37 weeks "That's a good pancake"

37 weeks marked the best week ever....Thanksgiving!  Seriously, if there was ever an amazing time to be pregnant, it would be over Thanksgiving.  Although, it didn't go as face-stuffingly-amazing as I had hoped.  Due to the swelling of my ankles, feet, and hands (are you sick of hearing about the swelling yet?  I know I am) I knew I was going to have to take it easy on certain sodium rich foods....which if you think about it, is pretty much every single Thanksgiving dish.  I rested most of the day thanks to Matt's wonderful family who all insisted I sit and put my feet up while they did all the work. Unfortunately, my appetite has decreased quite a bit over the last couple weeks, so I only had one plate of food, instead of the 13 I had been planning on eating.  And I only drank water all day, in hopes of keeping the swelling at bay.  By the time we got home, my feet looked like this:

Now, they may not seem too enormous to some of you, but I ordinarily have pretty narrow feet and most flip flops are loose on them because of being so narrow.  I wore flip flops on Thanksgiving, mostly because I didn't want to wear socks, and thankfully I did because they looked like monster feet when we got home.  And my size too big flip flops had made red welts in my feet from them being so mega sized (which you can kind of see on the right foot).  The massive feet lasted about two days, but were back down to almost normal by the weekend.  And I also got a pedicure Saturday morning. :)

Friday (after Thanksgiving) we had a doctor appointment.  My blood pressure and weight gain were good and my belly was back to measuring one week ahead.  We asked about inducing, in case we go over our due date and our doctor told us she would only let us go a week over, which made me very happy.  Though my uncomfortableness is at an all time high for this pregnancy, I am all for letting Baby Owen beat me up from the inside for as long as he chooses.

Nesting has hit an all time high at the Kendall house...by Baby Daddy Kendall anyway.  Matt had a four day weekend over Thanksgiving and went NUTS cleaning anything and everything he could get his hands on.  With the exception of our master bedroom (which is mostly messy because of my clothes everywhere) the entire house is probably the cleanest it has every been.  I even went through our three junk drawers (why anyone needs three, or even one is beyond me) and completely gutted and organized every item inside them all.  Matt also decided our dining room windows were not clean enough and washed them inside and out.

And it wouldn't be Thanksgiving weekend without.....Christmas Tree decorating!!!!  I have been bugging Matt to get the Christmas stuff out of the attic for the last month or so and Saturday (after Thanksgiving) he fiiiiinally brought it down for me.  So he got to not help and watch the Badger Football game while I decorated the tree...best day ever for both of us. :)

Baby Stats
Weight: About 6 1/2 lbs
Length: A little over 19 inches long
***We're considered full term this week!  So if Baby Owen would have shown up, he would have been completely developed inside and out, just maybe a little bit skinny. :) ***

37 weeks along

Clingiest puppies ever. They seriously will not leave me alone when I'm home
...maybe they know something I don't....

~Matt, Steph, and Baby Owen~

***Weekly words of wisdom: Next time anyone visits us for the weekend, we have a new AMAZING breakfast place to take you.  And they have THE. MOST. AMAZING. PANCAKES. EVER.  They are so amazing you will probably say, "That's a good pancake" at least 5 times during the meal.  Just like I did. :)  ***

36 weeks "So he won't be a monster?"

9 months pregnant this week!

We had our first weekly doctor appointment for our 36th week.  My blood pressure was up a little bit, but still within normal range.  The doc assured us it was normal for it to be a bit higher this late in the pregnancy.  My weight gain was back in the normal range as well.  Calves, ankles, and feet were still swelled up, but again the doc assured us of its normalcy...and that it will most likely only get worse. : /  (My ankles and feet are ballooned up everyday by 5am, which is 30 minutes before my work day starts. Ughhhh)  My belly is back to measuring right on with our 36 weeks and the doc told us that the baby is a good, normal size.  To which Matt said, "So, he won't be a monster?"

I also had my work baby shower last week!  Seriously, I have the most amazing co-workers.  We did it potluck style and I stuffed my face all afternoon (three plates of food thank you) and opened some wonderful gifts.  :)  Good food and good people mixed with not having to do any work for a few hours = a very happy Steph. :)

Since Baby Owen dropped, my nightly bathroom breaks have increased to about 4 times a night.  And plus at least 15 times during the day, if not more.  No exaggeration.  My heartburn has also gotten worse; I've been popping Tums like it's my job.  Heartburn in the middle of the night is a new symptom too, to the point where I feel like I'm going to get sick from it.  I've been trying to not eat anything past 6pm, and nothing spicy late in the day, hoping that will make a difference, so far (one day) it seems to.  The pelvic pressure is getting to the point where it's almost painful, like a badly pulled groin muscle.

