40 Weeks

Well my due date came and went yesterday. I worked. Kept things pretty chill and then attended a surprise birthday party for a girl in our ward. It was pretty uneventful except for a brownish mucus that I got during the day - which stopped about 3 pm.

No cramps. No pain. Tightning of the stomach but nothing out of the ordinary. Honestly part of me wonders if I will know when I am actually in labor. I'm sure I will, I mean c'mon it's LABOR!

Tyson has been on a crazy cleaning mood today. Cleaning the entire babies rooms walls and vacuuming and just "nesting" I guess. Work has been really good and slow. We got several rentals but I've been able to go in and out to my apartment. Oh I also cleaned the mircrowave - its a necessity when my mom comes tomorrow.

I'm excited for our ward Trunk or Treat tonight. It's been so nice to have a full week because I am not constantly thinking about going into labor.

This morning Tyson and I spent alot of time just sitting in bed. Our last couple of days together. We slept in and just talked about how amazing it will be when Sydney comes. Scary and amazing all at the same time.

Tyson's Early Birthday

Tyson's birthday is not until Saturday; however, with Sydney being so close we decided to celebrate early. My one concern is that Tyson's birthday would be totally forgotten with all the excitement of the baby. We ended up having two little celebrations and both were super fun.


The first one was October 22nd. We met up with our PFS team at Fat Cats Bowling alley. We had cupcakes, chips and fries. We bowled for two hours. I only lasted a game. Seriously bowling is hard when you are 9 months pregnant. Tyson loved it because he grew up bowling and is actually really good at it. However, this time Steven kicked everyone's butt.


The next celebration was that next Monday. We met up with our good friend Allyson and Ben. We had dinner at Outback Steak house thanks to a free coupon I got off facebook. Afte we headed to their house where Allyson made the coolest pumpkin cake! We had cake & Ice-cream. Tyson also got to watch football. The perfect birthday! We had a goal of getting him new shoes for the big day but we have yet to actually buy them. Tyson has been a good sport to have Sydney due so close to his birthday. In fact there is a good chance she could come ON his birthday. He says he would be ok with that.


Tyson keeps saying how "old" 28 feels. I guess having a baby and turning almost 30 would be kind of depressing. He's been a real tropper this whole time. We have sacrificed alot to prepare for Sydney and I just know he is going to be a great day! Happy birthday sweetheart!

39 Weeks

Wow here is the last week. I'm due on Thursday - October 27th, but what I'm feeling is that Sydney will be late. My body has definitely been experiencing changes. She is dropping and right on my pelvic area -which is great except it hurts to walk. Sometimes a sharp pain comes over my entire right side.

Mornings are still my best time. Even thought sleeping has been low quality, mornings I get up and I want to get stuff done. I can clean the property and the house and still feel great. Around 4 pm is when my energy and body kinda start to shut down for the day. The one thing that really helps me relax and feel great is a looonnng hot shower. That always rejuvenates me.

I'm pretty excited and mostly in denial. I honestly don't think I will give birth - I'll just be pregnant forever and its OK because I still think Sydney just needs to grow. How funny huh?

I go in today for my final OB appointment and my mom flies in on Saturday. We are pretty much relaxing until then. Eating has became and on and off thing - sometimes I get hungry but most of the time I'm not and when I eat I really just gravitate toward grains, pasta and breads - no meat. Not sure why? I'm such a meat eater but even chicken is not appetising. Probably because my poor digestive system does not have to do all that work.

PS. I wanted to capture a picture of my back since everyone says I don't even look pregnant from the back - hey what do you know? They were right!

38 Weeks

Besides my awful appointment with the last OB at my clinic - 38 weeks has been great. I feel pretty good most of the day. Tired at night, some nights are really tough with nausea. I get really sensative around 10 pm. My eyes burn and I feel so out of wack. A normal person would just go to bed right? Well I guess I like pain because I don't usually get to bed until 10:30 or so - bad idea.

Sleep is still tough. I toss and turn; however, last night I only peed once - really odd. I do have to say that every time I happen to wake up I tend to want to go pee, mostly because when I wake it's like my bladder starts screaming " I'm full" and it's actually painful to walk to the toilet. Sigh.

I actually feel like I am more mobile this week than the last two weeks. It also feels like my belly is smaller? I've had that happen a couple of times during my pregnancy - or maybe it's just wishful thinking. People ask me if "I'm so done being pregnant". I changes week to week but this week I'm loving it. I feel decent and I guess I'm just loving this simple time. Our time feel like it's slowed down. We have been really trying to enjoy it together. Its fun to buy some baby stuff here and there. I feel pretty prepared - as much as you can anyway.

Rocking Chair

I feel like I can finally say that our nursery is ready. The main parts have been in there for a while but the one finishig touch was our rocking chair. Its a beautiful solid wood chair that was given to us by a great guy in our ward. I've been wanting to update it but I'm not crafty.

Well two weeks ago I realized that if it was going to happen - it could not wait. We borrowed a sander from our friends in the ward and Tyson spent two days sanding it down. He then spent a day painting it white.

