Finally Full-Term!

37 Weeks!

Well the big belly has finally made it's arrival. I ran into a co-worker of mine that I haven't seen in a couple of weeks.  He made the comment that during this whole pregnancy I really haven't looked different, but now all of a sudden I have the belly to prove it. :)

At my appointment earlier this week, while the nurse was measuring my belly, Peanut got wiggly and decided to stick his bum straight out where the nurse was trying to measure. It startled her a little bit and she made a comment like, "oh, I wonder  what that bump is." The doctor checked and Cannon is head-down and ready to go. He told the nurse it was baby's rear that was making that cute little lump. That little prankster was mooning us! :)

I'm having lots more nausea and contractions this week.  Peanut still has a ways to drop though, so even though he could come at any time I'm thinking it won't be in the next few days. Aside from the nausea and contractions this last week has been the best I've felt in a while. My back hasn't hurt in a couple weeks and I have more energy. From what I hear it seems that I'm "nesting." I've folded and refolded Cannon's clothes, put up curtains, and moved furniture (with Anthony's help of course).

We are getting so excited to meet our lil' Peanut baby! We talk about what we thing he'll look like and how great it's going to be to hold him. When life gets overwhelming, working all day, reading baby books and doing work at home in the evenings, etc... it helps me calm down and put life back in perspective to just close my eyes and imagine holding this red, wrinkly, warm little bundle of joy! All the crazy, stressful things in life seem to melt away and don't seem so important anymore. 

Waiting for his arrival also has me thinking about our home and our lives. I am becoming more aware of what kind of environment this new little spirit will be coming into, and feeling more sensitive to the need to keep our home an environment of peace and comfort. 

We are also getting really excited as our families are now making plans to come out and visit this summer. Anthony's mom is going to come stay with us as soon as Cannon is born and help us with the adjustment of being new parents. My mom teaches school and doesn't get out until May 31st, so she is planning a visit for a couple weeks in June when it's time for Cannon's blessing. 

Kelly and little Ramona just bought tickets to come out and see us for a long weekend in May!! So excited! Kelly and Laurel get Ramona and Liam together for "cousin time" pretty regularly. I've been a little sad thinking that because we live so far away from both mine and Anthony's families that our kids won't have many opportunities to know their extended families. So of course I am stoked to have family come out and see us and take lots of pictures! 

 

Heart Photo 3/17/12

1 Heart

2 Hands

3 Armstrongs

I woke up this morning at 7:00 and couldn't sleep in anymore no matter how hard I tried. I decided to get up and start the day by doing something I've been putting off. So I set up the tripod and starting shooting belly pictures. 

 I saw a picture similar to this on Pinterest and really liked it. The picture online had the mom's hands making a heart around her belly button, then dad's hands on top of hers. I decided I liked having one of each of mine and Anthony's hands making the heart. It felt symbolic to me that little Cannon is 1/2 mom, 1/2 dad and 100% loved. :)

Thanks again to Mom & Dad Armstrong for the awesome camera you got us for Christmas that made taking a cute picture like this possible.

Starting the Paper Chain

 Week 36!

 

Well, here we are at 28 days until due date. Peanut hasn't dropped anymore yet, just sittin' steady. I've been feeling pretty good for the most part. My back is doing much better lately and I haven't had to go to the chiropractor for 2 weeks. I'm still loving my rocker/recliner chair and have seriously considered starting to sleep in it at night. More good things include no more cramping, just the occasional braxton contractions. Doctor appointments are going smoother and I'm much happier now that I'm scheduling all my appointments soley with the one doctor in that office that I like.

The heartburn is holding strong, but I've figured out some better ways to stay on top of it so even that isn't too bad. Sadly though, I have some returning "friends." My feet have started swelling again like they used to....I mean like puff pastery, can't fit in any shoes. That went away for several weeks, but apparently was just on vacation and now back to stay. I'm also back to being nauseous in the mornings like I was in the first trimester. My toothbrush and I are in somewhat of a love-hate relationship. At least it's just in the mornings and not all day long.

New developments in the ever-changing circus of pregnancy: My contacts bother my eyes lately so I've had to switch over to wearing my glasses all day, something I haven't done since like the 8th grade when I first got contacts. Also new...as things are starting to loosen up my hips pop a lot. And there's the weird new sensation when I stand up that the bottom half of my body is going to fall off and stay sitting in the chair where I just was. Ha ha! 

And....oh...what's that last one.....I don't really remember....oh yeah, I am super forgetful! Women don't lie when they talk about pregnancy brain. Poor Anthony has become my designate Siri. He tells me where I am, where I was going, where my phone is, what time it is, and all the other stuff I keep asking him on what seems like an hourly basis. Ha ha!

