Familiar feeling - with a twist

It's Monday morning and I'm exhausted - I can barely keep my eyes focused on my computer screen. I feel absolutely wrecked. My hips ache, my knees creak, and my back is tight. Man, that 20-mile training run yesterday really kicked my... wait, what? Training run? I did no such thing yesterday! Well, what the heck are all these aches and pains about? Ohhhh, it must be the ginormous baby I'm toting around. :-P

Belly shots galore

I've been taking them, I just haven't been posting them.

Here's the belly at 36 weeks 1 day:

Here's the belly at 37 weeks 3 days (Easter!)

And here is 38 weeks 1 day:

Still here... again.

We're still here and we're still busy bees. Thom John has a paper due and presentation on Monday and he is done. I have a paper due and a presentation on Monday, too, and then a final next Thursday and then I am done. And then we wait. That's the plan, anyways. For the next seven days I will be avoiding anything that is thought or rumored to induce labor.

Except I already kind of screwed up. I read last night that eggplant is thought to stimulate labor and I've been eating leftover eggplant parm for like, 3 nights. Ooopsie.

What a melon.

37 weeks! We're full-term today! If the Sooy Baby decides to come today, he's likely to thrive! We hope he hangs in there for just a couple more weeks, though.

His only tasks now are to practice breathing, sucking, blinking, and to put on more chub. Here's a neat tidbit: during labor, the baby will produce more stress hormones than any other time in his life. Poor little guy. The websites liken him to the size of a watermelon this week - awesome!

Still here!

We're still here - we're just busy bees getting ready for baby and the end of the semester. The Sooy baby seems content to kick, roll, and hiccup his days away in my belly and that is fine with me! Only two more weeks of school left for me and Thom John!

Here are some updates and odds n' ends:

-Last Friday my sneaky co-workers surprised me with a shower!

-On Saturday, a bunch of friends came over for a shower at our house put on by the Sooy baby's Aunties Megan and Erin.

-We're so grateful that this kid is so lucky to have so many people around him already who love him so much and can't wait for his arrival!!

-Last week at our doctor's appointment, we were told that if the Sooy baby decides it's time to come, the doctors won't stop him! That was kind of a reality check and caused us to get our tushes in gear to go get a car seat, since the hospital won't let us leave without it. I guess we can't go home a la Britney Spears? We're also working on a getting a bag together for our stay at the hospital.

-I've graduated to visiting the doctor every week now. Thom John and I went again this morning and everything seems fine and baby's heartrate was strong and loud.

-We were given a sheet of paper with a heading that reads "When to Call the Doctor," outlining the symptoms of real labor. I'll probably call whenever I feel something's weird, though.

-Friday, Thom John and I are going to see a pediatriac urologist about the Sooy baby's pesky left kidney.

-Dinner is a joke these days - I'm just too tired to care. For example, last night I had chips and salsa, followed by a bowl of Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats. And then a peanut butter and banana sandwich sometime around midnight. No worries, mom - I'm getting my fruits and veggies in during the day.

-It seems that everyone at my office keeps talking about Passover, and that just makes me want macaroons.

Surprise!

My tricky mom, with the help of my aunts and cousins, threw a surprise shower for the Sooy Baby on Saturday! It was a fun time seeing the family and friends. The baby got so many wonderful gifts - everyone was so generous! Here's the proud pappa posing and practicing with our new Baby Bjorn!

35 weeks and another ultrasound

We are thisclose to the ninth month! It's exciting, it's scary, it's soon! This week, Thom John and I have been concentrating on school-work and work-work. And the Sooy Baby has been working hard putting on weight - he's the size of a honeydew melon! We had another ultrasound done on Wednesday night and the doctor estimates him to be 6lbs 1oz!

When we got to the doctor's office, the Sooy baby must have been napping because he had been quiet for awhile and his heart rate was 135. The quickly changed and our boy began to push and roll around. It was neat to watch on the screen. We also saw his belly contract and relax as he "practiced" breathing. Good job, baby!

We got some good profile shots of his face, including his chubby little cheeks. That may have been our last look at our boy via ultrasound - it's so weird to think that the next time we see him could be in real life!

Unfortunately, a teeny-tiny issue that the doctors had hoped would resolve itself by now, hasn't. The baby's left kidney has one extra millimeter of fluid around it than what is considered "normal." That's right, one extra millimeter - a tenth of a centimeter. I've done plenty of research on the internets about this and read some good things, so Thom John and I are not freaking out. First, this is apparently common in boys. Second, if there are any problems because of this millimeter, it will most likely be that the baby is more susceptible to urinary tract infections. Third, this millimeter will probably go away by the time the baby turns one. Plus, the doctors say that they aren't concerned - it's just something they have to pay attention to. In fact, the last doctor we met with said her own son had this "issue" and is now two years old and totally fine. So, we're going to meet with a pediatric urologist in April to see what he thinks about this millimeter and what, if anything, there is to do about it.

