Member Spotlight at 37 Weeks

This month is flying by and time quickly got away from me. I realized I hadn't provided a 37 Week update (we are actually 38 weeks now, but that update will come later this week!). On the 12th, we were 37 weeks and officially considered "full-term" - which is crazy to think about!

At 37 weeks, Peanut:

-          Is likely around 6 lbs. and 19 inches long (though I’d be okay if she doesn’t get any bigger!)

-          Is about the size of a honeydew melon or a skunk!

-          Has developed her full set of reflexes

-          Continues to inhale and exhale amniotic fluid to prepare her lungs for breathing

-          Is a mover and a shaker – often causing some discomfort for her Mama as she is clearly growing too large for her space!

At 37 weeks, Mama:

-          Continues to feel really good overall, despite some queasiness

-          Gets tired and sore at night, but is still maintaining a workout schedule of 3 days a week for now

-          Isn’t sleeping through the night anymore, but is still stocking up on rest while she can

-          Continues to nest and get things ready at the house (with a lot of help from Jason!) 

The coolest thing to happen during our 37th week was being recognized as the "Member Spotlight" at Cerner's gym for the month of January. At the beginning of 2014, I started working out regularly at the gym on campus. It's free, convenient and offers classes both during the day and after work - quickly taking away every excuse I previously had to never work out. I quickly saw changes in the scale, my body, and my overall mood and emotional well being. By April, I was 5 lbs shy of my goal weight and feeling much better day to day. The following month I learned I was pregnant and I was determined to maintain my workout schedule as long as possible in hopes of having a healthy pregnancy.

Through my sixth month, I was able to maintain my pre-pregnancy workout schedule of 4-5 days a week. At the beginning December, I scaled back to three days a week of classes, often walking one or two more days if I was feeling up to it. Most weeks, I take Zumba twice a week and a Pound class. I had been taking yoga and a strength training class as well, but those of those have been put on hold until post-baby. I am continuing three classes a week as we speak, but I will admit I am looking less than graceful and feel it a lot more the next day! I credit exercise with helping me to combat so many of the pregnancy symptoms you hear women complain about - fatigue, body aches and excessive weight gain. Don't get me wrong - I'm up about 20 lbs, I could take a nap every day at 2:00 and I feel pretty uncomfortable most nights, but I know these things would be much worse if I hadn't been taking care of myself the past several months.

My Zumba teacher, Christa, approached me in December and asked if I would consider being the "Member Spotlight" for January. All I had to do was answer a set of questions and take a picture, so I figured I couldn't say no. Christa was sweet and told me she thought I would inspire other pregnant women at Cerner to continue working out during pregnancy. I'm not sure that will be the case, but I was honored to be recognized and, I have to admit, it's cool to see my picture and story displayed in the gym.

Peanut's Room

We have a nursery! After many months of paint samples, furniture building, cleaning, organizing and more cleaning we now have a completed nursery. I have to give the majority of credit to my husband. I always give Jason a hard time since he does most of the decorating in our home. I like to say it's because he's more opinionated than me (which is true) but he really does have good taste and I love the way the room came together.

We chose to go with yellow and grey as our nursery colors before knowing if we were having  boy or a girl. We sampled nine colors before finding one that we liked. We then chose to have white furniture and we ordered the crib, mattress and glider from Amazon. I didn't want a theme and I really didn't want it to feel like a "nursery" so we chose to keep it simple in terms of decorations. When my parents visited, they helped to begin organizing all of her clothes and gifts we had received, which was extremely helpful.

The nursery is now my favorite room in the house and I have found myself this week going in there at night and reading to the baby in the glider. Hard to believe she will be here in just a few more weeks! At least now she has a room to come home to!

Holiday Fun and New Year Goals

Hard to believe we are already in 2016! As always, December flew by and the holiday season was over before we knew it. We had a nice, relaxing Christmas celebrating for the last time as a family of two. We were productive throughout the long weekend, but also enjoyed quiet evenings together eating delicious food (thanks to my personal chef) and watching movies. I was also able to take a nap each day which may have been one of my favorite parts! 

Christmas Eve Service

We both returned to work after Christmas, but enjoyed another long weekend for the New Year. You know you're 8 months pregnant when your New Year's Eve celebration included multiple meals, non-alcoholic beer and an overwhelming sense of pride of almost making it to midnight before falling asleep (almost). Oh, how times have changed from the nights of partying and shenanigans to ring in the new year. 

Two of my girls! 

As we rang in the New Year (the following day since I couldn't make it until midnight!) I began to think about my resolutions. If I'm being completely honest with myself, I believe I'm like many people when January rolls around - full of promise and confidence that this will be "the year" that everything changes. I've often thought to myself that "this will be the year that I...." fill in the blank with any of the traditional resolutions that people make in January, and often break by February. In years past, you could fill in the blank with such things as "lose weight, eat healthier, drink less, pray more." Looking back, I like to think I had good intentions when making these resolutions, but my follow through was minimal at best. This year feels different. For the first time, everything in my life is about to completely change, and I don't need a resolution to make that happen (though I would love if a realistic resolution was a pain free delivery!) 

We are now less than a month from our due date and as I think of the excitement and challenges the next year will bring to my new family of three, I find myself setting goals rather than sweeping resolutions. Argue that it may just be semantics, but a goal seems much more attainable than a resolution! Looking ahead to 2016, my goal is simply to be the best wife and mother I can be. Pretty unoriginal I know, but it's true. Though I don't consider myself to be a selfish person by nature, I admit I have lived for 30 years where I have been my primary focus day to day. Whether professional and personal, I have made many decisions based on what I considered to be in my own personal best interest. Being married to Jason has helped me learn to put the needs of someone else above my own (though I am the first to admit he does this way more than I do!). Now that I am about to become a mother, I am surprisingly comfortable at the idea of putting myself behind my daughter as we do our best to be good parents. While this is by far the most important goal I have, I would be lying if I didn't say there are other things I hope for this year as well. So here's to a new year where I plan to:

 - worry less and play more 

 - work through a Daily Devotional 

 - take on a new challenge at work

 - (hopefully) regain some semblance of my pre-baby shape!

Baby at 35 weeks! (12/29/15)