Our 5th Anniversary!

On Saturday we celebrated 5 wonderful years of marriage! I can honestly say they've been the happiest of my whole life. I'm one of those lucky people who married my best friend <3

We obviously couldn't go away or anything since I'm 9 months pregnant, but it was my first day off of bed rest and we had a delicious dinner on the lawn of my favorite restaurant in town the Brae Loch Inn. The weather was absolutely perfect and it was so awesome to sit and enjoy the evening together.

It's amazing how much has happened in the span of 5 years...

Gettin' hitched (2006)

Adopting our kittens and enjoying life as a young couple (2007)

Buying our first house, getting a new job, and beginning our TTC journey (2008)

Traveling and buying our first (but not our last!) boat (2009)

Moving to a new town, selling our first house, buying our second house, and beginning infertility treatments (2010)

And finally, after a lot of waiting and countless tears, starting our family!

(On bed rest after IVF#1)

(Success after IVF#2!)

After dinner we walked across the street to the lake, where Mr. E took this picture of me. I can't believe that tomorrow I will be 37 weeks pregnant with this precious gift of life.

Life is so sweet and I know none of it would be this way without the love and strength of my partner in crime and in life :) I'm looking forward to the next five years!

I'm off of bed rest!!

Woo hoo! I had my weekly OB appointment today and was officially released from bed rest. I'm so happy! For the first time in nearly 2 months I can walk around without fear of a baby falling out of me!

My NST went well. I only had one contraction in 15 minutes and baby girl did awesomely.

The OB also did a cervical check since I'd made so much progress last week. I am now about 3cm dilated, 70% effaced, and the baby is at a -1 station. This is all great news. I can't believe I'll be full-term on Monday!!

Don't...

...put M&Ms in your Rice Krispies Treats. It doesn't taste as good as you'd think it would. Didn't stop me from eating half of the batch in 24 hours, though ;)

Bump@36w2d

36 weeks

Baby is now the size of a: Honeydew, according to the fruit comparison chart. Not sure how accurate that is! At Thursday's growth scan, she was estimated at 5.4lbs, which is still petite - in the 25th percentile - but healthy.

Total weight gain: I don't even look at the scale anymore.

Maternity clothes: Some. Today I actually broke my bed rest rule and tried some maternity shorts on at the mall, just because they were on sale. I do not recommend viewing yourself in a three-way mirror when 9 months pregnant.

Sleep: Ehhhhh sleep is going ok. As good as I can hope for at this point!

Gender: Girl

Movement: She doesn't seem to be slowing down, as I've heard babies start to do around 35 weeks. That's just fine with me!

Food cravings: Today I am craving rice krispies treats!

(Yummmm)

What I miss: Although I am truly so thankful to be pregnant, I am finding myself missing my pre-pregnany body more and more. I spent about an hour yesterday just browsing the J Crew site, planning what to buy once I'm looking more like myself again!

(Horizontal stripes!)

What I'm looking forward to: Being done with bed rest! I just have to make it to Friday!

Milestones: Getting to 36 weeks is a huge milestone. I feel SO relieved and happy and grateful to be here!

Symptoms: Big heavy baby belly, peeing all of the time, lots of contractions, loss of muscous plug, fatigue.

35 week appointment surprise

Yesterday we had our weekly appointment at the OB.

First up was the growth sono. Our little girl was wiggling and kicking all over the place! So cute. She is now 5.4 lbs, which is the 25 percentile for size. So she's still a little small, but they are not concerned. I was asked to up my protien intake though to try and help her add some ounces. She was practicing breathing which was very cool to see!

When the sonographer checked my cervix she found that it was very short (less than 1cm) and was funneling. When she applied pressure to my abdomen the baby's head pressed down on it and made it change even more.

Next I got on the monitor for the NST. I only had two contractions so that was great! Baby girl's heart looked awesome. She had really good accelerations.

Finally I had the Group B Strep test (standard) and a cervical check. And that's when I learned I am 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. Whoa! Needless to say I was not allowed off of bed rest. The OB said "if you make it to your appointment next week, great, but I would not be surprised if you have the baby before then." That was a little upsetting. Although I'm thrilled to have made it this far, I'm still hoping to get to 37 weeks. I am still hoping for a full-term baby.

Good thing we have everything ready to bring this baby home, though! Mr. E just needs to install the car seat but the nursery is complete, the clother, blankets and burp cloths have been washed, and our hospital bags are packed. Now I'm just waiting on pins and needles. It's so hard not knowing what to expect! I guess that's always the way it goes with childbirth, though.

Bump@35w2d