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Here's something that will hopefully help start your week off with a laugh...

You're welcome.

38 Weeks and a birthday!

Sorry this is late. It's been a crazy week with birthday and holidays and I'm taking as much time as I can to relax before Baby Girl gets here.

This picture was taken on my birthday :)

How far along: 38 weeks!

Trimester: Third and final trimester!!!!! 

Baby size: Watermelon - somewhere between 19 and 22 inches and somewhere around 7.5 lbs

Toes: What toes? I have toes?!

Gender: BABY GIRL!

Movement: Her movement is beginning to shift. I can tell there's not much room for her in there and it's reflected in the way she's moving.

Cravings: Anything sweet and peppermint, but I guess it has to do with the season

Aversions: I tried chicken again...I nearly threw up. It was horrible. No thank you.

Nausea/Morning sickness: Still no nausea or morning sickness, now just massive back pain (yay pre-labor symptoms) and Braxton Hicks. 

Maternity clothes: I live in sweats and the hubs's pajama pants and shirts. Nothing fits me anymore. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I have to go back to work next week.

Best moment of the week: My birthday was on Tuesday and so we just had a relaxing day watching football (GO DAWGS!) and hanging out with family.

What I'm looking forward to: This girl getting here! I'm ready to meet her and have some quality snuggle time with her!!

Can I just say that I love my doctors? I really do. I had my 38 week appointment yesterday and they talked about checking me to see if I had progressed any. My doctor started off by asking me, "What's your plan?" and my instant response was "To have a baby." She just laughed and told me it was a good plan. I went in depth and told her I really just wanted to go with the flow and see what happens. I wasn't concerned about knowing if I was in fact dilating or if I was still just hanging. In fact, I think I would be more anxious knowing how far along I actually was than I am not knowing how I've progressed. She agreed with me and told me that we'll just let nature run it's course and not bother checking. I love that! I love that I can just let my body do what it needs to do without the added pressure from the doctors. They seemed real easy with just letting it happen too. I've had a "go-with-the-flow" attitude this entire pregnancy. As long as baby and I are healthy, I'm not worried, and I'm thankful to see that my doctors are of the same mindset as me.

Not How I Intended My Evening To Go...

We are all fine. Baby Girl, the hubs, and I are all fine. Heck, we weren't even in or near the vehicle when it happened. In fact, it was sitting in front of our house when it happened. No one near or around it...other than the other driver.

What happened you ask...Well, I wish I could tell you. We don't even know what happened to our Tahoe. The hubs and I were heading out to do our respective errands when we saw it. I was the first to hit the top of the driveway and noticed our Tahoe looking a little funny, but I just thought that the hubs had left the back hatch open. Little did I know that our car had been hit by something.

By what? We don't know. By whom? We don't know. There was no note. No one came to tell us what happened. Nothing. They hit our car and left. A hit and run. I think that's what breaks my heart the most. Someone did major damage to our vehicle and then left as if nothing was the matter. I mean, what happened to honest people? I know they're out there. I know there is good in this world, but this is heartbreaking to me. How hard is it to own up to something that you did? When I called our insurance, the lady taking our claim said that this wasn't uncommon. It happened more often than you would think. People just don't think it's necessary to own up to anything anymore.

Unfortunately, there's nothing more that we can do. We filed a police report and a claim with our insurance, so now it's a waiting game for the insurance adjuster to come out and assess the damage. Hopefully, it won't take too long. But it's now out of our hands. I'm just thankful that it was just a car. It could have been me, the hubs, or Baby Girl. I'd gladly take damage to an empty car over someone getting hurt any day. And this damage can be repaired without costing us a thing (or at least it should). So tonight I am thankful, thankful that it was just a car and no one that I love.

Merry Christmas and 37 Week Update!

(our internet has been spotty over the past few days and things have been crazy with the holidays, but better late than never...)

It's hard to believe that next year we will be a family of three celebrating Christmas. It's quite unreal, actually. But we couldn't be more excited!

We're ready for Baby Girl to be here and can't wait to meet her! Now to spend the next week of vacation cleaning and organizing and getting ready for our newest member to join us!

(my 37 week, Christmas day bump)

How far along: 37 weeks! She's full term!

Trimester: Third and final trimester!!!!! 

Baby size: Watermelon - somewhere between 19 and 22 inches, over 7 lbs possibly...I'm guessing right now. Haha

Toes: What toes? I have toes?!

Gender: BABY GIRL!

Movement: This girl still loves to move! Now it feels like my stomach is being kneaded on the inside. She is constantly on the move!

Cravings: Anything sweet and peppermint, but I guess it has to do with the season

Aversions: I tried chicken again...I nearly threw up. It was horrible. No thank you.

Nausea/Morning sickness: No more! Just tired now, and constantly out of breath. Round ligament pain, itchy and stretchy skin, heartburn, acid re-flux, some slight dizziness, and hip and back pain, but nothing to complain about :) Also, I'm beginning to experience Braxton Hicks contractions, which are getting more and more frequent.

Maternity clothes: Yes...however, I'm getting to the point where nothing fits, only my leggings. It's nice that I'm on break right now and don't really have to get dressed for any particular reason. So right now I'm living in the hubs's pajama pants.

Best moment of the week: Christmas was so special this year. It was our last one as a family of two. We got to enjoy each other and dream about what Christmas will be like next year.

