36 Weeks

How far along? 36 Weeks! Holy Cow!  When did this happen?  Just yesterday we were at Week 8 and I was puking my guts out.  Now instead of my child being the size of a grape, he's putting on ounces each day!  I'm totally going to be a Mom in a few weeks...and Dan is going to be a Dad!  Gah!

Total weight gain/loss: Passed the 30 pound mark!  32 pounds.  Woof!  Not only am I looking like I've gained over 30 pounds but boy am I feeling it.  Plus the numbers on the scale are beginning to scare me.  I enjoy having the baby belly but I'm not fond of the large scale numbers...and the largeness of my butt (but I'll get to that in just a bit).

Maternity clothes? Bought a comfy robe to pack in my hospital bag and wear at the hospital.  Also broke down and bought some bigger underwear.  My butt just wasn't fitting in my old undies anymore so I had to buy bigger sized underwear.  What a shot to my self esteem.  I can't lie to myself anymore and possibly think that my expanding bum can fit into my cute Vicky's undies.  It was just making me mad every time I would put them on and see how unattractive my bulging bottom half looked.  So yeah, I went and got bigger undies.  Although they are somewhat cute designs, I hope to never wear them again.  The weather also got a little warmer this week/weekend so I got to wear dresses and capris again!  Yeah!  Still haven't bought the illusive nursing bras because the girls keep getting more and more gynormous by the hour.  

Stretch marks? None!  My expanding (stretching) belly is only making me mad about how pale I am and all the icky veins you can see through my translucent skin.  They're not the scary veins but they are ugly.

Sleep:  Getting better'ish.  I cannot seem to possibly get comfortable when going to bed.  My expanding belly has made it almost impossible to find that "perfect position" that everyone strives for when sleeping.  This means I constantly move (more like flop like a seal) until I pass out for 30 minutes only to wake up and have to pee again.  Sorry Dan.  Also when we were visiting Dan's home this past weekend, I wasn't exactly the most graceful when I had to wake up and fumble to the bathroom.  Again, I'm sorry dear.  Only a few more weeks of these million bathroom breaks nonsense then we'll be waking up at all hours for an entirely different reason...to feed and change baby K.  I also had more scary labor dreams.  I dreamed that I went into labor on the farm and that I wasn't allowed to be driven to the nearest hospital so we had to have a doctor friend fly to the farm to help deliver the baby.  That's the non-scary version of what happened in the dream.  Eeek!

Best moment this week: My weekends seem to always be the highlight of my week and that didn't really change this week.  I did enjoy my date night I had with my old sorority house mom, Doris, I had during the week though.  She's one amazing person and I never get sick of hanging out with her.  Besides Daniel, she's definitely up there as one of my Top 5 favorite people in Champaign.  We usually close down the restaurants that we visit and we never share dessert (Doris is a dessert-a-holic and so am I but we never get the opportunity to share desserts because we usually inhale them before we can share).  She always brings a smile to my face.  Doris was actually the one who outed me about being pregnant before I told anyone.  She sent me an email that said, "You can't fool momma Doris!  I have a feeling that I'm going to be Grand Momma Doris."  Gosh it totally cracked me up that she outed me like that.

Just in case you're wanting to put a face to this Doris character, here is a picture of her and I right before my Senior Year Formal.  It's a tradition that everyone comes to the House before Formal to take pictures with Doris before the big event.  Love her!

But also, my other favorite moment of the week was obviously my weekend back on the farm with Dan's family and my mommy.  Dan and I left on Thursday to have a long weekend back home visiting with the fam.  It was his grandparents' big pottery sale this weekend so all the family was in town.  When I say pottery, I don't mean the "pottery" one buys at Hobby Lobby to paint with children and wahla!  pottery!  No No No.  These two individuals dig up their own clay, process it, create amazing pieces of art, paint, glaze, and fire in their own kiln these pieces of pottery.  Dan's grandparents are truly modern day artisans of their craft and hundreds of people from all over the country come once a year to purchase a single piece of their work at this sale.  They have been in business for 30 years making their own pottery.  I love adding pieces to our pottery collection each year and being able to see the love that goes into each piece.  Plus after each sale, there's always a big family get together where games are played, laughs are had, drinks are drank, and memories are made.  All of Dan's brothers came in town for the weekend (and their ladies!!) so we had a wonderful time catching up with the whole gang back together.  Plus no weekend together is complete without a family game of Pictionary which we stayed up to the wee hours of the morning playing.  And it's never a normal, civil game of Pictionary that gets played.  These games are fun but cutthroat.  I'm happy to report that my team won the first night's game but lost the grudge rematch game the next night.

