36 Weeks

It's BUMPDAAAAAY!

I cannot believe we didn't think of this until now!  Every Wednesday I get a new bump picture and today Julie said "Happy BUMPday" and we both cracked up.  

Here's the 36 Week BUMPdate: 3/26/14 -

and the side-by-side:

This week Kamdyn is packing on the weight - at the rate of about 1 ounce per day!!  She now weighs almost 6 lbs and is more than 18.5 inches long.  She's about the size of a head of romaine lettuce.

She is shedding her "fuzz" in preparation for birth and aside from her skull, the rest of her skeleton has hardened and it ready for her grand debut.  Her muscle tone improves each day and she is more and more ready to live outside her kangaroo's pouch each day!!

At this point, we have less than 3 weeks until she arrives.  Actually 18 days, but who's counting?!  Those of you who are following me on Instagram or Facebook know that we put the final touches on her room this last week - the one word that has gotten us to this point in this journey.  I love it so much!

2 more BUMPdates until go time!

Lots of Love -

35 Weeks

Here is the 35 {gasp} Week BUMPdate: 3/19/14

and the side-by-side:

That looks lots bigger and lots lower if you ask me.  Like L-O-T-S.  Poor Kanga.  :(  Just for kicks, I asked her if she would send me a front view.  It's so strange because I only see her from this one side all the time, so I was just curious.

She is one of those people who even at their most uncomfortable stages of pregnancy is still so adorable.  I just love it!

Kamdyn is tipping the scales at 5 1/4 lbs and over 18 inches long - or about the size of a honeydew melon this week.

She is running out of room in there - just so squished!  Because she doesn't have much room, she isn't likely to be doing complete flips anymore, which is just fine with us because as of her last appointment, she was head down!  ((huge sigh of relief!))  Her kidneys are fully developed now and her liver is able to process some waste product.  Her basic physical development is mostly complete as of now and she will spend the next 4 weeks putting on weight.

And as a special little treat today - we got some ultrasound pictures of little miss this week.

A little kiss for all my people.  :)

Her toes.

And a scrunched up profile.  She's running out of room fast!  But she's so adorable!!

We're on spring break here in Iowa - so I'm enjoying my time relaxing, catching up on some things around home, eating lunch at a leisurely pace, and doing some final preparations for this little diva to come home with us.  25 days to go.  CRAZINESS.

Lots of Love -

34 Weeks

Here is the BUMPdate for this week - 3/12/14:

And the side-by-side from last week:

Only 5 Weeks until she's here?!  Actually less now...!  That is so insane!  :)

This week Kamdyn is now about 4 3/4 pounds and almost 18 inches long.  She's about the size of a cantaloupe these days.

Her fat layers are filling out, which will allow her to better regulate her temperature when she's born.  Her central nervous system and lungs continue to mature and develop each day.

As each day ticks by, I get more and more excited for her to get here!  Today is my last day of school before spring break!  I'm anxious to spend the next week putting the final touches on getting ready for this little bean to come home.  Some laundry, sorting clothes, packing her bag for the hospital, and plenty of sleeping!

We only have 4 more BUMPdates until you all get to "meet" her!!  The countdown is on!

Finally Friday

I feel like I've once again fallen off the blog bandwagon.  I'm pretty proud of myself that I haven't missed or been late for a BUMPdate in 33 weeks.  That's good stuff.

Know what else is good stuff?  That is finally Friday.  And that next Friday I'll officially be on Spring Break.  Hallelujah!  Spring Break is a huge benchmark every year - kind of the signal that the end of the year is coming...but especially this year.  I have 4 (FOUR?!) Monday's left to work this school year.  That is completely insane to me.  Also, once Spring Break comes, that signals the end of the L-O-N-G nine weeks since I've seen Julie and Kamdyn.  It was possibly the most difficult part of February for me.  I got spoiled in January when I spent a whole weekend with her, being able to see her face-to-face, feel her belly, chat with her whenever I wanted, hear her awesome honking laugh, snuggle her kiddos, get bear hugs from Dan - just be close to her.  On the day they left, I lost my mind.  I was sobbing in their hotel room.  I couldn't even talk to her belly because I couldn't get myself together.  It was awful.  But with each passing day, I realized that this is going to be the last long period of time I will have to be away from Kamdyn for a very long time - hopefully until she's an adult.  That thought made things a little more bearable.  The last weekend of Spring Break I will get to see Julie & crew and every weekend after that until delivery too.  Three more weeks.  I can do this.

