Colds and pregnancy do not mix well together.

After 8 months of pregnancy, the inevitable happened. I became victim to a runny nose, sore throat, sinus pressure, crummy feeling... common cold. I quickly came to the realization that a cold is the last thing that you want in the last month of pregnancy considering that you have limited options in what you can take for relief, you already can't sleep well, and you feel a bit uncomfortable all of the time anyway as is.

Thankfully I am just about over the cold. It really only flares up at night now (surprise, surprise), but during the day I am pretty good now. The cold had a long 4 day run, but somehow my immune system fought back and won.

In other news, I know I still have 4 weeks... but I am fairly convinced he has officially run out of room in there. The past 2 days have been rather painful with his movements and while I am thankful for the constant reassurance that all is well with him, I do believe that he could be a bit gentler. Just sayin'.

We still have quite a bit left to do before his arrival. We need to get the car seat bases installed into our vehicles, get them inspected at the fire department, pack the hospital bag, pack the diaper bag, finish purchasing baby items, and wash all of his clothes and blankets. And clean. And start packing up the house in boxes. And, of course, remembering how to breathe. Oh my.

34 week Dr. Appt, Baby Shower, and More.

Today was our 34 week appointment and it went well! I received my flu shot today and Mitch is set to get his within the next 2 weeks at work. Little man's heart rate was at 130 today and I measured 34cm... right where everything should be! Next appointment will be for our 36 week check-up and then it will be weekly after that. Wow, we are definitely getting there!

This past weekend I had my last baby shower hosted by my friends Ann and Becky. It was absolutely wonderful and we were blessed with our family and friends showing up and the gifts they gave us to prepare for the arrival of our son. In the next couple of weeks we will start finishing up the registry and getting everything else that we might need/want. We also need to get the carseat installed here one of these weekends into the Escape. It's really starting to come together!

On Wednesday morning, Mitch and I were both heading out to go to work in the morning and as I was backing out of the garage... I definitely crashed the side mirror of the car into the side of the garage. Awesome. Nothing like an 8 months pregnant woman taking out the side mirror of her car... and with all of these emotions I have right now? Let's say that it wasn't a pleasant experience. All in all, a very minor thing that is getting fixed right now as we speak at the Ford dealership. It just didn't seem that minor to my emotional pregnant self at that time.

Speaking of being 8 months pregnant... I feel like he is running out of room! He pushes so hard against my belly that he actually completely distorts my whole belly. He still moves quite a lot, it is just a little different from before. Instead of kicks, he rolls and moves around. Last night he had some really strong hiccups that Mitch was even able to feel. At all times, I can push on my belly and feel him now... which means that when he is awake? Wow, do I know it. This can make sleeping a bit more difficult than I would probably prefer, but at least I know he is doing alright.

We also had our 4th birth and parenting class Wednesday night and it went really well. They actually had a baby doll there that Mitch and I had to hold for the whole 2.5 hour long class. I told Mitch that I was holding our baby, so he could hold the baby doll! It was a great class with a lot of really good information. We even got to meet a pediatrician and ask him a ton of questions after he talked with us for a good while.

Countdown? 5 weeks, 6 days (or a total of 41 days total) until the due date.

30 weeks!

Alright. Here I am at 30 weeks pregnant with our son looking at the remaining 1/4 of pregnancy... and getting very anxious. I feel as if there is still so much to do before we welcome his arrival and that somehow 10 weeks is just not going to be enough time. On the other hand... 10 weeks is a long time to go! How can the same time frame seem so far away and so near all at the same time?

Pregnancy wise, things are going well. I'm still feeling relatively well and hey, I can still bend over and pick things up off of the floor. I consider that a win. I haven't seen any new stretch marks (knock on wood), my weight gain is about 23 lbs, my belly button is an outie now, I'm still craving the sweets, and I miss the days of the cute kicks my baby used to give me. I am now getting the painful my-baby-is-over-3-lbs-and-wants-to-move-around-in-a-tiny-space movements that can really downright hurt sometimes. However, don't get me wrong. I will take those painful movements 100 times over not being able to feel him move. It's a reassurance thing that tells me my little man is doing alright and growing like he should. So bring on the pain? Pregnancy IS weird.

Also, my first baby shower is this Saturday! I can't even begin to describe how excited I am to see what we will be getting for our little man. I told Mitch that we will definitely be spending Sunday in the nursery to go through all of the gifts and put them where they belong. We are so blessed to have such loving family and friends... our son is going to be completely taken care of and that fills me with so much joy that I can't even begin to describe.

