Full Term!

38 weeks today and it feels so unreal. This time one year ago, we were starting our second round of IVF in hopes that a modified protocol would work. Little did we know that this round would end in failure too. Ironically, it was cancelled on June 23 (my current due date) and we were left feeling defeated and hopeless. I remember crying all afternoon, wondering if we’d ever get to be parents… if I’d ever get to experience pregnancy. I never would have believed it if you told me I’d be full-term and expecting a baby boy exactly one year later. I’m still pinching myself every day because it feels like a dream. Check out our this amazing picture from our final ultrasound with the MFM doctor:

We had no idea we were going to get this shot! I was 37+3 weeks. The technician casually mentioned that she would try to get a good shot of his face and the screen suddenly transformed to 3D and this image popped up! I think we were both shocked into silence. I felt like crying and just kept thinking, "That's my baby?!?!" What a precious little face! I can't wait to meet him. He was estimated to be 6 lbs. 1 oz. and is measuring right on track. They don't think we'll have any problems with a vaginal birth so now we just wait...

Catch-Up

It's been quite busy over here and I've had a hard time blogging. There is just so much going on and so much to do! First of all, it's summer! YAY! I've been out of school for 2 weeks now and it's been wonderful having time to get things accomplished. 

Baby Shower

My baby shower was beyond amazing! The entire day was like a dream. Catered Mexican food, virgin margaritas, children's books galore, literacy themed decor, all of the most important people in my life, and a special painting made by my best friend that was used as the guest book. I loved every second of the day and didn't want it to end. My friends really outdid themselves. I'm so thankful that my best friend put the extensive amount of time and effort into this shower to make sure it was everything I dreamed it would be (and so much more). 

We were truly showered with so many awesome gifts. Between the gifts we got and all of the gift cards, we've barely spent a dime of our own money prepping for "Little M." Mr. Merman's work threw him a celebratory surprise shower in which they popped champagne and gifted him one massive gift card. My work shower was pretty awesome, as well. They had lots of gluten-free options for me to eat and each grade level/team gave us a gift card or something off the registry. My favorite gift was a handmade Dr. Seuss bib and burp cloth. They really know the way to a teacher-mom's heart. :) 

House Construction

I don't even want to talk about this one, to be honest. The dining room is finally finished and it was such a relief to be able to get it back in order. But, the bathroom construction has been taking so long. The most frustrating part is that the project manager doesn't seem to be checking the paperwork (insurance claim and his company's quoted details). We've really had to stay on him and make sure everything is being done the way it was planned. 

Finished Dining Room

There have been quite a few hiccups along the way. Construction in the bathroom began on May 15. It began with demolition but wasn't completely demolished the way it should have been. Someone had to come back at a later date to finish that up, which pushed back our start date because nothing could be done until the demolition was complete. The tile guys installed the new tile in the shower floor while we were at work. Unfortunately, it was the wrong tile because of a mix-up with the sku numbers at the store. If one of us had been here, we probably could have caught it before they put it in. The store was very compliant and replaced it with the correct tile, free of charge. But replacing it cost us a few days of work. Believe it or not, the bullnose tile was also incorrect thanks to the labels being misplaced at the store. But we caught this one before they put it in.

The painter spent an entire day painting the whole bathroom and left without painting the trim, baseboard, etc. So, we had to push things back another day so that he could come in and complete that. The mirror was cracked when they were replacing the counter top so now we're having to get that replaced. In the midst of all the chaos, both or our sink faucets were damaged. We agreed to buy new faucets (we were wanting new ones anyways) but the company was going to charge us for the installation of these. *gasp* NO SIR! I had to call and fight for this one yesterday. "They were damaged during construction. We would not be spending the money to replace these right now if they had not been broken. This wasn't our choice or money we wanted to spend. Yes, we'd like for you to cover the cost." They replaced them this afternoon, at their own expense. 

Before

During Demolition

At this point, things are mostly complete. I let them know that I was full-term and needed this bathroom to be as close to finished as possible because a hugely pregnant woman needs a couple more relaxing bubble baths before giving up her privacy to a child. They've done pretty good making sure this happens. The maids came out today to clean everything up. I am now convinced that I need maids in my life on the regular. They dusted the blinds and the light fixtures... two things I keep putting off. My bathroom has never been so clean! 

