I know I’ll be focusing on self love and embracing my post baby body once I get past the new mom haze.

How did you learn to embrace your post baby body?

Week 39 Update:

This week baby is about 20inches long and at about 7lbs is the size of a mini watermelon! (according to the babycenter app on my phone.)

Some fun different pictures this week! We went on a small date for our anniversary and decided to snap my weekly bump pictures outside for fun! (there will be a photo friday post with more pictures from our date soon, including some What I’m wearing pictures!)

So. I’m pretty much done being pregnant now. Haha! I’m in sooo much pain all the time and I’m just ready for my little boy to be here. I’m not one to really believe in most of the “ways to induce labor” because if baby/my body isn’t ready…nothing is getting him out (unless they cut me open!). On Wednesday, my mom tricked me into going to the mall to walk to help induce labor by giving us money for coffee and cinnabon! Here are some instagram pictures if you want to see our day! It was fun to get out (and get cinnabon) but it was exhausting. And no, it didn’t start labor, obviously.

And Introducing Baby Jeff!

I’ll be replacing my bi-weekly bump updates with baby updates for a month or two but for now, be sure to follow me on twitter or instagram- likeabirdstudios for updates

Check out the past baby bump progress:
Week 5 & Week 21
Week 23 & Week 24
Week 25 & Week 26
Week 27 & Week 28
Week 29 & Week 30
Week 31 & Week 32
Week 33 & Week 34
Week 35 & Week 36
Week 37 & Week 38

Like a Bird is now listed on Top Baby Blogs! It would be so great if you vote for Like a Bird, all it takes is 2 little clicks. Just click on the banner below or the banner in my sidebar to the right.

(you can vote once every 24 hours!)

Jeffrey Mica Joseph
Our beautiful little boy was born on Saturday April 28th(his due date!) At 9.44am. Baby Jeff weighed 8lbs 12oz and was 21.5inches long.

He is amazing and beautiful and I’m so in love.

I am officially on blog maternith leave now and have some fantastic guest posts lined up and lots of scheduled posts from me too. I will eventually write up baby Jeff’s birth story and share it here. In the meantime, enjoy my guest posters and you can keep in touch and up to date with me on twitter or instagram(likeabirdstudios)

Week 37 Update:

This week baby is about 19inches long and at about 6.33lbs is the size of a stalk of swiss chard! (according to the babycenter app on my phone.)

We are officially full term this week! That means the baby is (most likely) ready and could come at any time! So crazy!

I’ve been feeling super huge this week, it’s so difficult to turn over in bed now haha. I think I did pretty well on this front though, it hasn’t been until about the last month – month and a half of my pregnancy that I’ve felt like I can’t do much for myself. Scott has to help me put socks on and always yells at me when I pick things up because it’s so difficult now. It’ll be nice (and bitter sweet) to be able to do things for myself again once baby is here.

We went on our hospital tour this week and it was really nice. The hospital is new (2009) and the labor/delivery wing doesn’t even really feel like a hospital, it’s very comforting which is fantastic. All the other ladies on our tour were huge but I was the closest to my due date! (a lot weren’t due until August. crazy). The best news is that about 70%-80% of what we had written up on our birth plan a few weeks ago is already hospital policy! All natural, attachment parenting type things. Skin to skin contact immediately, breastfeeding asap, baby stays in room with me at all times etc. All the nurses seemed really fantastic too. Oh and all rooms are private and half over look a pretty lake!(the lake is actually geothermal and heats the hospital!)
However, I am now getting to the point that I am scared more of labor than of being a mother! I’m at the point that I keep thinking, okay pregnancy was fun(enough) and I’m ready to be a mom and have my little boy but wait….I have to push this thing out of me first?! Ha! scary.

At my midwife appointment this week, she estimated baby is weighing between 6lbs and 6.5lbs so he’s right on track with what my babycenter app says which is cool! I haven’t been having any contractions which is a little disheartening but I’ve read a lot of stories that women had no signs (no contractions or loosing mucus plug) before they were in actual labor so ya never know.

Week 38 Update:

This week baby is about 19.5inches long and at about 6.8lbs is the size(length) of a leek! (according to the babycenter app on my phone.)

Pictures are a little blurry and full of noise this week. We almost forgot to take them and so it was late Tuesday and I had to crank the ISO up to get anything decent. Woops!

So we are at 10 days until my due date! WHAT?! Insane! We have my suitcase packed with all the essentials, car seat is installed (and has been inspected and fixed to be 100% safe and perfect), birth plan is written and printed. So…I keep feeling like we’re jinxing ourselves and he’s going to come right now. haha! There are some things I still want to get done, however. I still want to make 3 playlists for the hospital, I have to be there earlier during labor than I would like (to get antibiotics for GBS) so music would be nice.

The rest of the stuff I want to get done is around the house, I need to clean the bathroom and vacuum the bedroom and basement (where our kitties live), and finish backing up 100+ gb of files/photos and write 2 more posts to schedule.

