38 Weeks!

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)
************************

Very interesting about eye color. I have blue eyes and T has green eyes - so apparently she could be born with either and then change to the other. huh... crazy

This week I have spent as a slug. I did have a few doctors' appointments which caused me to leave the house, but other than that, I was home in my chair. Or some other chair in my house doing sit-down projects. On Monday, my OB said everything was great and after I told him about my sciatica issues, he said, "Oh, that's awful and won't go away until the baby is here" and promptly gave me a slip to be off work until 6 weeks after the baby is born. I seriously have no idea how I could possibly have taught school this week. Some of the time, I feel pretty okay and can walk around, but then BAM! walking and moving just can't happen. Bizarre. I have seen my chiropractor and massage therapist this week too and I think that has helped some. I think. In a couple weeks, all this won't even matter anymore since she'll be here and I'll feel better, right? RIGHT?!?

I have never been away from my class this long before - well, I guess I missed a week when my Grandpa died and we had to go to Florida, but I knew I was coming back to school when we got back. The idea of being home for the next 7-8 weeks or so is so strange! I totally feel out of the loop at school - although my mom keeps me pretty updated on what's going on. Just me trying to overcome my control issues. I keep thinking about kids at school and if my sub is doing such-and-such at this time, or whatever. Why can't I just let it go?!? I know that soon I'll have a major distraction to make me stop thinking about school.

This coming week I have another OB appt on Monday - he's going to check my cervix again and see how we're coming along!

I have a to-do list that I've been whittling away at. Yesterday I finally got out the new video camera we got for Christmas from my parents to start figuring out how to use it. No, T will NOT be videotaping the birth. I don't think that is really an event that I'm going to want to view over and over again. After she's here, then we'll fire it up! :)

I have pretty much the same agenda this week as last week. Appointments, rest, repeat. I still have a few things to do on my list, but they're all sit-down things and I try to tackle a couple a day. Usually with a nap in between! :) I'm trying to bank up as much sleep now as possible. The dogs are sure loving having me home. Smokey rarely leaves the comfort of the couch, and Remy seems to have taken over the guest bed as his new bed. He sleeps or looks out the window most of the day. He'll be in for a rude awakening when I go back to school and he's back outside in his run!

Oh! My new HD dish gets installed on the 9th! :) Have I mentioned lately how much I love our new tv? We got it just in time for me to have a lot of quality time with it. :)

Well, I'm off to make a grocery list for T to tackle this morning. Have a good week, everyone!

37 Weeks

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. He 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.
***************

Wow, full term. I have a feeling that I'm not going to go all three weeks. Although, I'm hoping that she'll be closer to her due date, than say, this week. For some reason, I have Feb. 10 in my mind. Four days early wouldn't be so bad!

This past week has been an interesting one. I seem to have developed sciatica in my left leg. It is so debilitating. Some of the time, I'm really pretty okay, but then out of the blue, I can't walk anymore. At school on Friday I had my worst day. At one point, I had to be wheeled around in a desk chair because there was no way I could get up or walk. Hopefully, she changes position soon so that I can feel like a normal person again- or as close to it as I can!

In other "weird things happening to my body" news... if I thought that I had cankles before, then a new word needs to be invented for what has become of the area south of my knees. I really didn't notice it much until this morning in the shower and I looked at my feet and I couldn't stop saying "OH MY GOD!" Everything is crazy swollen and huge. So it's looking like my butt will have a permanent imprint in the big brown chair for the time being with my feet up. Ick.

So what do you think of my new blog layout?!? I thought it was time to mix things up a little bit! :)

I have another OB appointment on Monday - I'll see what he has to say about everything. I'm also going back to the chiropractor that day - maybe he can help me out too!

Friday night, my mom and I made a quick trip to GR to ba.bies r us and tar.get to pick up a few remaining things that we needed. We had a few more places to go, however this giant pain in my ass prevented me from walking very far. Oh! Something kind of exciting - at Tar.get, I was looking at the nursing bras, and who else was there doing the same thing? Cute little Rachel Ruiz from Channel 8! Local celebrity siting!