The next week we bought some material and Natalie Noll from our ward helped me create slips covers. The result - super cute! It's defintely more updated and I love the gender neutral fabric design.



It feels like it's finally all ready to go :)

Enjoying Time

Tyson and I have been really trying to enjoy our last few weeks together without Sydney. Don't get us wrong. We are thrilled to have her come and can't wait to actually meet her - still, after 4.5 years of just him and I, it's bitter sweet.

After our doula appoinment we hit Lonestar for a free appetizer. We are loving our long mornings of sleeping in and Tyson talking to Sydney. Sunday's are spent watching movies, sleeping and just cuddling. It's been a very sweet and tender time.

Our friend Melissa gave birth to her little girl on 10/10. We are beyond thrilled for them. Children are such a blessing. Through our entire struggle to conceive I always knew it would be worth it. I'm seeing slowly why God gave us families. Just the anticipation for our first little one has made us kinder and loving. Dont' get me wrong. I'm an emotional mess most of the days. I feel totally weepy and scared most of the time, but I am grateful to have this experience.

I am planning a small birthday party for Tyson on 10/22. I don't want his birthday to get lost in the shuffle of Sydney coming. Tyson has been truly amazing through this whole process. He has been sooo patient. So willing to help. So willing to be part of this. He wants to be the main coach and I am so grateful for it. It feels like we are a team. I'm so grateful for him.

37 Weeks

We are on the home stretch now! only 3 weeks left. Sydney is still kicking like crazy. At my last two OB appointments they have tried to do pelvic exams - with no success. My cervix is just really far up there! I am choosing to declined all of the them until I am in labor. I have a feeling that Sydney is not coming early. In fact I bet she will be a couple of days late.

Sleep continues to be the hardest part of the day. I toss and turn all night. If it's not a bathroom trip, it's braxton hicks contractions or just overall cramping.

We had our big meeting with our Doula - Lauren Sessions - yesterday.

It. Was. Awesome.

She is so wonderful. We went over my birth plan, we talked about coping techinques. We talked about Tyson's role. She makes us feel like this is going to be the best time ever. She is LDS and just has such an understanding on the spiritual part of birth. We feel so blessed to have found her.

Clothes are getting harder and harder to put on. Specially my garments - they are just so short. I have this constant line mid-belly. I have held strong though and have not bought any maternity ones. I'll just buy longer normal ones when Sydney comes.

Tyson is getting more and more excited. I am feeling more and more anxious but calm. I'm grateful for a pregnancy that has been mostly boring. I feel in awe of women's bodies and how a baby is made. I had a dream last night that I was no longer pregnant and I was running and running. It was a weird feeling.

Gloomy Saturday

Tyson left yesterday to a Primerica big event in Utah. Last night I studied with some of our recruits and slept over at Melissa's house. Today has been rainy and rainy. So what's a girl to do with such weather?

FREEZER MEALS.

Obviously I am preparing for Sydney's arrival in 20 days but even outside of that, freezer meals really do save a ton of time and stress. I've been attempting to do freezer meals for about a year now. I'm not amazing at it but I really do see a difference even when I only do minor things. Some things that I am loving about freezer meals are:

1. Cooked ground beef seperated in 1 lbs quantities
2. Cooked frozen chicken - so easy to do with cassaroles, haystacks and alfredo
3. Crock pot dishes that I can just defrost and put to cook in the morning
4. Frozen pizza. I can get frozen pizzas for less than $2 and it feeds us for two meals. Tyson is in love with our "pizza fridays" that we started 6 months ago.

Today I did salsa chicken, pot roast, lasagna soup and shake and bake chicken.

I also got a CD for Sydney's room for her "white noise" CD (I got it from the hospital). I always like to clean the house for Tyson so he comes home a clean home. If I am lucky I can find some coupons to get alfreado sause for $.69 at Walmart!

Conference Weekend

I heart conference weekend. This year was another fun year. Saturday I worked and Ty had training but we listened to it as we were doing work. Saturday night Ty headed to priesthood session and then dinner with the guys from the ward. I headed to Julie Kellis home for a girl hang out. We talked about kids, discipline and just marriage. I love hanging out with these girls because they are very real. We also have a new investigator (Katie) come over and we are excited for her baptism at the end of the month.

Sunday morning we woke up and headed to the Scottorn home. We ate an amazing breakfast - pancakes, sausages, hash browns. Soooo good. We listened to conference. My favorite talk was 1. the ones about how fathers can help their daughters and 2. President Monson's talk on his $5 bill and answered prayers.

After the first session we decided to go on a little hike - Melissa has been trying to have her baby for two weeks now! So we headed to a cute trail in Boulder. We only half a mile but it took us well over an hour becasue Melissa and I had to stop every 5 minutes. lol. It was a gorgeous hike/walk though. We headed home and I was wiped out. I showered, had dinner and then watched a movie.

We have less than 23 days before my due date. It amazes me how fast this has gone by. I'm so excited to meet Sydney. I'm terrified too. I feel so grateful to have the chance to be a mom. To be a family. Conference weekend just reminded me of how good our God is to bless us with families.