Future Parrothead - Week 31

I had this t-shirt made to wear to the Jimmy Buffett concert next week. This time next week we'll be wasting away again in Margaritaville! Woo Hoo! The t-shirt seemed a bit more becoming then a coconut bra and a grass skirt at this stage!

Week 31 - The book says the baby is 3 plus pounds this week. Liar. She was 3.5 three weeks ago. I am guessing she's going at least 4 lbs by now! She's approaching her birth length now. She'll continue to gain weight, but will not grow much more in length. Her brain is continuing to develop. She's processing information, tracking light, and perceiving signals from all 5 senses. She spends most of the day sleeping according to the book. Funny, to me it feels like she's jumping on a trampoline in there!

I was laying in bed the other day and rubbed my tummy. It was hard as a rock on the right side. As it turns out, that's her preferred side and she's quickly running out of room in there. You could feel the outline of her back/side. It was pretty cool. I told Tommy about it and he felt it but it creeped him out a little.

I've started the process at work for taking the baby time off and then the extra time I'm going to take after she's born. If all goes according to plan, I'll be off for 14 weeks (or 16 weeks if I have to have a C-section). It sounds like a lot of time right now, but I'm sure it will fly by. There are a lot of HR hoops to jump thru and forms to fill out. It will be worth it in the end. It's just hard for me because I don't know the "when" in all of this. They want forms filled out with times and dates, but that isn't within my control!! And this is not easy for a control freak!

A Lot to Learn

Well, I paid for our classes today at Memorial Hermann. I signed us up for 3 exciting baby classes!! Woo Hoo!!

Next week we start off with Prepared Childbirth. It's 4 weeks long. (Yes, 4 long weeks!) Tuesday nights for 3 hours a night. I've gone back and forth on whether or not we should go to this class. My plan is to get the epidural as soon as they'll allow it and then let nature take it's course from there relatively pain free. I think this is kind of a tree hugger natural childbirth kind of thing/class. I know they speak on a lot of different things, so I know we'll get something out of it. In the back of my mind I keep thinking about what happens if I can't get the drugs??? I at least want to be a little prepared.

From there we have the Newborn Care class. Since neither one of us knows squat about taking care of a baby this class was a must. I'm sure Tommy isn't looking forward to playing with dolls in this class, but everyone that took it swears it was great. They all learned to swaddle their babies like cattle wranglers. So, we're in.

We also have a breastfeeding class. I need all the help and information I can get on this. I think Tommy is just looking forward to the show and tell portion of this class :)

Those two classes are for a couple of hours on one night each. Neither one of us is looking forward to it, but I do think we'll get something out of it. Tommy is going simply to humor me and keep me happy. He hasn't been complaining about it, but I can tell you he'd rather be in a 1000 different places then a childbirth or breastfeeding class! This is where I tell the world that I married a great guy. That was easy, I married a great guy, and it's the truth!

A Very Happy Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day today. I know I don't officially belong to the club yet, but they let me sneak a membership in. (At least membership perks anyway!)

Yesterday was spent in Centerville at Tommy's parent's house. Mom and Daddy went with us. Mark, Steph, Jake and Luke were there and so was Steph's mom and brother. We had a great day. Very relaxed, just visiting and eating. (Two things I do very well with!)

I woke up this morning knowing we were going to brunch. What I didn't know is that the Mother's Day fairy had been to our house. Tommy bought me a Flip Video. I had been wanting to get one before our "big day". So sweet! I love it. As you can see, I was playing around with it earlier. For those of you who don't know what it is...It's a handheld HD video recorder about the size of a cell phone. It plugs directly into your computer with a USB port for easy uploading.

Look for more videos of Erin and Roxie to come in the future. It's just so darn easy to use!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas out there!

Week 30 - The Home Stretch(marks)

Tomorrow is Week 30. It's crazy to think that we only have about 2 1/2 months to go. It seems to have taken forever to get here. We have done so much to get ready but there still seems to be so much more to be done! We were going over the "lists" tonight. The suggestions for essential things to have for newborn babies and also for packing for the hospital. They recommended packing at the beginning of Month 8 because anything can happen when labor is concerned. I said that's just two weeks away and Tommy said no it isn't. Yes Babe, it is!

Week 30- The baby is about 17 inches long. The book says she's weighing about 3 pounds, but our little chunky monkey passed that up weeks ago! This week the baby's brain is starting to look like a brain. It's getting those characteristic grooves and wrinkles. Her brain is starting to function as a brain. It's taken over temperature regulation. The heat supply will start to "burn" off that baby hair that they have in the womb. With any luck, she'll burn it all off and won't come out looking like a werewolf.

Everyone asks me how I'm feeling. I can look them in the eye and tell them I think I've had a pretty good pregnancy (even with my "advanced" age!) We have the placenta scare in the beginning, but we've been very lucky. I get really, really tired now and I stay hot, but I think that is all to be expected. I don't sleep at night, so of course I'm sleepy during the day! I hate to see our a/c bill this month. Tommy has told me a couple of times that it's much colder downstairs where I am. He comes down the stairs and says there is a cold front about half way down.

Speaking of tired...going to bed now, and yes, it is just 8:01! Now if I could just sleep when I get there...

Showered with Love

Erin's Baby Shower was Saturday. I just now stopped long enough to update the blog. I've been washing, organizing and putting things away since then!

It was such a fabulous day. Amy, Stephanie and Allison did such a good job. I just can't tell you how special they made the day. Everything was so nice, and pink of course! We had a great turn out and we go so many presents. This child will not go naked for one second of the first year of her life! It warms my heart to think of how much love and support we have.

Tonight we put the bassinet together. It took about an hour and there were a million different pieces, but we got it done and the job didn't end in tears or cursing. Always a good sign with the home projects :)