34 weeks

Today : 34 weeks + 6 days

Weight gain : 25 lbs ... If I'm being honest, it's not been easy to see the scale climb higher & higher. When I first started noticing the "fullness" of pregnancy in my face, I might have cried.. but I try to remind myself that there will be days that I will miss this and I am so blessed to be able to experience this little miracle growing inside me.

Maternity clothes : Yep, regular shirts just don't cut it anymore. I am definitely wearing more leggings and yoga pants that maternity jeans though.. Pants are overrated.

Stretch marks : Nada. I might have high-fived my doctor this week when she said my belly looked really good & she didn't think I'd end up with any stretch marks. No pregnant woman will ever hear that enough. Ever. Also, my belly button is strangely cute and weird poking through my shirts, but thankfully still not a full blown outtie.

Sleep : I feel like I could go into hibernation into Samson gets here. There are not enough hours in the day for sleep. Also, I've been waking up no later than 6 am everyday, apparently Samson thinks that's an awesome time to wake up. We are in for it.

Sickness/symptoms : I accidentally gagged myself while brushing my teeth last night. I've never thrown up like that before.. It was so bizarre! I am still having carpal tunnel issues due to the swelling in my hands, but I've learned to cope with it. I'm having Braxton Hicks everyday & poor Aaron has to deal with me asking for a back rub everyday, but Husband of the Year is doing a great job :)

Movement : Yes! We had pizza & ice cream for Aaron's birthday this week and Samson went bananas! Apparently he knew it was daddy's birthday and was ready to party!

Cravings : My love of Dr. Pepper is stronger than ever before.

Exciting Happenings : After an eventful week of work, I was a total zombie on Monday, but at my 34 week appointment, everything looked to be right on track. Samson's still head down & heartbeat is about 135 bpm.

We had a change of heart and decided to get a Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 30/30 carseat instead of the Chicco Keyfit 30 we initially had planned upon. I felt really strongly about buying our car seat sooner than later, because I was starting to have some anxiety about going into labor without having one. We also got a stroller it could click into (Peg Perego Vela Easy Drive) and although its not the all black Baby Jogger City Mini I had my heart set on, it is definitely growing on me! 

Cash is not quite sure about this contraption that will be accompanying him on his walks this spring.

This week Aaron turned 25, and since he accidentally took my keys to work with him I wasn't able to get to the grocery in order to make him a birthday meal or cake (which is why we had pizza & ice cream). My pregnant lady emotions got the best of me & I definitely cried about how I was "the worst wife ever" when he got home. Thankfully, the ice cream made me feel less sad about that. ;)

Aaron & I have been able to spend the past 4 days together, which is completely unheard of due to our opposite schedules, but has been so awesome. Spending quality time with people you love is something you should never take for granted.

Today is both my mom & dad's birthday and we were blessed to be able to spend the day with them, two of my three brothers and their wives, and our extended family in Ohio. My cousin's wife Kate & I shared an amazing baby shower thrown by people we love most. Week 34 has sure been good to us, I can't wait to see what's in store for us next week :)

My sister-in-law Ashley and her beautiful baby girls!

For the record: Just one baby for me and one baby for Kate, no twins here!

33 weeks

Today : 33 weeks + 6 days (this picture is from 2 days ago!)

Weight gain : 22-23 lbs ... I may or may not have accidently bought the biggest Dr Pepper available yesterday at the movie theater when I went to see Mockingjay. So after that, I'll be honest, I don't really want to know what the scale says.

Maternity Clothes : Yes! I just bought this blue dress from Old Navy in a size medium, non-maternity. It's so cute & comfortable!

Stretch marks : Still a no! Belly button is not officially an outtie, but it's visible through my t-shirts now. So weird!

Sleep : Getting more and more necessary and more and more elusive. Biology's weird trick of training you to be wide awake in the middle of the night in preparation for feeding a newborn is definitely not conducive to my 12 hour work days. 

Sickness : Acid reflux. Insomnia. Carpal tunnel. Braxton Hicks. Might not count as "sickness," but I definitely count it as terrible. Boo!

