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 :)

It's been a crazy couple of days so it feels good to sit down and get everything out of my head before it floats away in baby brain land.

Saturday we had our big hospital/birth class which we ended up liking more than we anticipated. They went over everything from hospital maternity ward policies, to pain management and types of birth to some funnier, lighter activities and finally ending with a tour of L&D and the recovery rooms. We left feeling glad we decided to take the class and also happy we took it now rather than a month out which would have been our only other option. With that behind us, we braved the store and got a rug for the baby's room that night - two big things crossed off our ever-growing to do list!

Yesterday I took my mom in for her final knee surgery so I bounced back and forth between the hospital and home since Ivy has been battling a stomach bug the last few days too. To say I was tired by the end of the day is an understatement but everyone seems to be on the mend so I'm thankful those two things are behind us and that everyone is safe and healthy.

Lastly, this morning we had a "bonus" ultrasound to check out something on my ovary that turned out to be nothing, so we also got an extra look at the baby! This was the first ultrasound where I really cried. The baby looked so animated in there and it's definitely filling out (2.5 lbs!) and the technician said he/she has already got some hair on it's head and is also head down. There's no guarantee it will stay that way until birth but one can hope :) I know everyone says this, but it's little face in there was SO cute and it was the first time I could really visualize, outside of my own imagination, what he/she looks like. I'm tearing up just thinking about it now and I can't wait to hold him/her in our arms in a few short months!

This week isn't really going to slow down any time soon since we're expected to have a HUGE snowstorm roll in starting Friday. The boys were supposed to go to a bachelor party but it's still up in the air right now. Either way I'm super excited because one good snowstorm it all I've wanted this whole pregnancy. Some other pregnancy stuff I've noticed this past week:

• 27 weeks marks the third trimester on (most) pregnancy calendars and I'm definitely feeling it! Sleep has been tough lately, both because I can't seem to get comfortable and it's also when baby decides to have a dance party. He/she has only woken me up a few times with super hard kicks but the the repetitive lighter kicks tend to lull me back to sleep which is really sweet. 
• Bending over is getting harder and I keep having to remind myself to bend at the knees and not at the waist. I remember my SIL telling me it starts to hurt to bend over and I didn't understand it then, but I get it now! I have definitely had moments where I drop something, look at it and just walk away and tell myself I'll pick it up later. 
• I've had multiple people tell me I've "popped' lately which makes me so happy...FINALLY! haha I know I should be happy I didn't blow up or anything, but when you're feeling pretty pregnant, it's nice for people to know/notice as well. We were running errands on Sunday and I asked Ben if it looked big because I saw a bunch of people look down right after they looked at me and he just laughed and said, "you definitely look pregnant now". 

the only picture I managed to take last week!

I think that's it for last week's pregnancy update. It might actually roll into being a 28 week update too since I included some stuff from today but I'm hoping to have Ben take some belly pics for me this Friday if he manages to work from home because of the storm. Think snow!