32 weeks

I know I've been saying it for a while, but I've finally posted new pictures. We got a new camera, which is super nice. It is the Nikon D90, the first SLR digital camera that can take hi-res video (leave it to my husband to be one of the first to purchase this camera). Micah and I are still playing around with the camera to see how it works so we will be all right when Gizmo arrives. Anyways, I'm still trying to get used to the camera so the pictures are not that great. I have 6 weeks to get better:)

As for other updates, I had a doctors appointment yesterday. Everything is going along swimmingly. My blood pressure is a little high, but the doctor didn't seem all that worried about it, so I'm trying not to. She also has me going for another ultrasound before my next appointment to see how the fibriod is doing and to check on the size of the baby. I'm still measuring a week ahead. (I'm secretly hoping that it will mean that she will come a week early - we are all praying for this as well, right?)

Okay, here is what is up with little girl this week. This week the baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

I'll try to get pictures of the nursery up tomorrow.

Suffering from insomnia

Yup, it is true. I've hit that point in my pregnancy where I find myself wide awake at all hours of the night - mostly early in the morning. I've been up since about 3 am and finally came down stairs around 4:30 a.m. On a typical day, I would just take a shower and head into work earlier than usual, because by 3 3pm, I'll hit a wall and just want to crash. But Katie was here this weekend and doesn't need to be at the airport until 8 am, so for know I'm just chill'n out, blogging and watching a movie.

Other than the lack of sleep, things are going all right. I'm tired a lot more these days and increasingly uncomfortable. You know it is never good when a co-worker asks if you feel all right at 8:30 in the morning. I must really look like I'm uncomfortable, which wouldn't be a lie, I just wish that I could hide it better.

I have less than 8 weeks to go (53 days to be exact) and I'm just take it one day at a time. This is what is going on with Baby Gelman. By now, she weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in the uterus. I'm gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to the baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

I promise to post pictures soon. I'm slacking!! I'm sure you are all desperate to see how much bigger I've gotten in the last month :)

Pediatrician - Check!

Last night we met with a pediatrician whom we really liked. It feels good to slowly check things off the list of things we need to do prior to Baby Gizmo's arrival. The doctor is in Owings Mills (the town we live in). There are three other doctors in the practice and someone is on call everyday. They also have sick kid visits on Saturday and Sunday mornings, which is also a plus, because isn't this when kids always get sick.

A friend of a friend recommend the doctor and yesterday when I was at the OB/GYN we were talking about getting a pediatrician and I said I was meeting with Dr. Cardin and I asked if the OB/GYN had heard of him. He said yes, his kids go there. Can't get a better recommendation that see the same doc that your doctor sees!

Measuring a week ahead

Just got home from my most recent doctor's appointment and I'm measuring a week ahead. And for those of you who are wondering, it means nothing in the terms of how long this pregnancy will last. All it means is that my uterus is big. Yeah, I could have told you that.

Also, asked again about my fibroid. (I met with a doctor I liked better today.) He said that the fibroid is very low and it could prevent the baby's head from moving down, which would prevent me from dilating to the fullest extent. I'll have another ultrasound around 36 weeks to see how big the baby is and how the fibroid is doing. At the moment, we are taking the wait and see approach. Both the doctor and I don't want to have a c-section, for a variety of reasons, but we will see.

Start sending me vibes that as the uterus begins to prepare for delivery, it pushes the fibroid out of the way.

30 weeks and 3 days

For those of you counting and not looking at the ticker on the left hand side of this blog, I only have 67 days left. (Well it is almost 9pm, so I'm close to 66 days:) ) I feel like the baby has moved lower. I know that I'm early for the baby to drop, so maybe she is now head down, because there is a whole lot more pressure in my pelvic area the last few days or so. Additionally, and this is maybe TMI, but I've been going #2 a whole lot more than I have since I first found out that I was pregnant. For the most part, my symptoms of Crohn's disease have gone away (the only symptom I really have had since my surgery is numerous trips to the bathroom). So to have this lovely symptom return at 30 weeks is kinda odd. I've heard that diarrhea can be sign that the body is preparing for the end, but I think I'm a little early. So maybe Baby G is just sitting weird and squishing the plumbing. I've got a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, so I'll be sure to ask.

As for the baby, she is getting big. Now when she moves around, it isn't like a little poke here and there, my entire stomach moves. I serious think that she might make a break for it and come out my belly button. It is kinda crazy. There are evenings when I'm just fascinated by the happenings in there and can spend the better part of an hour watching her move all around. It is kinda cool.

According to babycenter.com, here is what is happening with Baby G. She is 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.)

Oh, I almost forgot... Micah and I attended our Prepared Childbirth class on Sunday. We are now all up on the latest breathing techniques to get me through labor. Due to our work schedules we decided to do the one-day class, which runs from 9 - 2:30 pm. It was a long day, especially for the 13 or so very pregnant women who were sitting either in an uncomfortable chair or on the floor for most of the day. But we survived. A lot of the birthing process I have already read about, but it was nice to have someone who has been through it explain it. I do have a list of questions to ask the doctor, including, when will they make a determination if the fibroid is in the way of the baby moving down the birth canal? If an epidural has failed in the past, is there a chance of it failing again? (When I had my surgery, the epidural failed and caused me more pain than the actually surgery.) And will my incision from my previous surgery be all right during childbirth? I'm sure I'll have more but this is just a current list.

Okay, the nursery is almost all set up. I promise pictures shortly!!

29 weeks and 3 days

I know this bad, but I've started counting down the days until Baby Gizmo makes her debut. We are down to 74. Part of me thinks it sounds like a long time, but then I realize that it is only about 2 1/2 months. Crazy I know. Things are going well. I'm now going to the doctor every two weeks and will until 35 weeks and then I go every week. Makes me feel like I'm almost done.

Here is a brief update on what is going on with Baby Gizmo. The baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like the size of a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain.

Here a couple of pictures for you all to see what how I'm growing. It isn't pretty I'll warn you.

28 weeks

29 weeks