Baby Shower Season!

I've been blessed with lots of wonderful friends who want to help me and Stephen prepare for the arrival of our little boy, which means there are lots of baby showers coming up! I have realized that the "more pregnant" I get, the more forgetful I become, so if anyone reads this and would like to come to one of the showers, please let me know. (I almost left my mother's name off one of the guest lists last week... so please don't feel offended if I have forgotten to send you an invitation.)

We are starting to get even more excited as we come to the realization that within as little as five weeks our little boy could be home with us! We are anxious to meet him. However, I must admit, I'm hoping that he'll hold out for the 39 week mark (7 more weeks) so that I can finish up my last rotation and not have any more school obligations to worry about.

In other news... Baby T's favorite kick zone is one particular rib on my right side. I've had Stephen talk to him very sternly about treating his mother kindly, but that only seems to work for a few minutes... I don't think time outs would work well either, so we're running out of options! I guess I'll just have to wait until we both have more room to move around. In the meantime, if you see me walking weird and holding my side... I'm probably just trying to protect this sore region from Baby T!

31 week update...

"How your baby's growing:This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy."

Baby T is definitely moving up a storm!!

The Baby Belly progression continues... 31 weeks!

Our new crib!

Less than 70 days to go!

Here's the Baby Center update...

"Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)"

Brief Update...

Being sick is never fun, but I must stay that being sick and pregnant has been the least fun. A large part of the discomfort is because of the limited amount of medicines I can take, especially all of the usual over the counter standards for the most annoying symptoms. And I feel terrible for Baby T because I'm sure my coughing in the middle of the night is jarring for him. Luckily, I can take Benadryl, which at least has helped me stay asleep a little bit longer, and sleep goes a long way in making me feel less miserable! I also borrowed a humidifier from a friend today to see if that will help; I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm so glad that Stephen is back home from Houston, because at least I feel better just having him around... who else would do a silly dance to make me feel better so early in the morning?! I'm hoping to feel better this afternoon so that we can drive to Dallas and inspect the crib we're looking at and hopefully get it ordered before it's not on sale anymore. Actually having the crib in our possession will be a big milestone... our first major baby purchase! (I'm sure it will be the first of many, babies are expensive :)

Another milestone... I'm 30 weeks now! According to my calculations (and vague memory of elementary math class) 30/40 weeks means that we're three-quarters of the way to the end! Very hard to believe. I'm getting more and more anxious to meet him and Stephen seems to be getting more excited as well, which is adorable. It's so funny that Baby T seems to get stage fright whenever someone wants to feel him moving, he even does it to Stephen. What's even funnier is that when Stephen puts his head on my belly instead of his hand, Baby T kicks him in the head almost every time!! It's hilarious. It's fun to try and decode this behavior into his future personality. He's big enough now though that if he won't kick while someone's hand is on my belly, that at least they can see it; it's very Alien looking at times :) That's it for now, I apologize for all the whining in the beginning :)

Baby T= Big Kid!

So we had another sonogram right after Christmas! We found out that he is still a boy (the first picture) which is good news. The middle two pictures are of his face, with his knees tucked up by his face. And the last one is of his little foot, but my scanner wasn't long enough... but trust me, it's cute and small :) It looks like Baby T is going to be large, as we suspected he might be. At 27 weeks, he already weighed almost 3 lbs!! And of course, his head was his largest measurement... and makes me nervous that he may come a couple weeks before the due date (which may complicate finishing up my last rotation before he's born). But we'll see, I can't worry about it too much now :)

I think Baby T had his first bout of hiccups last night... I couldn't figure out what was going on, but it lasted long enough and was rhythmic enough that I'm assuming that's what it was. It did not make my GI tract very happy though... hopefully that will be an uncommon occurrence.

We're getting excited about having our little guy at home with us. I decided over Christmas break that I had to clean out the guest room to make room for baby! It's been quite an undertaking, but I think I've finally made plenty of room for him, while cleaning out a bunch of junk. The added bonus is that if we clean it out now, we won't have to move it in a couple of months! I also went ahead and registered at Pottery Barn Kids (we couldn't resist) and Babies 'R Us. Luckily, I had my mom to help me figure out what the baby essentials are because each store gives you a HUGE list of things every new parents must have for their kid; needless to say, it's an extremely long list and some of it seemed questionable. I suppose there will be a lot of figuring it out as we go along.

Stephen and I both started our Geriatric rotation last week. So far, I've really enjoyed all of my patients, they've all been the sweetest little ladies so far... and they LOVE the fact that I'm pregnant. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to going to the dementia center or not, just because it makes me sad to know that each patient was "once" a vibrant person with opinions, distinct personality, with memories and a sense of humor... it's hard not to feel like there's been a huge loss, almost like a living funeral with no end. It just makes me sad because I know that has got to be hard on the families who have to see it. I wonder if the patients themselves somehow feel lost.

Other than that, Stephen and I both have three interviews left to go before we are done. I am going to be very relieved when interview season is over... traveling has gotten more uncomfortable since being pregnant, as well as walking around all day. And not to mention, wondering if my interview clothes will fit the next day or not... Baby T seems to have overnight growth spurts at times! And we're starting our childbirth/parenting class tomorrow night... so that should help make it all a little more real :) That's it for now...