Goodbye Tummy, Hellloooo Baby?! .. Soon?!

One week until Poppy is due .. which means nothing - except the doctor has already said he will not let me go past 40.5 weeks, so I guess it does mean Poppy will be here before July is over! Ha! As I'm reaching the final stretch of my pregnancy, I've been reflecting back a lot on how fast the last 9 months really has flown by. I remember before Benny was on board with the whole baby thing, I'd tell him, "Well, it's not like you get pregnant and then a baby pops out. It's about another year before you even have the baby." Ha.. joke's on me because pretty sure it feels like I JUST got pregnant and now baby could come at any time. It has been such a fun time and I will definitely remember it forever, so I thought I'd look back at this journey we've had so far.

Benny and I had been talking babies for awhile .. okay, like forever .. but he just wasn't quite ready and I understood that. He did this thing where he'd tell me the percentage he was ready for a baby .. supposedly when it got to 100%, that meant it was a go. (For some reason, the percentage always went up after an ISU win..wish those happened more often). It wasn't until Halloween night after we had been playing with Lily that I received the following text, "I think we need our own little trick-or-treater for next year" that I knew he was ready. I teared up and showed the text to Robyn who smiled really big and probably said, "Awwww..." The whole way back to Spirit Lake the next day, I was ready to seal the deal.. ha! However, after much discussion (and attempting to plan around weddings..which was an epic fail), we decided that we would wait until January to start trying and we'd try until May and if we didn't have any luck, then we'd take a break from trying. Well... surprise! About 4 weeks later we found out I was 4 weeks pregnant! We have fallen completely in love with our little one over the last 9 months and I can't imagine how we will feel when we finally meet him/her (and find out if baby is a him or her!)

Here's how my belly grew and grew AND GREW over the last 9 months:

Months 1-9

1 Month Prego Vs. 9 Months Prego (Notice the shirt no longer fits!)

Some random shots from throughout my pregnancy!

 I'm so glad I kept this blog throughout my pregnancy to remember it all ... I wanted it all in one post so I could look back and read through all of them!

Two Pink Lines

Telling the Husband

Maternity Clothes

Christmas Morning Reveal

Cravings!!

Hearing Baby's Heartbeat

Week 14 Mark

Books to Read

Baby Bump

Insomnia Kicks In

First Movements

Month 5 Bump

First Kicks

Halfway There!

First Ultrasound

21 Weeks

Daddy's Excited

24 Weeks

The Crib

Nursery Projects

30 Weeks

4D Ultrasound

Maternity Pictures

Shower #1

Shower #2

Happy Father-to-be Day!

Crabby Pants

Built With Love 

38 Weeks

Things I'll miss about pregnancy:
1. Baby kicking!
2. Benny touching my belly and reading to Poppy (I suppose he'll still read to Poppy when Poppy gets here..)
3. Hearing our baby's heartbeat at appointments
4. No longer eating for two - won't have a reason for 2nds anymore! (like I need a reason...)
5. Planning the nursery - we've had SO much fun designing, building, planning, picking things out, etc.
6. Pants that don't button .. might try to wear those as long as I possibly can.
7. The suspense of not knowing whether Poppy is a girl or boy...
8. Side Hugs - I can't reach Benny in a straight on hug anymore, so I have to turn to the side .. it makes us laugh.
9. Nesting/Crafting Instinct - Although my house isn't any cleaner, it is more organized and I have become quite the crafter (and if you know me, you know I don't have a crafty bone in my body!)
10. All the questions/comments from my little ones. They crack me up!! They are so fascinated by my belly and say the funniest things.
11. Knowing baby is snuggled up in my tummy so close to me all day every day!

Things I won't miss about pregnancy:
1. Getting up to pee a thousand times a night. (Now I'll just get up to take care of baby!)
2. Running my belly into corners .. OUCH!
3. None of my clothes fitting!! (Including my maternity clothes now!)
4. Not being able to shave my legs or paint my toenails.
5. Non-stop tummy itching. Ugh. (probably my biggest complaint throughout the whole pregnancy)
6. Throwing out cake and brownie batter and raw cookie dough -- it makes me want to cry to not lick the spoon and bowl when I'm done ... but I won't put baby at risk!
7. Lack of oxygen.
8. CRAZY emotions - from rediculously happy to bawling sad in .2 seconds.
9. Peeing in the smallest cup ever made - if you've ever been pregnant, you know what I mean. 
10. 70 degrees feeling like 100 degrees

What we've done to prepare in the final days: (No matter how many times Benny reminds me we aren't moving into the wilderness for the next 3 months, I still feel like that's what I'm preparing for..ha!)
1. Clean, clean, cleaned the house! I am a huge fan of this nesting thing ... my house will NEVER be this clean again.
2. Installed the car seat
3. Packed and re-packed and re-packed hospital bags
4. Wrote Poppy letters from each of us - we plan on doing this each year for his/her Birthday
5. Started filling out parts of the baby book
6. Stocked up on paper plates and plastic silverware (We will be taking a 3 month break from dishes.. or at least that's my hope!)
7. Filled our pantry with easy-to-grab snacks.
8. Spent time together as a couple and with friends
9. NAPPED and slept in! I NEVER sleep in .. it's against my religion .. but I have been taking full advantage of it because I know I will never have a chance again! Haha.
10. Finalized daycare plans - which was a BIG deal for me...
11. Made a phone tree of who needs to be notified by whom and a list of people we'd like to contact right away before the news hits the press (aka Facebook). Made sure dad knows where our hospital bags are and the most direct route to the hospital from wherever he may be at the time. I kind of like to plan...


I've loved pregnancy and really didn't have many complaints - just a few small annoyances! We have been truly blessed to have a healthy, uncomplicated pregnancy to this point and we pray that it continues (It's DEFINITELY the final countdown!) I know that this has not been the case for so many people who have had incredibly complicated pregnancies, so we thank God every day for how smoothly mine has gone and we give kudos to them for being so strong through all the trials of theirs. We try not to complain about the small things knowing there's always someone out there who has it way harder. That doesn't mean I don't get a little hormonal at times, but for the most part, we just keep thanking God for Poppy. We're starting to get nervous about baby's arrival, but we are so excited to meet our little one and know that we will learn as we go just as any new parent does. We already have the deepest love for Poppy and know it will only grow the first time we hold him/her. We are thankful for all the support, prayers, advice, etc. we have been given along the way ... Poppy will be here soon!

I really hope to keep this blog going with all of the excitement of watching Poppy grow, but you'll have to bear with me as we adjust to our new life plus one. It will probably take a backseat for awhile (or who knows..maybe I'll keep up!), but I will do my best to keep you updated. I thank everyone who has shared this journey with us and hope you have enjoyed reading because I sure enjoy blogging! I'm sure someone will get to Facebook before we do to post the exciting news and while I wish I could surprise you all with a "Poppy's Here!" post, I know that will not be the case .. too many excited people!!