Almost 38 weeks...and the serious countdown begins!

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. This little momma's been busy! I will be 38 weeks along tomorrow and this photo was taken earlier this week, at technically 37 1/2 weeks. :)

My tummy looks really big in this picture! Whoa. Baby Donovan is growing of course (according to babycenter.com he's about 6.8 lbs now and 19.5 inches). I still feel like my stomach is smaller than I imagined it would be and from other preggy women I've seen this far along--but that is great! I'm hoping for a seven-pounder, and since Josh weighed nearly 11 lbs. at birth (yes, God bless his momma!) I was worried in the beginning that I was going to have a huge baby, haha!

Feeling lots of movement every day. Donovan has been in the correct, "head down" position since about 30 weeks. He hasn't "dropped" yet (a settling lower into the pelvis to prepare for birth), so I feel him sometimes on my ribs, which is more uncomfortable than painful for a few minutes. It seems to help if I elongate my torso by sitting up straighter or change positions.

I got a fabulous pregnancy massage this week at Aveda Spa, thanks to my friend Sherri who got me a gift certificate for Mother's Day. (Thank you again, Sherri!!!) It was soooooo awesome. I could go for one of those every day. With my mid-back feeling more strained in these last few weeks, I'm so glad I saved the gift certificate until I got futher along. I told the masseuse I wish I could have her there with me when I go into labor, because I hear being as relaxed as possible is the key, and boy was I relaxed! I actually had to focus on NOT falling asleep so I could consciously enjoy every minute of it. :)

"Are you ready?" is the question I'm getting asked a lot lately. Josh and I packed our bag for the hospital today, and that was pretty much the last thing we needed to do to be all set if the baby came today. Thanks to help from my mom and Josh's mom the last couple of weekends, Donovan's room is completely ready; all his clothes are washed, organized by age group, and hung up. Josh and I love going into his room. The decor is so happy and colorful and it's neat to imagine our baby there.

Emotionally, I feel ready--very excited and thinking a lot about what it's going to be like to see and hold and cuddle Donovan. I have had a little bit of "fear of the unknown" regarding labor, because I've never experienced it before...but I pray, trust, and know that the Lord will take care of everything. Physically, Donovan's ready (at 37 weeks, a baby is considered full term) and so am I, although I haven't hit that miserably uncomfortable state that many women say they experience toward the end. I'm still at work (I want to use my time off to be with my baby), and have a good amount of energy.

And so, the countdown continues... Can't wait!

34 Weeks

Donovan is growing and growing! He's about 4.75 lbs. now, according to the books. When I see photos of myself at 12 weeks, I can hardly believe it's me! And when I look at my pre-pregnancy shirts they look so small! It's strange to think there was ever I time I fit into them, haha!

Having some mid-back pain now as I'm supporting more weight in front, so I may soon need to see a chiropractor who specializes in pregnancy. Six weeks away seems very short at times, but when I'm hot or having back or sciatica pain, it sure seems like a long ways away, haha! It's all worth it though. God bless! :)

Video: My Preggo Journey

Hi everyone - Check out this video Josh made for me as a surprise for my baby shower in San Diego last month. What a sweetheart! :)

First Braxton-Hicks contraction & 33 weeks

I had my first Braxton-Hicks contractions on Saturday night. Josh and I were at our friends Matt and Jamie's house playing cards, and at about 10:30 p.m. I said, "I feel funny." I had been craving lemonade for weeks and Matt and Jamie happened to have some (yes!) so I had a big glass with dinner. At first I thought the acidity from the lemonade or dinner was not sitting well with me. Then after a few seconds, my whole stomach got really tight and hard and uncomfortable. "I think I'm having a contraction," I told them. Then Jamie described perfectly what I was feeling. I'm so glad she was there. I'd like to think I would have figured it out eventually, but it was so good to have a friend and three-time mom there to reassure me. The guys were interested at first, and then they realized all our talking and bonding was infringing upon card time, haha!

