Pregnancy Update: Final Days

Hi everyone! I started this blog post right before going into labor and didn't get a chance to finish it. Jack is sleeping for the time being so I thought I should get caught up. I will try to do 3 posts this week - this one, Jack's birth story, and one about life with a baby. Here we go!

Rewind to March...

LAST BIRTH PREPARATIONS

In mid-March we took our final Hypnobabies class which was a "birth rehearsal." We practiced all of our techniques while the instructor walked us through the stages of labor. By the end of this class we both felt confident and ready for the big day. (Did it work??? You'll have to wait until the next post to find out!)

Here is a picture on the last night with our instructor Rachel and our new friends Jenn and Kurt.

RANDOM CRAVINGS

I didn't have too many weird cravings throughout pregnancy but I started to get some towards the very end. One night I decided I needed to have hamburger helper so Joey took me to the store. Once I got in the boxed food aisle, I decided I needed lots of boxed cheesy pasta. I bought four boxes. For those of you that don't know me very well, I NEVER eat boxed food - especially unhealthy stuff like this. Joey thought it was hilarious and needed to be documented with a picture. Oh the shame. 

MATERNITY LEAVE 

By mid-March, I was really feeling huge and I was really uncomfortable at work. I didn't have very much work to do since my manager was afraid I'd go into labor at any moment so I was just bored out of my mind. My contract was supposed to go to my due date - March 29 - but I decided to take off early and enjoy my last few weeks. I took my last day on March 20. My team was sad to see me go. They had been so supportive and nice throughout the whole pregnancy. I was very lucky. Here they are at my good bye pizza lunch. 

HANGING OUT WITH PREGNANT LADIES

I was also spending a lot of time hanging out with pregnant ladies from my meetup group. We went on lots of walks at Mission Bay and had a little cupcake happy hour outing. It's so fun hanging out with other pregnant women and making new friends!

FINISHING THE COSLEEPER

At around 39 weeks, the clock was ticking and we had to finish up the cosleeper! We chose a dark brown paint color and Joey got to work one weekend! 

We also had to attach a couple hooks to make sure it would stay attached to our bed. 

And voila! The finished product!

We are so proud of our little DIY project! (Does Jack like it? You'll have to stay tuned to find out!)

KEEPING BUSY

Since I took off work early, I had a lot of free time on my hands. I mostly spent my days cleaning the house and cooking. One night, I finally got around to making kasespatzle - the german mac and cheese type dish that my friend Franzi taught me to make. It was delicious!

I also tried to make some of Joey's childhood favorites. Here he is with chicken a la king. I had never had it before but I think it turned out pretty well.. 

I also made lots of meals to freeze to make life easier after the baby. I made spinach lasagna, enchiladas, spaghetti, and zucchini rice casserole. Our fridge was packed to the brim!

Every day I also went for an hour walk. I was trying to walk the baby out! Most of the time, I just walked around my neighborhood - which I love. . 

One day I went out to Balboa park to stroll through a couple of my favorite places, the cactus garden...

and the palm canyon...

I realized on my way back out of the canyon that it might not have been the best idea...There were a million steps and my hugely pregnant self was exhausted! I had to take a 10 minute break before tackling these guys!

HELLO DUE DATE!

FINALLY, March 29th arrived! Here I am, 40 weeks pregnant and ready to pop!

GOODBYE DUE DATE..

Not surprisingly, my due date came and went with no baby so I had to start going in to the hospital every few days for monitoring to make sure little Jack was doing ok. They were going to let me go to 42 weeks before inducing me but luckily it didn't come to that!

A FUN WEEKEND

That weekend Joey and I tried to live it up, not knowing how much time we had left to ourselves! On Saturday we went up to La Jolla for a nice brunch overlooking the water and a nice little stroll. 

We stopped for a little candy apple treat - Joey insisted - he was spoiling me so much!

Mmmm I LOVE caramel apples! And this one had walnuts too!

Then on Sunday we tried to go to the new farmer's market but it was Easter so it was a bust and instead we headed downtown for lunch at one of our favorite pizza places Basic. 

Then we walked around the baseball stadium. It was such a beautiful day. 

Later that afternoon we went up to Mission Beach so Joey could surf while I took a walk around the bay.

Then I took a little nap on the sand. I really felt like a beached whale!

It was a perfect weekend! At this point I was a few days past my due date and starting to get antsy. I felt like I would be pregnant forever! Little did I know that Jack would start his journey out the very next day...

Next up - my birth experience!