33 Weeks

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. These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

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Santa brought me more stretch marks for Christmas. Ho ho ho.

Merry Christmas, everyone! :) I think that we had the best Christmas ever. It's been a wonderful few days. Unfortunately, we were unable to have Christmas with my aunt and uncle and cousins - we had a quick meetup at Pan.era's and exchanged gifts. Also, because of the weather, T and I were unable to make it to T's parents' house for the family gathering - it was just toooooo nasty around here for us to venture out. :( Christmas morning, we were all up around 7am to open our gifts and see what Santa brought our way. Some of my fav gifts had to be a portable dvd player, video camera, and the complete SatC series (I'm an electronics junkie). My grandparents and other uncle and his girlfriend came over Christmas night. It's kind of a pain to get all the present carnage cleaned up to have company over that night, but it's also a nice excuse to get my butt in gear and get things put away and back to normal. Traditionally, my mom and I have always gone out at the before-crack-of-dawn the day after Christmas to do some shopping. Again, the weather made us stay tucked inside. We did venture out around noon and we got some great deals. I managed to get us a new Christmas tree - much to T's delight! All I heard this year was complaining during the putting up of our tree, so I found a 7' slim, pre-lit with white lights tree - exactly what I was looking for, for 70% off! :) Whoohoo! Next year will be much easier! I not only came home with a new tree and other 50% off Christmas goodies, but I also came home with a 40" LCD sony tv! :) I had a nice target coupon that helped a lot - and we had been talking for quite some time about getting a new tv. We spend a lot of time at home (fine with us - where do I want to go anymore?!?) and we watch quite a bit of tv. It's just beautiful. :) Now, I need to contact Direct.tv so that we can get an HD dish to make the picture even better. It's definitely an upgrade to go from our former 27" normal tv to a 40" widescreen. Love. It. Merry Christmas to me. :)

I had my 32 week appt this past week and all was fine. Although, she did think that just based on the exam, that she may be breech - but there's still time for her to wiggle around where she needs to be. I did get referred on to my delivering doctor - I will see him Jan. 5.

On the way to my appt, I ran into some very nasty road conditions that totally freaked me out. My normal 7 min. trip into town took me 20 min. All the ice made me very edgy. Roads have never really made me feel like that before. I drive a big truck and I've always gone wherever whenever I wanted to. I'm careful and have never really had any problems. Needless to say, when I got to my appt, my blood pressure was higher than it's ever been. Ugh!

That day I also went back to the eye doctor and found out that I need to wear readers on top of my contacts. I still need to go pick those up...

Here are a few pics from the past week or so. Those of you who still have time off - enjoy it!

This is a pic of a pheasant that I took from my kitchen window on our snow day.


C - the little musical genius! :)

My parents' dog Ellie on Christmas morning. All the excitement tuckered her out. :)

Me in one of my favorite places - the couch - with two of my fav dogs - Ellie and Smokey - and yes, that is a piece of my grandma's pecan pie on my lap. :) Yum!

32 Weeks

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.
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Wow, 32 weeks - it's really getting down there! I'm feeling more and more like a beached whale everyday. Especially when I try to get up from the comfy chair or the floor. Excellent.

I went and saw my eye doctor this week and he told me that my farsightedness hasn't really changed, but my nearsightedness has and the reason that I can't see far as well is because my eyes are exerting so much extra energy to see near that I have a hard time flipping over to see far. So, we're looking at some readers or other glasses on top of my contacts. I have to go back tomorrow to see if I do the same things and if so, then he'll figure out the treatment. Super.

I also go for my 32 week appt. tomorrow. I will for sure be referred on to my delivering doctor then. I don't think that my physician wants to give me up. She always says, "Oh! My favorite OB patient!" when she walks into the room. But unless she's planning on delivering this baby, then I need to start getting to know someone else.

I received an early Christmas present in the form of an additional day off added to my Christmas break! We had a snow day on Friday, which puts our grand total of days off at 17! :) I am sooooo ready for this break. I really like my class this year - although there are still days when I want to pop some heads off, but there's always those kids - it's not that I need a break from them. I just need a break from actually doing things! I seem to do pretty okay in the mornings, but by lunchtime, I really don't want to go back upstairs for the afternoon. Luckily, my school starts earlier (and ends earlier) so our morning is actually longer than the afternoon. January is going to be interesting for me!!