Countdown: 10 weeks, or 70 days, left until our due date!

Kicks, viability, and upcoming appointments.

... my oh my. What a strong little man I have! I'm slowly getting used to my belly randomly moving around all over the place, but I'm still amazed every time I feel him move and kick around in there. It's such an amazing feeling and I love how he is constantly reminding me of his presence. It's reassuring and puts me at ease knowing that he's doing alright.

I'm only 3 days away from 24 weeks... which also marks the point of viability! This is a wonderful milestone as it means if I was to go into labor, baby boy Hofer would have a 50-70% chance of survival. At 26 weeks, that statistic jumps up to approximately 90%.

Our next doctor appointment is this Friday. It should be a short visit... check my weight, blood pressure, measure my belly, and listen to the heartbeat. It's the 28 week visit that will be the long one... the infamous glucose test.

I'm also quite excited that we officially have a 3D ultrasound appointment set up now! We have it scheduled for 27 weeks, 2 days... so August 7th. Our parents will be coming with us so that they can meet their grandson. I'm excited to see what our little man looks like... and who he looks like!

Level II Ultrasound.

Today was the day of the level II ultrasound to take that closer look on the heart regarding the echogenic intracardiac focus. Good news is that, although the bright spot is still there, there are no other indicators of any other issues. Therefore, the high risk perinatal doctor stated that we will not be high risk and that we have nothing to worry about. Overall, we are breathing a bit easier and feel a lot better about everything.

Plus, it was quite reassuring (and fun!) to see the little man moving all over the place. It was also a neat experience to both see and feel him kick and move around. He kicked so hard near the beginning at the ultrasound wand that the technician actually felt him! The technician and the doctor both also stated that yes, it is most definitely a boy that we have in there.

He currently is weighing in at 1 lb, 1 oz and his heart rate was a strong 148 beats per minute. They said that he is right on schedule with our due date and that everything looks good! He likes to have his hand on his nose a lot (which was also true at the 2nd trimester ultrasound 3 weeks ago).

...Alright, so baby was just kicking a lot so Mitch came over to the couch just now and put his hand on my belly and, sure enough, he felt the baby kick! Not bad at 22 weeks. He's definitely a strong boy... and it's so much fun to get to know him a little bit more everyday.

What a perfect way to end such a wonderful day for the Hofer's.

Why, hello there baby.

Gone are the days where I thought I might have felt baby boy Hofer. Ever since this past weekend, I have been feeling him move around as well as his kicks and it is such a wonderful feeling! In fact, on Sunday I was reading on the couch and I may have been using my stomach as a book holder.

Next thing I know, baby boy gave a kick so hard right where my left hand was that the kick actually moved my hand.

Note to self... don't use the baby bump as a book shelf. Got it.

In other news, Mitch and I went to the Twins game last night at the new Target Field. While it wasn't Mitch's first time to the stadium, it was mine... and the baby's first also! I will say that Target Field is absolutely amazing and the weather was just perfect. Unfortunately we didn't win, but we are going back on Friday so we have another chance to see a Twins victory. Besides, baby boy is a Hofer... therefore he's going to be a huge MN Twins fan (I mean, we already have a Twins newborn onesie for him!).

Prediction Time.

18 weeks, 1 day. Overall weight gain? About 10 lbs... give or take (usually more give than take...). Aches and pains all over the place. Severe lack of clothes crisis going on.

And 3 marvelous kicks.

That's right. I finally felt Baby H for the very first time around 3:50am Wednesday morning (so June 2, 2010). And of course, I haven't felt any movement since, but my goodness. When they say that you will know what baby movement feels like when you feel it, they aren't kidding around! It brought a HUGE smile to my face and then I nerdishly (yes, nerdishly) laid in bed for the next 5 or so minutes going, "Do it again. Come on baby. Do it again for mom." I'm optimistic though and predict I will feel our little one move again really soon.

Speaking of predictions... the BIG anatomy ultrasound is in exactly 1 week. So, what do we think we are going to be having?

From about 7 weeks to 11 weeks along I was really feeling boy. Then from weeks 11 to 14 I really wasn't feeling boy or girl. From about week 14/15 until now though? I've really been feeling girl. Mitch also has been feeling girl, but he claims that is because the only baby he has ever really been around is our niece Kirstin.

So sex prediction of Baby H? We are both saying girl.

One more week!