31 Weeks

We are at 31 weeks!  It feels so good to be in the single digit weeks now. J

As we’ve progressed through the pregnancy, I knew there were several events that had to take place before Michael’s due date.  So many of those “check mark” things are happening!  A coworker’s wedding, my older brother and his wife’s 3^rd year anniversary, my younger brother Bryan’s ceremony for finishing his program at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, a baby shower shopping day (that will be tomorrow), etc.  It’s so exciting to be checking off the events that I thought would never get here!   Next week, Aaron will be in Washington for vacation (jealous) and to be the best man in his best friend’s wedding.  Although I really really really want to go with him, I know that it is best for Michael and me to stay put.  And…. starting next Thursday, I am restricted to staying within one hour from Montgomery at all times—doctor’s orders. 

After Aaron returns from the wedding, family comes into town, then it’s Bryan’s birthday, then the baby shower, then one of my best friends takes her GMAT test (and I’m sure she’ll need a shopping day when she’s done), and then……. It’s August!   Although 9 weeks seems like a long way away, these weeks are flying by!  It seems like just yesterday, I was writing last week’s blog.  So, I know that the work week flies by, and my weekends will be so packed that I’m sure August will be here within a blink of an eye!

Every day, we continue to learn more and more about Michael.  I have learned that his head tends to stay on my right side, and his little feet like to kick on the left side of my lower abdomen.  When I lay on my left side, he likes to practice “standing up.”  He’ll push his head against my right side, and his feet will push against my left side.  Sometimes in the middle of the night when I wake up, I will place my hands gently on my belly and I’ll feel him rolling around and turning flips. 

I am trying to be more active these days (although this rising heat makes being outside difficult).  I walk around my work parking lot twice a day with a coworker friend who is also expecting.  I’m also doing a third trimester work-out DVD (don’t be too impressed… I just started using the DVD on Thursday).  :)  Hopefully, these things will make labor a little easier when it’s time. 

This past Wednesday, I had constant lower abdominal pain and began to have mid to lower back pain as well.  I called the doctor’s office and was instructed to come in just to make sure everything was fine.  The doctor on call (my doctor was on vacation) listened to Michael’s heartbeat and checked to make sure I wasn’t on my way to premature labor.  Fortunately, everything turned out just fine.  Michael had a strong heartbeat and I am not in early labor! Yay! The doctor said if the pain continued or got worse, I’d have to come back in and they would evaluate making me stay off my feet (aka, “bed rest”).  Gratefully, the next morning, I was in no pain!  I totally don’t want to go on bed rest, so I’m glad the pain has disappeared.

This Week:

-Michael begins to keep his arms and legs tucked close to his body due to running out of “womb.”  So no wonder he wants to stretch out and practice “standing” while inside my tummy.

-He can process information from all 5 senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell).  Although, he can’t really smell anything now since he’s surrounded by amniotic fluid.

-His lungs are the only body system not quite ready to fully function outside of the womb.  That’s why it’s so important that Michael stay inside of me until closer to his due date.  His lungs need these remaining weeks to mature and strengthen. 

-Michael weighs about 3 and a half pounds.  A generalization is that 31-week old babies in the womb will gain half a pound a week from this point until birth.  That leaves four and a half pounds to be gained for Michael if he adheres to this generalization—which would make him around 8 pounds at birth.  That sounds like quite a lot, but after all, I weighed in at 8 pounds 6 ounces when I was born!

-Our little one is about 16 inches long, which is roughly the size of a pineapple! 

(Photo credit: interstraits.biz)



My craves:

-Dried fruit (still haven’t gotten any of this, but I should since it would be a healthy snack).

-Cherry coke (haven’t given into this one, and no plans currently exist to give in)

-Frozen yogurt or soft serve ice cream.  I think I’ll blame that one on the heat.  And by the way, Georgia Mud Fudge Blizzards from Dairy Queen are a wonderful treat. :)

-Fruit smoothies.  Maybe I’ll grab one on one of these hot afternoons.  

Thank-you so much for catching up on our happenings this week.  We’re getting close, folks, and I couldn’t be more excited to meet our little one in August!  Love, Reba 



30 Weeks

30 Weeks!  That means we are 75% through with the pregnancy.  Some days it’s so odd to believe we’re this far along, but I am so excited that we are!

