It’s week 34 and we’re only about 4 weeks away from the arrival of Baby Stern! I can’t believe that we’re in the last few weeks of a countdown and trying to keep in mind that it really could be “any time now.” I still feel like we’ve got a lot to do: we need to make a trip to Babies R Us and Target to finish getting the items off our registry we need – and then put all that stuff away; we need to get a plan in place for who is helping with Murray and Theo when it’s “go” time; I have a ton of things to do for work to feel comfortable to be away on maternity leave; we need to finish the nursery and get the things up on the walls; and our house needs cleaned something terrible. So, all of that is on the schedule for this week – think we’ll get it all done? We shall see!

Here’s a 34 Week Update:

How far along: 34 weeks
Baby is the size of a: Cantaloupe
Total weight gain/measurements: 33lbs
Maternity clothes: oh, yes.
Stretch marks: There’s a few small ones starting to show right around my hips, especially if I pull my belly up a bit.
Sleep: Sleep is not happening. It’s been a flip of a switch this week, but I cannot sleep. It’s a combination of being uncomfortable and just not being able to go back to sleep, if I get up for a bathroom break (which is happening more and more during the night). I’m pretty exhausted and would give anything for a good 3-4 hour stretch of sleep.
Best moment of this week: Hopefully getting a lot of “to-do” thing crossed off our list around the house!
Miss Anything? I was driving past the park the other day and there were so many people there. It really made me miss being able to go for a run – looking forward to getting back into a normal exercise routine ASAP.
Food cravings: None. I’ve really lost my appetite this week too. I’m just not hungry – at all. And there’s nothing that makes me want to eat. I’m not experiencing any nausea, but I just have no desire to eat, or no craving to eat anything in particular.
Anything that makes you queasy or sick: No
Labor Signs: Continual Braxton Hicks contractions – at any time during the day. Lots of practicing for the real thing happening the past few weeks.
Belly Button in or out? OUT! It popped out last week and it’s so funny looking and feels weird too!
Wedding rings on or off? Off. Swollen ligaments. 😦
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy – just trying not to stress, thinking about all the things that need done before it’s time for baby to arrive.
Looking forward to: Drs appointments this week to see if we are any closer to baby’s arrival and finishing up our shopping for baby gear off our registry!

Look at the significant difference between last weeks picture and this week! Baby boy is definitely growing in there cause my belly is continuing to push further and further out over my toes (which I can’t see now, either).

We spent the last week at the Jersey Shore – Cape May, NJ with my side of the family, after my cousins wedding on Saturday. We had great weather and a really relaxing week – and baby boy stayed put like we asked him too 🙂 Although, I do think he may have dropped towards the end of this week – which means we’re moving closer to meeting our little guy. Here are some pictures from the wedding:

The Recker Family – August 2, 2014

And here are some pictures from our amazing vacation week:

It’s week 33 and we’re headed to the Jersey Shore for a week with my family, following my cousins wedding. We have added the car seat and hospital bags to our cargo for this trip, but have our fingers crossed that baby boy stays put so we’re not running to an unfamiliar hospital for any unexpected arrivals.

I told Dan that he had to take my picture prior to us leaving for our road trip, just in case this was the last belly shot we got (we’re not nervous about having this guy while we’re away or anything?!). So here goes the update for this week:

How far along: 33 weeks
Baby is the size of a: pineapple
Total weight gain/measurements: 30 lbs
Maternity clothes: yes – sundresses and maxi skirts are my best friends!
Stretch marks: I’m getting the feeling that these are inevitable, with how big this boy is getting, but I can’t see them yet.
Sleep: Sleep has been so-so, but definitely interrupted due to having to pee every few hours.
Best moment of this week: Packing for vacation! We’ve been waiting for this get-a-way all summer!
Miss Anything? My normal shoe size. Thank goodness its summer and I can just wear flip flops because my feet are now fitting into a 9.5/10 size shoe (I normally wear an 8)
Food cravings: juice pops
Anything that makes you queasy or sick: No
Labor Signs: Yes, lots of Braxton Hicks contractions happening
Belly Button in or out? It, but it’s about to pop!
Wedding rings on or off? Has to be off. Everything’s just swollen and I have a fear of keeping it on and having to have it cut off.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! Looking forward to a week at the beach with our family and just getting away from the stress of everything going on at home.
Looking forward to: Sitting on the beach and getting some sun!

Here’s to hoping there’s a few more weeks of belly pictures after this one!

So this week we were celebrating 31 weeks on my 31st birthday! It is so crazy to me how timing works out. It may not mean to much to others, but to be hitting this milestone on the same time of my birthday is very special to us. Dan planned a beautiful evening for us with dinner at a new place (for us). I am very excited for what year 31 holds for all of us!

Happy Birthday to me! Here’s to year 31!