This year has been named the year of additions for the Kochs with two of Dan's brothers getting married and Dan and I expecting our first so here's a picture (stolen from my father-in-law) of my wonderful Koch brothers and all their ladies!  The gender gap is finally even only to be shaken up again in a month.

My momma even came down for the pottery sale this past weekend so I got to enjoy spending some time with her too.  It was the last time that I would get to see my momma before Baby Koch's D-day so I was trying to take everything in as much as possible when I was with her.  It was also my last time seeing all of Dan's family before our big day so that was equally as memorable.  From now on, Momma Jackie will be camped out in Champaign (no more long distance traveling) until our little man arrives.  I really don't want to chance anything and would rather stay put knowing that I'm close to our hospital in case things go down.  Overall, Dan and I had an amazing weekend on the farm and can't wait to get back there with our little man once he gets here.

Miss Anything? Wine and beer.  Full contact sports (not that I was very good at them but I had to sit on the sidelines of football this year instead of pretending to play).  Being able to hold my bladder for longer than 30 minutes.  And even though I absolutely love naps and always have, I miss the feeling of not being obligated to take one every day.  Nowadays, I feel exhausted soooo easily, even if all I'm doing is taking a trip to Wal-Mart or Target.  I'm dead.  I feel like I need a nap after I eat breakfast.  I miss not being exhausted all the time.  I had to take a break from family time on the farm just so I could take a nap because I was literally head bobbing.  I'm probably never going to feel rested again though.  Wah!

Movement: Little Baby Koch wants out!  He's made it quite clear that he is no longer content being squeezed inside of my belly.  He made some vicious movements inside me just to let me know that he wants out!  It was pretty cool though because we could actually distinguish his feet for the first time during his movements!  It was super crazy!

Food cravings:  Just milk.  It's delicious.  That's all.  Just give me my milk and no one gets hurt.  

Anything making you queasy or sick:  When little man kicks my stomach then I get queasy and sick.  Heartburn is also hitting me bad at nighttime...like right before I go to sleep so that's a pain. Literally.

Have you started to show yet:  I'm finally getting happy with the size of my bump and I love showing it off but in just a few more weeks it's going to go away. Wah!  I can't win.  There's just so much of pregnancy where you don't look like you're pregnant, just that you ate too many burritos that day, or maybe you indulged on too much Halloween candy that weekend.  I'm told that when you get pregnant with #2 that your belly comes out sooner.  Guess this means I'll be excited when we plan on #2!  

Gender: Wonderfully perfect baby boy!  I made sure the doctor confirmed he was a boy (again) at our latest appointment when we had the ultrasound...just to make sure.

Labor Signs: I think I felt my first Braxton Hicks contractions this past weekend when Dan and I went home, but I'm not sure.  I mean I've never felt a contraction before (kinda never been pregnant before) so I'm not sure what to expect exactly.  But it was late at night and my uterus (aka body at this point...my uterus has expanded from the size of a fist to its current size and position to the top of my rib cage.  THAT'S GYNORMOUS!) seemed to tighten for about 30 seconds or longer then stopped then a few minutes later did it again.  But then that was it.  It was just weird feeling so maybe it was something I ate, maybe it was little man telling me I needed to go to sleep, maybe it was gas (that's definitely happened before. ugh!), maybe something else.  Who knows really?  But other than that 5 minute weirdness, haven't felt anything unusual from what I've been consistently feeling for the past 8+ months.  

Also, just to comment, I mentioned last week that our doc thought our little man might be breach so she scheduled an ultrasound just to check things out.  Well we had our ultrasound and he is definitely NOT breach.  That doesn't mean he won't turn, but that they usually don't turn once they assume the position.  She said that my stomach is being stretched so much that you can easily mistake his lumpy head for his jiggle booty.  So now we know when he kicks mommy's ribs that it's actually his feet kicking me and not his hands hitting me.  Crazy!  It's super weird to now know that the lump by my ribs is his butt.  So now when he moves his butt around, I say that he's wiggling his booty.  He's totally dancing inside of me.  What a little rump shaker.  I get a kick out of that.

So to everyone who was concerned, even though you didn't need to be, our little man is just fine.  He's measuring just great, heart rate is perfect, dancing inside of me, just doing fantastic.  Momma Jackie and Daddy Daniel weren't too worried because we knew that however he ended up being positioned that the doctors would take care of everything and that our little man is in safe hands.  No need to worry.  Let's just all get excited to see him in just a few weeks!  EEEKKKK!!

