Dear Alex,

Merry Christmas Eve! I am writing you from Grandma and Papa’s house this week. You are a little over 35 weeks along now (bigger than a coconut!), and we are here visiting the family for the holiday. Everyone is excited to see how big you’re getting:

Your cousins are especially thrilled, and some of them have even gotten the chance to feel you moving around in there. It’s interesting how your movements feel so different these days compared to when I first started to feel you move… before I felt short, sharp “pokes,” and only sporadically. Now that you’re so much bigger & running out of room, I feel bigger “pushes” and “squirms” going on pretty much all day & much of the night. Also, more recently I’ve noticed what are sure to be hiccups: small, rhythmic motions that last for several minutes at a time. I read that you start to get hiccups more often at this stage of the pregnancy because you are practicing your breathing for outside the womb. Keep it up, champ! 🙂

Other than that, not much has been going on this week. Dad & I finally got a new mattress, and BOY am I glad we did! I still have to get up every 2 hours or so to pee, but it’s a lot easier to fall back asleep and sleep more soundly. Working from home has helped me get a little more sleep too. I’m trying to rest as much as I can now… while I still (sort of) can, haha. Honestly pretty much everything tires me out these days– with an extra 20+ lbs. of weight to carry, much of which is pushing up on my lungs, this is not surprising at all. 😉 But at least it’s not for much longer…

We are officially counting down the DAYS until your due date (33!) rather than the weeks. It’s hard to believe that you’ll be here so soon, but Dad & I are as ready as we’ll ever be and can’t wait for your big arrival. 😀 That’s about all for now… until next week, MERRY CHRISTMAS little guy! As much as we’re looking forward to sharing the holiday with our extended family tonight & tomorrow… we are even more excited for all the holidays we have ahead with you!

All my love,
Mom

Dear Alex,

You’re a little over 34 weeks along now– less than 6 weeks to go until your due date! The produce for this week is a butternut squash, but at my OB-GYN check up this morning they told me that you’re actually measuring 2 weeks ahead! This puts you at (an estimate) almost 6 lbs. and 18 inches long… you’re going to be a big baby! Or an early baby! But between the two I’d rather have a big baby. 😉 Dad & I were actually both big, so it makes sense that you are too. Considering how huge I am looking these days, I can’t say that I’m surprised:

And it’s gotten to the point where strangers say things to me about it pretty much wherever I go. I’ve heard all sorts of comments on my size, some more rude than others, ranging from “wow it looks like you’re ready to pop!” to “how many babies are in there?!” … :-\ I don’t know what makes people think it is a good idea to say such things to a hormonal, exhausted, generally uncomfortable pregnant woman. So far I’ve been able to hold my temper in check, thank goodness! This is yet another reason I am so glad to now be officially working from home full-time, I can relax, look however I want & not worry about what silly strangers have to say.

Other than that not much has been going on. The rest of the OB-GYN checkup went well as usual… I am so incredibly thankful that this pregnancy has gone relatively smoothly. Hopefully it will continue to do so! The doctor also told me that you are officially in the head-down position, which is one less potential birth complication to worry about. Your heartbeat is nice & strong, and you have been VERY active lately. Sometimes you push on my ribs or hips so hard that it’s downright painful, but not unbearably so. With the end of the pregnancy being so close, Dad & I continue to work on things pretty much every day in preparation for your arrival. This week we finished the hospital bags & put together the bassinet. In the coming week we’re shooting to get the swing and pack & play put together, and possibly get the car seat bases installed too. But with Christmas just a week away, we might be too busy getting ready for that!

One more thing I want to share with you before I go… we got our maternity photos back from the photographer on Friday! I think overall they turned out really good, especially considering it was the photographer’s first time doing maternity pictures. She caught a lot of great “candid” moments that really show the love Dad & I have for one another (and for you!). She took a TON of pictures, but here are a few of my favorites:

All my love,
Mom

Dear Alex,

You are about 33 1/2 weeks along now (the size of something called a “durian” fruit apparently… NO clue what that is but you’re about 4 lbs. already!)…. less than 7 weeks to go til your due date! I am so glad that you’re growing & seem to be doing well in there, although the toll it is taking on my body is less than glamorous….

This is going to sound like a bitchy letter, haha, but I assure you it is not. Just want to remember all of this and make this blog reflect the whole experience! So here is what the past couple weeks have brought me:

• Lack of bladder control- I’ve already had to pee frequently since you love to hang out on my bladder, but I’m finding now that if I don’t address a full bladder quickly leaking will occur. Yuck!
• Difficulty moving around- particularly things like bending over, standing up & sitting down (especially on the toilet… this is TMI I suppose, but I’ve come to really appreciate the height of handicap toilets lately because they’re so much easier to get on & off of! LOL)
• Joint pain- especially my knees, hips, and hands (although the hands are more carpal tunnel related, which we already discussed). This is caused by extra fluid being retained in the joints as they become more pliable for birth.
• Muscle pain/stiffness- same deal about their getting prepared for the birth…. what I did NOT realize would happen because of this is the almost constant feeling of having been punched in the crotch! Ouch! Now I know why pregnant women waddle. Sad but true.
• SWELLING- oh man, this has been the absolute worst thing over the past week! My hands, wrists, feet and ankles are ridiculously swollen. As you can see in my picture above, my face has been getting more & more swollen too (where the heck did my neck go? Ugh).  I can no longer wear my wedding ring or watch (honestly I’d taken my wedding ring off over a month ago at the first sign of hand swelling anyway, but now the fit is not even close), most of my shoes are on the tight side, and when I’m on my feet for any length of time at all my feet/ankles look scarily like an elephant’s. All of this combines to something resembling Stay Puft, a marshmallow man character who will probably be ancient history by the time you read this:

Lovely huh? Haha. Anyway, since being on my feet exacerbates it, unfortunately my exercise routine has been suddenly and extremely limited. I’m trying not to worry too much about the excess weight gain that is sure to result from this, since it’s really out of my hands at this point. As long as you’re growing and getting the nutrients you need, I can worry about getting the weight off after you’re born.