I have been amazed at the growth of my tummy.  Just when I think it couldn’t grow any bigger, it does so to accommodate the healthy baby inside. :)  You know how little kids draw pictures of people based on how they see the body—squiggly head with stick arms and legs sprouting out of it?  That’s because they look down at themselves and see their legs and arms sprouting out from them, and they forget to draw the torso.  I’m the same way when it comes to my tummy.  I sit at my desk and when I look straight down at my tummy, it seems to be the same size.  But then I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror and I’m like “Whoa!  My belly is HUGE!”  I guess it’s all perspective. 

This past week, I have learned more about the perspective of different coworkers.  Several coworkers don’t think I’ll make it to August.  But others will say “Only 10 weeks away?!?  But you’re still so small!” 

One day while walking to my car, one coworker was walking alongside me.  She was talking about how different I look, but I couldn’t really understand everything she was saying.  I think she said “You look cute!” But she might have said “You look huge!” So I smiled because I didn’t know what else to do.  Then she asked “Do you feel cute?” or maybe she asked “Do you feel huge?”  So I just replied “Sometimes” and smiled again.  And it’s the truth—sometimes I feel cute, and sometimes I feel huge.  Usually I feel cute because I love being pregnant and love feeling our little boy kicking and flipping inside my belly.  But sometimes, I really do feel kind of huge and I wonder how big my belly is really gonna get.

I love that as each day goes by, we learn more about Michael’s patterns and personality.  He is most active right before and right after dinner.  On Monday night, he swiped his hand (or foot) down the side of the womb, which caused quite a painful tickle sensation.  Michael’s favorite place to rest his head is just to the right of my belly button.  I can feel the roundness of his little head, and I rub it when I see the tell-tale sign of my lopsided belly.  On Tuesday, I felt him kicking around, so I started rubbing my tummy.  He wiggled around until he got to his favorite position, and then he relaxed as I rubbed his little head.   You can see the lopsided shape of my belly as he rests his head to the right of my belly button.

He still gets the hiccups frequently and sometimes, if the hiccups are especially quick, I’ll say to him “It’s ok, Mommy’s here.”

We had a doctor’s appointment yesterday.  No ultrasound, but we got to listen to Michael’s heartbeat with the Doppler.  The doctor said again that it’s a “Perfect heartbeat” and that the heart rate was in the 140s. Michael was quite “kicky” while the doctor had the Doppler on my tummy.  The doctor said it’s always good to have “kicking action.”  This was the first appointment where the doctor measured my belly.  I was so excited to be at this stage that I forgot to ask what the measurement was.  He did say that I am measuring perfectly for being 30 weeks along.  I measured my belly at home and am holding steady at 18 inches.

As I took my FMLA paperwork to the receptionist yesterday to hold for the doctor to fill out, she asked me if I was still working.  I replied that I was and inside my mind I was thinking “Wow, who takes off work the last 10 weeks of their pregnancy?!?”  I can tell you that it won’t be me.  I’ll be at work til the end.  :)  It’s just the way the cookie crumbles since I’ve chosen to take FMLA leave as my maternity leave. 

Today, I was totally surprised at work.  I had my first BABY SHOWER!  :)  My supervisor called me to his cubicle to applaud me and the baby for hanging in there and doing a good job at work.  (Funny how you want to strive to do a better job when someone praises you for your work). He then wanted to show me where my “new cubicle” is going to be.  So, we’re walking down the aisle of cubicles and he says “There’s an empty cubicle back here in the corner.  I hope you don’t mind being in the corner.”  So I said “Oh no, I don’t mind.”  And as we rounded the corner, I saw all of my team mates waiting with huge grins on their faces!  I was totally shocked!!!  Apparently, they’ve been planning this shower for 3 months and they were all surprised that I was totally in the dark!  :) 

We had a white and blue sheet cake that said “Congratulations Reba and Aaron!”  How sweet is that?  We also had a wonderful orange punch with fresh orange slices, lime wedges, and kiwi slices.  The cake was very good and the punch was quite refreshing.  There was a myriad of gifts and cards.  Of course, I was made to wear a “party hat” made from a paper plate with ribbon on it.  :)  My coworkers took lots of pictures, and when they share them with me, I’ll post them here.  I took a picture of some of my “loot” when I got home and here are some of the photos. 

