Sophie Ann Barron

Born November 24, 2011 at 1:02 pm

Weighing 4 pounds 2 ounces

16 3/4 inches long

Born 3 weeks early; perfectly healthy, just teeny!

Almost there... 37 weeks!

3 weeks left... And I sure am feeling it!

Baby Sophie is getting so big! She's about the size of a small watermelon... YIKES!

Today's 37 week Dr. appointment was a little frustrating. My belly was measuring small (34-35 cm), and my blood pressure was ubber high. I'm not allowed to do anything! I have to sit or lay around the apartment and literally do NOTHING. Stinks, huh?

So here I sit... blogging... and reading random articles online... and looking at all the things in my bedroom that I still want to clean/organize/decorate before Sophie comes. Yeah, I'm frustrated. But you know what? I can't complain... not really. I've had a wonderful pregnancy! I've been very blessed to have enjoyed every part of this experience, up until now, and that's pretty amazing. I am truly grateful for this time in my life. I need to just suck it up now and realize that I can't do it ALL, even though I want to. I've made it this far without any complications, and that should be enough, right? Right. Okay, I'll hush up.

Baby Sophie has been active, active, active! She sure loves to dance and do a little shimmy every day! It makes me laugh sometimes when I can see her little bum sticking out. I give it a little rub and she sticks it out even farther. Such a sweet babe already. I love my little girl. I can't believe how close we are to meeting her!

Drew is getting anxious. He's been running all of the potential scenarios in his mind... He wants to make sure he has all his bases covered and that we'll be set when the baby comes. We even took a tour of the Labor & Delivery unit of the hospital last week and saw and talked with a nurse about the birthing suites and the labor and delivery process. We found out that the hospital has birthing balls, a Jacuzzi, and many other things to help make labor as comfortable as possible (if only!). I'm very happy with what we'll be walking into.

I talked with my doc today about the options for induction, too! He said we could schedule a tentative induction date on my due date! Apparently, they don't like moms to go past due if they can help it. That was good news. So, AT THE LATEST, Sophie will be here on December 12th or 13th (give or take some time for labor)... just 3 weeks away!
Here's a photo from 36 weeks:

Nerd glasses.

Poor Drew had been living with wearing the most terrible glasses ever because we hadn't been able to get him a new pair. Both of his old pairs had broken, so we realized that duct tape could no longer work and we needed to fork out the money for an eye exam and new glasses.

Drew went from a pair of glasses that were held together with duct tape (then the lens wouldn't stay in) to wearing a pair that didn't even have one of the arms to hold them onto his face.... Poor, poor Drew. I'm an awful wife for making him put up with those nasty broken glasses!

But, good news! We went to the optometrist on Friday and got him some new glasses! We picked them up yesterday and he looks so stinking cute. The lady that helped Drew choose the frames called them "cool nerd glasses". I think they're cute. And he looks like a stud:

35 weeks down, 5 to go!

I can't believe we're SO CLOSE! Soph could come any time now and she would be a healthy babe.

I can't believe how big my belly is getting! I can sure feel how cramped that baby is getting... poor sweetheart. As for news on the momma, I'm feeling pretty good! I'm tired a lot and I have pretty bad back pains, but it all comes with the territory so I don't have much place to complain. I signed up for this! Maybe I should give Drew more credit for how much he has to put up with my complaining, though....

As for this babe... Here's "the latest":

"Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight." -Baby Center

"Congratulations! You’re now carrying over 5 pounds of baby-goodness - not counting their amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord, or the placenta itself. Developmentally, your wee womb-tenant has the fat-factory running at full tilt while their digestive system puts the finishing touches on critical organs in preparation for their first meal (remember - before birth, all of their nutrition was blood via the umbilical cord)." -Baby Gaga

A Baby Shower!

Today my sweet friend, Josalyn, threw me a baby shower!  It was a ton of fun and Sophie received some great gifts from my friends.
We got some awesome stuff for our babe like:
-onesies
-diapers
-baby lotion and wash
-very cute outfits
-blankets
-toys
-hair accessories
and so much more!

Our Soph will be the best dressed and best smelling baby ever!  I have the most wonderful friends!  There were a few moms there, too, which was a huge help.  I also received some great advice from all of the girls; my favorite pieces of advice were: keep the Lord involved in every moment of motherhood; and pray for the Lord's advice and help instead of always seeking it elsewhere.  See?  My friends are the best.
We played games and ate yummy snacks, and even got to get to know each other a little bit better.  We had a great time!  Here are some photos from the wonderful shower!

Deep Love... A Ghostly Folk Opera

Saturday night, Drew took me on a date!  He bought tickets for us to go to an opera... Totally his idea.  I was really excited, but not as excited as he was about this date.  I'll tell you why:  Last year, Drew heard about this "folk opera" from one of his professors who said it was absolutely amazing.  Two students, one being a Political Science major that Drew knows, created this show from scratch; every single melody and idea is completely original.  Who wouldn't be enthusiastic about an opportunity like that?!

So we drove out to Idaho Falls (30 mins... it's the largest "city" in the immediate area), and went for dinner at Five Guys Burgers and Fries.  YUM.  Did you know that all of their potatoes for the fries come straight from Idaho?  Every time.  So if you ever go to a Five Guys near you, check out where the potatoes are from on the white board next to the cash registers.  I'll bet we would know exactly where they're from!  Sorry, I'll get back on topic.  Those burgers were absolutely amazing.  There aren't many burger places out here, so when we find a good one, we stick to it.  I think we found a winner.  All in all, dinner was fantastic.

We walked into the theater where the opera was being shown and were welcomed by the gloomiest crew we've ever encountered.  Each person working for the show was dressed in all black and had face makeup on that made them look dead.  It was... really kinda creepy.  But way cool.  We were in for a great show!

Once the show started, we were mesmerized.  The music was amazing.  The voices were beautiful and captivating.  We had never heard or seen anything of that nature; it was morbid but intriguing.  Drew and I kept looking over at each other with mouths wide open - we were in awe!  By intermission we were sold.  We loved the show so much already and were anxious for the rest!  We weren't let down at all; the whole show kept our attention and we couldn't stop talking about it the whole night.  Here are some pictures of us before heading out - all decked out in our "funeral apparel":

Drew insisted on a "serious face" one... HAHAHA

If you're at all interested in this opera, you should check it out online!  You can read the whole handbill given us at the show (telling the plot from beginning to end), listen to some of the amazing original music, and read about the authors of the opera.  Deep Love Opera <-- Click there to go to the site!

After the show we went shopping in Rexburg.  We shouldn't have, but we got a bit carried away.  We went into Walmart for maybe 3 things, and came out with about 14.  Everything was on our "list", though.  I think....

We had a wonderful date night!  I sure love nights out with Drew.  He really is the perfect date and is so silly and fun and interesting!  I can't wait for our next date night!