Chloe Grace

(pics by Mindy Jobczynski :))

Well, it's pretty much out everywhere now after my baby shower this week displayed it proudly on cupcakes, embroidered on a blanket, and written in a book! We decided to name our coming-very-soon daughter Chloe Grace for 4 reasons. 1) we loved the name Chloe and liked it's meaning "Blooming," and that a Chloe who housed some disciples was mentioned in the Bible (1 Cor. 1:11) 2) It was the only one we really liked that we could totally 100% agree on, 3) Grace is after my grandmother on my father's side who passed away this year, and it is also my sister's middle name - and let's face it - always beautiful and always a quality you hope for a young girl to have! 4) I felt Chloe Grace was a name that beautiful and young for a baby, cool for a teen, yet also traditional and can grow with her well and wasn't too little-girly forever! It's certainly a popular name in the US right now, but in my circle not used very often.

So.... Chloe Grace ... blooming grace.... really liked that idea.

Hopefully our sonographer was right, and we are truly having a girl - because we are drowning in pink from our amazing shower this weekend. I hope to post more pictures soon when amazing Danielle gets a chance to get them all downloaded (she generously snapped away for me so I could enjoy the memories!) My mother, sister, aunt, friends and mother-in-law went over and above in making this shower (and the Maryland one) unbelievable and beautiful. I'll talk more about it in detail when I have photographic support :)

We were so blessed by all of the generosity - were able to purchase all of the remaining large items (playpen, breastpump, highchair) with gift cards and cash gifts we were given as well as a few returns on duplicate items ... and we received our car seat, big stroller, bouncer entertainer/exerciser, baby sensor/monitor, diaper bag, and activity mat at the shower plus tons and tons and tons of blankets, towels, washcloths, toys, etc. I also got 2 beautiful handmade gifts, a blanket and a little pillow. At my Maryland shower I also was blessed with bottles, washcloths, the toddler car seat, some stuffed animals, and tons of other goodies. I don't know what we would have done without all the help, not to mention the awesome friend who's been giving me all her baby clothes and stuff (including a co-sleeper) since I was basically 10 weeks pregnant.

It feels so selfish and so frivolous to be showered with all this love and "stuff" with the tragedies going on in Haiti and so many other mothers who need so much. I certainly have a surplus so I hope I can give what I don't need to those who do in some capacity. I want to give to my friends too but most of them are having boys and all I have is extra pink :-)

Either way, Chloe, I am just getting so desperate to meet you - I can't wait.

33 Weeks

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him 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 his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

At this stage in fetal development, your baby could grow a full inch more this week alone — especially if he or she has been on the shorter side. Weight gain can range from a third more growth to a full doubling before the big debut.

The level of amniotic fluid in your uterus has reached its maximum at 33 weeks pregnant, making it likely that you have more baby than fluid now. That's one reason why you're probably feeling lots of nudges and pushes — there's less liquid to cushion the blows. (Of course that means you're even closer to your baby now!)

If your uterine walls had eyes, here's what you'd see: your fetus acting more and more like a baby, with his or her eyes closing during sleep and opening while awake. And because those uterine walls are becoming thinner, more light penetrates the womb, helping your baby differentiate between day and night (now if only baby can remember that difference on the outside!).

And good news! Your baby has reached an important milestone about now: The development of his or her own immune system that (along with antibodies from you) will be able to provide protection from mild infections.

--------------------

Quick me update: Still having upper nerve/abdomen pain, lots of groin pain, and I think I'm starting to waddle. I'm having at least one Braxton Hicks contraction a day, I believe! It's crazy. I'm tracking her kicks daily using this kick counter. Lot of interesting movements of limbs inside me. Still having trouble determining sometimes what body parts are what. Can't wait to see her face!