Movement : Yep. Just like when I saw Gone Girl, Samson went crazy for the surround sound at the movie theater. He's getting big enough to cause some trouble though, like making it hard to breathe when he pushes too hard against my ribs. Hopefully, he'll be nice to momma for the next couple weeks.

Cravings : FINALLY, after almost two weeks of anticipation, got my hands on a spicy Korean BBQ sandwich from Bahn Mi Barista (if you haven't been there, please go as soon you possibly can!) It's a little Vietnamese sandwich shop that my friend Holli got me hooked on last year.

Exciting happenings : Aaron's mom and one of my best friend's, Rachel, had baby showers for me last weekend. Both parties were so sweet and so special. Just as expected, Samson got a few pairs of those cute baby socks I talked about last week (one pair came with Batman capes attached) and some much needed baby essentials. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures from either shower. I was too busy opening gifts and I imagine everyone else was busy rangling their own babies. I can tell you that Aaron & I felt so loved and blessed by our friends and family. We are so thankful to be bringing Samson into such a great community.

In other cute news, Cash has been spending more and more time Samson's room with Aaron & I, as well as by himself. I think it's really pretty sweet that Cash has been taking his toys into Samson's room and he'll even curl up by his crib on occasion. I can't wait to see how he reacts when we bring his little brother home!

Cash's new favorite moose, Murphy. We bought him a toy to make up for the influx of baby gear...

32 weeks

Today : 32 weeks + 4 days

Weight Gain :  22 lbs ... SERIOUSLY. After holding steady at the same weight for several weeks, boom, just in time for stepping on the scale at the doctor's office Samson and I had a huge growth spurt.  Roll your eyes if you want, but this part of pregnancy is one of my least favorites.

Maternity Clothes : Yep. Thankfully, a lot of my regular wardrobe does still fit. This pink shirt is from Victoria's Secret 4 years ago. Evidenced by this awesome #tbt from the weekend of my 20th birthday (Sorry about that cool filter, my flip phone and the Jersey Shore reference below. I loved college.)

Stretch marks : No. However, I am rocking a half-in, half-out belly button... very cool. 

Sleep : It could be worse. I've actually had a head cold the past few days so I've been taking Benadryl and sleeping through the worst of my carpal tunnel symptoms. Woohoo!

Sickness : Nothing. Feeling good!

Movement : Yes.. this little babe is constantly on the move. I got a pretty cute video of him shaking up my belly with some hiccups this week. He was positioned head down, tush up at my appointment on Monday. Hopefully he remembers that for the next 8 weeks!

Cravings : After finding out I'd gained 22 lbs, I've felt a little compelled to lay off the donuts (as often). I also seem to have my Dr Pepper craving under control at the moment. We may or may not had a late night french fry date earlier this week though... nobody's perfect ;)

Exciting happenings : Once again, we had a good doctor's appointment. Everything is measuring right on track, my blood pressure is good and Samson's heart rate is hanging out right around 140 bpm. 

Getting really excited about baby showers! There is something awesome about hanging out with family and friends, eating good food and getting your hands on all those soft, sweet, tiny baby things. Maybe it's the hormones, but at this point, tiny little baby socks melt me to a puddle. 

Nursery Updates

Most people ask me "is the nursery done yet?" and while it might seem like an innocent question, the answer is a definite no. While it's totally normal, it definitely stresses me out! Moms expecting their second baby might have pulled out a box of newborn clothes from storage or bought a few boxes of newborn diapers, but most of them would roll their eyes if you assumed they had the nursery done. No sweat, there are 9 weeks left. 

I feel like I have to remind myself (and some pushy askers) that I have several upcoming baby showers, and while I don't ever expect anyone to buy us anything, I know that they will (and we are SO grateful!) However, there are several things I would like to do myself for Samson's room because I want his room to be lovingly collected by his mama and daddy. First, we ordered a fun, modern style crib. We didn't want to spend a fortune, so we ordered it from Walmart.com. I'm super pleased with the quality and it arrived quickly. The next thing we decided to do was paint the room mint green and we *gasp* painted over the chalkboard wall. I still cant believe we did it, but the whole room is so bright and airy now. 

