Full Term

Guess what?! I am 37 weeks pregnant today!


This is copied from one of the pregnancy websites I read:
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.

The only difference is our baby measures one week ahead. So he/she is the average 38 week fetus weight. But that's A-OK with me! Baby fat is sooo cute :)

Bekah came over last night and we got the shower goodies all put away and organized. Now I just need to finish folding the baby's laundry and putting it away :) I think I can handle that. Keith and I have to go to Wal-Mart after work today so I'm going to get a few essentials for my hospital bag and the diaper bag. Then we should be set for baby's arrival. I can't hardly wait. We have our baby appointment tomorrow. I'm excited/nervous to find out if there has been any progress since last week. (I sure hope so!)

Today I found out that the guys at work have secretly (with Keith's help) been planning a baby shower for me here at work. I am so shocked and touched! It's going to be on Monday so my boss asked me to wait till then to have the baby :) I can't promise but I will try. LOL.

I will try to update tomorrow with new nursery pictures and news from the doctor!

God Bless,
Jess

Baby Shower

I had a great time at the baby shower. It was so great to see everyone!! I can't believe how long it's been since I've seen some people. Thank you to everyone who came and/or gave a gift. We got so many wonderful things for the baby. I'm going to start putting them away tonight. I'm very excited. Now all we need is the baby to get here! I'm so ready! I hope he/she decides to come early!

God Bless,

Jess

Good News

We went to the baby doctor yesterday. Everything is looking great. At the appointment I was 36 weeks and 1 day pregnant but the baby is measuring 37 weeks :) Judging by my size and the baby's measurements the doctor estimated the baby to weigh between 6 and 7 pounds already!!! Even tho that sounds big for only 36 weeks it still makes me very happy. I'd rather have a big baby that one that is too small. (I think.) I've been having the Braxton Hicks contractions for about 6 weeks now but lately they've started into something more. They are a lot more painful and the pain is "down there". Sometimes it feels like the baby is just going to come out. LOL. But they're not consistent or regular yet so we're not worried. Sorry-TMI-but I lost my mucus plug on Tuesday. I kinda got freaked out for a minute but the doctor was happy to hear that. When she did an exam she said the baby's head is down, not super far down but definitely down. I have not dilated any but my cervix is soft and thinning. We asked if she thought I'd make it until my December 8 due date. She wouldn't really answer me because they don't change your due date but she said in the "next couple of weeks". I was given the ok to travel home this weekend for the shower. I was nervous about traveling in the car for 2 hours but she said everything was fine to travel. I just can't imagine being this huge and uncomfortable for another almost 4 weeks until my due date. I'm getting miserable. I have a feeling baby doesn't wanna wait to meet us just like we're ready to meet him/her. We go back to the doctor every week now until baby's arrival :) I am very excited about the shower this weekend. It makes it so real that this little one is almost here. After this weekend Keith and I will be totally ready for the baby :)

We have the church directory pictures today after work so I had to get up early to fix my hair and everything. Yuck. But I decided that it had been a while since we'd taken a belly picture so I thought we'd better do that. We are running out of time for it! Have I gotten any bigger since the last belly picture??

I thought it would be fun to see the progression of the pregnancy too.




I didn't realize until just now how few belly pictures I've taken throughout this pregnancy :( I thought I'd taken more but maybe it just felt that way. We still have enough to see my belly and the baby growing. Once I hit my third trimester I felt like I couldn't tell that I was still getting bigger. I already felt huge but people keep telling me that they notice I keep getting bigger. And I've noticed this past week that some of the shirts I was wearing last week or before now don't fit. They are too short. So, even though I didn't think it was possible I am still getting bigger. But I feel lucky that I keep growing out front instead of to the side. I'm hoping that will help me to lose this baby weight and then some! I definitely need to lose a large amount of weight. But we'll save that for another day :)

God Bless!

Jess

Busy Week

Just a quick update. Life is a little overwhelming this week. Keith "helped" me clean the house this weekend. I use the word help loosely, Keith hates cleaning. He gripes, whines, complains, mopes around the house and the whole nine yards. But we both knew it had to be done so we sucked it up and he helped me. He will be so glad when I can clean again on my own and he doesn't have to help. My home computer crashed and burned over the weekend. I'm hoping that my brother can work his computer magic over the weekend and recover my pictures and documents. Keith is bummed that we're gonna have to get a new one but we've been milking that old thing for years now. It's so old and been so slow but I think it's really dead this time.

Monday we finished up our child birth class. We've enjoyed the class. Well, I have. Keith was incredibly bored but I think after the baby gets here he might feel differently :) We learned a lot of things and are looking forward to practicing the things they taught us.

Today we went to the hospital to get pre-registered and take a tour of the birthing room. Provided that we have a normal delivery, we will only be in one room the entire stay :) That makes me very happy. The rooms are so nice and the hospital is so great. The staff is amazing also. At this point I'm not nervous about the labor/delivery part. In retro spect I think that not knowing the baby's gender is really helping me to stay calm and focused about getting through the labor and delivery so I can finally meet my baby. But Keith doesn't have to know that part. LOL. I can't guarantee that those feelings will remain all the way through the process but I'm gonna give it my best :) I like to prove my strength, especially prove it to myself, so I'm hoping that will also help get me through. This all probably sounds so lame to you moms out there but I have to give it a shot. It should be interesting to say the least.

Tomorrow we have our 36 weeks baby doctor appointment. They will start checking for dialation and seeing if the baby has dropped. We will go every week from this point on. I am definitely anxious about the appointment and to see the current progress. I hope I haven't started dialating yet (the baby shower is this weekend). I have been having a lot of false labor contractions the last few weeks. I do hope that means the baby is wanting to come before the 8th of December but I'd like to attend my own baby shower too :) Thursday we have pictures at our church for their new directory and Friday we head home (provided the doctor's appointment goes well).

I will try to update tomorrow after the doctors appointment but I can't promise. As you can tell we are very busy this week. But by Monday our life should be back to semi-normal. HA! Is life ever normal?!

God Bless,
Jess