This is a wreath that one of my coworkers made!  She even put our last name (spelled correctly!) on a ribbon so we can hang this on our hospital door! 

The Luv-U-Zoo cradle 'n swing! 

When I picked up Aaron, he got in the driver’s seat and started on our way home.  He looked in the rear view mirror and saw the backseat full of gifts and said “Whoa!  What’s all this?!?”  He said later that he was surprised that I received this much stuff from a work shower.  I have really great coworkers :)  As hard as our job may be, we stick together and coworkers make work fun.

This Week:

-Michael’s brain develops folds and wrinkles.  This is due to the rapid growth of brain cells and it increases the surface area of the brain.  Remember that I’ve been saying all along that we’re gonna have one smart kid! :)

-Michael’s fingernails and toe nails are finished forming and are going to be ready for a trim shortly after he’s born!

-His bone marrow is in charge of red blood cell production.  This is how it should be, and a milestone!

-Little Baby P. starts to shed his lanugo—the downy-like hair that covered his skin to keep him warm.  Since he’s getting bigger by the day, he’s able to regulate his own body temperature and doesn’t need the extra fur coat anymore. :)

-When Michael is awake, his eyes are open and he’s peering around his dark home.  I think this is really cool.

-Most of his energy has been channeled toward his growing brain, so he hasn’t gained much weight or height this week.  He weighs about 3 pounds (which is also how much the doctor said he weighed), and he’s about 15 and a half inches long.  That’s about the size of a Yorkie terrier:

(Photo credit: blogspot.com)

My Craves:

-Salty stuff (like the snack that smiles back, Goldfish)

-Frozen yogurt (yoo-hoo, Costco!  It won’t be long until I make a journey to your food court and indulge in the chocolate frozen yogurt goodness that you offer.)

-Whopper  (Dad’s deer burgers suffice quite wonderfully) :)

-Fresh peaches and melons (I was able to satisfy both of these cravings last night at Mom’s.  They were soooo tasty!)

Thanks again for taking the time to read our blog and catch up on the most recent baby developments. :) My next doctor’s appointment will be in 2 weeks!  I’ve been waiting to get to this point and I can’t believe we’re here!  :)  Until next week, stay air-conditioned and satisfied in frozen yogurt and fresh fruit!  Love, Reba

29 Weeks!

29 Weeks!  Next week will start my final 10 weeks of pregnancy!  Sometimes it seems like pregnancy has been a blur.  Other times it seems like the end of August will NEVER get here!

This week, the song “June is bustin’ out all over!” from the musical “Carousel” plays in my head as I walk to my car at the end of the work day.  It’s starting to get very hot in the mid-afternoons here, and I’m so thankful for our car’s automatic start!  I make sure the AC controls are set to full blast when I get out of the car in the mornings.  That way, when I push the automatic start, the AC will blow at full speed and start to take away some of the awful heat in the car.  And with the pace I’m walking at these days, the car has a lot of time to cool down! :)

Aaron and I have practiced installing the car seat base a few times now so we can make sure that we’re getting it as tight as it can be.  I’m pretty impressed with our growing skills in child safety equipment installation. :)

I have determined that Michael is a hiccup champion.  He will get the hiccups at least once a day.  Most days, he gets the hiccups more than twice.  Sometimes the hiccups are so close together that I feel bad for my little guy.  Last night at 2:30 (yep, I was awake at that time thanks to third trimester bathroom breaks), Michael started hiccupping.  His hiccups were hard and close together.  I couldn’t go back to sleep until he settled down.  I had to make myself focus on taking deep breaths (an interesting concept while lying on one’s side) in order to calm him down and make his hiccups stop.  Eventually, I was able to fall asleep again.

In the afternoons this week, after we get home from work, Aaron and I have tried to take a nap since we are both exhausted.  I have found that Michael thinks nap times are the perfect time to play!  If I lay on my right side, he will stretch out along that side and wiggle his fingers right up against the side of the womb!  It’s the weirdest feeling!  Sometimes, Aaron will turn over and ask what I’m laughing at.  Yesterday, I had Aaron put his hand on the mattress, and I situated my belly on top of his hand as I laid down.  Within a few minutes, Michael started wiggling those fingers again.  Aaron got a taste of what it feels like to have tiny fingers wiggling around.  It takes quite a while for me to fall asleep during a nap due to all of his movements.

