Baby Bump: 35 weeks

5 weeks to go!!!  Serious braxton hicks are in full swing.  Baby is now head down - no more scheduling for this momma.  I'm probably one of the only people that was disappointed by this... but if you know me, you know I love my calendar.  Feeling really tired and I'm lucky if I sleep for 3 to 4 hours at a time.  Current strategy is to sleep for 3-4 hours when I get home from work and then try again in the middle of the night when the exhaustion sets back in. 

For those of you that are WLS pre or post op and are interested in my weight (I was when looking at people's blogs before surgery) I'm at 35 weeks and at 186 pounds (my high before surgery was 347 - at least that's the highest I saw on the scale... I know it was higher at one point).  I was 182 when we conceived.  My lowest in the pregnancy was 173 during the end of the first trimester.  I was told at the beginning of all of this - if I gained around 20-25 pounds, that'd be what they would expect from a healthy pregnancy (that came from my surgeon's office).  My OB's office is ecstatic that I've put on a total of 4 from when we conceived, but 13 from my low during the pregnancy.  I'm starting to feel the extra weight now for the first time.  My goal all along was to stay under 200 during the pregnancy.  Don't want to jinx it... but with 5 weeks left to go and not a lot of "room" in my tummy for extra food... I think I'll be able to do it!  I've stayed strong on not eating sugar throughout the pregnancy.  I feel strongly that once I cross that threshold - there will be no turning back (can I please mention that as I write this I'm about to fold!!!  Ryan is having cinnamon sticks as a well deserved end of the week treat right now and I'm about to jump out of my chair and take him out for a bite of one of those... must stay strong, must stay strong!).  I have full blown/legit hunger now and some serious cravings.  I just try hard to find something to satisfy them that I can have and if not... then I sleep or cut coupons!

Iowa Baby Shower

We have pictures!!!  Thanks to my sister for getting these uploaded : )  Our camera got smashed on the flight back to Iowa for the baby shower and mom and dad were running around so much during the shower that we've all been waiting on pics from Erin's camera.  They are finally here!  There are so many of them that there is no way to post them all to the blog.  So I've selected just a few and below is a link to my face book photo album that has the full 54 pics included. 

The theme of the shower was owls.  Erin knew how much I loved the owl baby stuff that is out there right now - but so much of it is not for little boys... it's just for little girls.  So she worked her magic and made an amazing event - all owl themed.  This girl (and my mom too) are seriously talented!  They made/did everything themselves except the cake.  That they ordered - but of course had very specific design requests : )

We had a great (quick) weekend at home.  Can't believe it's been 4 weeks since we were there.  One more way I'm realizing how close we are - 5 weeks and counting!  I'll post 35 week pics next : )  Thanks to my family for an amazing weekend/event.  It's one for the record books for sure!

Bottom left - acorn muffins in pumpkin flavor, top left - owl cake pops (yes, handmade), front center - owl sandwiches, back center - owl cake on a REAL tree stump thanks to Erin's use of a chain saw..., Front right - leaf and acorn sugar cookies handmade and frosted by mom and Erin, back right - homemade chocolates in the shape of squirrels and acorns that Erin made, back of the table - Erin's beautiful flower arrangements.  She made about 20 of these and they were found throughout the house.

My side of the family... waiting on #6 to join us!  From the left - Dad, Mom, Ryan, me (31 weeks pregnant here) and Erin.

Ryan's side of the family.  From the top left: Ryan's dad, our niece, Ryan, me (baby at 31 weeks), Ryan's mom, Ryan's sister holding our great niece. 

Close up of the owl pops... did I mention they made each of these by hand?!?  Carrot cake ball - then the stick is inserted.  Dipped individually in a fondue pot of chocolate - spun until dry.  Chocolate chips for ears, small chocolate candies for arms, flower sprinkles for feet and candy eyes and noses - all secured with extra fondue chocolate using a toothpick to apply.  They made 50 of them and probably spent at least 8-10 hours doing it!

