34 and 35 weeks

It seems like it's getting harder and harder to blog with everything there is to prepare for the next couple of weeks. I imagine that after Maddox gets here this blog will be practically nonexistent.

Over the past two weeks a lot has gone on. Garrett, Dad, Tyler, Kendall, and many more participated in Tough Mudder...a 12 mile mud run/obstacle course. Mom and I participated in walking around and watching them. We had to have walked at least 5 miles and I'm convinced this walking was just as hard as the course. Needless to say Garrett and I were both sore and exhausted the following Sunday. I guess this was a glimpse of life with an infant. 

I went back to the doctor for a visit and everything sounded good. We were also blessed with an amazing shower from my coworkers. We got our first round of gifts and started dealing with the good problem of "where are we gonna put all of this?" I am so blessed to work with such thoughtful and caring people that are willing to spend a few of their hard earned dollars on Maddox and I. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures from this shower. :( The first graders took a field trip to the Dallas Arboretum. Basically this means more walking and an extremely bumpy bus ride. I was pretty sure that after being tossed around the bus seats for an hour Maddox would just fall out but thankfully he's still right where he needs to be. This Saturday we were blessed with another amazing shower given by family and friends. I am so thankful for all of the family and friends that were able to attend and share their love with us. (Pictures of this fabulous event will be coming soon!) Garrett was also honored with a diaper poker party. He had a lot of fun and we got so many diapers that will last us for months! Now if they just came with someone to change the diapers with.

Thank you all to everyone who has blessed us over the past few weeks! Your love is definitely felt and we are so incredibly grateful for every gift, card, kind word, prayer and long trip to Sherman that you have invested in. Words won't be enough to thank you all for every little and big thing you have done.  God has truly blessed us with an amazing community of people.

33 Weeks

This week we've started having gifts arrive from some of our friends. We are already so blessed, thank you all so much! One of my former students who is now a 5th grader came to my room the other day and said, "Mrs. Giles what are you having?" I told her and a boy and she said, "Okay, I'll tell my mom." I came into my classroom and found a sack on my desk with some baby slippers and a stuffed rabbit. There was a note that said: Mrs. Giles you were my best teacher ever! I hope your baby has a great first birthday. It was super sweet.

We also worked on Maddox's room a little bit. I'm ready for it to all be put together though. I loved how this wall turned out! 

Maddox has been super busy moving all over the place. I feel like he is already about 12 pounds and NEVER sleeps. Let's pray this isn't true! Every time I see this commercial I'm convinced that this is how big Maddox actually is. 

Maddox

We spent all day Saturday at our last (thank goodness) class at the hospital. This class was over child birth and everything that it entails.  We even practiced the hee hee hoo. I didn't realize that people actually did that, I just thought it was for the movies.  The class was pretty informative but I'm sure I won't remember any of the information once labor actually starts, nor am I sure anyone but the doctor needs to know what to do.

32 weeks

We're almost at week 34 and honestly I don't remember much of week 32 but here's the gist....we went to another class at the hospital. This class was over infant safety so we learned baby CPR and some other helpful tips.  We also had another doctor's appointment to hear Maddox's heartbeat. Everything looked and sounded good. The doctor said that if it came down to it she wouldn't let me go past December 12th so we can expect a baby by then!

30 and 31 weeks

I can't believe we're at 31 weeks! It doesn't seem like that long ago we were finding out that we were pregnant. 

 Another couple weeks have gotten away from me without blogging. We've been crazy busy and the next few weeks only look just as busy! 

Maddox got to attend his third wedding in week 30. I've been experiencing quite a bit of heartburn and indigestion. It's really bad at night and I've lost a few hours of sleep from this already.  I'm hoping that it'll get better soon. There's nothing in particular that seems to trigger it other than just food itself...and I'm not at all willing to not eat! I enjoy food WAY too much. I got the results back from my glucose test and they came back good. However, my  blood tests showed that I am anemic. My doctor put me on an iron supplement to help.  Before that I noticed I was getting out of breath really easily and super tired.  Since starting the supplement both of these things have gotten better.