All that's left is the glass shower enclosure and door, a new mirror, putting the door to the toilet room back on, and putting metal plates where the new floor meets the bedroom and closet carpet. I'd like to feel confident that it will be done before "M" arrives but I truly don't think it will be. The company can't get their act together enough to get with us on pricing of the shower glass. 

But, at least I can take a bath tonight!

Bathroom After... but not quite finished

I'm thankful to have the time off so I can be home to oversee everything and take care of my puppy. But it's stressful to constantly have people in and out of the house. I'm having to get up early each morning to make sure I'm dressed before they arrive. I'm unable to leave to run errands or take the dog for a walk at the park. Worst of all, I can't nap whenever I want and I want to nap ALL DAY! 

Also, there's paint on the tile that didn't come off when the maids cleaned so we'll have to ask about that... 

Nursery

As of today, the nursery is officially done! It's been a work in progress and I'm so happy with the final results. It took a while to organize everything since it's such a tiny little room but we made it work. As Mr. Merman says, "It's the most finished room in the house. This is where it's all gonna happen!" 

Me/Baby/Pregnancy

I feel pretty good most of the time. However, there have been a few rough days that left me wondering if I was going to make it through the final stretch. I'm having Braxton Hicks every night starting around 7 PM. They usually last the entire night as I'm still having them during my trips to the bathroom at 1:30 and 5 AM. It's not painful but can be uncomfortable and sometimes causes back pain. They also make it hard for me to get up and move around. Therefore, if I want to get anything done, it has to be done during the day. 

Merbaby is in position for birth! But he's face-up which means that I should expect back labor. My midwife told me that the back pain during Braxton Hicks could be because of his positioning, as well. She advised that I pay close attention to the pain because any big changes could indicate early labor. In my mind, back labor = epidural! After taking all of the birthing classes, I was feeling good about trying to go natural for as long as possible. But the idea of back labor does not sound appealing. It's already bad enough with the Braxton Hicks. I don't think I could endure hours of this with even more pain. No, thank you!

One of my best friends came over last week to help me prep some freezer meals for after baby is born. We made four meals: chicken enchiladas, shredded buffalo chicken (for sandwiches), chicken broccoli rice casserole, and picante chicken chili. My goal is to make a couple more in the next couple of weeks if Merbaby doesn't come early. (Hopefully he won't have bad acid reflux with all these spicy meals).

We were supposed to have maternity pictures taken around 35 weeks but the weather didn't cooperate so we had to reschedule for last weekend. Having pictures taken at 37 weeks had me super nervous! I was afraid of going into labor before getting the pictures taken. Seeing as this will probably be my only pregnancy, I was desperate to have beautiful pictures to document it. A good friend of ours took the pictures and I totally bought the long flowing, open-belly dress. I can't wait to see what they look like! I'll definitely be printing some to hang around the house. Now that the nursery is finished, I think I'd like to get Mr. Merman to take a few of me in there with the puppy, as well.  

Sneak-Peek of an unedited shot

Other Pregnancy News

"Freezer meal friend" is now about 17 weeks pregnant. We had her sex-reveal party this weekend and found out that she's having a girl! It'll be the first girl in our group of friends, as Merbaby is boy #3. Another friend just had her 12 week appointment last week and will be finding out the sex of her baby soon. Lastly, another friend told me that she's pregnant today. I'm extremely happy for her! Especially because she has stage 4 endometriosis and had been told that it would be difficult for her to get pregnant. She actually started seeing my RE a few months ago and had planned to start IUIs this month if she wasn't pregnant. I helped her learn how to track her cycle and time sex with ovulation and it worked! She got pregnant on her own! As happy as I am for her, I'm feeling overwhelmed with all of the pregnant people in my life. I don't think I'd be able to survive this if I wasn't pregnant right now. 

To be honest, I'm feeling extremely jealous. As my pregnancy is coming close to an end, I'm feeling more and more emotional about it. I have loved being pregnant and constantly pause to admire my belly in the mirror. I'm not ready to say goodbye to pregnancy forever. This would be so much easier if I knew we'd be able to do it again. I plan to embrace every last second of this pregnancy, false contractions and all!