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.

Your baby 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. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Belly Shots:

36 weeks

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of 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 covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances which, along with other secretions, will result in a blackish mixture.  This substance, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

Lots of fun things happened this week.  First, the birth tub was delivered.  It seems perfect, although I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.  It's about 6 feet wide and about 3 feet deep and even has a heater and jets.  We decided to set it up in the nursery, since there weren't many options in our small house, this place just seemed like the best fit.  Most of the room is taken up by it but there are a few things that are coming out before labor time, including the stroller and the boxes the tub came in.  It took a few hours to fill completely, we did it from the hot water adaptor at the washing machine to maximize the heat of the water and it still took 3 tanks of hot water.

Then, the new camera came, I adore amazon prime and 2 day shipping.  We went with the Canon Rebel Xsi, got an extra lens which is particularly for portraits, and got photoshop elements so we can tweak the images a bit.  I'm loving it already and I haven't even take a picture yet!  We do plan to keep the basic point and shoot, we're getting it a new battery today, since I think it's handy to have something smaller and easy for anyone to use.

Belly shot time:

Here's a summary of weeks 6, 16, 26, and 36:

Valentines Day 2010

Technically we're not spending Valentines Day apart, but really we are.  Dominic's flight doesn't get in from Florida until 8:30PM on Sunday so if it's on time he won't be home until nearly 10:30.  I'm not this big Valentine's day fan or anything but it's still nice to take a day to appreciate your husband and celebrate love in general.  We decided to go to dinner last weekend instead, just a little Olive Garden nothing fancy and then he surprised me on Wednesday with TWO bouquets of flowers.  Those flowers smell just delish right now and everytime I walk by them I think of him, such a cleaver man my hubby.  Plus, after a little not so subtle hinting he picked up a new Willow Tree figure for me...the Je'Taime one.  For those of you who don't know Je'Taime is French for I love you and it's engraved on my engagement ring.  Perfect gift, right!

And what did I get Dominic?  A card...this card:

HAHA!  He was wonderful and I was...all about me!  This might just be our relationship in a nutshell ;)

In my defense, I am building him a baby from scratch and he thinks that Valentines Day is about women anyway.  I know most of you know how we met but I recently found a little momento that brought back some memories and since I've got the time I figured I would tell the story from my perspective (Dominic's is a little different)

We were both attending our first day of school in 6th grade.  This was the year you go from elementary schools to middle schools and have different teachers for different subjects.  The school was broken up into pods with about 150 kids per pod.  Of course we were in the same pod which happened to be a 6/7 split pod.  Somehow Dominic's schedule was messed up and he was put in the 7th grade classes instead of the 6th grade ones so he came into Mrs. Tomko's class a little late.  Most of the class knew each other since we had been together since 3rd grade or even sooner but there were a few new comers...ie Dominic. 

Even in 6th grade this guy stood out, I know he was over 6 foot tall already.  I was a completely loud obnoxious girl who was probably completely over confident and not really adept at showing someone I was interested.  I'm sure I made fun of him and teased him horribly, at least that's what he tells me.  I 'went out' (I say it like that because I didn't really go anywhere but I called them my boyfriend) with a few boys and got into teenage girl trouble plenty of times. 

Eventually, Kevin Sampson decided that enough was enough and Dominic and I should 'go out' since we obviously liked each other...this lasted all of a lunch hour.  We did manage to stay friends and FINALLY started dating in 7th grade.  I still remember the first time we kissed in the back of the band room.  We were on the stairs while waiting for the bell to ring so we could all go home, quite romantic.  We carried on like this for about a year, neither of us dating anyone else. 

8th grade meant a new school and new pods.  The class we were in which typically stayed together gets broken up this year so we were now in different pods.  The details escape me but we broke up over something trival between 7th and 8th grade.  Being the teenage girl I refused to ask a boy out but made an exception for Dominic because I really wanted to get back together...he declined!  Yes people, he turned me down! 

I spent my days hanging out with the Fab 4 and eventually, in 9th grade, Dominic went to O'dea...far far away from BJHS or BHS for that matter.  We still stayed in touch and saw each other at games or get togethers occassionally but didn't really date.  We even went to a dance at O'dea our senior year, I think it was the Valentine's dance which is appropriate since this is Valentines day after all. 

Soon, we were off to college, again in completely different areas of the country.  I stayed close to home at Central and he went across the country to Cornell.  It might sound crazy but we stayed in touch, calling each other every few months and hanging out during holiday breaks.  We shared boyfriend/girlfriend drama and eventually found ourselves single at the same time again.  By this point I was at Vanderbilt, still far from NY but much closer than WA.  I made a trip up to Ithaca for my spring break and spent the week there.  We reconnected but since Dominic was free from football and a girlfriend he was less than excited to get into a relationship....again I moved on although I was pretty bitter at this point. 

