Tuesday, June 30, 2009

34 weeks 1 day

34 weeks.. the baby is busy developing her own immune system and preparing for her arrival into the world. by this week they are typically around 17 inches long and weigh close to 5 pounds. I am still carrying the baby realitively high.. I am having a hard time breathing this week since she is pushing against my lungs.

Onto exciting things.. We had our baby shower on Saturday!!!!!! It was beautiful and all I could have dreamed of! There was great food, games, friends, family and presents! I felt like a princess for the day. My husband started off my morning by bringing me a beautiful diamond star necklace for a shower day present!!!! too sweet to me. My sister from Illinois had flown in for the shower so that was so fun. The baby got some beautiful handmade with love blankets from family. My friend hosted just a gorgeous day! I think im still glowing from the whole event. I will post pictures as soon as I have a chance to upload them into an album and on here..

Now we just are waiting for our sweet arrival. The next midwife appt. we have is our 36 week home appointment and Im looking forward to that and the last minute details!

Monday, June 22, 2009

33 weeks!!!!!!!!! 7ish left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Can't wait to meet my pumpkin, getting excited feeling her rolling around in there each day! Last week was hectic as this week will be also!!!! Friday night we finished our last childbirth class, it was sad to know that Im not going to see the girls for a while but we are planning a reunion class after we have the baby as we are the last ones in the class to go!!! Our baby will be the princess of the party since all the others have boys! Saturday was a busy but fun day, we spent the morning with my in-laws on a hunt for the babies bedroom furniture... We finally found something that John and I are in love with. We are blessed to have so many people in our lives that are able to help us. Her crib is a crib for life that will convert to a toddler bed and then a double bed, it is from the generation next collection.






then her dresser also in cinnamon color is the crib to college dresser.
Saturday night we had wings with our friends at the wing shack and rented a movie. Sunday was a busy day preparing our house for guests later this week for the shower, and I treated myself to a pedicure and an eyebrow wax!

at thirty-three weeks the babies respritory system is almost mature. She will be gaining about 1/2 lb a week from here on out. She can sense light and tell the times of day! AMAZING!!!

I have attached at the top more photos by my friend Erin Stork.. she does awesome work and her page is http://estork.homestead.com/index.html

Monday, June 15, 2009

32 weeks









Super busy last week!!!!!!!!! Holy cow time flies.. I have been going non-stop for days now!
Friday I took a vaca day from work and played! Yes Played!!!! First thing was to change my social security card since I have been married two years and am still yet to do it! Then we stopped by my aunts office and she took a peak in at the baby for us to see how she was doing on the ultrasound machine! To my surprise she weighed in at 4lbs 2 ounces on the machine, I know they are not always accurate but it is good to know that she is not being malnutritioned!!! She has big feet like her mom, long legs like me, and chubby cheeks.... She was looking straight at us and moving her mouth. It appeared also that she had been practicing her breathing, her chest was flexing in and out! This is all music to a nervous moms ears! The rest of the day was filled with fun as well.. One of my best friends was with me and we stopped and had our favorite Mexican lunch! Then it was off to the pool at my moms house for the rest of the day! We lounged around with two of my other best friends and their daughters, along with my sisters and mom. Then we went to the sandbar for dinner on the river and relaxed for an evening there with live music and good conversation.. The end to a perfect day was then the girls all having a slumber party and watching a movie! Everyone at my moms house took turns trying to have their chance at feeling little Abigail frolicing around.. they all held touched my belly with their eyes wide open as she rolled around in her space that is becoming quite snug!!



Saturday was no slower, we were up and headed back home early in the morning. When I got home it was time to go again, John and I had plans to celebrate a friends birthday party at their pool. So we spent the day in the 90 degree heat hanging in the pool. We were home by 6:30 so that I could squeeze in an hour nap before we were to meet my dad who made it into town and we got to spend some time with him.. We met him at his hotel at about 8pm and went to dinner.. He was so excited to see me and my belly as soon as I got out of the car he was wanting to take a peak at my growing belly since the last time he had seen me was in February. We had a nice evening then plans for a breakfast before he headed to see my sisters..



Sunday morning we got up and joined my dad for breakfast then he came back to the house to look at our upgrades and spend some time with us. We then had one of my best friends do maternity pics and they are beautiful!!!!! I have only seen a couple but those that I have seen are gorgeous!!










Monday, June 8, 2009

31 weeks... 9ish left!!! single digits, WOW!!!!!






