our little fishy

I love the water!!!

Who doesn't love getting thrown in the air?  Squeals of delight!

 

She just loves flipping and flopping in the water, especially with Nick to help her. 

 

The pool is pretty shallow, but we're trying to get her to kick and paddle.  She loves it, just like everything else in the pool.

 

Trying to teach her to blow bubbles.  She will put her face in the water, but hasn't figured out how to blow.  Pretty cute, though.  She really watches Nick trying to figure out what he's doing.

 

38 weeks

The contractions are very slowly getting stronger and more frequent....and more uncomfortable.    It's all for the better good, though.  I feel like I'm thirsty all the time and have lost my appetite for the most part.  I've still been gaining about a pound a week, though.  I can see and feel a little extra fluid on my legs, nothing to make me think I have pre eclampsia or anything, just noticeable.  Brenna has been using my belly as an arm rest when we read books.  Not the most comfortable position, but there's not a lot of room for her to be close to me.  

 

 

 

LB is still moving a good amount.  It's mostly uncomfortable at this point.  Actually, pretty much everything is mostly uncomfortable :)  other than breathing, nearly any movement will start a contraction.  He is pretty close to full length about 19.5 inches long and nearly 7lbs.  About the length of a leek.  There isn't much developing, just a lot of waiting!

37 weeks

So, I've been having contractions that are slowly, day by day, getting stronger.  Nothing regular yet, but we are working towards something.  I feel like my belly is really sticking out, much more than Brenna did.  My breathing is great and other than occasionally kicking me in the ribs, he's really just low.  We're getting down to our last couple OB appointments and I love that things are winding down.  My spirits are definitely lifted with the end in sight!

LB is gaining weight, but it's slowing down.  All my websites and apps pretty much say the same thing.  All that is left is to wait until the baby is ready to come out.  He weighs about 6.3 lbs and is about 19 inches long, about the size of swiss chard.  I think he's gonna be a bit heavier than Brenna (who was 6lbs 10ozs) Nick thinks he'll be 7lbs 3ozs, I think 7lbs 5ozs.  I think he'll be longer, too. 

Houston

For Nick's grappling tournament, we stayed downtown Houston at the Hyatt.  It was a really nice hotel and the people were very nice and helpful everywhere.  Brenna got a kick out of walking down the hall.  Here she is in her little bathingsuit.  So cute!

 

 

She got right in the pool with daddy.  The water was pretty comfortable, but it was a little chilly without the sun if you got out.  There were so many large buildings nearby that it was completely shaded while we were there.  Brenna nearly walked right into the pool when we got there.  Little dare devil that she is!  I'm thankful we don't have an in ground pool that I need to watch her around.

 

Brenna had a lot of fun splashing and kicking around the pool.  I did dunk her once.  Not her favorite thing, but she didn't cry.  Nick would stand her at the edge of the pool and she would just walk right off the ledge to him.

 

She was so comfy and relaxed when we took her out.  Nick had her wrapped up tight in the towel and she was so mellow.  You could tell she was just so relaxed.  It was awesome.

NAGA

Nick participated in his second NAGA grappling tournament in Houston this past weekend.

 

Nick's warm up...reading Clifford to Brenna.  She really enjoyed people watching, which was good because there were a LOT of people.  We were just inside the gym parked under the edge of the bleachers.  Literally the only place for us.  We did manage to get a good seat in the bleachers for Nick's matches, though.

 

The matches were 4 minutes long.  His first match he won by points.  He did a great job and it was a lot of fun to watch him!

 

His second match he choked the guy and he tapped with 2min and 24 seconds left.  They were so close to the table that I wasn't able to actually see it, but Nick was ahead 4 to 0 in points anyway.

 

The last match was with a very muscular guy.  I tried to get pictures to show the size difference, but as usual, it was more impressive in person. 

 

The guy's back was huge.  It was disgusting.

 

Nick was a little intimidated at first, just with the size of the guy.  But Nick had no problem dominating him throughout the match. 

 

 

He won the match by points, 8 to 2.  Plus Nick had fought one more match than the big guy.  No problem!

 

Brenna was great for the entire day.  She was hot and sweaty but managed to rehydrate with daddy's water bottle.

 

Our proud champion!!!  1st place!