I posted last week that I found fabric that I wanted to use for a project  in his room. I wanted his room to be colorful and fit for a little troublemaker, but I also wanted to stay away from themes and create a place he can grow in to. I planned for most of the bigger fixtures of the room: crib, dresser, glider, curtains, etc. to be a neutral shade and wanted to drop in some fun flavor where I could. Once I picked out a fun fabric to base most of the room off of, I had the designer flip the fabric for me so the pattern would repeat itself and fit into the streamlined crib skirt I had in mind. 

I didn't follow any pattern or directions online, I just used all that good old fashioned know-how my momma gave me. I made an adjustable panel for the front, that will adjust easily as the crib lowers and two panels for the sides of the crib.

The ribbon ties I sewed on will just move back further towards to center of the crib to accommodate the shorter skirt length needed in the future. And just in case you were getting too impressed with all my skills, here is how I attached to non-moving side panels to the inside of the crib. 3M tape. Legit.  For the record: I meant to get some adhesive velcro squares, but I forgot, and Samson won't be crawling around, tugging on things for a while, so it might stay like this.

Now that that's done, we've got a much better understanding of what the room will look like. We hope to fill it with things we love that Samson will enjoy looking at and exploring. We have a lot of work left to do but the biggest projects include: purchasing a glider, painting the dresser, creating some wooden ledges to hang on the walls to hold his books, tackling the closet organization (this kid's walk in closet is huge!) and finally getting around to hanging things on the walls.  Smaller features I plan on focusing on next week include window treatments and the decoration above his crib. I'm leaning towards some gray and white curtains like these at Target... we'd add some blackout fabric to the back so our precious baby will sleep through nap time.

I'm still trying to talk myself out of these $18 a pop zinc letters from Anthropologie to spell his name out above his crib. I've looked into tons of other options and even investigated several DIY tutorials (none have impressed me). So far, I've been unsuccessful, so this might end up being the splurge for the room.

So while there is a lot to do, I think Aaron and I are a pretty efficient team... we might have a room ready for Samson before he's born. If not, he can always bunk with mom & dad until it's done ;)

31 weeks

Today : 31 weeks + 5 days

Weight Gain :  19.5 lbs

Maternity Clothes : Yep. Most days I mix and match. These are maternity jeggings from Old Navy my sister-in-law let me borrow. This shirt is just a medium non-maternity shirt from Old Navy, a size up from my regular. 

Stretch marks : No. My belly button is not really an innie anymore, although it doesn't qualify as an outie quite yet. I keep expecting to wake up one morning and it will have popped like one of those red thermometers you put in your Thanksgiving Turkey. 

Sleep : I'm getting plenty of sleep, but in weird shifts. I'm pretty consistent in waking up at 4:30 AM. I follow that up with a 2 hour nap after Aaron leaves for work. This means I've gone full hobbit mode a la Bilbo Baggins and have breakfast AND second breakfast. Fantastic.

Sickness : Nope

Movement : Yes.. there's a dance party in my belly right now. It's all fun and games until the elbows come out. I am starting to wonder if Samson might be laying side-to-side though, because more often than not I'm feeling jabs and kicks simultaneously on opposite sides of my belly. Another factor in my side-to-side theory is that my stomach feels lower than it has been in previous weeks and I think it would be too early for that to happen normally. 

Cravings : Peanut Butter Oatmeal... I think I've had it for breakfast every day this week. Except for today, because it was Friday and it was payday and we had donuts. Oh, and obviously Dr Pepper. 

Exciting happenings : Got coffee with a girlfriend I hadn't seen since this summer (sorry Holly!), went to Babies R Us with my mom, had some friends over for dinner, worked on some things for the nursery and got our first box of cloth diapers in the mail. 

