35/35

I  am: 35 weeks, 35 days to go!

Baby is the size of a(n): cocnut

I've gained: 20 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: Yep!

 

My mood: I'm not quite to the point where I'm over being pregnant, but I'm getting close and I see what people mean. By the end of the day, I am exhausted and everything hurts.  Avery is moving a lot, which is a good thing, but she's getting big and it hurts! Heartburn and swollen feet make me very grumpy.

Gender: baby GIRL, Avery Laiken Gibbs!

Cravings: Water and cholocate milk.
 

What I'm missing: my wedding set. My rings had to come off this past weekend :( 

 

Highlights/ Exciting moments: Nothing too exciting as far as baby goes. We don't have an appointment this week, but starting next week we'll go every week.  We did get our stroller and car seat and a few other items.  I made a list for the hospital bag, but for some reason I just keep putting it off. I also HAVE to pick a pediatrician. Darrell and I are going to clean our cars really good this weekend (well I might have mine cleaned out) and install the car seat bases.

Here I am today at 35 weeks.

34 weeks

I  am: 34 weeks, 6 more to go! We're moving right along!

Baby is the size of a(n): butternut squash.

I've gained: 19 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: Yep!

 

My mood: Whiney. I'm starting to have a lot pain and pressure on my tail bone and bladder. Sitting for too long hurts, laying down for too long hurts.

Gender: baby GIRL, Avery Laiken Gibbs!

Cravings: Water and dairy. I'm not craving sweets like I was, but of course, if they're around, I'll eat them.
 

What I'm missing: Not peeing five billion times a day.

 

Highlights/ Exciting moments: I saw my OB today for a routine checkup. I did mention all of the pressure and that I think I was starting to have braxton hicks. He said the pressure is normal, which I figured. He also said that the braxton hicks were normal but wanted to check me since we were planning on going to the mountains this week.  Internal checks wouldn't typically start until my next visit at 36 weeks, but better safe than sorry.  He said that my cervix is definitely making "changes", meaning it has started to soften and shorten and that her head was "right there".  I'm not dilated at all but he highly recommended me not going six hours away this weekend. Boo, there went our little mini vacation, but better safe than sorry right? I go back in two weeks and then its weekly after that. This just got real.

 

Here I am today/ tonight at 34 weeks. Darrell was actually home so he was able to take it for me instead of it being in the mirror.

And here are some of the maternity pictures!! There were so many it was hard to choose my favorites. JayCee Photography is just that good :)

33

I  am: 33 weeks, 7 more to go! I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that we could possibly have a baby NEXT month. If not, next month is the last full month of pregnancy. This is coming to an end quick.

Baby is the size of a(n): durian. What the heck is that? Who made this up?

I've gained: 18.

Maternity Clothes: Yep!

 

My mood: Still tired. I'm pretty emotional too. I'm ready to meet my little girl!

Gender: baby GIRL, Avery Laiken Gibbs!

Cravings: I'm still wanting sweets and of course water and dairy.
 

What I'm missing: Comfort. I'm pretty uncomfortable these days. No position is comfortable for long, and if I find one that is, Avery usually has other plans. And I miss being able to wait a few minutes if I need to. It seems like everytime I change positions I have to pee. And forget standing up, it's a rush to the bathroom everytime.

 

Highlights/ Exciting moments: We had a follow up ultrasound Friday. We were released from the specialist because there are no longer any concerns with her growth.  She was up a whole 2 pounds in 4 weeks as is now estimated to be 4lbs 12 oz.  She could possibly gain up to half a pound for the next few weeks, so that's a pretty good sized baby! Aaand, she flipped and is in the head down position!! No c-section for me (knock on wood) as long as no other complications arise..which I'm confident they won't.

We also had two showers on Saturday.  My friends hosted one in the afternoon. So amazing! And I had one with Darrell's family that night, also amazing. We got so much stuff. The back of Darrell's SUV was loaded down and our living room was full once we went back through it all. We are so blessed!!

We also had our maternity pictures this weekend. Can I just say JayCee Photography is amazing?!? I've seen them all and love them! I'll get a CD tomorrow and do another blog entry with them.

Here I am tonight at 33 weeks. I'm super tired after a long day and a nap...looking rough.

32 weeks

I  am: 32 weeks, 8 more to go! uhh, ya'll, that's like 2 months. And it's less than 2 calendar months. HOLY COW!

Baby is the size of a(n): squash

I've gained: I'll say I'm probably up 18-20 by now. I see the doctor Friday I'll have an official then.

Maternity Clothes: Yep!

My mood: I'm tired and exhausted a lot. It seems like no matter how much rest I get, the smallest things fatigure me.

