35 Weeks: I'm Expanding.... my Knowledge

This week has flown by so quickly, thanks in part to my unexpected visitor from Alaska! I was able to take a couple days off of work so that we could hang out. We hit the Wildlife Safari and the Oregon Coast together. While we weren't doing that we found time to plop down on the nursery floor and talk baby!

I now know how to change a diaper and use my new breast pump. Plus we loaded up on some must-have items for life with a newborn, including things like lanolin for my ta-tas. I've had so many questions and she was very happy to answer them all. It was quite nice and helped me feel more prepared... as prepared as one can feel anyway.

Popping its head in this week were those often talked about Braxton Hicks contractions. Previously I had only experienced them on one occasion - 2 rounds of them during previews at the movie theater. This week it happened again right before Lamaze class, which you can read about by clicking this link. But the real ones happened in the middle of the night after class!

I had a standard OBGYN visit during this week, which was very uneventful. We did discuss my due date and had a refresher on why I won't be allowed to go too far beyond my due date. Essentially, because of my "advanced maternal age" when I hit 40 weeks pregnant my placenta is actually like a 42 week old pregnancy. So let's say I went 42 weeks before labor, I'd have a 44 week old placenta and the doctor's don't want that.  Beginning next week I'll be visiting the doctor's office twice a week for NST monitoring of the baby ... a Fetal Non-Stress Test. I'll be able to elaborate on that more in next week's recap, but she said it is very simple and harmless to my baby. They will monitor her movements and heart rate for about 20 minutes and then send me on my way. This continues every Monday and Thursday until she's born. Those poor ladies are going to get sick of me!

Our 35th week finished off with some major work downstairs in her colorful nursery. Her laundry is all caught up -- she keeps getting new clothes resulting in more washing for this mama! Her bed is complete now with a mattress pad added, as well as her new contour diaper changing pad. My things are out of the toy box I'm letting her borrow, as it is now full of diapers from the baby shower. Her closet has been reworked and feels so open and organized inside. All things are coming together so quickly! The car seat is sitting at the back door, and will very soon be put into the mom Jeep.  So real!!!

And finally, while my dear friend was visiting she said she has never done a maternity photo shoot and would like to have me be the test subject so she could play around a little bit with it. I do have quite the baby belly showing now, so why not do a little photo shoot? The first day we did some photos outside among the trees and giant rocks on our property, concluding on day 2 with photos in the nursery. I can't wait to see how they turn out, it was quite fun! **Notice I still have a normal belly button??? And no dark line! The clock is ticking, I wonder if this will continue or if things will make a change in these last few days??

JANUARY 2016
Sunday		Monday		Tuesday		Wednesday		Thursday		Friday		Saturday
										1		2
												33 Weeks
3		4		5		6		7		8		9
				Lamaze Class						Baby Shower		34 Weeks
10		11		12		13		14		15		16
						OBGYN		Lamaze Class				35 Weeks
17		18		19		20		21		22		23
		NST monitoring		Lamaze Class				NST monitoring				36 Weeks
24		25		26		27		28		29		30
Babies R Us		NST monitoring		Lamaze Class				NST monitoring		OBGYN		37 Weeks
31