40 weeks today.

40 weeks. My God. We're due. So come on little guy, we want to meet you!

What's happening:

Well, I have a full size newborn in my belly. I have a completely developed person INSIDE OF ME!

Who is apparently quite content to stay put for a bit more time.

For someone who has hardly any room to move around, especially at this point, he's still really active. I know I've been saying that for a long time now, but seriously, it amazes me just how much he rolls around in there.

And mom?

Heartburn is back with a vengeance. And I don't get any more than 3 hours sleep in a row. I find if I stay up until after Leno and Conan, I sleep until about 6:30 or 7:30am, but if I fall asleep during George, I'm up and roaming around by 3 or 4 a.m. (That's what the Home Shopping Network is for!)

The good news is I'm letting myself do whatever is needed. Whatever my body tells me is needed. So what if I can't sleep? I use that time to chat with him, to feel him move inside of me, to listen to the cats tear the house up, watch the comings and goings of my neighbourhood, and sleep in as long as I need to in order to feel rested.

I'm still enjoying the final days of the pregnancy. I'm a bit bored, feeling so house-bound, so I jaunt out to the mall (which is turning out to be more expensive than the Home Shopping Network!) once in a while, but really, it's not too bad.

I'm just ready, that's all. Not bored I suppose, but ready.

S.

32 weeks!

Here we are at 32 weeks. And this is what a baby looks like in utero at 32 weeks.

My God, where does the time go? Just yesterday I was staring at a stick with two pink stripes, and today I'm preparing my hospital bag!

Right now I'm reading, "Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful". Some of it is informative, some of it just reiterates my thoughts that, really, it simply is what it is. But the best thing I got out of it is this quote: "Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans."

Very funny.

It did bring up a couple of things that I will chat with my OB about next visit. Will BC Women's support me if I'm feeling the need to deliver from a squatting position, or bent over, or standing, or any position but on my back? What if I'm called to walk and walk and walk through my labour? What if I would like the lights turned down a bit, especially during labour? It's about me and the baby and the healthiest birth possible so I just want to make sure our needs are being met in the safest way possible - and I don't want to feel afraid or uncomfortable in voicing my concerns, needs, wishes, etc.

So that's where I am now.

That, and sitting here blogging at 4:24am because I've been awake since my husband came to bed at 2am. ARGH. And I have such a busy day ahead! I'm writing a series on Pitching for my business, have a coffee meeting at 11:00, a massage (finally!) at 12:30, and a pedicure at 2:00 (seeing as I can hardly manage to cut my own nails at this point, let alone massage and paint them!) Then it's a few more hours of trying to drum up some more business and hopefully checking out a stroller in the early evening.


Baby: He's 17" from head to toe, and weighs about 3.75 lbs. The body is so amazing... how he fits in there! I wonder if the cirque folks have pre-birth memories and that's how they can fit into their crazy contortions.

Or they're boneless.

He's supposed to gain a third to a half of his birthweight in the next 8 weeks so I'm supposed to be eating well. The thing is, I don't have much of an appetite. Nothing is appealing to me. At all. It's like the first trimester again. Can only eat 1/2 of anything in front of me before I'm full or feel a bit ill. I'll just munch through the day I suppose and see how that does me. Lots of fruit and I guess I'll buy stuff that's ready to eat RIGHT NOW instead of having to prepare something (ie: safe meats for a quick sandwich instead of having to boil eggs or mix tuna, etc, because by the time that's done I've lost my appetite again. Frustrating. Very frustrating. It's times like these that I wish we could afford a food delivery service!)

It's now 4:51am and I've just yawned. Perhaps I'll manage to fall asleep in the next few minutes. One can always hope!

All for now.
s.

What's with the turnip picture?

That's about how much the baby weighs right now!

The little guy is 5 ounces - that's 141.75 grams (which is usually the amount of roast beef I get at the deli. Back when I could eat deli meat.)

(Not trying to liken my baby to deli meat, but hey, I just likened him to a turnip. Or as my girlfriend Margaret would say, "la turnipe".) (Crazy newfies.)

He's 5.12 inches long, crown to rump. That's almost 1/2 a foot! Now it's all coming together, and I can get my head around his size. He's actually large enough to give me a good kick, but it still doesn't feel like a "kick". Just fluttery.

And, actually, a bit gassy.

Excuse me.

His hearing is more fine-tuned, so I'm talking to him more and more. At first I was like, "what the hell do you say to something the size of an lima bean, who's ears are on his neck, and intestines on the OUTSIDE? And then I just thought, whatever! I can talk to my little baby about whatever. So I gab away all the time.

Not while I'm watching tv however. It drives me bananas when people are chatty-friggin-cathies during a good show.

His vocal chords are formed. He actually goes through the motions of crying, but doesn't make a peep becuase there's no air.

Meconium is accumulating in the bowl. What's in there now will actually be his first poo!

Excuse me.

All for now. I have two more weeks of looking at this picture, and then there will be a new one. So enjoy along with me:

14 weeks, 4 days and all is well!

Had my monthly check up yesterday and all is welll! My blood pressure is low (80/50) but there's nothing to do about that. Just sucks that I get dizzy when I get out of bed in the morning or when I stand up. Not stand up quick, just stand up. That kinda sucks.

This is the first appointment Donald came with me. We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time, and together, so that was a great moment. I said to him, "See? It really IS in there!". His heart rate was 150 bpm and he was wiggling and dancing around in there.

My next appt. is on Sept 2, both for the detailed ultrasound and my normal monthly checkup. They'll be able to tell the baby's gender, but in Vancouver they won't tell you until after 20 weeks as there are still so many cultures that abort if it's a girl.

Yes, still to this day and in this country.

I'll find out the following week, so that's all good.

I'm not gaining weight at all, but it's nothing to fret about. I'm at 122, which is what I was at at 9 weeks. I'm just stretching outwards! Hunting down stretch-mark cream preventer now! (They say almond oil or wheat germ oil does wonders... but I don't want to smell like a snack.)

I'm thirsty all the time. Craving juices and pop actually, but having cold cold water instead (ok, I have the odd pop, but only one every couple of days). I'm craving fruit like mad so I'm happy about that! Loving the apples, nectarines and oranges, and all the fruit is coming in from the interior so it's local and lush and fresh and delicious!

Haven't been exercising AT ALL, so starting pre-natal yoga soon. Probably 2 times a week and then walking each night. I just don't like to walk alone, I find it boring, so I'm trying to persuade Donald to come home a bit earlier and walk with me after supper each night. Which means having supper before 8:30pm!

Enough about me. On to the baby!

He's growing his first hairs on his head, and his body is covered with lanugo. He can grasp things, squint, frown and grimace! (I suspect he grimaces every time Chicken or Ling Ling decide to lay on my belly and knead!)

His ears are functioning and there is evidence that he hears quite a bit... my voice, my heartbeat and external noises. The umbilical cord transports 300 quarts of fluids per day, completing a round trip every 30 seconds (whatever that means and whatever that does, but WOW!).

He is about 3.5-4 inches long and weighs 1.5 ounces. Pretty cool.

This is what he looks like at 14 weeks:

Later.
s.