Random stuff

I went shopping today to get some groceries and let me tell you, these days dragging this big ole' belly around the grocery store is about as much as I can take before I am DONE for the day. I was standing in line and the lady behind me says, "You must be so exhausted. I am exhausted just looking at you. When I had my daughter, I carried her all out in front like that too." I smiled and we chatted for a moment. It was nice of her to mention it. And truthfully, I don't realize until I go out exactly how huge in front this belly is. All of our mirrors end at my shoulders so when I pass a full-length mirror I get little shock. LOL.

I am almost done the nursery. I have sorted out all the clothes and the clothes for her first three months are in a dresser in her room and the clothes for her to grow into are in a dresser outside her room, sorted out with only one size per drawer. I am very pleased. All the stuff that used to be stored in her room is out. All I have to do is get Daddy to put up the crib and help me put up the curtains and I am done done done! Every time I pass by her nursery, I stop and look inside with a little feeling of satisfaction. It is going to be sweet for her.

Last day of Kindergarten!

Here is my girl on her first and last day of Kindergarten. She has grown so much!

34 weeks pregnant.

Well, I am doing pretty well. Maggie is kicking and bumping me. I am tired a lot but still managing to get some things done. My hospital bag is packed and I hope to have the nursery completely done by the end of the week. I will post pics when it is done. Big girl is going to have fun helping me with the finishing touches. I have a breastfeeding clinic tonight and a prenatal class tomorrow night.

You are 34 weeks pregnant.

Your baby's crown-to-rump length this week is approximately 12.8 inches and the total length is around 19.8 inches at this time. Your baby now weighs almost 5 pounds. From your bellybutton, it is about 5.6 inches to the top of your uterus. Measurements of your uterus vary from woman to woman. You should not worry if you do not measure the exact same as your pregnancy friends or family members as long as you are growing appropriately. When your uterus grows and gets larger at an appropriate rate, it shows that your baby is growing well inside of your uterus.


Braxton-Hicks contractions are going to get stronger and more frequent within the next few weeks. Braxton-Hicks contractions feel like a tightening at the top of your uterus that spreads down and then relaxes. Many women mistake Braxton-Hicks contractions for true labor contractions, but this is rarely the case. Braxton-Hicks contractions will diminish if you get up and walk around and they should not be painful.

Your baby's hair continues to get longer and thicker. Your baby's hair color probably is not going to be the same color from birth onwards, so you should expect it to change in color. Your baby is shedding most of lanugo, but the amount of vernix caseosa is increasing. Your baby is taking calcium from you to lay down lots of bone. Continue to take your prenatal vitamins and drink milk to ensure that you receive enough calcium.

If you were to deliver your baby now, it would probably be called a pre-term infant instead of premature. The only difference is in the maturity, particularly lung maturity. A pre-term baby is less likely to need intensive care because its lungs have developed. Doctors can test lung maturity with an amniocentesis that checks levels of surfactant.

The baby now rests on your uterus and is no longer floating.

Fingernails now reach over the finger tips and the baby can scratch itself.

Crib

I got my crib!!! I am so happy I could cry!!

Another tooth gone!!

She was in her room playing in her bed before going to sleep and she came running downstairs and told me that she had lost another tooth. I love her big toothy grin as she loses her teeth. She is just so sweet.

Saturday Stuff

Big girl is keeping me on my toes today. She "tried" to help herself to some milk today. What a mess!! She has been creating crafts with her papers, crayons, glue, and scissors as well. What a mess!!

She is so close to the end of the year. I can't believe she is almost done kindergarten. I am not ready for her to be getting so big.

Her class is going to Bowering park on Tuesday. That will be fun for her. She loves that sort of thing. I hope to go one day this summer and have a picnic with her.

I am doing okay. I am getting used to checking my sugar 7 times a day and watching everything I eat. I can't believe that I only have 6 1/2 weeks left to this pregnancy at most. I will miss my big round belly and feeling my baby in there. Good thing I will have a new little baby to cuddle in my arms, snuggling her into my neck and just loving her to bits.

Kindergarten concert

Big Girl had her Kindergarten concert and graduation ceremony yesterday.

