Baby Butler #3 is 36 Weeks

I’m 36 weeks today (1/16)…officially 9 months! We’re praying we go the full 40 with sweet Beau & want him to keep cookin till the Lord’s PERFECT timing. We sure are getting excited for another sweet baby & Butler brother to love on though! Getting so close.

Growth: Babycenter.com says “Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long (about the size of a head of romaine lettuce). He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during his nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of his first bowel movement.
Weight/Baby Bump: I’m up 25 lbs from pre-pregnancy weight. For the record, I haven’t lost weight, it just fluctuates depending on time of day I weight, what I’m wearing, and when I go to the bathroom. (TMI, sorry.) The bump definitely feels larger in person than I think it looks in pictures.

I also feel like I’m carrying a little different this pregnancy. It is definitely a torpedo like with Kade, but I feel a little more rounded and wider on the sides like with Jase.

Jase came in our room yesterday morning & said (deeply concerned), "Whoa Mom, look at your belly! It's about to pop. It's gonna pop Mom. Let me cover it up so no one sees it." Jonathan & I were cracking up!
Sleep: I’ve slept pretty well the past few nights. Waking up to potty a few times & it definitely wakes me up to roll over from side to side, but overall I’m sleeping well.
Movement: Wild man! He’s running out of room, but he’s a mover!
Appointments: I didn’t have an appointment last week (other than chiropractor- going once a week for that), so next checkup is this week. I think they’ll probably do GBS test but I’m going to ask not to be checked yet. Going weekly now!
Work Outs: Finally got in a little yoga, & my plan is to get to 9 more classes before baby. (Because that’s how many I paid for- ha! Nice motivation, right?)
Other than that, lots of activity seems to really bring on some major Braxton Hicks. (Even walking sometimes.) I do clean the house a good bit and have been trying to do some body weight squats and light upper body work.
Jonathan has been crazy busy trying to wrap up our Fixer Upper before Beau gets here & so we haven’t been to the gym much. Mostly doing stuff at home.

I didn’t take as many pictures as I intended to, but did get a pic with these sweet ladies.

Goals: I made my list of things for Jonathan to get out of storage (Boppy, bouncie chair, swaddles, heating pad, newborn clothes, breast pump, baby bath tub & wash cloths, & Boba wrap)…
Plan to get my sound machine from Mom’s…
Ordered some extra pack n play crib sheets…ordered some glass bottles and new nipples…and now just have to get some diapers and another pack n play.
Put together goody bags for nurses & doctors.
Need to pack hospital bags soon.
Want to get gifts for both of the boys from Baby Beau.
Mom just ordered them all shirts (SO cute!) and a coming home outfit for Beau, so need to wash & pack it when it gets here.

Get the infant seat ready to go.
I also remember putting together a little “after care” basket in my bathroom after Jase & Kade, so I’ll probably work on that some too. Not to get all TMI, but sometimes people don’t tell you these things. It had witch hazel wipes, a squirt bottle, pads, stool softener (I don’t think I needed it with Kade but I’m pretty sure I used it after the c-section with Jase), & breakable ice pack pads. Also found a good recipe for sitz bath from parenting.com.
Here are the ingredients you will need for your herbal sitz bath:

• 1/2 cup Epsom salt
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• 2 tablespoons witch hazel
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 drops lavender essential oil
• 8 drops chamomile essential oil

Also, having a shower for my sis-in-law this weekend who is expecting our new NIECE and due one day after me! So exciting!!
Thoughts: I would REALLY love to have everything all ready to go by the middle of next week. It sounds like a lot to do, but I can knock that out pretty quickly. It’ll make me feel better so I can just focus on praying, stretching, making a few freezer meals, spending time with my fellas, & mentally preparing. Plus, I’m starting to feel a good bit of pressure (not labor, but I can tell he is LOW), so it’d make me feel better to know we’re ready to go when the time comes.
We are SO excited to meet him! Jonathan tells the boys every day he can’t wait for another brother…& I feel the same way. I LOVE hearing him say that. I’m praying circles around our sweet Beau daily, of course, but also praying more fervently for Jase & Kade. They have both always done very well with transitions and I feel confident this won’t be any different, so covering them and asking for prepared hearts, wisdom beyond their years, understanding and patience, an easy adjustment, a desire to protect, for them to both feel very LOVED & SECURE, and for a sweet bond between all of them.
Comparison:
Jase:

Kade: