Our little babe weighs around 5 pounds this week and could be as long as 18 inches. He opens his eyes when he's awake and closes them when he's asleep, his fingernails have now reached the tips of his fingers, and his central nervous system and lungs are continuing to mature. It makes me feel a million times better knowing that if he were to come early, he would survive and more than likely be perfectly healthy!

This mama is definitely over being pregnant. I am still sleeping ok, I'm not super uncomfortable, I just don't like everything else that comes with being pregnant. Let me back up...this past week I had a horrible UTI (maybe TMI?). Thankfully my doc was able to diagnose me over the phone, I took some antibiotics, and it went away. Fast forward to a day after completing my 7 day antibiotic...
It was the morning of baby shower #3 and Eric and I had big plans to go pick up our glider and ottoman for the nursery. Apparently life had other plans. We were in the car on our way to breakfast and I thought I was getting another UTI. I had all the UTI symptoms, except that I also had a SEVERE pain in my right lower back and right lower abdomen. I seriously thought I was about to have to tell my dad to go to the ER instead of breakfast. We got to the restaurant and I immediately called the on-call OB to see what I needed to do. It sounded to her like a UTI, so she told me to push fluids and cranberry juice and to rest. After the phone call, I was pretty much doubled over in pain, couldn't eat, couldn't drink, so I told Eric we needed to leave NOW. We ended up in the ER after leaving the restaurant, where I was diagnosed with kidney stones. I was immediately hooked up to an IV for fluids and told I couldn't take any pain meds because of the baby. I was in the most intense pain I have ever experienced in my life. I would never wish that pain on anyone. I remember telling Eric that I would have rather broken a bone than have kidney stones. I ended up demanding them to call my OB and get the go ahead for some type of pain medication, which just so happened to be a low dose of morphine believe it or not, which ended up just dulling the pain and leaving me feeling light-headed, groggy, and still in unbelievable pain. So remember how I said this happened the day of our shower? Yeah. Anyone who knows me knows I am super stubborn. So guess what we ended up doing that night? Leaving the ER after getting a bag of IV fluids and more morphine and going to our baby shower. I got ready for the baby shower in about 20 minutes, but we made it. When we got to the shower, my papa, who is a retired pastor, anointed me with oil and prayed over me for the kidney stones to pass quickly and to keep the baby safe. {Good news: our baby is doing great and is still healthy and safe!} I was very grateful for that. We opened presents, visited with everyone, and had cake, and then headed home so I could sleep. Unfortunately, sleep was not going to happen unless I had the pain under control...which I didn't. I called the on-call OB again and asked if there was anything she could prescribe me for the pain. I seriously just couldn't take it. I couldn't think clearly and I was having a hard time breathing because of the pain. And before you think I'm a wimp...supposedly kidney stones are worse than childbirth without an epidural or pain medication. So there. The OB prescribed me a mild pain killer than wouldn't harm the baby, so Eric went to CVS at midnight to pick up the meds. He earned major brownie points during this whole experience. Long story short, I finally got some sleep and the kidney stones passed 4 days later. Worst pain of my life.

So I am definitely over being pregnant. I'm over the sciatica pain, the heartburn, the peeing every 10 minutes, the kidney stones, the UTI's, and the feeling of utter exhaustion at the end of the day (which I'm sure won't go away anytime soon). The only things that are getting me through is Eric's daily reassurance and knowing that at the end of this we will have a sweet baby boy that we will love unconditionally. I keep looking at the pictures of his cute little face to get me through the tough moments, which there are a lot of lately. I just want our baby to be here. I'm hoping that I survive the newborn phase better than I have survived this pregnancy so far.

In lighter news, baby shower #3 was perfect! It was hosted by my Aunt Becky, Aunt Julie, and my grandma. They put so much love and time and energy into all the details and it was wonderful.

Don't mind the misspelling...

Definitely on pain killers in this picture.

We are so grateful to my family for hosting such a beautiful baby shower. And a huge thank you to everyone who came out and joined us in prayer for my health and the baby's health.

An update on the nursery...after the kidney stones passed, I did almost all the baby's laundry, hung it up, folded it, and put it in piles until we get the dresser in there. Our glider and ottoman now has a home, the closet is slowly getting organized, and the decorating will start this week! I can't wait to see the result! My hospital bag and the diaper bag are packed an ready to go and the car seat will be installed this week. We are in the home stretch now...thank God!

Our baby boy weighs 4 pounds and 13 ounces this week! He opens and closes his eyes, differentiates between day and night, and he has his own immune system now.

