37 weeks

Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; we are 37 weeks! We now sit happily in the 'full term' bracket and wait... Not so patiently, I should add.

It's now just days (DAYS!!!!!) until our little ones due date, and even if s/he decided to be late, it's still only a maximum of 14 days that we would need to wait on top of that. How can it seem so close but so far at the same time?!?

Our midwife has said that baby is almost locked and loaded. The head is in the right spot but the body is a little off kilter, not sure what that means really... {note to self: ask midwife what that actually means}

Baby is still moving around a lot. Especially after, ah herm... Romance... (:p) endorphins? We can now tell a little bottom apart from the tiny tootsies quite easily. Oh my goodness I can't wait to actually SEE this little person! Those little hands and feet, that little face!

J is struggling a little more each day, trying to sleep, trying to get comfortable, trying to go for a walk without having to stop to catch her breath every few metres. But she doesn't complain. She just gets through it. I'm so proud of her :)

I'll leave you with the weekly belly shot:

36 weeks

At only 4 weeks until our due date, baby is still kicking and hiccuping away happily, bags have been packed, lists have been written and our household has gone into emotional overdrive...

I'm really feeling for J right now, she seems so uncomfortable with all the reflux and next to no sleep I'm honestly a little concerned that she has retreated a little and seems a bit unhappy at the moment, but I'm trying to remind myself of how overwhelmed, tired and uncomfortable she is right now. I try to be a supportive partner and I try to just bite my tongue rather than speak up but alas, sometimes I can't and things become a little less than fantastic, but it never lasts long and we always move forward.

Aside from the sometimes tense moments, life is amazing and I cannot WAIT for this baby to arrive!

Here's the 36 week belly pic:

34 and 35 weeks

I have again been awfully slack on the blogging front, tsk tsk. I apologise for leaving you hanging!

But check this out!!!

So, the countdown is on. As of tomorrow, Baby Mac is due in 30 days

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been getting more prepared, bags are almost packed, room is ready, everything is set up for baby...

Now, we wait :)

At 35 weeks we had another ultrasound. (if you remember from previous blogs, The placenta was a little low, so we got an extra one) Placenta is well and truly out of the way now. Baby is measuring about 6lbs, which means of all the books are correct, and we go full term baby will be about 8.5lbs! :O

My absolute favourite part of the last couple of weeks has got to be the ultrasound... We saw the baby's FACE! I mean properly, like a photo, like the cutest black and white picture you've ever seen in your life! Baby had the cutest little mouth and a little button nose. Both J and I were in total awe. My heart stopped when I saw that beautiful face... To think that I'll be kissing that little face in no time at all XD

Unfortunately, we didn't he a pic of that, but we did get a very cute print out of his/her profile :)

Baby Mac, 35 weeks, profile (sucking thumb...again...)

34 weeks

35 weeks

33 weeks

33 weeks in, I still have moments of 'Wow! This is real!' ... Right now, it's more commonly 'shit! Are we ready?!!' :p

Jo has had several people tell her she's dropped, and is carrying really low. A few have even said that they'd put money on her going early. She's carried quite low the whole pregnancy, with movements and baby's heartbeat always way down near her pubic area... But I can't help but think its a sign she's going to go early, and dare I say, even hope a little ;)

We've started packing our hospital bags and have a list of house chores that we want to get done before baby is here... We've arranged for J's mum to come a week or so before our due date and I have pencilled in my leave. J has 9 working days left and then she can relax and rest a bit before it all happens.

I feel so full of love and hope and happiness right now. Never have I felt so much purpose. Each day I feel my heart swell a little more, each time I lay my head on my love's belly and feel our baby move, I am overwhelmed with a feeling of total awe. I can't wait to meet this person, and spend my life teaching and learning and being a mummy.

31 & 32 weeks

I have no idea how I missed last weeks entry... I feel like I lost an entire week! Not that I'm complaining, I hope that the remaining 8 weeks is just as fast!

Yep, only 8 weeks!!!!!

Over the last two weeks, there hasn't been a lot of change... Baby has his/her foot firmly lodged in J's ribs... S/he responds more obviously to my voice when I talk to the tummy... the stretchmarks are here with a vengance... Poor Jo has had increased heartburn and decreased sleep... Our washing machine needs fixing, just as I'm starting on all the washing...

I'm also re-thinking the name thing. Our names I mean. Since day one we have both stated that we will just both be mum and that baby will work out what it would like to call us as time goes on. This week, while sending the weekly update SMS (to the grandparents, from baby Mac :p ) I realised that it's quite difficult to determine exactly which mum/mummy/mama 'baby' was referring to. So, I'm thinking we may actually go the route of so many of the two mum families and each have our own 'mum' name... We'll see (any ideas?)

31 Weeks

32 Weeks

Self shot 31/05/2012

baby hiccups 31/05/2012

30 weeks

Oh my goodness 30 weeks! Again, it has gone by so quickly (Love it!)

This week was busy busy busy. We had J's 37th birthday, our baby shower and also our first antenatal class. A few "moments" where we each realised that this is happening and that things will change and money may be more of an issue than it has been previously etc etc.

I baked like CRAZY from Friday night to Sunday morning! I made J a birthday cake and for the baby shower I made cupcakes, macaroons and mini ham quiches (J's Fave). I love to bake, but even I have to admit, I was like a crazy person in the kitchen ;)

For J's birthday, we had her parents come and stay with us for the weekend, which was super lovely. I really love watching them all together and I feel that it was important for J to spend this birthday with them... We had a quiet celebration with a delish BBQ dinner followed by her cake:

Mississippi mudcake - oreo style!

We had our baby shower the following day, on mothers day - which we totaly fluked (completely forgot about mothers day when we set the date and it was too late to change it by the time we realised).  We had some of our best friends, my sister, J's mum and niece and my Grandma. It was only a few people, but we had a lovely time. There were lots of laughs and lots of ooooh's and aaaaah's over the food *blush* (which I forgot to photograph)

We received some really beautiful gifts, It's hard to pick but I would have to say that my favourite gift was the three onesies with beautiful little owls hand stitched to them. So sweet!

 {here are some pics}

and I leave you with the weekly belly shot!

*30 Week belly*

29 weeks

Hey kids :)

This week has flown by *YAY*

I have reached yet another level of excitement and the feeling of: "this is real... this is ACTUALLY HAPPENING". I have had moments where I feel so overwhelmed with gratitude that I could just cry.

My favorite part of the day is still bed-time... I can't et enough of our little one kicking and moving about and love the snuggle time each night, when my wife and I settle down in bed and my hand goes straight on her tummy. Sometimes baby and I play long after J has drifted off. It's in these moments that I feel most connected to baby. Like s/he is kicking just for me.

We have our baby shower this weekend. A bit excited about that, you will get to hear all about it in my next post :)