Thirty-Six Weeks

Nine months! As I've said before, I believe pregnancy is guilty of false advertising. Nine months of pregnancy is a complete misnomer, as the average pregnancy lasts 40 weeks and thus, ten months! If you think nine months is the finish line, there's a very rude surprise waiting at wait 36: four more weeks of baby-growing and waiting! Not only that, but from what I hear (and have already begun experiencing), the last month is the real doozy... Well, rather than belabor the point here, I'll tell you about it in this week's highlights:

• No Rest for the Weary: Sleep has become increasingly elusive in the past week. I fall asleep fairly easily, but sleep very lightly and am up multiple times throughout the night. Most mornings, I wake up between 3:00 and 5:00 and struggle to go back to sleep. I have been off work for five days and haven't slept in once... I just can't! I have been putting the early mornings to good work and getting things done, but I will admit to naps and dozing off on the sofa early in the evenings. Everyone keeps telling me this is nature's way of preparing me for the sleep deprivation that comes with a newborn. That's great, but I don't have a newborn yet, and I'd sure like to have a bit of energy when it comes time to actually deliver this baby! As such, I'm working on getting as much rest as possible when I can.
• The Incredible Expanding Lady: As my doctor so eloquently put it at my 36 week appointment on Friday, "Yeah, the weight gain is happening now, isn't it?!" Ouch. It's true, though! I eat so well, hardly ever losing control or eating empty calories, and I walk with R and the dogs every single night. It doesn't seem to matter, as I'm blowing the 1-2 pounds a week rule of thumb out of the water. In an effort to not completely freak out about the weight gain, I have two thoughts: 1) some amount of the weight gain is definitely due to water retention (remember my gigantic feet?) and 2) I'm not gaining weight in an unhealthy way, so it must be what my body and baby need. I'm eagerly looking forward to getting my body back in a few weeks and starting the work of becoming lean and mean again!
• Quilted Together: As we can't really travel far from home anymore, R and I will be home for all of this year's holidays. My parents, sister and her boyfriend joined us at our house for a Thanksgiving feast on Thursday. I had cleaned the house and prepared as much of the meal as possible the day before, so once they arrived Thursday (with DONUTS no less, sweet people!) I sat on a perch in the kitchen and relied on the expert help of everyone else to execute the meal to perfection. They were all pros in the kitchen and by early afternoon we had a delicious meal: perfectly roasted turkey, garlic smashed potatoes, sausage and bread stuffing, turkey gravy, whipped sweet potatoes, green beans with toasted almonds, cranberry chutney, deviled eggs, and warm rolls! For dessert we feasted on chocolate cake, apple tart, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream and vanilla bean ice cream. We took a family walk in the evening to ward off the impending food coma - it was such a beautiful evening to spend outside together! One of the highlights of the day, though, was receiving the baby quilt that Mom made! She and I had shopped for the fabric together, I sketched out an idea for what I thought the quilt could possibly look like, and she just ran with the plan. The finished product is adorable. Both R and I love it and were talking about the sweet moments our baby will spend on, under, and wrapped up in the quilt in the years to come - it's so special! (Note: It's been gloomy since Thanksgiving so we haven't had a chance to snap a nice photo of the quilt. Once we do, I'll post it here!)
• Date Night: R and I took in a movie this weekend: The Muppets! R said any movie we see now has two important criteria: possible for me to sit through without a bathroom break and unlikely to make me "ugly cry" (as I've said so many times, it takes very little to turn on the waterworks these days). We enjoyed the movie and caught a glimpse of our future: there were little kids everywhere in the theater, giggling, dancing, and talking along - it was adorable! 
• Thankful: There have been a few times in my life where I feel with crystalline clarity how blessed I am and how much I have to be grateful for, and this Thanksgiving was one of those times. I have accomplished a fair amount so far in my life, but without question, I am most proud of and thankful for the life that R and I have created, nurtured, and will soon bring into the world. What's more, I have a husband so loving, supportive, protective and grounded that I know I can take on the challenges of being a mother.  Our daughter will be so lucky to call him Dad! I love my little family and I am so excited to see what the future holds for us!