The "check-in" table.  Every single detail was thought of.  I loved that Erin did the owl theme for everything, but nothing was overly cutesy or baby... just my style : ) 

Happy Happy Fitz Girls : )  Can't wait for Auntie Erin to meet her nephew!  (okay, I'll just keep focusing on the end result and do my best to ignore how we get to that point!)  She flies in Dec. 3rd - and she's predicting he'll be late.  If he takes after her, he will be late.  If he takes after Mommy and Daddy (us) - he'll be right on time or early ; )

And here is the link to all of the pictures from the shower - enjoy!

I found boots... that ZIP!!!!

Mommy got her boots ; )

 Well hello October... 

This month has been absolutely crazy at work and we've been busy busy busy at home getting everything ready for the baby.  We celebrated our 3rd anniversary two weeks ago, went back to Iowa the first weekend in October for a wonderful baby shower (that post is coming... just waiting on the pictures from my sister!) and then we had homecoming weekend at the college last weekend.  This weekend is the first time we've gotten to do our normal weekend routine of running errands, laundry, dishes, etc.  I wish I had more ready to post, but that is an unrealistic expectation of myself right now and I'm doing my best to not dwell on any of those : )

Anyway... here's the reason for this post.  It gets back to why I started this blog in the first place.  Before I had surgery, I had a list of goals....  When I lose weight, I will be able to.... (fill in the blank).  There was a list of at least 20 things, but  some of them were to sit in a theater seat for a Broadway show and be able to actually fit (done!), be able to shop in a store other than lane bryant (done!), have a baby... (almost done ;) and other things.  One of them was to find a pair of boots that zipped up my leg.  This somewhat superficial quest has been going since I was a sophomore in college.  Ryan knows that he's be along for the ride for numerous shopping trips in the last 5 1/2 years that ended in tears, cursing or just plain disappointment.  I would have paid any amount - and I mean ANY amount if a pair would have zipped.  Part of it was def. due to my weight, the other part is I was blessed/cursed with my dad's HUGE calf muscles ... and when you carry around 300+ pounds for over 10 years, well - those muscles are pretty big and not meant for boots.

Yesterday Dixon and I went shopping.  We were at a store and I thought I'd try on their "extended calf boot" to see if it'd fit.  I thought surely it would considering I've lost 170 pounds... but nope!  Now I know I'm 5 weeks away from giving birth - but I have adorable maternity sweater dresses that are just dying to be worn people!  And what better way to rock that maternity sweater dress than with a pair of boots?  So as she was in the dressing room trying something on, I used my phone to google search extended calf boots (the spark for the search was back).  I got the usual suggestions for Dillards/Macy's/Bloomingdales/etc. for the $200+ boots.  But I've tried all of those and know they don't work.  Had they, they'd be in my closet right now... again, I don't care about the price - just that they zip!  Payless shoes also came up in my search... Yep - payless.  Did I have a coupon? No.  Do I care?  NO!  Again, I would have paid anything... but I only had to pay $29.99!!! 

I literally was squealing in the store with excitement.  Now picture this... maternity yoga pants pulled up above my knee, belly popping out like no other thanks to my little guy and adidas track jacket.  But when those babies zipped all the way up... I popped off that bench and started walking around the store in sheer joy!  (Special thanks to Dixon for not ditching me and my ridiculous self at that moment).  She obviously got how important the moment was because she snapped a picture of me buying my first pair of zip up boots... This one will for sure make it into the pregnancy book of pictures.  Our little guy will someday hear the story of how mommy ended her almost 10 year quest for boots with 5 weeks left to go of this pregnancy.

My only complaint... they don't come in brown!  (Seriously Payless... lets get on that!)  They do make them in brown in the regular sizes, but us extended calf girls will just have to rock our black ones!  Bring on the new outfits!!!  Here's a link if you're interested : )