We had the most amazing weekend with our family and friends that came out to celebrate our little boy! A special ‘thank you’ to my mom & Jackie for all their help with the decorations and food, and to my sister in law Megan for such a beautiful job on all the flowers and gift basket raffles. We had beautiful weather and the sun was shining the entire time. I’m so glad we made the decision to do this outside at our home under the tent. It’s definitely a day I’ll never forget. Here are some details from our special day:

My Godmother, Aunt Jane, made this beautiful blanket for our little boy. It is so beautiful and means so much!

Dan even made an appearance to help with the last bit of gifts we had to open 🙂

Aunt Jackie & Uncle Kyle got us our diaper bag filled with cute outfits and toys for baby boy!

Love these ladies

We are so incredibly blessed.

Thank you to everyone that came out to celebrate with us and thank you to those who were not able to be here but sent blessings and beautiful gifts for our baby boy. He is blessed beyond words for all the love he is receiving and he’s not even here yet! We cannot wait for him to meet all of you!

I’ve been so busy with everything happening around the house and every weekend packed full of places to be or events to attend, that we’ve completely missed the boat on keeping this updated like I wanted to. So, I apologize for the lack of details on some of these posts (from week 29 to week 33), but here are some pictures to track the progress.

How far along: 27 weeks
Baby is the size of a: Head of Cauliflower
Total weight gain/measurements: 26 big ones
Maternity clothes: yes! I feel so much better when I dress the bump in clothes that are made for preggo women – and I have to say, maxi and sun dresses/skirts have become my new best friend and don’t make me feel so confined. I am on the hung for a perfect shower dress…Any of you ladies have a favorite online boutique?
Stretch marks: Still no gain in this department (thank the Lord!) I have been using the mirror in the mornings after my shower to do a double check since its getting hard to see all the way around this belly.
Sleep: this is deteriorating, sadly. The past week I’ve been exhausted around 8:30pm; in bed by 9:30, but up around 2:30am because I have to go to the bathroom and then am just wide awake for a least a few hours.
Best moment of this week: Baby shower gifts are magically appearing! Every day this week we’ve had a box or package delivered to the door. It is making me feel so excited/impatient/scared. We really can’t wait to meet him and know that time is flying by so fast, but at the same time pray every day that he stays put in there where he can grow stronger and healthier at least for another 10 weeks.
Miss Anything? I could really go for a mixed summer drink or a bottle of wine (yes, the bottle). I’m not a big drinker, but with summer being here and being outside with friends…I’m missing that little something extra.
Food cravings: Fruit. I’ve literally gone through a bag of nectarines; a bag of cherries (over 2 days); and a bowl of strawberries (over a day and a half). Also, chocolate sf popsicles. yum!
Anything that makes you queasy or sick: Nope. I haven’t been as hungry lately as in the past weeks. I’ll snack throughout the day (see above food cravings), but when it comes to sitting down to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, like we normally do, I’m not at all hungry nor do I want to think about food or cooking.
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In, but ever so slightly. I’m waiting for it to pop. The scar that is right beside my belly button is stretched to the max and looks like I have a little jelly fish stuck to my stomach – yuk! Glad I can’t really see it.
Wedding rings on or off? It’s a day by day decision. My wedding ring was still on for the longest time but was itching and hurting so bad, I just had to take it off. Now all the skin on the base of the finger is peeling off. Dan says I should just keep it off, but I honestly feel lost without it on. Pregnant girl problems.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy – I keep thinking of what our days will be like in just a short period of time and how wonderful it will be to be a family of three (well, five with Murray and Theo) and how this tiny little person has been a missing link. We had to wait a very long time, and suffered some heartbreak along the way and now I just can’t wait to see what his life has in store and the happiness he’s going to bring for us and our extended family.
Looking forward to: The Fourth of July Holiday and a 3 day weekend. There’s so much going on with work, on top of getting things in order to be out for maternity leave, that it’s driving me nuts. (I think that’s part of my ‘not being able to sleep’ problem) so I’m really looking forward to the upcoming holiday weekend that’s just around the corner.

Baby boy does move, on occasion, when we talk directly to him or Dan talks to my belly 🙂

Dan has been super busy (between World Cup Soccer matches :)) putting together some of the bigger gifts we’ve already received for Baby Boy.

We received our Road Runner Stroller, which I’m in love with, and car seat combo from Mom & Dad. (Thank you Grandma & Grandpa)

And they also got us our awesome Pack n’ Play so that the little guy has somewhere to sleep when we’re visiting grandparents and aunts and uncles!

And, for when the little nugget gets bigger, Uncle Matt and Aunt Chelsey sent our “easy-fold” stroller! (love the color combos here)

Thank you guys for these big gifts – Baby Stern will be ready to travel upon arrival! Wonder where our first trip will take us?