Symptoms: Pee Pee Pee.  It's not funny anymore.  I have to pee ALL THE TIME!  Also the heartburn is getting worse, just at night though.  My body is getting more and more sore.  I'm exhausted just after eating breakfast in the morning.  I can definitely feel more pressure on my pelvis and lower abdomen.  I'm guessing that has to be connected to the fact that I have a child situated right there, ready to come out.  It's made me entertain the walking style coined by penguins and pregnant ladies alike, as the "Waddle".  I even stated this week, "I know why the pregnant lady waddles."  She waddles because a child's head is situated in her pelvis and walking and sitting like a lady isn't really an option anymore.  So I've started to waddle.  I hope it's not too noticeable.

Belly Button in or out? In.  I feel like it's going to pop any day now!  I can still fit the whole head of a Q-Tip inside of it though so it's still pretty deep but it looks so weird as it's getting stretched across my abdomen.  Belly buttons are weird!

Wedding rings on or off? On. I think it's getting looser as it's getting colder out.  Maybe I'm just crazy.

Happy or Moody most of the time:  In the words of Phil Robertson (Duck Dynasty anyone??), I'm "happy happy happy".  (I hope you read that in his voice...it makes for a more entertaining read)  I loved being back on the farm and seeing everyone and loved seeing my mommy too.  Now it's the waiting game! 

Looking forward to: When it labor going to happen?!?!  It's driving me crazy!  Is my water going to break while I'm at Wal-Mart or Target?  Will it be when I'm sleeping (don't worry, Dan and I already have our waterproof cover on our bed in case it does....don't want to ruin a mattress)?  Will my water break?  What will the contractions actually feel like?  Can my doctor predict when this will be?  (No she can't, I already asked her)  Gosh I just want to bring our little man home already.  We finally have our hospital bags packed (by we I mean me...Dan is convinced he can just throw his bag together in 5 seconds...and he probably can and will.  And yes, I made sure to throw some of my favorite musicals in my bag so we can watch them at the hospital....The Newsies included.) so now we just need the signal to go there and pick up our son from the stork.  That's how it works, right? So, basically I'm just looking forward to getting to meet our son.  I have no more concrete plans made for after this weekend because I don't want to take the chance of labor starting at these things.  So to my friends and family who are wanting to plan things with me, it's not you, it's me.  I make plans day-by-day now instead of a week in advance.  Little man is in charge of all my plans and reserves the exclusive right to cancel any plans I make for myself from here on to D-Day.  He's not even here and he's already ordering me around.  Jeez!  But I'd gladly cancel all of my plans to get to meet him.  We can't wait to introduce our handsome stud to the world.  Just a few more weeks!

Anything Else?: Have I mentioned that I'm excited yet?  Because I am.  Dan and I read to our little man a bit so he can be familiar with many of the stories in his book case when he gets here.  Still washing more and more of his outfits as people keep sending us more and more stuff for him.  Gosh!  He is seriously one blessed boy.  I'm honestly blown away at how generous you all are and how much you all love to love on us and our little man. I cannot thank you enough.  We are truly grateful for all your generosity and continued love and we are very happy to bring our little guy into this world where he's already tremendously loved by such a vast community of people.  

35 Weeks

LESS THAN 1 MONTH UNTIL BABY KOCH IS HERE!

How far along? 35 Weeks! Baby Koch is the size of a coconut!

Total weight gain/loss: 29 pounds. I've definitely gained more in my third trimester than in the first two.  Doc said I could gain more but if I don't then that's totally fine.  Basically it's whatever my body and the nug lets me do.

Maternity clothes? Obviously I'm wearing the stupid pants.  I got to pull out my Fall sweaters this past week and they're a little tighter than I remember.  No idea why that would be.  Going to wait a few more weeks before I get measured for a nursing bra.  The ladies are still growing.  My cousin and mom have me terrified with how big they're going to get while nursing.  They said that if I'm anything like them then I'll have watermelons strapped to my chest.  They gave me exact letters and I about died thinking of those letters on my chest.  Honestly, I was super content/happy with my pre-pregnancy ladies.  They were the only things on my body that were normal sized and fantastic.  My same cousin's exact words to me about my chest were, "you boobs are done. over".  Great. Thanks for the encouraging words cousin.  So basically my next maternity purchase will be nursing bras...also super not sexy.

