38 Weeks

Well I have made it to 38 weeks, and despite my sisters predictions I am just mentally planning on making it the whole 40 weeks at least :)

Caleb and I have had a whirl-wind of activty this month, well actually starting with Thanksgiving. We drove to see his brother Forrest's family (Julie, Bri, and Gavin) and we had a great time. The 7.5 hour drive wasn't too bad and I didn't get uncomfortable until the end of the ride home - sweet!

Making Lefse the first night there

On the hunt for sister-in-law's 10 foot tree - it was windy!

The Johnsons working on getting Julie's 10 foot tree ready for the house- they like to work together and see how they are all laughing :)

Caleb and I have tried to take advantage of our time together as "just the 2 of us" and so we went and saw The Christmas Carol at the Guthrie, and also went to see Handel's Messiah at Orchestra Hall. Unfortunately, we didn't predict how long periods of sitting around weeks 36-37 would be so uncomfortable for prego mama here :( Did I forget to mention that sitting makes your feet swell and so if you slip your heels off you might not be able to get them on again very well? The image of stuffed sausage comes to mind. Caleb was great and even let me walk bear foot through the skyway system on the way out - that or he was going to have to go get the car and walk in the cold by himself. Also in December we had 2 work parties, 3 birthdays, and we are just finishing putting a bathroom in the basement as well as adding vents, cold-air returns, installing a chest freezer, getting new carpet, and not to mention the endless list of Christmas preparation!

Dave Aust was our carpenter, Clyde Veldheizen was our plumber, dad was the electrician (thankfully dad's take payment in food and baked goods!), and Galen and Sara (Caleb's parents) were the carpet and hunting closet removers as well as empty-outers of the basement!!!

It's hard to see but Caleb had Pete A and Nick Z help remove the massive wall of stuff that was separating the 2 halves of the basement - and they lifted out the old furniture - YESSSSS!

Calan H taught Caleb how to dry wall...he made Caleb do almost the whole outside part by himself!

Caleb put the shower in himself!

Warren Westvig helped do the inside dry wall work and taping. He is SOOOOO much faster than Caleb and I (it took us like 30 minutes just to hang ONE piece of the ceiling). Caleb said, "Man, it pays to bring in the professionals!" Thanks Warren!

I have had a few showers, which were lovely, starting in December - I was so excited to get the "diaper cake" from my cousin Jenna, Auntie Di, and future cousin-to-be, Renee!

I think we are finally ready for this baby to come. We even have 1 of 2 car seat bases installed and ready to be inspected Monday Dec 26th at 10:30am in Hopkins - let me tell you that place is FREE and they don't check just Hopkins residents like 99% of the other safety inspection sites.

I get A LOT of comments about my belly and lots of looks when I am waddling through a parking lot. I wish there was a sign of my car saying "9 months pregnant - let me park close!!!!!!" I am definitely slowing down, and having trouble just moving around. My right hand has had significant carpal tunnel for about 2-3 weeks and I have been feeling tingling and numbness with everything I touch. Did I mention that this drives me CRAZY! Swelling otherwise has not been too bad. Sleep? Well, let's not talk about sleep in the 9th month. My hair is definitely thick and Caleb is dreading the great hair loss that will take over the house - sorry honey! I have experienced Braxton-Hicks for about 2 months now I think - but man can they get TIGHT.

Work has been okay, but challenging to keep up with the intense schedule on my feet. My patients LOVE talking about my belly and it is hard to keep them on track. Honestly, though, after 24-26 patients in a day I get a little bit tired of talking about my pregnancy. I also had a student PA with me for 5 weeks in Nov-Dec and that was probably not the smartest thing, but oh well!

Thankfully God gave me the forsight to save my vacation for the end of December and now I have about 10 days off with all the holidays in between. This is great because I cannot keep up with what I would like to do and so I need more time. I would say the hardest part about the end of the pregnancy is just not feeling like myself. I can't work out the same, I can't get done what I would like to get done, I don't have the same energy, I don't have the same emotions (ha!)...you get the point. We are anticipating the arrival of this little guy with joy and excitement, but also with a nervous sense of this ticking time-bomb inside of me! It's weird to not know when he is coming, and which day will be "the one". We are trying to live in the moment, enjoy our Christmas this year, and do the most important things first in the day or weekend. Although I will say EVERYTHING feels important right now from cleaning, to organizing, to cookie baking, to spending quality time with my sweetheart.

So, that's all for now :)

We covet your prayers for sleep, peace, and courage for a healthy and strong delivery!

Merry Christmas!