Week 31

Well, this has certainly been an exhausting week.

On Friday, I woke up with another headache at the base of skull. It was relentless! I took Tylenol on every 4 hours and it didn't phase it at all. I can only assume that my neck is suffering the consequences of the way I have to sleep these days, but let me tell you, I've had about enough of these headaches. I had to soldier through though, because some of our sweetest friends threw a diaper shower for Cody, and it was an evening full of laughter and youtube. Because what's a party without competing to find the funniest youtube video? We really do have the wittiest of friends, and the intricate details of the shower further reminded us of why we're so thankful for them. I loved seeing Cody interact with his man friends, and I'm thankful that he'll have people to call when our sweet baby is screaming at the top of her lungs and I'm crying hysterically and all he can do is observe the chaos. It's nice to know that he'll have a friend that can tell him "Take the baby away from Kaylea, tell her to go and take a shower for the first time in 9 days, and bounce that screaming child from one end of your house to the other." He'll need that. I'll need that. I'm glad that he has people who have walked this road before him and can tell him in the calmest of voices:  "Sometimes they scream..." I only hope that Cody's hair survives the excessive head scratching ahead. That's Cody's nervous habit. It's only of my favorite things about him. He normally says "Hmmm" and then uses his top knuckles to scratch the side of his head. My nervous habit involves drumming my fingertips together. It's not as interesting or fun to watch. Anywho, after another pregnancy induced rabbit trail, we had a wonderful evening celebrating Cody's transition from Husband to Daddy. He's going to be wonderful.

 
 I laughed and laughed at this card. You'll recall Cody's baby name choice was Zanella, so our punch was delightfully named accordingly.  
 
 









This was our fun dessert table. So attentive to fun details. I loved the flowers on the table!


 







This was Cody's man food bar. Wings were devoured by the females as well.








He got a few boxes of 5 hour energy. We laughed, but also died inside a little bit thinking about the sleep we'll be losing.

 
I don't know about this goofy look he's giving, but isn't his diaper toolbelt TOO cute?!


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
On Saturday, I woke up to another headache. At 7:30 in the morning. When I rolled over to check the time, Cody was creepily staring back at me. I guess we were both rested enough to be wide awake, so we laid around until 8 and then got up to begin one of the busiest Saturday we've had in quite some time. One of my dearest friends, my wonderful sister-in-law, my brother's amazing woman, and my lovely boss came together to throw me a baby shower that completely blew my mind and exceeded all expectations. I requested Pink and Navy as the theme colors, but that was the only thing I was allowed to know. One of my favorite thing about Ella's name is that her daddy has shoved Elephants on her since the very beginning. One of his nicknames for our sweetest baby is "Ella-phant," and so I was thrilled when I walked into the shower to see elephants EVERYWHERE! Elephant cupcakes, elephant diaper cakes, elephant cake, elephant wrapping paper... elephants took the place over. It was wonderful! Alyssa took so many wonderful pictures, so I had to combine them into collage form in order for the blog to let me post them. Here's a peek at our day!

 

 

There was something about seeing the carseat that made everything real. I was suddenly aware that we were there to celebrate this tiny human in my uterus... the tiny human that I grew. I couldn't look at the carseat because I got pregnant and hormonal, but it was truly insane to know that in just a few short weeks, this baby would be in my arms, forever attached to my heartstrings. I made it through the shower with no tears shed, which I was thankful for, because I've never understood pregnant folk who cry through their gifts. My sweet niece was so excited to help me open my gifts, and as frustrating as it was to calm her down repeatedly, it was a sweet memory for me. I sweat most of my body weight off during the shower, and I was so thankful for my paper plate fan. I don't know if it was because I was in front of a room of people, because I'm pregnant, or because it was just that hot, but I've never been so miserably uncomfortable in a dress. My thighs were sticking together, my hair was clinging to my face, I was praying that my deodorant held up, and I counted down the seconds until I could put my ghetto shorts on. I started feeling a little wonky because I was surrounded by food that I neglected to eat (there was no time!) and somehow managed to eat two pieces of orange cake at the end of the shower. My sugar spiked and I started feeling shaky. You know how it is. I was also WAY behind on my water intake for the day, and my excessively sweaty pits probably didn't do much to keep me hydrated. I was ready to be at home and sprawled across my couch by the shower's end. I want to take a moment to say that I applaud those of you that waited to have your shower between weeks 34 and 36. I am not as brave or as strong as you are. I was worn completely out when it was all said and done, so I am thankful we knocked it out during week 31.

After a sandwich and two liters of water at my house, I started feeling a little more human. I wanted a nap, but Cody's sweet family drove all the way from Wheeler to be at the shower, so it was only right that we spent a little quality time with them before they returned home. I spent most of the evening sprawled across a patio lounge chair, with my feet resting on the headrest. Not super comfortable for my back, but my feet were too swollen for me to combat any longer. I remain thankful for a husband that recognizes when his wife is on the verge of a breakdown, so we left the party much earlier than I had planned, but it meant bedtime for me, so I didn't complain even once. I slept for twelve straight hours (excluding the 15 minutes I was awake before Cody made me go back to bed when I woke up at 8:30.) I felt refreshed and revived, so I enthusiastically started barreling through Ella's things from the shower. ALL. DAY. LONG. I was so cranky by the end of the day that I considered locking her room and never entering again. But perspective kicked in, and my heart took flight at the knowledge that people love our baby enough to completely fill her room to the brim with things that she'll need to survive the first couple of years of her life. We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of blessings given to us, and even though I wonder how we'll make this thing work financially sometimes, the shower made it evident that the Lord has blessed this chapter of our lives... so I don't worry about it much these days.

The rest of the week was pretty slow paced. The squash section of our garden is blowing us away, with fruits that will be ready by the end of this week, no doubt. The tomatoes are not cooperating with us this year. There are tomatoes all over the plants, but the weather won't stay hot enough to turn them red, so they're getting old before they can be enjoyed. The fluctuating temps aren't helping. But things are still growing instead of dying, so we'll count it as a victory. Our front yard is turning a magnificent shade of green, which is a major relief, because for a couple of weeks it was yellow. As in dead looking. And Cody obsessed while I rolled my eyes. It's finally turning, though, and it makes our sweet little house look even sweeter. I love it.

The only other major news I have is that Ella finally turned! I've been carrying her transverse this entire pregnancy, and I was really starting to panic a little bit. We had our last sonogram yesterday at the doctor's office, and saw more of her face than we ever did at the sneak-a-peek sonogram. Her blasted feet are still hanging out in her face, but the kid is head down, and that's where we needed her. The best way I can describe the way she's laying is to say to envision a diver. You know, when they flip and grab their feet until they hit the water? After researching said dive, I've learned it's called a Pike dive. It Looks like this:

I tried to find a man with more clothes, but I figure that since this guy was in the Olympics, it's okay. Anyway, that's pretty much exactly how Ella lays. Her back curves along the right side of my stomach, her sweet little hiney is up by my diaphragm, and she brings her feet back down to her face. So once again, instead of seeing her entire face, we saw her big foot and what was left of her face.Our weird baby chews on her umbilical cord (I don't know, she's Cody's kid.) So we also got plenty of cord pictures, but it's okay. It'll be even sweeter to not completely know what to expect when we see her for the first time. Knowing that this was the last ultrasound was bittersweet for me. I spent a lot of time wishing the pregnancy away, but I really will miss seeing my stomach convulse. I'll miss the feeling of knowing I'm doing something right when the ultrasound tech confirms perfect growth. I'll especially miss the way Cody looks at my belly when I roll over in the mornings. But I'm mostly ready to just get the show on the road. I hear that there are days of  severe discomfort just around the river bend (Pocahontas really was the worst disney film), so I'm not super thrilled about it, but I'm ready to get through June. Cody leaves me next Friday for SGY camp, then my parents leave me the day he gets back for a "work conference" in Florida. By the time everybody is done traveling (while I sit on my couch with Todd the obese dachshund,) It'll be mid-June. I'll be done working, then I'm only requiring Ella to stay in-utero for 2 more weeks before I begin throwing in a "And Ella can come pretty much whenever" into prayer time. I'm ready. I only have 2 more doctors appointments over the next three weeks before I begin going every week! God bless the Child, it's time to start getting excited. Here's a picture of my baby, and I am aware that she looks like a blob, but the tech really had to adjust the contrast on the pictures JUST to hide her foot (and cord) and let us see a peek of that face. Look at that fat baby's cheeks. I love them.

Oh, also... Ella-phant is guesstimated to weigh 4 pounds and 3 ounces. My books and app say that at 32 weeks, she should be 3 pounds and 7 ounces. Don't mind my fat child. No wonder the stretch marks are starting to pile up on my stomach. Ugh. They're so hideous. Anyway, that's not something I want to think about right now. Speaking of, I made about 9 attempts to take a bump picture today, but if I'm being honest, those pictures are getting harder and harder to look at. I love my baby, but I feel I could advocate for the Save the Whales campaign right now. So here's one from my baby shower... right smack in the middle of my sweatfest.  Please excuse my ghost skin.

Did you know that my boss delivered her son at 32 weeks? He was perfectly healthy, just done growing, I guess. Her water broke, she had a baby, then they went home two days later. Isn't that INSANE?! That would be like me going into labor... like now. This instant. Ella even weighs more than he did. I can't handle the crazy. Okay. Farewell!