Another big milestone - 34 weeks!!

Here we are at 34 weeks (well really 35w2d and 32 days away from Baby Wik - 32 days?!?!? Seriously?!??!) but 34 weeks was another milestone in my head. Early on in our authentic childbirth class with Rita she had mentioned that 34 weeks was a big milestone as that's the point at which babies have their natural sucking reflex and are much more likely to not have an many problems if born early and here we are - we made it!! Also, when I went to the doc last week for 34 weeks we had gotten much bigger - 8 pounds in 2 weeks - and now all of the sudden baby was measuring big at 36 weeks!! I'm anxious for my true 36 week appointment this Friday to see if that amazing growth continues and to know if we should expect the baby to be early or even to be a beast! :)

So at 32 weeks I met a new doctor who said that I would definitely be slowing down any time now. I thought to myself yeah right. I'm feeling great, still working out - I'll be fine. Boy was she right! I am carrying baby Wik so high so he/she hangs out in my ribs all day long and it's pretty hard to breath - I feel like I have a constant stitch in my side and I think I've developed a waddle - hehe! But I would not change one thing about it! I am still forcing myself to work out about 4 days a week because I've noticed it boosts my energy and helps me sleep - but they've been cut back to 30 minutes and in that time I burn just as many calories and have to watch my heart rate very carefully since things are getting harder!

I now officially have 8 working days in the office - and will work the rest of the time until Baby comes remotely from home. I have mixed feelings about it. They are moving my temporary replacement into my desk (I know right? Talk about a nice send off…)and after 8.5 years having to pack up my stuff was a little surreal. I think when I walk out of there for the last time for a few month on March 27th it'll be much harder than I think.

This week we had another crazy snow storm which led to another working from home day and then we got some cuddle times in with our new little niece Savannah on Thursday night - she is such a doll!! It's so much fun spending time around her and imagining what our life will be like in a few weeks! Then yesterday we had a meet and greet with our new Pediatrician. He was recommended by both our OB and our doula Rita and he did not disappoint! He was very very nice, took the time to get to know Chris and I and ask what we did for a living, what we liked and answered all of our questions. He also asked how we managed to get the "A team" for bringing Baby Wik into the world! We hear things like this ALL THE TIME about our doc and doula and it just puts a huge smile on our face because although we already know that - it's so amazing hearing others confirm it!

My sweet work from home buddies!

So as most other things with this pregnancy - we sort of went into it blind not really having a list of 5,000 questions to ask and just kind of winged it and it worked surprisingly we'll! Here are a few of the things we did go over:

1. Hours - they have great hours there! Later nights, weekends, and walk in hours - woo too!

2. When does the baby need to be seen for the first time? Because our doc doesn't practice at our hospital - he wants to see baby 2-3 after we are discharged from the hospital.

3. Because we have been seriously debating circumcision and what's best for us - we asked him his thoughts. His response - "You absolutely should circumcise your child…if you are Jewish or Muslim." (We have some great docs who are funny as can be!) He re-confirmed a lot of what we were thinking - and mentioned that a lot of people do it so their son isn't the odd man out in the locker room - which honestly was a big reason we automatically assumed at the beginning we would - but he mentioned the circumcised vs. un-circumcised rate is starting to even out so if Baby Wik is a boy by the time he gets to school he isn't going to be the odd man out. He also helped walk us through the procedure and assured us we wouldn't want to be present because of how traumatic it is and that sealed it for us. So Baby Wik if you are a boy in there - you can thank Mom later - the whole world now knows you will not be circumcised. :)

4. We asked about whooping cough and who around the baby should have the vaccination. His response was a bit different than what we have heard from others - so it seems as though this is still a hot button topic. He told us he doesn't want us to be worried about it and that even if everyone is vaccinated they can still carry it so that doesn't necessarily take away all worries. We understand where he is coming from - but for us and our piece of mind - we would still prefer that anyone who plans to be around the baby for a significant period of time have the vaccination.

5. We asked about getting the baby out and even traveling with the baby. He mentioned he wants us to have the baby out and out about. He stressed that we can't keep them in a bubble and since we have the travel bug we should plan to travel with the baby anytime after 6-8 weeks depending on how everything is going.

So all in all it was a great visit!! We were really impressed so check another thing off the list!

Daddy to be waiting for the doc

Then we had a fun date night! We went for Mexican where they were celebrating and decorating for St. Patty's day - which is pretty big in Chicago! Then we went to see the musical Rock of Ages! It's literally one of Chris and I's favorite movies - we LOVE 80's hair band music - like seriously obsessed - and this was one of the most fun, energetic shows we have seen in a very long time! At the end I was up dancing to "Don't Stop Believing"! It was a total blast!! 

So that's about it for this week's update. We are headed into the mess that is downtown this morning (they dye the river green for St. Patty's) to head to an infant CPR class. Then my sweet friend Evi is bringing by a crib that is a little one that we can put in our room for the first few weeks! Then it's operation finish the nursery so I can finally share some pics with you! For now, I leave you with the week 34 pic! Have a great weekend everyone!

XOXO

K