1 month old today!

Unless she’s sleeping, she’s wiggling and kicking like crazy.

She’s finally surpassed her birth weight and is now a hair over 7 pounds. I no longer need to roll up the sleeves on this little outfit.

2 weeks old

Matt is an awesome Dad…Jia Li loves him. It’s too cute seeing these two together.

Breakfast with Dad

Daddy's girl

The boys are getting used to the baby now. Jangles routinely comes over to sniff her and say, “Hello.” It’s obvious he wants her to play. Merv is starting to feel more comfortable around her too. They each spend time with us each day in the nursery. They don’t go in the crib as much anymore, but they definitely have found other places to lounge.

Napping in the nursery

Milk coma

Time: 8:35 PM

Weight: 6 pounds, 4 ounces

Length: 19 1/4″

2 days old

3 days old

4 days old

37 Weeks, normally 3 weeks to go, but for us, it's only 1 more week left!

All sorts of things are running through my mind as I try to think of everything we need to have the house and supplies ready to go. I think we’ve got it all – or the most important things, at least. I’m blocking out the nervousness of childbirth itself. Not really interested in focusing on that. I’ll wait until Friday when I show up to Birthing Center.

The nursery is complete, all the baby stuff has been cleaned and washed and is ready for use…have I forgotten anything?

Notice that the bike trophies and race numbers have been replaced with stuffed animals and baby toys...

Still trying to be baby gear minimalists, but one item has wandered outside the nursery.

A dresser I've had since I was a child is going to work great as a changing table.

Still need to remove the comforter that is keeping cat hair off the baby's crib sheets.

...and yes, we now have a name.

Now the only thing left to do is to catch up on our ZZZZ’s…

Jangles and Matt taking a much needed nap.

Merv getting one last dose of crib time.

…and to take care of each other in preparation for our new arrival.

Merv giving Jangles a little hug.

I can’t believe the day is almost here.

35 weeks, 5 weeks to go...

Every time I think this is as big as I’ll get, I get a little bigger. This is scary stuff, seriously! I can’t believe my body can handle all this. My feet are taking a beating, that’s for sure. So where does all this weight go? Some of it is obvious, other areas, not as much. My body has definitely taken on it’s fair share of fat and water. Puffy doesn’t even start to explain how I feel.

In a typical 30 pound pregnancy, this is often where the weight goes:

• 7.5 pounds: your baby’s weight
• 7 pounds: your extra stored nutrients
• 4 pounds: your extra blood
• 4 pounds: your extra body fluids
• 2 pounds: breast enlargement
• 2 pounds: enlargement of your uterus
• 2 pounds: amniotic fluid surrounding your baby
• 1.5 pounds: the placenta

For me, I’ve put on 40 pounds so far. My doctor says I’m still within a “normal” range and supposedly I’ll lose a lot while nursing (water and fat especially which is used to produce milk). Let’s just hope she’s right. In the meantime, more bed rest and counting down the weeks. Right now, the doctor says the baby will be joining us at week 39 now. Last week she was saying week 37, so this is good news!

We have our baby shower in town this weekend at the Ober’s, plus we have friends from out of town visiting (Lyn, Rita, Kasen, and Malachi). Should be a fun weekend!

In the meantime, Merv keeps asking me how long it’s going to be before the nursery is done. He’s getting tired of the mess.

The nursery painting is almost done -

Need to get rid of the clouds and move them to the ceiling. Also need to add baby's name to the sign post.

This is the wall that still needs the most work.

The baby is almost done cooking -

Week 34

The boys, Matt, and I are getting closer to the biggest change our lives will ever encounter.

Crib time will be over soon.

Baby arrival could be earlier than we expected. I have mild pre-eclampsia, so I get to go to the doctor’s office twice a week for my checkup and the baby’s checkup. As long as we’re both okay, we continue to wait until the normal delivery date. If either of us has any complications, out she comes! We’re shooting for week 37 at the soonest though. In the meantime, more bed rest to keep my blood pressure low, my headaches at bay, and the edema from getting out of control. This is also supposed to keep stress off the baby so that she gets all the blood, oxygen, and nutrients she can get from me.

We’re looking forward to a quiet, enjoyable Thanksgiving!

View from Haflin Creek Trail

Haflin Creek didn’t disappoint with the great views. The start of this hike has some unique Moab like rocks, plus some interesting formations from post-fire events.

Beginning the hike...

Continuing the hike

I would have loved to get all the way to the Missionary Ridge area, but at 33 weeks pregnant (I was 31 for this hike), I’m now limited to about 5 miles total for hikes. Then I’m just wiped.

The sky was an amazing blue today!!

Animas always delivers when it comes to a great workout. I’ll look forward to running this post baby. Biking too, of course. Today I decided to head up the middle trail, then cut it a little short and hike along the rim. I ran into a loud-mouthed biker while out there who told me to get off the trail (okay, it was Matt just giving me a hard time).

Heading up the middle trail

Last weekend there was no hiking., but I did get in a Skyline hike with Laurie right before the snow hit on Friday. Snow left the trails muddy, so I met Tanya for some laps around the Miller Middle School track and exercise with her dog Oso. That was actually quite fun! Oso, a Labradoodle, looks like a small horse and has tons of energy. Sadly, this was the end of my outdoor adventures for a while.

I’ve been having some high blood pressure issues. I had high blood pressure going into this pregnancy…chronic hypertension. During the first and second trimester, the BP has been amazingly low, lower than anything I ever got from medication. This was to be expected. The third trimester was going to be the test, and it has become that. As expected, my BP has resumed its normal levels (those when I’m not on medication) and has actually exceeded my higher levels. My highest reading was 175/105. Enough to make the doctor quite nervous. I’ve been experiencing the high BP, headaches, and edema, all symptoms of pre-eclampsia, which is a pregnancy related disease I obviously don’t want to get. It can cause damage to my kidneys, liver, brain, and the inner lining of my blood vessels. It can also reduce the oxygen and nutrients getting to the baby. The only “cure” is delivery of the baby. We’re too soon for that…37 weeks is ideal, and I’m only at 33 weeks. So what does that mean for me? For now, bed rest. Uggghhhh, mind numbing. So some happy thoughts…the count down continues!

Me with only 9 weeks to go (31 weeks pregnant)!

This week felt significant to me. My belly took on a defined shape and really changed from the week prior. It was definitely bigger.

Me with only 8 weeks to go (32 weeks pregnant)!

I really didn’t feel like the belly grew more. The baby is moving differently now though. Her back is usually against the front of my belly with her head pointed down, so the kicks I feel are internal, towards my back. The movement I get all over the front of my belly comes from her pushing to get get more room. I get her hips poking out quite often, plus her shoulders. It’s funny to see the belly contort when that happens.

Me with only 7 weeks to go (33 weeks pregnant)!

Again, I really don’t feel much bigger this week, and believe it or not, the scale hasn’t moved much. Supposedly I should be gaining 1-2 pounds a week from here on out. I’m not complaining…I’ve put on enough weight.

Bed rest isn’t helping me get the nursery complete. I was working on that a bit prior to the bed rest. Jangles, as usual was being a helper.

Both boys have been keeping me company during bed rest. They’re the perfect little companions.

Snack time at the top of the Ridge

The weekend was beautiful and I took advantage of it with hikes on Skyline and the Ridge as well as Animas Mountain. By Sunday evening, my lower back was killing me, but I felt great for have gotten in over 13 miles of hiking for the weekend. That’s a lot for the weight I’m carrying around with me these days.

Matt told me about the trail heading north from Skyline rather than south. It’s quiet on this side, so it’s become a go-to spot for me. I saw a lot of folks out on the trail on Saturday…Darian, Amy, Gretchen, a pack of Durango Cyclery riders on singlespeeds and gears, plus others.

Sunday was an Animas hike. I did the big outter loop, going clockwise this time. Lots of people out here too, mostly hikers, but luckily the trails allows people to spread out quickly so you still get some privacy.

