36 weeks: 28 days later

Along: 36 weeks- He is due in 28 days!

Size of baby:  Noah is the size of Crenshaw melon. He could be anywhere from 5-6 pounds and around 18-20 inches. We will know his size at our next sonogram. Nothing really big developing on him anymore- he’s just packing on the chub. His bones are hardening and next week- he’s considered FULL term!

Weight gain: Not sure. I have a big OBGYN appointment on Monday to do the 36 week check up and some different types of tests (all normal). I will know more at next week’s post.

Why hello watermelon under my shirt!

 lukeandashley.wordpress.com

Maternity Clothes:   Yes- love, love, love the pants. I can wear a lot of my old tops- I actually haven’t bought one single item of maternity clothes. They have been loaned to me, given to me, or handed down from my mama. It has been awesome and a great way for us to save money.  

 Gender:  Noah Walker Clem- A BOY!

Movement:  Yes. There are times when Matt will tell me that Noah must not like what I’m doing because you can just watch him karate kick me until I move positions. It has happened when I get a hug from Matt too- doesn’t like the hug- kicks Matt through my stomach. He’s quite the little fighter. I’m pretty sure it makes Matt proud though- Noah will be a wild one.

Sleep: Good. I have to get up and pee at least 2 to 3 times a night which makes a full night of “sound” sleep a little more impossible to achieve. I have slept a lot lately though. Matt and I slept 10 hours on Saturday night. It was WONDERFUL.   

What I miss:     I miss being able to run and runner’s high. I am looking forward to really getting active against once our little nugget Noah arrives. We live right by an amazing running trail that will be Noah and my best friend once he comes along. The trail is very dog, kid, child, and stroller/everything friendly.

Cravings:  Chocolate milk and mochas. Anything chocolate drink related- I’m on board.

Symptoms: I have chronic little pains that shoot through my hips. It causes my legs to do some type of reflex that makes it looks like I’m kicking while sitting. Who knows? I look pretty goofy when it happens. I also have swelling in my feet at the end of the day and occasional Charlie Horses that are PAINFUL.

Best Moment This Week:   We have received some precious/awesome/wonderful gifts already from friends and family for our little nugget. Matt is like a little kid when we receive a package. He usually either puts it together or sports the new item before I get home. He then sends me a picture at work. Now if it is clothes- he does not sport those items. Anyways, these have been some of my favorite moments this week. See the pictures below.

ALSO, baby Noah is going to have a little buddy here in February. Ashley Baker is going to announce the gender this week- which will be a best moment. I’m posting a link to her blog. We could not feel more excited or blessed to have the Baker’s timeline align with ours/God’s (even though Noah was quite the unexpected blessing). These two babies will be best friends and get into a lot of trouble together I’m sure.

Everytime I look in the back of my car I think- yes this is really happening.

Matt sporting the sweet carrier we received. He has been researching these since we found out we were pregnant!

A gift arrives- he puts it together. He loved figuring the stroller out!

The sweet clothes Judi sent us for the shower! :)

Happy Hump Day!

Natalie

35 Weeks: Social Butterfly!

Along: 35 weeks

Size of baby:  Noah is the size of a honey dew melon. His job for the next couple weeks is to continue to plump up. He has about 15% body fat right now; we want him up to 30% by the time he is born. 

Weight gain: 23-25 pounds. Who knows? I am headed back to the doctor a week from Monday, so we will know more then.  

Maternity Clothes:   A mixture of both. I actually enjoy maternity pants a lot. I would definitely continue to wear them if it was socially acceptable. I think all pants should have an expandable waist band. It leaves from for both comfort and growth.

 Gender:  BOY!

Movement:  Yes. Today at work I called over a couple of my co-workers. They watched in amazement as made my whole tummy looked jolly and jiggled like Santa.

Sleep: It’s been great. No complaints. It was funny though- he woke me up this morning with his activity. I think he thought it was time to get up. He would not stop poking around. I tried to adjust to different positions, but ultimately decided that it was time to get up. He’s already getting me ready for when he comes out in October-I will be adjusting to his sleep/awake pattern immediately.  

