In other news Casey is sick yet again. I have managed to go almost 38 weeks now without getting sick. I have been exposed to so many germs, colds, stomach bugs, flu… I managed to fight off all even with my supposedly weakened pregnant immune system. I guess Casey wanted to try one more time to get me sick. I have a feeling he might succeed this time. I really hope I don’t get sick now because I know I will be miserable. I think we are pretty good proof that vitamins, exercise and diet affect your immune system. Not to mention not chewing on your nails and washing your hands. I try to limit my sugar and processed foods, take vitamins, probiotics, digestive enzymes, exercise on a fairly regular basis, get plenty of sleep and wash my hands before eating or after being out in public. Casey does none of these. I really think they all help to build the immune system and keep you from getting sick. At least they seem to work for me. Even if I do get his latest cold I have managed to fight off a lot the last 9 months!!

My other big decision is when to stop working. My original due date was June 9th, but I always knew that wasn’t right. So I had told my boss my last day would be the 4th. I decided this week to work the next week which will take me right up to my due date. I don’t really want to work, but we need the money and I have a feeling he won’t be early. If he ends up 2 weeks late I will have been out of work 3 weeks. So I decided to go ahead and work until at least the 11th assuming he doesn’t show up early. So now the question is do I work the next week? I really don’t want to work and I want some time at home to relax and do my last minute stuff, but I also know I will eventually get bored waiting for him. It is hard not knowing when he will show up. I have a feeling the 11th will be my last day. I am worried I won’t get any time to myself if I work the next week… although I could work a few days of the next week. Ugh, I hate decisions.

Over the weekend we finally got the attic finished. Months ago we started organizing the attic, but then we decided to put up the radiant barrier and then the new HVAC units. So we have been waiting until all that was done to organize the attic. Oh and we also made an attempt to seal the attic while we had it all messed up. Casey would be very upset if I didn’t post some pictures to show off all the hard work we did. Sure he did most of it. Gary helped with the radiant barrier and Casey spent a lot of time pulling up boards to seal, but I helped a lot with the organizing. Yes, I was up there this weekend…. 9 months pregnant and in the attic. Casey made sure I didn’t fall down the ladder.

Here are the before pictures. This is when we first started the project and you can see we had already put up a couple of the shelves.

Here is the new and improved attic and our AWESOME new HVAC unit. I need Casey to post the details on it for everyone. He is now an expert on HVAC units if you need some advice and we have a company here in Raleigh that we love called Comfort Wizards if you need any work done let us know!!

The appointment went well. It was Casey’s first time going with me! He will be going to the rest of them and we have our next 4 booked. Hopefully we won’t need a 5th or 6th! He is still head down and she said she could move his head a bit so he wasn’t fully engaged yet. She also said that he feels long, but not too big. I think long is better than big!! She also said that he is in a great position. I apparently was having a Braxton Hicks contraction when I laid down on the bed (I was in the birthing room instead of an exam room). I didn’t even know it! I notice my stomach tighten sometimes, but it doesn’t hurt. At least not yet. It was pretty cool to see my stomach tense up and then relax.

In other pregnancy news I slept much better the last two nights. I think it was going to my exercise classes so I really need to make more of an effort to exercise some. I just get so distracted doing other projects and running errands all the time! I need more time! Or maybe I should stop coming up with new projects. As long as this little guy doesn’t come early I will have at least a week of not working before he arrives and I will have lots of time!

Finally I must apologize for not having a picture to post. We keep forgetting to do it and the weather has been pretty nasty this week so we couldn’t take one outside. I am going to attempt to remember to take one tomorrow, but I will most likely forget again!! Will my brain work after the baby is born or am I doomed?

Last week was busy as usual and over the weekend I helped to host a shower for my friend Melanie who is due about 6 weeks after me! She is also having a boy and it has been so much fun talking with her about pregnancy stuff for the past few months. I have a few pictures from the shower, but I haven’t downloaded them yet. She is so tiny! She doesn’t even look pregnant and she is 30 weeks! What is up with that? Of course she is taller than me and has a longer torso so I am sure both those help.

I feel like the baby has grown so much just in the last 2 days. Either that or he has changed his position in there which is making my days much more uncomfortable. He is really starting to run out of room and I am getting to that stage where you just can’t get comfy anymore. Sitting doesn’t feel good, laying down doesn’t feel good and standing eventually doesn’t feel good although it is my favorite position. I have a hard time sitting on the couch at night now and working on the computer. Sleep is about the same. Some nights are terrible and others aren’t too bad. When I say not too bad I mean that I get two 3 hour stretches of sleep in before waking again and sleep soundly during them. Some nights I can’t go back to sleep and others I am waking up every 2 hours instead of 3! I have to admit I am pretty used to sleeping in 3 hours increments now.