Stretch marks? Nope. But I'm getting super tired of this whole shaving my legs thing (but that's not new to pregnancy...just aggravated by it).  And since it's now pants season, it's permissible to not do it that often.  Right? 

Sleep: I had the most amazing night of sleep this past weekend.  I didn't even have to get up once to go to the bathroom...but when I woke up, I realized my bladder was literally going to explode so I had to waddle/run to the bathroom before it was too late.  But besides that one night, I slept horribly the past week.  I hate not getting sleep.  I hate having headaches that prevent me from getting to sleep.  I hate having to pee every 30 minutes when I'm trying to sleep.  I hate having terrifying dreams that wake me up from a slumber.  (I had one particularly terrifying dream about me going into labor but bleeding profusely before I could get to the hospital so I had to wake up to see if this was true or not.  Way too scary of a dream for a pregnant lady to be having.  What made it even more terrifying was that I couldn't tell if it was real or a dream because it was too "lifelike")  Terrifying.  But basically this past week has made me sleep deprived and angry because I'm not getting good sleep...or even sleep to begin with.  UGH!

Best moment this week: Spending the weekend with Daniel.  We're not very good at setting aside time on a regular basis to just spend with each other so after some coaxing, I convinced Dan that we needed to spend some time, just us two, getting away before our little man gets here.  But since it is so late in our pregnancy, travel is limited for me (the 6 1/2 hour drive to Iowa we did the other weekend about killed me) so we couldn't go too far.  So Dan and I made plans to spend the weekend in Springfield.  Well we woke up on Saturday to some seriously crappy weather and driving my pregnant butt to Springfield was not going to be an option so we cancelled our weekend plans.  Kinda sad.  So while I was napping, Dan booked some tickets for that evening to go see the Champaign Symphony Orchestra.  I was pretty excited with that because I've never been to an event like that before and love experiencing new things. (Plus I love attempting to get dressed up)  But before getting dressed up, Dan took me to the Jane Addams book store in town and we spent quite a while there stocking up on some baby books for our little man.  I loved going through the stacks of old books and rereading some of these stories and then choosing our favorites to add to our collection.  I can't wait to read these books to our little man!  We also purchased some of the last items we think we'll be needing to finish off our nursery.  Dan and I then got ready, went to dinner, and had a fantastic time at the Symphony.  Before it started, Dan and I went to the gift shop and found these little gems.  Just what every little child wants! Right?

That's right!  Those are Beethoven and Mozart Action Figures!  As excited as I was about these, Dan wouldn't let me get them.  I guess I'll have to survive without them.

Side note: Dan and I were the youngest people there, by 60 years.  But it did make me super happy when an elderly lady chased me down on my pursuit to find a bathroom to tell me that she thought my hair was beautiful and that she was admiring it during the entire performance because she sat behind Dan and me.  That made pregnant Jackie feel really good inside because on the outside, I felt like a sausage.

The next day, Dan and I went to church, picked out our pumpkins for the season (not carved yet...still thinking of awesome designs for them), went to the apple orchard to get some apples that I could make into an apple crisp that I've been craving, and took a short drive to Allerton to walk (waddle) around and see the beautiful Fall trees. Allerton was gorgeous but had to wait out the rain in order to take a short walk (by short I mean less than 10 minutes because somebody...me...had to pee for some reason).

I promptly made that apple crisp and covered it in Prairie Farms ice cream and caramel sauce.  Then I literally licked my plate clean.  Those apples were just so juicy and they melted in my mouth.  The cinnamon and nutmeg aroma of the crisp was so intoxicating.  I was one happy prego as I concluded my weekend with a giant slice of that apple crisp.  Here I am, caught mid-bite of indulging in the heavenly creation.  Thankfully no pictures were taken of me licking the plate when I was done.  People might think I was acting un-lady-like or something.

We also totally scored on a rocking chair we got this past week!  My sister and good family friend like to go estate sale'ing (very similar to garage sale'ing but these go on all year long and you get to see an entire house worth of stuff) and I told them to keep their eyes peeled for a rocking chair for the nursery.  Within hours, I received a text with picture of our chair!  $30 for a dark, real wood, rocking chair!  Of course I said yes!  The chair was delivered to our place yesterday and now resides in the nursery.  It's exactly what we wanted and is the perfect addition to our little nursery.  I love good deals!  Thanks for the find Jill and Julie!

Miss Anything? Putting socks on and not having it be a challenge.  Taking a walk without having much difficulty.  Not having to pee every 30 minutes.  Breathing.  Fitting into my old bras and clothes.  And liquor and wine.

