39 Weeks

The Waiting Game...

How far along? 39 Weeks! Baby Koch is as big as a Watermelon!  I believe it too.  He's gonna be a chunker for sure!

Total weight gain/loss: 37 pounds. Okay...I'm done keeping track.  My self esteem is now shot.  Doc said I've gained a healthy amount of weight for my height and body so as long as she's happy with it then that's all that matters.  What a change from the first half of pregnancy when I was struggling to gain weight.

Maternity clothes? O yeah.  I tried on one of my normal non-pregnancy bras this past week and I looked ridiculous.  Also tried to stuff myself in one of my non-pregnancy tank tops, also ridiculous.  It looked like my neck was getting devoured by my boobs.  I'll just stick with my maternity clothes and flowy clothes.

Stretch marks? Yeah!  I've made it through almost my whole pregnancy and not a single stretch mark.  Knock on wood.  Yeah for lotion!

Sleep:  Weird dreams are back.  I've gone into labor twice in a mall; once in Wal-Mart; got to be the chief designer of a Harry Potter land that included a Quidditch field and a first class shopping center (Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, etc.); was in charge of shopping for produce for a restaurant which included swinging on vines 200 feet in the air above speeding trains all while holding bananas, peppers, onions, fruit, etc.; and I made a killer key lime pie (I wanted milk after this dream but didn't want to get up to brush my teeth so I didn't get a glass).  I did such a good job in all my dreams.  I'm very proud of myself.

Other than that, I slept halfway decent this past week.  Still waking up every hour to pee.  It's such a pain (literally) to rotate my whale'ish body from side to side but I'm not allowed to sleep on my back or stomach so I have to do what I have to do.  I also wake up in sweats sometimes...and no I'm not talking about sweat pants.  It's so gross to wake up and be dripping in sweat.  I rarely ever sweat so this feeling is extra disgusting to me.  Dan tried to rub my back while he was sleeping one evening and felt my sweaty body (I was awake of course) and he said, "eeewww!" and rolled back to his side.  He doesn't remember doing this.  I got a chuckle out of that even though it was a shot to my self-esteem.  Sorry Dan.

Best moment this week: Had two appointments this past week.  The appointments weren't that fun (no girl gets excited about their gyno visits so this is very similar if you're looking for a comparison) but hearing that baby is doing just fine and that he could come any day now is very exciting!  Dan and I have waited for 9 months to get to meet our guy and hearing that he's just fine is such a relief.  The doctor also asked me at our first appointment if we wanted to have my membranes stripped in order to possibly help speed things along.  Stripping the membranes is a horribly terrifying sounding term for what the actual procedure is.  I recommend renaming it "separating the membranes" or just anything else besides stripping.  Gives me the heeby jeebies just thinking of it.  

I opted to wait until our next appointment (6 days later) to do the procedure just because I wanted to give Baby Koch as much time as he needs and want labor to start naturally (so long as everything else goes well).  Stripping the membranes only gives you a 50% chance of starting labor within 48 hours, fyi.  But at our most recent appointment, we decided that we would go through with this just to try and kick start labor.  The procedure itself wasn't bad...just uncomfortable.  I would compare it to the regular uncomfortableness that you feel during a regular gyno exam when the doc scrapes you and all that jazz.  I mean it was longer than that and it didn't help that Baby Koch wasn't too fond of his environment being messed with (he kicked me repeatedly during the procedure to let me know this), but overall it wasn't bad.  It wasn't painful, just uncomfortable.  I felt a little nauseated afterwards but doc said that was very normal.  So now we're just playing the waiting game to see if it'll take or if Baby Koch has other plans for us.  The point is, my favorite moment this week was just the realization that we're "that" close to holding our son.  It's such a good feeling to know that my body is doing things that it's supposed to do and that Baby is on track to where he is supposed to be and he's healthy.  Now if I could only get to hold him!

We also went to Black Dog the night before my due date (official end of week 39) to celebrate my "last meal".  Gosh I love me some bbq and it just hit the spot.  I had a delicious Cuban (big ol' slice of bbq ham topped with sauteed onions, pulled pork, and cheese), sweet potato fries, and sweet tea.  I was in heaven.  I just hope it wasn't too good that it made Baby Koch want to stay inside.

Miss Anything? Being able to hold my bladder.  Rolling over without it being an ordeal or looking like a beached whale.  Bending over with ease.  O yeah...and beer.

