When You're 39 Weeks Pregnant...

Things you should have already done by the time you're 39 weeks pregnant just in case your little one decides to come around that time:

• I highly recommend showering and shaving every day because how embarrassing would it be to go into labor in the early morning hours on the day after you skipped showering and shaving because you let everything else take priority over your cleanliness?! And just so you know, sometimes you don't have time to shower before you go to the hospital!
• Have your hospital bags as packed as you possibly can because packing at 4:30 am while in labor does not make for good packing.  You end up focusing on crazy things like an unopened pack of gum and not on more important items like your hairdryer and flip flops or slippers to wear in the hospital.
• Know where to go when you get to the hospital.  Labor is not a time to tour the hospital.  You would think there would be signs with arrows to lead you, but unfortunately that's not always the case and being left alone to contract because you cannot move any more while your husband goes to find where you're supposed to be is not ideal!
• Know the signs of labor.  Just because you've had a c-section and have another one planned does not mean nature won't kick in first.  Labor is scary, and it is not as obvious as you would think (because you might go into immediate denial that the horrible pain tearing through your body is labor and try to blame it on gas or kidney stones).  Google does not always answer your questions and on-call doctors are not always helpful.

I highly recommend checking these things of that endless To-Do-Before-Baby-Comes List before 39 weeks...

Because sometimes you go into labor around that time.

And your labor moves really fast.

And you end up with a sweet little bundle of joy that you didn't plan on arriving that day!

Our Baby Jake

7 lbs 8 oz

21 1/4" 

Cooper and Mommy's Special Day

It's no secret that I love spending time with my little buddy, and with our new little buddy set to arrive this month, I wanted to have a special day with Cooper before things get a little crazy.  Everyone I have talked to with more than one child (friends, family, random people at the grocery store, cashiers at the grocery store, neighbors, nurses at the doctor's office, etc.) have assured/convinced/promised me that even though it's hard to imagine being able to love and bond with another child as much as your first, that you truly do.  As everyone has said, your love only grows; it knows no limits.  They've also quieted my other fear of my first child no longer loving me because he has to share me.  Hormones and exhaustion and nerves bring out a very sane side of me, as you can tell!  Despite now believing that everything is not only going to be okay, but even better than it is now once Baby Jake gets here, I still wanted to spend some good quality time with Cooper beforehand because I know when Jake does come, my newborn will require a big portion of my time and energy in the beginning, which will be an adjustment for my little boy.  So, hence the reason for Cooper and Mommy's Special Day (and yes, I realize this was more for my own sake than Cooper's)!  Cooper and I have things we love to do together, and that's what our day was going to comprise.  He loves to help me cook, especially when it involves the big mixer and anything he can smell and help pour.  We love to do crafts together, especially when it involves getting paint on our hands.  Sometimes we go on lunch dates together, and my little cutie and I always have so much fun; plus, eating is a priority, and after baking and doing a craft together, I thought it would be nice to go out to eat rather than make an extra mess to clean up in the house!  And we all know that my little man loves the choo-choo park!  What better way for us to end our day than that!  A couple of my favorite friends, their children, Cooper, and I have a play date we have to attend in about an hour, so I have to wrap this up kind of fast!  

For our cooking activity, we made a fall favorite in this household: Pumpkin Bars!  It's one of those recipes that means something to you because of when/how you got it, and it becomes a tradition for your family.  This is probably the first "tradition" recipe that came to be for us, and I've made them every fall we've been married.  A mom from my second class introduced me to them.  That was my most challenging class, and this recipe is probably the best memory I have from that whole year!  I had never had pumpkin bars and ate one just to be nice.  Low and behold, I found out that day that I love pumpkin!  I sent a note home asking for the recipe, and she sent it back for me with a note of how they are one of her son's favorite things and how they make them together.  That didn't mean a whole lot to me at the time; now it does though.  It's not just a yummy, fall recipe; it's a true family recipe.  I love the way they taste, I love the way they smell when they're baking, and I love that they're easy and fast enough to make that Cooper can do it with me!

While our pumpkin bars baked, we went on the deck--still in our pajamas--to paint a pumpkin!  Of course our neighbors were outside with their dog at that moment.  My pajamas these days consist of a large t-shirt.  That's all.  The t-shirt isn't as long as it used to be since it has a lot more to cover these days.  I felt very classy.  Back to painting pumpkins...Cooper was sooooo excited!  At first he was thoughtful in what colors he picked and where they went.  He was concentrating very hard and had a system going.  But then the three year old side kicked in, and he started rubbing both hands around in the paint and mixing all the colors together, and then rubbing them all over the pumpkin.  He got a little crazy and even slung some paint as he worked, which made me so glad we were doing this outside.  By the time the timer went off for the pumpkin bars, we had a beautiful, fully painted grayish pumpkin!  He was so excited about it, and it makes me smile inside and out every time I look at it!

After a snack and showers, we started talking about lunch.  I asked him what he wanted, and he said, "Zeezuh!" (pizza)  I thought that sounded pretty good too, so we went to a local pizza place for our date.  We sat on the same side of the booth and ate delicious pepperoni pizza.  We looked through all the pictures on my phone, and I felt so proud and sentimental at the same time.  My phone is almost 2 years old, so my pictures go back to when he was 16 months old.  There's a lot of fun stuff on there to say the least, including pictures of my positive pregnancy test with Jake and several ultrasound pictures.

