34 weeks

Had a doctor appointment this week that got moved up. Thought I was leaking amniotic fluid, just paranoid. Third trimester is no joke. Everything just gets amplified. Gas, swelling, fluids, headaches... My mom doesn't like our doctor. She (and we) believe that you should choose when you go on maternity leave. My body just can't handle these long retail days anymore. I get home, barely able to move due to the massive amounts of swelling in my legs. My parents are due to arrive sometime in the second week of September. That is my goal to leave work... Maybe mom can convince my doctor. After all, at 36 weeks we start going to see him every week. There have been major changes to our OB lately, as I've mentioned, but now there is one more. One of our doctors (Seidel) is MIA. They have told us that he is on family leave, and they don't know when he is coming back, so that means that we will surely have Shashadri or the midwife to deliver Lucas. That kinda sucks, because we really loved Seidel, and now we are settling. It's too late to switch doctors, and Seidel is nowhere to be found. It's kind of suspicious. We wonder if something happened to his family, or he has left the practice. The office is really vague. Ugh! Oh well, I guess the dr doesn't entirely matter, as long as we are taken care of.

35 week belly

34 week belly

He won't let me rest!

33 Weeks

Still swollen, and feeling larger every minute... but still happy and postitive. Our little dude is really active lately... From what I have read, he should be calming down now that he is getting so much bigger. Not our guy, Lucas is kicking and punching all over the place. Sometimes it hurts if I am laying on my side, and he punches on the that same side. It literally has taken my breath away. I guess I am pretty lucky that he is sitting lower, and not using my rib cage as a punching bag. Ever since I started prilosec, I have had no heartburn! That is something really exciting, let me tell ya. That was my worst complaint throughout the whole pregnancy, it was horrible, and it was every night. Those are magic pills. If you are suffering, I would talk to my doctor about using that OTC medicine. Just make sure that your doctor clears you to take it.
Being only 6 weeks from seeing our little boy has got me extra emotional lately. I find myself day dreaming about his little face, and taking walks around our neighborhood in the nice fall weather. I know that it is still a little far off still, but it gets me through the times that I am at my crankiest. :)
Our last baby shower is upon us on Sunday, and we are really looking forward to seeing our NC family, and sharing in this special time with us. Jenn's mom has kept everything pretty hush-hush, and I have only seen the invitations (I put them together, and addressed most of them). She is an amazing woman, Jenn's mom. We are lucky to have such amazing parents. We will post pictures of the baby shower when we get home on Sunday evening... with lots of baby gifts, I am sure.

32 Weeks

Our 32nd week was pretty good. We had an OB appointment that lasted all of 5 minutes, but we waited for over an hour to be seen. Apparently there are a lot of changes in staff, and some issues been going on in our practice, which makes our wait times kind of ridiculous lately. Jenn's cousin, Mindy waited for 4 hours one day! My patience would have worn off at about an hour and a half, personally. Other than that, the lack of sleep continues, I have even more frequent bathroom breaks, and not just in the middle of the night. I feel like I am in the bathroom once an hour, sometimes twice. This little guy must be sitting right on my bladder. At the end of the week we took care of Mindy's daughter, Avery. It was nice to hang out with a little one, it made me feel like it was practice for our own. I have always said that I would go into labor early, and I am calling it at 36 weeks. My parents are against this completely, as they will be on vacation in Cape Canaveral for that week, and then will be heading our way soon after that. We are ready for my parents to be here... it will be really nice to have another set of eyes to tell us what we still need to do, and also have my mother cook for us! She actually went shopping for all the Cuban ingredients that we can't find here, so she can cook our favorite things. Jenn is especially excited for some Colombian empanadas that were promised to us by a family friend.
Everyday I feel like I am bigger, and it is harder to get around, but I remain positive, and try and keep my sense of humor about waddling around at work and at home. Some nights I have to go and sleep a while on the leather recliner sofa to be able to get some relief in my shoulders. For some reason, they are really hurting me now. I also have had some pretty bad swelling in my feet and ankles. The doctor pretty much told me to suck it up buttercup... you are in your third trimester, it is summer, and you only have a few short weeks to go. I was hoping for some sympathy...not so much.

31 weeks

This week was looooong! I felt at the end of it, that I was 10 lbs bigger, much slower, and exhausted. Baby Lucas continues to grow and develop and he is kicking and punching like an MMA fighter. Jenn continues to be fascinated by putting her head on my belly and feeling him kick her. She tells him to stop, but I know she loves it. We have been continuing to get the house ready for guests, and the baby consistently. We are really ready to see our baby boy! Patience is not our strongest virtue.

30 weeks

30 weeks was pretty great for us. We had our friend, Melissa in town for our 2nd baby shower. This one was given to us by 3 of my coworkers (and friends). It was beautiful and fun! They came in, decorated the house, brought the food, and cleaned up. Stress free for the mamas for sure. We are so thankful to have such great friends.
I continue to grow, and so does Lucas. He is even more active, which sometimes keeps me up at night. Our 30 week OB appointment went well, we finally got to meet the other Dr. in our practice. He is very nice, and we are pretty comfortable with him, should he be the one to deliver our son. We now go to the OB every 2 weeks, so week 32 we will see him again.
I keep saying that we will go early. Not sure why, I just feel that Lucas will want to meet the world sooner, rather than later. I say 36 weeks, and I have learned that 37 weeks is actually considered full term. We shall see, either way, we are just a few short weeks away from meeting the most important man in our lives.