Bump Watch 2011: Week 40

Week 40 brought some major excitement in the Tucker house - we finally got to meet our baby girl!!  Kinley Dianne Tucker was born September 19, 2011 at 12:32pm.  She was 7lbs 1.5oz & 20.5 inches long.  I'll save the story of her birthday for a blog all its own & try to recap week 40 from what I remember.

Bonding with my peanut

Under the warmer

Ok...I've been staring at a blinking cursor & I have no idea what I did that week.  I do remember that Scott & I went to Olive Garden for our last date night before baby on Friday evening.  We had to wait for 45 minutes & I stood the whole time - maybe that helped Kinley drop for the big day??  Then on Saturday Scott played in a golf outing and I made sure that my mom was around to drive me to the hospital if necessary.  That wasn't the case so I was pretty convinced that I was going back to work Monday and probably wouldn't have a baby until after my due date.  I was pretty sure that my body didn't know how to go into labor and that I'd be preggo forever!  I'm sure every pregnant woman feels like that at the end of her pregnancy.  I was very wrong though, and I went into labor Sunday night and Kinley made her arrival Monday, only 2 days shy of her due date.

I was laying on my side & Tiki decided to snuggle
 with my baby bump on Saturday afternoon.

I was waiting to take my 40 week bump picture but obviously didn't get a chance to so here's my final bump picture after we arrived at the hospital.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 40 weeks

Size of baby: 20.5 inches & 7 pounds

Total weight gain/loss: 30 pounds

Maternity clothes: All maternity & ready to start shopping for regular clothes again.

Gender: It's a GIRL!!

Movement: It's getting more cramped in there every day but she stills wiggles a lot.

Sleep: Same as every other week.  Just getting anxious to meet our little girl so tossing & turning.

What I miss: Shaving my legs with ease.

Cravings: Nothing crazy this week.

Symptoms: Some contractions & pressure so I can tell she's getting ready to arrive!

Memorable moment for the week:  Getting the house in order for her arrival and making sure we're ready to go.

Bump Watch 2011: Week 39

It seems like this pregnancy has just flown by especially when you figure that I've been pregnant for the entire year of 2011.  We found out about our peanut on January 13 so she was obviously a New Years baby.  Since then, we've celebrated many birthdays, holidays, and weddings, attended a Blackhawks game, ice skated, went to Sanibel, laid by the pool, went boating, and went to some fun concerts.  It's crazy to think that I've experienced every season possible during the pregnancy.  It started in the dead of Winter with lots of ice & snow, transitioned to a nice Spring, and an incredibly HOT summer.  Now the temperatures seem to be changing again and we're about to enter Fall.  Baby T is officially cooked and hopefully we'll meet her during the next week or so and we can enjoy Fall together!  

Like I was saying, this whole pregnancy has flown by...except for this week.  Week 39 decided to creep by at a snails pace because all I could think about was my next appointment!  I wanted to keep progressing like I had been and hopefully get sent to the hospital to meet this little girl!  Obviously that didn't happen.  I did find out that I'm over 3 cm dilated & 70% effaced so that's still progress.  Now all we need are contractions so I'm crossing my fingers!  

This weekend we did more major home organization in preparation for the carpet and also watched some soccer.  Kylie & Brayden were in a soccer tournament at UIS so we went & cheered on our favorite soccer kiddos!  Here are some action shots:

Pretty good action shot if I do say so...

#10!

Kylie's field was so big I had issues getting any good pics...

This week also brought the date 09/10/11 which many projected as my due date, but no such luck.  (That would have been a pretty cool birthday though).  As the days ticked by, I crossed more and more peoples names off of the Baby T Birthday list.  I think we all got a little excited and guessed too soon.

As of today, I'm happy to report that the carpet is totally installed and the house is all put back together!  I'm hoping that Baby T is a really good listener and knew that we just needed to get carpet done and then she could come.  I'm ready to go tomorrow!  :) 

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 39 weeks

Size of baby: 20.5 inches & 7 pounds

Total weight gain/loss: 30 pounds

Maternity clothes: All maternity but my summer wardrobe is not transitioning well into the cooler temps!  I never had any long pants or shirts with sleeves, oops!  Hopefully just using a cardigan will get me through the last week or so.

Gender: It's a GIRL!!