What I miss:     I miss being able to bend over, paint my toes comfortably, and walk without waddling. Yes, I think I’m quite the waddler these days.  

Cravings:  Chocolate milk, chocolate ice cream, fruit, and vegetables

Symptoms: My sciatic nerve has been acting up along with the hips and back. He’s growing and my body is feeling the aftermath. It’s all worth it and nothing I can’t handle.

Best Moment This Week:   I have been quite the social butterfly since the tax season deadline has ended. I have three favorite moments because of this. First: Matt and I drove to Waco to watch this lovely couple get married on Saturday. It was amazing and wonderfully planned out. They had this around the world theme- the guest book was an old atlas you stamped and wrote your name on. Katelyn put so much hard work and effort into their big day! God was glorified 100%! 

Second: Ashley Baker and Bear Cub were in town on Monday for a doctor’s appointment. We got to have her over for dinner and it too of course was wonderful. It felt like she hadn’t left and we hadn’t skipped a beat. Matt and I both wish College Station was a snap away. Here are the bumps and future best friends hanging out together! 

 

Third: I got to exercise for the first time yesterday since about five weeks with a friend from church named Brittany. We used to walk together at least once every other week, but it had been too long. It’s an amazing walk down by Lake Austin and it was so much fun to get to fellowship with her! She's wonderful and it felt so nice to be sore from exercise  for once.

34 Weeks: P Terry's and Africa

Along: 34 weeks

Size of baby:  Noah is the size of an average cantaloupe. He now weighs about 4.7lbs, and measures about 18 inches top to toe (which is a total gain of 0.5lbs and an entire inch in one week!) Noah’s hearing is now almost fully developed. He can hear all the laughter and noise I make (poor guy). Matt and I have decided that I need to learn how to tone down my voice. I have inherited this trait from both my mom and my dad. The Boysen’s (not Daniel-he’s good a voice monitoring-but Tammy, Jim, and I) have no concept of how loud we talk. Anyways, Noah’s lungs are now fully developed, meaning that if Noah were born today, he would have very few, if any, problems breathing for him/herself. This little nugget would now have a 98% chance of survival if born today. More exciting news- there are now just 42 days till our estimated due date!

Weight gain: 24 pounds! They told me to gain weight, and I did just that. I gained 5 pounds in three weeks. I may have gone a little overboard, but I’m sure it will even out. I have been working to gain weight- eating a lot.  It really hasn’t’ been too tough of work. I just don’t say no to food. I think now I’m going to seek more of a balance. 

Maternity Clothes:   I wear maternity pants and a variety of type of tops. The poison ivy is mostly gone (PRAISE THE LORD), so I’m back to normal work pants! Wednesday was the last day of steroids and I only have a slight itch on two spots on my legs.

 Gender:  A little boy named Noah!

Movement:  Yes. I went to the doctor today (Friday), she looked at me and said- wow, you have quite the active one. He is a crazy kid!

Sleep: It’s been great. Benadryl has still been something I take at nights if I feel the itch is going to be a problem, so I know that has helped. I didn’t take it last night and slept 8 hours. It was wonderful. Everywhere I go I have women tell me to sleep as much as possible now- I’ll never sleep again once he comes. I am going to try to do just that.  

What I miss:     I miss being able to bend over normally and reach my toes. I also miss not feeling full all the time- don’t’ worry, I’ve still been eating-hence the weight gain. I just always feel full!

