36 weeks (well, almost)

Crenshaw melon. Is that a cantaloupe from the 'hood? A gangsta' honeydew?

He's most likely approaching 6 lbs now and is about 18.5 inches long...coincidentally that is the approximate height of the ledge I drove off as I picked up Nate for the appointment today. We're all fine, I was turning the car around and didn't see it - there is some damage to the charcoal filter in the exhaust system but I think that is about it. That didn't stop me from going into a hysterical crying fit or sending my blood pressure through the roof (it had returned to normal by the end of the appointment).

Other than that, everything went fine. Dr. George recommended that I cut down to 4 days a week at work and try to lay down at least 3 times a day while I'm here, so from here on out I'm working Mon-Thurs (ooo gotta change my voicemail!) until I deliver. Except for next week, when I'll be working Mon-Wed and taking Thanksgiving off. But working a halfday on Sunday to train the cashiers.

It's all very complicated.

At our appointment next week he'll start checking on my progression to see if there is any dilating or effacing going on, that'll be so cool. Of course the answer will most likely be 'no', but whatever. The more you know, and all that.

Some more pictures from our weekend outing:











1-4 weeks to go!

35.5 weeks

this week he is the biggest honeydew melon on earth at 5 1/4 lbs and 18 inches. his development is pretty much done and he's going to spend the next few (....very few....) weeks putting on weight.

not much else to report really, other than i wholly agree with the idea of the last few weeks being the most uncomfortable. we had an all day seminar thing at work on friday and I could not make it through the morning session without getting up and walking around because it hurt far too much to sit in a chair for 3 hours. plus i think i hit the restroom about 5 times in that same time frame.

yesterday we took a trip to an abandoned school house and took some more belly shots, including a story-type sequence that is pretty cool (but will remain under wraps until the unveiling of the new website - after the goober is born). nate has been doing an amazing job setting up and taking pictures; he's got a real talent.

this is one i took though - all i can see of my feet at this point -















there are more on flickr, plus i'll be adding EVEN MORE tonight, so check back!

4.5 or (eek) 1.5 weeks to go!

edited to add - new pictures are up on flickr, just follow the above link to see them all.

34 weeks

This week he is a cantaloupe, weighing approximately 4 3/4 lbs and is almost 18" long. Not all of those tenses are correct but I don't know how to fix it. You all know what I mean.

He is putting on more fat layers and his nervous system and lungs are continuing to develop. The risks of pre-term labor are dropping as I get closer to 37 weeks - babies born between 34 & 37 weeks with no other health problems usually do just fine. If it happens he may need a quick stay in the neonatal unit at the hospital but that'd be about it.

I am also putting on more fat layers, although Dr. George says it's just water weight (hooray!). Still, it's a little depressing to watch that scale jump every appt...oh well. Pretty soon I'm going to lose 12-15 lbs in one day! Won't that be neat! Plus then the water weight will disappear as well and before you know it I'll be svelte as all get-out.

Dr. George also mentioned that I should probably start cutting back my hours at work a little bit to allow me to work closer to my due date. It's nice to have a medical person telling you to work less. Then you don't feel like such a slacker just going home early because you're tired! He also reinforced the fact that I should be laying down every few hours for about 20 minutes, so I will definitely make a concerted effort to do better at that.

In fact....perhaps I should do that now!

3-6 weeks to go!

32 weeks 1 day

A jicama. WTF is a jicama?

Still not sure what it is, but apparently that's what it looks like.

the goober is approximately 3.75 lbs and 16.5 inches long...taking up more space in there every day. He'll gain about 1/3 to 1/2 of his birth weight in the next 7 weeks, getting all fat and sassy and ready to be born. He's got hair and fingernails and toenails and is pretty much just concentrating on putting on weight.

My blood pressure is looking good and very consistent throughout last week, so that is good. Dr. George told me to lay down for about 20 mins every two hours to help with the water retention and the swelling, so I am now under doctor's orders to nap at work. He said it'll help me feel a lot better and also make sure that I can stay working as long as possible.

I am feeling pretty good most of the time, just tired and out of breath pretty much constantly.

5-8 weeks to go!

31 weeks, 1 day

4 navel oranges. so he's rounded, but very lumpy.

He's about 16 inches long and weighs about 3.3 pounds. He's putting on weight and filling out quickly at this stage and moving around like crazy.

I had a good appointment yesterday, my blood pressure was a bit high so Dr George asked me to monitor it for the next week and keep a log (I borrowed a home BP cuff from a friend at work) and it was much lower today, so I must have just been stressed out or something yesterday! I have another appointment next week to go over the results from this home monitoring.

We also talked about the whole procedure of what to do when the show gets on the road (call the clinic or the hospital if it's after hours, they will page him. Both numbers are now in my cell phone. I may also have a secret weapon....he's Matt's neighbor, so I possibly have access to his actual phone number if I need it. I shouldn't need it. They do this stuff a lot.) and went over my (incredibly vague) birth plan a little bit. He said that most birth plan checklists seem to come from the 50s...they don't do a lot of the stuff that used to be done as routine; i.e. take the baby to another room for newborn procedures, episiotomies, etc. It seems like St. John's is very flexible and definitely wants each mom to have her own experience and not overly control everything, so that sounds just great.

Another belly pic from Dillon -



6-9 weeks left!

30 weeks, 1 day

This week the goober is a head of cabbage.

He weighs approximately 3 lbs and is almost 16 inches long. His eyes are continuing to develop, but will not be very good until....well, considering his genes, he'll have good eyesight when hell freezes over.

It seems like he's probably getting more cramped in there, it seems like every movement I feel now is a big one. The other morning he had jammed his foot up almost against my ribs, Nate and I could both feel a hard little lump where his heel was poking through. I think I've started having the Braxton-Hicks contractions as well; I don't feel anything happening unless I happen to touch my stomach and it's super hard in there. It's very odd. I'd imagine as they get stronger I'll start to feel them more.

We've started the baby classes at the hospital; the first one was pretty fun! I even know a couple of people in the class, which is nice. The next one is all about pain management options and the hospital tour - it's definitely the one I'm most looking forward to.

My glucose tolerance test came back normal, so I do not have gestational diabetes, hooray!

A picture from our trip to dillon the other month that I really like....




10 (or 7, or somewhere in between) weeks to go...

29 weeks

he's a squash this week!

the goober is about 2.5 lbs and a little over 15 inches and I'm pretty sure he's a soccer player. Or perhaps into karate. he's very busy in there, whatever it is he's doing. Maybe he's knitting! I hope he doesn't bring the needles out with him.

I noticed the first stretch marks on my stomach yesterday, whaaaaaaaa. The good news is they are very faint and not very long; I'm going to cling to the hope that they'll fade away immediately after delivery.

Nate and I have been busy rearranging the house - we had been living with our friend Jim for this past year or so and he just moved out on Wednesday...we got to set up our (AWESOME) new couch and coffee table and lovely shag rug and are going to work on hanging up some artwork and moving the office into its new, bigger room tonight. I got most of our closet moved last night and just need to transfer my bathroom goodies to the new bathroom and that'll pretty much be my contribution to the move...it's pretty hard to contribute when most of the items being moved are large and so am I...*snort*.

I think I may be a little slap happy today.

11 weeks to go! Although technically I'll be full term at 37 weeks, so it could be as little as 8 weeks. Yikes!