34 Weeks

Well, only 40 days till my due date! Crazy, huh? I'm still hoping he comes around 38-39 weeks on his own, though. I can wish, right? :) Everything's been going well, I think both of us are growing, haha. I was so happy that I haven't had any stretch marks, but I can no longer say that. It's okay, it seems that means that Hudson is growing, which is good too. I still feel him moving around pretty often and last night he even kicked on command, haha. Travis kept saying, "Kick me, Hudson," and a little bit later, we'd feel a kick. It was so cute. :)

On Saturday night, Dustin and Maria came over for supper and to celebrate Maria's birthday. We gave her birthday presents from us and my parents and enjoyed meeting her new little pup, Manolo or Manny. He is an English bulldog and so sweet! He loved chasing Snuggles around but she was a little annoyed by him. She kept trying to hide from him. All in all, she was nice though. This makes us feel a little better about how she'll react when we bring Hudson home. Manny was scared of Timber, though, because he was so much larger. It was cute to see them interact, though.

This is Manny, it's a little blurry because he wouldn't slow down for a good pic, haha!

I spent this weekend resting, doing a few things around the house and working in the nursery. Every time I go in Hudson's room, my little shadow follows me and hops into "her" chair, the glider. It's cute. Travis and I took all of the toys and bottles out of their packaging, and I washed and boiled the bottles to get them ready for use. We also opened the breast pump and tried to figure out how that worked. It was pretty humorous, haha! I'm so glad there were instructions there! :) Travis helped me take all of the tags off the clothing that Hudson will wear in the first few months and we washed and folded all of those clothes. On Sunday, I updated the baby book and my pregnancy book with pictures and information from Hudson's baby showers. I am glad that is completed for now. I've written everything down except for the stuff about his arrival, which makes me excited to think about. :)

Last night, we went to Target to pick up a few things, and we saw a newborn baby in the line. The baby was two weeks old and so little! This really made us get excited about Hudson. I also read a lot about establishing a feeding/nap/sleep routine in this awesome book that Brittany gave me, Baby Wise. I highly recommend it, especially for first-time parents and especially for those girls, like myself, that don't know much about newborns, haha. :) Thanks Brittany!

We ended our weekend with dinner at Cheddar's to celebrate the February birthdays in our small group. We had a great time. In February, we celebrate my birthday (11th), Jenni's birthday (13th), Shauna's birthday (15th) and Jonathan's birthday (18th). Here's a picture of the birthday kids with our cookie cake from Pat and Annie. It was yummy!

This week we have another doctor's appointment on Thursday, which includes a routine exam and maybe a test for the Strep B virus. That is a common test that they do now for all pregnancies in their 34-36 week. Other than that, I start my marathon working schedule today. I will be working EVERY day until March 14, including Swimming/Diving State Tournament this weekend, Girls Basketball Tournament next weekend and the Boys Basketball State Tournament the following weekend. I will definitely need your prayers for strength and energy, because this will include a lot of long days (6:30am-10:30pm some days) and that makes me nervous as a 37-week-pregnant lady. I know I can do it (with God's help, of course) and the overtime pay will definitely be needed as I go on maternity leave soon!

Here's to a good week for you! Until next time, here's an update on Hudson's growth:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.