It last several minutes, and then came back about 10 minutes later but not quite as long or intense. I felt really warm and prickly afterward, like I was having a hot flash. Jamie assured me that was normal, too. :)

I didn't have any contractions yesterday. For the past three or four weeks, my pregnancy book/journal asks you to indicate whether or not you've had any contractions, and I haven't had any, so it's kind of cool to be able to say "yes" now, and know what they feel like.

Donovan is 33 weeks as of yesterday and should be about 4 lbs and 17 inches long. I've been a little more uncomfortable lately as I've definitely "popped" now and I have to sit tall and elongated so that my ribs don't tempt Donovan to play the harp with them with his feet or so they don't dig into my ever-expanding uterus. Had some mid- and lower back pain and sciatica pain this week. I'm so blessed that I'm just barely starting to experience the major discomforts of pregnancy...but it's going to be a long seven more weeks, haha!

32 Weeks!

Can you believe we are less than eight weeks away from meeting Donovan?!! I can't wait! Well...yes I can, because there's lots to do yet to prepare for our little prince's arrival. At our 30-week check-up and sonogram, Donovan's head was already down, which is great!

He's definitely taking up more and more real estate in my tummy (he is about 3.75 lbs. and 16.7 inches long and should gain about a half a pound per week in the next seven weeks...ouch for momma!) and moving lots and lots. It's fun to watch my stomach warp and move as he kicks and turns. I'm feeling a bit more pressure on my back and against my ribs at times. But it's all worth it. :)

San Diego Baby Shower

My heart overflows with gratitude (or is that the shortness of breath from Donovan pushing increasingly on my ribs and diaphram? hehehehe).

Thank you, Grammy Sue, for throwing us such a cool shower at your home in San Diego! We loved the beach them with the monkeys on surfboards literally hanging from the rafters! Everything was so adorable and perfect.

Thank you Mom, Adeena, Sherri, Darah, Stacy, and Willy for all your help! And thank you to the rest of my family, friends, and neighbors who came to celebrate this blessing with us and shower Baby Donovan with awesome gifts. (Peggy wins the award for furthest distance traveled, coming all the way from Alpine. Thank you Peggy!!) You all are such gifts in our lives, and Josh and I are extremely grateful.

Donovan's Nursery

Josh and I knew that whether we had a boy or a girl, we wanted to do a modern, eclectic surf theme in the baby's room. We both love the beach, and now that we live a little further away from it than we did when we lived in San Diego, we wanted our baby to experience the joy of the ocean, sun, and sand...a little closer to home. We hope that Donovan loves his room--and surfing as much as his Daddy does!

Above: The photo above the mirrored closet doors is from one of Josh's surfing magazines that I cut and have been saving for almost two years now. It's a photo of an English Bull Dog (one of Josh's favorite breeds) chewing on a fin of a surfboard. We kept it knowing it would be so cute framed and put in our baby's room someday.

I want to thank Josh and my little sister Yoli for helping me paint the baby's room a couple of months ago! Thank you to Grammy SuSu and Papa for picking up this awesome Pottery Barn furniture I found on Craigslist for CHEAP in San Diego!
Above: A neat little art piece that Josh spotted when we were in Kauai last month. The cool thing is that 1.) we got it in the place we took our honeymoon; our favorite island in Hawaii, and 2.) it depicts a Hawaiian daddy surveying the surf with his boy.

Above: The triptych mural on the wall is a painting that our friend Daniel Furukawa did for the baby. We love it! We gave Daniel a few photos of what we had in mind and he took it to a whole other level! Written on the lip of the wave are the words "I have loved you with an everlasting.... love." "Love" is embedded in the sun. This a scripture from Jeremiah 31:3 in the Bible.

Above: I found these birds on my trip to Israel in May, in the heart of Jerusalem. The onesies I spotted in the gift shops throughout the trip were cute, but I knew Donovan would outgrow one fast, and I really wanted him to have something from the Holy Land that would really last forever. Josh and I fashioned them into a mobile we hung above the changing table.

Donovan thanks you for checking out his room! :)