Baby Stats
Weight: Almost 6 lbs. and gaining about an ounce a day!
Length: About 18 1/2" long
***I was so excited about feeling baby hiccups, but then only experienced it one time...until now. :)  Baby Owen seems to get them a couple of times a week, right around bed time lately.  He also seems to have about 47 elbows, knees, and feet all flailing around in there...I think he's trying to stretch my poor belly out to make more room for himself.

36 weeks (9 months!) along

Look at how tiny Suzie looks next to my mega belly.

And since Baby Daddy Matthew doesn't get a whole lot of face time on here.... lets not forget that November is Prostate Awareness month...also known as shave your beard into a creepy mustache for a day around our house.  Right after he did this, I told Matt we needed to stop at Babies R Us, to which he replied in a panic, "I can't go into a baby store with a creepy mustache."

~Matt, Steph, and Baby Owen~

***Weekly words of wisdom: As you reach the end of your pregnancy, baby books will warn you that you may loose control of your bladder when you laugh, sneeze, or cough.  Did I happen to cough and then pee my pants this week?.....No comment.***

35 weeks "Can you breathe any louder?"

***First and foremost, I want to apologize for last weeks post being so grumpy and down in the dumps.  I think, ok I know, that sometimes people forget that any other person in the world is going through or has gone through what they are currently going through, like being busy at work, planning a wedding, buying a house, or hello...being pregnant.  In a less wordy form, I forgot I'm not the center of the pregnant universe.  I think when someone is going through something, especially for the first time, they 100% think that no one can relate because it's happen to them, right then.  Every pregnant woman gets swollen ankles at some point.  Every couple has a scary moment (or moments) during their pregnancy.  Almost every woman in history has gone through what I am going through.  Or will go through in the future.  And I finally realized this.  But with all that being said, thank you thank you thank you to those of you who reached out to me, assuring me everything is and will be ok.  Thank you so so much for your on going support through texts, comments, emails, phone calls and happy thoughts.  It honestly means the world to me to know you're out there for me, Matt, and Baby Owen. :) :) :)  ***

During our 35th week I had an appointment with the Kohl's Safety Center through the American Children's Hospital here in town (which is connected to the hospital I work at) to have our car seat/base inspected.  We wanted to make sure that we had the base installed correctly, since the Infiniti did not have any latches, or at least any that we could find.  The inspection is free, you just have to make an appointment, and the women I met with was wonderful.  We walked out to the car together and the second she looked inside she immediately exclaimed, "Well, I see three violations already."  One of them was that the seat belt wasn't tight enough.  As you may remember, we had struggled with installing one of the bases in the Infiniti (but hadn't with the Vibe), so hearing we did indeed have violations, made me so relieved that I had made the inspection appointment.  The lady checked for latches and did not find any, so she ended up using the seat belt, which was a bit tricky because the belt was a little too long to secure the base tightly enough.  In the end she had to twist the clicker side of the seat belt 2 times around (2 1/2 times is the legal amount allowed) in order to be tight enough.  After a few other adjustments, we were good to go!

My swollen ankles have migrated to also include my feet and calves.  Awesome.  I can't wear my sneakers to work anymore because they're way too tight, which only makes the swelling worse.  So, I've been clomping into work in my Ugg-ish boots and then putting on some old Etnies shoes I had held onto from years ago (they're skater style shoes and super wide aka perfect for monster feet) for working.  Oh, and my hands are almost always swelled up too, so the wedding rings have found a new home in my ring holder.  :(

We have the baby monitor and bottles all set now too.  I'm planning (and hoping) to exclusively breast feed for the first month and then ease into a breast feeding/bottle feeding combination until I go back to work.  But just in case breast feeding doesn't work out, I wanted some bottles to be ready.

Baby Owen has definitely dropped a bit, but my breathing is still loud and labored most of the time.   : /  Matt and I saw a movie over the weekend and at one point I could feel him staring at me because my breathing was so loud.  I think I'm also getting another cold, but what's sexier that loud and labored breathing for no reason, huh?  But since he's dropped sleeping has gotten slightly less painful.  Just slightly, but hey at least it's something.

Our go bag is all packed and waiting in the guest room, alongside the packed baby bag and Boppy.  Though we have a few weeks to go until out due date, we could be entering the labor zone any time now. :)  Whoop!

Baby Stats
Weight: About 5 1/4 - 5 1/2 lbs
Length: About 20" long
**Baby Owen is finally head down...and loves to kick me in the ribs with his little soccer feet, usually both at the same time.  I've been feeling his knees, feet, and and elbows poking through my belly too.