Movement: He wants out but he's not coming. He loves doing body rolls.  He'd have more room to do body rolls if he'd come out.

Food cravings:  Anything sugary, starchy, and of course anything dairy....milk!  

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Just the usual...if I lay down while I have heartburn then it's bad news but I usually make sure to pop a Tums before I do that.

Have you started to show yet:  I'm officially at beached whale status.  Don't get me wrong, I love my belly but why does a big belly have to come with all the uncomfortableness in the world?  My movements are extremely limited.

Gender: We've decided on a name...finally.  But we're still keeping it a secret.

Labor Signs: No labor signs.  Just the occasional twinge that's not a kick or a punch but they're not contractions...just twinges (there's kind of a head in my pelvis.  nbd).  Week 39 ended with our trip to the doc's to strip my membranes so we'll find out in week 40's post if anything comes of that.  Doc did say I was solid 2cm and over 50% effaced so that's good news.

Symptoms: O you know, just the usual...lower back pain, side pain, waddling, night sweating, heartburn, and anticipation like no other.  I think the anticipation of our little man coming might actually kill me.  Every time I have a twinge, I wonder if it's a sign of labor beginning...but it never is.  Who knows when labor will actually start.  I'm dying sitting here waiting though.

I hope you enjoyed my list of pregnancy symptoms last week.  Hope I didn't scare you too bad.  Pregnancy isn't glamorous for everyone.  I highly recommend watching the movie "What to Expect When You're Expecting" (make sure to read the book for people actually having babies) because it really does a good job showing that pregnancy isn't the same for everyone.  There are some people that take to pregnancy really well and do amazing with it.  Those people are freaks.  And there are people who unfortunately get the brunt of the horrible pregnancy symptoms and stay that way for the entire 9 months.  Most people fall somewhere in the middle of the group.  But the message is, everyone is different.

Belly Button in or out? In.  Stretched to the max.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy but moody.  Again I had another break down where I was crying, asking Dan when our kid is going to get here.  There is no doubt that my husband thinks I'm crazy.  He knew what he was getting himself into when he asked me to marry him though.  

Looking forward to: Seeing if this membrane thing worked or not.  Also looking forward to having our families come down when the baby gets here.  It's going to be a celebration!  I'd invite you guys but there's really no way to send out an invitation when we don't know the date or time.  

Anything Else?: I might be a mommy next time I post!  Gah!  This is so exciting!

38 Weeks

IT'S NOVEMBER!  BABY KOCH'S BIRTH MONTH!

How far along? 38 Weeks! Baby Koch is as big as a pumpkin!  This is way too fun for me because he was exactly that big on Halloween!  So what's a neurotic pregnant lady to do with this information?  Paint her stomach of course!

Well technically I enlisted Daniel's help to paint my stomach because I couldn't reach the bottom of my belly.  I applied the orange paint (to a degree) and the rest is Daniel's masterpiece. (Pay not attention to my blinding skin and crazy pregnant lady hair)

(Also, my pale skin apparently absorbs all the pigment of the paint and it still looked like my stomach was painted even with the paint off.  I had to get Dan to help me get all the pigment off because I had my baby appt the next day and didn't want the doctor to think that the orange and black pigment on my abdomen was anything other than Halloween paint.  She had a good laugh at my expense when I told her how I prepared for the doctor's appt.[The paint was safe, non-toxic, regular body paint by the way...for those freaking out that I could have dyed my kid colors])

Total weight gain/loss: 35 pounds.  Whoops!  Someone hit the Halloween candy...and hit it hard.  And that someone is me.  Starting to feel like a huge heifer.  These large scale numbers are terrifying.

My kiddos and me in their Halloween costumes.  They were Dan and my only trick-or-treaters of the night (so I made sure to load them up on all the Halloween candy I bought).  This is them at the end of their long night of trick-or-treating...at the tail end of their sugar buzzes and ready for sleep.