We didn't talk for at least 6 months, which is the LONGEST we had gone not talking since 6th grade.  I was about to graduate from Vandy and was headed back to WA for my integration clinical in Tricities when I decided to call him up.  He seemed quite surprised to hear from me but we agreed to get together.  Timing was finally right. We hit it off wonderfully.  I spent many hours driving back and forth across the pass (feeling like I was back in college again) just to see him. 

After graduation I moved home and the visits became constant. I was job hunting and was considering a position here in Modesto but refused to move without him.  Don't get me wrong, there was no pressure for him to come with.  I just said I won't even consider the job unless you're willing to move too.  I had an RN job up in WA that was less than ideal but i could have made it work until something in midwifery opened up.  He saw the potiential and decided to take the chance. 

Those first few months were incredibly hard.  We both made a concious effort to stick it out and I can't even tell you how lucky I am that he did.  I realized I was ready to marry him after my family came down and we spent a long weekend in Sonoma.  He proposed over a delicious homecooked meal of lamb and mashed sweet potatos, just thinking about that meal makes me hungry.

It's hard to believe that path got us here today.  The momento I came across was a 4 leaf clover that Dominic found and gave to me at lunch in 7th grade.  I laminated it so it wouldn't break (thank goodness) and kept it all those years.  It's framed on the bookcase and everytime I look over and see it I think of the journey we took to get here. 

That journey was rocky, sometimes it was amazing and other times it made me feel like i couldn't breath...but it all got me here. With baby g kicking away and an amazing man who takes care of me and loves me better than I thought someone could.  So even though we're not 'together' on Valentines day, I'm certainly feeling more loved than I was on any Valentines before.

35 weeks/35 days left to go

A little reminder to VOTE ON G's STATS! go over there -------> to the little expectnet.com button and fill out your guess! I'm going to take it down at 36 weeks. The person with the best score is getting a prize (although I have no clue what that prize is yet)

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 melon). 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.

*I really think G is longer than the average baby.  You might assume that's because Dominic is tall but I actually say it because I can feel where the butt is and where the feet go and they are FAR apart!

I have officially hit 35/35.  Of couse I assume I have more than 35 days left to go since I anticipate an 'overdue' baby.  What does that really mean anyway?  I mean the average pregnancy goes anywhere from 37-42 weeks.  Why is someone overdue when they go over 40 weeks?  Ok, off my soapbox. 

Baby G is certainly growing even bigger lately.  At my last midwife appt she said although you LOOK small, and yes I get those comments constantly, you are ALL baby in there.  I completely agree as does the scale which put me up 15 pounds from my prepregnancy weight as of this morning.  This kiddo is certainly taking up some space.  Since that appointment I have started getting even more uncomfortable including some round ligament pain (that pulling sharper pain on the sides of the groin area), the heartburn is back at night, and I'm simply getting exhausted by the end of the day.  On a more fun note G gets hiccups a lot lately.  At the beginning I just figured this wasn't a hiccup baby, and I'm still not sure if I either didn't notice or just couldn't feel them then, but they're certainly there now.  As cute as it may sound it's actually rather annoying since baby g is head down and that means I'm feeling them in my pelvis (sorry for the tmi guys).  Don't worry, I do love my child and the rolling and kicking is adorable but the hiccups I could do without.

The nesting instinct hasn't really kicked in yet I don't think.  You might disagree since the nursery is all but done, but that's just my type A personality really.  Currently, my house is a mess and I have zero desire to pick it up.  I'm hoping this changes soon or I'll be completely embarrassed when everyone comes to visit little G after his/her arrival.

What's coming up this week? 
The tub is being delivered on Thursday evening which is extremely exciting because it means I have a big jaccuzi to lounge in all evening!  This thing comes with jets and heaters and everything so I'm thrilled to see how well it works.  We're getting it from here and the lady said she can put a small amount of chlorine in it at the initial set up so we can use it until the delivery and then when I go into labor we just drain it and refill with fresh water so we're all set.  It's going in the nursery since it's about the only place besides the dining room that it would fit in our place.