Movement: Last week I reported that he wasn't moving as much as he normally does.  Well apparently that was just last week.  Little man has kicked it up a notch and was making up for his nice week last week.  I swear he was jumping in there.  Dan couldn't believe how crazy his movements were.  Maybe he was moving so much because of the amount of crumblys I put on the apple crisp (there were a lot!  Dan told me that's there's no such thing as too many crumblys on an apple crisp.  I obviously agreed).

Food cravings: Milk, strawberry pop tarts, Halloween candy (maybe it was a bad idea to purchase Halloween candy this early...I might have broken into a few of the bags I got.  Whoops!), APPLE CRISP!

Anything making you queasy or sick:  I'm getting turned off of red meat.  It's super weird but I really don't feel like eating it and it kinda grosses me out.

Have you started to show yet:  You just saw my apple crisp belly.  You can be the judge.  

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: None.  But at our last appointment, our doctor did tell us that she thinks Baby K might be breech but that she wanted to schedule an ultrasound for our next weekly appointment to make sure.  She said not to worry, these things are normal.  Babies tend to move around a lot.  I was in complete agreement....no need to worry.  Plus she wasn't 100% sure so that's what the ultrasound is for.  Now we have to wait for our weekly appointment to figure out if he is or is not breech.  If he isn't breech, then no big deal...no need to worry.  If he is, then we'll start entertaining our options to move him/let the doctors tell me what they know (they know more than I do so I try to listen to them).  If he stays breech then that's fine too.  I just want him to be healthy and happy and have a safe delivery no matter what method that delivery may be.  I won't be delivering my own child (doctors do that) and I'm pretty confident that the doctors know what they're doing so I'll let them be the ones to worry about that.  What I don't want is for other people to worry about whether or not little Baby Koch is breech or anything else.  I appreciate all the love and support people have been giving us about our little man but it makes me even more paranoid to hear when people are worried about things that I'm not.  Should I be worried?  Then I'll go into crazy pregnant mode and start freaking out.  So please don't worry yet about Baby Koch's delivery (or anything else for that matter)...or if you do, don't tell me you're worried or thinking about it.  I don't want to know.  All I want to do is wait for our ultrasound and regular appointment to hear what our doctor has to say and then go from there.  If you're going to say anything to me, just tell me that you've enjoyed keeping up with what's going on with Dan and me and Baby Koch and that you're excited to meet our little man.  I just don't want to be more paranoid that I already am and I know how easily that can happen.  Baby Koch doesn't need momma Jackie to stress out so I'm trying my best not to.  Thanks for all your love guys!

Symptoms: Constant urge to pee. Heartburn. Headaches.  Lower back pain.  And as the doctors have told me, "your digestive system is slowing down."  For those of you who know what that means, I'm sorry.  That's probably (not probably...that IS) my least favorite symptom of this whole pregnancy.  I'll gladly take another month of throwing up than to have to have a constant reminder that "my digestive system is slowing down".  I'm ready to have my digestive system to get back to normal.  My body is no longer my own.  I've been sharing it with a little nugget for the past 8 months who has more control over what happens with my body than I do.  I no longer believe the adage "Sharing is caring, it can be fun."  Sharing is caring...it's not always fun.  But I'm more than happy to share with my little man, so long as he's nice to me.  Please be nicer to mommy.  Just one more month son.  One more month.

Belly Button in or out? In.  It's getting tighter though!  It's super crazy!  It's being stretched and although it's still a super innie, Dan seems to be super amused by how it looks as it's being stretched across my stomach.  I just want to see the bottom of it.  

Wedding rings on or off? On. 

Happy or Moody most of the time:  I wasn't as ecstatic this week as I normally am.  Not getting sleep will do that to a lady.  I was also a moody lady when the weather seemed to ruin our Babymoon plans.  But that turned into a relaxing weekend with Daniel.  I just hate when plans go awry. 