Maternity clothes? So I finally decided that it was time to go and get those dreaded nursing bras.  My experience was not pleasant.  There aren't very many stores that carry a wide variety of nursing bras I found out so I'll narrow my story to just the last two stores I went to.  After no luck at a few stores around Champaign, I decided to bite the bullet and go to a store that "specialized" in bras for women. I was hoping to avoid this because specialized stores means "specialized" prices. UGH!  I'm not against spending good money for items that will last me a long time, but I'd just rather save some money for future diaper-related expenses and put more money to my milk and cheese budget (I go through a ridiculous amount of milk and cheese each month...it's not even funny).  So I went to the store, got measured, and started trying on bras.  First off, my boobs are now clown-sized...or as I refer to them as porn-star sized boobs...and I was reminded that I'll be needing bras that will allow for engorgement when my milk comes in. UGH!  Well I tried on literally every nursing bra they had in that store and I just wasn't happy.  For a store that specialized in bras, nothing was fitting me correctly.  Everything was making my boobs look horrible.  Call me crazy, but I think boobs should look like boobs.  I hated every bra because they made my ladies look either rectangular, Madonna-cone-shaped, saggy lumps (THE WORST!), uni-boob, or they made me nip-out.  I don't want to nip-out now, especially because things are going to get more prominent once I start breast-feeding.  Needless to say, I left the store crying.

I finally went back to Motherhood Maternity in hopes that they might be able to help me find a bra or two.  I got remeasured there and thus began my 2-hour try-on adventure.  I counted.  I literally tried on a minimum of 36 different bras (that doesn't include bras that are the same style just different sizes).  Some of these bras weren't hideous and actually made my boobs look like boobs.  Thank God!  

(Also, even though it's no longer October, everyone out there, we need to save second base so let's all do our parts to make sure that we are creating lots of awareness to breast cancer screening and research.  Ladies, always do self-breast exams and make sure to get your mammograms.  Let's save second base)  

I finally left the store with 6 bras in tote.  Success!  I hate shopping so much, even more now.  Plus my boobs were exhausted from an afternoon of being pushed, poked, prodded, squeezed, etc.  I never want that experience again.  The nice ladies who helped me out probably don't ever want to see me again because I was such a pain.  But the good news is that I finally found practical, affordable, and non-hideous nursing bras...minus the sleep bras.  Those things are hideous but there was no way around that.

Stretch marks? No. I thought I found one on my lower back the other day but it was just a mark from my pants.  Phew!

Sleep:  Just so much sadness is associated with me trying to get a good night's sleep.  I can't even fake feeling refreshed in the morning.  Trying to get a good night's sleep is just miserable.  And I know this isn't easy on Dan either, which makes it suck even more.  I'm sorry Dan.  Maybe someday soon we'll get some good sleep...probably not...but here's to hoping that we do.

Best moment this week: Lounging and nesting with Daniel.  I love nothing more than being a bum with my hubby especially on the weekend.  This past weekend was just that.  Bumming it, food, nesting, movies, and football.  That's about it.  He even threw in a back rub for me so naturally I had to return the favor with a back rub for him.  (Back rubs are the currency of the Koch house.  If you want something, throw in a back rub and it's as good as your's).  Bears also won this past weekend!  (Illinois did not. Wah!)  Dan and I even deep-cleaned our carpets this past week!  Talk about nesting!  I'll post pictures of Baby Koch's almost-finished nursery as soon as I can.

Miss Anything? Sleeping well.  I miss that most of all.  I also miss walking without having to waddle.  Penguins ain't got nothing on me!

Movement: Holy body rolls!  LBK is doing the samba in there.  I just know it!  He's telling me there's no more room in my belly and he wants out so he can finally stretch.

Food cravings:  I'm not hungry anymore.  The only thing I want to eat (drink really) is milk.  I watch the Food Network and the Cooking Channel and salivate over everything but have no ambition to actually cook anything (which is really really really weird for me).  

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Threw up this past week which little man kicked my stomach again.  Thanks son!  I really didn't want to digest my breakfast.  NOT!  I'm eating for you, son, so mind yourself and stop kicking my stomach while I'm trying to digest.  In the words of Gloria on Modern Family, "I'm busy converting food into a baby".  Well I can't convert food into a baby when you make me throw up.  Let's get it together and rally these next few days.  Got it?

Have you started to show yet:  My fall jacket doesn't fit anymore.  Lucky for me, it's got a dual zipper thing that lets you unzip the bottom part of it which is perfect for my expanding belly.  It's just tough zipping it over it to begin with in order to unzip the bottom.  Maybe I should just stay inside and not have to worry about wearing a jacket.

Gender: Still a boy!

Labor Signs: Nope.  Doc said she might entertain stripping my membranes (sounds painful!) at our next visit to give me a 50% chance of starting labor in 48 hours of it but we'll see how I feel about that come visit time.