I think I’ve had a few contractions but it’s really hard to tell. I’ve had braxton hicks since about 16 weeks but haven’t had any in about a month now. What I think are contractions are happening in my back and it’s never consistent or anything so here’s hoping they are at least doing something productive and not just being annoying! At my appointment yesterday, my midwife estimated baby will be about 7.5lbs which isn’t too bad at all!

Check out the past baby bump progress:
Week 5 & Week 21
Week 23 & Week 24
Week 25 & Week 26
Week 27 & Week 28
Week 29 & Week 30
Week 31 & Week 32
Week 33 & Week 34
Week 35 & Week 36

Like a Bird is now listed on Top Baby Blogs! It would be so great if you vote for Like a Bird, all it takes is 2 little clicks. Just click on the banner below or the banner in my sidebar to the right.

(you can vote once every 24 hours!)

I did manage to find these two pictures on our point and shoot though. The first image is from my angle and the second Scott took standing next to me.

Please ignore the pjs, dog hair, and stretch marks (oh and horrible flash). This is pregnancy ladies and gentleman! This is what I wear almost constantly since I don’t leave the house much haha!

Week 35 Update:

This week baby is over 18inches long and at about 5.25lbs is the size of a honeydew melon! (according to the babycenter app on my phone.)

In baby news this week…
I’ve seen the new midwife twice now and it’s a lot better than who I was seeing before. The office is much more friendly overall, the midwife is nice and caring, the hospital is pretty much brand new (2009) and there’s private rooms for labor/post partum! We still have to do the hospital tour but it seems really nice (and the c-section rate is sooo much lower). The other great thing is that my current midwife allows me to use public assistance! One of the main reasons we decided to switch was because the other dr I was seeing wouldn’t let me get public health insurance and then wanted a lot of money that I couldn’t afford (and she refused to work out any payment plans!), so now I am 100% covered between private health insurance and public (for all dr visits and the delivery) and baby will be covered right when he is born (and for up to 1 year) and I have no payments/co-pays or anything so yay!

In bad news this week…
I had a midwife appointment on Thursday and all 3 times they took my blood pressure it was pretty high. Even after lying on my side it was higher than ‘normal’ so I had to get some blood work done and such and have to go back on Monday to see what’s going on. They also put me on modified bed rest over the weekend which has been sucky because I just started nesting like crazy and so I’m trying to nest and organize while having to just tell Scott what to do instead of doing it myself! My mom had per-eclampsia with my second brother and I have been feeling off lately. I’ve gotten neasus and dizzy a few times in the past two weeks but I’m not sure if it’s related to my anxiety or if I have pre-eclampsia. Check for an update below on what happened at the midwife appointment!

(the painting in my pictures this week is an oil color painting my grandfather did. I’ve wanted one of his paintings for years and was a little sad after he passed away in 2010 that I didn’t get any but my mom surprised me with this at Christmas! I love it, just need to hang it somewhere.)

Week 36 Update:

This week baby is about 18.5inches long and at about 6lbs is the size of a crenshaw melon! (according to the babycenter app on my phone.)

First off, an update on the my midwife appointment from Monday…
All my lab work came back completely normal and my blood pressure was back down to a great range too! No idea what happened last week. I thought for sure I was going to turn out with pre-eclampsia because in addition to the high blood pressure, I’ve been nauseous and dizzy but who knows what’s going on. Baby was measuring well and heartbeat was great too. The only slightly bad news is that I tested positive for GBS which isn’t the end of the world but I was seeing the Doctor not my midwife so I need to talk to her next week about how it’s going to effect my birth plan (besides going in when I start labor vs laboring at home). But I’m off bed rest and told to go back to everything being normal.

and in other news…
My mom (and sister) threw me a baby shower this Saturday! I got a lot more than I was expecting and while there was only about 8 or 10 people there, it was still a lot of fun. I’m super grateful for everyone who came and bought things for the baby! We have pretty much everything we need now. I would still like a pump and 1 more wet bag as ‘essentials’ but anything else on my wishlist is just stuff that would be fun or nice to have but we don’t really need it.

I’ve been having a lot of dreams about going in to labor recently! haha it’s probably normal but also scary because I’ve been nesting like crazy and except for like 2 small things I don’t have anything left to pack for the hospital for myself or baby and everything is washed and put away. The only main thing not done is that the car seat isn’t installed yet. I’ve been enjoying nesting and love feeling ready for baby but now I feel like I’m giving him an invitation to come soon haha!

Check out the past baby bump progress:
Week 5 & Week 21
Week 23 & Week 24
Week 25 & Week 26
Week 27 & Week 28
Week 29 & Week 30
Week 31 & Week 32
Week 33 & Week 34

Like a Bird is now listed on Top Baby Blogs! It would be so great if you vote for Like a Bird, all it takes is 2 little clicks. Just click on the banner below or the banner in my sidebar to the right.

(you can vote once every 24 hours!)