Looking forward to: Our next appointment when we get the ultrasound and get to see our little man again!  I'm also looking forward to our last trip before baby comes.  Dan and I are headed back to his home for his grandparents' pottery sale (it's kind of the coolest thing ever.  They make their own pottery.  I'm not talking about going to the store, buying clay and painting it sort of thing.  I'm talking about digging up their own clay on their land, processing it, making amazing pottery, firing it in their own kiln, etc.  It's kind of a big deal.  Hundreds of people descend on this super small town once a year to wait in line in order to get one piece of pottery.  Just amazing!).  All of Dan's brothers will be back in town as well as their ladies and I'm so excited to spend time with them!  My mommy will also be making the trip to go to the sale so I'm pretty excited to see her (not that I talk on the phone with her everyday or anything).  It'll be the last time that we see family (at least my last time) before our big day because the weeks after that are just too close to D-Day to make any plans.  So yah, I'm unbelievably excited to see Dan's family (and my mommy) this coming weekend.  I hope my body lets me be the social butterfly that I want to be this weekend because there's so many people that I'm wanting to see and spend time with.

Anything Else?: Holy cow!  Less than 1 month until baby comes!  The countdown is officially on!  I mean I knew this was coming but holy cow did that creep up on us!  The doc said I'm technically considered "full term" at 37 weeks which means that in just 1 week, things could literally happen any day.  Crazy!  Our to-do list has gotten smaller and smaller but it still feels like we have so much to do.  We preregistered at the hospital so now we just need to show up.  Well I should probably make sure I have our hospital bags packed.  But overall, Dan and I are excited to meet our little man more than anything.  We pray everyday that he gets here right when he's supposed to and not a day sooner.

34 Weeks

How far along? 34 Weeks! Baby Koch is gaining at least an ounce a day!

Total weight gain/loss: 26 pounds. Gained some weight this week.  I think the meds are helping me keep food in so I'm not feeling the need to heave.  It's tough because although I'm not hungry very much, I still know that I have to eat.  Before pregnancy, I only ate when I was hungry.  If that meant lunch at 3 or dinner at 9 then that was fine.  But now, whether or not I feel like eating, I have to remind myself that it's time for lunch and I have to put food in my belly.  It's never very much food but I constantly have to be eating because of that.  

Maternity clothes? So....I went out and bought a few pairs of extra long maternity jeans and the maternity store.  I was not happy about it but I was desperate.  I showed them to Dan and he said they weren't ugly but I can't get over how mom'ish jeans they feel (and look).  Who voluntary wears mom jeans besides crazy moms?  Well  begrudgingly I wore my maternity jeans every day this past week (minus the days I literally wore sweatpants the entire day (the weekend).  UGH!  Yes, they were comfortable and long enough but I'm going to go on record and tell people how much I dislike wearing them.  If my body wasn't a long sausage at this very moment, I would not be wearing these things!  But I reached that point of desperation where I had to do something or face going around town in a mu-mu.

This is happy Jackie...wearing pants that are actually long enough.

This is real Jackie.  This is what I actually think about wearing maternity pants.  They're soooo ugly!  The "belly" goes all the way up to my boobs!  But it doesn't always stay there. Ugh! Although they are somewhat comfy, I can't get over the fact that I'm wearing socially acceptable "Mom" Jeans.  Soooo not sexy. (O btw, I'm a slacker and these pictures were actually taken of me at 35 1/2 weeks along, not 34.  My bad)

Stretch marks? Nope. Thank you Cocoa butter!  I just love the smell of that stuff now.  And yes, my skin is as pale as ever.  That's the sad part.  Once a pasty ginger, always a pasty ginger.

Sleep: Pretty good sleep this past week. Still having weird dreams.  If I can remember some of my super weird ones, I'll come back and insert them in.  My only complaint is the fact that I literally have to pee at least once an hour whether I'm sleeping or awake.  So for those of you who can count, that's at least 24 times a day.  That's a lot!  Whenever I walk into a store, house, anywhere, my first thought is, "Where is the closest bathroom?".  This sucks.  So I will run to the bathroom because I feel like my bladder will burst at any moment and most times after I sit down I say, "I hurried to the bathroom for this?!?!"  Normally when a person feels like their bladder is literally going to explode and they finally reach a bathroom, they have to pee for what seems like hours.  Well that's not the case for me.  It's never that much any more but the feeling of an impending explosive bladder is still there.  Not a satisfying pee at all!  But there's nothing I can do about it.  The baby has "dropped" as the docs call it and although that means he's giving my ribs and lungs some more room, he is sitting more directly on my bladder which means more and more bathroom breaks for me and peeing smaller amounts.  How is this a fair trade?  In conclusion, my sleep would be more amazing if I didn't have to get up 8 times a night to relieve my aching bladder.  (I need to find a deal on toilet paper at the rate I'm going through it)