Symptoms: LOWER BACK PAIN!  HEAD IN MY PELVIS!  But good news is that at my last appointment, doctor said I was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced.  For those of you who don't know what that means, let's just say that you need to be 10cm dilated and 100% effaced for things to happen.  Baby K's head is also super low in my pelvis, doc said....which is really good!  She was actually really surprised how low he was and just kept repeating that this was good news.  She said, "whatever you're doing, keep doing it.  It's looking good for you."  Ummm...I don't know what I'm doing, but I'll take the compliment. Good job Jackie.  Way to go!

With me feeling more and more like a sausage each day, I believe that it is now my duty to inform everyone of the symptoms pregnancy that "they" don't tell you about.  (Not all have happened to me at all or yet but I'm told that many of these are very very very common among pregnant ladies.  Enjoy...if I don't scare you from having children) (Part of this list is taken from http://pregnant.thebump.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-symptoms/articles/things-no-one-warned-you-about-pregnancy.aspx)

1. You lose a lot of your dignity when you become pregnant.  Get used to having people ask about your business, impart their own opinions about your business, and more.  If you're not already used to spreading your legs for your gyno, get used to it now.  You're going to be very close friends with this person so my advice is get to know them...and fast.  The better you get to know them, the more dignity you will keep...but you won't be retaining much.  You need to get comfortable with people around you seeing your body (all parts of it) because from now on, nothing is private.  I'm told when you deliver that whatever shreds of dignity you have left, is gone forever.  Just great!
2. Fantastic hair and nail growth!  My hair has never looked and felt better.  My nails are the strongest and longest they've ever been!  Thank you prenatal vitamins.
3. Keep those tweezers out ladies, you can thank your hormones if you start growing a beard.  The occasional chinny-chin-chin hairs that we tweeze are things of the past.  You'll be needing your tweezers everyday to get rid of the mess on your face.  Dan's razor never looked so appealing to me before in my life.  I haven't taken the plunge to do that yet, but I did get my face (not just eyebrows) threaded once because of this.  It hurt, so I'm just gonna stick with tweezing.  Gosh I'm a hairy mess.
4. Yeah for 9 months of no periods!  Right?  Wrong!  You thought that now that you're pregnant that you get out of wearing feminine hygiene products.  Well you were wrong.  Your body is now a mucus producing machine! Do yourself a favor and help save your cute undies by wearing panty liners every day.  This also comes in handy when you experience #5.
5. Your have a child sitting on your bladder.  This causes pressure on your bladder and you don't know this but you've also lost some other controls on your body.  All it takes is an accidental sneeze for you to think, "Holy Crap!  Did I just...?  O yeah, I did.  Crap!"  Yepp...you just peed yourself.  Hopefully it wasn't that big and hopefully you took my advice and are wearing a panty liner or else you're gonna be pretty embarrassed.  It only takes one accidental sneeze for this lesson to be learned.
6. Your skin looks radiant!  Or your skin could be comparable to a 13-year-old girl going through puberty.  Either way, your skin will change.
7. Pooping will never be the same.  Do yourself a favor and the moment you find out you are pregnant, up your fiber and water intake about a million percent.  If you don't, you might die.  Well you probably won't die but there will be times that you think you might be dying.  Constipation is the WORST!!!  There is a child sitting on your intestines, creating a fantastic road block for all of your digestive system and he/she is only getting bigger.  Plus he/she is robbing you of much of your nutrition.  Your body's first priority is to feed your little nugget.  You are the one that gets the leftovers.  Hopefully those leftovers include fiber and liquid because if it doesn't, your getting the butt end of the deal.  Many pregnant women have to go on stool softeners, take fiber pills, or even take (doctor-directed of course) laxatives.  Let me repeat, Constipation is the WORST!  Many times it'll turn into hemorrhoids.  Don't let that happen.  Get on top of that stuff right away or taking a good BM will become a distant memory.
8. To go along with that area of the body, you will notice an increase of your flatulence.  The good news is that if you're like me, just blame it on the baby.  "That wasn't me, it was the baby."  Who is going to question you?  Certainly not your significant other.  They probably are still under the illusion that girls don't poop or fart.  Just tell them that the baby is strong and is pushing out gas.  Crazy!  That's one strong baby you have.  But yeah....unfortunately, you are going to become a gas producing machine.