For week 31 Maddox got to go visit Tyler and Kendall for the second time in Lubbock.  The last time I was there I was telling Tyler I was pregnant.  Maddox got his first Texas Tech apparel and a few other outfits on this trip!

29 weeks

Week 29 was a pretty busy one for us. We started the week out by being blessed with our first baby shower for Maddox. A group of my wonderful sweet friends through Maddox and Noah (a friend of mine's soon to be son---who is due here any day now) a shower.  Everything was perfect and we were incredibly spoiled with goodies to help us prepare for these little boys.  

 

Garrett and I had our second class at the hospital which was breastfeeding.  This class wasn't nearly as informative as the first one but I'm sure we got some information in there that will be useful at some point. 

We also had our doctor's appointment for my sonogram and glucose test.  The results from the glucose test should be here any day now. The sonogram went really well! My placenta has moved to where it needs to be and everything else looks good.  Praise God! Maddox is measuring a little over three pounds which is a little bigger than average. We got several pictures of our little boy and he's already a thumb sucker.  Now I will begin seeing the doctor every 2 weeks. 

The little blob above his nose is his fist...he's sucking his thumb.

Maddox's foot

Front view of the face

His arm and hand. Again, you can see him sucking his thumb here.

27 and 28 Weeks

Well 27 and 28 weeks are getting written together because quite honestly I can't tell you what happened in either week and as I write this I am hours away from 29. I have found that this "pregnancy brain" thing really does exist.  I've never claimed to have the best memory but the things I've forgotten in the past 2 weeks are getting progressively worse. Maddox is moving around what seems like non-stop now and some of these movements are pretty uncomfortable.  I have less energy. I have one speed...slow. I have a hard time moving around and bending over to pick things up.  This week at school I was sitting in a chair and reached down to pick up a paper from the floor and came back up out of breath. The child I was working with looked at me like I was crazy and asked why I was out of breath. I told her it was because I have a big belly and it's hard to move sometimes.  She assured me that it was okay because my belly is only big because there's a baby in there.

Last week Garrett and I took our first parenting class at the hospital "baby care basics." They covered pretty much that...just the basics. It was a relief that I knew quite a bit of the information already but there was still a great deal that was overwhelming.  We took about three pages of notes and the Type A personality in me wants to memorize every note we took.  Thank God I have close to zero energy or I may actually try it.  

Last weekend Mom and Dad also got Maddox's first official full outfit complete with a shirt and bottoms. He has several onesies and shirts but I don't count those as outfits. I am in love with these yellow pants.  Today one of my precious students gave me 2 adorable monkey outfits because I have sent her home with monkey books this week so she naturally assumed that must mean I love monkeys.  Absolutely adorable! 

Next Thursday I go in for my glucose test and sonogram. This is the test where they should be able to tell if my placenta has moved or not. As much as I would love for it to be in "the right spot" I've come to terms with the fact that it may not have moved. It's not the end of the world if it hasn't moved and I will just deal with the complications that may or may not come along with it. I know that I have no control over this and it is yet another thing that God is control of...still prayers would be appreciated next Thursday! :)

 

I knew my stomach has gotten bigger but I didn't realize how much bigger (and pointer) until I looked at these pictures side by side!

26 Weeks

Thank the Lord for 3 day weekends. It was so nice to have a nice long weekend to have to recover from the first week of school. Who ever decided that the work week should be 5 days and the weekend be 2? That just doesn't make any sense! This week has been pretty uneventful in the baby world.  Maddox is moving like crazy, maybe he's reacting to hearing me talk non-stop all day, probably telling me to be quiet already. I came home from the gym one day this week and went upstairs to lay down for a few minutes before starting dinner and he was moving all over the place.  I grabbed my phone to try to get a video not really expecting to capture anything. (He has a tendency to stop moving around every time I grab my phone or try to let Garrett feel...I'm not sure if he's being stubborn or shy. :) Well this time he was showing off, if you watch closely you can see him rolling around. (Please excuse the big belly and unmade bed.) I think I've watched the video over a dozen times now.  I'm fully aware that I am pregnant every time I try to fit into an old outfit, feel pain in my swollen feet, and am ready for bed at 2pm, but it's moments like this that make me feel in complete awe of the miracles that God has created.