36 weeks

Ugh.  That's kinda how I feel this week.  Lots of rib kicks, diaphragm kicks, stomach kicks.  I've had a bit of an achy back and my tummy is sooooo tight.  I just can't believe he's still growing in there and has a MONTH to grow some more.  He's riding really low, and really heavy.  My next OB appt is on Wed.  tick tock.....

 

 

LB is about 6 lbs and about 18.5 inches long, about the size of a head of romaine lettuce.  His lungs are still developing, but otherwise, he's good to go.  He's getting fatter and fatter and is ready to eat whenever he decides to make his debut.  I know I'm ready whenever he is!

35 weeks

Things are going well here.  By well, I mean that I'm exhausted even with a good nap mid day.  I can eat, but not a lot at a time.  I grunt when I turn in bed and sometimes grimace.  I take up the majority of the couch.  Bella still fits with me, though.  Nick, not so much.  I find it really difficult to get out of the car when we are facing up the incline of our driveway.  In fact, I find it moderately difficult to get off the couch.  I've had a pretty good appetite and have been steadily gaining about a pound a week.  I'm still really enjoying my candy, although I do try to limit it a little (only 1 piece at a time, usually after lunch and dinner and maybe one before I go to bed)

 

LB is getting bigger and bigger.  He is about 18 inches and weighs about 5.25 lbs.  The size of a honeydew melon.  He's still moving a lot and tries to kick, but I think I get more heel jabs and slides.  Those tend to tickle more than the kicks do.  He tries to stretch out, pushing off either my hip or side and you can see his little but pushing out, usually on my right of my belly button.  Not the most comfortable, but kind of impressive to see.  I remember Brenna doing this too.  90% of babies survive if born at this time.  After another week, we're good to go.  We have another Drs appointment a week from Wednesday and then we start more frequent visits.  It's getting so close!

A little Brenna fun

We put Nick's work out socks on Brenna.  She loves shoes and anything on her feet, so we thought she'd get a kick out of it.  Of course she walked around like she was on the cat walk.  They were a little slippery in the kitchen when she tried to run, but otherwise, we had to take them off of her, she wasn't going to let them go!

 

 

 

 Deb sent Brenna this cute foam table.  It's the perfect height for her and she kisses the table and the seats whenever she is playing with it.  She is just a smidge to short to sit on the stools herself but since she hardly sits anyway, it doesn't bother her. 

 

 

Welcome to MY table!

Since Brenna has some hair now, I've tried to put a couple clip in bows in, just to get her used to it.  She'll let it stay for a little bit before she has to take it off and look at it.  But then she wants it right back in.  She looks real cute, though!

 

 

San Antonio Zoo

For Christmas last year, my mom got us tickets to the zoo.  We wanted to wait until Brenna was a little older and more into animals before we went and since she's really started to get into making animal noises and understand the animal names, we decided to go while Mike was here visiting.  Of course it was 97 degrees and I'm just starting my 9th month....but hey, why not? 

 

We had a nice time and the zoo had a great kids area with sand and really shallow water.   Next time we will be packing her water diaper and bathing suit for sure.  I think we could spend all day here!

 

 It took a few exhibits before she really started noticing the animals, but the ducks were the first thing that caught her eye.  Of course I had to sing the rubber ducky song then, too.  But she started to point to the animals and we saw a lot of monkeys.  I think the elephant was almost too big for her to comprehend.  On a side note, there was a little boy there that when he saw a bird display, he cried Ca-Caw, just like Brenna.  Nick and I got a big laugh out of that!

Brenna pointing out things on the map.  Such a little tour guide, she was talking and singing in her stroller, waving at people....so funny!

 

 

Nick and Brenna talking about the animals, each pointing stuff out to the other. 

34 weeks

Another week down, 6 weeks to go.  I've had a fair amount of sciatic pain and some muscle pain in my lower back this week, but it's all just motivation to get through this final stretch.  I spend more and more time on the couch, but Brenna has not had a problem bringing me all her books and toys to play with.  There are times that I am buried on the couch with baby stuff.  Thankfully she still really enjoys looking through books and can wait until daddy gets home to be chased and rough house. 

 

LB is getting himself ready to be born.  Gaining lots of weight (ugh) and should weigh about 5 lbs and is about 18 inches long.  He's the size of a cantaloupe this week.  He's really been pushing up into my diaphragm, stomach and down into my bladder.  He's still moving around a lot, which even though is getting uncomfortable, is still an amazing feeling.