36 Week Update

36 weeks and growing! Today I started the first of a series of weekly visits to the OB until baby decides to come. I measured right on as usual- 36 cm and baby's heart rate was a steady 146 bpm. Ringo appears to be very happy and comfortable in it's tight quarters as the doctor really wasn't able to get a good feel on his/her position. Baby is still up very high so it was difficult to tell much of anything. We may have the most predictable baby since every time we have been to the doctor the heartbeat as been almost exactly the same and I have measured exactly on- which is apparently pretty rare. We will see what happens over the next few weeks but we should be expecting baby to start to drop down soon. I am really starting to feel huge and the additional weight and discomfort is to be expected, along with the lack of sleep. Preparation for whats to come I suppose! I have started to prepare a bag for the hospital as well as put an emergency bag to keep in the car should something happen at work. Co-workers and coaches are starting to look at me like I'm going to explode any minute. As long as I am feeling well, I still plan to work up until baby decides its time but my roles on game days will be more limited now that football is about to start. I am usually running around like crazy on the field doing a million things at once- including holding back the team and making them wait until the exact moment they can take the field and then jumping out of the way to avoid being run over by 100 giant boys in pads. Obviously not a good job for someone that's 9 months pregnant so this weekend I will be handing over the duty to someone else and playing more of a "supervisory" role. We will see how it goes... I'm a control freak!

Either way, its the start of college football so a lot of exciting things are happening here. More to come soon!

Less Than a Month

The ticker finally says 30 days and counting down! Its a very strange feeling to know that "Ringo" will be a real part of our family anytime between now and 5 weeks from now. Doctors wont let me go past the first week in October so at least I know that much! It is starting to feel like I have been pregnant forever and on one hand I am ready to be done but on the other there is a fear of whats to come. As you may or may not know, I have a very low pain tolerance and a general fear of all things doctor/hospital related so the whole labor and delivery process seems very scary. We think we have a handle on the things we will need to bring baby home and the room is set up and stocked for now. I washed and folded all of the onesies, blankets, towels, washcloths, etc.. and am putting them into their place in the dresser and closets. Without knowing the gender of the baby, the entire load of items looked like a giant ball of green and yellow... pretty funny actually. I have my 36 week appointment this Thursday which will be the first of my weekly visits until baby decides its time to get this process started.
This past weekend Karl took a trip to LA for his friends wedding but because of work and my "unsafe condition" I wasn't able to go along. He had a great time at all of the wedding festivities and was able to experience a whole lot of the Indian culture. He didn't take a camera so we don't have any pictures yet but maybe some friends will have some so we can post them. Purdue volleyball opened the season on Friday with a two-day tournament so I had a new crew of interns and staff to train. It's certainly a lot harder to work long days in a hot gym with this extra weight! The weekend actually worked out very well because I was able to visit Katie and the new addition to their family after taking Karl to the airport on Thursday and picking him up last night. Alexis Kate was born early Wednesday morning via c-section and big sister Paige could not be more excited about it. She was sleeping most of the time I spent with her both in the hospital and at their house but she is so cute and I can't wait for our babies to grow up together. Good planning on their part to have the baby in between events for me so thanks Katie and Nick!

This week is busy as usual with the first home football game and Karl's 10 year class reunion. I should have more to post following my visit with the OB on Thursday but I had to make a note of the one month (give or take) to go milestone! I will also add some pictures of this gigantic baby belly at 36 weeks then. Stay tuned....

34 Week Update

Not much new to report other than the fact that I feel as though I am growing by the minute! Baby is still as active as ever and weighs about as much as a cantaloupe. According to babycenter.com he/she should be gaining about a half-pound each week and has almost reached its full length. I've been noticing a lot harder movements now that the baby is so much bigger, I even tend to get little feet stuck under my ribs. Sleeping has become quite the chore but apparently that's called preparation for when he/she actually arrives. Now that events have started for me, I am absolutely exhausted by the time I get home and spend most of my free time on the couch relaxing or napping. Karl had his first flag football practice tonight so his schedule is getting busier as well. We completed our baby class last week at the hospital and a lot of the big things we were worried about doing have been done so let the waiting game continue. We still have some things going on over the next few weeks including a trip to LA for Karl for his friend's wedding, the start of Purdue volleyball and football for me, Karl's 10 year class reunion, and weekly doctor visits to keep little Ringo in check. We are doing our best to enjoy the time we have left until baby makes 3.

Baby Kraebber's Room

We think the room is ready to go! A few things left to do but it's baby ready for the most part. We ordered a rocker and it should be here by the end of the month and we still need a cover for the changing pad but other than that, we think we are in good shape. We both wanted to have this finished before school started and our schedules really got busy so we are happy with the progress we made and how it turned out (with a week to spare). The room is neutral for the most part and really matches the rest of the house too which is kind of nice. We have lots for baby to look at and hope he/she will appreciate all of the jungle animals he/she will get to sleep with every night. We have gotten a lot of great gifts for baby too so we are still in the process of washing, hanging and putting together many things. There is plenty of room for family photos to be added as well as clothes once we know if we are in need of he or she clothes. Enjoy the photos and more to come!

Baby Shower #2

Yesterday Karl's family and friends hosted our second and final baby shower. The girls part of the shower was at Karl's aunts and included lots of delicious food, punch and margaritas for the non-pregnant ones while the guys gathered at Karl's parents for steak, beer and cards. They were both small gatherings but still lots of fun. We now have a room full of great stuff to help us get ready for the baby's arrival: diapers, wipes, books, toys, clothes and more diapers! The room is almost ready and it looks like we might have enough stuff to survive a week with a newborn right now. We still have a few important items that we are missing so this week the project is to put all the gifts in their place and go through our checklist and find out what necessities we need to purchase. I'm sure we will never truly be "prepared" but our goal is to do the best we can before Ringo decides to join our family. Thanks to all of our friends and family for helping us get ready to bring baby home. He/she is certainly loved by many already! Here are a few photos from the shower.

Happy Grandma-to-be!

Katie and baby girl at 35 weeks and Erin and baby ? at 31 weeks