35 Weeks {Only 4 Weeks Until Baby Cinco!}

Wow.  Only 4 weeks to go until we get to meet this precious baby face to face!  I've been happily excited and counting down...until last night when I had a minor panic moment. 
I have done absolutely nothing to prepare for this baby!!!!!
Yep, you read that right.  Nothing.  There is nothing in this house {besides my enormous bump} to suggest a baby is going to be joining this family anytime soon.  Surely I should be doing something!?
There are some things coming up in this next week or so... 
My mother {bless her!!} is coming up for a day to help me prepare about 2 weeks worth of freezer meals for my family.  My grocery list is nearly complete for that I think...and it's probably the smartest thing I'll have ever done before having a baby.  {Seriously, why have I never done this before!?}
Jason, in preparation for the influx of freezer meals, unplugged our deep freeze and is going to be scrubbing it clean prior to our needing it for storage.  He's also planning to help me clean the back room so we can use the large dining room table back there as an extra work station of sorts.
My mom will also be bringing a new crib bedding set with her that I asked for and received as a Christmas present {Thank you again Grannie and Boppa!}.  We were still using the set we bought for Sis nearly eight years ago - and no, that's not a bad thing.  This mama was just ready for a little something new.  Naturally, when the new bedding makes it here it needs a crib to go in, right?  So I'm hoping while mom and I are working away on meals, Jason {who will also be in charge of handling the requests of the other four, refereeing squabbles etc.} will hopefully be able to reassemble the crib in Eli's room.
That's preparation right!?  Surely that is all that needs done to welcome a new baby home where the last baby has barely begun to grow out of being "the baby"?  I feel just a smidge silly that I - a mom of FIVE - has the crazy desire to google the zillion lists that are probably out there for things one should do before bringing a baby home {and no, I'm not going to}.  Anyways, on to Baby Cinco.
How far along:  35 weeks
Total Weight Gain:  Around 17 pounds so far.
Maternity Clothes:  No and with only 4 weeks to go I don't plan on digging any out.  Thank you BellaBands.
Sleep:  Better actually.  Most nights I'm sleeping through the night which has been fabulous.
Best Moments:  Christmas!  We just finished our last Christmas celebration this last weekend - so I have 2 more Christmas blogs to write! 
Movement:  All. The. Time.  I was rocking Miss G last night and she was giggling uncontrollably because Cinco kept moving, kicking, and pushing her and she thought it was hilarious.
Food Cravings:  None but I'm loving the sweet stuff.
Gender:  Neutrals, blues, and pinks are scheduled to go into the wash soon!
Labor Signs:  Nope.  Just the typical Braxton Hicks contractions.  Unfortunately, they tend to happen every time I bend over, get in and out of the car etc.  Not the most comfortable thing in the world but survivable.
Our Doctor's Apt Today:  Very dull.  :)  Same low blood pressure and a heart rate of 135.  We go back in 2 weeks, then have a 1 week visit and then it's baby time!
Not the most flattering photo.  It decided to snow here and there's no way this mama {who is not a cold fan} is going outside to take our typical photo by the fence.  Yep, I'm a wimp.  So here we are at 35 weeks - only 4 weeks to D-Day!

Family Photos by Renee Miller

A couple of ways to make sure your husband is present for family photos:

1.  Have them taken while you're visiting relatives for the Thanksgiving weekend.

2.  Have a great sister-in-law {preferably one who likes to take pictures} who is more stubborn than you are about getting these things done.

Also, for those of you who may be wondering: yes, I will let the fact Jason missed family pictures the first time be forgotten - eventually - but for the time being I'm still reminding him.  :)  So, for your viewing pleasure, here is our whole family, complete with my husband!

It's been a long time since we had a nice picture of just the two of us.

My favorite people!

 

A huge thank you to Renee!  I love them and I can't wait to show them to Jason!

Baby Cinco {30/31 Weeks}

For the title, the photo below was taken at 30 weeks but my doctor's appointment isn't until 31 weeks, which is when this is going to be posted.  {Though I'll probably be the only on confused when I read the title a year down the road when it appears in our blog book.}  This doctor's appointment is our last of the 4-week visits.  After this one I'll be going in every two weeks, which will just make everything feel like it's going faster and I don't need any help with that right now!!!

 

How far along:  31 weeks when you read this.

 

Total Weight Gain:  Really, at this point I think I'll take that celebs perspective I read about in American Baby.  The "I'm busy growing a baby and my weight doesn't matter as I'm healthy for the baby".  I read this particular celeb even got on the scale at her doctor's appointments backwards so she didn't see her weight.  Go her!

 

Maternity Clothes:  Um, yes and no still.  I have caved twice and worn a maternity top.  I just can't do it.  I don't like the way they look on me at all this time and I'm too lazy to go shopping in stores my town doesn't have to look for something new.

 

Sleep:  The normal.  One or two kids {or dogs} up during the night which usually results in a trip to the bathroom for me.

 

Best Moments:  We finished our Christmas shopping {minus stocking stuffers for the kiddos} and Thanksgiving!  I love my mother-in-law's pies - yummy!  Also, the couple of times Eli came up to "hug the baby" kind of melted my heart.  He's a sweet kid anyway but having him wrap is arms around my middle and lay his head on my bump is just too precious.

 

Movement:  All. The. Time.  Cinco isn't shy about shifting positions and {at least several times a day} pushes so hard it hurts.  Definitely a strong and active baby!

 

Food Cravings:  Not really.  For whatever reason I've gone back to the nothing-sounds-good phase.

 

Gender:  We'll all know soon!  I bought a super-cute FHSU hair bow to go with Cinco's FHSU coming-home outfit.  I really need to get crack'n and get a little black and gold tutu ready to go {and maybe a red and yellow one for our Chiefs outfits}.  We'll be ready for anything.  :)

 

Labor Signs:  I'm sure I've mentioned we don't do "labor" in this house any more!  I get some uncomfortable contractions in the evening as I'm doing a lot of bending to pick up toys but otherwise no.  Hopefully we'll be setting Baby Cinco's c-section date soon!  I'm in full countdown mode - only 8 weeks to go probably!

 

Ah...the picture.  The first thing I notice is Cinco has gone through a growth spurt since the last one I posted {or maybe I should say the sweater is thicker than it looks!?} and wow is that gray hair starting to stand out!!  How old am I again?

As for our doctor's appointment:  I wasn't a very observant mama today, unless you count Izzy trying to use the light {ahem, the ones used for a pap exam} as a microphone {ladies, you can see how she could be confused}, or G trying to use the stool {with wheels!} to fly across the room.  :)  So other than taking care of those things I failed to hear my blood pressure {which has never been bad} or the baby's heartbeat {though the nurse had no trouble finding it and Cinco actually kicked and pushed back in protest}.  All in all, both the nurse and doctor must have been happy/satisfied with the results.
Also, the final countdown, at least in my doctor's opinion, has begun.  We go back in two weeks now instead of the usual four and he's looking at dates for Baby Cinco's birthday.  He looked at his calendar and threw a date out there but, of course, the nurse {you know, the gals who usually know the doctor's schedule better than the doctors themselves do} will call to actually schedule the surgery so the date is nothing that is set in stone.  But Cinco is coming.  Soon.  No lie, I actually left the office a little giddy knowing how close we are to holding our new wonder in our arms.