Not much is planned for this week. I am going to be packing my hospital bag tomorrow so we're all set for whenever. T installed the base for the car seat today. :) Now I need to drive down to the fire station to make sure it's okay. He also put up the bassinet that is going to stay in our room. The dogs still don't seem to know what to think about it. Remy is very interested in all the toys and well, everything. Smokey will sniff things a bit and then go back to the couch. I'm sure that he will be fine with the baby. Remy I think is going to be a bit jealous - he won't be the baby anymore! A friend who also has labs told me to carry around a doll for a while to get the dogs used to me carrying around a baby. I also packed a couple extra receiving blankets so that we can use them in the hospital and bring those home first for them to sniff before we bring her in the house. I think they're going to be fine! :)

36 Weeks

Your baby is gaining 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 hair that covered her body, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Next week, your baby will be considered full-term. Most likely she's in a head-down position, but if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an external cephalic version, where she'll try to turn your baby by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.
**********************

Sorry about the lateness of this post. I'm not sure what I was waiting for. I guess I was hoping to have some pictures downloaded onto my computer to share, and that hasn't happened. So, here's my post sans pics.

Since my last post:
I had a doctor's appointment and all was great. T came with me and heard the heartbeat for the first time - strong and steady 150 bpm.

I had two baby showers! Wonderfully fun times! :) I think we're all set for her to get here!

My mom and I went and saw Legally Blonde the musical. It was one of the best shows that I've seen in a loooooong time. And as an added bonus, we got to see the original Elle from Broadway - I was so excited and she definitely didn't disappoint!

My long-term sub has started taking over. I've had several days off over the last few weeks. This week, she's been with me observing for 2 days and I've had a conference and a meeting so she's there without me for a couple days. I think that this week is going to be it for me. If I keep teaching, I think that she will come early since I'm on my feet so much. I was already dilated to 1cm last week and I'm retaining so much fluid that I don't recognize my feet anymore. I want her to stay in and cook as long as possible! Anyway, I think that we found a good fit for my class - she seems very comfortable with my class and eager to get going.

This weekend we're going to get the last of what we think we need. I'm also planning on packing my "goodie bag" as they called it at birth class. It's my bag to take to the hospital.

In just a couple days, I will be at 37 weeks and considered full term. How fast this whole journey has been!

35 Weeks

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). 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.
*******************

The room is complete! Now we just need a baby to put in it!


Okay, so now I realize that her name is no longer a secret! :)



This is the antique cradle that she will use for not very long! But it's just so pretty! You can also see the chesser (a cross between a chest and a dresser) that my grandpa made us for a wedding present that is actually going to be used to store all of her things. We met a woman at a craft show in December who is painting the knobs to go on it. If you can see the small pink and flowered box on the chesser, the knobs will be painted like that. We also ordered several other pieces from her - a large painting that says 'dream', a mirror, and a few other things that I can't remember. Most of it will be Christmas presents from Grammy and Grandpa next year. :)



In this pic, you can see more of the smaller flowers, dragonflies, and ladybugs that we put under the window.

Her closest - it's so hard to resist buying baby clothes! I also did my first load of laundry of her clothes - I did just the 0-3 month stuff that she has. Wow, socks are TINY!!! You can also see in this pic the small toy chest in the bottom right hand corner. This was also made by my grandpa for my dad when he was little! It was one of the first pieces that he ever made. I remember it being at my grandparents' house, but it wasn't until recently that I found out it was my dad's. A third generation using it - made by the fourth generation!

This week was an interesting one. Monday was supposed to be my first day back after Christmas break - and we had an ice day! A nice added bonus! Tuesday and Wednesday I did well at school - I felt good and things were fine. Thursday I felt like I had been hit by a truck - I was exhausted all day. My poor kids at school - they had to put up with cranky me. Oh well, it's not for much longer - they'll survive. I got home from school, took a three hour nap, was up for about an hour, and then went to bed. Friday was not much better. And on top of how tired I was, I started throwing up again. Crap. So Friday night was another lounge around and try to keep food down kind of night in my big brown chair.

We had had plans for quite some time to go see my cousin play basketball at Hope College on Saturday - he plays for Albion and we usually make it to the games that he plays at Hope and at Calvin, since they're the closest for us. This year he's a senior and he plays a lot because he's good (I don't say that just because he's my cousin - it's the truth!) so it's nice to see him at this level. The Calvin game is Feb 18 - not exactly a good time for us, so we were really looking forward to the hope game. Especially since this would be the last time that we'd ever get to see him play college ball. I actually put some effort into my appearance and did my hair and everything (something that really hasn't happened lately!!) and then we heard from my uncle that the roads were total crap in Holland and that we shouldn't come. UGH!!! Why has the weather f*&%ed over everything that we have had plans to do this winter?!?!? It's so frustrating. It literally snowed all day - so, we stayed home and watched the msu game and finished the baby's room instead.