35 weeks along

And this what you all get when I feel like Matt is taking photos too quickly, or without giving me enough warning.

~Matt, Steph, and Baby Owen~

***Weekly words of wisdom:  Your husband may start to hover and stare at you every time you grimace/groan from a painful kick.  He may say "Labor? Contractions?!" almost every time too.  He may just be a little bit excited. :) ***

34 weeks "They're like tree trunks"

Whoa.  8 1/2 months along people.  That means less than 6 weeks left until our due date on December 11.  Whoa.....

This week we had our 2nd baby class, "Baby's First Weeks," where we essentially learned how to keep the baby alive and how to take care of him once we get home.  This class was very informative and helpful in comparison to the last one.  We learned how to take a rectal temperature (SO excited to get to to that the first time... : / ), dealing with fussing/crying, feeding, the car seat, swaddling etc ect ect.  Swaddling was the best part of the class for this main reason: watching Matt attempt to swaddle the doll was probably the funniest thing I've ever seen.  Now, yes I was laughing at him to the point where tears were streaming down my face (definitely at him, not with him.  He was not amused), but know that he tried everything the instructor asked us to do without hesitation.  I can tell he's going to be a great dad, even if he did tie the swaddle around the doll's neck to keep it in place.  And every time he would hand me the doll to try a task, he would grab it by it's head and pass it to me.  We also had a pediatrician come in and answer questions after talking about when to call the doctor.  All in all, I highly recommend it or a similar class.

One minor scary moment this week...I had a fall at work.  I slipped on a rubber mat in the lab which was all wet underneath from a spill.  I stopped too quickly with one foot on the mat, the mat went flying across the lab and I went flying through the air and to the ground.  Though it doesn't sound good, I was lucky enough to be carrying a big jug of 200% alcohol (to go in one of our machines) and I held onto the jug as I went down, so the jug basically broke my fall.  My left hip and arm hit the ground next, so again, luckily I fell just right on my hip.  I was sore the rest of that day, but other than that, I walked away without any bruises or aches.  I must be the most spastic pregnant faller in history.

Thursday I had a doctor appointment after work, which was good because I had been having some weird symptoms all week.  The Braxton-Hicks contractions were coming really regularly throughout every day, I was spotting, had a lot of pelvic pressure (day and night), and had been having some cramping.....all of which could point to early labor.  So, as I'm sitting on the table/bed waiting for the doctor to come in, I realize suddenly that I can't remember the last time I shaved my legs (Matt is one lucky guy).  So I look down at my ankles to see how hairy they are and was shocked to see them bloated and huge and literally almost twice as big as they normally are.  It scared the hell out of me.  Now, I know that bloating (especially in the ankles and feet) is normal in pregnant women, but to see my own ankles so massive and bloated (and out of no where)  freaked me out.  A lot.  Oh, and I had also gained 6.5 pounds in two weeks when I normally only gain 1 or 1.5.

So after talking the the doctor, she checked to see if I had possibly started to dilate/become effaced  and thankfully I had not.  When I mentioned to her that I was planning on leaving for Minneapolis the next morning (Friday) for a friend's baby shower, she started shaking her head, interrupted me and said, "Absolutely not."  She said that with all my symptoms and sudden bloating up, driving 4.5 hours away was unsafe and unwise.  So yeah.  Picture me in near tears leaving the doctor as I call Matt.  Not only because I had to miss one of best friend's shower, but also because I was suddenly terrified.  I had commented to my doctor once on how my pregnancy was sort of boring because everything was always a-ok (why I ever thought that is beyond me) and she assured me that a boring pregnancy is a good pregnancy.  And suddenly it didn't feel boring anymore.

The swelling had gone down a bit by Sunday night, but then yesterday (Tuesday) the tree trunk ankles were back...and haven't gone away since.  I can tell all my shoes are fitting a lot tighter, so the swelling has moved into my feet as well.  Warning: fat feet and legs ahead.

Oh and sleeping has again proved to be miserable.  When I lay on my left side, my left arm and leg fall asleep from my crushing body weight.  And then when I flop over the over side (again a miserable process...which lately leaves me feeling like my stomach is being ripped open :(  ) then my right side gets crushed.  Then I give up and try laying my back to give each side a break....but then my lungs get crushed and I can't breathe very well.  Ugggghhhhh I think I'm ready for this baby to be here.

I would like to apologize in advance for this week's photo.  I was feeling very down in the dumps and crabby about not being in Minneapolis with my friends and family so I decided to not shower on Saturday and then lay around on the couch all day.

34 weeks along

Matt was nice enough to take this option too....which I think is the better choice.

