Monday: dropped

Apparently the baby dropped a lot over the weekend.  "Everyone" at work mentioned it when they saw me today.

It also meant that I had to go to the bathroom any time I walked for more than 50 feet.

Saturday: pep talk

Jess asked what I'm telling Baby to convince him to come out...

*It will be more fun to be out.
*You can see Dad (and other relatives)
*Christmas is a fun time...you don't want to miss it.
*There's more room to move.
*You have a name
*We have everything that you'll need for the first little bit...and most of it is set up.
*It works with scheduling better if you come sooner.

What I'm not telling him...
*It will be cold
*it's hard work to communicate
*Going through the birth canal is traumatic.

Tuesday: 37 weeks

Today we hit the 37 week mark, which means Baby is full term and can come whenever he wants.  I've started giving him pep talks on why he should come sooner rather than later.

I went to the doctor and am a "true 1" dilated and 50% effaced.  So at least there is progress.  The last day or so has also had an increase in cramps, but nothing that hurts.  On the weird side of things, I've felt better the last week or two than I have for a majority of the pregnancy.  I am still pretty tired, but nothing else is really wrong. And I can deal with being tired.

Saturday: stuff

Baby's stuff is taking over our house and he's not here yet and not all the large items are set up.

We had a delicious dinner with Dad and Pat.

Tuesday: more baby

I had another OB appointment today.  Today we found out that he probably has a long torso.  The head is down and it took her a while to find the heartbeat because it was higher up (on me) then expected.  I'm not dilated, but that is normal I guess.

The glider also came today!  It got here super fast...I ordered it Sunday night.  And it is tall enough.  Phew.

Sunday: one month

There's only a month left until this baby is due!  Hooray!

In honor of that, we're having a baby post today.

Shower

Ben and I had a shower on Friday night for the baby.  I again don't have any pictures, but it was a lot of fun.  We got several things that we need (or think we need) and had a wonderful dinner.  It was fun to have both guys and girls at the party...it's interesting to see how both sides think.

Diapers

Ben and I are probably going to go with a cloth diaper service.  In case you wanted to see the breakdown, I included a picture of the spreadsheet and some of my assumptions below.  Beware though: I only spent about 30 minutes getting some of the numbers so they might not be completely accurate.

*77 diapers/week  (this might be on the high end, but some forums had really high numbers)
*disposable diapers were assumed to be $0.25 per piece
*the diaper service gives free diapers if the child isn't potty trained by 2.5 years.
*transportation impact was not included in environmental impact
*initial cloth diaper cost was estimated based on some Amazon numbers...but still an estimate

Laundry
I did my first load of baby laundry today.  Aww.  Probably the first of a million loads though.

Packed
I also packed for the hospital.  (Which is one reason I did some baby laundry.)  The problem is that I need a lot of the stuff yet.  I only have so many pants that I fit into.  And I still am using the electronics and toiletries.  So by the bag there will be list of last minute things to stick in.

Clothes
I'd like to complain that only half the maternity clothes still fit.  It is a little annoying to put on a shirt that covered my belly fine last week only to have an inch of skin show this week.  (Although I'll admit, some of this has to do with which pants I'm wearing.)  However, it made it easier to pack shirts for the hospital.

(ok, ok, it isn't a maternity shirt.  But it still seemed to fit well in the section.)

Glider
We also decided to purchase a glider on-line without having tried it out.  This is a little nerve racking, as most of the gliders that we sat in where too short to rest our heads against.  But the reviews for this say that tall people can rest their heads against this one.  And this way it is in the budget to get a footstool too.


Day care

I visited a day care near where I work this past week.  It's gotten very high recommendations from some of the people I work with and it is Christian-based, so unless I saw something that really scared me I was planning on using them.  Everything seemed fine.  And it is about five minutes from work so I'm planning on going over there to nurse at lunch.  (At least, that is the plan.)  I'm hoping that will take away some of the angst I might have about leaving him.

Nine month picture

Since there are so many other pictures in this post, I thought I'd add one more of how I'm looking today.

Sunday: baby shower

I had a baby shower today.  It was a lot of fun to see the ladies and hear the various stories that came out about their children.  And Baby Hilldore has a lot of cool new stuff. :)

I don't have any pictures right now, so you'll just have to take my word that everything was very nice.

Tuesday: baby

Today was another prenatal checkup.  :)  They're fast, but I enjoy them.

Baby is measuring at 34 weeks (1 week larger than expected).  The heart rate was 138 but going up because he started moving.  The head is facing my lower right.

Right before my appointment I went to the hospital to see an old childhood friend that just had a baby.  The baby was early (34 weeks) but is doing well.  Her baby is very small, but at the same time very large when I consider that I have something that size inside me.  I'm not really sure how he fits.

Monday: squirmy

Today the baby was squirmy. He made it hard to concentrate a few times, when I really needed to be concentrating.

So I emailed his father that he was being squirmy, since if I am distracted it's only fair that he somehow distract Ben too.

Tuesday: 3 quarters

Today starts week 30 of being pregnant, so we're 3/4 of the way done. Woo-hoo.

Apparently the baby is the size of a squash right now. It seems appropriate since it is fall/Halloween time. However, squashes come in all sorts of different sizes so I'm not sure it is a really good comparison.

My circumference is 39.5"

Saturday: crash

I had a post to write today but then I crashed. So Ben got me in bed where I can fall asleep, probably sooner rather than later, but I need the desktop computer to write the post because it'd be easier.