Because I'm sure you just can't stomach anymore of my sappy musings, let's jump to the tracker:

Week: 36

Weight: +35 pounds (as of Week 36... *sigh*) 

Baby is the Size of a(n): about 5 grapefruit (just shy of 6 pounds - surprisingly heavy and awkward to hold with one arm, as you'll see in the funny way I'm standing in the photo!)

Symptoms: frequently hungry, heavy and full belly pains, really achy pelvis (SPD), extreme shortness of breath, outrageously swollen feet, mental lapses, wacky dreams, trouble sleeping comfortably through the night, general moodiness (ugh - I'm a total mess), and the start of really noticeable Braxton-Hicks contractions

Current Obsession: fruit and milk... that's pretty much it!

Current Aversion: not much!

Thinking About: who our little girl will take after; seeing the actual little elbows, knees, hands and feet she's using to poke and jab at me; finishing up the nursery and layette; securing a pediatrician; having our car seat installation checked for safety; writing up our birth plan and packing a hospital bag!

Picture(s): 

Thirty-Five Weeks

35 weeks marks a fun pregnancy milestone: 35 weeks done and 35 days (5 weeks) to go! This was a busy week for us, as you can see in the highlights below:

• No Turning Back: At our 35-week appointment (our last bi-weekly - now we go weekly!), my favorite OB in our practice told us that while we aren't considered full-term until 37 weeks, if labor were to start, they'd no longer try to stop it! That means whenever Baby Girl decides to make her appearance, all systems are go - holy cow! The truth is that I'd be thrilled if the baby came a few weeks early, but it's just so unlikely that I'm not getting my hopes up. In fact, I asked the doctor about induction. She said I can go as long as 42 weeks before they'd require me to be induced, at which point I told her I was done talking about this with her. ;o) This is such a good primer for parenthood: we have so little control!
• Say My Name: R and I have officially committed to a name for our daughter, and it is just *so* lovely! It's been my favorite name for the past 4+ years (as evidenced by a list I found that I had written soon after moving to MN in 2007) and while it wasn't the top name on our joint list when we initially began dreaming up names, we just couldn't shake it! R has been calling the baby by this name for months now, but I was holding out just in case something "better" caught my eye. This week I gave up the search and ordered some adorable white wooden letters in order to put the baby's name on the wall, so that makes it pretty official. We love the name and it's deliciously fun to have a little secret that only we (and the baby) know for now. :o)
• Come Clean: I found myself with a ton of energy over the weekend and put it to use doing some pre-Thanksgiving deep cleaning of our house. The most noteworthy accomplishment was the complete purging, cleaning and organization of our refrigerator. I told R that I kept walking past the fridge and it was like it was calling out to me to set it in order, so I finally just had to give in! I'm glad I did it, as the groceries we bought today for our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow filled up the newly-empty fridge in no time!
• Let's Eat! R and I only worked Monday and Tuesday of this week, so today we were free to start our Thanksgiving preparations in earnest. We picked up our pre-ordered turkey and my long list of ingredients from Whole Foods, Penzey's Spices and Dogwood Coffee. Upon getting home, I dove in: prepared the brine, got the turkey settled in, made cranberry chutney, whipped sweet potatoes, cheese puffs (the French kind!), an apple tart, and chocolate cake(s). It was not entirely smooth sailing, as it involved a fair amount of time on my feet and required near-constant cleaning of the kitchen between dishes. I'm pretty tired! Hosting Thanksgiving at 36 months (which I will be ON Thanksgiving day) seems a little nuts in retrospect, but I feel lucky to have my parents, sister and her boyfriend arrive tomorrow to help finish the meal (more on that next week). It's my favorite holiday and I intend to soak in every moment!\

Okay, because it's been a long day and I need to get some rest for tomorrow's festivities, let's jump to the tracker now. 

Week: 35

Weight: +31 pounds (as of Week 35 - yikes! I cried in exam room and R - sweet man - helped talk/calm me down) 

Baby is the Size of a(n): container of Clementines (a touch over 5 pounds!)