Best moment this week: Relaxing with my hubby.  Finally I got a decent weekend to relax with Daniel.  We got a lot of work done on Baby's room, purchased some of the last items on the registry, purchased some other last minute baby items, started actually decorating his room (check out the additions we added!  I feel so crafty so let me believe I am and tell me great things about the nursery.  [I'm a nut job who needs constant affirmation especially when you put crazy pregnant hormones in me]), found our pediatrician, installed our baby car seat, did some major fall cleaning, I started putting together and freezing some casseroles and meals for when baby comes, and I even got to serve as Chief taste tester to my husband's amazing chili!  In short, we had a huge week but it was so relaxing and wonderful at the same time.  We got to "nest" together which makes pregnant Jackie's mind feel so much more at ease.  We also took turns reading to our little man.  His latest book he listened to was Uncle Keith's favorite, "Ferdinand the Bull".

Miss Anything? The chili and beer festival made it very apparent to me that I was missing beer. It wouldn't have bothered me so much if they had more chili to keep my pregnant mind occupied.  Correct me if I'm wrong but when you hear that a city is throwing a chili and beer festival with over 100 different beer vendors coming, one would assume that there would be at least that many chili vendors too?  Or at least 30.  Disappointed doesn't even describe how angry I was that they only had 5 different types of chili.  5!!!  And one of them was a vegetarian chili so that obviously doesn't count in my mind as real chili (sorry to my vegetarian friends out there...but it's true).  Which means there were only 4 types of chili there, 1 of which was a chicken chili (not too bad but I had to wait for 25 minutes for it because they didn't make enough).  I realize you can't predict how much chili you're going to go through that day but if your ONLY responsibility for that day is to make chili, flipping make enough chili so my pregnant butt doesn't have to wait 25 minutes for it.  It's not like I could wait with a beer in my hand for the chili (which they actually suggested I do when I asked how long it would be for chili...then I told them I was pregnant and I received the awkward, "O Jeez. I'm sorry.  WTF are you doing at a chili and beer festival then?" comment.  Ummm, I came for the chili, which you obviously don't have so you ruined my day. [well they didn't technically ruin my day, but they made me angry that I had to wait])  Dan spent the rest of the day assuring me that he intends to make his own chili the next day that would be way better than all the chili we tasted that day.

Dan and I also went to bed before 10 every night for our 3-day weekend.  When was the last time I did that?  O wait, I was 12.  Man, I'm really getting old.

Movement: He was moving a lot less this week than before.  I've been seeing a lot less rib and lung action but there's more pressure and movement on my lower abdomen which makes think that he's "dropped" and I looked it up and all the docs say that now is about the time that he'll begin "dropping" and getting to that position to prepare for delivery in a few weeks.  Crazy!  (Did I just say few weeks?  Not months?  O jeez!  Sooo real!)  I think my Prenatal Yoga class is helping out with a lot of my flexibility because I'm able to move a little more (not much).  Little man does love to kick me at the most inopportune times though.  All I can say is "Not now, son".  He doesn't listen.

Food cravings: Milk, strawberry pop tarts, cheese, hot chocolate, ice cream sandwiches, chili...

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Getting up too fast makes the heartburn strike.  Eating too much makes my tummy hurt but I can never be sure of what "too much" is until it's too late.  Ugh!  But I didn't throw up this week so that's a positive, right?

Have you started to show yet:  Yepp!  Rounding out.  About flippin time!  I've only waited 34 weeks to start getting a decent belly and it will be gone soon.  Grrr!  I guess I'm not the only one who had unrealistic expectations of when I would get a belly.  Before I got pregnant, I assumed that when one "gets pregnant" that they wake up the next morning and a giant adorable belly is attached to their abdomen.  I've come to realize that this wasn't how things work.  Well in my aqua aerobics class the other day, the lady who is in her 19th week asked everyone when they started showing because she felt bad that she hadn't started showing yet.  Most people responded with "around week 20" and one lady said, "yeah, that's pretty typical except if you're tall" and pointed to me.  Then I said I suffered from bump envy and wished I showed earlier.  The lady who asked said she thought that when women get pregnant that bumps come right away.  I told her I suffered from the same delusion and she still has plenty of time.  She's a lot shorter than me so I told her that she'll probably start bumping out soon and get that belly she wants.  Jealous that she'll start showing way before I did.  But the moral of this story is: Jackie is not the only one who is crazy and has delusions about pregnancy.

