38 Weeks!!!

This week is brought to you by contractions, restless nights, & LONG walks.

Weeks Pregnant: 38 weeks  (9.5 months preggo)
Weight: 196
Total Weight Gain: 38 pounds!!!!! AHHHHHHH (faints) 

Waist: (at the belly button) (started at 33.5'') 46" today, up 12.5" from the start, yikes!
Bust: (started at 35.5") 43" today, up 7.5" from the start, oh my goodness, Jude is going to be one well-fed bambino
Butt/Hip: (started at 43.5" )  47" today, up 3.5" from the beginning of pregnancy, even my maternity jeans don't fit anymore. It literally feels like my hips have been pushed out from my body and here is the proof. 

Average number of times up to pee per night: all.the.dang.time
Size of the baby bean: 19-22 inches (the size of a WATERMELON)
Weight: 6.5-7.5 pounds
What baby has been up to:  At this point in the pregnancy, Jude is considered "full term" and he is mainly just gaining weight at this point. Getting all cute and chubby and snuggly. My pregnancy app tells me that he is gaining about an ounce a day, or half a pound a week. Jude's vernix and lanugo are almost completely gone and his lungs are fully developed and ready to take their first breath. All systems go... now we just wait. 

Other pregnancy related stuff
Emotional: Patience is something I have NEVER been very good at. I have had some seriously conflicting emotions this past week. On one hand, I am extremely anxious to meet my son. I just want to hold him in my arms, and kiss his sweet face, and smell him, and snuggle him, and look at him. I am soooooo ready to meet him, I have dreams about him all the time. I miss him. I know that may sounds weird but that's the only way I can think to put it into words. I miss him like I miss my best friend that lives out of town. There are times where I am out with friends or family or celebrating a holiday and I think "Oh, I wish Jude were here, I bet he would really enjoy this". Even though we've never "officially" met, I miss having him around. Sound silly? On the other hand, I am selfish and start to panic at the thought of having to share my son with other people. Right now he is just "mine" (even though, yes, technically he is Jeff's baby, too). But what I mean is right now he is all mine and I am the only one that gets to hold him and feel him squirm and kick inside of me. I think about no longer being pregnant with joy and anticipation, but also with great sadness. I am going to miss the confidence that my belly has given me. I feel so beautiful, probably the most beautiful I've ever felt. I love when strangers look at my belly and smile. I love the way clothes fit me and my lil growing accessory. Although I am starting to feel physically exhausted and uncomfortable, I still feel pretty. I know in just a few short weeks my belly will be empty and my stretched skin will never look the same again and I am trying to come to terms with that. 
Physical: I'm tired. I'm big. I can't bend over. My feet are huge and swollen and only flip flops fit me. My bra is irritating. My hips feel like they have literally separated from my body. I waddle when I walk. My back aches. My ankles feel bruised. My fingers are so swollen, I have a hard time wearing my wedding ring for any length of time. On the bright side, my prenatal vitamins have made my nails grow long and strong and beautiful. Oh, and my hair is long and shiny now, too. I can't sleep comfortably for longer than 2 hours at a time. Apparently I snore. My breasts are constantly leaking. I'm super gassy. My belly button resembles a Honey Nut Cherrio. I found my first stretch mark.
What I want to devour: Surprisingly, not that much. I will be hungry, but not for anything in particular as nothing sounds super appetizing. I fill up pretty quickly and can only eat half the portion I was eating a few short weeks ago, but then I'm hungry again in a few hours. My poor little stomach is all squished in there and running out of room.
What makes me gag: Shrimp. That's it.
Activity: Now that I am past the "full term" mark of 37 weeks I have the OK to walk. So I try to walk as much as my body will allow me. I tire pretty quickly, but I know walking can help me in labor so I try to walk as much as possible at work. Now that Jude has "dropped" I don't get so out of breath from small distances or stairs like I did before. I keep joking that I want this baby out so badly I might go for a small jog around the school's track during my lunch break.
Baby Preparations: Jude's nursery is almost complete. We're still waiting on the replacement part for his damaged dresser and it make still be another week before we see it. :(  Other than that, all of his sweet lil clothes and blankies are washed and ready. We're planning to cloth diaper once he is able to fit into the smallest snap sizes & I have completed my research and settled on the two brands we are going to try out. I just have to order those and pre wash them and get them all ready. Jeff's mom is so graciously sewing all of Jude's crib bedding and I think we should have that in a few weeks or so once she's finished with it. I can't wait! 

WHOA Belly!!! This is what 12.5 additional inches looks like! 

 Jeff & I made a "baby bucket list" full of things we would like to do together before Jude gets here. My anxiety has been crazy, so having a list of things to look forward to has made the wait much easier. I have this feeling that if I keep making plans for things then maybe Jude will come. hahahaha. So far, my plan isn't working, but I am enjoying the extra time spend with my hubby.