Nothing new to report this week about me...still trucking along. But we did have two OB appointments this week - one with the high risk OB and one with my general OB.
At the high risk OB, our baby boy's heart rate was 131 bpm...she caught him when he was sleeping (for once!). She also did an ultrasound and was able to get some pictures of his sweet little face in 3D!!

Eric and I agree that it looks like he will have my nose and Eric's lips. We will see soon enough! Now we are just trying to figure out if he looks like the name we have picked out....

Side profile view 

Our baby's face!

Profile view

Based on the ultrasound, he is measuring 34 weeks and 3 days, so a little on the bigger side. His limb length is in the 94th percentile and his head circumference is in the 90th percentile (not sure how that happened....Eric and I don't have large heads!). His heart continues to look strong and healthy, which we are so thankful for! And something else to be thankful for, he is now head down! Hooray!

I went back to my general OB this week just for a checkup. Nothing exciting to report, which is probably a good thing! The baby's heart rate was 140 bpm and so far everything is right on track. I go back in 2 weeks for my next checkup, and then after that appointment, I start going every week...ugh.

We have another baby shower this weekend which we are really excited about! Hopefully we can start to get more done in the nursery after this weekend! Fingers crossed. More updates coming next week!

And just because he is cute, here is Biggio with his new toy that he carries around over his eyes...

Baby Udell is the size of a cabbage this week, weighing anywhere from 3 1/2 to 4 pounds and measuring somewhere between 15-17 inches in length. He continues to practice swallowing, breathing, sucking, and kicking, fat is accumulating under his skin, and his digestive system is ready to go.

I'm feeling pretty good...still dealing with sciatica pain, but I've been able to walk/run a little more lately which I am happy about. Lately I've been craving chorizo (yum!) and smoothie king. Super random!

This past week I had baby shower #1 at work thrown by the best co-workers! We had yummy food, ate ice cream cake, and played a baby shower game of course.

We had such a great time during our lunch break!

This past weekend we had baby shower #2 in San Antonio thrown by my sister-in-law, Eric's aunts and cousins, and Eric's mom. It was a ladies brunch complete with deer and arrow themed decor, a mimosa bar, and breakfast food. It was absolutely perfect. My best friends from grad school were able to come down for the shower as well, which was the icing on the cake for me! It was the perfect girls weekend before our baby is born.

My girls

The hostesses (missing 2)

The moms

My nieces (aka little helpers!)

My other niece

During the shower, they played a video of Eric answering questions related to the baby, the nursery, and me, and it had me crying from the very beginning. Such a sweet touch to the shower. Our families love this baby so much already and I couldn't be happier. I can't thank our family enough for all the thought, effort, and love that went into putting on this shower to celebrate baby Udell. It was perfect.

This is a little late, but here we are at 31 weeks...

Yes I realize it is the same shirt as last week, but I don't care. It's comfy! Our baby boy is now processing information, tracking light, and perceiving signals from all 5 senses.

I had a general OB appointment this week and everything looks great! The baby is right on track for our September 7th due date. His heart rate was 141 bpm and I have gained 17 pounds total. I continue to go to the doctor every 2 weeks for one more appointment and then I start going EVERY week. So many appointments, not enough time. I also have an ultrasound with the high risk OB scheduled for next week. So excited to see our little guy's face again!

Eric had his "man-shower" this week, which basically means all guests must bring diapers to participate in the festivities (aka: drink). It definitely helped us out a lot!

I left the house so all the boys could have their "guy time" and this is pretty much what I walked into when I got back...

So lucky to have friends like these guys! We have our showers coming up the next few weeks all back-to-back, so I foresee a lot of nesting happening in the near future :) I've been dying to get the nursery together. Hopefully I will be able to post pics soon!

30 Weeks:

This kid is growing like a weed! He now weighs a little over 3 pounds. Our baby boy's bone marrow has started producing red blood cells, his brain is getting the little grooves and indentions, and the soft hair covering his body has started disappearing.

I have been feeling pretty good this week...not as much sciatica pain as usual, which is great news, but it comes and goes, so I never know what the day is going to hold :( I have started having more heartburn, which is causing me to pop Tums like they are sour patch kids.

Eric and I are almost 100% sure on our baby's boy name, so I'm hoping we will reveal it soon! The planner in me is going crazy not having a definite name yet. We have our first baby shower's in the books for July. So excited!! We can't wait to shower this baby with love!

I have another general OB appointment coming up this week, and we have our annual coast trip to Port Aransas with Eric's family coming up too. I am not looking forward to the heat and humidity, but I always love spending time with everyone...maybe in the AC this year though :)

Until next week!