Here's what a six pound baby looks like from the outside:

And a view of his chubby cheeks:

Co-inkydinks

Pregnancy has some really neat coincidences.

One is that my fundal height – a measurement of my belly in centimeters taken by the doc at each appointment from the top of my pubic bone to the top of my uterus – matches the number of weeks I’m pregnant. At my appointment last week, my fundal height was 33.5 cm and I was 33 weeks 4 days pregnant – neat!

The other is that today I’m 35 weeks pregnant and have 35 days to go until the due date!

Cantaloupe.

No, that's not what I'm craving right now - that's how big the Sooy Baby is this week. Our boy is still busy putting on weight and his central nervous system and lungs are finishing up. Due to all the chub he's put on, he no longer needs the fuzzy coating (lanugo) he once had. The big deal this week is that he's working on developing his own immune system instead of mooching off of mine. :-)

I went to the doctor on Monday and everything seems good. The baby's heartbeat was strong, steady, and fast. Thom John and I get another peek at the babe on Wednesday night - we're going to get another ultrasound taken to check in on his growth. Although, I'm not sure we need an ultrasound - I can tell you right now that his growth is rapid! See for yourself:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Check!

What a big week this was for us! Not only is the Sooy Baby continuing to grow and gain weight (he should be the size of a pineapple now), but Thom John and I checked off some big items on our to-do list!

First, we picked a pediatrician. Well, actually we picked a group of pediatricians. It's a group practice that is close to our house and has flexible hours for well-visits. And of course, someone is available 24-hours a day to answer any questions a nervous new parent may have - not that we'll know anyone like that, right?

Second, we picked a daycare. We put down a deposit at a daycare that is literally two minutes from our house. I think we picked a good place - it's run more like a school than a daycare and even the infant room has a curriculum. The infant room's curricula includes eating, napping, hugging, and playing, of course. But the programs that follow as the Sooy Baby grows seem thorough, enriching, and most importantly, fun. It was hard deciding where our baby is going to spend his days while Thom John and I are at work, so I hope we're happy with this place. Speaking of work, I'm currently developing a strategy to approach my bosses and let them know my final plans as to when I'm leaving, coming back, and the schedule I'd like to work when I do get back.

Meanwhile our Sooy Baby is a busy bee. I haven't even needed to take kick counts the past 4 days because he is constantly rolling and moving and kicking and punching. Normally I feel his 10 movements within 20 minutes, but this week, it's been within 2! Thom John can feel the baby move pretty much anytime he wants to these days and we can see when the babe decides to move his feet, limbs, or tush from my left side to my right. The poor kid has been hiccuping a lot lately, as well, so I guess he really has been practicing for breathing.

And here is how we're looking these days. This was taken this morning at 33 weeks 1 day:

Ow ow ow

Darn these talons - I mean, nails that just keep on growing! And darn my ever-increasing blood volume! I scratched my chin pretty badly with my own nail and the blood just keeps coming. Yet another reason why maternity leave should start in the eighth month. :-)

Mooo

There is nothing better these days than ice-cold milk. Actually, make that ice-cold milk over cereal. Mmmmmm.

32 Weeks = 8 Months

My, my. Here we are at 8 months already. It seems like only yesterday I couldn't believe I was already 7 months pregnant. :-)

This week, Thom John and I got some time off from baby-related appointments/classes and were able to just focus on work, school, going to the gym, and the PepperDog. While we enjoyed our "break," here's what our boy was up to:

-Basically, the only job the Sooy Baby has now is to gain weight. His skin is becoming opaque as he fills out with baby fat. He should be weighing in at around 4 lbs, but since he was almost there last week, I bet he weighs more. He should also be about 17 inches long, making him the size of a large jicama.

-The Sooy Baby is sensitive to cold and heat now, which is why he goes beserk when I rest a bowl of cold, delicious cereal on my belly to enjoy at snack time.

And here we are at 32 weeks, 1 day:

More glamour shots

Here are two more ultrasound pictures of our boy taken last Tuesday (Feb. 24). A big, shiny gold star goes to whoever can tell me what we're looking at here. I think they're profile views of his precious little head? The ultrasound tech said that he's got quite a bit of hair already, which kinda validates the Old Wives' Tale about heartburn.

Note to Baby:

When I get up in the middle of the night for a bathroom break, it does not mean I'm getting up for the day! 3 AM is not exactly the time to start practicing karate moves or dancing the Macarena or whatever the heck it is you're doing in there. I know it's got to be getting a bit boring in there for you, but how exactly does keeping me up provide entertainment for you? I love you kid, but lay off the ribs, mmmkay?