Nursery

I am so excited to be done with the nursery!!  We will add things here and there as he gets older, but all of the essentials are in place and waiting for Matthew to arrive.  I must give a huge thank you to my husband for spending many hours in his man-cave building shelves, bookcases, staining, and sanding things for the nursery.  Also, thank you to the two grandmothers for making the crib bedding, curtains, and pillow for the nursery.  Matthew's nursery would not be nearly as cute without all of the help.

Nursery Tour:

This is the nursery before (our storage room) - bright yellow with dirty walls

Looking to the right side of the nursery - curtains and pillow made by my mom who will be called Emie

Close up of the book shelf that Mike designed and built - he did an amazing job!  The blue/white doll on the bottom-right shelf was his when he was a baby :-)

Continuing around the room - love my glider!

Crib with bedding made by my MIL.  Mike and I made the sign over his bed with leftover fabric and I love it.  It's not the typical way people display the baby's name (hanging each individual letter with ribbon or something else), plus it's more masculine :-)

The changing area/dresser.  Mike and I got the dresser and the side table (in front of the window) off Craigslist for cheap.  He did an amazing job staining each piece to match the crib.  He also built the shelves which now hold toys from when he was little.  The blank wall over the changing area is reserved for pictures of Matthew once he gets here!

I find myself going into the nursery on a daily basis trying to imagine Matthew in his crib or me rocking him to sleep in the glider.  We are ready to meet him and bring him home!

37 Weeks

How far along: 37 weeks and 2 days
Baby's size: a stalk of Swiss chard - Matthew weighs about 6 1/3 pounds and is over 19 inches long!
Maternity clothes: always
Sleep: on and off - last night was great!

Best moment this week: hearing Matthew's strong heartbeat at out appointment!
Miss anything: sleeping on my stomach, being able to do simple tasks without getting exhausted, cold weather (not pregnancy related - but this extreme heat is not my friend)
Movement: He's still kicking and stretching!

Food cravings: anything cold, water, chocolate milk

Anything making you queasy or sick: onions and veggies
Gender: BOY - Matthew David Fleisher

Labor signs: more frequent and stronger Braxton Hicks - I was checked again this week, and am still 80% effaced and 3-4 cm dilated.

Symptoms: pregnancy brain, heartburn, siatica, fatigue, major hunger, swelling, hip pain

Belly button in or out: in - it's really only enclosing, not moving out
Wedding rings on or off: off - again, stupid heat

Happy or moody most of the time: nervous/excited anxiety - I find myself constantly thinking about what's to come and how much life is going to change

Looking forward to: meeting Matthew - every time I picture him, I picture a little Mike :-)

36 Weeks

I can't believe we have 4 weeks (technically now it's 3.5) until our due date - CRAZY!!!  With not much time left, I have been busy in the nursery, around the house, and at school preparing for my sub.  That being said, I do not have a picture this week.  To give you an idea, I'm huge and I think he's dropped - it's hard to tell having such a small torso.  Here are my stats:

How far along: 36 weeks and 4 days
Baby's size: a crenshaw melon - Matthew weighs about 6 pounds and is over 18.5 inches long!
Maternity clothes: always
Sleep: still on my up every 2 hours routine - typically on the 4 am rotation, I stay awake until 5:30 or so

Best moment this week: Since I'm now on my weekly appointments, we got to hear his strong heartbeat again!  This hasn't happened yet, but we are almost finished with the nursery (apart from pictures of Matthew).
Miss anything: sleeping on my stomach, being able to do simple tasks without getting exhausted, cold weather (not pregnancy related - but this extreme heat is not my friend)
Movement: He's still kicking and stretching!

Food cravings: anything cold, water, chocolate milk

Anything making you queasy or sick: onions and veggies
Gender: BOY - Matthew David Fleisher

Labor signs: more frequent and stronger Braxton Hicks - I was checked again this week, and am still 80% effaced and 3 cm dilated.  The doctor said he could stretch to 4, but wanted to keep me at 3.

Symptoms: pregnancy brain, heartburn, siatica, fatigue, major hunger

Belly button in or out: in - it's really only enclosing, not moving out
Wedding rings on or off: off - again, stupid heat

Happy or moody most of the time: nervous/excited anxiety - I find myself constantly thinking about what's to come and how much life is going to change

Looking forward to: finishing the nursery and finishing my sub plans - it is not easy planning for a random person to come in at the beginning of school year and teach my students all of the necessary routines and procedures correctly.  I must say I had a ton of help from my dad, aunt, and granddad in getting my classroom set up/organized - I didn't have to lift a finger :-)

As soon as the nursery is finished, I will post pics!!!