This weekend is going to be a great chance for me to get caught up and do some much needed relaxing.  I'm pretty excited for that.  :)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, friends!

33 Weeks

Here is the 33 Week BUMPdate - 3/5/14:

Poor Kanga - her whole family is sick and she's not feeling well either...she is so sweet! She actually apologized that this is a different background! :)

And the side-by-side from last week:

I have lots of new friends from Kelly's Korner that I linked up with last week on Infertility - so to all of you, WELCOME!   Thanks for taking time to care about our little family.  I am so happy you're here!  :)

On to the BUMPdate, she's passed the 17 inch mark and is now about 4 lbs - about the size of a pineapple!

She's very quickly losing the skinny, alien look as she fattens up and fills out.  Her skeleton is hardening (except for her skull of course) and she gets a little more ready to live outside of her Kanga each day.

We are less than 6 weeks from meeting this little miracle and to be honest, some days are really hard. I just find myself longing to hold her in my arms and I miss her every single day.  Most mommies get to feel their little bean moving and feel connected to them daily - mine is hundreds of miles from me and there have been times recently that I've felt sad about that.  The good news is that In about 3 weeks, Julie and I will get to see each other once per week until delivery thanks to some well-planned out trips on both of our parts.  :)

I think that's it for today, friends!

32 Weeks

Here is the 32 week BUMPdate: 2/26/14

And the side-by-side from last week:

I feel like her belly looks bigger and lower...in fact, when she sent it I replied back with "please don't go into labor yet"

We have less than 7 weeks until induction day!  Crazy!!  She is about 3 3/4 lbs and around 17 inches from head to heel - about the size of a jicama...not a clue what that is, but here is a picture

New this week is her ability to distinguish temperature, her eyes are blue {all babies eyes are blue at this point in their development}, and thanks to her recently developed lungs and developing immune system - 90% of babies who are born in their 32nd week survive - WAHOO!!  ((lets be clear, we still would like her to keep baking for awhile to make sure she's as healthy as possible when she arrives.))  She is going to gain about 1/3 to 1/2 of her total weight in the next few weeks before delivery.

In other news, the crib is up.  This would not have been possible without my brother-in-law Rob and his little helper Maicey!

 And here's the room right now.  We have TONS of work left to do...even though this picture doesn't look like it.  What you can't see is to the left of this picture - a twin bed, a dresser, and a nightstand jammed in the corner...not to mention loads of laundry, lots of baby stuff to find a home for...just a lot of work to do.  But this is progress, and I'll take it.  :)

Have a great day, Friends -

Infertility Bites

Welp between the title of the post and this excellent piece of clipart to the left here, that pretty much sums up my feelings on infertility.  I continue to be amazed at the ways God has used and continues to use my story to help other people.  While there are some days I question why on Earth I put my entire life on the internet for complete strangers to read, more days than not I am humbled that I have a story that touches other people's lives and helps them make some sense of their own.

Anyway, I'm linking up with Kelly over at Kelly's Korner today for another addition of Show Us Your Life - and this week is on infertility.  I love to read her SUYL series because it gives you a quick glimpse into other people's story - and I love that!

Back to infertility.  I'm not going to go on and on repeating nonsense that many of you have read before...sooooo, I'm just going to direct you to the top of this page and click on Kamdyn's Story for anyone who hopped over here from Kelly's blog and are looking for our infertility story.  I hope that Kamdyn's story will give hope to those of you in the middle of this struggle and serve as a reminder to those of us not in the middle of infertility that God's plans are often far better than our own and that good people still do walk this Earth.  I pray every single day for families {specifically mama's} who are in the midst of the anguish, embarrassment, shame, and hardship of infertility.

"While it is not the road we chose for ourself, I have found strength in two things: 1. that I'm not alone, no matter how alone I feel.  And 2. when I feel as though I'm in the depths of a valley, the only place to look is up."

Enjoy!