17 days.....

So I looked up at my cute little pregnancy tracker and it almost shocked me to read "17 days to go"! I am honestly so ready to have this baby!!! I believe that a healthy amount of fear resides in me but not like the fear I have been feeling in the past 8 months....I am now PRAYING to go into labour! I am over the fact that labour is going to hurt and I feel completely ready for the challenge. I guess it has been a couple weeks since I last posted so I will just go through a couple things that we have been up to in July. On Canada Day we spent time with Andrew's family and then met up with Brandon and Sydney to head to the fireworks. We got pretty good spots and were able to see all the fireworks and hear all the crazy drunk people threatening to beat each other up haha! On the holiday Monday, Andrew went out with the boys to dirtbike and my family and I went out to the lake to Sea doo. We had lots of fun and it was really nice to see Andrew finally having a REAL summer. I started back up to work the following day and only worked till Thursday because I planned a day trip to the Stampede with my mom and Brock. We honestly had such a blast at the Stampede! I am starting to regret not getting any pictures of any of these events but sometimes you just have so much fun that you forget to take pictures! We met up with my Grandma and Grandpa Lyons before going into the park and Brock was extremely excited to go in because he had never been before. Mom, Brock and I had to stop at the mall before we got to the Stampede grounds so we had already eaten lunch but we went into the BMO centre with my Grandma and Grandpa to find some lunch for them. We walked around and looked at all the different things they were selling. I got a delicious Hershey's chocolate milkshake and we stopped to watch the talent show for an hour while everyone ate lunch and snacked on treats. We then decided to face the crowds and go outside.......except everyone was pouring into the BMO centre because it was raining cats and dogs outside. I was scared that it was going to be like that all day and that we would have to go back to Chinook and spend our day inside. Good old Southern Alberta came through for us and within 20 minutes it was back to sunshine and heat! The rest of our day consisted of riding the west jet ride over the park, watching the superdogs show, seeing the illusionist and trampoline act, and don't forget about all the stops we made for TREATS. I couldn't ride rides this year....obviously....so I treated myself to a snow cone, mini doughnuts and a caramel apple :) mmm.

Last Saturday, Andrew and I went to PRENATAL CLASSES....yes! I made Andrew go to prenatal classes with me :) and they were actually so fun! I found our teacher very informative and very open to answering all of the strange questions that people were asking. Andrew even piped up and asked if babies smell when they are first born...hahah....apparently a lot of other fathers were wondering that as well. I would honestly recommend them to anyone who wants to feel very prepared for labour. I realize that the baby has got to come out somehow so it might seem strange that there is classes directed at labour and delivery but I found them awesome. I have read A LOT of books and internet sites during this pregnancy but it was nice to go up to the labour rooms, see all the different contraptions and get an overall better feeling of what we are going to face. Our class ended at 3:30 so we headed out to Waterton to have some fun together before baby gets here. We got dinner at Wieners of Waterton and walked around the park. We sat at Cameron falls and let the mist cool us off before we headed to get some of that famous Big Scoop ice-cream (AKA Nestle ice-cream). We went and visited my friend Megan at the lodge and then ran into my family on the picnic benches outside of Wieners of Waterton....they didn't even invite us!!! I swore we saw all of Lethbridge in Waterton....lol isn't that always how it goes!

This week I finished work yesterday and have been basking in my freedom! I really don't know what I am going to do for the next 2 weeks so I hope this baby girl comes early!! The only things I want to do before having her is finish our prenatal classes (this Saturday) and get my hair done sometime next week. So I'm thinking that next weekend would be perfect for her to come!!

OH YEAH! I forgot about my birthday!!! I turned 22 on Monday and had the most wonderful birthday! I slept in and then my brother Brock and I spent the whole day together! We went grocery shopping, bought Captain America and ate McDonald's in my bed while watching Captain America! I love that kid so much! He and I have such a blast together! We then went over to my parents house for pulled pork (my moms speciality) and enjoyed a delicious chocolate birthday cake :) my family is awesome! My parents gave me a large sum of money and I had already saved up my play money for the month and Andrew gave me money from his limo run a couple weekends ago....so I had enough to buy a Nikon 90D!! I am getting it on Monday and we got a screaming deal on it so I can pay for it with no stress! Happy Birthday to me! I am so dang spoiled!!!! I hope to learn how to use it before the baby comes so I can get lots of great shots of her!

Anyways.... onto the pregnancy!!! I am now 37 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I have officially gained 22 lbs in the past 8 and a half months and my fundal measurement is 37 cm, which is perfect for how far along I am. Scarlette's heart rate is down from 160 (which was the first time we heard her heartbeat) to 144 bpm! This is great news seeing as baby's heart rate needs to come down near the end of pregnancy. She has now been in head down position for the past 2 months and isn't going anywhere! I got checked this past week, for all those who don't know...it actually is more painful then what I thought and also a whole lot different then what I thought. I honestly thought when they measure how dilated you were it was an external measurement.....nope! definitely way on up there! Anyways...I am not dilated at all but apparently my cervix is very soft....I better get drinking that raspberry leaf tea! Other then that I have been feeling pretty good. The heat is really getting to me this week because it is hard for me to get comfortable and I already have an internal heater!

Anyways!! I'm off to cool down and enjoy the rest of my week!