He, however, doesn’t seem to have a problem napping in the womb whenever the mood strikes him!  He seems like he’s going to be a side sleeper when he gets older.  During his naptimes, he is on his side toward the bottom of the womb.  I can feel the curve of his back as he lies in that position.  It causes some discomfort in my pelvic region, but it’s worth it to be on this journey!

 This Week:

-Michael’s brain can control his body temperature and breathing.
-He can cough.
-His skills at performing the sucking abilities are being perfected.
-He’s packing on the pounds which will make his skin less wrinkled and more baby-like.  So, think less along the lines of Benjamin Button and more along the lines of Huggies model. :)
-This “white fat” that he’s developing will help energize him and insulate him when he’s born.
-Little Baby P. weighs nearly 3 pounds and is a little over 15 inches long, which is roughly the size of a loaf of bread:

(Photo credit: grainmaker.com)

My Craves:

-No-bake peanut butter oatmeal cookies.  (I tried to make these myself and flopped.  So now I have a clump of no-bake peanut butter oatmeal cookie in a bowl in my fridge).

-Cherry coke (sounds refreshing but I haven’t given in).

-Sweet tea (I have definitely given into this one, but I monitor the caffeine intake.  Michael doesn’t need any help in being active, and I don’t need any help in waking up at odd times of the night… so we keep our caffeine limited.) :)

-Water is a life saver now, because anytime I eat or drink something citrus-y, my mouth gets very very dry.  Water is a much needed friend these days.

Thank-you for catching up with us this week! I can’t believe that June is halfway over, but it means that we’re this much closer to meeting little Michael.  It’s hard to wait!  Until next week, Love Reba

28 Weeks

28 Weeks and counting!  Yay! 

Although, I have totally come to the realization that pregnancy is a 10 month process.  Because when I say that I’m 7 months along, logically, I should have 2 months left to go, right?  9 month total – 7 month progress= 2 month remainder.  Howeverrrrrrrrrrrrr, 40 week total – 28 week progress= 12 week remainder, which can be put another way as 3 more months.  Womp womp. 

I’m so anxious to hold little Michael and start being his Mommy outside of the womb, but I have to remind myself again that “Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait.”

This week, I decided that we should put the car seat base in our backseat and start putting the car seat in the car whenever we head to visit family.  That way, our dog Akuna will start to recognize that he doesn’t get to lounge across the whole back seat anymore! :)  He’s very good when it comes to the car seat and the “baby” (stuffed animal Auburn bunny) strapped inside of it.

We tried out this technique for the first time yesterday.  Akuna did very well in giving the “baby” space.  He settled down in his seat area and we really think he will do just fine on future family trips. 

As I was carrying the car seat back into the house last night, Aaron smiled and said “You look ready.”  It made me really think “This is how our lives will be for a long time, (carrying car seats in and out of the house) and I think I’m as ready as I can be.”   To know that he sees a “Mom” figure in me is wonderful. :)

Here is my belly picture this week:  My tummy measures 18 inches (up a half-inch from last week!)

After Aaron snaps the belly picture, he keeps snapping and snapping and snapping, so I goof off and make faces to make the extra photos worth his while. :)  This one shows how excited I am to be Michael's mom:

 

Michael has become quite the busy bee.  On Tuesday, I felt him move and I looked down at my tummy.  It was lopsided toward the right side.  I moved my hand to the lopsided area and could feel his head.  I sat there and rubbed his head for about 10 minutes, and he just stayed still and let me rub him!  He totally takes after his dad, because Aaron loves for his head to be rubbed too.  Yesterday, my tummy looked lopsided again, so I reached my hand down to the lopsided area and could feel the curve of his little back.  He stayed still (minus a few random kicks) and let me rub his back for several minutes.  This is also another characteristic of his dad—Aaron loves for his back to be rubbed too.  It’s fun to note the characteristics that Michael is already exhibiting.  It will be so much fun to see the multitude of characteristics develop as he gets older.