I went and met my OB on Monday. He seems very nice - I go back again on the 19th. When I was there, he said that I was measuring a little ahead of where they thought I was, so if that's still the case when I go again, they're going to do another ultrasound (YAY! More pictures - maybe she'll be more photogenic this time!!) to see what's going on in there. It's looking like I'm going to have about 2 more weeks of school before I'm going to try to take a little time off before she gets here. Being on my feet all day is not helping my legs. I sit as much as possible and my kids are always very helpful to bring me things or get up and come to me, instead of me go to them. That's an odd concept for me, because I'm so used to being the one up and around. However, if those little things can help my fluid retention and my resulting CANKLES (ugh!!!) then I'm all for it. My massage therapist told me that it's not getting any worse - that she can still definitely feel bones in there, so I guess that's a bit of comfort.

This week will be an interesting one - and one that I'm hoping to get another snowday or two! It's supposed to get frigidly cold around here and it would absolutely not break my heart to get another day. Tuesday my mom and I are going to Wharton Center to see Legally Blonde the musical - I absolutely cannot wait!!! We bought the tickets in the summer, hoping that almost 5 weeks before my due date would be safe. Unfortunately, there are several shows coming in the few weeks past my due date that we also would have loved to have seen. Oh well, they'll come around again! Other than that, it's supposed to be a pretty normal week - oh! Except for 2 showers next weekend! :) Fun fun! :)

Have a good week everyone! Stay warm!

34 Weeks

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.

******************************

Happy 2009 to everyone out there in bloggerville! It's so hard for me to believe that I can now say that my baby is due NEXT MONTH. Whoa. So far '09 has been a great year and I'm sure it will just continue!

This week I have done a TON of cleaning and cleaning out. Remember my mission to get things situated before the end of Christmas break?!? Well, I made it! The guest room is much more roomy and the baby's room is approximately 95% complete! :) My mom came over today to start the actual decorating of her room - and it looks awesome! I am also planning on putting her name above her crib on these cute little boards and hanging them from cute little ribbons, but the paint that we got for the background just isn't quite right, so that's pretty much the only thing we don't have up.

We also got our carseat and stroller this week! Now, if she's born early, we can take her home from the hospital! :) T has had SO MUCH FUN this week putting together all of the new gadgets and toys. Okay, some were more fun than others, but he did it! Now we have car seat in our living room staring at us - the big pink elephant in the room - it makes it difficult to think about anything else and that soon there will be an occupant in there. Craziness. T's project tomorrow is to figure out how to secure the base in my truck.

New Year's Eve was spent with some good friends and their two adorable kids. We had an absolute riot - although we were old farts and left by 9pm so we could sleep in our own bed and turn out the light to go to sleep at approximately 12:01am. It was still a great time and since they're now out of the baby-making stage, they have graciously let us borrow a bunch of their things. Our nursery is now very well stocked with goodies!

It's been a fantastic break - a break that I very much needed. I wrote in my Christmas letter this year that we were hoping to face the new year rested, relaxed and READY! And that's exactly how I feel. No stress, no tension. After many many late work nights in December, T has also taken all but one day off this week with his built-up comp time and it has been great having him home. A lot has been accomplished! I still have some washing to do (we went and bought our first bottle of Dre.ft yesterday!), but other than that, whenever she decides to come - we're ready!

Here is a pic of how the main wall of the nursery looks now. This is really the only wall we're decorating - of the other walls: 1 has a big window, 1 has a dresser, a bookcase and a door to the bathroom, and 1 is taken up by the closet. So, this is the pretty wall! The big flowers on the right are lights from I.kea that look very cool when lit.

Here it is with the lights on - but it looks kinda weird in a picture. They're pretty awesome in person, though!

When everything else is in place and the way it's supposed to be, I'll post that too! :)

It's Saturday night and I'm off to bed. I have had 16 days off from school, which means that tomorrow I have to go spend the day at school to be ready for the week - or, I'm hoping to get ready for the next few weeks to help with the fatigue I'm sure I will be experiencing once Monday rolls around. Whatever planning time I do have during the day, might have to turn into nap time. :) Let's hope for 3 more snow days in January!! :)