Gender: baby GIRL, Avery Laiken Gibbs!

Cravings: I'm back to sweets and of course water and dairy.
 

What I'm missing: SLEEP! I was sleeping so well up until a few nights ago. I've been having to get up to use the bathroom once a night which isn't too bad because I can usually go back to sleep. But lately I haven't been able to get comfortable and have been tossing and turnin all night. I feel bad because I know it keeps Darrell up and I use him as another pillow most nights.  And when I have had to get up to pee the past few nights its usually like an hour and a half before I have to wake up for the day which is so frusturating.

 

Highlights/ Exciting moments: This little girl is moving all over the place! It's actually starting to hurt at times but I love it all at the same time.  We picked out and ordered the fabric for the glider. It should be here Friday and I will take it to my aunt then. I hope it's here because I'm going to be near her this weekend.

Here I am today at 32 weeks.

 

And here is the comparison picture from 28 & 32 weeks. I'm getting too wide to put more than 2 weeks in :(

 



At home Shellac manicure

So, let me just say, this is my first non-baby related blog post. I'm enjoying this blogging thing and am going to try venturing out more.

I was so excited to find this DIY shellac manicure on Pinterest. I used to get my nails done all the time, but I preferred gels over shellac. We've been trying to cut back unnecessary expenses with a baby coming and wanted to focus on decorating the house before she gets here. Regular manis and pedis are one of the things I decided I could live without. I've seen a few tutorials on Pinterest for DIY gel and shellac manicures. The gels require the heat light and I'm just not sure I want to get into that. I came across this (http://keepingupwithkatiek.tumblr.com/post/35883558671/being-the-girl-that-i-am-i-decided-to-spend-my) tutorial for shellac. I got all of the supplies (even the same brand polish) but I have to say I was highly disappointed.

Here is what I used as recommended by the tutorial:

1. Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Powerful Acrylic Gel
2. Nail polish of choice
3. Sally Hansen No Chip Acrylic Top Coat

The first time I did I used the essie polish. Awful, just awful. The second time I tried it I used the OPI polish. It lasted a day longer than the essie for a grand total of 2 days.

I trimmed, filed, shaped, buffed my nails each time.  Washed them and made sure they were dry.  I used one coat of the Hard as Wraps gel, two coats of polish, and one coat of the acrylic top coat as recommended by the tutorial and each bottle. 

I have to admit that I don't think the essie polish is to blame on the first trial. I started a little later than I should've and kind of rushed through it so maybe each layer didn't have time have time to dry well enough. But with the OPI polish I took my time and gave adequate time for each layer to dry.  I didn't take pictures of the essie polish, but here are the results with OPI.

The finished project after everything was dry. Sorry it's dark but you can tell everything is smooth, shiny and they felt hard like they would after gels. This was Thursday night.

Fast forward to.. Saturday night (48 hours!!)...

Some of the nails still look great, but most of them are already chipping at the tips.  Worse than that is that they are cracking. It's hard to tell with this color, but you can see it best on the thumb in the bottom picture. Every nail has "lines" going across it.  The purple did that after just a few hours. And now the polish is easily peeling off in large pieces. I think it's the top coat that is cracking, so maybe just a regular top coat would be better. The most I do with my hands is write and type so I'm not putting them through a lot. 



Overall I was pretty disappointed with this combination of nail products.  It would be fine if you needed it for a special occassion or a limited amount of time, but I was really hoping to find something that lasted closer to a week and would hold up through normal wear and tear.

31 weeks

I  am: 31 weeks. We're in single digits for the countdown. And for some reason, I keep thinking 32 weeks. No need to rush it!

Baby is the size of a(n): pineapple...yummy!

I've gained: 3 more pounds, so I'm up 16 as of Friday. I'm happy with that!

Maternity Clothes: Yep!

My mood: is a little more emotional. Mostly about getting excited to meet our little girl but I know she's not ready to be here yet.  It'll be here soon but I'm just ready to know what she's going to look like and her personaliy.

Gender: baby GIRL, Avery Laiken Gibbs!

Cravings: water, water, water.

 

What I'm missing: Being comfortable and energy. It seems every thing I do makes me have Braxton Hicks so I can only do a little then I have to rest and chug water.

 

Highlights/ Exciting moments: We had an OB check-up Friday. We got to hear Avery's heartbeat again, which never gets old. She is still breech, but other than that, everything looks good.  The doctor used to say she has "plenty of time" to flip and now it's just that she has "time".  The goal is for her to be head down by 36 weeks or we tentatively schedule a c-section.

Here I am today at 31 weeks. The front view is blurry, but I didn't really notice until now and I'm not re-doing it :)