Well we have emerged from another busy weekend. Saturday John and I had childbirth class and we had done an extended class all day Saturday instead of breaking it up over the two weekend days. This included a potluck with the fellow soon to be mamas and papas... In this class we talked about breastfeeding, newborn testing, pain medicines there side effects and info about what is in them. It was very comprehensive but we had a great time as our group is a really fun bunch of people, so we dont stop laughing!! I did have two breakdowns in the midst of class.. How embaressing crying in front of 8 people I dont know all that well.. The first time we were doing our subconcious fears by writing with our dominate hand something that scared us, then with our other hand write words that relate to that fear. I wrote "something happening to me or the baby" in my dominate hand then when I started writing my other surrounding words I wrote "death" then wrote "my husband being alone." At this point I told the teacher I didnt want to do it anymore and started crying my eyes out.. She got up and came and hugged me along with my husband and of course told me reassuring words that made me feel much better down to my soul... My husband reminding me how great our pregnancy has been and how much we trust our midwife to watch over us!!!!! Then at the end of the class we always close with a nice birth story, this of course led to tears again when the mom was describing the look in her husbands eyes as their new little life was born.... Im a sissy girl and I cant help it!


Sunday we went to the movies and lunch with friends of ours, then ended a perfect day with a long nap on a rainy afternoon... Then last night John, his dad, and his dads friend came over to work on the flooring in the babies room... It is coming along beautifully!!!!!!! I cannot wait to see how gorgeous it ends up...


Typically babies at 31 weeks weigh about 3 and 1/2 lbs and are about 16 inches.. Amazing to think that is what is inside me.. They have all their senses now so she can hear our voices and know when we are talking to her!!!







Friday, June 5, 2009

ode to me from a best friend...

Dear D,
You my love, are an amazing creature. You come from a long line of amazing women who have been strong, intuitive, and centered. There may be moments where you might not actively feel these attributes, but believe me, you are all of that and more all the way down to the depths of your soul. There may be moments where our society's whacked-out perception of the EMERGENCY! birth is tries to permeate your being, but remember this: your body knows what to do, your baby knows what her job is, and best of all you have a midwife to guide your way who loves you and knows that birth is no more of an emergency than cooking dinner can be. Sure, fires occur sometimes, but when they are dealt with responsibly and quickly by a responsible person who is attending, their effects are not nearly as devastating as when a hot pan of oil is left to boil on its own.
I love you more than I can possibly express and I wish you wisdom, trust, and health in your upcoming birthmonth. Your labor and your baby girl's birth is going to be the single most empowering day of your life. You will learn just how strong your body is, how strong your mind is, and how strong your bond is with those around you. You will be cared for and watched over carefully, and when you feel like you might not be able to go on any longer, you will be encouraged because you will already be doing it, even if you don't realize it. And when you are done with it all, ready to throw in the towel, you will know that there will not be much longer until you get to meet your little girl for the first time face-to-face.
You will be holding your little girl in your arms, all slimy and wet, while your husband looks on through tears in absolute awe. Your midwife will be buzzing quietly about, taking care of the details while you are given the time and space to fall in love with your little girl and learn every little detail of her face.
You will put her to your breast and feed her with the best that nature has to offer, just like you have been doing for these past 30 weeks. Again, your husband will watch in awe as you meet the needs of this new little stranger, and will help you to learn what she needs to stay content and how she prefers those things to be done.
This is going to be such a transformative, powerful, and loving birth---and nothing less.
I love you.
MM

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

30 weeks 1 day!

Had my prenatal appt yesterday and all was well as usual. Blood pressure was 102/72 so came up great, my pee stick was nice and boring as usual. Baby girls heartbeat was 148 which is excellent and she was all over the place with hiccups while Kelli was trying to find her. We discussed some labor info and discussed placental delivery etc.. I had started getting weird numbness in my left arm and it was making my left side itch sometimes but turns out this is super common and is due to the baby laying on new nerves and a vitamin D deficiency so that being said I'm making an appt with a chiropractor to be adjusted and getting some vitamin D!
The baby should be about 3 lbs now and about 14-17 inches.

we had a pretty uneventful weekend. Ripped up the carpeting in the babies room so that we can start putting down the flooring. Had our 3rd birthing class on Sunday and worked on pushing positions and Cesarean myths and truths. We each are reading some back issues of mothering so we can discuss with the class our alternative topics. John and I chose cloth diapering since we are planning this! Other topics are vaccines, circumcision, baby-wearing, and co-sleeping.
I also picked up the book from Dr. Sears this weekend called the vaccine book so I can do all my research and make an informed decision on the immunization schedule we are choosing and which vaccines we are giving.