It was about the cutest thing I have ever seen. I was so proud of her. She waved at me and blew me kisses at the end of every song. And she did each performance looking directly at me to make sure I saw her. (I about died laughing when she asked to go pee in the middle of the show. LOL)

When they showed a slide show of the year at the end, I cried. A lot. It was sweet to see how much she has grown in the last year. I can't believe she isn't my baby anymore. She will never be this little again.

33 weeks pregnant

I had my Gestational Diabetes meeting this morning. It wasn't so bad. I can definitely eat more carbs than I have been eating. That was good to know. I have to watch my ketone levels and my blood sugar levels. I have to test my sugar 7 times a day. That's not so fun. I have to keep track of what and how often I am eating as well. It will take some getting used to but it will be okay.

You are 33 weeks pregnant

Your baby weighs about 4.4 pounds at this point. The crown-to-rump length of your baby is approximately 12 inches and the total length is around 19.4 inches. Measuring from the top of your uterus to your bellybutton is 5.2 inches. Total weight gain at this point of pregnancy is usually 22 to 28 pounds.

With the exception of crying, your baby is capable of doing everything that a newborn baby will do. Your baby is restricted now inside of the uterus, but still can kick and move. Your baby sleeps a lot of the time, just as newborn babies do. Your baby's eyes move in the manner of REM sleep and researchers believe that babies can dream vividly in uterus. When your baby is awake, she is listening, feeling and learning. There are billions of neurons in the brain that make trillions of connections. Your baby will probably have settled into the birth position by now and your caregiver can most likely tell which way your baby is presenting. If your baby were to be born now, the lungs would probably be strong enough to function properly, but your baby may still need extra care from specially trained doctors and nurses.

During these last few weeks of pregnancy, most women experience an increased urge to urinate. The uterus puts a lot of pressure on the bladder and can send you to the restroom frequently. Your uterus has actually grown 500 times throughout your pregnancy! Red blood cell production catches up with the production of plasma and physiological anemia may begin to fade at this time.

Your baby's eyes open during alert times and close during sleep. The eye color is usually blue, regardless of the permanent color as pigmentation is not fully developed. The final formation of eye pigmentation requires exposure to light and usually happens a few weeks after birth.

Update

Not too much going on here right now. I have my appointment with the dietician on Wednesday.

Big Girl has a kindergarten concert on Wednesday as well. That should be cute. We registered her in a day camp for the summer. They have all kinds of fun things happening for her for the summer and with everything that is going on with the baby this summer, it will be nice for her to have something fun to do that is for her only. It was only $20 for the entire summer and they get breakfast and a snack up there every day. So it is well worth it. She is excited.

I picked out the baby's crib this week. It is a beautiful simple white crib. I should have it sometime this week. It will be nice to have the nursery that much closer to finished.

I got my Gestational Diabetes results

I just got back from the doctor's office and I got the results. I did fail the test. So now I have to wait to hear from a nutritionist (or specialist or whatever) to call me for an appointment to discuss my diet and how we are going to deal with this. I apparently did not fail enough to need to take insulin and we should be able to control it with diet.

My 32 week belly

Here is a comparision shot of me at 10 weeks:

And this me at 32 weeks:

32 Weeks -- 8 Months!

I can hardly believe that I am this far along. I am so glad. I am loving my little baby. I can't wait to hold her in my arms and love her.

You are 32 weeks pregnant.

By week 32, your baby weighs nearly 4 pounds! The crown-to-rump length of your baby is approximately 11.7 inches and the total length is about 18.9 inches. Your uterus is now 5 inches above your bellybutton. Some doctors do not see their patients every other week until now. So, if you were going to the doctor monthly, you may begin going once every other week now.


Sleeping boy. the baby sleeps 90-95% of the day, and sometimes experiences REM sleep, an indication of dreaming.

Now that your baby has grown so long and your uterus is higher, you might notice a new discomfort. Your baby is probably head-down and may occasionally stretch out and kick you in the ribs. The pressure on your rib cage can make you sore, especially if one of your baby's feet becomes caught. You can prevent this by sitting up straight as much as possible. Because your baby's demands for vitamins and minerals are higher than ever right now, you should continue to take your parental vitamins for the entire pregnancy.