He seems to be most active at night when I am relaxing on the couch.  Last night I thought he was going to burst through my belly button!  He was kicking, or flipping, or dancing, up a storm in there!  It’s fun to feel him move and to see it, but it’s most fun when Aaron catches the movements and gets to feel the kicks.  Michael is still a little squirt and knows when others are watching.  Fortunately, he has been so super active lately that Aaron has gotten to see and feel the kicks many times over the last few nights.

The pregnancy olfactory has opened up for business again!  Smells are becoming increasingly noticeable.  Some lotions that I have are too strong now for me to use.  This is an area that makes me sad, because I lotion my tummy nearly every day (and did I mention that I don’t have a stretch mark yet?!?!)  So now I’m having to “lather up” with lightly scented lotions. Aaron and I got our first Costco membership this past weekend (I feel like such a grown up!).  While shopping at Costco, we decided to get our little Akuna boy some dog treats.  We picked Bison Jerky for dogs.  Akuna goes nuts for this stuff!  The unfortunate side effect?  His breath.  He can be sitting on the floor by my feet with his head facing away from me, and I can still smell his breath.  Thanks, pregnancy and bison jerky.  The other night, Aaron was making Indian curry for dinner.  As I sat on the loveseat, I suddenly smelled sesame oil.  I asked him if he had put anything in the curry and he’s like “No, why?” So I told him I smelled something funky and he said that he put just a drop of sesame oil into the boiling rice.  Although he tried to convince me that it shouldn’t smell, I reminded him that my nose is winning in the “Strongest Sense” race going on in my body right now.  Fortunately, as we ate, the spice from the curry kept me from smelling anything for a few hours!

I think that I am beginning to enter the “Nesting” stage… or maybe the “Pre-Nesting” stage of pregnancy.  My mind goes 100 miles a minute thinking of all the things that can be done (ie, wiping down the washer, vacuuming the dryer vents, cleaning out Michael’s closet, etc).  While I ponder the many cleaning things I could be doing, I bake.  No longer are boxed desserts my go-to baking aid.  I am testing my skills as Suzy Homemaker—or at least Suzy HomeBaker.  With baking comes a sense of ingenious and creativity to figure out how to store my creations.  Although I’m working with chocolate and not fabric, I hear Tim Gunn say “Make it Work” and I do.  I’m thinking that pregnancy might be making me a little more creative in my “fix-it” ability.  Hopefully this Mommy trait will stick around after Michael is born. :)

 As part of my baking obsession, I made a "One-Bowl Chocolate Cake" the other day. Of course, my lack of cake-storage accessories has hindered me slightly-- which is why the cake is on a plate).

Being pregnant makes me improvise not only in how I sleep, but in how I will tackle projects that I do not have the equipment for.  Such as, storing a cake underneath a big bowl since I don't have a cake storage container.  I think this quick thinking is a necessary "Mommy" trait. 

This Week:

-Michael’s eyes are partially opened and he can blink!

-He has begun having REM (rapid eye movement)

-His eyes have color now, but it might not be the true color that they will stay.  Eyes don’t get their final hue until 9 months after birth.  I think this is pretty cool.

-Michael is about 15 inches long, which is roughly the size of a churro!



(Photo credit: disneyfoodblog.com)

My Craves:

-Sweet tea

-Chocolate (Have I mentioned that one yet???) No candy, or ice cream, but a piece of homemade chocolate cake (while it lasts).

-Costco chocolate frozen yogurt.  I knew I should have gotten one on Sunday afternoon, but I didn’t and I regret it.  Next month, I will totally have to get one of these when we make our next Costco run.

Until next week, enjoy some frozen yogurt for me and stay air conditioned!  Love, Reba

27 Weeks

27 Weeks are in the books! Only 13 more weeks to go, and you know what that means?  It means we have finally reached the 3rd trimester!!!!!  I am so excited to be in the home stretch!

Little Michael knows it's the 3rd trimester as well.  He's making sure we hit all the "normal" 3rd trimester activities such as:

• Sitting on my bladder to make sure that I go to the bathroom every half hour to 45 minutes.
• Falling asleep on the couch at 8:00 again (Wait a second, did we ever get out of that phase? I don't think so.)
• The "waddle" that's becoming my normal walking gait.
• The slowing of my walking pace (As for running? Not even in the vocabulary anymore.)
• The thought that my car has moved significantly further down the parking lot than where I left it at 6:20 in the morning.

