40 Weeks ~ August 29th

I'm 40 weeks and feeling huge!  I had my doctor appointment today and she checked my cervix, but no progress.  She said I will be induced at 41weeks (September 5th) and need to be at the hospital at 12:30am on Thurs, 9/5.  I'm hoping something happens between now and then, but we will have to wait and see.  

Belly at 40 weeks

Here is what BabyCenter says about 40 weeks:

How your baby's growing:

It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (about the size of a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.

How your life's changing:

After months of anticipation, your due date rolls around, and... you're still pregnant. It's a frustrating, but common, situation in which to find yourself. You may not be as late as you think, especially if you're relying solely on a due date calculated from the day of your last period because sometimes women ovulate later than expected. Even with reliable dating, some women have prolonged pregnancies for no apparent reason.

You still have a couple of weeks before you'll be considered "post-term." But to be sure your baby is still thriving, your practitioner will schedule you for testing to keep an eye on her if your pregnancy continues.

39 Weeks ~ August 22nd

My OB appointment was the same as the last couple weeks.  His heart rate was 155, 1/2 cm dilated and 75% effaced.  She asked if my mom went early, on time or late with her first (my brother John) and said I can expect the same.  My mom thinks she went on time with John so I'm hoping that's the case with me.  I'm very ready to have this baby!  Things are all set at home and work so now it's just a waiting game.  

I got a mani/pedi after my OB apt and you can see how swollen my feet are and it's only 11am.

Belly Pictures ~ 39 weeks

Here is what BabyCenter says about 39 weeks:

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, about the size of a mini-watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

How your life's changing:

At each of your now-weekly visits, your caregiver will do an abdominal exam to check your baby's growth and position. She might also do an internal exam to see whether your cervix has started ripening: softening, effacing (thinning out), and dilating (opening). But even armed with this information, there's still no way for your caregiver to predict exactly when your baby is coming. If you go past your due date, your caregiver will schedule you for fetal testing (usually a sonogram) after 40 weeks to ensure that it's safe to continue the pregnancy. If you don't go into labor on your own, most practitioners will induce labor when you're between one and two weeks overdue — or sooner if there's an indication that the risk of waiting is greater than the risks of delivering your baby without further delay.

Car Seat & Foot/Hand Rubs

After weeks of bugging Craig to get the car seat in the car it is finally done!  Thanks to Allison's helpful tips I think it is in there correctly. I still want to get it checked to make sure. 

Craig has been really sweet giving me foot and hand massages, which feels amazing.  I know he will be very helpful when the baby gets here and will be such a great daddy. We can't wait for this little guy to get here...10 more days!

Grayson's Nursery

We decided to do gray and white with orange accents for Grayson's nursery.  My Dad's favorite color was orange and since we are honoring my Dad by giving Grayson his middle name we thought it was only fitting to use his favorite color for the nursery.  It breaks my heart to think that Grayson will never know my Dad, but I know my Dad is watching over all of us and will know his grandson.  I'm very thankful I videotaped my Mom and Dad reading children's books a few years ago for my nephew Tommy so now I have those to show to Grayson.  

I looked on pinterest and found some great ideas for his nursery so I can't say I came up with this on my own, but borrowed ideas from other creative people. :)

We decided to do one wall with gray and white stripes, the other wall will have the collage of pictures in orange, gray and white, with a safari animal theme and some gray and white chevron patterns as well.  My brother Bryan and his girlfriend Lauren made an orange, gray and white animal safari mobile  for the nursery (originally found it on Etsy and they recreated it).

Here are the pictures and step by step of what we did:

We had the painter paint one wall with gray and white stripes.

Here is the glider we got from Buy Buy Baby

 We wanted to do a collage in his room with orange, gray and white, but had a hard time finding frames in gray and orange so we went to Hobby Lobby and got a little creative.  Craig found several different sizes of frames and bought orange and gray spray paint so we could make them work for the room.

I bought these prints online (borrowed idea from Pinterest) and bought the frames at CB2

Craig spray painting the frames

Craig hanging up the pictures

My Mom bought this safari night light

Here is the finished collage:

 We bought the white elephant and giraffe at Anthropologie (Allison's idea)

We bought the letter G at Land of Nod (Amanda's idea)

The other frames and crown were from Hobby Lobby

Craig bought a big white piece of paper and traced the frames on it so it was easier to put them on the wall - good idea!

Christy got me the adorable orange minky blanket with Grayson's name and the other side is gray and white chevron - such a cute gift!!!!

I ordered the pillow cases from easy and bought a white pillow at JoAnn's

Close-up of some of the frames 

My mom bought these cute safari animals at Rural King

I bought the orange and white chevron wipe cover from Etsy and found the diaper caddy at Home Goods.  The diaper changer is from a cute store called Giggle in Lincoln Park.  I love it because it does not require a cover and very easy to clean and matches his room.

I bought paper and stickers at Michaels and made these

Gray and white chevron valances I bought online

I bought the wooden letter from Etsy

Craig hanging up the curtains

Safari mobile Bryan and Lauren made for his nursery

They did such a great job and I was so excited with the way it turned out

Socks, shoes, hats and pacifiers

I found these cute organizers at The Container Store to put in his drawers for the above items

Craig hanging up the mobile 

Hanging up the monitor

He tested out the video screen and thought it was pretty neat

West side of the room

You can see the adorable diaper cake that my client and friend Barb had made for me (bottom right side next to the crib)

East and south side of room

East wall

South side