9. Along with more gas down there, you will be producing gas up there.  There's no way to hide the fact that you are going to turn into a burping machine.  Again, blame it on the kid if you want.  When you lie down in bed, gas will start to move its way up and end up coming out of your mouth whether you planned it or not.  Sometimes they are cute little burp'ettes and other times you will full on belch.  Either way, don't act surprised when you burp...because you will....a lot.
10. Where did all your energy go?  No, really.  Where did it go?  The smallest tasks take soooo much more energy (or so it seems) and you'll practically die putting on your shoes.  I'm ready to call it a day after I eat breakfast and put my face on in the morning.  I feel like I need about 15 naps but I still won't feel rested.
11. Your body is going to be changing.  As if you don't already know that.  For some ladies, this means finally getting the rack of their dreams.  For others, it means clown-sized boobs that hurt.  Your upper body won't be the only thing getting bigger, so will your lower body.  And guess what?!  It's gonna change colors too!  For more details about that, read up about what happens when your body produces and uses lots of extra blood.
12. Your sleep schedule gets super messed up.  I already mentioned that you're going to want to sleep all the time but this doesn't mean that your body will actually let you get good sleep.  As your belly expands, your ability to get comfortable while trying to sleep decreases.  Once you get far enough along, you will not be able to sleep well at all.  I think it's God's way of preparing you for the insomnia that is to come when your baby gets here.
13. Along with your body producing lots of mucus, you might get random nose bleeds!  Your nostrils and all the stuff inside of it are working overtime which means that your nose might bleed at inconvenient times.  Also, your gums become extra sensitive and you might get to be a recipient of the "pink toothbrush".  Flossing is still a good idea for all people (for those who actually remember to floss, sorry dentists but its true) but it might scare you when you floss and see your gums start bleeding.  Eh...it happens.
14. Sweating!  Gross!  I'm not one who usually breaks a sweat easily but the hormones that come along with pregnancy make you sweat!  Think about it.  Your body is moving 1.5x the normal amount of blood you have throughout your body, you're converting food into a child, and you have extra weight you're carrying around.  Your body is working hard whether you know it or not.  That means you're going to sweat...a lot!  Day sweats are fine in my opinion but night sweats are the worst!  You're trying to sleep but then have to wake up because you broke out in a tremendous sweat and now you're disgusting because you're dripping with it.  Ewwww!  And all you did was sleep.  So pack on the deodorant and perfume because you don't want to be the sweaty and smelly pregnant lady.
15. Your body will look like a road map!  Whether it's stretch marks or veins, you are going to need a Garmin to navigate the marks on your body.  I've been lucky enough not to get stretch marks but I'm pale enough (almost translucent.  saddness) for people to see every vein in my body.  Well as your stomach grows and stretches, you'll get to see all the wonderful veins that connect your body parts to each other.  Your veins seems to get bigger too.  Like I said earlier, your body is producing and transporting a huge amount of blood (more than normal) throughout your body so that means you get the pleasure of seeing God's work...on your stomach and your boobs.
16. O yeah, your body is preparing itself to make milk...which will make you feel like a dairy cow if you spend too much time thinking about it.  Your beautiful boobs will turn into milk producing machines and you'll get to see that through the wonderful amount of veins present in your ladies.  Also, they will leak.  They might start leaking before your kid comes (apologies if that happens) but they will definitely leak after the kid comes too.  If that doesn't make you feel super attractive, I don't know what else will.  Leaky boobs.  Make sure to wear your nursing pads!  Also, your nipples change.  Just like your lady bits downstairs, your nipples will grow.  And you won't feel attractive.  The breast-feeding clinic ladies told me that it's God's way of creating a bullseye for your little one to nurse because they have such bad eyesight when born.  Whatever the reason, the fact is that they will grow and change and you probably won't like it.
17. Maternity clothes!  I hate the idea of wearing clothes that are designated for "maternity" use.  It's just a ploy to allow women to wear socially acceptable forms of "Mom" clothing...and not the cute mom clothing.  It's worse when you're already an awkward body type (i.e. Tall) and now have to try and fit into expanding body and awkward clothes.  Don't get me wrong, they make some maternity clothes that are super cute, practical, and comfortable now.  Thank you for that.  But that still doesn't end the stigma I have of wearing "maternity clothes".    I'll let everyone be their own judge of the maternity clothes controversy.  (As much as I hate them, I do see the glory in my maternity jeans and have full intentions to bring them out at Thanksgiving dinners in years to come)

