Thirty Seven Weeks

37 weeks and now officially full term. I don't know about other women, but it seems that each time I hit that mark, I'm done and don't want to be pregnant anymore. I was really hoping that Avery was going to surprise us and be a 2009 baby, but seeing as how today is the 30th, things aren't looking too good. I go in for my 37 week check up today, but that will just consist of the midwife measuring my belly, checking my blood pressure and doing a Strep B culture. I won't go into all the gory details of how they do a Strep B test, but I will tell you this, it involves a long Q-tip and your rectum. Use your imagination. I can't wait for the it. These last few weeks are so much fun with the no sleeping, waddling, total inability to tie your shoes, and getting long objects jammed up your butt hole. Woooohooo!

And here is the email for week 37. Only a few more of these. I HOPE!

How Your Baby is Growing:
Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.



I find it humorous that they are no longer trying to come up with a sizable fruit to compare in weight and are just sticking to the length of the baby. I'm still waiting on the watermelon. That has to be week 40 right?



Until next time...or until this baby makes an appearance,
L

P.S. Christmas update coming soon.

Thirty Six Weeks

36 weeks down, 4 weeks to go. According to my ultrasound, the baby will be measuring 37 weeks on Sunday which means she will be full term and can safely come any time after that. I can't believe we have almost made it. I keep telling people that I think she will arrive early, so she most certainly will be as late as possible since I put that out there. I would be more than happy for her to make an appearance any day now though. Except Christmas, please. I really want to spend that time with Rob and Will, and be together for our last holiday as a family of three. I am as excited (if not more) about Christmas as Will is, and am counting down the days to see his face on Christmas morning. Hopefully soon after Christmas comes and goes, we'll see Avery's face for the first time. I have my fingers crossed that she'll be a 2009 baby. Again, totally jinxing myself here.

Week 36 email...

How Your Baby is Growing:
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her 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 her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

Once again, I had no earthly idea what a crenshaw melon was. Apparently, it is a hybrid of a casaba melon and a Persian melon. Yeah, I have no clue what either of those are either. Basically, it's a big freakin' melon, okay? And it sits right on top of my bladder. And gooses me in the ribs. And head butts my pelvis. Can your melons do that?

And here is a picture of my big ol' 36 week belly. It definitely looks like there is a little more than a melon in there.


Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas with their families!

Until next time,
L

The Magic of Christmas

We all have memories that are permanently embedded in our minds from our childhood, and I am very blessed that the majority of my memories very pleasant and happy ones. Some of my best and favorite memories are from Christmas. I'll never forget how excited I would feel as I lay in bed on Christmas Eve listening as hard as I could for the sound of Santa's sleigh landing on our roof, anticipating what the next morning would bring. Or how thrilled I would feel the next morning when I awoke and realized Christmas was finally here, and I'd rush down our stairs to find what Santa had left for me. I know it sounds like a cliche, but it was truly such a magical time.

Now that Will is getting a little older, he is really into Christmas as well. He loves Santa, and says his name with so much excitement that it melts my heart. He's anxious to open his presents that are underneath the tree, and he's more than happy to tell you what he would like for Christmas. "Cars, trucks and chocolate, please." We have been having a lot of fun this season riding around looking at the Christmas lights on all the houses, hearing Will shout, "WOW, look at that one, Mommy!" and "Daddy, did you see that one!?"


We've been drinking hot chocolate, trimming our tree, decorating the house, watching every Christmas movie and special imaginable, and doing fun little Christmas crafts. Will has been eating up every moment of it. He really loved hanging the ornaments on the tree, and still enjoys moving them around when we're not looking. Last week, I looked at the tree to find about 10 bulbs on one drooping branch.


But as much as Will has enjoyed participating in all the Christmas preparations, by far the most fun he has had this season was going to visit Santa. We talked about it all day, all weekend really, and when the time finally arrived to go sit in Santa's lap, he could have burst with excitement. As we stood in line, he peered over the tops of everyone's head as Rob held him. He just wanted to get a glimpse of Santa, and once he did, he wouldn't take his eyes off of him. When we finally reached the front of the line and it was Will's turn, Rob sat him down, and whispered "Your turn, buddy," and he ran and jumped in Santa's lap like he was an old friend. It was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen, and though I know I'm a bit biased when it comes to my child, I don't think there has ever been a more precious Santa picture than the one I took of he and Will this year. It sums up how amazed he is by all of this Christmas business, and I hope that wonderment sticks around for a long time to come.


Merry Christmas,
L

Thirty Five Weeks

35 weeks, and the end of this pregnancy seems to really be creeping up on me. We have something to do pretty much every weekend before my "guess date, and since the holidays are almost here, I know it's just going to fly by us. We didn't get the nursery finished this past weekend. My son decided that it would be a great time to start waking up at 4am in the morning to start the day. So needless to say, when nap time rolled around that afternoon, I hit the sack too. Maybe this is just Will's way of preparing me for those middle of the night feedings. That's what I'm telling myself anyway. He's just trying to help his mommy out.

