~* 31 Weeks *~

It's Superbowl Sunday! Even though the Packers aren't in it this year I'm still celebrating last season's victory and sporting my Packer shirt :-) At 31 weeks, there are only 61 days until my due date. 8+ weeks. 2 months. 1/6 of a year. However you look at it... that is a very short time! We had an eventful week full of nesting, cleaning house, and taking the first half of our childbirth prep classes. 

Kasey and Ryan's bassinet we are borrowing

The week started out with a teachers meeting at the college so Robby stayed in town and I drove to work by myself. He was able to catch up with a few of his buddies there to compare their student teaching experiences. He is slowly teaching more lessons in his classroom and soon will be teaching for the whole day. Parent-teacher conferences are coming up and he will be directing those. My work is keeping me busy on the SIM project but the ladies and I are also having fun talking about babies. I made a sheet and taped it to my desk for my co-workers to guess how much the baby will weigh and measure. The longest is 25" and biggest is 8 lbs 14 oz. They like giving me a hard time because they know how tall Robby is!

A page from his baby book

Thursday night we went to St. Luke's and attended our first of 2 childbirth prep classes. There were about 30 in the class and they took us through a powerpoint that talked about pregnancy, labor and breathing techniques. It was also helpful to learn how to count contractions and what to bring to the hospital with you. Another girl attending the class had the same due date as me and was also planning to deliver at St. Luke's, so it will be interesting to see if we go into labor and see each other at the hospital again! Even though the pregnancy has gone so smooth so far, I feel like I still need to be prepared. For those that helped me plan my wedding, you know about my lists :P All the planning won't prepare me for labor I'm sure, but we are getting closer and it makes me more excited and nervous than ever. The best thing about this first class was touring the birth center. St. Luke's has their labor/delivery/recovery all in one room (unless c-section is needed) and then I will be transported to another room where we will stay until we are released. The nursery was pretty bare except for 2 newborns which all of the Moms-to-be were drooling over! All in all it was a good class and I'm looking forward to next week's session when we will go over c-section births and childcare. Robby wasn't too impressed that I dragged him along but hopefully he gained some knowledge as well at how much of a pain in the butt I will be in labor ;-) He told me he will play some Gary Allan for me and make it all better! HA! 

This weekend was very productive. With all the talk about 'winter weather' finally coming our way, I wasn't sure if my sister would be able to come up to Wayne and visit but wouldn't you know we only got some freezing rain and a snow dusting and by Saturday afternoon it was all melted. She helped me so much around the house with cleaning, rearranging our bedroom to fit the crib and bassinet, putting together the stroller and practicing with the carseat, and making some delicious food. Of course we made time to relax and have some fun too and we watched "The Help" (an excellent movie by the way), took a walk/drive around town, and just lounged. The crib bedding came in the mail so we are hoping to get the crib from my co-worker sometime this week and put it all together. 

Stroller/carseat

It makes me so happy to know how much this baby is already loved. Thank you Mom and Dad for the card and to those of you who have helped us already by offering advice or baby things. Even with the added stress of driving to work and not finding a house right away I am still loving this whole pregnancy adventure and I know things will work out. My prayer still everyday is that this baby is healthy and that there are no complications. He is very active these days and doesn't hesitate to keep kicking me in the ribs, even after a talking to from his Dad :-) It amazes me how different his movements feel week after week. I am starting to recognize his patterns in sleeping and being awake even while I am trying to sleep at night. I have been feeling ok except for being hot more often, leg cramps at night and tossing and turning, and being out of breath alot. I have been trying to take walks at lunchtime while the weather is nice to help with that but I know the baby takes up a lot of room and puts pressure on my lungs/diaphragm. Baby showers are coming up in Wayne, Arcadia, and at work so reality is setting in that this pregnancy will be over soon! Thank you to those working to put these on for me, I can't say how much I appreciate the love and support you give to me. Again, I have the best family/friends in the world.