We have a crazy amount of snow and it just keeps coming! We were supposed to have my aunt and uncle and cousin over today for our Christmas, and no one is going anywhere! It's actually snowing sideways and we're supposed to get like another 8" of snow today - on top of the 12" that we got on Friday! Crazy! I remember so many Christmases here in Michigan where there was no snow at all. One of my favorite Christmases when I was a kid was up at the cottage and I got a new bike - and got to ride it most of the afternoon because it was pretty warm and there was no snow.

Last night, T and I went to a holiday gathering at some friends' house and had a great time (and no, I'm not just writing that because I know they read this blog!). I love all the holiday food, fun and getting together that we never seem to get around to doing during the rest of the year.

Saturday I learned how to make my dad's chowder! :) It took pretty much all afternoon to make 2 batches - but it was definitely worth it. It's something that cannot be rushed - which is hard for me to do. It turned out to be not as difficult as I had imagined. The recipe in the book makes no sense to me whatsoever - there really aren't directions, just ingredients listed in order that you add them. I cannot cook like that. So, I took a lot of notes. The second batch, I pretty much did on my own and I didn't screw it up! :) Yesterday, we finished all of it just as we were about to leave to go out, so I didn't get to try any of it - today I will though!

Well, it's a good day to stay inside and work on Christmas things - I'm planning on getting my wrapping all done today. T said he's trying to work up the courage to walk to the end of the driveway to see if the Sunday paper got here. Our road actually did get plowed yesterday - it's probably all drifted back over again now. I hope that wherever you are - you are safe and cozy at home, enjoying the season! If I don't post again before Thursday - have a wonderful Christmas! :)

31 Weeks

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt.He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.
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Kicks and somersaults are right. She is movin' and shakin' all over the place! I used to not be able to feel her much during the day - just in the evening and at night when I was resting. Not anymore! It's all the time. She especially seems to like being active about 30 minutes after I eat. She must like food - just like Mommy! :)

Saturday we attended our first Christmas gathering. It was a great time with some great friends!

Today was my church choir's Christmas cantata. I directed them for both services and all went well. The first service ended up being more like a dress rehearsal - the second service was much better. Luckily, my parents and T decided to come to the 2nd one and saw the good show!

I'm watching the evening news as I type this and they're talking about crappy weather coming again tomorrow. Of course - it's Monday!!! All Mondays in December seem to be pitted against us since we have to go to GR for birth class. ugh... We really want to go tomorrow since we get to have the hospital tour! We also go this Tuesday for a Beginning with Baby class. Good thing gas is cheap again!

T just got in from an evening hunt and he finally got one - an 8 point!! YAY! :) Gotta love a full freezer...

This is my last week of school and then I get 2 weeks off for winter break and I have a feeling that this week is going to go by in a blur. Although I do have one day off from school this week for appointments - the eye doctor and the dentist in the morning, and a massage and adjustment in the afternoon. T thinks I need to try to schedule an OB appt in the afternoon and maybe try to squeeze in some allergy shots too in order to hit all of my health care providers in one day! haha... I think I'm going to try to start some of my holiday baking that afternoon in between appointments, actually. Next weekend is our big time party and party-prep weekend. Friday we have my school's party, Saturday we're getting ready for some family to come over, do more baking, and go to dinner at a friend's. Sunday my aunt and uncle and cousin are coming over for our Christmas celebration. My dad has also agreed to teach me how he makes his famous New England clam chowder. My dad is a fantastic chef and every Christmas he makes his chowder (out of the Professional Chef's cookbook). It's a lot of work, so he will only make it once a year. I've looked at the recipe and some of it, I have no idea what it means - hence, I am not a professional chef! So, he's going to show me - wish me luck on Saturday that I can keep up with the chef!

How do Christmas cards sneak up on me every year? Yesterday, I did actually sit down to write a letter to include in our cards and for some reason, Word kept booting me out. Three times!!! I got frustrated and just gave up for the day. Maybe I can get to it a little later tonight, or next weekend. If you're anticipating a card from us, give me a little time - I'm experiencing technical difficulties!

