35 Weeks

Only 5 more weeks!  The weeks seem to be flying by!  I can't believe how close we actually are!  Here are a few indicators letting us know this baby is not far in sight.

1.  All of our TV shows are airing their season finale.
2.  I only have 2 more days left to work in the office
3.  A lot of my maternity tops are starting to get a little short at the bottom and my belly tries to peak out
4. My To-Do Lists are getting shorter
5. My back is starting to ache
6. I'm starting to get stretch marks
7. My appointments are every week now starting this Thursday
8. We've completed our birthing class

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

My uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside my pelvis when I conceived — now reaches up under my rib cage. If you could peek inside my womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. My ballooning uterus is crowding my other internal organs, too, which is why I may need to urinate more often and may have to deal with heartburn.  I would have to say, I'm one of the lucky few since I'm not experiencing heartburn at all (I've only had it maybe a couple times the entire pregnancy).  I also don't find myself having issues with urinating too much (at least not yet); but there are a few times, the baby's hand or head presses up against my bladder and I have a slight urge to go, but the urge disappears as quickly as it came on when the baby moves away.

Thursday night, I attended a breastfeeding class with Andrea who is one week ahead of me in her pregnancy.  I originally did not care to take a class on breastfeeding, thinking this should come naturally and I'll have lactation consultants at the hospital on hand 24 hours a day.  I actually learned so much though and hope it comes by as naturally as the videos made it seem.  If it were one thing I would take away from the class, it would be remembering to let the baby be in control and not me.

Friday night, Craig and I joined my parents and some of their friends at Toby's Dinner Theatre to watch Hairspray.  There won't be many nights like that, because when Craig and I are out, my parents will be watching the baby.  So, I'm glad we got a chance to do that.

Saturday night, I had Afghan food for my first time at Helmand's in Baltimore.  My friend Remy had a welcome back dinner party since she was gone since the end of October.  It was so nice to finally see her back!!!  The food was fantastic!!

We attending our birthing class on Saturday and Sunday. Would you believe that there were about 10 couples there and 5 of them are having a boy and the other 5, including us, were not finding out the sex? Our instructor was even amazed at the number not finding out. But to top it off, there wasn't a couple that was expecting a girl. I'm glad Craig didn't feel the weekend was a waste of his time. He actually found it to be quite interesting. And he even gave me a wonderful "rolling pin" massage!!! I'm definitely packing one of those for the hospital! After we completed our weekend of birth classes, we met up with Mike and Eileen for lunch.

Below are pictures from after our lunch on Sunday.  My 35th week "belly pic" is not included and I will have to include at a later time.  I just need to get this blog posted before I hit my 36th week's post!

Eileen and I

Craig and I

Trying to give Mike the "hour glass" figure, but instead, it just made him look more broad up top!

34 Weeks

We are just a little over a month away - 6 more weeks!  Only 3 more weeks until I'm considered full term.  Other than it getting more and more difficult to roll out of bed or off the couch and some pelvic pain here and there, I've had a pretty smooth sailing pregnancy!  I have definitely been blessed in that regard!

On Thursday, I had my 8th prenatal appointment.  I weighed in exactly the same as I did two weeks ago.  I'm still up 29 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.  I'm hoping not to go over 35 pounds.  My blood pressure read 116/72.  My uterus measured at 33cm - right on track, and the baby's heartrate was right around 150bpm.  The nurse wants me to start doing kick counts and chart how long it takes for the baby to make 10 movements within an hour.  I am supposed to do this at the same time of day every day when the baby is most active... which is usually in the evening shortly after dinner.  If I don't feel any movement within a two hour window, I'm asked to call the office.

Our baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. The fat layers — which will help regulate the baby's body temperature once he/she is born — are filling the baby out, making him/her rounder. The skin is also smoother than ever. The central nervous system is maturing and the lungs are continuing to mature as well. 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.

Friday night, I was rushing to beat Craig to Victoria's house because Craig's work was surprising him with his very own baby shower and I needed to be there before him.  He thought he was going over there for a cookout and to play poker with some of Jason's friends from work (Jason is Victoria's husband).  He even went to the ATM to withdraw some money!  Everyone had a fantastic time.  Craig got some really good gifts including a Glenn Beck onesie!  He loved it!  I regret that I didn't get a picture of the two of us that night, but at least I have some of him.  We even played a few diaper games; one in which he had to taste the baby food!  Needless to say, he did not care for the Green beans or Peas!  But he did think the prunes were quite tastey!

Sunday, I met up with my friend Jenny for lunch at Atlanta Bread Company.  It's always nice to hang out with friends!  Poor Craig slaved all weekend on the yard and opening up our pool for the season.  I love the fact that our pool is back!!!!  Now if only we can get some pool steps so I can get in and out...

Below are a couple pictures of Craig's shower as well as a picture of my belly at 34 Weeks.

34 Weeks

Craig sampling the baby food

Craig determining what type of "chocolate" poop is in the diaper!

Who can chug beer out of a sippy cup faster?

Three dads - left to right - Craig, Jason (Victoria's husband), and Andy (expecting his first baby in June)

Craig having fun opening his gifts

33 Weeks

(This post is QUITE late...I should have posted this a few days ago!! My 34 week post should come this weekend sometime)

Only 7 more weeks left!  It doesn't feel that long ago that we were only 7 weeks pregnant still waiting for our 1st prenatal appointment.  Time sure does know how to fly!  We received our furniture on Saturday and the baby's room finally feels like a nursery!  It's strange having a crib in our house!  I'm sure the pets still don't quite understand.