Towards the top of Animas Mountain Trail

I’m looking forward to biking this again! The view from the top is always quite cool.

View from the top of Animas

I saw this creepy critter out on the trail while hiking…

Anyway, with only 10 weeks left before D(elivery)-Day, I was thinking I should start a countdown for the little one. She may be curious to know what the heck we used to do before she came into our lives. She’ll be shocked at how big I got carrying her little body around inside me for 40 weeks. I guess I can’t complain, I’ve heard that others get much bigger than I have, but I truly feel like I’m going to explode.

So, here it goes…10 weeks left and 32 pounds gained to date (30 weeks pregnant).

I feel like I’m going to explode. The craziest thing I hear from people is, “I can’t believe how small you are!” Are you freaking kidding me? Some people even know what I looked like before I got pregnant. I honestly can’t believe how big I am. While I’m thrilled to be toting around our daughter, I will be excited to get back to being me.

Lately I’ve been having fun guessing what the heck she’s doing in there when she’s kicking all over my belly. Seems she loves to flip around, stretch, and hiccup. She also enjoys waking me up throughout the night. Seems late night and early morning are her favorite times to be awake. I hope that’s not a sign of her sleeping patterns once she arrives!

Engineer Creek Trail

While the day was slightly overcast, it didn’t take away from everything I love about Fall.

The trail was in great condition, very tacky. Matt has been climbing this trail on his bike, but I’ve always descended on it. Now that I’ve hiked up it, I can see giving this a try!

There had been rain the night before and I got a little on the hike as well!

Fallen leaves along the trail...

Our Fall colors are typically different shades of yellow, but every once in a while, we’ll get some bright orange Aspens, which are spectacular when the turn fully orange.

The following weekend we got hit with a cold front and I wasn’t able to hike. Maybe this weekend will be better. I”m hoping to get a little more before the leaves all fall from the trees.

When I got home from the hike, I tried to put my shoes away and Jangles immediately jumped into the spot where shoes are supposed to go.

Jangles being a show off.

One evening Matt and I were wondering where the cats had gone…turns out they were upstairs staking claim to baby’s crib…again…

Merv and Jangles taking ownership of the crib

Nearing the top of the out and back trail

This 6 mile loop was quite the hike with a healthy climb for a pregnant woman! I really enjoyed it and felt I got a great workout. The day was great, not too hot, which was nice. The Fall color changes hadn’t hit at this point.

Great views

At the top was a cabin and lots of places for horses. We decided to grab a quick snack since there were some spots to sit and the sun was out.

Cabin towards the top of Goulding Creek Trail

Animal corral

It turns out that the top wasn’t far away, but this was definitely the better spot to eat and relax. The top intersects with Pinkerton-Flagstaff Trail…a trail I know well, but haven’t touched this year.

The "top" of the hike intersects with Pinkerton-Flagstaff

At the base of the trail, someone had contributed a couple of vehicles to the environment. Gee, how thoughtful.

The week after this hike I got out to the Colorado Trail from in town. The colors were starting to emerge!

Start of the Colorado Trail - some color changing in the process!

Time to hit the high country for the color explosion!!

Around the house, we’ve been doing some organization and preparation for the baby. After close inspection, the boys approve of the changes.

Merv, checking out the new rugs in the living room (okay, he actually lost a toy under here and is digging it out).

I’ve got a little buddy who has been supervising me. He thinks we put the crib in the room for him. We had to lay a comforter over the mattress to minimize the collection of cat fur!

The scrub oak is starting to change colors!

Things change in the blink of an eye. If you aren’t paying attention, you miss out. I think that’s what I’ve learned most as I’ve gotten older. Details are important. They aren’t minutia. There are many details these days that are giving me hints of what is to come. We’re anticipating great change and are preparing as best we can.

Nature's preparation for regeneration.

Anticipation guides our preparation for the future.

If we can ever come up with a name, it will go on the sign to the right of the crib.

Next step, stencils and more paint…

This is definitely not as easy as I thought it was going to be.