The Answer is Yes

The answer is definitely yes- large babies do run in the family. Here he is to prove it- the 8 pound, 1 ounce wonder! That's the top of his head on the right side of the photo and you can see the profile of his face with his little forehead, nose, mouth and chin.



So 8 pounds and 1 ounce may not seem like that big of a baby but just remember- that measurement was when I was 1 day short of being 36 weeks pregnant. There are still 29 days until my due date! Babies should weigh about 5.5 or 6 pounds at this point, not a little over 8. We had the ultrasound on Wednesday and that was what they came up with. After talking with the doctor, the plan is to wait it out a little and if I get to the 39th or 40th week and he still hasn't made his big entrance, there will be another ultrasound to determine his size at that point. If he's more than about 9.5 pounds, then we'll discuss all the options. But after the doctor checked me out, she discovered that I am already 2.5 cm to 3 cm dilated and I'm probably not going to last too much longer. My mom thinks I should be in the hospital at this point but actually, I could be stuck like this for another week or two before the contractions really kick in and labor starts. And then it could be any day so we're just waiting to see what happens. The car seat's in the car, the suitcase is sitting out on the bed and his room is ready to go so whenever it happens, we'll be ready for it. Our birthing class is not until next Saturday so I'm kind of hoping he doesn't come before that but I'm sure we'll manage if he does. His dad has promised him a shiny new bike if he comes before that class because Rob does not want to go to it which I think is pretty funny and I told him I will hold him to that. He's not going to cheat the baby out of the bike just because baby can't hear or understand. If he holds up his end of the deal, there will be a shiny new bike for him, I promise. Here's what his room has ended up looking like.





Here's one last photo of me. I was not too pleased with the previous one and don't care for this one either. I'm just so big now that I'm at the end of all this and it's impossible to look cute! I may not make it another week to take any more photos either so it's definitely looking like this will be the last one. So here is my 36 week and 1 day photo.

Do Large Babies Run in Your Family?

That was the question I was asked yesterday just after being measured for fundal height (distance between top of pubic bone and the top of the uterus) when I went to my now-weekly doctor's appointment. Uh oh. I told him, "Not in my family but definitely in my husband's family." It seems my tummy had gotten 5 centimeters bigger (about 2 inches) in the last two weeks. I had been measuring totally average up until yesterday when it was discovered that I am pretty big for 35 weeks. Basically, your fundal height measurement (in centimeters) should be equal to how many weeks along you are and even being 1 or 2 centimeters within that is in the normal range. At my last appointment when I was 33 weeks, I measured 33 cm. Perfect. This time, at 35 weeks, I measured 38 centimeters. So, an ultrasound has been scheduled for next week to see if he is really big or why I measured so large and then we'll have to figure out where to go from there. I was caught so off-guard that I didn't even think to ask what we could be in for. I guess if the baby is really big already, they will be looking at trying to get him out of there sooner than my June 26th due date. Here's a picture of me from Thursday when I was at exactly 35 weeks. I definitely look like I am about ready to pop- and let me tell you, I feel like it too!



As you can imagine, this news really got us kicked into gear for finishing up the baby's room and the final preparations. I had been thinking about putting the car seat in the car and packing a bag in about two more weeks but I'm going to do it this weekend now instead. I'm finishing up his laundry and his room is pretty well organized and stocked now. The bottles have found a home in the kitchen and he has all his bathing-related stuff on his own shelf in the bathroom.

Instead of our Saturday afternoon date that we planned last weekend for going out to lunch and seeing Iron Man, we opted to go out to lunch and buy a ceiling fan for our bedroom. It took us a long time to pick one out but finally found one that we both liked and the price wasn't ridiculous. We took it home and after a few hours, it was up and running. I discovered in the Home Depot advertisement that came out on Wednesday that they had the exact fan on sale for $20 less! I see those Lowe's ads on tv all the time about the price matching guarantee they have but I wasn't sure if it was only for appliances since that is what they talk about in the commercials. Apparently it's good for anything because I took my receipt and the Home Depot ad down to Lowe's and they gave me the difference PLUS 10%. Yay for Lowe's! I have a nice new fan to keep me cool at night and I got a smokin' deal on it. I would still like to see Iron Man, but I am happy everything turned out the way it did.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

I'm not really a dollar short for anything but I am a day late and that's just the way the saying goes! I was busy working on things when I got home last night and forgot all about taking a picture of myself but here is one from today. That would make me 34 weeks and 2 days in this picture.



In the last few days I've gone from feeling excited that I have an obvious baby bump and not just looking like a girl with a Hostess addiction to where I am now just large and uncomfortable. The good news is that there are only 40 days to go until my due date- Yay!

Don't Drop the Baby!