This weekend, we ARE going to complete the nursery. There is really no time to put it off anymore, and I am going to go crazy if it doesn't get done, so it will be in everyone's best interest to make it happen. There are just a few finishing touches that need to be done, and then I can rest easy.

I've been having a lot of practice "pressure waves" (Hypnobabies speak for contractions) this week, and I go for my next check up with the midwives on Friday. Hopefully they will check me to make sure everything is where it should be. It's still a little bit early as I won't be full term until next weekend, so I need her to stay in there until it's safe for her to make her entrance into the world.

And here's the email for week 35.

How Your Baby is Growing:
Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.



I think my little honeydew melon has dropped. I need to go to the bathroom a lot more (didn't know that was possible) than I used to, and my crotch feels like it's going to fall to my feet. There is A LOT of pressure down there. When I stand after sitting or lying down for a while, it takes me a minute to get going because I fear the baby might just drop out. Oh, if it were only that easy.



Happy Wednesday,
L

Thirty Four Weeks

Week 34 is here in full effect. It's getting harder to tie my shoes, bend over to pick things up, and find a position in bed that doesn't make my hip feel like it's going to fall off or my arm fall asleep. I'm entering that "I'm-So-Uncomfortable-Get-This-Baby-Out" territory. I'm not quite there yet, and trying to be as patient as possible. It gets a little hard when you can't remember what it was like to not be pregnant though. When you look at pictures of yourself as a non pregnant person and think, "Who on earth is that!?" I want to sleep on my stomach so badly, it's not even funny. I would love to only need to pee 10 times a day rather than 27. I want to run on the treadmill as fast as I can. I want a big ol' margarita! Whew! It felt good to get that out.

This weekend, the nursery will be completed. We have everything bought and laying in her room, it just needs to be put together. Next week, I'll post photos.

Here's the email for week 34.

How Your Baby is Growing:
Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

The little cantaloupe is a spitfire. She moves around more than Will ever did. We knew when we had a calm and peaceful baby who slept through the night that we would pay for it later. I have a feeling that Avery is going to be the complete opposite of her big bro. Where he is laid back and easy going, she is going to be utterly crazy and bouncing off the walls. As I typed that, she gave me a swift kick to the ribs. I'm telling you, this girl is going to be trouble.


And I promised some shower photos last week that I never delivered. I have been pretty busy and just honestly haven't had the time to do it. But here they are now, better late than never. (I hope.)

I couldn't be more thankful for the women at my church who put together this shower and came to support us. I was truly blown away by everyone's generosity.

The cake (one of the most important elements at a baby shower)

Did I mention that this was a joint shower for me and another friend at church? She was due in December (had her baby last week) and since our due dates were so close and we are both having the opposite sex of what we already had, they decided to throw us this little shindig.

Belly to belly

I got SO many great thing. Clothes, towels, breast pads (uber importante), bouncy seat, blankets, diaper bag....the list goes on. There were so many adorable things that I made faces like this.

And this

And this apparently

What can I say, after 3 years of shopping in the tiny boy's section, girl clothes make me happy.

And here's a pic of my mom and I (who looks young enough to be my sister instead). I was so glad she was able to come. It was a special day.


Till next time,
L

Thirty Three Weeks

With Thanksgiving this past week, time has really flown by. We had a great time with family, I got a ton of shopping done on Black Friday (yes, I'm one of those people) and Rob and I made a lot of progress on the nursery. If I get a second wind of that crazy nesting energy come this weekend, I'll have it all done. I managed to wash all of Avery's clothes and put them away on Saturday. There were three LARGE loads, and let me tell you, that's a lot when the clothes are so tiny. I truly can't believe all the stuff she has to wear. It's going to be fun to put her in a different outfit every day, and at the rate I'm accumulating stuff, I'll have to in order for her to wear it all.

I'm feeling pretty good. My back hurts some and I basically just feel pretty large, but I'm hanging in there. I know the end of this pregnancy is near, so I'm trying my best to enjoy it while it lasts and spend as much quality "only child time" that I can with Will before the new one comes along and totally throws our comfy little family for a loop.

Here is the email for week 33. Only 7 weeks until my guess date, but 4 more until I'm full term. It's crazy to think that she could actually be here at the end of this month. GULP.

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Man, I love me some pineapple!! There are old wives tales that say that it can have a labor inducing effect in pregnancy if you eat a lot of it. So come the new year, if you see me consuming whole pineapples, don't ask. And if you're looking for a good Christmas present to buy me, pineapple, red raspberry tea, eggplant Parmesan and castor oil is at the top of my list. ;)



Till next time,
L

P.S. I had an awesome shower at church weekend before last and I have been totally slacking on getting the pictures uploaded. I am going to do that tonight though, so look for a shower post tomorrow.