Movement: It's getting more cramped in there every day but she stills wiggles a lot.

Sleep: I'm pretty sure I'm doomed in this department.  I'm up 2-4 times and almost always have issues getting back to sleep.  Last night I was having contractions but nothing that hurt to start counting but it still kept me up.  Needless to say, I was exhausted and cranky today : /

What I miss: Being able to reach my feet!

Cravings: Nothing crazy this week.

Symptoms: Some contractions and my feet have started swelling especially when I'm on them a lot during the day.  I still have an outside ankle but the inside is definitely looking like a cankle! haha

Memorable moment for the week:  Getting the house in order for her arrival and finally packing my bag!

Labor Day Weekend 2011

I had a very eventful yet relaxing labor day weekend while Scott was stuck at work for the last crazy boating weekend of the year.  My mom came over Saturday morning & we cleaned & organized all morning so that we have as little clutter to deal with as possible when we get the carpet installed.  Now we just have to tackle the 2nd bedroom which has become a catch all for stuff that we moved out of the office turned nursery.  Hopefully this will be a quick Saturday project!  (Have I mentioned how awesome my mom is?!  She's been so helpful prepping for baby especially since Scott has worked so much this summer.  I can never stay motivated for hours on end like she can so she's helped me push through to get everything done - thanks & love you!!)

We went to my Uncle Jack & Aunt Marsha's new house on Sunday for a pool day & cook out.  Their new house is perfect for entertaining so we had a blast!  As I already mentioned, my cousin Megan and I talked all about labor & delivery for most of the afternoon.  We are only about 5 1/2 months apart so we grew up pretty close but hardly see each other anymore so it was awesome catching up.  That evening we realized that my dad hadn't felt Baby T or my belly very much so Megan instructed him that he had to push hard to feel her - you should have seen his face!  I think it finally got real that there really is a baby in there! haha

Me & Megan 

We had one final party to hit that night at Kyle & Becca's and I was sure that we would be gone by 10 because I was sooo tired already.  Yeah.Right.  The guys got so involved in playing life-sized Jenga that we couldn't pull them away.  Finally though, I took Scott by the arm & drug him to the car around 12:30 - I was getting a liiiiittle cranky.

Monday brought a lot cooler temperatures and it was much needed after the 100 degree heat that we had on Friday & Saturday.  I met the Tucker clan at Island Bay around noon for a full day of relaxing by the pool.  We got some great sun that day even if it was only 75 degrees and made sure to get everyones guesses for Baby T's due date.  Brayden did lots of fishing:

 

Delaney & Kylie enjoyed the cotton candy & balloon animals:

Aaahh, what a relaxing weekend spent with friends & family!  I'm pretty sure the word "relaxing" won't be used in my vocabulary much after baby arrives so I'm glad I got to enjoy it.

Bump Watch 2011: Week 38

Week 38 meant celebrating Labor Day weekend so we wondered if it would really be "labor day" for us!  No such luck, but we still managed to relax & prep for baby.  I soaked up the last bits of the summer sun at the pool and enjoyed lots of time with family.  My cousin Megan was in town & she's doing her residency in OB/GYN so I was so excited to talk labor with her all afternoon!  She reminded me that even though I'm dilated a little, it doesn't mean much until the contractions get regular & strong.  Basically, as my doctor said, it could be 2 days or 2 weeks! 

We had an interview with a pediatrician on Tuesday morning and really liked her.  She was highly recommended from my doctor & other friends so after meeting with her, we decided that she was the one.  One more item to check off our to-do list!
We also had my 38 week appointment on Tuesday afternoon and were hoping for some more progress!  When Dr. Stone checked me I was 2cm dilated & 70% effaced so it was a little more than last time.  Slow and steady works, I suppose.  Now I just need to keep walking to get this show on the road!   

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 38 weeks

Size of baby: 20 inches & 6.5 pounds

Total weight gain/loss: 29 pounds

Maternity clothes: All comfy maternity clothes but I'm ready for a new wardrobe!

Gender: It's a GIRL!!

Movement: It's getting more cramped in there every day but she stills wiggles a lot.

Sleep: I haven't been sleeping as well this week.  I'm usually up once or twice to go to the bathroom but I've been having major issues getting back to sleep after I get up.  To-do lists & labor scenarios keep running through my head.  A few days ago I couldn't decide what I was going to wear at the hospital and going home!  Seriously, who cares!! hahaha

What I miss: Moving easily - I really took that for granted!