30.5 Weeks

I found out that my glucose tolerance test results came back absolutely normal. Hooray! Here's my new thing: I can't see!!! My eyesight is changing, what feels like, every day!!! I didn't go for my annual eye exam this summer because my pregnancy books told me to wait until after the baby was born because of changes to your eyesight. Also, my mom's vision changed quite a bit when she was pregnant for me, so I had a feeling that this was going to happen. Although I thought it would be after she was born!! I started noticing a few weeks ago how seeing the tv from bed was getting a little fuzzy. It's a little more than fuzzy now. Last night at choir rehearsal, I could barely read the words in my music - I was directing them all goofy and giving them the wrong words. Not a good thing. My poor choir!! So, I have an appointment set up for next week - I'm hoping he can give me some stronger contacts to try, because I would bet that my eyes are just going to keep changing! Ugh!

We had to skip Birth Class this week because of the bad weather. We read in our book instead - unfortunately, a lot of what was going to be covered says in the book, "refer to the techniques you learned in class". Crap. We'll see what next Monday's weather brings.

In very happy news, one of my preggo buddies had her baby on Tuesday! If you get a chance, go to the 4jmilewskis and check out their new little bundle - he's adorable! Although now it should be called the 5jmilewskis. :)

I have some very random winter pics that I wanted to post, so here ya go...

We have geese who walk on water in Saranac, aren't you impressed?

Can you spot the 3 deer? This was taken on our snow day last week behind our house.

This was the first night that we had our Christmas tree up. The fire, the lights, it just makes me calm. It was also snowing quite hard outside, unfortunately I couldn't capture that! I'm noticing that our tree is a bit crooked... hmmm... I need to go home and fix that.

30 Weeks

How your baby's growing:Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face.
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Holy crap, 30 weeks!! I cannot believe how incredibly fast everything has happened. 30 weeks sounds like a ton of time, but it's really not! It's crazy to think that a "full-term" baby could be living at our house in 7-10 weeks! Whoa!

I have decided that working full days just isn't very fun anymore. With all of the conferences, meetings, and doctors' appointments that I've had this year, I feel like I've been a part-time teacher. Again, this week, I am gone for 2 days! Good thing that I have a nice class that just rolls with it. My new long-term sub came in this week to observe and take over for a while, and I think everything will be just fine with her. She used to teach 3rd grade in Florida, so she's pretty accustomed to this age!

This week I had to go for my glucose tolerance test. Yuck. Actually, it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. And of course, knowing that I had to go totally freaked me out so I did a bunch of research before I went and knew what all of my levels needs to be under at each hour. The first poke, I was way under (it can't be higher than 95 - I was 73). The other 3 pulls were full blood draws - no instant results. Grrr!! I'm still waiting to hear the official results from my doctor, but because of the first one, she didn't seem concerned at all. Hopefully, she's right!! I used to get pretty freaked out if I had to have blood taken or get shots. Now, after over 2 years of allergy shots and all the poking and prodding that happens during pregnancy - I'm not such a wimp. The nurse had to do all my draws from my "one good vein" - so I'm pretty bruised there, but it wasn't a big deal. T asked me if my right arm felt lighter than my left since she took all the draws out of that arm.

Oh! We started Birth Classes this week! T got out of work a little early and we headed over to Metro with our 2 pillows in the middle of a gigantic snowstorm with very yucky roads. Our usual 35 minute trip took us almost an hour. It was a good class - we have about 8 or 9 other couples, and everyone was married except for one girl who was there with an older woman (by girl, I mean she was probably early 20s). I had heard from other friends how when they went to class that they were the only married ones there and everyone else was there with their boyfriend (sometimes not even the father), or a friend, or their mom or someone. Maybe that's just in Ionia... Anyway, T said that he learned a lot! I read a lot, so not much was new, but our instructor went over a lot of things about preterm labor. Now, every time I say that I'm hot, T asks if I have a fever and if we should call the doctor. I just have a funky heating system right now! We go again this week to learn about actual labor. Then the next week is the tour of the birthing unit - that's what I really want to see! Where the action is!! We have class pretty much every Monday in December - plus one Tuesday for a Beginning with Baby class. That should be interesting - I'm spending all this time figuring out what to do when I'm pregnant - I should probably start learning about what to do once she finally gets here!!! I have more books to read... Christmas vacation is coming - I'll have time to read then.