The first thing we checked off our list was mini golfing. My mom bought Jeff a surprise "new daddy" gift, his own set of golf clubs. They have gone out together several times to take advantage of the low summer rates for the 9 hole course by our house. I go along for the ride, (literally, I ride in the golf cart) but wanted my turn at hitting a few golf balls. We went out to Castles N Coasters and had a round of mini golf. My belly made it more difficult for me to golf as it sticks out in the way, but I managed to do pretty good and enjoyed laughing at myself. Although Jeff beat me by 5 strokes, I was the only one that got a hole in one (3 times, I might add). 

Another fun thing from our baby bucket list was a baseball game. We had a groupon for the Larry Fitzgerald Charity Softball game. Jeff was beside himself with excitement over the roster full of his favorite players. I felt terrible because that morning he came out of the bedroom dressed and ready to go, wearing his Kurt Warner football jersey and I made fun of him. We didn't know Kurt was going to be there & I thought it would be weird to wear a football jersey to a baseball game so Jeff reluctantly changed. Well, low and behold Kurt Warner was there (Jeff was thrilled) and SEVERAL people were wearing his jersey and Larry Fitzgerald's Cardinals jersey. Oops, I felt bad that I made Jeff change because I could tell he wished he was wearing his! Now I know for next time. Along with Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald, the roster included "T.O." Terrell Owens, Donovan McNabb, Stephen Jackson, Jared Allan (oh my goodness is he tall!), DeSean Jackson, Patrick Peterson, Gary Payton, Darnell Dockett, Anquon Bolden, and several other non-athletes. 

The game lasted 5 innings and even though our seats behind home plate were in the shade, sitting outside in 99 degrees is HOT!! Especially when pregnant!! 

Our third (and my favorite) thing on the list was to enjoy a nice dinner out together. My good friend Becky's husband is the Executive Sous Chef at A Different Pointe of View at the Pointe Tapatio Restaurant. He has extended an invitation for us to dine there since he first started working there 4 years ago!!! We finally took him up on the offer and treated our self to the nice 5 star dining experience. Little did we know that John had plans of completely spoiling us!! He told us to pick out our entrees and to leave the rest up to him. Jeff picked Venison & I picked the Filet. Our evening started off with a Strawberry Rhubarb drink and was then followed by 4 of the most amazing appetizers I have ever tried! I even tried Pork Bellies which sounds disgusting but it was AMAZING!!! Imagine a really thick piece of bacon, cooked perfectly with a crispy outside and tender inside. The meat was so tender it only took a fork to cut it and it was served on top of yummy sweet potato with this super yummy sauce. I'm no Top Chef judge, or expert, but Oh My Goodness that was soo good I wanted to order seconds! I am quite possibly the pickiest eater (I eat like a second grader), but I told myself to be open and to let John do his thing and to try at least one bite of each dish. Well he totally blew me away & I licked each plate clean!!! We were stuffed before our entree came and then we were still treated to TWO desserts! Oh man, poor Jude must have been squished in there because all that food was taking up his space. HAHA

 Running errands with my mom, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on my belly and little kicks.

My old friend Amber sent this sweet knit hat for Jude this past week. I know how to crochet and have tried to teach myself to knit and OMG is it hard!! I can't imagine the time and effort and HOURS she put into making this adorable little hat for Jude. I can't wait to see it on his little head. 

 Our hospital bag is all packed and ready with my comfy pillow and a crochet hat I made for Jude. Unlike Amber's beautiful knit hat, this crochet hat only took me a few days to make as crocheting doesn't take as much time or effort and I am a little worried it might be too big for his head. I'm a pro when it comes to reading crochet patterns, but I'm not very good at trying to re-size a pattern, so this hat might not fit him for a little while. 

 I know it is pretty common for new mom's to chop off all of their hair after the baby is born and this past week I was tempted to make a change. I love the length of my hair and how healthy it is thanks to my prenatal vitamins and I think it would be so much easier to just throw my hair into a pony tail once Jude is here. As much as I love a cute shorter hair style, it always took me WAY more time to style it than my current long hair. So instead of chopping off all of my hair, I got bangs. A small change, but it feels like a big difference. 

Taking full advantage of my new "shelf". Moments after this picture was taken Jude kicked the cup and it spilled all over my side. Little stinker. 

I was catching up on laundry and washing the last of Jude's clothes and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and had to take a picture. It still shocks me when I see my side profile of my belly!!! 

With the support of mom, Jeff, Isabela, and Tara we tried to old wives tale of Castor oil to try and get my body to progress. I took a spoonful of ice cream with castor oil and then went for a long walk around the block. Other than a few contractions and tummy aches, the only movement I had was a bowel movement!! Serves me right for trying to rush this little guy. He's not ready to come out just yet and he's stubborn like his momma. He's not even born yet and he's already teaching me patience. 

 Noticing the "drop". 32 weeks on the left, 38 weeks on the right. This baby is getting BIG and he is already head down and into position! Everyone said I would be able to tell when he had dropped and boy o boy were they right! 

My "cherrio" belly button. My sister Julianne grabbed it and was pretending to make it sing "I'm coming out" like in the old commercial. It was hysterical!