Nine months pregnant.  36 weeks pregnant.  Are those really three words I can use to describe myself?! Even if I’m struggling to wrap my mind around it, my body feels nine months pregnant (or maybe more like 10-11?) and I am getting to excited and ready to meet our little guy.  But instead of just rambling about it, here are a few more organized updates about this past month!

How I’m Feeling

It’s funny, because people ask me this question all the time and my usually honest self never really knows how to answer.  It is acceptable to say something like, “Oh you know, just feeling like my body’s been taken over by an alien that’s smooshing my organs, making it hard to breathe, giving me heartburn and carpal tunnel, making any and all physical movement difficult, and slowly trying to push his way out my rib cage booty-first?”

I usually just stick with “Just chugging along, you know?” But if I’m honest, the first answer is more accurate.

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Let’s be honest: pregnancy is not always a time when many women feel their most beautiful.  Like I shared in this post about learning to love my pregnant body, it has been a sometimes challenging journey to embrace the stretch marks and new pounds and find joy in the midst of them.

But you guys – these pictures? They make me feel so, so beautiful.  I am deeply grateful that my amazingly talented best friend Haley was willing to fly out and visit, and even more grateful that she was willing to take our maternity pictures for us.  These pictures remind me that there is such beauty in growing life and I am so excited to share them with you today!

Haley shared some of her favorites in this blog post last week, but today, I’m sharing a few of my favorites from our cozy, winter maternity shoot. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

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This past weekend marked 32 full weeks (aka eight months) of pregnancy done.  Holy moly.  That means I am officially moving into my ninth month and the final eight weeks where little man’s arrival is starting to feel oh so close! Here are some updates from the last month:

How I’m Feeling

To be honest, I am really starting to feel some of the effects of having this little bean packed into my rapidly growing belly.  I’ve been having lots of aches in my belly, hips, and back as things stretch and move and it’s getting harder and harder for me to be on my feet and moving around during the day at work.  One wonderful silver lining of how exhausting teaching is? I have been sleeping like a ROCK at night.  I know this is not the case for many pregnant women so I’m trying to soak that up while I still can.  I’m praying for strength and the occasional comfort (at least once I get home from work and can put my feet up) as I keep getting bigger and bigger and the day we meet Caleb gets closer and closer!

Another update: after failing my gestational diabetes test a few weeks back, I had to take the day off work Friday to do the extended three hour glucose test.  I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that was NO fun at all.  I am a baby when it comes to fasting and I was about as grouchy as they come.  But it’s over and I got the phone call yesterday that I passed the test and am diabetes free! I celebrated my good health with a big bowl of mint chip ice cream and extra chocolate chips.  Feeling pretty good about that.

Fun Celebrations

A few sweet friends (shoutout to Leigh and Kat!) threw me a sweet surprise baby shower this past weekend! It was so fun to have people I love from so many different places in one room and I’m grateful for all the work they put into planning it.  I got so many adorable gifts and loved getting to catch up with some sweet friends.  Thanks to all the ladies who love me so well and threw such an adorable shower!

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Well, hello! Since this past weekend marked 28 weeks of this pregnancy, I figured it was time for a seven month pregnancy update.  I am officially moving into the third trimester, which blows my mind a little bit. It’s less than twelve more weeks until our little guy makes his appearance into the world!

How Baby’s Doing

Caleb has been a rockin’ and a rollin’ in my belly these last few weeks.  His heart rate and growth have consistently been good and I’m looking forward to some appointments with more updates about him soon.  He’s pretty active any time I sit down and has started to respond when his ornery dad or I poke him through my tummy.  He’s even made me pause teaching a few times because of particularly hard kicks or somersaults!  I think I’ve been feeling him get the hiccups every once in a while, which is another funny feeling.  The movements are so fun and different and I’m soaking in every one!

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