O there's a lot more, but I thought that 17 sounds good for now.  If you want to know more, let me know and I won't hold back on any of the information I have at hand.  Sorry if I scared some of you from ever becoming pregnant.  I'm told that your forget about all these symptoms once you get to hold your kid and immediately want to go through it again.  As much as parts of my pregnancy have sucked, I wouldn't change it for anything.  I'm just way too excited to get to hold my little guy and am counting down the hours (figure of speech, I can't count down the hours when I don't know when he's getting here) until he gets here.  I'm just amazed at how God uses my body as a vessel to create such an amazingly perfect human.  Pregnancy just amazes me and every part of it just turns me more and more to see God's glory in all things.  Just wow!

Belly Button in or out? In.  Barely...

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy.  More than that, I'm just excited and anxious.  Little man can get here any second now and I have no idea when that will be.  I'm on pins and needles just waiting for those signs so we can jump in the car to go get him.  We're "ready" for him...just need our little guy here so I can start putting him in adorable outfits, putting those diapers and wipes to work (not excited about that, just that I finally get to use them), reading him books, and playing with him.  (And showing him off to the world because he's going to be the most adorable baby ever...obviously)

Looking forward to: HIM!  I want to meet him so bad!

Anything Else?: Since Halloween is over, can I start decorating for Christmas yet?  Yeah, I'm going to be that mom.

37 Weeks

FULL TERM!!  Baby Koch is now considered to be full term and could come out any minute!!

(I feel that I look like I'm smuggling a football or two under my Urlacher jersey)

How far along? 37 Weeks! Baby Koch is as big as a winter melon.  What the heck is a Winter Melon?  Anyways, doctor estimated that Baby Koch weighs between 6 and 6 1/2 pounds but cautioned me that since I'm tall that I have more room for baby to hide so he could weigh as much as 8 pounds right now and will get bigger.  I'm hoping for our little man to be around the 6 pound mark.  I want him to be a healthy growing boy but I also don't want to push a 10+ pound baby out of me.  That's terrifying.

Total weight gain/loss: 33 pounds.  It's all gone to my belly, butt, and boobs.  Ready to see smaller numbers on the scale though.  I know I'll be losing a few once I give birth but I'm not quite ready to lose the belly.  It's just starting to get cute and I feel like a real pregnant lady now.  Guess that means we'll have to have more kids.  (just not immediately after)

Maternity clothes? Still searching for that illusive pair of black maternity leggings that are actually long enough to cover my body.  It's too late to justify ordering anything online but I've been to EVERY store in Champaign that could possibly sell maternity clothes and NO ONE carries tall black maternity leggings.  I'm not even that tall!  I'm only 5'10" but apparently that's tall enough to be excluded from fitting into normal sized clothes.  I'm not a happy pregnant lady.  I'm at the point where shopping for clothes to fit me makes me cry....in the store.  This became apparent to me when I went to both Old Navy and the Gap to see if they had any good news for me and when I saw the meager selection of maternity clothes (none of which fit me), I broke down in the store and cried.  I quickly put on my sunglasses and hightailed it out of there so not to embarrass myself too much.  Nothing is worse than having someone ask you what's wrong only to incoherently respond with more tears and ridiculous hand gestures.  So I'm no longer clothes shopping.  It's probably best if I just stay out of the public eye for a while...these boobs are getting ridiculous. 

Speaking of which, still need to purchase those darn nursing bras.  Any advice on when is the best time to purchase one?  The ladies are getting bigger by the hour so I don't want to get one now only to have it not fit tomorrow and even more when my milk comes in.  (Gosh that sounded weird.  Did that sound weird to anyone else?  It definitely did to me.  Milk. Ugh!  I've been trying my best to avoid any and all direct references to me being compared to and feeling like a dairy cow but that just happened.  Now I feel super un-sexy.  Great!  Need more Halloween candy)

Stretch marks? No. My skin is just being stretched to its limit though.  Also, I want a tan (don't know if I mentioned this or not).

Sleep:  I wish I could get 8 hours of UNinterrupted sleep.  That would feel so good.  I did manage to get a load of sleep this past weekend.  It was my goal to just be a loaf'er because Dan was gone and I really didn't want to do anything other than veg and catch up on sleep.  Mission succeeded!  I mean I still had to get up and pee every 30-45 minutes but boy did I catch up on some sleep.  I felt like I was in college again, getting to sleep in to whenever I wanted to. Those were the days.

