34 weeks

We're at the 34 week mark, and Elijah is doing well. He's still moving regularly, and in addition, I've had more Braxton-Hicks contractions this week than the entire pregnancy combined. Sometimes they are quite inconvenient, occurring around midnight for some reason, and though irregular, lasting longer than I wished. Afterwards, Elijah seems agitated and gets all busy, moving around. I guess they wake him up and he is complaining. :-) The sinus crud of months ago has returned with a vengeance and I'm struggling with coughing and yucky nose syptoms. right now. I'm hoping it will quickly improve, and know lots of folks are dealing with the same thing. I feel your pain. It's no fun not being able to breathe.

Thankfully, we had something fun to look forward to, despite my feeling less-than-stellar this week. Yesterday we were so blessed to have friends that James works with at Children's NICU give us a baby shower. Some of the folks we'd hoped to meet were unable to make it due to family and work commitments, but there were still several ladies there, as well as Greg, the other male nurse that works with James, and his closest friend at work. We met at the Olive Garden and enjoyed a great lunch there, visiting with nurses and respiratory therapists from his shift. We all had great cheesecake bites one of the nurses brought for dessert. Then they showered us with such amazing gifts, we were moved to tears. Many people he works with, from his shift, and even other shifts, contributed towards the presents we received. Our favorite, and the most generous, was a gift card to get the nice convertible car seat we'd hoped to save money towards and get at a later date. We were overwhelmed, since the ladies who had coordinated it had told James they wanted to get us something "big" but we were certainly not expecting more than the car seat, if they were able to do that much. They sure went above and beyond, giving us sweet outfits, diapers and wipes, toys, blankets, pacifiers, and all kinds of cute and useful baby boy items. The kids and I loved getting to visit with the people James spends so much time with, and it was so nice seeing how much his co-workers think of James and how they honored him. We're very, very thankful indeed!

30 weeks

Our fabulous friends gave us a baby shower/brunch today. It was overwhelmingly beautiful, with tons of good food, and precious fellowship. We received many sweet gifts and were so touched at the work that was put into making it a very special occasion as we celebrate this little boy we can't wait to meet! Numerous friends were there, including Julie, my best friend since high school, and even a former first grade student and her mom. My parents and brother came too, as well as an aunt and cousin, so that was all awesome! Here are a few pictures, with more coming later probably.

This 30th week of the pregnancy has been a nice one, with milder temperatures, and James home from work. Elijah is still moving a ton, and hangs out pretty much on the right side of my belly. Sometime it looks super weird, with the big lump that is him, being so lopsided. :-) I've felt pretty good overall, just feeling somewhat uncomfortable trying to sleep, but know it's not for much longer...and that's really been a sad realization! I have loved being pregnant again, and sharing this time with Elijah inside of me is something hard to describe. It's a relationship neither of us will ever have with another person in the same way, and is just a unique blessing. I'm so, so grateful.