Symptoms: still pretty hungry, round ligament and general "growing" pains, really achy pelvis (SPD), extreme shortness of breath, outrageously swollen feet (so bad!), mental lapses, wacky dreams, trouble sleeping comfortably through the night (because I can't get comfortable, I have to use the bathroom, or I'm hungry!), the beginnings of nesting, and general moodiness (so many breakdowns this week, notably hysterical crying at the trailer for the upcoming movie War Horse AND when I dropped and broke the apple tart I made), and the start of really noticeable Braxton-Hicks contractions (only one or two so far)

Current Obsession: red meat, all the vegetables from our farm share (especially squash and potatoes), apples, grapes, cinnamon applesauce, peanut butter, MILK (still!), vanilla almond milk, and the Signature Latte from our local coffee shop

Current Aversion: not much!

Thinking About: who our little girl will take after; seeing the actual little elbows, knees, hands and feet she's using to poke and jab at me; finishing up the nursery and layette; securing a pediatrician; having our car seat installation checked for safety; writing up our birth plan and packing a hospital bag!

Picture(s): 

Thirty-Four Weeks

Another week bites the dust! It's amazing how time can simultaneously pass in the blink of an eye and seem to crawl by agonizingly slowly. I feel so torn between wanting to rush through the rest of this pregnancy to just have our baby here with us in the world, and wanting to savor and cherish every second of this experience - every kick and wiggle, every thoughtful gesture from a friend or stranger, and every daydream about what it will be like to meet our daughter. Alas, time passes as it will and there's nothing to be done about it but wait and be in the moment.

Here are some of the moments that happened this week:

• Dance, Dance Revolution: On Friday, R and I attended our friend PK's dance performance at the Cowles Center. It was a collaboration of Katha Dance Theatre and Robert Robinson & Co. The baby is apparently a huge gospel music fan, as every time Robert sang, she started squirming and kicking like crazy. R and I were cracking up as my belly leaped around to the sounds of the music. We agreed afterward that we need to buy some of Robert's albums to cheer/soothe her after she's born. Adorable!
• Color My World: R and I took on a few decorating projects in the nursery this weekend. First we hung the adorable, handmade mobile that arrived this week. It's an orb-shaped butterfly mobile that flutters and spins in even the slightest breeze, and it's just darling above the crib.

The other project was creating and hanging some wall decorations. R and I picked out some fun, colorful fabrics in nursery and coordinating colors and a variety of embroidery hoops. I stretched the fabric in the hoops, trimmed off the excess, created a plan for how to organize them, and then we hung them on the wall. I cannot believe how darling the whole effect is - we are just in love with the baby's room (a good thing, since we'll be spending so much time in there).

• The Baby Formerly Known as "Baby": R and I finally committed to a name for the baby this week when we ordered letters to spell out her name on the wall. It's very exciting to know the name we've loved from the beginning (and really, even before) will be the name we'll call our daughter forever. We look forward to sharing the surprise with family and friends in a few weeks, but for now it's a fun secret to have!
• Feather Our Nest: I'm not completely sure, but I think I might be starting to nest a bit! I just had an overwhelming need to clean up the house this weekend, and the insane baking bug seems to have returned. I cleaned every room in the house, including truly mundane tasks like dusting blinds and scrubbing the bathroom floors. I washed and put away mountains of laundry and must have run the vacuum cleaner a dozen times. I made several dozen chocolate chip cookies, but because they didn't quite hit the spot (I need to stop straying from my tried-and-true recipe), I also made a giant pan of chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal bars (delectable). We have a fair amount of produce to use up from our farm share, so I planned to make potato leek soup for dinner tonight. I couldn't shake the idea of making bread bowls, so I whipped some up and served the soup in them (which felt like quite a treat). Even after all of that, I still have a fair amount of energy. It's either the sleeping in we did Saturday and Sunday, or I'm getting the much-anticipated late-pregnancy burst of energy. Either way, I need to ride the wave!

