Living the Smith Family Dream: Countdown 5...Finally

So I haven't updated in a LONNNNNGGG time but it's been for good reasons. We've just been soo soo busy. Since I last updated we had our first infant care class on the 28th. It wasn't really what we expected actually. I was hoping for more of how to change an infant, how to feed an infant, how to hold one, etc. But we mostly watched videos about SIDS and swaddling. I didn't learn too much EXCEPT that you cannot put sunscreen on an infant. We had our second class this past week and we watched more videos about baby proofing the house and learning what each different cry means. We also did infant CPR which Justin and I both knew already but was good to get a refresher. Justin did learn some from this class so it wasn't so bad. He also said he wants to practice swaddling and diaper changing which makes me happy.
I've also started my practicum at St. Joe's. I'm on the labor and delivery unit and I get to follow a nurse around for a total of 84 hours. It's generally 12 hour shifts but because of work I'm going to be doing some 8 hour shifts instead. I've only had three shifts so far but I've done a lot already in those shifts. I've seen a regular vaginal delivery, a vaginal delivery with forceps and twins being delivered vaginally in the OR in case a c-section was necessary. I've also been able to experience triage nursing and I've learned a lot of new and practiced a lot of old skills. And I finally saw a delivery with a midwife which I think was great. It was on a slow day so she was able to stay the entire time she was pushing (the vaginal delivery I saw during OB the doc came in just before the baby was born) and she was just all around amazing. I still have about 50 hours to go but it's pretty awesome so I'm not too worried. I've established that no matter what I'm delivering at St. Joe's. While GBMC is okay to deliver at, I just love L&D at St. Joe's and I know we'll be well taken care of there. And one of the other doctor's has already said that if my doctor is at GBMC that day, she'll deliver me because she does him favors all the time anyway :) so I'm pretty happy about that. I've yet to see a patient deliver without pain meds, but I really hope I do get to experience that before I attempt it on my own.
Aside from my practicum, my online class started on the 26th. It's not really too much work right now, but it is difficult remembering when i have to log on to get my assignments in. We also have 3 papers to do for that class, one of which is due this Friday, so it's a little more time consuming that I originally thought. But I'm gonna go ahead and say that if I had to take this class next semester I'd not be too happy because it would be a lot more time consuming then.
So far, I'm still working too. In fact, my first day of practicum I left at 5 and went home, ate really quickly, and went straight to work for the Legwarmers. It was an extremely long night and by the end of the night I was exhausted. So exhausted that I slept in REALLY late the next day and we missed church yet again. I also worked this past sunday and I plan to work on Tuesday (for the Beastie Boys) and on Friday. I'm on the schedule for next week as well and after that it will be a play it by ear type deal.
As far as the countdown goes, I was officially 35 weeks last Tuesday. This is definitely a triumph because 35 weeks is the point at which they will not try to stop your contractions if you go into labor because the baby will most likely be fine. My 35 week appointment was pretty uneventful but the doctor did inform me that my check ups will now be every week (starting this week) and that he will start checking to see if I'm dilating at each visit. I hear this is kind of uncomfortable, but I'm still kind of excited to see if anything is going on. He should also be able to tell us if the baby is head down and how big he is. So I'm even more excited. And I say us because Justin is taking off of work for this visit so he'll be with me :) Justin has also started leaving his phone at the desk when he goes to the gym at work with the instructions to get him if his phone rings and it's me calling.
More on the baby front, he's definitely running out of room in there. I can feel him poking out everywhere and his movements are so strong now that sometimes it's painful (he's busy shifting around as we speak). The acid reflux is also back with full force. Twice in one week I woke up as I was about to vomit, but I was able to control it. I'm eating probably WAY too many TUMS these days. but I'm not tooo concerned about that. My stretch marks are also stretching more which is disheartening, but I know it's for a good cause. It's just going to be really tough post delivery when they're still there. I'm at the point now where I'm confident in saying I'll probably never wear a bikini again. It's amazing how much this stuff changes you.
In more news, my family's baby shower was this past weekend. It seemed like forever ago that we started planning it and it seemed like it would be forever until it got here but alas June 6th arrived. After rain all week, we were blessed with some sunshine and warmer weather for the big day. We had a great turn out, lots of food, and got some great gifts. We got tons of small things like lotions, bibs, cotton swabs, medicines, toys etc, we got all of our bathroom stuff including a tub seat for baby, a tub side seat for me and justin, AND the potty :), and we even got a few big items like the swing and infant seat and of course the stroller and carseat. Justin's mom and dad made pictures for the nursery (hand painted and the frames hand made) of the animals on his bedding set, and we got a lot more gifts that my mind is just blanking on. It turned out to be a GREAT day overall and we are so thankful and blessed to have everyone there to support us and to help us prepare for this next step in our lives.
On Sunday we finally were able to get to church, and I'm glad we did because we got to see our friends Rob and Sharon have their little guy Lucas Ryan baptized by Pastor Paul. It was amazing how good this baby was and how wide eyed and content he was when Pastor Paul took him around to introduce him to the congregation. We were glad to share this moment with them and we were also glad to see some of our friends that we haven't seen in a while. When we came home, we made a trip to Babies R Us to return a few things that we got doubles of (and I must say this was much easier than people have told me.. we had no problems at all) and then we headed home to relax for a bit. While at home, my brother called and invited us over for dinner that he grilled up and we of course couldn't turn down a good skewer meal :) So when we finally got back, I had to head off to work and Justin was able to relax for the rest of the day. I got to work and when I came in, one of the bartenders Krysta told me to shut my eyes. She led me into the venue and up to the main bar where all of the bartenders were waiting to yell surprise. They all had gotten there early to set up so they could use the hour before doors opened to throw me a surprise shower. I totally was not expecting it (and if you were there you'd know because I turned tomato red) but it definitely put a HUGE smile on my face. They had gotten us gifts (the pack and play, a diaper bag, the baby sling for me, two memory frames, and a onesie that says ' I take my bottles shaken not stirred') and even had a cake and flowers there. Krysta definitely put a lot of effort into it and I'm sooooo thankful for it. It definitely made my day!! The best part is, Justin knew the whole time and didn't slip once. He even made up a story earlier that day about how it was supposed to be bad weather late last night so he wanted me to take his car to work, meanwhile it was sunny out with not a cloud in the sky, but I still fell for it. AND while we were in babies r us, he spotted Krysta there getting the gifts and hid it really well and even had a story planned if I questioned why he jumped in front of me the way he did and why he wouldn't let me look around. ha ha. I was truly impressed.
Today I put the pack and play together and organized some of the baby shower stuff but our house is still a wreck with things everywhere (after I spent two days cleaning last week.. .like literally scrubbing the floors). We again put the pool table on craigslist hoping for a buyer because will all the stuff we have now, we definitely could use the room. Tomorrow I'll be 36 weeks (so just four more to go and just 28 days at that) and I'm definitely keeping up with the countdown.
As far as pictures go, they're at the top but it's late and I have to be up early so I'll organize and label them on Wednesday or Thursday. I'll also add this week's picture and pictures from the baby shower when I do.
I hope everyone has a great week!!

Pictures from the O's and Nat's game at National's Stadium