So that is a glimpse into the not-so-fun side of pregnancy! Obviously I knew this wasn’t going to be a cake walk, but it’s definitely been… interesting… learning the hard way about all these little things they don’t tell you about pregnancy. Haha. Just keeping my eyes on the prize and counting down the days until you’re out of my belly & into my arms. 🙂

With time slipping by so quickly & your due date getting ever closer, we’ve continued to be in super baby prep mode. Last week we did the hospital tour and the childbirth class. Both were extremely helpful. I especially enjoyed the childbirth class because it helped me feel more confident, not just in myself but also in Dad as a partner/coach for this process. He did so well with everything we practiced in class, took it all very seriously & just did such a stellar job soaking all the info in & helping me figure out the techniques that would work best for us. Even just practicing/rehearsing the labor was an intimate affair to me, so I imagine the real thing will be much more so. For just this reason, we are planning for it to be just the two of us during the whole labor & birth, as well as for the first hour or so immediately afterward. Not sure how happy all your grandparents are with this arrangement, but my first priority from now on is always going to be doing what’s best for you & our little family!

Well, I suppose that’s enough for this week. Just remember that WE LOVE YOU so much & despite all the craziness going on with my body… I would not change a thing so far because it means that it’s almost time for your grand entrance! Until next week big guy. 🙂

All my love,
Mom

Dear Alex,

The past week has been extremely busy! You are about 32 1/2 weeks along now (the size of a squash supposedly? Must be a really big squash!) and we have been in super baby-prep mode. Last Thursday I had my bi-weekly check up with the OB-GYN… all was well except I’d gained more weight than they wanted (which I was expecting, considering we’d just gone out of town for Thanksgiving!), but overall things are still looking pretty good in the health department. Then over the weekend we took maternity/holiday photos– we’ve been in the habit of taking family holiday photos every year, but this year we sprung for a photographer since we also wanted to get maternity shots. That is why I do not have a “bump photo” this week– I plan to use one of those pictures instead, but we haven’t gotten them back yet. Hopefully they turned out well!

The other major thing we did this weekend was finish your nursery! I am so excited to be able to take you on the grand tour (haha):

This is the view from the door as you walk in. That rocking chair in the corner was my great-grandmother’s, and it has been in our family’s nurseries for generations. Dad put in a few shelves there to make a nice little “reading nook” — as you can see, you already have a little bit of a library going! 🙂 I absolutely LOVE to read, and I hope you do too.

Actually one thing we haven’t quite finished yet is the windows… it turns out that the blinds we bought won’t fit these windows, so we need to exchange them for something else. Dad can get those up pretty easily, though. The lamp on your dresser is very special to me– my grandfather (who I also called “Papa”) made it for me when I was little, and it was part of my room decor for the majority of my childhood. I always knew that I wanted to incorporate it into my child’s room someday, and so the rest of your nursery’s design was inspired by this lamp. 🙂

Not much to see here, but I am proud to say that I re-vamped these old metal closet doors myself! It’s amazing what a couple fresh coats of paint & some new knobs will do. It turned out so well that I actually ended up doing all the closet doors upstairs this way. Inside the closet, I’ve hung up/organized all your clothes up to the 3-6 months size (but still need to wash them before you can wear them).

Here is the changing table– my favorite part of this nursery are the letters hanging above it. 🙂 Dad actually came up with the branch thing, based off a Pinterest idea Nana showed us. We tried to find a fake branch at local craft stores without success, then decided to just cut a branch down from the backyard. Also in the corner is a cute little toy chest my Aunt Kathy made for you– you can’t see from this angle, but she burned your full name into the top of the lid. So cool! It kind of reminds me of a little pirate’s chest; I think you’re really going to dig it. 🙂

And last but not least– the crib! I made the teething guard using plain old fleece, and inside the crib are a few stuffed animals. Some of them are very special to me & Dad because they were ours when we were little. We can’t wait to share them with you! 🙂 Also, Dad & I teamed up to make the art above the crib– Dad painted the tree trunk by hand & I made the leaves/letters/bears using my Cricut machine. I love how it turned out!

So that is the nursery… I hope you like it! I also want to give some props to Nana– she painted the walls for me so that I wouldn’t have to deal with the fumes. She did a great job! Anyway, last night Dad & I took a tour of the hospital’s maternity ward. I’m really glad we did, it was really helpful to learn exactly where we need to go, what to do & what to expect when the time comes… hopefully not for another 8 weeks or so. 😉 The hospital we’re planning to give birth at, INOVA Alexandria, seems like a very nice facility. I think we’ll all be in good hands there!

This weekend will be another busy one– Saturday Dad & I are going to the all-day childbirth “bootcamp” class held by the local Lamaze chapter. I’m really looking forward to this, and I think it will be especially helpful for Dad (who isn’t as into reading childbirth books as I am, haha). Then Sunday I’m hosting a bridal shower for a friend here at our house… hopefully we can find some time to clean between now & then! I suppose that is enough for now. Until next week, little guy! 🙂

All my love,
Mom