For now though, I need to ride the wave to bed. I have to go to work tomorrow! Here's the tracker:

Week: 34

Weight: +26 pounds (as of Week 33) 

Baby is the Size of a(n): honeydew melon (4 3/4 pounds)

Symptoms: still pretty hungry, round ligament and general "growing" pains, really achy pelvis (SPD), extreme shortness of breath, outrageously swollen feet (oh, this is so bad), mental lapses, wacky dreams (even R had a dream that the baby was born fast - in the triage room at the hospital before I had time to get to a real L&D room!), trouble sleeping comfortably through the night (because I can't get comfortable, I have to use the bathroom, or I'm hungry!), the beginnings of nesting, and general moodiness

Current Obsession: granola, red meat, all the vegetables from our farm share (especially squash and potatoes), apples, grapes, cinnamon applesauce, peanut butter, MILK (still!), vanilla almond milk, and the Signature Latte from our local coffee shop

Current Aversion: not much!

Thinking About: who our little girl will take after; seeing the actual little elbows, knees, hands and feet she's using to poke and jab at me; finishing up the nursery and layette; securing a pediatrician; taking maternity photos and getting newborn photos scheduled; having our car seat installation checked for safety; pre-registering at the hospital; and starting to try the baby's name on for size...

Picture(s): 

Thirty-Three Weeks

The most noteworthy thing about 33 weeks is that we are only four weeks away from being full-term!! That feels pretty real, though the odds that we'll go that early are rather low.

With every day that passes I get a bit rounder and a bit more tired and a lot more ready to meet our daughter. I've been trying to take it rather easy and get plenty of rest, which is becoming increasingly challenging as comfort is extremely elusive. All of that said, life is going to change a lot in a few weeks, so I'm working hard to stay in the moment and enjoy this period for what it is.

How about some highlights?

• Never Say Never: I thought I was done traveling at the beginning of October, but R and I flew home to Michigan this weekend for his grandmother's visitation and memorial service. The flight to Michigan is considerably shorter and more manageable than the flights I was taking to the west coast, and my edema didn't act up too much. It was a sad occasion for getting together, but it was so good to be able to be there with R's whole family (including our favorite nephew, E). Speaking of our sweet little nephew, I got to spend some solo time babysitting him this weekend. During our play time, I confided in him the name we're pretty sure to use for our little girl. Luckily, he's sure to stay mum, as he's less than six months old. :) Arriving home on Sunday was a relief, as now I really am done traveling. It's time to feather our nest! 
• Giving Thanks: Speaking of our (baby's) nest, we received some really sweet gifts for our little girl from family this weekend. Baby's Aunt D & Uncle J gave her an adorable pair of marigold felted wool shoes:

Aunt K and PV had a gift that was really more for R and me than for the baby:  a special ham ("a frozen ham in a cooler for your bun in the oven") that will come in mighty handy this Christmas! My stomach just growled at the very thought! A friend of mine from work left a thoughtful gift at my desk over the weekend as well: a bottle of soothing bath salts to use when trying to ease my edema:

Finally, Mom and Dad B found a really sweet little lovey for the baby in perfect nursery colors:

We're so appreciative of our thoughtful family. We couldn't ask for a better group of individuals for Baby to call her own.

• Doctor, Doctor: Prior to taking the trip this weekend, we went to my 33 week OB appointment. We're still moving right along! My blood pressure is rock star, my weight gain remains slow and steady, and my belly is measuring right on track. A quick check confirmed that Baby is head-down, though not dropped, and shows no signs of trying to make her big appearance yet. We snagged a copy of my medical records to take with us on the plane (and had fun reading back through the history of this pregnancy). I think that our next appointment is my last bi-weekly before starting to go weekly. That must mean we really are close now!

And with that, I'm falling asleep in the easy chair, so it's time to go to sleep! Here's the tracker:

Week: 33

Weight: +26 pounds (as of Week 33; +3 pounds vs. the Week 31 appointment) 

Baby is the Size of a(n): pineapple (just over 4 pounds)

Symptoms: still pretty hungry, round ligament and general "growing" pains, really achy pelvis (SPD), extreme shortness of breath, outrageously swollen feet (took my shoes off at my desk one day this week in order to prop my feet up and they promptly swelled up so badly I couldn't get my shoes back on!), mental lapses, wacky dreams (dreamed I had the baby and it was really easy! Let's hope this one comes true!), trouble sleeping comfortably through the night, the beginnings of nesting, and general moodiness

Current Obsession: granola, red meat, all the vegetables from our farm share (especially squash and potatoes), apples, cinnamon applesauce, peanut butter, MILK (is there anything more delicious?!), vanilla almond milk, and the Signature Latte from our local coffee shop

Current Aversion: not much!

