Enter! 3rd Trimester!

And so it has happened, we are now on the last stretch before the arrival of our little Nikolai. 28 weeks done and only 12 left to go. The anticipation is building, and yet, neither of us quite feel ready. This is our last 3 months, just the two of us. But to be able to hold our little guy, see his fingers and his toes, we cannot wait for that. It seems so much more final now. I have a doctors appointment in 1 week, 6 more to go before the arrival of Nikolai. The time is going to fly by, and we still have so many preparations to do!

And, we have begun our preparations for him to enter the world. I have spent about $150 on diapers and wipes from size newborn to 2. Yet I do not have much for newborn and only a box of wipes. The last purchase I made on diapers (Friday), I spent $103 and felt I was going to faint. Sadly that was only on one big value box of 1's and a big value box of 2's and 512 wipes. But it averaged to about $0.04 per diaper after $3 in coupons. That so far is about the cheapest I think I have spent on diapers! And I still spent a lot! I guess the realization of the cost of a baby is starting to kick in. I told Brandon the cost over the phone, and I just felt horrible. He had just gotten paid, $100, gone. I knew it was going to be costly, but it doesn't really settle until after you actually spend the money. 

The day I went to purchase the diapers, I had noticed that some pieces of bedroom furniture we had registered for had gone on clearance. That of course did not help me and my case of 'eek! spending money!'. We wound up going back on Saturday and buying the changing table/dresser. But, I had a 20% off coupon and saved about $70 on the thing. I am glad we went back to get it. There was none in stock at the store and the distribution center only had 31 left! I wonder how many distribution centers there are, and how fast these pieces would go. But, at least we have that one piece. And of course, spent over $300! I am just going to have an anxiety attack, and the baby is going to come early. Thank goodness for baby showers, or else most babies would probably be early! Hey, if he comes on the 9th, Brandon would be so happy! The anniversary he proposed!

And we are still doing our Bradley exercises (mostly). Unlike Sunday night, when I did not get off work until 10:15pm. He was in bed asleep. Ooops for not doing them earlier... We still have a page (or 2) to do in the workbook. Writing down what we can't wait for (like seeing the toes and fingers, holding him), and our concerns for right now. Included on one of the pages is placing a picture of the two of us and dating it. So we took two pictures in our front yard on Sunday, after lunch at Olive Garden (yum). Only I have to get new colored ink in order for anything to come out even somewhat decently, and I think those pictures turned out pretty good! We still have a week left before our next class. I think that is plenty of time to finish the pages we still need to read and highlight what needs to be highlighted...

We have though, started reading "A Husband-Coached Childbirth" together. 3 chapters in and already we have laughed and I have cried. Brandon had to take over that part in the chapter and read it because I just couldn't keep going. The story was a sad, but a happy sad. The book has been so far, very informational, though some of it a little old and some of it new. It has mentioned reasons behind choosing a non-medicated child birth and provides those who choose this method with ammo when confronted by others saying "you should get medicated!". So far, I would recommend this book to those who plan on going through child-birth naturally and un-medicated. But, only 3 chapters in, there is only so much to go off of with such a small amount of pages. We will see the further we get.

I feel that time is starting to creep up on us and before we know it, Nikolai will be here. And still, we have only some diapers and a changing table/dresser on the way. That is it! Eeek! Hopefully we will be ready in time!

Just got word on Monday, blood results back from the doctors office. I do not have gestational diabetes (yay!) but do have anemia (boo!). Which reminds me to pick up the prescription from the pharmacy. I kinda figured the results were going to come back that way. Anemia in the 3rd trimester is not all that uncommon. Maybe that explains the tiredness I have had these last few weeks. People have said the need to nap comes back after the 3rd trimester, but for me, it never entirely went away. I can't stay awake all day. It just isn't possible. That, and it could explain my want of meat with almost every meal. Lasagna didn't seem to cut it without meat in it, eggs needed some left over ground beef, and had to have the meatballs when we were at Olive Garden on Sunday (which were extremely good by the way!).  I just hope the prescription will help!