Tomorrow is my due date.

Crazy.

I honestly had no desire to take a 40 week picture . I haven’t worn jeans in 2 weeks and I’m trying to grow out my hair, so it’s in an awkward flipping stage. Therefore looking decent these days = extremely time consuming. I took this picture right after a nap and said eff it, I’m not straightening that weird flip in my hair that just never goes away.

Another funny story, we usually a take a bunch of these pictures but this time, we only took like 5. That’s why my arms are in a different position because I completely forgot how I normally pose. The important part is that my head is included in the picture, right?

Consider this series complete!

In my last picture post I said that I couldn’t imagine what a 40 week picture would look like. Holy protruding belly! Mike and I were laughing that I thought I was huge at 25 weeks, clearly I didn’t know what huge was.

We’re so close to being done with the nursery and I have so much I haven’t yet blogged about. I think I just need another day to organize then I can sit down and write some posts about everything we’ve done in the past week or so!

I think it’s safe to say, we’re feeling pretty ready at this point. Thank you for not coming early baby, these past 2 weeks have been so very necessary for my sanity. But come soon, okay?

So I’ve reached the 35 week mark.

It’s weird, I didn’t really feel like I grew that much these past 5 weeks, but when I saw this picture I had a holy s#@* moment. I had no clue my stomach was protruding that far.

I decided not to put my hand over the center of my belly like I usually do so that my hand didn’t take away from the belly. I also decided to take a bonus frontal view this time, since who knows.. this may be the last time!

It’s crazy to think that I’m almost done. So many people now ask me if I’ve had enough… the answer is yes and no. I wouldn’t say I’ve had a rough time, so I don’t feel like I’m at my breaking point yet. I also have a ton of things to do before the baby comes. I know everyone says you’re never fully ready, but I’m sure those people have at least taken their car seats out of the box and have a closet for their baby. I’ve been insanely busy at work and drained on the weekends (which have also been busy), so in my fantasy world I would like to sit in a glider and read some baby books, knowing that everything is settled and mostly put away. I know there’s a fat chance of that happening at this point, but hey, I can dream.

I would like my baby here, that is one reason I’d like this process to speed up. Maybe once I start to waddle I’ll say I’ve had enough 🙂

I’m seriously amazed at how much my body has grown in the past 15 weeks or so. I can’t imagine what a 40 week picture would look like?

I’ve left the 20s and entered a new leading digit.

I also switched to a maternity shirt this picture, which just fits so much better than the non-stretchy one I was squeezing in before. The next time I do one of these series I’ll be sure to start with a super stretchy shirt as opposed to a baggy shirt with not much stretch.

Now that I finally look super pregnant and the elderly women in the hair salon told me I was cute when I walked in (even without makeup and in baggy sweat pants), I feel a little sad that this is almost over. Though I am well aware and anxious that I will soon have an adorable baby I’m dying to meet, part of me is like holy crap, how am I 3/4 done already?? You wait so long to not feel sick, then to have a normal looking bump and then… it’s almost over.

Here’s to hoping the next 5 weeks treat me well– I get some good nights of sleep, my ankles stay manageable most of the time and I’m able to enjoy my last 1/4 of pregnancy.

Last week while we were on vacation, I hit my 25th week of being pregnant. Don’t worry, I remembered to take a belly picture…

Despite the fact that I was wearing a black shirt, I still could not abandon my usual black shirt and jeans photo. You guys won and the standard uniform stays!

I know right? That belly is huge this month! I officially switched to maternity jeans for this picture and the non-maternity shirt is seeing it’s last days too. If I was facing forward, you’d see that the shirt is now so low cut that it’s scandalous.

I took this picture when we got back from vacation, so I was less than a day shy of 26 weeks… and suffering from awful sunblock skin. I have super sensitive skin and despite the fact that I always buy sensitive, anti-pore clogging sunblock, it always turns my skin into a mess. Thank goodness I decided to do this series in black and white, so my lack of pregnant glow this month isn’t as noticeable…

More than halfway done with the pictures already!

Yeah, I’d say I popped….

First, thank you all who came back after we went dark yesterday to protest SOPA and PIPA. It was a last minute decision so I apologize for not posting a warning, but I felt it was important to support something Mike and I believe in. Though I didn’t see any other house blogs go dark, if these laws passed we would without a doubt be affected, if we could even exist. So thanks for your understanding 🙂

On to the fun! I always knew that when I got pregnant I would want to chronicle the growth of my belly. Some people cringe at this thought and believe me, my self-esteem is not at its highest right now. But I felt that some day I would look back at these pictures and be thankful that I documented this time. I chose to take a photo every 5 weeks so that it would be frequent enough to capture growth, but not so frequent as to be difficult to maintain. Plus 5 weeks is easier to measure than months, which vary depending on how you count them.

I decided to wear something as simple and classic as possible– and to wear the same outfit in each photo. I felt that this way, the picture would be timeless and it would be easier to see how much my belly has grown. I also decided to stand against a white wall and make all of the pictures black and white, to adjust for any differences in lighting, skin color, etc. I started by buying a one size larger black tee from Old Navy and paired it with my boyfriend fit jeans from American Eagle.

And all together now!

Things I did not anticipate:

1. Getting the WORLD’S WORST HAIRCUT during week 10.

My hairstylist is out on maternity leave and I took whoever was available. I asked her to take an inch off of the ‘do in week 5 (which was longer by week 10). She did that funny mom cut to my head, which I tried to hide with a flowered headband. And that’s a flattering picture of it. It was missing chunks all over and I was forced to pin back layers to hide it through week 20. I’ve been told it’s going to take a total of nearly 6 months just to straighten out the mess she made. Getting a haircut while pregnant was not a smart idea, bad enough my clothes are not fitting, now my head looks funny too!

2. Not liking my outfit.

Black shirt and jeans? Perfect, right? The truth was even in my 5 week photo when I wasn’t showing, this wasn’t an outfit I’d leave the house in. I usually always wear layers and would probably never just throw on jeans and a black tshirt without some kind of tank top showing or accessories. I also I bought the shirt a size larger and it was awkwardly baggy. I probably should have worn something fitted so that it was more obvious when my stomach grew and it hugged me in the right places. Plus I worked at Chili’s when I was in college and guess what the uniform was? Black shirt and dark jeans…I swear I haven’t worn the same combo since. I don’t think I would necessarily change the uniform concept I had though, just maybe spend more time finding something I liked more.

3. Needing maternity jeans after week 20

I thought those American Eagle jeans were in it for the long haul. RIP guys 🙁 Not that big of a deal though, I don’t think the denim swap will be noticable in future pictures.

4. Painting my photo wall

I was taking pictures in the new office every week, until we painted it dark blue. We had to squeeze into a white wall in the sitting room of our master and it actually worked out. The lighting seemed to be much better from the new angle.

I waited to share this idea until I started showing. I am actually 24 weeks now and I will need to add another photo the to the collection next week. I’m debating whether or not to change it up for the second half of my pregnancy… Maybe I’ll do a picture in my current favorite maternity outfit? Or start to accessorize the black shirt and jeans combo? I doubt that I’ll abandon the outfit all together, if for nothing other than to document for myself. Maybe I’ll do more than 1 picture every 5 weeks. Maybe strike a new pose or something. We shall see 🙂