropriate hilarious games. We truly had such a blast and of course Carter was spoiled as usual! Sometimes it just amazes me how blessed we are to have so many kind, caring people in our lives.

Also, went to the doctors and the little guy is 6.2 pounds! Not so little anymore! Holy cow, cant believe I am lugging him around! I was a little worried about decreased fetal movement bc I read some scary stuff on the internet (of course) so our foctor was kind enough to hook me up to a non stress test machine and show me that I am being insane.

Lastly, we had our first Lamaze class which was like holy crap this is about to get real, rude awakening of sorts. I LOVE the girl who teaches it (she actually was our tour guide when we were first picking hospitals) and she keeps the class interseting and funny but WOW can't believe in the next month I will be going through labor and meeting our first son! The jist of the class was basically that the guys or "coaches" should do everything that the girls say. Which I think is fabulous and totally accurate. She emphasized that one minute we may be hot then cold, loving then angry, wanting to be touched and soothed then loathing anyone near us. Sounds like a blast to me!! She also taught all the guys different massage techniques and had them try them on us girls to see what we liked best. Do you see why I love this woman?

Miss Anything? Fitting in my clothes. I was obviously living in fantasy land when I thought I would last in a bunch of my clothes until the end. in my dreams.

Movement: Still moving quite a bit and I think he might be in the process of dropping, seems like my belly is getting lower and lower.

Food Cravings: Super cold apples!! I actually find myself fantasizing about true food. Raspberry tea and frozen raspberries and blueberries. Baja Chicken salads.

Anything making you queasy or sick: too much of any food, stomach is definitely shrinking but eye for food is not.

Gender: BOY! Boooyaah!

Labor Signs: Negative.

Symptoms: Back pain, bloating, braxton hicks,  EXHAUSTION, all the super super fun stuff!

Belly Button in or out? pretty out these days, i wouldnt say 100% but close enough!

Wedding rings on or off? ON!!!!

Happy or Moody most of the time: This IS the happiest I have ever been aside from when the daughter in Father of the Bride 2 decides to move to Chicago, someone drinks a bloody mary in front of me, or I find out its the last season of Gossip Girl.

Looking forward to: My best friend Shawnas wedding this weekend! We are flying up tomorrow morning with our "emotional support" dog and will be up there until Sunday. I could not be more excited to be a part of her big day even if I will look like an overweight penguin stuffed into a bridesmaid dress.  I remember Shawna and I talking about how we would be bridesmaids in each others weddings when we were like 10 years old and she truly couldnt be marrying a better guy. I cant wait!!!