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: No.  Does everyone experience early labor signs or am I just weird that I haven't felt any yet?  (Not that I would even know what they feel like because I've never been through labor before.  Gah!  This is all so weird!  I guess that means I'll be better prepared for #2 whenever we decide to have him/her)

Symptoms: I have to pee!  ALL THE TIME!  It is sooo much worse than before.  I thought my bladder was small before, now it's just microscopic.  I cannot stop the urge to pee all the time.  AAH!!!  My heartburn is getting less and less but I'm still experiencing it a bit (maybe I'm just good at popping a Tums whenever I sense the heartburn symptoms).  I experienced my first night time leg cramps.  It was my left leg (the leg that I've been experiencing the mysterious numbness and tingling because of the kid on my nerve....I'm just falling apart).  I was not fond of the sudden shooting of pain in my left leg so I made sure to eat a banana the next day.  Hopefully that doesn't happen again.  I sneeze all the time as well as burp.  Lower back and sides still hurt.  My tummy is starting to get itchy despite all the lotion I put on it.  I read that it's normal though...just a symptom of my expanding and stretching belly.  I also lose my breath easily.  Gosh I feel so old/out of shape but I know it's because of the little man living in my body.  O and my boobs are getting even bigger.  I looked in the mirror the other morning and I said, "Holy boobs! Where did you guys come from?".  Yeah, I was in shock.  I apologize to the people of Champaign who have seen me out in public and have been disgusted by my appearance.  I simply cannot control these ladies.  They're gonna take some while to get used to so I apologize in advance.  Just shield your children's eyes.  I try to go out during the school hours in order to protect the innocent.  Sorry.

Belly Button in or out? In.  Lost yet another belly button contest with my kiddos this week.  I was hoping to not place in last place again but that didn't happen.  Gah!  Curse you deep belly button!  (Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I don't have an outie but I'm just curious what the bottom of my belly button looks like) 

Wedding rings on or off? On. 

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy!  We're continuing to be "nesters" and adding some adorable things to Little Baby K's room.  His room is coming together so perfectly!  Every day Dan and I go into it and say, "what else can we do to prepare for him?"  Today that meant finding an adorable rug to go in the room.  

Dan and I even put animal decals up in the room.  Yah I know, I didn't want a "theme" for his room because I think themes are dumb and they limit you to what you can put up in a room but these little animal decals were pretty cute and didn't leave too much on an impression in the room...they just added to the cuteness of the room.  

I also found some fabric to make into curtains for his room!  I've been having a lot of difficulty finding some curtains I like so I decided that I (my mom most likely) would make some instead.  I was looking for some adorable fabric but couldn't find any that I liked but at one of my trips to TJ Max this past week, I found this adorable patterned shower curtain that I loved!  Little known fact, shower curtains are just a way of packaging large amounts of usable fabric for cheap.  They're going to make perfect curtains!  I can't wait for my mommy to get here and help me work on the curtains (My mommy can make/fix anything.  I've been extremely blessed over my past 24 years that if I ever needed a costume/button sewed on/hem repaired/pants taken in/etc. that my mommy could and would do all of that for me.  She's amazing.  I've had to learn how to do some things on my own since I started college at 18 but I still have a long way to go to get to Momma Jones status).  

But overall, I'm just increasingly more and more happy by the day as Dan and I prepare for our little man!  Gosh I can't wait to meet him!

Looking forward to: Dan and I have a weekend away planned for us for this coming weekend.  It'll be our last getaway of just us two before the baby comes so I'm really looking forward to a nice romantic weekend away with my husband.  I don't know if you've gotten this from my blog or not, but he's kind of amazing.  I just love doting over my wonderful husband and can't express how loved I feel every day by him.  I love that he and I are embarking on this amazing journey of parenthood together and I'm so excited for him to get to be a dad really soon!  Everyday he does things that remind me of why I married him.  Through everything he does, he desires to be more like Christ.  Because of this, I know Daniel to be an amazing husband and I know he will be the most amazing father to our son (and future little Kochs).  I love being able to call myself his wife.  We know parenting will be a huge life changer for us and having time for our getaways will be harder to come by so we wanted to take some time while we still have it, to just relax and have a romantic getaway before our little man gets here.  So yes, I'm looking forward to spending more quality time with my partner-in-crime.

Anything Else?: I need to remind myself to breathe every once in a while because it seems like everything is happening so fast now!  Getting close to the 1 month mark before little man is expected to make his appearance.  Where did all the time go?  I feel like the first half of pregnancy was just miserable and I couldn't do anything and the second half has been nothing but busy.  9 months is both too long and not long enough.  Maybe I'll have my act together by the time we're ready for #2.  Probably not though.