I have been working hard in the nursery and should have some pictures posted soon. I am down to the last few things. I have to say my least favorite baby item at this time is the stupid bouncy seat! You can’t put that dumb thing anywhere. It doesn’t fold in anyway and I can’t fit it anywhere. It just sits there messing up the look of my room. I don’t like junk in my rooms. I want them to look nice and organized. I hide the junk. I can’t hide this thing! I also organized the pantry this weekend. This is baby related because I had to make room in a cabinet in the kitchen for baby food items and supplies. Plus the pantry was driving me crazy because it was so messy. I keep getting distracted by random projects like organizing the pantry.

As you all know I love my new glider downstairs and like to spend a little bit of time daily sitting in it relaxing. Unfortunately I have discovered the remote doesn’t work from the chair so I am forced to watch commercials and get up every time I need to pick a new show! I have been doing everything possible to keep JD off my chair. I put a stool in it so he can’t jump up on it. He isn’t the kind of cat to get on the arms or back because he is just too big and not at all coordinated. Well I came downstairs one morning to find cat puke next to his bowl and then a trail of it leading to my chair. Yes, he managed to find a very small area on my chair that he could get on and then puked on my chair!! The thing is he seems to have originally puked at the food bowl and then for some reason thought it a good idea to walk over to my chair puking, get up on it and puke some more. Needless to say I freaked out that morning. Lucky for him it wiped off nicely. Otherwise he would be at the SPCA right now looking for a new home. I screamed at him a lot and ever since he has left the chair alone. I did put an old blanket on it just in case he manages to get up there again. I feel bad for him though because I think he can tell things are changing. He clings to Casey a lot now. He can’t get to my side of the bed anymore thanks to the pillows and the belly. He looks at me some days like he isn’t sure what is going on with me. Once the baby arrives he will be kicked out of the bedroom which I know will be very traumatic for him. Of course with the crying he may want to get out. I feel so bad for all the animals since their time and attention will be dropping soon. Most of my bad dreams involve me either killing the rabbits, getting rid of the rabbits or putting them in cages or outside. This is clearly something that is bothering me! I also worry about my SPCA bunnies…..

I promise to add some pictures soon. My next appointment is this Thursday! I have to take in my birth plan which I am still working on and I really need to pack my hospital bag. I just keep putting it off because it scares me a bit. I am going to focus on getting all that ready this week. We should probably figure out how to install the car seat too! If I go into labor this week we aren’t exactly prepared!

I really want to get as much done in the next two weeks as I can so I can maybe relax a bit before his arrival. Not to mention my energy level is dropping a lot lately. I am also getting a lot less sleep so I am tired more often too. I think my allergies are adding to the current fatigue. The last two days have been hard on my draining which always make me feel more tired. This week should be less busy than the last two so hopefully I can get some good work done and also manage to rest a bit.

Note: I wrote this on Sunday, today is Thursday. I just now realized I never posted it. Pregnancy brain….

I am officially up 30 pounds! The midwife went over a lot of information with me this week on contractions and the things I will need to have on hand and bring to the birth center. More things to do! We also have to bring our birth plan at the next visit in 2 weeks. I really liked the midwife I met yesterday. It really isn’t much different than going to a hospital with your ob’s practice. You get whoever is on call. Some you like more than others and it is the same with the midwives. I hope I get one that I like on the big day!!

In other news the new HVAC units will be done today. They cost a small fortune, but are so much nicer. I am glad we decided to go ahead and do it now instead of waiting for them to break which could be any time. It really is a lot of work to install them and has taken 3 days. We found a great company and they redid the whole bonus room setup to make it work better. It is amazing how much of a difference we have already noticed. I will put some pictures up this weekend. We need to seal the attic and then we can finally put everything back in its place!

We are going tonight to get the car seat! Guess we kinda need it soon.

All the gifts are now in the nursery which is a complete disaster. Check this out! This is really adding my current stress level….

Even though the mess is stressing me out it is nice that the showers are over so we know what items are left to purchase and I can start cleaning stuff and putting everything away. Now I just need a little more time to get it all done. In other pregnancy news I continue to grow and get less and less sleep. I still wake up twice a night or more. Some nights it is hard to go back to sleep! At least I am not in any pain when I sleep. No hip pain and very little back pain most nights. I am getting bigger by the day, but I still manage to get around. I just get tired a little faster now. It is strange because I don’t really realize just how big I am until I see pictures. I guess the belly just grows so slowly over time that you don’t really notice it. I sometimes forget what I used to look like before I got pregnant. Of course when I go to bend over or put on shoes I am reminded of the big belly since I can’t do either very well anymore. I also picked up my new chair this week! I love it. I took a nap in it the day we got it. It took JD about 5 minutes to get on it.

I am sure everyone is sick of reading this so I will stop for now. I may need to post more than once a week from now on! I am really hoping to get the nursery cleaned up some this week. I will also post pictures from the shower and the zip line in the next few days. There are lots to look through so I will have to do them another time. I am too tired right now!

Here is a picture of me from the shower which will be my 34 week picture.

Me with Sarah and Janet

Me and mom

Here are the rest of the pictures mom took.

