baby shower, birthing class, and 34 weeks

i had a great trip out to see the family in the OC at the beginning of the month. my sister and mom threw me a baby shower and it was great! lots of fun items! baby girl has got some clothes! more than one baby girl deserves i am sure. between gifts and having girl cousins, we are really excited for the fun things to dress her up in! baby girl also has quilts and blankets galore - most are hand made and so so darling. we are really excited this little one will be kept nice and snuggly in the cold Eugene rain. and nate parents got us this sweet crib ...

i know ... i am obsessed with gray. it is just the right neutral - not too bland and boring, still a good base, but not too dominating. i just love it. i love the modern simplicity of it.

as i mentioned before, nate and i were going to be apart for 4 days for the first time since we have been married - we have our 2nd anniversary on Monday (woot, woot). i was doing fine on Thursday and Friday and even Saturday. but Sunday rolls around and i start getting sad about it. i had a hard time for the rest of the trip ... which i wonder how much is pregnancy hormones and how much were my real feelings. i haven't lived with my parents or in california in 10 years so its not like it had felt like home for a long time ... but i really really felt this time that this was not my home and that i actually did have a home someplace else ... nate is my home and my home is in eugene. i missed our small little life together and just seeing him. needless to say i cried when i finally got home at midnight on Tuesday. i love you babe.

in mom/baby health news ... this week starts the beginning of twice a week doctor's appointments - one for a mini ultra-sound to check the amniotic fluid levels and one for a non-stress test where they monitor baby girl's heart beat over a period of time. i saw baby girl yawn three times on the ultra-sound today ... her jaw was very easy to distinguish and it looked so crazy! she is moving around like crazy these days, especially at night (which makes me feel like she has her days and nights mixed up ... great). nate had his hand on my belly the other night and felt her doing her gymnastics and we were cracking up how dramatic the movements have become. we are amazed.

sleeping has headed into the challenging realm ... finding a comfortable spot is tough and sleep is starting to missed at odd hours ... guess that's all prep for when she is actually here! my nesting instincts are setting in and i have prepped the nursery for the most part. we only have one package of diapers so far (thanks Gennie) ... so i better get on that! its hard to stock up when you don't know how little or big this girl is going to be and what brand of diapers you will like! i have clothes ready to go by size all put away in the dresser and look forward to another baby shower here in Eugene in a few weekends.

we had a marathon birthing class last saturday. it was actually really good, contrary to what we had heard from friends. it was informative and good prep for us. it kind of gave us some confidence in the whole thing and was really good for nate. videos and all and he left feeling more confident in his roll of supporting me during labor and delivery ... i on the other had - being so close to giving birth - was just amazed that i was actually going to go through that. i am going to birth a baby. i feel a little more confident and hope that i can actually apply some of the stuff we learned on the big day.

in other news ... my OB thinks that the GD specialist won't let me go past 39 weeks ... we shall see what he says at my appointment next Tuesday where i will see baby girl again in 3-D. it feels to me that even just over the past week i have had a growth spurt - no, that's not a basketball under my dress these days ...

i did not intend on having the exercise ball in the picture as a reference point, but i guess it works. 8 1/2 months, I suppose this roundness is appropriate :) its especially crazy when you compare it to this 6 week shot:



side view at 34 weeks ... embracing the roundness that is me and my baby girl ... so excited to meet her!

we are also still playing the name game ... trying to decide a name is really intimidating! i know we are going to have to see her before we really decide but what if we don't know even after that?!