Best moment this week: Lounging.  It was Homecoming at U of I this past weekend (we lost...it was really sad).  I told my son that maybe by the time that he comes to U of I that we might have a good football team.  O well.  I got to tailgate with some friends for a bit (until Baby K told me I needed to take a nap).  I also got to see my former roommate Ashley!  Since my hubby was away hunting for his last time, I wanted to spend time with some people I normally don't get to see.  Ashley and her boyfriend came down and stayed with me.  They slept in our spare bedroom/Baby Koch's room and woke up and said that they slept like babies.  I got a kick out of that.  Then the next day, I got to watch the Bears game with my good friend Megan.  Good news is that the Bears won.  Sad news is that I don't think they deserved to win with how crappily they played.  But I spent most of the time catching up with Meg.  Then again, I spent the rest of my weekend just relaxing.  My wonderful sister-in-law gave me a prenatal massage gift certificate so I even got to get pampered and enjoyed that.  So my weekend was a combination of sleep, food, relaxation, and friends.  Love!

Miss Anything? Still couldn't drink at the tailgate.  Ugh!  It's not the alcohol that I miss, it's more of the social aspect of it.  When I tailgate, I would like to have a drink.  When I have chips and salsa in the summer, I would like a margarita.  When I'm watching football, I would like a beer.  When I'm eating a nice meal with friends, I would like a glass of wine.  Okay, so maybe I would like a glass of wine all the time but you get what I'm saying.  I miss the whole experience of it...not that you need alcohol to have fun...cuz you don't kids.  I just would like it sometimes.  I also miss moving comfortably.  Walking (or at this point, waddling) is not a comfortable thing for me.  My child's head is located in the down position, in my pelvis, and this is very apparent to me.  Every movement I make, I cannot help but be reminded of my child's head.  Although I'm loving my belly, I miss moving without feeling like a waddling sausage.

Movement: LBK (Little Baby Koch) is a dancing fool.  He loves shaking his booty.  I'm just amazed at the intensity of his kicks and rump shake'age.  I already have plans for him to be on Dancing With The Stars season 40.

Food cravings:  Halloween Candy.  No idea what happened to the 3 bags I bought last week.  They just suddenly disappeared.  But also, I need to introduce you all to something amazing.  I give you Prairie Farms Holiday Milk.

The day I was considered Full Term, I went to Wal-Mart for my usual gallon (or two or three) of milk and other grocery needs and in the milk cooler I was delighted to see that Prairie Farms has officially released its holiday milks!  They do this every year and I enjoy guzzling my share of the Red Velvet milk.  So to celebrate making it to Full Term, I quickly grabbed a carton and waddled my way to the register so I could pay for my stuff and get my expanding bum home in order to pour me a glass of this red delicious goodness.  Needless to say, I was one happy pregnant lady after I inhaled some of this milk.  Everyone, pregnant or not, should do themselves a favor and go and try one of these fantastic flavors.  They're all pretty tasty but my favorite is the Red Velvet.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Only feeling sick when he kicks my stomach.

Have you started to show yet:  Of course!

Gender: Little Boy!  We started our Baby Pool this past week and some of the names people are guessing for our little man are ridiculous.  Most are pretty normal though.  We're still keeping his name a secret until the day. No word on whether or not anyone has guessed it correctly in the pool. 

Labor Signs: NO!  Should I be feeling them?  Doc said it was fine that I wasn't but it would make me feel normal if I was.  I mean I'm not complaining that I haven't felt this pain but is that weird that I haven't?

Symptoms: There's definitely more pressure on my pelvis.  I have a feeling that his head is situated super low in my pelvis which is causing some super pressure on my body.  My lower back is getting more and more sore by the day.  Guess that means I'll be enlisting Daniel to rub my lower back in exchange for cookies.  I thought I was getting cankles but Dan laughed at me when I told him this because he said there's no possible way for my colt-like bony ankles to ever look like cankles.  (I kinda wish my ankles weren't so fawn-like because then maybe they would be strong enough to wear heels.  I'm 24 years old and have trouble walking in heels, not because I'm pregnant but because my ankles are the size of a toddler's...and not even a chunky toddler for that matter).  So no cankles, just a paranoid Jackie.