So in pregnancy news I had my doctor’s appointment last week. I am now up 28 pounds. With 7 more weeks I am assuming I will hit the 35 pound weight gain. Nothing like hitting the upper limit of my suggested weight gain. At least it appears to be only in my belly and legs. I refuse to look at my legs. I guess that is where my body decided to store the extra fat. At least I can cover them. So far no stretch marks, but I am getting a bit worried. My belly button skin is so stretched and is just plain gross! I have also started to get some kind of little rash thing on my belly. Sorry if this is too much information for some of you…… It isn’t too bad yet, but boy does it itch. I will have to ask the midwives about it next week. Let’s hope it doesn’t get worse. I am now waking up like clockwork at 1:30 and 4:30. Then during the work week I have to get up at 5:30. If it is the weekend I tend to wake up again around 6 or 6:30 . This is all so I can pee (or have horrible acid reflux due to his position). I guess this is my body’s way of preparing me for the lack of sleep that is coming my way soon. It really isn’t too bad though because I fall asleep as soon as I get back in bed and I am pretty comfortable when I am in bed. I have been lucky to have very little swelling so far. Some days I do get a little swelling in my feet and lower legs. Usually from sitting too long in my horrible work chair. I have been trying to get up and move around more often and that seems to help.

Earlier in the week I realized just how much there is still left to do! Yikes. We are really running out of time and I guess he could really decide to show up anytime. I feel the need to make another list. I feel much better with a list. I have found that it really helps me to relax knowing that I have something written down. That is something I remember learning awhile back. You write it down and then give your brain permission to forget about it since you wrote it down. It sounds silly, but it really helps especially with getting to sleep at night if your mind is racing. I did manage to get a picture yesterday. Hopefully I can get the nursery done soon and put up some pictures. I need to order two more items and then start putting it all away. We will be in Charlotte this weekend and then the mountains for two days so maybe I can work on it some more next weekend.

I don’t have my 32 week picture to post! I should just start taking the picture on Saturday since it seems Sunday has become our busiest day of the week lately. I had a rabbit meetup event today and then we had our birthing class until almost 9 tonight. Casey was working in the attic again with Gary so he was tied up and we didn’t get the picture taken. I will try to take it tomorrow after work, but as usual it will be a busy day. I so wish I had time to go for walks or do yoga, but it seems every single night of the week there is something I am doing. I don’t get home until late, eat dinner late and I am exhausted by 9. I just need more time! At least you all have the shower pictures to look at so you can get an idea of how big I am getting.

In pregnancy news there really isn’t much to report on other than the shower. The baby now occasionally likes to get really low and push on my bladder which is not exactly a good feeling. I really don’t know which is worse, but I think I would rather him smash my stomach. He still moves around a good bit and goes from being high and low pretty often. For the most part he is still pretty high, but I have such a short torso there really isn’t much room for him. He is getting long enough in there that he can smash my stomach with his butt and push on my bladder with his head or hands. I really don’t have any complaints except the occasional uncomfortable days. Friday I felt like I was going to explode or that he was trying to push his way out of me through my side. Usually he is pretty good in there and it isn’t too bad. I don’t really feel as big as I look which is good. I am always surprised when I see pictures of my self because I really don’t think I am so big! I get up about every 3 hours to pee which really doesn’t bother me much. The worst part is that I am sore when I first start moving, but not enough to keep me from falling back to sleep very quickly.

Here are a few pictures from the shower. I will post more soon.

Click here to see my flickr album.

Yesterday before my hair appointment I ran out to Durham to pick up my toy box. I found the cutest toy box and bookcase to put in the nursery several months ago. However I didn’t want to get either until I had a better idea how all the other furniture would fit in the room so I waited. Then the week I finally decided it would all fit nicely I went online to order them and both were out of stock! The bookcase should be back in stock in early May. I have seen that date on several sites that carry it. Yesterday I went to the Toy’s R Us website and saw that the toy box was in stock! When I went to order it I got a message saying low inventory and it wouldn’t put it in my cart. I tried later in the day and it worked, but the shipping was $21. I noticed it didn’t say online only so I thought I would try calling our local store. I had already checked the Cary store, but I figured I would try Durham. They had it! So I ran out yesterday afternoon to get it. I was so excited. I hope it looks okay.

I also recently made a big furniture purchase that was hotty debated in our house. I have a glider in the nursery, but I really wanted something downstairs. I didn’t want a chair that looked like a baby chair. I wanted it to look like a living room chair. I found the best one at Buy Buy Baby and I just had to have it. Casey didn’t see the need for it since we are very rarely downstairs. Well, that will be changing! Casey works from home (at least for now) and I plan to be downstairs most of the day to keep from disturbing him while he works. Not to mention we will certainly have lots of guests over and I am not dragging everyone upstairs when we have a perfectly good living room. We have the living room all ready for me. My chair should arrive in the next 4-8 weeks, the Wii and Xbox are hooked up and ready to go! Since we don’t have cable I will have to rely on both for my TV watching. The Xbox is for the shows we record on Media Center and the Wii is for Netflix and possibly exercising one day……

Tomorrow is my first shower so I am really excited! I will have lots of pictures to post on Sunday.