Almost.... (37w2d)

I have to say that I think if I spend too much time writing this I will end up crying, I can feel the tears on their way now. I saw the last time I wrote, two months ago, I said the time had been going neither to fast nor too slow. Well, now I say it's definitely going too fast. If the first 37 weeks have gone this fast, I cannot imagine how fast it will go once I'm holding him/her in my arms. I am cherishing this special time with just me and Little One so much and I think I will miss it. It is such a special, beautiful, miraculous, perfect time and I can't imagine anything in the world that would compare. I know holding my son/daughter will be equally perfect, but still, a different experience. I am so excited about the next stage in my child's life, but I am also sad to see this stage coming to an end. I must say, we are very anxious to find out if we have a son or a daughter and that's going to be such a special moment. It is probably the moment I think about the most when I think about the labor and delivery process. The guesses are pretty mixed. When I was in the early stages, it was 100% boy, then I started showing and it was all girl. Now, it's pretty varied between the two. Soon enough we will find out one way or another, haha. I do not have a gut feeling one way or another, as everyone keeps asking me, nor have I had any dreams to tell me. So I think I will be just as surprised as everyone. :-)

We have been so busy lately and I can't imagine how crazy things are going to be in August. I was privileged enough to have 3 showers - one with family and friends, one at the office with coworkers, and one with some of the coworkers I am closest too. We are so thankful and feel so blessed that people have shown so much love to our Little One they haven't even met yet.

Work has been crazy busy for the both of us as well. I think we're both trying to be super heroes or something, I'm not sure, lol. Gabe has been working 12-14 hour days and I have been trying to get everything nice and organized before I go out on leave. I planned to get everything done (work wise) for the month within the first couple weeks, but I'm losing that motivation fast. I spent so much time trying to get work set up for me to go that I'm neglecting other things, and I'm starting to get frustrated with it. I'm ready to give up the super woman status, at least as far as work is concerned, I'm just not quite sure how to go about doing so.

As for preparing for Little One, I feel like I still have so much to do. Other than make sure I have purchased/received supplies, I haven't done much. Many of you do not know that we are trying to move before LO comes, and besides work, this is what takes up all of my time. I have seen around 200 houses in the past couple months and we have picked out more than I can count that we wanted to make an offer on, only to find out by the time we got home they were no longer available, put an offer on a few that fell through, put an offer on another one and after completing inspections it fell through, etc. etc. etc. It's been an exhausting experience but, 3 weeks before due date, we are still hoping to close on a house before it's time to meet Little One. See, I told you August would be crazy! That being said, we don't have anything set up because we don't know where we'll be. Although I'm not quite sure how at the moment, I know things will fall into place one way or another.

I am 37 weeks now. I go for weekly doctor's appointments and this Friday I will get to have an ultrasound to see if the baby has turned upside down and about what size he/she is. I haven't had an u/s since I was first able to find out if it was a boy/girl (around 20 weeks), and I'm a little nervous about the possibility of finding out through the u/s, so I will have to make sure they don't show me, even if I have to close my eyes for part of it, haha. Some sources say I am full term now. I have been telling Gabe that if I get to 38 weeks I will feel okay about delivering from that point on, although with everything going on I'm kinda hoping to go at least a little past my due date. We're also hoping he/she comes on a Friday or a weekend since Gabe wont be taking time off work. Gosh, we sure are riding on allot of uncertainties here. :-) Haha. We both feel like I have grown allot recently, sometimes I look down and I feel like I have grown in the past couple hours. Gabe feels Little One more and it is so neat and special to watch how he reacts to it and see the look on his face.

One of the biggest wake up calls for me that this was real and getting close was when my brother/SIL and one of my best friends had their babies on the same day! I keep saying things like "oh, they're a month ahead of me," and that day it turned in to "OHHHH, they're a month ahead of me!" On July 12 Lance and Kristi welcomed my niece Emma Grace (unfortunately I haven't gotten to travel to meet my first niece yet) and Chassidy and Chris welcomed Madelaine Rose. That means Little One is next!

I have had on my to-do list for about a month now to post updated belly pictures. I don't have any in the outfit I usually do, but I did get some maternity pictures done and will share some of my favorites from those. My friend Jaime took them. I sure am glad I didn't spend all kinds of money getting them done professionally because I think we did a pretty good job and it was fun. I will put some of my favorite ones on here.

This entire experience of pregnancy and becoming a Mom has been so surreal and indescribably incredible. I'm not sure how to close this post and wonder if it will be the last one of my pregnancy. I wish you could hear the silence and wonder that is in my brain right now as I sit in awe at this beautiful, amazing, exciting (and crazy) time in my life. I'm eternally grateful to Gabe for all that he does for us and for all the gifts I have been given in my life and I'm so happy to be sharing this experience with him. I love my family!....


Pictures taken at 36w6d