I'm still super uncomfortable while walking around.  It's just not as easy as it was before.  I realize that I took for granted how easy it was before pregnancy to get up from a sitting position on the floor or anywhere for that matter.  Now it's an ordeal to get up from the couch, bed, floor, car, etc.  I'm guessing it's pretty comical to watch because attempting to get up is usually accompanied by awkward grunting followed by my desperate attempts to grasp at invisible wires to help pull me up.  I'm not a graceful person.

Also, I think my hormones might be getting the better of me these days.  Dan walked in from work one night this week and discovered me sitting on the couch crying, and when he asked what was wrong, all I could get out was, "I just want him here.  Why isn't he here yet?".  Yeah...I'm a bit hysterical.  I'm also not allowed to watch "A Baby Story" anymore because I cry at every episode.  Even the segment on the Ellen show where she helps out families makes me bawl like a baby.  I should maybe start wearing my waterproof mascara because I'm a hott mess of a raccoon by the end of the day.  It's not me, I swear! It's the hormones.

O and I also pee about 5,000 times a day.  Nothing new there.

Belly Button in or out? In.  I swear it's gonna pop!

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy...and moody (as described earlier).  I do have a tendency to tear up every time I walk into our little man's nursery.  How could I not though?  The entire room has been completely filled by the love of people in our lives.  From books, to outfits, diapers, dressers, crib, bookshelf, tub, linens, toys, and more, everything in that room has come from all the amazing people we've been so blessed to know.  I can't look in that room and not see the amount of love that has come from our family and friends and even some people I've never met before.  I'm just blown away.  Dan and I are just so grateful for everything that you all have done for us and our little man, who isn't even here yet!  Just wow!  So of course I cry when I walk in there.  I also cry because when I look in there and see all the love that our child is coming into the world to meet, I think of how many babies come into the world not knowing that same love.  (O gosh....cue the tears again)

Basically I'm a hormonal mess.  Super highs and lots of tears.  I'll probably be more of a mess once LBK gets here.  

Looking forward to: Halloween and painting my belly like a pumpkin!  There are a few things a pregnant lady gets the exclusive license to do and one of them is show off her belly on Halloween through paint!  Lucky for me that Baby Koch will be "as big as a pumpkin" exactly on Halloween!  Isn't that crazy??  I'll be sure to include a picture of my attempt to paint my belly on Halloween in my next blog post.  I also hope I get trick-or-treaters! (need to buy more candy for them)  Still sad that I probably won't have gone into labor before Halloween.  I really wanted Baby Koch to come a few weeks early so that I could dress him up in an adorable Halloween costume but since he won't be here by then (most likely), I now have to wait an entire year to dress him up.  UGH!  What's a crazy mom-to-be to do?

Since Halloween marks the start of week 38, we obviously had to carve pumpkins before then.  Here is my friend Stef, Dan, and my pumpkin carving adventure this year.

Dan worked on a 4-pumpkin rated design (which was the hardest design in the book...he kept reminding us of this the entire carving time)

Stef working on her 3-pumpkin rated design.  Her pumpkin also smelled like a cantaloupe instead of a pumpkin.

All three of our pumpkins.  Dan's 4-pumpkin design, Stef's 3-pumpkin design, and my free-handed design of a baby which I thought was appropriate (I didn't follow a pattern)

Stef and me with our pumpkins  (She's also a nurse at the hospital I'm going to give birth in...maybe I should consider changing hospitals. jk)

All three of us with our pumpkins.  You decide who's pumpkin is best. (Mine)

Koch pumpkins!

Anything Else?: I'm also looking forward to November starting because that means it will be LBK's birth month!  Also, that means it'll be so close to Christmas and that means time to start decorating for my favorite holiday!  I will also need to plan out all my recipes I'll be making during the holidays, start Christmas shopping, and of course, start the Christmas music!  Gosh!  Little Baby Koch's first Christmas is going to be magical and I can't wait to teach him all about the wonderfulness that is Christmas and the holidays!  (Cue Crazy Holiday Mom Jackie...this was a role I was born to play!)


I was also informed by my great-granddaughter (sorority thing) that apparently there is a high number of Sigma Kappas who read my blog which cracks me up.  I didn't think anyone read this outside of my family.  I apologize for the number of run-on sentences I have, my inability to use proper paragraphs or punctuation, my love for ending sentences with prepositions, my illogical trains-of-thought, and my made-up words.  It does crack me up that people I don't know read this.  I hope you all get good laughs out of my stories if I haven't scared you off from becoming pregnant.