35 Weeks

How far along: 35 Weeks
Baby's size: a honeydew melon - baby boy weighs about 5 1/4 pounds and is over 18 inches long!
Maternity clothes: always
Sleep: much better this week!

Best moment this week: The BEST part was hearing his little heartbeat today!  Still very strong!  Also, we have made much progress in the nursery - glider, shelves, sign over crib, and a plan for the reading area!!!
Miss anything: sleeping on my stomach, being able to do simple tasks without getting exhausted, cold weather (not pregnancy related - but this extreme heat is not my friend)
Movement: He's still kicking and stretching!

Food cravings: anything cold and water
Anything making you queasy or sick: onions and veggies
Gender: BOY - Matthew David Fleisher

Labor signs: Braxton Hicks - I was checked for the first time today, and was surprised to hear that I'm 2-3 cm dilated and 80% effaced

Symptoms: pregnancy brain, heartburn, siatica, fatigue, major hunger

Belly button in or out: in - it's really only enclosing, not moving out
Wedding rings on or off: off - again, stupid heat

Happy or moody most of the time: Getting anxious - we're in the home stretch!

Looking forward to: finishing the nursery

Name Reveal!

I am excited to announce that I will no longer be referring to baby Fleisher as "little guy" or "little man".  We have officially settled on a name and I couldn't be more happy with it!  It's the name I had liked since finding out we were having a boy.  Baby Boy Fleisher's name is

Matthew David Fleisher

I've always liked traditional names, so this fits perfectly!  With what Mike and I went through last August, I definitely wanted to choose a name with a significant meaning.

Matthew means "Gift of God" - this little boy is truly a gift of God that I am beyond thankful for!

David was chosen because it is my dad's first name (it also happens to be Mike's middle name).

I love that Mike and Matthew will have the same initials - MDF - especially since Mike was rooting for Mike Jr.  At least they have this in common :-)

We cannot wait to meet you Matthew!  With only 5 weeks until your due date (as of tomorrow), we know we will meet you soon!

34 Weeks

34 weeks down, 6 to go!  It's been a nice, relaxing week - apart from the ridiculous heat.  I'm pretty much just staying inside and only getting out if I have to.  It's to the point where it's pointless to really fix my hair or put on makeup, because everything gets messed up right when I get in the heat.  Needless to say, I'm not fixing myself up as much.

We had a great 4th of July, celebrating with my parents and the neighbors I grew up with.  It was so nice to grill out and catch up with old friends.  Unfortunately, with the burn ban, we couldn't shoot off fireworks - oh well.

I am happy to say that I have now met all 4 of the OBGYN's that could possibly be on-call when this little boy decides to join us!  Mike and I agree that we will be happy with any of the 4 because they have all been wonderful.  It's still crazy to think that we will (hopefully) meet this little guy within the next 6 weeks.  Time has started flying by!

How far along: 34 Weeks
Baby's size: a cantaloupe - baby boy weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is about 18 inches long!
Maternity clothes: always
Sleep: off and on - I'm starting to notice more fatigue throughout the day as well

Best moment this week: We finally got the dresser/changing table in the nursery!  My parents just dropped of the curtains, so we'll get those up tonight.  It's fun seeing it all come together, even though I have a long way to go.
Miss anything: sleeping on my stomach, being able to do simple tasks without getting exhausted, cold weather (not pregnancy related - but this extreme heat is not my friend)
Movement: He's still kicking and stretching!

Food cravings: anything cold and water
Anything making you queasy or sick: onions and veggies
Gender: BOY - I promise I will announce the name soon

Labor signs: nope, but still having braxton hicks

Symptoms: pregnancy brain, heartburn, siatica, fatigue, major hunger

Belly button in or out: in - it's really only enclosing, not moving out
Wedding rings on or off: off - again, stupid heat

Happy or moody most of the time: Getting anxious - need to get the nursery finished, preparing for the hospital, preparing for bringing him home, cleaning the house, etc.

Looking forward to: My family shower tomorrow night

Baby Shower

Two weeks ago, I was blessed to have an amazing shower with family and friends.  I was completely overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone.  They truly helped us prepare for this little guy's impending arrival!  Here are a few pictures snapped by my sister-in-law:

Our Baby Bjorn from Hannah!

Having fun with 2 of my besties Lena and Katie

 Opening my bedding from my mother-in-law!  Love it!

Precious clothes - I know people say it's more fun to shop for baby girls, but this little guy has some adorable outfits!

A bin full of baby goodies from the Massey girls - all kinds of new baby and mommy essentials!

Loved getting to see sweet family friends

With my sister-in-law and mother-in-law

Shower gifts

More shower gifts

On another note, I do have the crib ready to go and will share pictures soon.  It looks amazing!!!