Cravings: Nothing crazy this week.

Symptoms: Lots of pressure from her head dropping & contractions every now & then.

Memorable moment for the week:  Hearing everyone's guess for Baby T's due date - very few people have me going past my due date so hopefully they're right!

Baby Showers 2 & 3

The Tucker ladies (my sis-in-laws Kim, Sue, & Christie) threw Baby Shower #2 at Island Bay on Saturday, August 13.  Lots of family & friends attended to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby T and she got so spoiled once again!  The shower started at 10:00 so we munched on quiches, fruit, pastries and other breakfast items - so good!  Here are a few pictures from the day:

Gift Table

She's a Tucker, so soccer is a must!  (Christie made the blanket)

She's mommy's girl so she'll be a dancer, too! 

We got lots of good books! 

Getting her all ready for the beach in March! 

Another hand-made blanket

I'm so lucky to have such great sister-in-laws whom I love like my own sisters!  Thanks for everything girls!

Hostesses:  Christie, Kim, Sue

We had baby shower #3 at my office on Tuesday, August 23.  We had a pot luck and tons of food - we don't mess around on food days!  Baby T got tons of cute outfits, (because our receptionist, Peggy, goes a little crazy when shopping for baby girls) and also lots of necessities from our registry.  Lucky for me, my co-worker Emily just had her first baby a few months ago so she knew exactly what we needed!  I didn't get any pictures so this will have to do.  A big thanks to my co-workers for another awesome shower!


The dogs are so nosey and had to check out all the new stuff!  

They also decided to claim her chair - not for long but I had to get a quick pic!

I've finally had time to find everything a home so her room is pretty much done.  I'm just waiting to get things on the walls because I want to personalize a lot of it with her name or monogram and we can't do that quite yet!  : )  I'll post pictures when everything is completed.

Bump Watch 2011: Week 37

Now that our weekends have calmed down & our countdown to baby is under 1 month, I've been trying to get ORGANIZED!  (I'm starting to get a little nervous in this department).  We got the flooring ordered this week & it should be in next week.  Luckily, I've been into the store enough that sales guy knows what kind of time crunch we're under and is trying to make it happen as soon as possible. 

My mom has offered to help me organize the house a million times so I finally took her up on her offer this weekend.  We got our bathroom closet organized (which was kind of a disaster), moved the cleaning supplies out from under the sink & organized our bedroom closet.  Now baby T has her own shelves in the bathroom! : )   

We completed our final lamaze class on Monday evening & toured the maternity ward again.  I figured, the more I go up and expose myself to it, the less nervous I'll be especially since I'm not a big fan of hospitals to begin with.  My cousin Amanda and her hubby Tim were in class with us so we took our last preggo picture together (she's due 10 days after me).  Can't wait to meet our little girls!!

Proud soon-to-be daddys

Momma's in less than 1 month!

Week 37 wrapped up with a visit to see Dr. Stone and Scott got to go this time!  Normally I squeeze it in before work but this time we made the appointment on Tuesday (Scott's day off) since he hadn't been to an appointment since our 20 week gender appointment.  Everything measured normal and even though she wanted to say I was at 2 cm, I was still a little shy of that.  Therefore, she left me at 1.5cm and increased to 75% effaced.  We'll take any little progress we can get!  She also said based on how I've been measuring that I'll probably go around my due date, possibly a little early, but you still never know.  A few months ago I wanted to go on 9/10/11 but now that's only 9 days away - holy moly!  I think I need a little more than 9 days now, hahaha!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 37 weeks

Size of baby: 20 inches & 6 pounds

Total weight gain/loss: 28 pounds

Maternity clothes: All comfy maternity clothes but I'm ready for a new wardrobe!

Gender: It's a GIRL!!

Movement: Still very active especially when I'm hungry or just ate.  Her big booty (that she gets from me) still loves sticking out just above my belly button.

Sleep: Up once or twice but sleeping well.

What I miss: Getting off the couch or out of bed easily.

Cravings:  Nothing crazy this week.

Symptoms:  Lots of pressure from her head dropping & contractions every now & then.

Memorable moment for the week:  Scott hearing her heartbeat again & a liiiiittle more progresss.