38 Weeks

My dear grandfather Koos passed away on Monday morning. He was at peace and resting comfortably. I really thought he might make it to meet Chloe... but it was not in God's timing. One life ends and another begins... it really is that way. I know he and my grandma are looking down on me. The funeral home is tomorrow from 3-8 at Duskas by church and then the funeral is thursday morning. I don't think it has really hit any of us or will until all that formality starts tomorrow and then is over next week, especially for his dear children (my mother, uncle, and aunt) who have been tirelessly caring for him for the last 10 months, and for my grandmother for the last year or two before that. Papa I will miss you so much. I wish I had had more conversations with you and we had known each other even better. You were incredible! You and grandma touched SO many lives its unbelievable! Give grandma hugs and kisses for me in heaven. I miss her so much.

-------

38 Weeks

Your baby has really plumped up, weighing close to seven pounds and measuring 20 inches long. (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb. Fetal development is nearly complete as your baby tends to a few last-minute details like shedding the skin-protecting vernix and lanugo. He's also producing more surfactant, a substance that prevents the air sacs in his lungs from sticking to one another once he starts to breathe.

Meanwhile, your body is tending to its own final touches before the big day, one of which is getting that milk machine up and running. For many women, the next couple of weeks are a waiting game. Use this time to prepare your baby's nursery or to take care of necessary tasks you may not get around to for a while after your baby's born. Take naps, catch up on your reading, and spend uninterrupted time with your partner while you can.

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

wait wait wait. that is where my mind is. patience. enjoy it. take every day to the fullest. spend time in quiet rest now. pay attention to chloe and her movements. she is with you now. these are all things I tell myself.

Here is me, Chloe & my belly at 38 weeks. I kind of hope this is the last stomach shot I take! The big bump where my stomach really juts out at the top of the bump above the doorknob is her butt and feet. They are often shifting, coming out at weird angles and pushing. It is such an odd sensation and looks craaazy from up above. She is very strong and her body does things I don't understand! I am just along for the ride it seems :)

Belly Shot for 34 Weeks

Taken today so about 34.5 weeks. Brian makes me smile goofy when he takes my picture :) I can't believe how big little Chloe is getting in there. I feel like she's fighting me for space in my body most days!

31 Weeks

31 Weeks:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. She's making faces, hiccupping, swallowing, breathing, pedaling with little hands and feet along your uterine wall, and even sucking his or her thumb. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Your baby's brain is working overtime these days, developing faster than ever. Connections between individual nerve cells are growing at a frenetic clip, and your baby can now perceive information from all five senses. Sure, your baby can't smell anything right now, but that's only because he or she is still submerged in amniotic fluid and needs to be breathing air to get a whiff of anything. Lucky for you — and your baby — yours will be one of the very first scents your baby breathes in, a scent that will quickly become his or her very favorite.

Making faces, hiccupping, swallowing, breathing, pedaling with little hands and feet along your uterine wall, and even sucking his or her thumb. In fact, some babies suck their thumbs so vigorously while in the womb that they're born with a callus on their thumb.

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

I can't believe I totally skipped taking a picture and writing a post at 30 weeks. With Christmas/New Years and traveling, I got totally thrown off. 30 weeks was definitely a milestone mentally and baby wise for me. Getting into the 30s makes me feel so far, and so close to meeting our child. I can't believe we are potentially less then 2 short months away from bringing a daughter into the world - not just a baby, but a new life.

The last few weeks have been full of new movements, sensations, and a feeling of being huge and carrying the baby much higher. She has the hiccups sometimes 4x a day... it's so cool now that I recognize it. I am having trouble sleeping now-a-days because the movements are sometimes so strong in the middle of the night that I can't ignore them the way I was a month or so ago. I am knocking my belly into things and having trouble getting up, bending over, and moving quickly or for long periods of time. The pain in my upper abdomen persists, going on over 2 months now. It is worse if anything, and is probably a near-constant part of my day. It happens if I sit too long, lay wrong, or walk around and am on my feet too long. Soooo basically all the time. I feel frustrated like I can't do much anymore. That, in combination with increased groin pain (ligaments loosening) and the baby's movements being much stronger and more forceful now - less bouncy and more like actual limbs, bones, and muscle hitting me in the organs and pushing on my ribs and lungs and side and bladder can be quite uncomfortable all at once. Sometimes I feel full body rolls. Sometimes I'm sure I can feel her little butt or back high up near my ribs, sometimes I'm not sure if it's her head or feet.

If it sounds painful, I will say that for me it is. I don't think all women experience everything the same way, but I can tell the next 8-10 weeks are going to be pretty rough on me. I am praying for God's strength to bear it patiently and with anticipation and not too much frustration or complaining. I do plan on talking to the midwife on Wednesday about all my symptoms. It is so weird to be in pain and totally uncomfortable, and yet amazed and in awe and enjoying it all at the same time.

I can't pretend I am without worry. I do very well sometimes, and put my faith in God, and other times fears take hold of me and I literally feel physically panicked about things going wrong, or my delivery being impossible and unbearably painful. We started our childbirth class and I think understanding and education is going to be really valuable for me. I need to remember my body was made to do this and that I can!

28 Weeks & a passing test result

28 Weeks:

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) (what the heck is a chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

See what your baby looks like this week.

I also need to start counting kicks this week.... crazyness.