As promised, I definitely plan on doing a dedicated post about our decision to cloth diaper and what it entails soon, but just in case you got really freaked out and started envisioning the earlier generations, white Gerber cloth diapers, diaper pins and plastic pants.. here is what cloth diapers look like today.

These are Charlie Banana one-size hybrid cloth diapers. Theoretically, these will fit Samson from birth to potty training and will last through multiple children. They go on just like disposable diapers and I promise there is no toilet dunking involved. The outside is a soft water-resistent fabric, the inside is fleece... which is definitely nicer than that maxi-pad feel of disposables. In between those layers is a pocket that you stuff with a soft microfiber insert. If you're still unsure about the whole thing, it's ok, Cash is too...

Also, one last bit of exciting news for the week... Due date milk is in stores now! I'm not sure why this has always been so fun for me. All big events are marked as near, upcoming and HOLY SMOKES EXCITING when you see them printed on something real and tangible. Graduation, weddings, birthdays, etc. Nobody else but my sister-in-law Ashley may get this excited about milk, but maybe I'll convert you.

If you aren't an organic milk drinker, you'll have to wait until December to nab some for your own refrigerator, but in the West household, we've got this date in our fridge and on our calendars! Woohoo!

30 weeks

Today : 30 weeks +  5 days ( Halloween! Today I'm actually 31 weeks.. oops!)

Weight Gain :  18.5 lbs, same as last week

Maternity Clothes : Yep ... although the clothes I'm wearing in this picture are all non-maternity & I'm pretty sure that t-shirt is from high school. Just keeping it real.

Stretch marks : Nope. Update on the belly button: still IN, for now.

Sleep : Better this week. I'm probably one of the few pregnant women who doesn't sleep with a body pillow, shockingly, I prefer to sleep next to my husband ;) However, I've learned how to prop one of my hands up on the pillows by my head and the other on one of the extra throw pillows we have laying around and it has helped reduce my carpal tunnel symptoms. Also.. I have been drinking water like a FISH to help with water retention. 

Sickness : No, I felt really good this week!

Movement : Yes. It is oh so sweet to feel this little man squirm around. I know I'll miss this time with him when he is born, but I really can't wait to meet him.

Cravings : One of my co-workers brought me a corn dog for lunch last weekend after reading my blog post and it was GOOD. Definitely lived up to the hype. So far, I haven't wanted another one and haven't had any other cravings. I did decide to bake a Texas sheet cake at 9:30 PM one night. Not sure it qualified as a craving because who doesn't love a good chocolate cake? I prefer this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, because it is fast, easy, and SO good. Also, between the cake and the frosting it contains like a pound of butter y'all. Yum.

Exciting happenings : My 30 week appointment on Monday went really well. The fabric for Samson's room came, we picked up a jumper/bouncer toy from one of my co-workers and we ordered our first box of cloth diapers. (There is a another blog post or 10 involved with that decision, but all you really need to know is no, we aren't crazy, yes, I realize there will be poop involved, no, we won't exclusively be using cloth diapers and you can still send a diaper cake made of Pampers to my baby shower and they will gladly be used). I promise I will write about how we decided to try cloth diapers in another post. 

Also, it was Halloween week! I have really fond memories of my mom making a lot of my costumes growing up and trick-or-treating with my friends.  Aaron and I haven't celebrated Halloween in several years, so the last time I dressed up for Halloween was in college and I'm fairly certain it probably wasn't something that would be appropriate to talk about on our family blog (again, keeping it real for you) but maybe next year, we'll have some fun family friendly costumes. 

Friday, it was too cold to open and close the door for trick-or-treaters in Indiana, so we had a game night with friends from church. I made this festive popcorn munch loosely based on this recipe that I found on Pinterest. I made the popcorn on the stove, spread it out on a pan, threw on some Reese's pieces, candy corn, and peanuts, melted chocolate chips in the microwave and poured it on top. Yum.

Happy first week of November! There are only two more calendar flips between us and Samson (maybe only one!) Hope you have a good week :)