What I'm looking forward to: This girl getting here! Her due date is 2 and a half weeks away and I'm anxious for her arrival! 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmastime is my favorite time of the year. I love the holiday cheer, the decorating, and time with family. This holiday season has been different. I'm a day away from being 37 weeks pregnant. Full term. So this holiday season has been a lot more stressful. I haven't been able to do as much as I would have liked, but we've still gotten things up around the house. We went in search of a tree and the hubs {my hero} put in an electrical outlet outside so that we can actually have lights outside this year! 

Here are a few pictures from our decorations around the house. Sorry if you're a follower on instagram, these pictures are repeats. If you're not a follower, come check me out @ awood009.

Our icicle lights outside. We added some more lights around the door. 

We added Baby Girl's stocking just in case she decided to come before Christmas. 

Baby Girl got her daddy a little gift :)

36 Weeks...Wait...What?!

It's official! We're in our 9th month of pregnancy! Just four more weeks until my little girl is "scheduled" to arrive! Some people however are predicting that she'll come early, I however think she'll be late (you can vote for what you think in my poll on the right side of the blog). 

This past weekend we did a maternity shoot. We'll call this "part 1" as it was pouring the entire time. But it allowed us to get creative with our shots and locations and I love how the photos came out! One of my best friends, Hannah, took the pictures. She's so talented and I'm so lucky to have her as a friend! Here's a sneak preview of the pictures we had done:

How far along: 36 weeks! 1 month left!

Trimester: Third and final trimester!!!!! And final month!

Baby size: Watermelon - somewhere between 19 and 22 inches, over 6 lbs (probably closer to 7...who knows)

Toes: What toes? I have toes?!

Gender: BABY GIRL!

Movement: This girl still loves to move! Now it feels like my stomach is being kneaded on the inside. She is constantly on the move!

Cravings: Anything sweet and peppermint, but I guess it has to do with the season

Aversions: I tried chicken again...I nearly threw up. It was horrible. No thank you.

Nausea/Morning sickness: No more! Just tired now, and constantly out of breath. Round ligament pain, itchy and stretchy skin, heartburn, acid re-flux, some slight dizziness, and hip and back pain, but nothing to complain about :) Also, I'm beginning to experience Braxton Hicks contractions, which are getting more and more frequent.

Maternity clothes: Yes yes and yes. I love them. I'm definitely one of those women who is proud to wear my maternity pants. They're just too comfortable to pass up.

Best moment of the week: My work threw me and baby girl a shower last week and it was so special! I'm so blessed to be working with some of the sweetest people on earth! As of now, there are 4 of us pregnant (and 1 just got back from maternity leave) so it's a wash full of hormones, but I love it!

What I'm looking forward to: One more day until Christmas break! And my little brother is graduating from college this week! My little baby's all grown up and graduating college ;)

Birth Plans and Hospital Bags

I'm getting to the point where I should be getting things in order for "the big day." Less that 5 weeks until her due date, and all we have is the car seat in the car. I don't have a single bag packed, for myself or for the baby. I had lists made up, in fact, I had the list made up about a month ago, but that was about it. Here is what I have for my list:

Packing for the Baby:

• Swaddle blankets/baby blanket
• Going home outfit
• Mittens
• Nail clippers
• Vaseline
• 3 outfits (newborn and 0-3 months)
• Wipes
• Nasal aspirator
• Newborn Diapers
• Socks
• Hat

That's the list I've come up with for baby girl's bag. After our hospital tour, I've come up with a new list. The items I've crossed off are the ones that the hospital said they provided. They also provide diapers, mittens, and socks, but I decided to bring those anyway. *Baby girl's bag is officially packed and ready to go!*

Packing for Mom:

• Robe
• Slippers/flip flops
• Non-skid socks
• Camera/Camera charger
• Boppy
• Shampoo/toothbrush/toothpaste/deodorant (travel size)
• iPhone/iPhone charger
• Chapstick
• Nursing tank tops/outfits
• Snacks for Daddy
• Going home outfit
• Towels
• Pillow
• Lanolin cream
• Chocolate
• Granny panties
• Sports bras/nursing bras
• Baggy pajamas
• Tennis ball
• Laptop (maybe)
• Change for vending machines
• Pads
• Additional tote for freebies
• Cookies for nurses

This is the list for me. Too much? Probably. But as the Boy Scout saying goes: "Always be prepared." Plus, my husband is a big fan of over packing. I just think that I'd rather have everything there with me, so that I have it just in case. My bag is not packed though, nor is it close to being packed. I need to get on that though...I've been cramping a lot today, which just means we're one step closer to her being here!

source

Speaking of her getting here, people have constantly asked me about my birthing plan. All the websites and books say to make one and write it down. To "be specific" about what you want and then to have multiple copies so that everyone dealing with your delivery will know and honor your birthing plan. I've put a lot of prayer and thought into my own personal birthing plan. In the end, this is what I came up with:

Birthing Plan

•  Have a healthy baby

That's it. That's the extent of my birth plan. I would like to be able to have a natural childbirth, but seeing as I've never had a child before, I don't know how my body is going to react. I have faith that God created and equipped my body for childbirth, and that's what I'm relying on. But I'm not set on having a drug-free labor and delivery. If it's better for me and the baby, then I will have the drugs. I just want my baby here and healthy. Like I said, I would love to have a natural childbirth, and for now that is the plan...but I will do whatever it takes to get my baby here safe and sound.