34 WEEK APPOINTMENT:

Our appointment went great today.  My stomach measured at exactly 34 weeks.  My blood pressure was 126/70 and Baby Akerson's heart rate was 150 bpm.  Our next appointment will be on June 12th (a month before our due date).  After that we will have weekly appointments.

At 34 weeks our baby weighs up to 4 3/4 pounds and could be measuring 18 inches long.  If he were born today, he would have a 99% chance of survival (big milestone).  I started packing my hospital bag over the weekend (I will just have a few last minute things to add when the time comes).  

My symptoms haven't changed too much.  I'm feeling a little sluggish and the movements from the baby are HUGE!  I'm on a schedule of going to the bathroom every two hours at night but I'm usually able to fall right back to sleep.  

                        34 WEEKS-BABY IS SIZE OF A HONEYDEW MELON


Tonight we went to Gretna to have dinner with our friends Julie and Matt.  Julie will turn 30 on Saturday so we wanted to celebrate early since we won't be able to see her this weekend.  We had to laugh when we opened our 30th B-day gifts from each other.  Julie got me a necklace in my signature color (coral) and I got her the same necklace in her signature color (green).  I guess we know each other after almost 12 years of friendship:)  Happy 30th B-day Julie.

6 WEEKS TO GO:

There are 6 weeks till our due date.  We've been so busy lately and it seems like there is constantly something to do.  Friday night we were able to have a much needed date night.  Most people who know me know how I love bringing up random topics to discuss.  While we were at dinner I asked Jake which three qualities he really hoped we would would be able to help instill in our little guy (the first 3 that came to mind).  His were confidence, good work ethic, and social.  The first three that came to my mind were independence, compassion, and social.  I know every kid is different but of course we want to do everything in our power to help guide him in the right direction.  Wish us luck:).


Saturday we had a wedding in Omaha.  Congratulations Tanner and Lauren.  It was a beautiful wedding and we had a great time catching up with friends!

Sunday night Jake was making us dinner and decided to try out our new baby food processor.  He was going to make garlic mashed cauliflower to stuff mushrooms with (nice idea, right).  Before he even started the food processor, he cut his finger on the blade and had to get stitches.  Needless to say, we ended up having cheeseburgers from Runza instead of steaks and stuffed mushrooms on the grill.  Oh well, it could have been worse.  

Our nephew Hayden turned 5 yesterday!  He's such a sweet and funny kid and it was fun celebrating with him.  We went to a party for him at Pam and Ryan's on Sunday and then yesterday Pam and I took Hayden, Mason and Addison to the Lincoln Zoo.  It was a beautiful day for it and we had a great time!

We have our 34 week appointment tomorrow so I'll update soon with how things are going!

OFFICIALLY NESTING:

I thought I was nesting at 16 weeks but now the countdown is officially on and the nesting is for real this time.  We had dinner with another couple last night who had their first baby 6 weeks early.  I’m 7 weeks away from my due date and feeling like I have a lot to do before this baby gets here.  I’ve been trying to work ahead at my job so my co-workers have very little extra work to do while I am on maternity leave.   As of this week all of my maternity leave paperwork has been turned in and approved.  I also got the baptism scheduled, newborn pictures scheduled, and I’m working on setting up a 2^nd meeting with our daycare provider to discuss a few more details and hopefully meet the rest of her family.   Last weekend we bought our pack n’ play and a baby food processer since Jake is set on making our own baby food.  Next on the agenda is finishing the nursery (June 3^rd is the deadline  for that), packing the hospital bag, washing all of the baby clothes/things, and if I’m really ambitious I’d like to do a really deep clean once before the baby gets here because who knows when we will get to that again! 

I realize that I just turned this blog into my to-do list but these are the thoughts constantly running through my mind lately.  I’ve been feeling good and sleeping well and we are looking forward to the long weekend coming up.  We have a wedding on Saturday and our nephew Hayden’s 5^th B-day party on Monday.

                 33 WEEKS-SIZE OF A PINEAPPLE AND WEIGHS A LITTLE OVER 4 LBS

32 WEEK APPOINTMENT:

It's hard to believe that our little guy could be here in 8 weeks or less.  We are really excited to meet him and have started to think about what he will look like and be like a lot more lately. We had our 32 week appointment today.  My blood pressure was 102/64, my belly was measuring just under 32 weeks, and the heart rate of the baby was 140 bpm.  Everything looks great and is right on track.  The doctor confirmed that the butt and head are exactly where we thought.  

32 week pregnancy symptoms:

-Sleep has been a little hit or miss lately.   Usually I'll have one bad night followed by a good night.  With the combination of going to the bathroom all the time, being a little uncomfortable, and my mind racing it can be hard to get a good solid night of sleep.    I'm excited every morning when it's time to get out of bed because I'm sick of laying there.  Jake has been good about helping me through the restless nights (back rubs, adjustments, and rubbing out the occasional charlie horse upon request...ok, it's usually more of a scream when this happens).