Actually, the baby is dropping itself. Early last week I thought I had noticed that he moved down some but I wasn’t real sure. When I went to see my doctor on Friday and she measured my belly, she noticed it then. She gave me a quizzical look and said, “Have you dropped since you were in here last?” I told her that I thought so but wasn’t too sure. She said I was measuring different and that she was pretty sure I had. So, he’s getting closer to being ready! I thought it was a little early still but when I did some reading last weekend, I found it could happen anytime from about where I am up until the day you go into labor. As the it says if you follow the link, it makes the heartburn and breathing issues better but makes the trips to the bathroom much more frequent. I was a little nervous maybe he was going to be early since he had already dropped. A little early, like a week or so, is fine with us- great even. However, anything before our birthing class on June 7th is not good. I know we waited pretty late to schedule that but it’s a long story and we did try for something earlier- it just didn’t work out that way.

I’m afraid we aren’t terribly exciting these days. I haven’t posted anything for a while because there has not been much going on. We’re just enjoying the last bit of peace and quiet around the house that we’ll have for the next 20 years or so. We keep working around the house and in the yard, preparing for all the grandparents and people who will be visiting this summer and for our new resident. Rob and I did make a date to go to lunch tomorrow and then see Iron Man. I just love comic book movies. I’m not sure why- I don’t think I’ve ever read a comic book in my life. I also love comic book shows- I can’t wait to see some Heroes again on tv! I guess they won’t be back for a while though. I am planning a little shopping trip this afternoon when I get done with work to do one final trip for things we still need for the baby. Actually, I will need one more trip after that to Babies R Us since that’s the only place around I can find the Born Free bottles and we need a few more of those. Everything else we really need I can get here in town and I just want to have everything and be done with it.

I promise to take a picture of myself when I get home today and add it to this posting. I just keep forgetting to do that before I change out of my cute work clothes and into my sweats. And I am not putting a picture of me up in my sweats!

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Look at our front yard now!





I know I keep posting photos of our yards, especially the front yard, but I just can't believe how much it keeps changing and how much better it looks every day. I love how all the groupings of the different kinds of bulbs turned out. And now that the tulips are all blooming, there is so much color there and it looks so good- if I do say so myself. If you look on the far side of the driveway, you can even see a few over there too. There is still one kind of tulip that blooms a little bit on the late side that hasn't opened yet and then the giant allium are still growing like crazy and I'm not real sure when they'll be at their peak. I imagine it will be in the next few weeks though. There is still plenty of other things in there too that are just starting to peek through or green up that we'll be enjoying throughout the spring and summer. It is so nice to be able to do these things in our yard this year and work on something besides the kitchen.

I convinced Rob to watch 27 Dresses with me this past weekend and we both enjoyed it. Although he may not admit to it, he really did- I heard him laughing several times. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet weekend around the house, working on projects and chores and enjoying one of the last few weekends in a house with just the two of us. We're making our own changing table attachment for the dresser we have already so we worked a little on that but it's not ready yet. We are actually getting pretty close to being ready though. We still need a few things but I think if he came tomorrow, we'd be okay. I mean that in a "we have the supplies" way- I don't know if we'd be quite ready mentally for it. Our birthing class starts tomorrow night at the hospital and I'd prefer to have that class completed before he gets here. Now that I've started thinking about what there is still to do, it seems like a lot more than I first thought. Yikes- glad I still have 7 1/2 weeks to go!

Discoveries

In the last few weeks, I’ve discovered that:

-I can no longer cross my legs while sitting- in fact, trying to be comfortable at all while sitting often causes me to sit in some undignified/un-ladylike ways (the belly is always in the way unless you have your legs apart somewhat to give it more room- I’ll leave it at that).
-Some brands of root beer and orange soda have caffeine.
-I am having some random Braxton-Hicks contractions which are perfectly normal but still a little strange.
-I can no longer get out of or rollover in bed without it being a major production.
-Consuming plenty of water and a daily banana DO help with leg cramps.
-It’s important to eat lots of fiber to counteract daily banana or you’ll have a whole new set of problems.
-Turning around in the car to watch where I am backing up is getting harder every day
-Breyers real ice cream (we always have frozen yogurt or low-fat stuff) is heaven-on-earth
-There are parts of my body I haven’t seen in a while and am not likely too for a while still. No doubt that list will get longer by the time I deliver the baby.
-I have to miss out on being a concert VIP this year like we did last year as Rob's friend is touring this summer again and will be at the same festival in Des Moines again, which is 3 days after my due date. Dang it!
-Old Navy makes some of their maternity pants in a long length so I don’t have to look like I’m taking the “Flood Watch” advisories back here too seriously with my highwater pants. Seriously- do they think only short women get pregnant??