35-36 Weeks

Wahoo - check out my belly

Ok, I finally reached a point of being uncomfortable. I think if you felt good the entire pregnancy you wouldn't be ready to endure the pain and suffering of the delivery. But I am getting to the point that if I have to feel like this for 4 more weeks, I will do ANYTHING to have this baby. It seemed to all start Saturday - I am suddenly having swelling in my hands and feet. I have sausage toes by the end of the day. I can no longer sit comfortably in a movie theater. My SI joints are killing me. I bump my belly into everything and everyone. And I have episodes where I can't breath. Whine whine whine I know.

But...she is still super wiggly and it is so fun to feel her elbow or foot rub across my stomach (hurts but cool). I can't wait for her to come. We have almost everything we need. Just a few more small items. Her room is pretty much ready. Just need to get some window coverings and put up this really cute wall decal. And I can't wait to put her in all the cute outfits we bought - she is so spoiled already ;)

Dr. Smith checked me at 35+6. I was 50% effaced and my cervix was soft but closed - his interpretation - I will likely go all the way to my due date - dang it!! Alex and I still have hope that if I jump on a tramp, walk around a lot, eat raspberry shakes, vacuum and do the OTHER thing to DO a lot, maybe she will come a little early :)

FYI - For any of those who make fun of pregnant women who waddle - just you wait!!! I told my family to tell me if I EVER waddle so that I can stop but I am telling you, having a baby head between my legs and 15-20 pounds sticking out from my stomach makes it pretty hard to walk normal. I do try to avoid it at work but all bets are off at home.

33-34 Weeks

Only 3 more weeks until I can stop worrying about her coming early!!! I can't believe she is almost here. I was a bit nervous a few weeks ago but now I am just excited. I had my appointment yesterday and Russ was out of town so my dad did it for me. That was fun to see him in action like the old days :) I am small but my belly is measuring right on and we measured her head and torso and she is right on too. It was fun to see her again on the ultrasound. Her head is super low in my pelvis - why I feel her hiccup in my butt ;). She was yawning and then practicing breathing which is crazy! I could see her lungs expanding and contracting - a good sign that she is getting ready for the world. Her back is still mostly on my right and she grinds her feet against my side on the left. My favorite part about being pregnant is feeling her move around - although it hurts a lot sometimes. She has dropped down some too since my heartburn and ribs aren't near as bad as they were a few weeks ago. Kind of a nice relief but a trade-off for low back pain and weird pelvic pressure.

WATCH OUT BELOW FOR A REAL BELLY PICTURE - CLOSE YOUR EYES IF YOU'D LIKE...
I wanted to see what my belly looked like so I decided to post it :)

I have been working on her nursery - a theme of owls and trees/leaves in pink and green. We cleaned out the office this weekend and got all the furniture moved in. It still needs some finishing touches but it was a start. At least now she has a place to sleep. I made some art with Amy and my cousin and FINALLY finished it last Sunday. It was way more work than I anticipated but I LOVE how it turned out. They are made of paper glued to a canvas and I just cut and pasted it together. Hope it holds up!


The start of the nursery...love love love my chair. It rocks, literally, and is soooooo comfy.


On a random note to self - I spent 2 1/2 hours at the mall today trying on bras. It has been over 3 years since I have looked for one and it was as dreadful as I expected. I finally just bought a bunch and brought them all home for Alex to decide. The sad truth - I am now officially a 36 D. But I did find two good ones - one without wires for breastfeeding and one that, as Alex put it, "doesn't make you look like a jungle goddess and helps separate your belly from your boobs." Thanks honey. (I do admit - the sports bra look was getting old)

Andrea's 26th Birthday

26 - Yikes - that is closer to 30 than to 20. Big time bummer. But I had a great day. Alex and I went to Cafe Rio for lunch, then drove around trying to find a birthday cake for me. I was hoping for Nothing Bundt Cake but they were closed - how rude. We ordered take out from Sawadee and had Amy/Shawn, Krissa/Tom, and Amanda/Gerard over for games and junk food. Thanks everyone for making my birthday special even if it is right after Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Barkers

Since I was so sick over Christmas, I didn't take hardly any pictures. Here is a recap so I can remember what we did...

The night before I got sick, we had an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party with Alex's family. Ya, Alex and I overdid it compared to most everyone else - but we had fun.

We spent Christmas Eve at Paula's and ate a fantastic dinner (I wasn't able to eat much). We played games together then went to bed. It was the first Christmas that Alex and I actually slept in our own bed. He and I had our own little Christmas morning together. Again, I was super sick and couldn't hardly move. Suka got lots of plush toys - destroyed in minutes - and a huge raw-hide bone. Alex got a bunch of games to play with friends and family, including Ticket to Ride which we played for 5 hours straight the next day with Gerard. I got a super cool video camera - Flip - that is smaller than my cell phone and a digital picture frame. We went to Paula's again and got to see Evan open some presents. She was really excited about the first 3 gifts then realized there were more presents. Then she was just excited to open presents and didn't really care what was in them - note to self - kids only need about 3 cool presents and then be done :) We spent most of the day hanging out at Paula's but did make it over to Amy's to see her kids. They got American Girl Dolls and cute matching outfits. It was a fun and relaxing Christmas.

New Year's Eve was at Krissa and Tom's house. The boys stayed awake and Krissa and I fell asleep on the couch early. Guess that's what happens when you are pregnant or just had a baby :)

New Year's Day at Amy's house - Suka got to play outside forever. The kids and dog came back in and it smelled like wet stinky socks in Amy's house - sorry :) He had a blast!!

A Decade of Change

I wanted to write down all the things that happened to me in the last decade. It will probably be the decade with the most changes in my life. I can't believe that Y2K was 10 years ago!!!

2000 - I was in the 10th Grade
2001 - Became an aunt for the first time
2002 - Graduated from Brighton High School, moved to Logan for college
2003 - Got engaged (at age 19 yikes)
2004 - Got married
2005 - Received a scholarship for tennis
2006 - Graduated from College at Utah State - started Grad school at the U
2007 - Started my clinical rotations and saw my first real patients
2008 - Graduated from the U of U with my Masters of Physician Assistant Studies
2008 - Went to Alaska for the first time
2008 - Started my career as a PA at TOSH
2009 - Bought our first home, bought our first boat, bought a dog and got pregnant - whew big year!

I am excited for the next 10 years which I am sure will be focused around being a mother and a wife!