This week your baby's movements will peak. You should continue to monitor the fetal movements daily and address any concerns with your caregiver. The wrinkles in your baby's face are disappearing and fat is still being deposited throughout the baby's body.

The body growth slows down from now on.

Because of the lack of space in the uterus, the legs are drawn up in what is known as the fetal position.

As a preparation for breastfeeding, your baby has learned to root for the breast. The baby will turn its head if touched on the cheek and open its mouth if the bottom lip is tickled. By this time the baby can also suck and swallow in a coordinated way.

Big Girl

Well as I mentioned yesterday, Big Girl lost her first tooth yesterday. She was so excited to show it too us. She even proudly announced later that she could whistle better now because a little boy down the road had told her that you can only really whistle after you lose a tooth. LOL And seeing as how he is all of four years old, he is an expert in such things. LOL

I will tell you that underneath my smiles I was a little sad when she showed me her first lost tooth. She is growing so fast and it is hard for this pregnant hormonal Mommy to see proof that her first baby is no longer a baby anymore. When she came running inside from playing yesterday and showed me her tooth, I grinned at her and told her how proud I was. But secretly when she ran back outside to play, I cried just a little. Another one of her first times is gone and I have so few of those to look forward to with her.

First Lost Tooth!

Friday Five

1. Not too much going on here today. I was up pretty early and I made pancakes for the family.


2. I am trying to get some more laundry done as well.


3. Big Girl is home from school today, but she is playing outside.


4. I am going to try to keep on top of the basic stuff in housework and let the bigger jobs go for now until I get a little more energy to tackle them.


5. I am really tired though so there won't be a lot going on. Lately it takes all the energy I got to carry my big pg butt up the stairs to pee (and trust me I do that a LOT) My latest game is beat the bladder. The goal is to make to the potty before I have an accident.

Our fun day

We had a wonderful time at the park yesterday. We got some great pictures as well. Big Girl loves to go to the park and I look forward to the day I can take both my girls to the park together.

And to top off our wonderful day, I got a lovely package from my wonderful MIL which contained all kinds of beautiful clothes for our baby and all kinds of stylish maternity clothes for me. I am one hot mama now! I am so happy!

31 weeks pregnant.

Your baby is continuing to grow each week that you remain pregnant. Your baby's crown-to-rump length is nearly 11.2 inches and total length is approximately 18 inches. Your baby weighs approximately 3.5 pounds at this point. Your uterus is about 4.4 inches above your bellybutton and continues to get larger. An average weight gain at this point is between 21 and 27 pounds. The weight that you gain is made up of your baby, placenta, blood supply, uterus, breasts, fat, water storage and amniotic fluid.

Because the ligaments and muscles supporting the small of your back relax and loosen in order to get ready for childbirth, your back may be aching from now on. There is usually nothing that can be done to prevent backaches, only to make them more comfortable. Many women get heartburn during these last few weeks of pregnancy because the oversized uterus leaves less room for the stomach and the contents within the stomach. Eating smaller, more frequent meals can help relieve the discomforts of heartburn.

This week marks an incredible milestone in your baby's lung development. Before now, the air sacs and branches in your baby's lungs were present but not functional. The lungs were not able to inflate properly. However, now there is surfactant being produced in your baby's lungs. Surfactant prevents your baby's lungs from collapsing outside of the uterus and the baby is able to take in air and breathe properly. The fetal ear is almost completely developed both inside and out. Your baby can hear your voice and other familiar sounds that she will recognize after birth. Your baby is putting on white fat under the skin and the skin's color is pink instead of red at this point. Your baby's fingernails have grown to the end of her fingers and she may scratch herself while she is in the womb.

Tuesday Talk

Not too much exciting happening here. I went to healthy baby club this morning and while I was there I was given a really nice bouncy seat for the baby, so I am really happy about that.

I still haven't heard about the glucose test, I am hoping no news is good news on that front.

I am slowly but surely getting some things in order in this house. Daddy teases me that once I have the baby I am going to make a pot of regular coffee and drink the whole thing while scrubbing the house from top to bottom. LOL probably.