And then Sunday I did shower....and this was the result.....Oh man, I feel bad for my baby daddy.  : /

And in case you're wondering about the scissors, we fiiiiinaly bought window fogging contact paper stuff to put on our front windows to keep the dogs from barking at everything that moves outside.  We were worried about nap time being disturbed.  And it's working!!!  No more barking all day everyday!  Though now I feel bad because Ty Cobb sits and pouts all night because he can't look outside anymore.

~Matt, Steph, and Baby Owen~

***Weekly words of wisdom: Cutting down your sodium intake (because of bloating) is HARD.  Especially when your favorite foods may currently be chips, french fries, and Girl Scout Cookies.  You may think about chips many times throughout the day.  Although being forced by your doctor to drink ice water (a weird craving that has been around since the beginning or pregnancy) can make you feel slightly better.....until you have to pee 4 times in one night.***

33 weeks Part 2: Baby Room and Baby Name Reveal

Whooooo's ready to see Baby K's finished bedroom?!?!  And fiiiiinally find out Baby K's name?!?!

Ok, enough shouting.  Before we get to the bedroom photos, and instead of making you wait until the end of this post to reveal the name Matt and I chose for Baby K, we'll just tell you right away:

Owen Xavier Kendall

And here is the explanation behind our choice.  When we first found out we were pregnant, Matt and I had our girl name immediately:  Maisie (pronounced May-zee) which will be Baby Girl K's future name if decide we want another kid some day...but as of now, we are planning on Baby Owen being our one and only.  But just in case....dibbs!  We were set on the girl name from day one, but struggled with finding a boy name we both liked.  After many discussions on the topic, we narrowed our boy names down to Miles, Drake, and Owen.  Miles had been number one for us at first, but then when we toured the daycare we wanted, there were two little boys named Miles already attending.  Which seemed weird, since DeForest is a town of about only 9000 people and suddenly there were already two little boys under the age of four named Miles.  So, we crossed Miles off of the list.  I had never liked how Drake and Kendall sounded together...and Drake kind of sounded like a mean name to me too...not sure why, it just did.

Owen wasn't brought into serious consideration until towards the end of our name discussion, but then one day we both started thinking of Baby K as Owen (without the other knowing) and suddenly we just knew it was his name. :)  Matt put up a good fight for Pepper as the middle name, so I knew I would have to come up with something amazing for him to relent.  Then one day it just came to me: Xavier, which was Matt's great-grandpa's middle name.  I told Matt my idea and he thankfully was on board immediately.  And he got excited about being able to possibly call him Ox one day. 

Name reveal banner from my friend baby shower...Thanks Nicole and Courtney! :)

****************

And now to show off Baby Owen's finished bedroom :)

I switched the chair/changing table locations because the having the chair in the corner made the room feel small and I had always thought that the changing table looked kind of awkward underneath the window.

Diapers, wipes, and first aid/pacifiers (which will be moved before he's mobile of course) are in the blue totes.  And the green totes hold swaddling blankets, burp cloths/bibs, and Baby Owen's hat collection. :)

I made the "O X K" initials art by painting 12"x12" canvases and the letters and then glued them together. Voila!  And the letter colors match the monster art print that hangs over the crib.

Baseball man was a lucky find at Hobby Lobby.  I thought we needed to add a little masculinity in the room and since it's already been decided that he's going to be a pro baseball player, it's a win/win decor situation.

Nursing and reading nook!  The basket under the table holds Baby Owen's books from all his Aunties. The framed picture is from our 20 week ultrasound and the little silver pig piggy bank was mine as a baby.

The chair! :)  Awww the long awaited chair.  I love it and can't wait to use it on a daily basis...instead of just a couple times a week when I practice hanging out in here. :)

Behind the chair is the toy basket....full of, yup you guessed correctly, toys for Baby Owen! :)  I made the little "Toys" tag for the basket.

We never really figured out what to do with the closet, so it's stayed looking like this: Half open, half closed. Behind the doors is a big tote full of bigger sized clothes and a few outfits on hangers (lots of storage space too).  And also our travel stroller and a couple baby mat/toys for tummy time.  Boxes of diapers are stacked to the right of the dresser and you can just see the dirty clothes basket on the left.  In the dresser are baby clothes (weird).  Starting with the top drawer and working downwards: Newborn clothes/socks, 3 month clothes, 6 month clothes, and finally extra blankets/sheets in the bottom.

The green froggy hooded towel is all set for bath time. :)  The Boppy is hanging out in the crib for now too.

So there you have it, the finished baby room for Baby Owen.  If he were to show up tomorrow, we would be ready for him.  And please know that I realize that this is probably the only time it will ever be this clean and organized.  What do you think?  :)

~Matt, Steph, and Baby Owen~