Here's the paper chain I put up in my office today. My sister, Kelly, had one in her office when she was pregnant with Ramona, so it inspired me to do one myself. It's really crazy to think there's only 28 days until Peanut's due date. And yeah, for all you parade-rainers, I know....he might come later than that. That's okay. As long as he just doesn't decide to come the first week in April, otherwise known as Final's Week. Yikes! Poor Anthony will be right in the middle of finals and has already been told that if he misses the test he gets a zero on the final. Lame!

What might really be perfect is if Peanut comes on Easter Sunday. That way finals would be done and over and Anthony would get a full week at home before Spring semester starts up. And....we would get to put the darling bunny ear hat that Kelly made on Peanut while he's in the hospital. Can we say cute?! :) I guess we'll just have to see what happens. 

Just one month left!!

 35 Weeks!!

Tuesday the 13th is my 29th birthday and the one month countdown to Peanut's due date!!!

 So I posted two pictures because I noticed some interesting changes in just the last 2 days.  The picture on the left (in the black shirt) is my traditional Friday picture. The picture on the right (in the green shirt) I took Sunday night. After going swimming Saturday night I noticed that lil' Cannon started migrating downward a bit. 

You may not be able to tell from the pictures as much as I can, but there's definitely a difference. The whole pregnancy this baby has been hanging out way high in my ribs. Now he is bit farther down (finally I can breathe!!!) and my belly is more round. Still more moving to go though.

This weekend was so fun! My baby shower was on Saturday and I also got to go swimming for the first time during this pregnancy...heaven. :) 

A special thank you to a few people: my friend Macie for throwing me an awesome baby shower, and Lisa & Gram, and Brittany & Andrew for traveling to Idaho to come to the shower and spend time with Anthony and me. And a big thank you to Andrew for helping Anthony move all of our extra totes into the attic to make more space in our home. I was just explaining to Anthony that this weekend was so great it's put me on a high for the next coming weeks and was the perfect transition into prepping for Cannon's arrival!

Brittany was kind enough to take some pictures for me at the shower. Macie came up with some really fun games for us to play. And people were so generous with their gifts.

Ashley and Madi made this cute card and mailed it with some fun gifts since they couldn't be with us Idaho.  My friend, Paige, got us this cute onesie that says "I'm not chubby, it's all muscle."

  

My sis-in-law Brittany made this beautiful carseat cover. 

 

 My mom sent us some cute gifts, including a little baby tie!

 Here are some recent additions we've made to prep for baby. We put together the stroller and got the carseat in the car. And Anthony add a vinyl Superman logo to the closet doors in Cannon's room. You can also see a little corner of the box to the crib that my Dad & Nancy got us! Yay!! Getting so excited for lil' Peanut to get here! 

Happy March!

 34 weeks!

Cannon is still sitting high and up in my ribs. I'm very curious about how I will look once he drops.

 

This is the dilation chart from my doctor's office. I was looking at it during my last visit and feeling very intimidated. As of my appointment on Wednesday I am already dialated to 2cm. My doctor told me that after 34 weeks if their patients go into labor they won't stop them. I however, do not want to go into labor yet. This bambino still has 6 more weeks of growing to do. 

The other thing interesting about this chart is the visual size comparison of the ovarian cyst I had to have surgery for during my 2nd trimester. My doctor had talked about it with Anthony and I, but this was the first time I was actually visualizing how large the cyst was. The circle closest to my hand is 10cm. The cyst I had removed....the cyst I couldn't feel and that my doctor's missed until I was 19 weeks pregnant....was 10cm in diameter. The size of a large grapefruit! At the time of my surgery the cyst was as big as my baby. Holy Moley!! How did I survive that?!?

This is Anthony and I hanging out in Cannon's room one day. We were admiring how Anthony's shirt matched the walls and wondered if he stood up against the wall if he would look like a floating head.

I was also enjoying him rubbing my swollen feet. In this first picture Anthony is pushing his thumb into the top of my foot. The next picture shows the awesome indention that was left over. Anthony is obviously in awe of the magical powers of my swollen foot. He even asked me if he could spit on my foot to see how much liquid the dent would hold. LOL!

Amongst the ever so stimulating entertainment my swollen feet provide at home we've also been enjoying attending a variety of Fine Arts performances on campus. Okay, well I've been enjoying the events...Anthony goes because he's required to for a class. :) Dance performances and jazz concerts aren't really his cup of tea. But it's been nice to break from our usual weekend routine and go on some different dates.

It's amazing how quickly time is flying by. Anthony's semester midterms have already come and gone. Our 29th birthday's will be coming up within the next couple weeks. And it won't be much longer until our lil' Peanut makes his debut. It's coming down to the last of it and yet I still feel so unprepared. I'm sure it will all come together. And we are so excited to meet out little guy!