I was SUPPOSE to have my last day at work on Thursday but decided to change that to the following week.  Apparently, I misunderstood the AFLAC terms and rather than spend money to sit at home by myself and get bored I decided to suck it up and work 3 more days so I could get paid for a few more weeks and save the $$ for after G's arrival.  In case you weren't sure how wonderful my husband is I'll just tell you that he immediately told me not to worry.  I could go off work whenever I wanted and that we could afford it no problem.  He also tells me I can stay off as long as 12 weeks after G's arrival if that's what I want ,I do have to go back at some point,  but I think by 8-10 weeks I'm going to be ready for a little adult time.  I've scheduled myself out for a full 12 just in case. :)

With Valentines day coming up we had a few presents arrive in the mail.  Grandma and Grandpa couldn't help but gift baby G a present even though technically he/she isn't here yet.  Check out all the bath time stuff that came:

Hooded towels are a must, Eclair especially likes the puppy one, just look at the tail on the back!  That little ducky is to cover up babies tummy so they don't get cold.

Then we have the Puj 'tub'  It is completely flat and folds up with these little magnets to fit perfectly into a sink for convenient bathes that don't involve mommy getting on her knees.  Can't wait to make a video of G's first time using this thing

Belly Shots (done by myself this week since Dominic is in Florida living it up like he's in college again all weekend)

This is a different perspective.  The blog turned it but that is MY view looking down at the belly

Fun things have been arriving!

Mom wanted to see pictures of the uppababy vista and I realized that everyone might, so I'm putting a few up!  This is with the bassinet attached (don't mind the plastic that isn't completely removed yet).  We're planning to use it this way in our room as baby g's bed for the first week or two; this way G is close and we don't have another thing to have to store away!

Then, today I went shopping at Gymboree.  I figure we're close enough to delivery that I can buy gender specific things and just return what won't work after we know if G is a boy or a girl.  Today was boy day, check out a few of the cute outfits I scored.  Total regular price was $356.45 but I only spent $100.64 for a savings of 72% PLUS I have $50 in Gymbucks to use toward a $100 purchase!  Did I do ok? and did you SEE the dachshund stuff!  Eclair loves that her little bro or sis will be sporting her mug!

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.

I have been so caught up in the nursery lately that I haven't posted much about how I'm feeling and what's new with baby G.  I have been feeling TONS of movement and Dominic has been feeling it as well, on the outside.  I can easily tell which little parts are poking out and when I push on them G sometimes pushes back!  It seems that he/she enjoys hanging out in my ribs, especially when I've been sitting for a while.  All that movement comes with a few negatives too, mainly heartburn.  It sneaks up in the evening and comes and goes through the night.  Papaya helps usually but occassionally I'm needing a tums or two.  It's also more difficult to get up.  Dominic usually helps me by pushing or pulling which is quite the humerous spectacle I'm sure.  Pretty much everything I wear is maternity now with the exception of my yoga gear.  That once a week yoga is a fantastic break from reality and I look forward to it each week.

This week we met with Dr Daley, the family doctor who will be baby G's doctor.  I think he was pretty surprised by our planned homebirth but he did a decent job of hiding it.  The practice has been around forever and Dr Daley has been there about 5 years.  He seems pretty laid back in general and errors on the side of less is more when it comes to antibiotics, which I completely agree with.  We should be seeing him around day 3 postpartum but it's good to know he's there in case we need him sooner. 

On another fun note, we got our stroller this week!  I decided awhile back that we were going to go with the Uppababy Vista and they were making a few changes with the 2010 version that we felt were worth holding out for.  Earlier this week when I looked online to see about any possible deals I noticed that not only were the first shipments out, but they were SELLING OUT!  The next batch won't be out until early March and I felt it was best not to wait until so close to our due date, you know just in case g makes an early arrival.  I called up Goore's and ordered it thinking it would take a few days to come...well it came the next day!  I was giddy when Dominic opened the door and the boxes were sitting there.  It's completely put together and waiting for G's arrival since we're planning to use the bassinet in our room for the first little bit.

We also had a midwife appt this week.  I am officially over the 150 pound mark, at 153 to be exact.  Not to bad considering I started at 140.  Now, hitting 160 is going to be a tough hurdle to climb and I'm sorta hoping I don't make it but since I probably will I should just come to terms with it.  Since I really want to stay in good shape for the delivery I would really like to start adding in some walks but the weather isn't really cooperating and I'm just too tired by the time I get home from work.  Lets hope that changes once I go on maternity leave in 2 weeks!

Belly shot time:

I just noticed that G is still pretty high.  Guess I need to be using that new exercise ball more often and continue taking the stairs with my feet wide apart (which I started doing last week to encourage G to get lower) for the rest of the pregnancy.  Dominic saw me do the stair thing when we went to the midwife appointment last week and could NOT stop laughing at me, thanks hun!

Documenting the pregnancy

Before this whole thing comes to an end I REALLY wanted to make sure we captured the belly in all its glory.  Two easy ways, pictures and belly casting will be coming up in the next few weeks.  I think 36 weeks should be perfect, big belly but not H-U-G-E and uncomfortable.  Here are a few examples of what we're hoping for.  Any other suggestions?