Thinking About: who our little girl will take after; seeing the actual little elbows, knees, hands and feet she's using to poke and jab at me; finishing up the nursery and layette; securing a pediatrician; taking maternity photos and getting newborn photos scheduled; having our car seat installation checked for safety; pre-registering at the hospital; and starting to try the baby's name on for size...

Picture(s): 

Thirty-Two Weeks

Ring the bell, ladies and gentlemen: we have made it to the eight month mark! This feels like a tremendous achievement as long as I don't think about the fact that there are still two months to go... Week 32 highlights include:

• All in the Family: My parents visited this weekend. We enjoyed a lovely Sunday afternoon of football, chatting and feasting on meatloaf, mashed potatoes, salad, and a fabulous cake chock-full of fall flavors. It was fun to spend some low-key time together (and it didn't hurt that the Vikings won)! One of the best parts of the visit was Mom's delivery of the baby's fitted crib sheets and crib skirt, which she handmade from fabric we picked out during her last visit. The nursery looks so much cuter as all of the pieces fall into place! Here's a quick photo we snapped of one of the four crib sheets - lovely:

• Trick-or-Treat: R and I handed out candy during our last pre-baby Halloween this week. It was so fun to see the little kids (especially the really little ones) in costume and think about our own future adventures in trick-or-treating. As I love handing out candy, I proposed that maybe taking our daughter trick-or-treating can be a special Dad & daughter activity. We shall see! Favorite moments included the little boy who held out his bag and demanded, "Give me candy," to which I automatically replied, "Please?" I waited for him to repeat it back before giving him candy, much to his chagrin. I was gratified to hear his mother correct him as they walked away - there's hope for kids yet! There was a little girl in a princess costume who was wearing a bear-face stocking cap under her crown. I asked if she was a Care Bear, to which she disgustedly replied, "I'm a princess, duh!" ha - can't wait to see how many times we hear "DUH" from our little girl... :o) It was equally fun when a little girl asked R for additional pieces of candy and I heard him say, "Nope, only two per person. We have to save some for all of the kids." It's like a little glimpse into our parenting style. So fun! 
• Rock-a-Bye: The baby's swing arrived in the mail yesterday, and I assembled it after dinner. It was fun to turn it on, crank up the included white noise options, and watch the dogs skitter out of the way, then slink back to check it out. The swing is so cute in the nursery and I look forward to using it to soothe the baby in just a few more weeks!

Okay, time to move on to the tracker so I can get to bed! We flip over to Week 33 in the morning and we have our next OB appointment tomorrow afternoon, so next week's post will include the latest from the doctor on our progress and status!

Week: 32

Weight: +23 pounds (as of Week 31) 

Baby is the Size of a(n): pie pumpkin (just under 4 pounds)

Symptoms: still always hungry, round ligament and general "growing" pains, really achy pelvis (SPD), extreme shortness of breath, outrageously swollen feet (I frequently have my shoes off and my feet propped up under my desk at work, but even that's not helping much!), mental lapses (I had to write myself a reminder note that I parked in an unusual spot yesterday. I posted it on the wall near my office doorway and my coworkers who spotted it had a laugh at my expense!), wacky dreams, trouble sleeping comfortably through the night, the beginnings of nesting and general moodiness (noteworthy breakdown: general fear of childbirth has left me crying a few times this week when I think too much about it... the good news is that's really the only way to get the baby out, so it'll have to be okay!)

Current Obsession: oatmeal, red meat, all the vegetables from our farm share (especially squash and potatoes), apples, cinnamon applesauce, peanut butter, MILK (we went through three gallons last week!), vanilla almond milk, and the Signature Latte from our local coffee shop

Current Aversion: not much!

Thinking About: who our little girl will take after; seeing the actual little elbows, knees, hands and feet she's using to poke and jab at me; finishing up the nursery and layette; securing a pediatrician; taking maternity photos and getting newborn photos scheduled; having our car seat installation checked for safety;j pre-registering at the hospital; and still pondering names (though I think we may have a winner!!)

Picture(s):