-I'm definitely more short of breath and I've started to have some rib pain due to the way the baby is positioned.  It seems like he has moved down even further and his feet are now poking me in the ribs.
-I really have been feeling pretty good other than those little things.   Usually I am pretty comfortable and just have a few rough moments each day.  My activity hasn't been very limited but I just need to remember to rest more often.  

              32 weeks-Baby is the size of a squash and probably weighs 3.5-4 lbs

Baby Shower and Mothers Day Weekend:

Yesterday my wonderful friends hosted a baby shower for me.  They went above and beyond with the food, games, and decorations.  The theme was "Baby Fever."

The shower was hosted by Angela (a friend since high school), Sarah and Julie (college friends), and Libby (cousin-in-law and friend).

As I mentioned above, the food and decor was amazing.  Here are a few pictures that won't do it justice:

Everyone was beyond generous and we got some adorable gifts:

After the shower, the guys joined us for the rest of the evening:

I had a wonderful time and thanks to everyone who came!

Libby and I are both due this summer!

The woman behind the vision for the shower, Sarah!

Angela and I stayed up till 2:00. We were pretty impressed with ourselves!

This morning we went to brunch with Jake's family for Mothers Day.  I hope all the moms reading this had a great day!

We got an awesome group gift at the shower.  Our stroller and carseat!  Jake got it assembled this afternoon and we couldn't wait to try it out!

It was a great weekend and I want us to always remember how lucky we are to have such thoughtful people in our lives!

BABYMOON...SORT OF:

Jake and I took the closest thing that we are going to get to a babymoon on Sunday-Tuesday.  I needed to be in Overland Park, KS for work and Jake was asked to speak at an event at the Cleveland Chiropractic College about Nutrition and Healthy Living.  So we drove down on Sunday morning and went to lunch, stopped at NE furniture mart to pick out a glider for the nursery, and then we headed to our hotel.  We were going to go out for dinner that night but instead we spent some time in the hotel tornado shelter due to a warning.  So we ended up just eating at the hotel that night but it was really nice to relax.  It seems like when we are at home there is always something that needs to be done so we both enjoyed the feeling of doing nothing. Monday night after I got off work we got to go out for a nice dinner.  On Tuesday my co-workers had a surprise baby shower for me.  Everyone was very generous and I had a great time.  Jake even got to come which was fun.  Here is a shirt that we received for the baby at the shower.  I thought it was pretty appropriate (hopefully our baby is better at saving for college than his mom and dad were). 

Here is a picture from the shower (after my face was less red):

Tuesday night Jake had his speaking event and did a great job (gotta love the things you get roped into when your wife works for the school you graduated from).  We both had a great trip though.  Jake really needed it.  It was good for him to have a few free days.

This weekend I'm really looking forward to a "friends shower" that some of my favorite girls are hosting for me in Omaha.  It will be so fun to see everyone and I feel so thankful to have such thoughtful and creative friends!  Props to my friend Sarah for the cute invite!

I also have a "joint family shower" coming up with my cousin-in-law Libby (although I think of her as a great friend and not just someone who I'm related to by marriage).  I received the invite for that shower today and can't wait!  Props to my cousin Erin for the cute invite!

We have a lot to look forward to right now.  Oh yeah, and our baby should be here in roughly 9 weeks!!!

30 WEEKS...OMG:

Time is flying by and I had my 30 week appointment today.  I'm happy to report that we had nothing but good news.  The baby is head down (YAY) right where we want him to be.  The doctor said she could tell that I was having some braxton hicks contractions but I couldn't feel them.  My blood pressure was 122/62 and the heart rate of the baby was 130 beats per minute (it's normal for it to get lower as the baby gets bigger). I'm measuring exactly where I'm supposed to be according to my due date and the baby should be about 3 pounds right now.  He has been moving a ton and we are supposed to start keeping track of the movement.   Our next appointment will be in two weeks.  We read today that our baby could be starting to have dreams.  What in the heck does a baby dream about?


Over the weekend we completed our all day childbirth class.  It's nice to have it out of the way.  In some ways we are glad we took the class but in other ways it was a lot of "this might happen or that might happen or it depends on your doctor."  Going into labor and the delivery itself is so different for everyone and you can never really prepare for it because you have no idea what it will be like for you.  So I guess the biggest thing we took from the class was that we need to be flexible.  It was also helpful to go over the signs of labor and when we should actually go to the hospital.

In other news pregnancy brain has officially taken over.  I tried to fight it but I think it's time to accept it.  I've always been proud of the fact that I've never been late paying a bill.  Just last week I realized that I made a little mistake.  In April when I was paying Jake's student loans  I paid one company twice and didn't pay the other company at all.  Do you think they would be willing to waive the penalty if I told them I had pregnancy brain?  Probably not. 

30 WEEKS