This week our baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. The baby is rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and the skeleton is hardening. The bones in the skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for the baby 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/her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

So, this past Monday, Craig and I were put to the test.  Victoria and Jason enjoyed an evening out while Craig and I watched their 15 month old son.  Our first test was when each of us would be able to eat.  After playing with Sam for awhile, I drew the bath water while Craig continued playing.  Then while I gave Sam a bath, Craig ate.  Then once I had Sam all dried off and changed, Craig gave him a nighttime snack and played some more while I ate.  Then we both went upstairs to read some books to him - Craig does so well at that by acting out the characters and having Sam interact with the books!  Sam seemed so content and happy... until it was time to go to sleep... He cried and he screamed.  Either he didn't want to say goodbye to Craig since they were having so much fun bonding, or he really didn't want to go to sleep until he knew his parents were coming back.  Craig and I tried everything from rubbing his back to distracting him with a stuffed animal to rocking him and so on.  I left the room a bit to see if Craig can work his magic and sure enough about 10 minutes later, he got Sam settled into a sleep.  And that was that.  We then had the rest of the evening to sit together on the couch.  Craig watched TV or surfed the internet while I sat there and read my preparation books for our own baby.  Craig and I thought we passed the test and figured we would make great parents, but couldn't imagine doing this day in and day out!  It's a little late for us to get out of it now!

Awhile back, for Christmas, Craig bought a DSLR camera for me and I really want to learn to use it before the baby comes.  I've really only used it as a Point and Shoot camera.  My friend Marcy and I arranged to have private lessons since she wanted to learn more about her camera as well.  On Thurday, we had our first class.  It seemed to go really well and the woman instructing us seemed extremely knowledgable and nice to work with, but when I got home, I was still confused on so much of what I tried to soak in.  So, I brushed up on the internet and read up some more about some cool features.  Hopefully, this weekend I will get a chance to get some practice in.  I know I already want a new lens for the camera though aside from the one that came with the camera.  DSLRs are quite expensive by themselves, but even more so when you want to add all those accessories!

For Mother's Day, I went to church with my parents and my dad took us out to brunch at Bill Bateman's where the "moms" got complimentary Mimosa's.  I had to give mine up to my dad and order plain orange juice.  Craig went golfing in the morning and when I came back home in the afternoon, I went to the nursery to sit in our new glider we have in our nursery.  Craig brought in my Mother's Day gift which totally surprised me.  He splurged on one of the new iPads!!!  I immediately thought how wonderful it would be to use this while either breastfeeding or entertaining the kid.  But of course, Craig and I can play a game of scrabble and not have to worry about setup and pickup.  My parents came over for dinner.  Craig made ribeye steaks and corn on the cobb for dinner and my mom brought over her homemade potato salad.  I made the dessert - Tastefully Simple's Berry Buckle Cake - which everyone LOVED!!  The entire meal was fantastic!  I would have to say,  my 1st Mother's Day was fantastic!

Below is a picture of my belly at 33 weeks.

33 Weeks

32 Weeks

Just 8 more weeks until we are expected to meet our first born.  That's less than 2 months!  So far, we seem ready.  I am practically done washing all the clothes and bedding and Craig and I organized the baby's closet.  We are just waiting on the furniture to arrive now, which is scheduled to be delivered the day before Mother's Day.  By Mother's Day the room should be all set up with the exception of wall hangings.  We only have a few more items to buy, but if the baby were born now, we have all the necessities to get by, thanks to all of our friends and family and their generous shower gifts to help us prepare for this newcomer!

My 7th prenatal appointment happened on Thursday.  My weight is up a total of 29 pounds since I got pregnant - yes, that is a 6 pound gain from just 2 weeks ago, but I have to say my eating habits have not been the best either.  Plus, my morning appointment got moved to the afternoon, so it threw my weight off a little (or should i say it threw some weight on?).  The doctor didn't seem concerned this time around although she did comment that it was not good.  My blood pressure measured 115/69 and the baby's heartbeat was in the 130s.  The doctor checked my cervix and said everything is fine and I'm definitely not dilating yet, so that's good.  My mom attended my appointment and was able to meet my OB whom my mom has gone to years ago.  I usually go to my appointments on my own; Craig just goes to the ultrasound appointments, which I don't blame him since the appointments are boring otherwise, so it was nice to pass the time waiting with my mom this time around.

By now, our baby weighs 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in my uterus. I'm gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to my baby. In fact, the baby will gain a third to half of their birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he/she fattens up for survival outside the womb. He/she now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). The baby's skin is becoming soft and smooth as he/she plumps up in preparation for birth.  To accommodate me and our baby's growing needs, my blood volume has increased 40 to 50 percent since I got pregnant.

Saturday, my parents, my brother Chris, and Craig attended Lindsay's wedding - a family friend.  The wedding reception took place in DC, just a few blocks from the White House.  You can see a couple pictures below, but beware, I think I look A LOT bigger in that dress than what I feel!

Sunday, was Andrea's baby shower (the girl due a week before me) which was held at my parents' house.  It was mainly the choir at my parents' church that hosted it, so it wasn't her main shower, but it was a big success.

Below is a picture of me at 32 weeks as well as pictures from Lindsay's wedding day.

32 Weeks