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Today our son weighs 5.73 pounds and is 18.7 inches tall…about the height of a papaya.
Week 35 was a pretty good week. We decided to return the Snuggle Nest to get a Dock-A-Tot. The Dock-A-Tot seems to be better quality than the Snuggle Nest. The design of the Dock-A-Tot makes it a lot more comfortable for our baby than the Snuggle Nest. It’s also more pricey, but we found one at a discounted price at the local TJ Maxx. This week, we also picked up a Boon Grass set for all our baby bottle cleaning needs. These are beautifully designed! After washing all our baby bottles and accessories, we hung/propped them on the Boon Grass and the Stem and Poke nicely.
Ready To Pop?
During Week 35, my girlfriend has been experiencing a heightened amount of Braxton Hicks Contractions. She seems to be experiencing these contractions multiple times per hour. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was going into labor. I feel bad for her because each time she has these Braxton Hicks’, she is in a lot of pain. When I touch her tummy, I can feel that it’s hardened up. At this moment, there is between 1-4 weeks left so these contractions seem to be on par with our expected due date. Aside from the contractions, she is in constant discomfort because our son is in her belly stretching. She constantly feels his legs in her rib cage. Sitting up is seemingly discouraged by our boy due to the stretching. My girlfriend is only comfortable when she is laying down or reclined with her feet up. Seems like our son is just about ready to come out and he’s letting it be known. Either that or he just wants to be in competition with my girlfriend for space.
My Promise
Last week, I mentioned that I found out my cholesterol was high. Since starting my diet, I’m happy to say that I’ve lost about 10 pounds!! Even though my new routine is tough, I’ve been feeling less sluggish and my movements have been much lighter. I’ve started journaling my food intake to keep track of what I’m eating daily. To help with my new diet, I purchased a food scale and a bathroom scale. The food scale has made my food measurements more precise, it’s also made me realize that I was eating less than I was putting down in my food journal. With this discovery, I’ve allowed myself to eat more which lowers the amount of time I feel hungry. The bathroom scale is really cool because it give me all kinds of measurements and data about my body when I weigh myself because it links to their app my phone via Bluetooth. The app tracks my weight, BMI, fat percentage etc. without me having to do it manually. My goal is to keep losing weight and continuing this diet to maintain a healthier lifestyle. It’s kinda crazy but when I turned 30, I told myself I’d start eating better. Then at 31 I said the same thing. 32 was the same. I’m now 36 and up until about a week ago, I was still eating terribly. It’s about time for this change to occur. With my son and my girlfriend as my motivation, I feel like I am finally ready to fulfill this promise that I made to myself over 6 years ago.
Startling
Last night, I was in the kitchen prepping my dinner. My girlfriend joined me in the kitchen to hang out with me as I prepped. After grabbing something out of the cupboard, I swing the door closed loudly by accident. As the cupboard door slammed, my girlfriend feels my son jump. I startled my son unintentionally! Oops! Just after that moment occurred, my girlfriend pointed out that startling my son is actually a good thing. By doing this, we know that he is able to hear sounds. I apologized to my son a few times but I am glad that he had the reaction he did.
1-4 Weeks Left
At the moment of writing this, we are 36 weeks pregnant. In one week, our baby will be full term. It’s really crazy to think that in about a weeks time, we could have a baby here with us. And with our son here, our lives will be changed forever…in a positive way. I can’t wait for his arrival!! I can imagine myself not being able to sleep because I want to stare at him all night, even when he is sleeping. After his arrival, nothing else will matter to me besides our little family. A friend has told me a couple times that “babies are a blessing”, I’ve felt like babies can boost the motivation of his parents but I’m beginning to see all the potential “blessings” that our baby can bring to us. Even though there will be lots sleepless nights, stress, a re-prioritization of our time etc., there will be so much joy, smiles, laughs and all the good times that comes with raising a baby. Just like any other relationship, the ones between parents and child(ren) are “give and take”. Parents take care of the kid(s) and the kid(s) give the parents motivation and joy…in most cases. All I know is, I can’t wait to be a dad. I just know that I’ll have so much fun as my child and I grow together.
We’ll Figure It Out
At this moment, my girlfriend and I are still “up in the air” about who’s going to go back to work after our son’s arrival. My girlfriend is only one class away from getting her Master’s Degree…I’m so proud of her!! Because of her education, she wants to go back to work because she has tremendous earning power. And I know she can do it. However, if she isn’t ready to go back to work or if she isn’t able to find a job by then, I’m going to go back to work. I know we’ll figure it out eventually so I don’t need to worry but I can’t help but feel uneasy sometimes. It’s kind’ve a weird feeling, I know everything will be okay but because nothing is “set in stone” right now, I kinda feel helpless. I just have to keep reminding myself that we’ll figure it out eventually and that everything will be fine.
