34 weeks - 2 days

I have had so many complaints about not blogging and keeping everyone up to date on our lives over the last few months. Since I'm low on time to blog...here is a run-through of this crazy summer...

June - moved into home (renting); took a trip to Utah to have a vacation, to see family and have an awesome baby shower with family and friends (thank you Camyll and Mom!!!); Nathan started his new job at Bank of American on June 29th. Fill in the rest of the time with unpacking, working, researching baby stuff (gear, doctors, daycare, etc., etc.), oh and sleep. Hitting the 3rd trimester of pregnancy brought on lots of sleepiness again.

July- had a nice quiet 4th of July with just us and our dogs (slept most of the day); shopping for baby stuff; week-long vacation to Cape Cod, MA to enjoy time off work, our last vacation before the baby, another awesome baby shower (thank you Eileen and the rest of Nathan's family!!!!), and lots of fun with Nathan's family whom we hadn't seen in 2 years; getting house ready for guests when baby arrives; more baby shopping; house/yard repairs (Nathan doing honey-do's); working, working, working to get ready for maternity leave; Nathan going out of town twice for work, leaving me home with 2 very active dogs; and finally...trying to rest and get sleep.

Aug- baby prep, baby prep, baby prep. Are we ready yet?; work; try to sleep; nesting, nesting, nesting.

Ok. There you have it. That catches you up to the most recent stuff.

Many of you have been asking for a new belly picture. Here you have it--34 weeks less 2 days.

Do you think I have dropped? The other day the contour of my belly completely changed, and I could breathe again. The baby was already low, but I think he's working his way down, which is normal about this time of pregnancy. By the time he's born I'll be waddling even worse than I am now, at least if he keeps it up at this pace!

So here's a funny story. I had NO idea how huge my belly looked until I saw this picture today. Holy cow! That is one pregnant woman! No wonder I get stares followed by whispers from strangers everywhere I go. Seriously. But that's not the funny story...getting side-tracked.

Yesterday we took a childbirth class. With no family in town, and deciding to save money by not hiring a doula as a birth coach, that leaves my dear husband as the one and only labor/delivery coach/support. As such, I insisted that we take a childbirth class. There were 4 other women in the class yesterday. When we broke for lunch, I asked Nathan, "Honey, would you say my belly is about the same size as those women? (note: their due dates ranged from Sept 1st to late October). Nathan: "No." Chrystal: "Huh. So is it smaller?" Nathan: pensive thinking....pause... "Um. No, not really. You're more out, they're more round." Chrystal: "Hmmmm....So what you're saying is I'm bigger than them?" Nathan: pensive thinking....pause...pause..."Well, not really bigger, just a different shape." Poor Nathan, trying to be kind to his pregnant wife. So today I see the picture we took and I declare, "Holy cow! My belly is HUGE!!! I mean, HUGE!!!!" Nathan: "Um, yeah. That's why I was confused by your question yesterday."

Seriously, I didn't realize just how much things have changed in the size department over the last 2 months, but it's pretty significant. Signs that should have been a dead giveaway to me...

1. Touching my toes for any reason has become a real challenge. The only way to get to them is to sit and pull them up to my side, knees bent, or to prop them up on something like the edge of the tub and grunt and pull with a towel or something to reach them, well, and then there's the belly-squishing attempt when I put on my socks, which is REALLY uncomfortable, leaves me out of breath, and makes the baby kick back in protest.

2. I can no longer see my own body past my belly when standing, and can't suck anything in any more.

3. My LARGE size maternity pants are getting tight around the base of my belly and I often have to unbutton them or be uncomfortable--even the stretchy ones--or I have to wear them REALLY low under my belly.

Ok. That's enough--you get the point.

This weekend we also went and did a tour of the women's center at the hospital where this little guy will be delivered. Nathan has been a really good sport all weekend doing all this mommy prep. His eyes were really opened, and so were mine. I wasn't nervous until this weekend. Now I'm still feeling ready to get this kid out, but not so excited about how it has to happen. Seeing the labor and delivery room brought it all home. It's a very nice, comfortable room. Couldn't ask for better. But the next time I'm in there I'm going to be having a baby. OMG!!!! I'm freaking out! I mean, FREAKING OUT! Wow, this is really going to be something.

So now on top of all the mommy to do's I have listed on my white board, I am starting to add to it all the things I learned this weekend. And I realized...ready or not...he's coming within the next 6 weeks. **FREAKING OUT!!!***

Tater Tot is as active as he's ever been. I enjoy sitting and watching him kick my belly. When he's moving, my entire belly looks like it's alive. Of course, the minute I tell Nathan to look, he stops. He doesn't like to be poked with a finger or heel of the hand (or baby monitor from the dr). He always kicks back. He quiets down when I sing or when I rock back and forth. His favorite place to "kick" me is in the bladder. This a very mean trick. He also responds to my rubbing/patting his bottom through my belly. He's been head down the entire pregnancy, so his bottom is always at the top of my belly. He's settled recently to the right side, head down, and kicks me mostly on the left, but elbows me occasionally on the right. He's a strong little beast, and so active that I swear sometimes he sends me into Braxton Hicks contractions from his movements. Every doctor or nurse that sees his movements tell me we're in for it as parents and not to plan on going out any time soon after he's born. He's going to be just as active outside the womb as he is now inside. Wonderful! (um, not?)

To keep my mind a little sane this weekend---we had a family visitor!!!!! Hooray!!!! At the last minute Friday, my little brother called to say he could take time off from his medical rotation/interview in Charlottle, NC, and drive down here to ATL for a 24-hour visit. I was estatic. He is only the 2nd family member who has ever visited us in the last 2 years on our own turf. Me being so pregnant and today being Sunday, we didn't do much, but it was fun to get to see him and chat. We miss hanging out with my sibs and their spouses so much! Having Bryt here was a huge reminder of that. *sigh*

This afternoon Bryt was a good sport and went with us to the Chattahoochee River to let the dogs run and get some of their energy out. I have wanted to take pictures of this place, and finally had a reason besides just us. This picture is me and Bryt standing in the water, camera looking upstream. The pictures don't do it justice. This is our favorite place to take the dogs. It's a beautiful part of the river with sandy shores, and a nice flat area in the water to wade in, which is a nice respite from the hot weather.
As you can see, Lola and Brody have a lot of fun splashing, chasing, and fetching in the water with eachother and their dog friends.

I'd go on, but this post is getting very long, and my eyelids are getting very droopy. Time to relinquish the weekend and go to bed for the work day tomorrow. If it's awhile before I blog again, know that we are thinking of all of you, missing you, and...you guessed it...getting ready for Tater Tot to join us in a very short amount of time.