Baby says "hi" and "I have legs! Do you want to feel them?". But Baby might be getting his arms and legs confused. It's hard to tell in the dark.

Sunday: apples, leaves, and appendages

I finished off all the apples today in applesauce. Some were getting a little soft, but they were all still good for applesauce.

We raked the front yard. It was nice because here you just rake the leaves into the street and the front yard isn't very big, so it was an easy raking job. However, I'm not sure the tree appreciated the wonderful job we did as leaves started cluttering up the lawn again as soon as we were done.

I had my hand on my stomach in just the right place to feel a good kick (or hit) this evening. The cool part of this was that I could tell it was a real appendage because I could feel a difference between appendage and no appendage. Usually it just feels like a bump with no discrete difference. I completely interrupted the conversation Ben and I were having and then we had a hard time remembering where we had left off.

Friday: 27 week OB appt

Today was my 27 week OB appointment. A few different things happened today...

*I had my gestational diabetes test. I passed having to do the full test, but just barely. However, this is apparently a pass/fail thing, so I don't need to worry about what I'm eating.

*My belly was measured. It measured right around 27 weeks. I'm wondering if the measuring tape is a special scale or if 27cm =27 weeks. Anyway, I'm just the right size.

*I might be getting a bladder infection. I feel fine, but apparently my urine was high in nitrates. I'm supposed to drink a lot of water. And I got a prescription in case I need it.

*The kiddo was moving all around (probably due to the sugar drink I drank for the test) and had a heartbeat of 162.

Sunday: picture

Jamie took this nice picture of me on Monday. I'll admit, I feel more awkward than I look. So I don't know if I'm playing it up or what. Oh well.

Friday: registering

Ben and I went to Target tonight to start registering. Not to necessarily scan everything we wanted there, but at least get started.

I think it would have been hilarious to watch us; we had almost no clue what we were doing.

"Let's choose a crib! I read that the slat have to be no more than so far apart and no drop sides."
"They all have those features."
"And they all turn into toddler beds."
"Well, I think that one is ugly."
"I don't like this one."
"That still leaves three to choose from."

"Let's get a mattress! The firmer the better."
" Extra firm or ultra firm?"
"uh.."
(We were able to figure that one out...one had more coils.)

"Let's get spoons!"
...
...
"There's too many."
Luckily, a nice lady took pity on us and recommended some.

"Let's get this shark towel."
"It doesn't look like a shark."
"I know. It actually looks like a monster and I think that'll be cuter."

"Let's get a pack-n-play!"
"This one has too much extra stuff."
"This one has a hood...that looks annoying to deal with."
"You can leave the second level in when packing this one up."
"Score."
(This was probably the easiest thing to choose.)

"Let's get him an electronic!"
"Only if you can justify why it should be on the registry."
"A large TV? He will need a large TV."
( We couldn't find one absurdly large enough.)
"Legos? How about Lego Pirates, the video game."
"ok."

Sunday nights: they still hate me

Sunday nights still hate me. All Sunday nights.

I don't know what I do differently on Sundays that I don't do on Saturdays. I couldn't think of anything that I consistently do differently.

Tuesday/Wednesday: It's a...

...day we've all been waiting for: ultrasound day! Yay! The baby seems healthy, at least according to the initial looks. I'll find out in about two weeks if that isn't the case.

The baby on the side: head on the right. The baby was rather wiggly. It started in one direction and by the end had turned itself 180 degrees. We also saw its mouth open and close a few times.



We saw all the different parts, including a foot, arms, legs, heart, head, etc. As the tech was going through the different layers of the skull it looked kind of like a horror film, but the outermost layer always looked ok.






After doing the measurements they also moved the due date up a week to Dec 27. It's a little bit sad that it is closer to Christmas, but at the same time it would be nice to meet the baby earlier.

Well, on to the news that I know you've been anxiously waiting for...how my MRI scan went this morning. Imagine you're at a new age concert with a synthesizer and a wooden block...that's what it sounded like. Except you could see only white. I had the scan because of my weird, super short but super painful headaches that I was having in March and April. I haven't had them since then, but since it wasn't the first round of them the doctor decided to get the MRI done just in case. It was longer than I expected...20 to 30 minutes...and by the end I was getting sore from just being still for so long. I'll find out in a few days if there's something wrong, but I doubt it.

Ok, back to the baby. It's a boy. I had convinced myself that it was a girl so I was rather surprised, but not at all sad. I keep saying to myself, "It's a boy!!"

Friday: baby update

I finally had my doctor's appointment today. I'm supposed to be eating more vegetables, but besides that everything went well. The heart rate was 165 and the baby kicked once to let us know we were invading its privacy.

Wednesday: Sid

When the thought of food makes me nauseous, I think of Sid.

(photo from here)

Sid hopped into a backpacker's backpack when they were exploring the jungle. The backpacker went home to their home on a farm. (Sid passed TSA security by being on his side and the TSA agent being distracted. Sid survived by eating snacks in the backpack and the condensation from bottles/cups put in the backpack.)

There Sid met Harriet.

(photo from here)

That's all the farther I've gotten. Usually at this point Sid is on a fence rail.

Stay tuned for the next installment: what do Sid and Harriet say to each other? What do they do together?

Monday: red dots

A bunch of little red dots appeared on my face today. I'm assuming it's a pregnancy related thing but there didn't seem to be any official info on the Internet.

I was going to take a picture, but went to bed instead. Maybe tomorrow if they're still there.