34 weeks & a big life update!

LIFE

To say these last few months have been stressful would be an understatement. Aside from the pending arrival of our baby, Ben has been looking for a new job since the holidays. His long work hours and travel schedule among a few other things were taking their toll and despite loving the company he works for - we knew it was time for a change. He isn't one to pull the trigger quickly on anything (hello, engagement ring, hello babies ;-)) so once this decision was finally made and finalized it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off our shoulders.

I tried my hardest to remain strong and supportive throughout the whole process but now that everything is finally in place I feel like I can breathe and relax a little. Changing jobs a month before your baby is due, especially when I'll be done work in a few short weeks, isn't something I'd suggest for the faint of heart but we knew it had to be done for the betterment of our family in the long run. His commute will be so much shorter, no more out of state travel and of course more growth opportunities for his career! It sounds silly, but I am probably most excited about the shorter commute. Before he was leaving before 7 AM and getting home between 7:15 and 7:30 most nights. The days were LONG but Ivy and I could entertain ourselves. Now with the baby coming, it's really important to us that he has as much time at home with us as possible. I'm so thankful his bosses at his old company completely agreed that this is what needed to be done for his new family.

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TO DO

I guess all of this was weighing on me more than I thought because now that the job change is finalized, I realized just how much I've been pushing off baby stuff and now my list is looming! With just 6 weeks left we have a ton to do and the majority of it can happen after my shower this weekend so March is going to be a whirlwind:

• wash, organize and put away all baby clothes, blankets and burp cloths
• open and put away all other baby gifts 
• put together baby gear (crib, pack and play, swings/rockers, etc...)
• send shower thank you's
• install car seats and get them checked
• buy toiletries and misc items for hospital bag and then pack hospital bag & baby's bag
• buy anything we still need after shower (this will probably be stuff like diapers, wipes, nursing pads, etc...)

I know there is more baby-related stuff I'm forgetting, but I also plan to make a bunch of freezer meals with my girlfriend Leah and deep clean the house (with some help).

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34 WEEKS 

Aside from all of that, there is not too much to report on at 34 weeks. I had a belly check on Wednesday and everything looks good. I go back in two weeks and from there, my appointments will be weekly until baby is here! Baby still gets the hiccups almost daily and it's jabby movements have been replaced with squirming around in the same position. I feel and see lots of feet and what I assume are elbows. The movements are almost always around the same time each day so baby is definitely on a sleep/wake schedule which is really cool. We have been getting lots of gender predictions lately, with most of them leaning in the direction of girl. We'll have to wait and see :)