38 Weeks!

Good golly that's a big belly.

9.5 months, folks, almost there!

Saturday I did not feel well at all. That was the day we were planning on making all of our food to freeze. So instead, that night we took on Walmart & then Sunday did all the cooking. I have been wanting to do this throughout the pregnancy, but finding the energy was a little challenging. We knew we had to make it happen this weekend & we totally did. I was so proud of us.

Saturday night we went to Walmart & hunted down our goods. 

 Lots of cans of beans & tomatoes, etc.

It was exhausting & completely rewarding.

We got everything laid out & separated that night.

 Weston eating the last drips of soup from the pot.

He looks a little tired. Poor guy. I mostly did all my food prep at the kitchen table. He was our little tazmanian devil doing tons of dishes between stirring this & flipping that to keep the whole process moving.

Total stud.

Our end result was 2  9x13 pans of chicken & rice, 3 9x13 pans of enchiladas, & a ton of bags of stew & bean soups.

Now THAT is a lot of food.

We are thinking of making my sister's Basil Tomato soup this weekend, because we know it freezes really well & it's delicious. You can get the recipe HERE. As well as maybe a couple more casseroles.  It was a really fun process & by Sunday night I felt like I might not wake up for a week after going to bed, but man, we felt so good to have that checked off our pre-baby list. 

I was feeling bad having my mom stay with us & be a cooking & cleaning minion. Don't get me wrong, she is so sweet & so helpful & I'm sure more than happy to do that stuff, but I just want to make sure that her trip is more enjoyable!

Here is my belly right now. No full shots, because I looked like a hot mess, so I hope this is accurate enough for you. I feel really big & pretty much 0 of my shirts fit. 

Finding items that I can wear to work is both a challenge & simple. I wear the same thing every other day. I literally have 2 things (work approved) that I wear that still fit that I trade off & on & that aren't skirts. Hello cankles. Only 2 more weeks left of work. I've so got this one. My back is murdering me, but honestly, the past few weeks have been better than I've felt at all other times in the pregnancy!

It has truly been awesome to feel a little human again with a little more tiredness & back pain.

I had the fun morning (all day??) sickness through week 14, had a couple weeks of feeling AWESOME & then at week 16 or 17 had awesome sciatica start & that went until about 36 weeks. I'm not kidding. walking, sitting, laying, pretty much everything was painful. Nothing helped it, no tylenol, heat, ice, rubbing. Nothing.

 I have been anxiously waiting this girl & the time really has passed quickly.

The time has passed reeeeeally quickly.

I just have to say I'm really proud of myself for sticking it out & working up till the baby is coming.

I'm so grateful for the medical insurance & benefits we've been able to get through my work.

I'm also so happy that I don't have to work after having her.  The timing has been completely amazing!

I love this little girl that's growing in my tummy. Time has flown since we found out I was pregnant.

From that first night when I took the pregnancy test, just knowing it was going to be negative so I could jump-start things so that our New York medical study would work. & finding out that after 2 years of trying that we were actually pregnant.

Wow, I still look back in that time in awe. It was one of the most special moments we've had.

I am not going to share how, but I knew we were having a girl. I knew before we were pregnant that there was a girl waiting to join our family. I know our little girl is a blessing to us & I am so excited to welcome here here with open arms. I'm just warning all those expecting to hold her...you'll probably have to wait 3 months, because I just have been waiting too long to hold this little one & I think I'll have a problem sharing.

I love that while we were watching a movie yesterday she was moving the entire time. Maybe because it was an intense one with loud noises, but she was squirming EVERYWHERE. I love when she pushes her head out the top left side of my torso. I love when she stretches. I love when she kicks my bladder & other lower organs.  I love feeling her move & get snuggled in for bed with me when we lay down for the night. She's like a little puppy on a warm blanket, squirming around until she finds just the perfect comfy spot.  I love her little face from her 26 week 3D ultrasound. 

(The one from 36 weeks still scares me. She looked mad, mad, mad! Hopefully she doesn't come out scowling, too!)

I love our girl so much & we are so lucky to get her & have her in our family. The time is still flying by & we only have 10 days between right now & her birthday. I am ecstatic!