Wrapping up the 3rd Trimester

38 weeks- baby bump

Daddy setting up your pack n play. You will sleep here in the bassinet portion when you first come home from the hospital, and the grey part on top is for changing your diaper. :)

Pack n play/ bassinet set up in our room and ready for you!

Bouncy ball stays in the living room now; we're trying all measures to move labor along!

Your carseat is all ready in the Acadia! And your little "papoose" I call it (tan item in the carseat), is ready too! You're our little winter Michigan baby and there will probably be snow on the ground when you come home!

Your closet is all washed and organized and ready for you to start wearing! Just because we are having a little boy and not a girl doesn't mean you can't be dressed well, still :)

We are so ready for you to be here, little boy. Each day we are getting closer and closer to meeting you and we are anxious to see what you are like on the "outside"! All the family (especially your Bear) JUMPS anytime we call them, all anxiously awaiting "the call"! Honey is coming into town this weekend even if you haven't made your appearance yet, and we will have your church shower on Sunday. It will hopefully help to start passing the time a little better, because we all know your Mom has serious control issues! Here's some things I want to remember about this final trimester and wrapping up carrying you while you grow...

-You hiccup like a champ. They are so strong your Dad and I can't even believe it sometimes. To be honest it's almost a little annoying now! I wonder sometimes if it's equally annoying to you. :) Every time you get them I always text your Dad and say, "Hmmmmm- do YOU have the hiccups?" and he will say, "Noooo, not me. Do you?" and I'll say, "Nope. Not me either. Must be Baby Boy!" and on and on. :) We get a kick out of it and are anxious to see if you hiccup so much once you're born, too!

-Your movements are so dadgum strong that they literally HURT now! It looks like you are a vampire baby trying to bust out on your own, sometimes! In the video below if you watch carefully you can see your wiggling around and scootching your bottom back and forth. We joke that you might be a swimmer when you get older because of how much you LOVE to kick and how strong they are!

-You really really REALLY don't like your space invaded, even still. If I am resting my arm anywhere near my stomach, you will literally focus your entire kick or scooch into that place and try to move me away! Sometimes we go back and forth and it's battles of the wills :) but sometimes I'm just so amazed that you can localize things that well already. :)

-You don't like being stuck and not being able to move around. At one point you were able to flip yourself out of vertex (head down) position, but you eventually settled back down that way. :) The other day you tried with one HUGE SWIFT kick to get yourself out again... but you're just too big for that now. :) Sorry baby boy!

-For some reason you think my bladder is the funnest thing on Earth to terrorize. I have yet to understand this but it seems like every time you find it again, you insist on punching it and kicking it and just love to make my life miserable. :)

-I don't think you like contractions very much, which breaks my heart. Any time the muscle starts to contract downwards, you kick at the contraction spot (just like you would at our hands or anything else in your space:)). I wish I could explain to you what's happening and tell you that it will be okay, but we're just going to have to trust that God will give you some peace, even as a little baby :) and that everything will be okay.

-I feel like a ticking time bomb these days. Or a pager. Same thing! If I don't go about my day like normal, then the days DRAG on and nothing gets accomplished. And yet when we do go about our days, it's ridiculous to think that any SECOND I could go into labor or my water could break. At our appointment 1 week ago (37weeks, 4days) I was 50% effaced but not dilated at all; tomorrow we have another appointment so we will see how things go. I don't dare try to judge you and think I'll know how you'll make your appearance. :) You are stubborn and like to do things your own way, so we are just waiting to see what that means for how you make your entrance into the world!

-I have the worst heartburn I ever thought could be possible. You better have some cute hair to show for it!

-We officially decided on your name. :) It had been our favorite for quite some time, but we didn't want to limit ourselves because we felt like we needed to meet you first. But as time has gone on, none of the other contenders seemed to fit you as well; and, both Dad and I kept thinking of you as this name without even realizing it... so we figured it must have been a good fit! We told our families on Christmas Day what your full name will be :) but they have been instructed to keep it top secret! We will tell everybody else once you are born and make your appearance into the world! Today your Dad hung up the letters of your name in your room, though... which makes it all a little more real!

-We sure do love you. We think (ha!) that we are ready for you to enter our lives once and for all. We are praying for you and can't wait to meet you, little one.

Love,

Mom