37 weeks and completely ready (plus we finally have names picked out!)

I'm now a little over 37 weeks along and completely ready for this baby to come out. It's getting very hard to move around.

Ian and I had a special day together at the Boston Children's Museum. But getting there wasn't all fun and games. The amount of walking I had to do to get from one train to the other took a lot of my energy and my legs were hurting a lot from it all. But thank goodness the Museum was a blast! I loved spending this time with just Ian; realizing that it may be the last time we do something really fun like this, just the two of us. It certainly has been a wonderful 2 years spending every moment with him. I'm quite nervous to bring this baby into our (Ian's) lives but I know he will adjust. He's going to be a wonderful big brother.

Ahh, jury duty.. Apparently being 'very' pregnant does not exempt one from jury duty. Luckily, I was only there for about 4 hours. Everybody was called upstairs into the court room which was about 2 floors up. 99% of the people took the stairs but when I stepped into the elevator people just smiled. I was 34 weeks pregnant - no way was I going up the stairs! By the time I arrived in the court room there were no seats left. So I waddled my way to the front mostly so people could see me and it paid off. Someone gave up their seat for me. And good thing because we were in there for 2 hours! 

During the 2nd weekend in February, Nathan and Ian went to CT. It was so nice to have the time to myself and to take long bubble baths while talking to Baby Due. It's going to be a while before I get that kind of alone time again!

Thank goodness for Melissa Murphy. She has agreed to watch Ian while I'm in labor. And it makes me so happy and confident to leave him there with her. We went to her house for a playdate and Ian completely remembers the house and all the toys there from when we used to go over there weekly when I babysat Annabelle. And the two of them play so well together. The last thing I need is to worry about Ian while I'm in labor, and I know I won't have to with him at Melissa's house.

Ian and I met up with Kate and Liam on February 19 (just over 34 weeks pregnant) at the Children's Discovery Museum in Acton, MA. Kate is only 4 weeks behind me and we were both exhausted by the end! The museum is 3 floors and the stairs are very steep and narrow. It was quite the workout.

Every time I see someone I haven't seen in a while (or even a week) they say, "wow, you have gotten so big!" Really? Yes, really. I look back at my pictures and I can see that my belly really has gotten quite ginormous. And I saw my belly in a full-size mirror for the first time when I was at my mom's house and realized how big I actually am. When my doctor asked me a few weeks ago if I felt I was going to have the same size baby as Ian (8lbs 2oz) I said yes. But now I think this baby might be bigger.

I had my 35+ week OBGYN appointment on February 22. I weighed in at 155 lbs! I gained 4 lbs in 2 weeks! I was shocked. But Dr. Shafi isn't worried and said a lot of it is probably water weight and that I may even lose weight within the next week. Ian didn't come with me to this appointment since it was at 320pm and Kelsey was at my house. So she stayed there with him while he napped. And good thing because I had my strep B test. It just made the appointment a little longer. She checked to see if I was dilated which I wasn't, but I was 50% effaced which made me happy. The baby was head down and had a 145 heart rate. She also informed me that she can induce me after 39 weeks so we can avoid me going into labor on Ian's birthday. It's definitely nice to have that option.

Ian and I went to CT the last weekend in February since it would be our last time there before the baby arrives. We went to Kristen Chantrell's house for a play date and it was nice talking to her about what it's like to go from 1 to 2 kids. She made me less nervous saying that it was so much better having the 2. She felt more 'complete.' But insured me labor would be much quicker the second time around! I sure hope I make it to the hospital in time! Ian and I went to lunch with Mom and Dad at Chili's and I really wanted to order the buffalo chicken sandwich but I was afraid of the spice. I asked the waitress, "how spicy is the buffalo chicken sandwich, because I don't want to go into labor." She was able to bring the spicy sauce on the side so I could control it. I wasn't ready to deliver the baby at 36 weeks and certainly didn't want it to happen in CT without Nathan there!

On February 28, I had to bring Ian to the pediatrician because he was limping. They had to take x-rays but of course I wasn't allowed in the room. Hearing him scream from outside the room was torture and I just wanted to be in there to tell him it was alright. He eventually got through it and I was able to hold my boy again. Then afterwards I had my OBGYN appointment (I go weekly now). I weighed 154.6 lbs which means I lost half a pound! I was very thrilled considering how much I had gained at my last appointment. Megan Bride, NP didn't check to see if I was dilated but I was ok with it because I knew I wasn't. My Braxton Hicks contractions had been normal and not too intense. But I'm looking forward to my status at my next appointment.

After I turned 37 weeks, we pretty much finalized everything for the baby's arrival. The van was professionally vacuumed and cleaned and Nathan installed the infant car seat. My bag is pretty much packed as well as Ian's. It's so exciting!!

We officially have names picked out!!! We only finalized maybe a week ago.

Alex Wesley Tregger

Zoi Rebekah Tregger

Hurray for finally having names! Nathan likes the spelling Zoi instead of Zoe because Ian is spelled with an "I" and it makes the "e" sound. Wesley is my Grandma's grandfather's name (so, my Great-Great-Grandfather) as well as her uncle's and 2 cousin's names. But we didn't find this out until about a month ago. Wesley was always on our list of names and up until the end, it was between Alex and Wesley. So once we decided Alex was the name, we thought Wesley was a good middle name only to find out later that it's a family name! :)

32 weeks

37 weeks

 Touching the baby

More interested in my birth mark than the baby

Awww hugs for Momma

Thomas got to take a ride on my belly

My sweet Ian knows there is a baby in my belly and that it will come out, live at our house and sleep in the crib. But I don't think he really understands what all that means. Reality will be setting in shortly...