Today was just what it was supposed to be--our special day.  As much as I have loved and cherished my time with just Cooper, I am looking so forward to what our new special days will be like when Jake is here to join us.  I can't wait for both boys to help me make pumpkin bars in the falls to come.  I love the idea of both of them painting pumpkins and slinging paint around on a crisp, beautiful fall morning. I can't wait to sit in a booth looking across the table at my two sons on a lunch date.  We have exciting times ahead of us for sure!

But for now, I need to hustle on over to the choo-choo park for a little more special time!

Full Term

How far along: 37 weeks 

Total weight gain: 31 pounds

Maternity clothes: Absolutely!  And, well, honestly, they're getting a little snug these days too.

Stretch marks: Amazingly enough, no!

Sleep:  Oh, how I miss sleep!  Between being 9 months pregnant, Cooper randomly calling for his mommy during the night ("Mommy, I want you!!!!!"), and Karl's snoring (his allergies are really bad right now), a good night's sleep seems impossible!  I typically get up at least twice to go to the bathroom, but there have been nights that I've gotten up six times to go.  That would be bad enough, but sometimes I have the hardest time going back to sleep.  I'll be awake for over an hour just trying to get comfortable and fall sleep.  It drives me crazy!  Thank goodness Cooper still takes naps, and I can lay down with him for a little bit every day.  

Best moment of this week:  Just knowing Jake is now a full term baby!  I remember very clearly sitting in our fertility doctor's office almost five years ago (can't believe it's been that long ago) and her going over the risks associated with having a T-shaped uterus.  They were all risks that our unborn child would face because its mama had a misshapen uterus.  I sat there feeling so sad, scared, and ashamed.  But God is good...so very, very good...and by His grace, I have now carried two little boys to term with no complications from my screwed up uterus!  

Food cravings: I have been loving Greek yogurt and cucumbers with hummus!  I eat that almost every day, and I'm very unsatisfied on the days I don't!  We used to joke that I ate so much Mexican food with Cooper that we should name him Juan.  I guess this is my little Greek baby!  I still have a very soft spot for big, soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies.  It's just hard to find one that is just right.  However, Chick Fil A does a very good job of making a fantastic chocolate chip cookie that satisfies this Big Mama!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not food, but I've become very sensitive to feeling car sick if I read in the car.  This started back in August.  I've noticed that I can't read anything at all while I'm in the car or I start feeling very queasy.  

Have you started to show yet: I'm huge.  There's no other way to describe it.  And people are so sweet.  Everyone asks when my baby is due, and everyone tells me how great I look for being so far along and that I don't look like it's my birth month.  For a long time, I was flattered and thought maybe the hugeness was just my imagination, but every time I saw my reflection, I thought, "Wow, that's a big belly!!!"  And it just gets bigger by the day!  So now I've come to accept that people are just sweet to pregnant women and don't really mean the kind words they're saying, and truth be told, I would rather them lie to me than tell me that yes, I am in fact huge and it is a wonder that I am only having one baby despite how incredibly large I look!  It has definitely restored my faith in mankind.  People truly are good at heart, and big ol' pregnant women bring that out for the world to see!

Gender: A sweet baby boy

Labor signs: Every now and then my body will get a little overly excited with contractions, but for the most part, I just have random, sporadic Braxton Hicks contractions.  Last week I started having contractions, and they were becoming more and more regular and closer together.  I was sitting on the sofa trying to stay in complete denial that I could possibly be going into labor when Karl said, "Are you nervous??!!"  Although I realized I wasn't really nervous (thanks to the denial), I could tell he was, and it made me laugh. 

Belly button in or out: It is totally poking straight out, and it looks so funny!!  It looks like someone took my belly button and literally turned it inside out!  As Cooper says, "Mommy's belly button closed!"

Wedding rings on or off: They are off, as is my watch.  I only made it a few more days after my post at 33 weeks when I decided it was best to put them away for now.  I'm not nearly as swollen as I was with Cooper, but I'm obviously bigger all over this time.  

Happy or moody most of the time: I still love being pregnant and would prefer being pregnant over not being pregnant, but I am getting pretty uncomfortable at this point.  Jake is doing his job and growing big and is taking up a lot of room in my body!  However, I love having him with me all the time, so that keeps me pretty happy.  I haven't been moody in a grumpy sense, but I have been increasingly sensitive about the way our lives are about to change lately.  I have pre-baby jitters, which give me a nice little cry session at least once a day.  I worry that Cooper won't be as close to me after Jake is born.  I worry that I'll never bond with Jake the way I have with Cooper.  I worry that Jake won't love me the way Cooper does.  I worry that I won't be able to love Jake as much as I do Cooper. I'm just feeling very anxious and nervous about how to be a good mom to both boys and whether or not I'll be the mom they need me to be.  My greatest fear is that one or both them will never know how much I love them and how my heart beats for them.  I know once Jake is born, all of these worries will disappear and I will fall madly in love with him just like I did with his big brother and that the love between all of us will be bigger, stronger, and deeper than before because there will be another little person in our family.  I know the bonds will form over time between Jake and me and Jake and Cooper and that we'll all make special memories with each other.  I know I will love my boys equally, but not the exact same because they are different.  I will love them for who they are.  I know all of these things.  BUT... for today, my heart is nervous, anxious, excited, and scared.  At some point this month, I'm having another baby, and the reality of that miracle happening is a lot to digest!

Looking forward to: Seeing this little man in action as a big brother!  He loves his baby brother a whole bunch already, and although I know the beginning may be a little rough as he adjusts to not being an only child any more, he is going to be such an awesome helper and protector of this baby.