It's getting closer!

Well, tomorrow is 38 weeks! (This picture is from Monday, so just over 37.5 weeks.) I have a feeling if I go early, it will only be a couple of days early, because I'm still feeling the same- I'm feeling good, relatively speaking. I've gained 26 pounds, my feet are swelling a little bit and are hurting more nights, my bladder sometimes feels like a brick is sitting on it, and I get sharp, shooting pains in my groin muscle area, but other than that, I'm doing fine! :) I can breath at least, as Rya has really dropped. The doctor said her head is down and really low. I had my first check for dilation yesterday. He said my cervix is about 75% thinned, but I'm not dilated at all. And I told Jesse, the funny thing is, I'm ok with not being dilated yet! I'm excited for her, but I can wait another 2 weeks! :)

Rya is still moving quite a bit, and I love it! I haven't seen a clear foot or hand when she pushes out, and her movements feel differently now that she is running out of space. She still gets the hiccups pretty often and I don't like that, more because I feel bad for her, but it's also somewhat uncomfortable for me.

Last Saturday was my last baby shower so Sunday was baby shopping day! We got a lot more nice things, including our car seat/stroller travel system (it's an Encore, Baby Trend system, Columbia style), saftey gates, adorable clothes & dresses, including 3 my grandma made, and a cute winter coat, among other things. Before going shopping, I had to finally go through our gifts and organize Rya's room in order to know what we still need. And by organize I mean put everything in piles by category. =)

This is all her toys...
This is all her bath stuff...

I put her newborn clothes in a pile, her 0-3 & 3 month clothes in a pile, and her 6 month+ clothes in another pile. We have a lot of 0-3 & 3 month clothes!

I'm waiting to wash anything, just in case! My cousin told me this weekend that the margin for error of an ultrasound with a girl is higher. Although I believe we're having a girl because my nurse practitioner said our picture is textbook girl, I'd rather be safe than sorry! ;)

Here is a pile of blankets for Rya, on top of her crib bedding.


Unfortunately, as of now, we don't have the nursery put together. On Sunday we ordered our crib and baby monitor from Target, and bought a La-Z-Boy rocker/recliner and 3-shelf bookcase. So, we are close. I'm hoping this weekend we can get everything put together (we probably won't get the crib for a week or so), and then I'll post pictures. Until then, I'll just be relaxing as much as possible, trying to wrap my mind around the fact that in a couple of weeks, I'll be a mommy and Jesse will be a [great] daddy! :)

Happy [almost] Mother's Day!

This time next year will be a very happy Mother's Day! As for today, I'm about 4.5 weeks from my due date, June 8th. Wed. will be 36 weeks. We are getting very excited, and yet I'm getting a little nervous too. We had our last baby class last Thurs. and saw a full fledge birth- yikes! We practiced breathing that I'm not convinced I'll remember; maybe that's why the nurse recommends practicing at home...hm, maybe I should be doing that? ;) We also practiced all kinds of different positions to get in to get through the pain of the contractions. I'm pretty convinced I'm getting an epidural so I kept thinking it was pointless for me to practice positions I won't be able to get into once my legs are numb. :) Oh well, it was a good, informative class. We've learned a lot we had no idea about before.

I think I'm more nervous about the way my life schedule is going to change forever. I can't fathom how I'll figure out when to feed (and how, for that matter- breastfeeding seems so technical), what to carry with me when I leave the house, when I'll get time to workout, and especially how much time it'll take to get ready in the morning once I go back to work and have to take Rya to the babysitter. I understand I'll learn it all as I go basically, but I don't like not knowing how it works now! :) So this is more nerve wracking to me right now than labor is! When I'm in labor I figure I'll just let the nurses tell me what to do.

So, other than that, I'm still feeling pretty good. I am getting more uncomfortable at times, and it's really hard to roll over in bed now; it kind of hurts. I don't think Rya has dropped yet b/c I still struggle to catch my breath. But she is in general, low. She rolls around and tries to stretch pretty often, and it's funny to see my lopsided belly from her sticking her butt or back up. I don't know yet, but I think she has her head down on my right side and her feet then curled around to my left side. I'm feeling what I think are hiccups from her. One day I remember she had hiccups two or three times and I told Jesse I felt bad for her b/c I hate hiccups! :)

Rya is already pretty spoiled! I've had wonderful baby showers, and therefore Rya's room is full of pink! :) Lots of cute outfits; I can't wait to see her in them! Thankfully I've received some very good practical things too, such as crib sheets & blankets (including beautiful ones that a great friend, Jesse's grandma and Jesse's aunt made for Rya) bottles, boppy pillow, a bumbo seat and bath items.




Another great friend is letting us borrow her bassinet and we received that last weekend too. I can't wait to get a crib and book shelf for Rya's room. We are waiting until after all the baby showers to determine what all we still need, so currently Rya's room only has Jesse's old dresser and then all the pink gift bags, tissue paper and gifts! :) My last shower is about 2.5 weeks from my due date. We're hoping little Rya doesn't come too early, although one of my co-workers has placed an early bet that Rya's coming a week early! Here is what she is basing this bet on-

Those are at 34.5 weeks. I don't want to rush the final 4 weeks, but we are excited to meet baby Rya. We have a lot to do until then, so for now I'll enjoy my [almost] Mother's Day! To end this post, I'll leave you with a few more random pictures of the cute, fun gifts Rya has been spoiled with. :)