39 Week Bumpdate! Featuring Henrik

I literally bought this dress over a decade ago. Can you believe that?? Anyway so it's long gone haha sorry. Also all my outfit posts recently have featured mostly black clothes...What can I say, it's so easy! I promise I do wear other colors haha sometimes. 

Here we are! My (potentially) last bumpdate before baby arrives. It's been a little crazy lately, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Well, at least most of the time haha.

We've been trying to spend as much time as we can relishing in our last few days as a family of three while still trying to be productive. The new closet room/office is about 95% set-up, Henrik's room is 100% cleaned and reorganized, and the nursery is like 50% there haha. We have a place for me to nurse and change diapers and those are the essentials! Last night I worked on organizing her clothes by size and hanging up/folding what we'll need for the first few months. I'm sure I'll end up re-organizing her room numerous more times but for now, it's functional. Chris was a hero and installed car seats and did some rearranging of those so now we have a way to get the baby home from the hospital. I suppose that's important?

This past Saturday, we took Henrik to the Jingle Rails exhibit at a museum in Indy (lots of cool holiday model trains) and he LOVED that. My parents came along and Henrik spent most of the time being held by Baba (Grandpa) or searching for him. The trains were also a big hit don't worry haha. When he saw that we were approaching the train exhibit, he went from walking to running. It was fun to see him enjoy the exhibit as much as we thought he would. Afterwards, we went and got tamales, which were delicious. It was a perfect last big outing as a family of three and I'm so glad my parents came.

On Sunday after church (just a few hours after we took these photos), my blood pressure was really quite high and wasn't going down. I called the doctor on-call and she had me come in to check the protein in my urine and be monitored for a while. Chris stayed home with Henrik since he was napping so my mom drove me to the hospital and kept me company while I was monitored. My blood pressure readings there were a bit high, but not as bad as they had been and I had no protein in my urine. After they watched me and baby for close to two hours, I was allowed to go home. But since my blood pressure is now becoming more of an issue than it was, I really could have the baby anytime.

Since then, I've had lots of contractions. Some painful, some just uncomfortable. My blood pressure remains high, but not high enough to warrant going back to the hospital. I keep hoping she will decide to just come on her own rather than being induced, but who knows. She is quite low in my pelvis so my hips are really sore. I went to the chiropractor yesterday to get adjusted and that helped significantly. Now I should be all aligned for the delivery, which is a relief.

Yesterday, Henrik had a mild stomach bug for the first time. It caught me off-guard and caused quite a bit of anxiety since I worried about the rest of us getting it, particularly the baby if she comes this week. Thankfully, my mom was around to help and Henrik acted like himself despite being sick. He has fully recovered now and so far, we have all stayed healthy. Which has been such a blessing! This time of year is so anxiety-ridden for me with illnesses going around and having young kids, especially a newborn. But I'm hopeful we'll be able to keep everyone healthy. Fingers crossed!

Henrik seems totally ready to take on his role as big brother, even though he has no real concept of what that entails. We had three friends all have baby girls about a month an a half ago and he gets sooooo excited when he sees them and yells "baby!" (one of his best words). He loves to read the books we have about babies/older siblings and takes excellent care of his baby doll. He carries the doll around, tucks him in for nap time, changes his diaper, feeds him, reads to him, etc. It's adorable. I really hope it at least somewhat translates to baby sister haha. He loves to hug my belly and occasionally bite it, so that's good too. I'm really looking forward to seeing them together, even though it's bittersweet giving up being able to give Henrik our full attention and care. I know it'll be worth it, but it's still hard sometimes.

The other night, Henrik only wanted me to hold him before bed (a rarity, he usually prefers Chris) so I took full advantage of the snuggles. I couldn't help but cry as I thought about all the hours I spent in his room, holding and rocking him to sleep. He's quickly outgrowing that phase so it's really precious to me when he still wants that closeness. He truly is the sweetest.

In a few days, both my siblings and their spouses will be here and we CANNOT WAIT! It's been a while since we've all been together so we have many fun things planned. I have a feeling it will be the best Christmas yet!

Hopefully my next baby update will be her birth story! But we shall see. 

Sitting: Next to Henrik while he is "fishing" in a laundry basket with his fishing pole.
About: To start making dinner.
Feeling: Some cramping/contractions. If only they'd get stronger!
Days Until Christmas/Baby: 6!!