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

It's hard to believe how big I am already. I gained a lot of weight in the 6th month, which was a little hard to accept. I had a doctors appointment today and everything was good - the baby actually had hiccups when she was listening for the heart rate! So cute, and the first time I've heard that. And ... I PASSED MY GLUCOSE TEST - I DO NOT have gestational diabetes. That was great news! I still am going to try to watch my sweet stuff, it is certainly my weakness!! :-) I had her examine the area where I'm having the pain and burning below my bra and over my ribs on the left side. Really still no explanation for that. Bah. I really really hope that it starts to let up soon, if anything it's been getting worse. I was wrapping presents last night in some serious pain.

Here's the belly at 28 weeks. so big already... of course sometimes I look way huger depending on how I stand too. I'm so excited!! Been rocking her in the rocker at night. It's very surreal.

26 weeks, belly shot, crib

26 weeks

Your baby is inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14-15 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. Most babies this age, yours included, still like to snuggle in a slightly curled position inside the uterus (thus the term "fetal position"). And at just over two pounds, she has doubled in weight from four weeks ago.

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. And even though the sounds your baby hears are muffled (thanks to the creamy coating of vernix covering those ears), she may recognize both yours and your partner's voices. So this might be a good time to read and even sing to your baby (or rather, your belly). Also, your baby's taste buds are very developed now too (with more taste buds than he or she will ever have outside the womb, actually).

I also read somewhere that this week and last week the baby's limbs were growing to almost their birth length. This makes sense becuase I have been truly feeling more movement that is stretching out, and reaching higher then ever before. I was in shock today on the drive home feeling sensations almost 3-4 inches above my belly button, you can tell she is stretching out and pushing in new ways! It's crazyyyyyyyy (and a little uncomfortable). I'm still having the under-the-bra, across the muscle of my rib cage pain. Not sure what to do about it.

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

I have been slacking on the belly pictures because the last 3 weeks (excluding Thanksgiving) have been some of the craziest of my life, trying to get caught up from all the fall weddings. I couldn't get it all quite done, I'm only one person, but I hope to get a lot more finished this week! November was super productive and for that I am happy. ANYWAY... that being said.

This picture was taken on Thanksgiving at 25+ weeks. Brian took it :)

-----------

We also picked out and ordered our crib/changing table, our Christmas gift from Beth & Paul (brian's parents). We are so so so thankful for everyone helping us out with all these expenses and things we need. We are so blessed! We decided to go sans dropside, and I'm glad because I'm hearing about all kinds of recalls and proposed bans on drop-side cribs lately. I think they are pulling millions of them from the market, so we decided on the sturdy non-drop side instead. Our crib is not a luxury crib by any means, it was one of the most affordable ones we could find. But I liked the style, simple, slightly traditional, and white.

Graco Lauren, in White. It is convertible but it's so affordable that if we don't get to it, I'm not worried about it! I wanted the changing table to match too because we already have a few different wood colors going on in that bedroom, and all the molding in the room is white.

sharing pregnancy

It is so cool to have friends around you who are also pregnant. I have my dear Kristin who I used to work with, my photog buddy Penny, blogging friend & once-modeled-for-me Brooke, and also some amazing girls in my small group. We are all between 5-6 weeks away from each other, it's so cute! I pray for all our babies to be healthy!! If Kristin was in this picture she'd be in between me and Megan, and Penny in between them. Brooke would be between me and Christie :)

Megan is almost 30 weeks, I'm almost 25, and Christie is almost 19! So far I'm the only one that knows the sex of my baby (girl), Megan is keeping it a surprise and Christie finds out in 2 weeks! Woo! Oh and of those not pictured, Brooke is having a boy, Penny is having a boy, and Kristin is having a girl!

22 weeks

Wow... this is really happening. It seems more real then ever now. Growing belly, little kicks and flips keeping me up in the middle of the night... baby clothes strewn all over the newly painted room, baby registries almost completed, bassinet in the room, people generously giving us so much. Aside from being so excited, I'm starting to feel my first like.... trepidations/fear about actually getting this little one out of me. I still have 4 months to think about that, but it's happening - especially when I realized my THIRD TRIMESTER will start on Dec. 8th. I almost fell over. That's only 5ish weeks away!

I have been selfish and emotional lately and for that I am sorry to anyone who has experienced any brunt of it. I'm trying to overcome it!

22 weeks development- the baby is finally almost a pound! And with that, I am gaining a lot too...

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily. The baby's hearing is becoming more acute and its almost constant movements may be quieted by your talking, singing, or reading to it. (no way!!??)

18 weeks belly shot

I forgot to post this here. You can really tell that baby is popping through now! haha!

Belly Shots

I've been taking these but not posting them, so here you go. Honestly, not a huge ton of difference over the last 3 weeks. I think I've gained 1 pound over this time period according to my scale/records. Also, wow I need to get my roots done!




And - today.

new symptom

My new symptom this last week has been dizzyness. But I've read its totally normal due to progesterone and the increased blood flow, but lower blood pressure. Nothing too major. I'm still pretty tired but the nausea seems to be dying down.

I also think I'm actually starting to "show" a little. I'll probably look bigger than I am until I catch up because of my little poochy belly already, but today I even noticed a marked difference as to how my stomach is sort of resting. I'm excited about it!

On Babycenter.com I met about 20-30 women all due the same week as me. It is SOOOO cool! I'm trying to enjoy this part of it all now. Yay baby!