Cravings:  Chocolate milk- I could drink it by the gallon

Symptoms: Feeling full, peeing 29,000 times a day, leg cramps, the usual

Best Moment This Week:   Matt and I took a date night to P Terry’s on Thursday. It was awesome. We talked about all of our memories from Africa and just had amazing fellowship. The food was wonderful and the company was even better. I highly recommend the burgers there- so fresh! Anyways, the most laughs came from reminiscing about Tyler and Ndola, the town where we helped out at a medical mission. All the kids thought Tyler looked like a professional wrestler named John Sena or something. They would wrestle him day in and day out. Tyler was exhausted by the end of our 4 day Ndola excursion (as were all the rest of us) and was ready to head back to Lusaka. All 16 of us on the trip got together and decided to convince Tyler he would have to wrestle with the kids an extra day- change of plans, we’d be in Ndola for 5 days. We would be headed back to the medical mission. This took art and mastery, and it was hilarious watching his reaction to the thought of having to get beat up (kids jumping, pulling, biting, hitting, tugging on him) once again. I think he finally figured out we were all lying to him as we were on the bus praying for our safety home to Lusaka. We held the joke on for about 3 or 4 hours as our “breakfast was ready.” It was a priceless moment and Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed reliving it on Thursday night! Hope y’all have a wonderful weekend. If you are in Austin, good luck surviving the ACL crowds! 

We can't wait to go back someday and take Noah! :) Here is a small glimpse of what Matt and I were reflecting back on. 

Human Playground!

She's got hair style and sass! :)

Love these kids! They loved any attention/love you had to offer. :)

John Sena- You can't see me anymore! Famous line of the wrestler. We heard it all week!

Tyler getting wrestled.

Peace Love and 6 more weeks,

Natalie

Sneak Preview of Noah Walker

This is a sneak preview of our little man. If you look carefully, his foot is right by his nose-he was munching on his toes. It's a side profile of his face. I tried to edit it and put little arrows since it's hard to really tell what's going on when you first look at it. The best way for me to describe is a side profile of the right side of his face with his big toe going almost into his mouth. Hope to be more regular about posts after Thursdsay! Have a wonderful week!

33 Weeks and a Two Day Delay!

Me with the baby and the baby (Mayberry)!

Sorry for the two day delay. Life has gotten busy with a tax deadline a week away, house sitting duties, and of course just everyday responsibilities.

Along: 33 weeks

Size of baby:  Noah is the size of a pineapple. He is 17 inches and about 4.25 lbs. I’m not sure if Noah actually weighs that much, but he is growing rapidly.  Because of this, I should gain about a pound a week until he comes out.  I still don’t have an outie, and I’m hoping to keep it that way.  I’m quite the preggo looking lady these days- I love when people ask and I get to talk about him. I’m already quite the proud mama!

Maternity Clothes:   I’ve still been wearing skirts and dresses because of my severe poison ivy. It is slowly healing, and I’m so thankful for that. If there was a poison ivy hater club, I’d be president.

 Gender:  A BOY! Noah Walker Clem

Movement:  Yes. Yes. Yes. He is a crazy little boy! Always showing his mama the different moves he can make- sometimes at my expense. He now will kick my ribs causing a sharp pain, but I’m glad he’s active.

Sleep: It’s slowly improving. I’m on Benadryl regularly at night because of the poison ivy itch so that has helped a lot. There are certain sleeping positions I can tell Noah doesn’t care for, so I am constantly having to adjust to make sure both him and I are comfortable. 

What I miss:     Running and exercising. I am hoping to get back to some kind of normalcy once I’m out of tax busy season.

Cravings:  Chocolate milk, Ice water, bananas, chocolate covered bananas (we are addicted- Matt and I fight over them)

Symptoms: Back pain, fatigue, irritability

Best Moment This Week:   Matt and I celebrated our one year anniversary on Monday. We had a couple hiccups over the weekend, so we weren’t able to do anything super special, but he did cook me an amazing steak dinner on Monday night. We are planning on celebrating once I’m past this deadline. I am so thankful for the man God created for me. Matt is a wonderful husband and our first year was amazing. We talked about the good times, the bad times, the funny times, and the lessons learned that Monday night- reflecting on how far we have come. Marriage is such a refining tool. God truly uses it to expose the good, the bad, and the ugly. We both have grown so much over this past year, and set some new goals for the next year that we hope to accomplish.

Hope y’all had an amazing week and a wonderful weekend. We are planning on watching UT beat BYU on Saturday night! J It should be a good game! Oh ya, and Sic ‘em bears!

Amazing Steak Dinner! Matt's steak was much bigger. I was real excited about the mac 'n cheese. :)