Yesterday, Michael and I had a doctor's appointment.  Although I schedule our appointments to be at 3:30 so that Aaron can come, he had to work late yesterday and wasn't able to make it.  My dad was able to come with me instead, which is such a relief because yesterday was my gestational diabetes test!  I was pretty nervous about it and even had dreams last weekend about what would happen if I messed up the test. 

At my last appointment I was given a bottle of red juice labeled "Fruit Punch" and was told to drink it within a 5 minute period one hour before my appointment time.  So yesterday I brought my Tervis tumbler that says "Mom" (my Mother's Day gift from Claudia and Randy) with me to work, along with a straw.  I filled that whole glass up with ice and poured the juice over it because the label said that it tastes best cold over ice.  I set my cell phone Stopwatch so that I could make sure that I downed the drink within 5 minutes.  The juice actually wasn't that bad!  Toward the end, though, it started to taste medicinal, so I was happy to be nearly done with it at that point.

At my appointment, the nurse pricked my finger and in a few seconds she could tell that I passed! No gestational diabetes for me!!!  When the doctor came in, he was very pleased and said that I was the first one to pass the test that day out of two or three others who had gone before me. Whew! What a relief!

The doctor is pleased with the weight that I've gained and said it's "perfect" (but the exact amount that I've gained will be my own secret. Sorry to all the inquiring minds.) :) He listened to Michael's heartbeat with the doppler, and the first heartbeat we heard was my own (it was slow), and then we heard Michael's faster heartrate. He promised me that the first heartbeat was mine and that I don't have twins in there! :) He said Michael is a little under 2 pounds, and that he expects him to triple in size over the next 13 weeks. So, in other words, he's expecting Michael to be around 6 pounds at birth. I'm ok with that. :) I'm more ok with 6 pounds than with 10 pounds. :)

I had to have blood drawn again to measure my thyroid levels, so I'm really happy that Dad was there with me-- getting blood drawn is never fun, even though I should be used to it by now.

Michael has been busy this week, and I don't just mean as evidenced by his rigorous kicking and twisting.

This Week:
-His lungs and immune system are maturing this week.  If he were born today, he would have an 85% chance of survival, and although a B+ is a good grade in school, we are gonna be overachievers in this household and strive for 100%-- So, in order to do that, Michael will have to stay inside his warm home until the end of August! :)
-Michael's length has more than doubled in the past 15 weeks!  What a busy boy!
-His brain tissue and neurons are developing at a rapid pace.  In fact, his brainwaves are firing away like that of a newborn baby.
-Michael's little boy parts are completely descended now.
-Michael is about 14 and a half inches long and a little under 2 pounds (according to the doctor).  So that makes Little Michael roughly the size of a pot roast:

(Photo credit: reynoldsovenbags.com)

My Cravings:

-Michelina's shrimp fried rice.  This is something I got to have while growing up.  I considered it a treat. I actually haven't given into this craving (mainly because I haven't been to the grocery store in a while).

-A plain, old, turkey sandwich.  I made one for Aaron this week for his lunch and it looked so good!  I am excited to be able to eat one again after Michael is born.

-A cold cut combo from Subway.  I have craved this before, and it's probably because it's my all time favorite Subway sandwich.  Although I can't enjoy one right now, I have my plan in place for when I'm in the post-partum room after delivering Michael.  One of my best friends, (I'll call her Flam) is going to bring me this sandwich.  I will be a very happy girl (as if I won't be the happiest girl ever anyways). :)

-Lemonade!  Anybody want to take a road trip to Toomer's Corner?  I think I feel a Limeade craving coming on, too!

-Fall.  Now I know this is a funny craving, and it's not totally about the food.  I'm craving the cooler weather (yes, we here in Alabama have started our summer a little early).  I'm craving the smells like apple cider. I'm craving SEC football games (meaning, Auburn). :) Maybe I'm craving fall because Michael will be here by then.

With each day that passes, we are that much closer to meeting Michael.  I LOVE being pregnant, but I know I'll love motherhood more!  Thank-you for all of your prayers.  They are evident through the blessing of a healthy growing boy whose kicks tells me he's here and happy to be growing safely inside my tummy.  Til next week, eat a turkey sandwich for me! Love, Reba