Week 39 Appointment Update

Well, its more of the same, which is to say nothing's happening yet. My darling daughter seems to want to start life by delaying her entrance, or even the hope of her entrance, as long as possible. The sonogram estimated her weight at 8lbs 2 oz but with absolutely no dilation, the doctor wants to wait another week to see if Mother Nature will kick in. We have our next appointment on February 2, which is our actual due date. If we're still in the same spot, then we'll schedule an induction. So, she's got a week to make her entrance or modern medicine will intervene and ensure that I'm holding my baby girl before too much longer!

The doctor did say that changes in barometric pressure can cause your water to break so, given we're predicted to have some weather changes Tuesday night, it could be that she's just waiting for a dramatic moment. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Love you all,
Lucretia

The Nursery's Done!

Its all finished! The bee trails are painted, the furniture's in place and everything's ready for Miss Brianna. Justin finished the final details today so I thought I'd share the results with all of you. The only thing left is the curtain my mother has made for the window and she's bringing it down when they come for Brianna's birth. I have to give a lot of credit to Justin for finishing up all the final touches. He's been spending his days off and evenings putting together swings, pack-n-plays, rockers and in general, humoring all my "nesting" requests, in addition to all of the nursery work. I managed to capture a picture of him assembling her swing that I thought I'd share that as well.Here's the pictures of the nursery ... Enjoy!

Week 38 Update & Appointment

Ahh ... week 38 ... and more of the same old waiting game. We had our doctor's appointment today and there's some progress to report, but not much. I'm 50% effaced but no dilation yet. Her heart rate was 138 and everything's holding steady with me, including the weight gain, which still stands at 25 pounds! My doctor wants to see me again on Monday to do a fetal growth sonogram and check Brianna's weight, as well as see if there's been any additional progress. Considering I had contractions off and on all night last night, I'm hoping that by Monday, there's a little more to report in terms of when she might be making her arrival.

Here's what baby-gaga.com has to say about Week 38 for Brianna:

As you know, you've arrived at the final leg of your pregnancy journey, and if you're still carrying your little love around, they've just about reached their birth weight (somewhere between 6 to 8 pounds is average depending on whether they're a boy or girl). There really isn't a lot to report on baby this week, so lets do a quick recount of where we're at: all internal organ systems are pretty much ready for the outside world, they've got their meconium stockpile building up (their first black baby poo), lots of healthy baby fat, a rapidly developing brain (that'll keep growing with them for years to come), and they've more or less reached official baby status-- all they need to do is "head out" and say hello to the rest of the world and especially their ready-to-pop momma.

Everyone's been asking if we're ready and I think we're as ready as we're going to be. I will say that all the waiting is making us both more nervous and anxious. We go from thinking we're ready to having conversations about all the things we're going to miss once she arrives to sitting in her nursery just talking about her while ohhing and ahhing over things like how small her diapers and clothes are. There will be lots of new things to enjoy about her being here but as with any major life change, it will be a big adjustment for both of us. It was one thing 9 months ago to dream of life with a baby, its a completely different reality now. There are things I'll miss about being pregnant, like feeling her with me all day and marveling at how she moves but I have to say, I'm ready to meet my daughter and start being a mom.

Here's the latest belly picture ... I'll post an update on Monday once we have our next check-up!
Love you all,
Lucretia

Week 37 Update

Welcome to the waiting game! We're now considered full term so Brianna could decide to make her entrance any day now. Here's what baby-gaga.com has to say about this week for her:

It’s the calm before the storm. Changes in your baby's weight have leveled off with only a few ounces of fat added this week. At this point your baby should weigh in at around 7 lbs and 20 inches (with boys somewhat heavier and longer than girls). Happily, as far as internal organs go, they are now developed enough to function in the outside world although the oh-so-important immune system is still developing and will continue to do so after birth. With a large boost of antibodies provided by breast milk when nursing begins. Fighting infection and staying healthy should be well within their physical capacity when your little fighter is born.

As for me, I'm actually doing pretty good, but that fluctuates on a daily basis depending on how much sleep I've gotten the night before. My poor little hands and feet have started swelling no matter what I do but the doctor assured me that's normal at this point and to just keep drinking lots of water and stay as active as I can to keep it to a minimum. My weight gain's at 25 pounds right now, blood pressure's normal, her heart rate was 153 and she's still head down. I haven't started to dilate yet so no sign that labor's imminent. Thankfully, I'll be working from home starting next Monday since my entire office will be in Miami for a sales meeting. Office furniture, no matter how ergonomically correct it may be, doesn't even come close to the comfort of my couch! Plus, if anything (fingers crossed) were to start happening next week, I'd rather be home than at the office anyway!

Justin humored me last night and we had maternity pictures done. I must say the photographer did an amazing job with lighting because I actually didn't look as tired in the pictures as I did in reality. I don't have any to show you here but when the prints come in, I'll scan a few and post them. My parents gave us a beautiful gallery style 11-piece frame set for Christmas so several of these will be displayed there, as well as her newborn pictures. Justin cracked me up at the shoot last night though. I was posing for the "naked belly" pictures and of course, Brianna was moving around. Its been a long time since he's really had the chance to sit and stare at my belly when she's active. He alternated between laughing and being a little freaked out. At one point, he just stepped out of the room because she was making my belly move in so many weird ways! He definately gets the "alien in your tummy" analogy now in a way that he didn't before last night!

That's all for this week ... no belly pictures this time, but I'll make sure I get one for next week.

Love you all ... Lucretia

36 Week Update

Today was our 36 week appointment and there's not really a lot to say. We're still in a holding pattern but Brianna has started to drop, though not much. The doctor told us today that if she were to decide to make an appearance, we'd be able to bring her home after the normal 2 night hospital stay so its nice to know that we're past the point of her needing to stay in the hospital any longer than is normal. He told us to plan for a week plus or minus from our due date, which is officially February 2nd now. So, any time between January 28 and February 9 would fall in that window. After February 9, they would run a few tests to determine what action needed to be taken but until then, its up to her to decide when she's ready to meet us. For my sake, I'd prefer her to decide more towards the January side of things as I'm already feeling positively huge and uncomfortable. It doesn't help the comfort matter that she hasn't realized yet that she's running out of room to move around. She still is very active, get hiccups every couple of hours and plays games with me like "how far out there can I stick my feet before mom will rub them". I'm going to miss feeling her move but I also like it when she's sleeping since it gives my ribs a break!

On a lighter note, my office threw me a surprise baby shower today and Justin even managed to keep it a secret from me since he was in on it! The cake was perfect for us since it had a Jeep on it, complete with obstacles (baby booties, pacifiers & rattles), a river and a few trees. I have to say that I work with some of the most generous and supportive people and they really went out of their way to make sure it was not only a surprise, but also a great shower in terms of getting us many of the things we still needed.

There's not much else to say at this point. We're just waiting for the action to start and doing our best to enjoy the last few weeks we have together of peace and quiet.

Love you all,
Lucretia

36 Week Belly Pic:

Week 35 Appt. Update

I didn't expect this appointment to be anything eventful but it turned out to be kind of exciting. During the exam, the doctor thought she might be a little small for being so close to D-Day, which of course got me a little anxious. He ordered a sonogram just to be sure everything was progressing normally and, even if she was small, that she was growing properly. Of course, this would be the day that the sonogram tech was booked with back-to-back appointments but they worked me in and we got a good look at little Brianna. Only, she's not so little! The sonogram estimate puts her at 6 1/4 pounds already! She's also measuring 36 weeks, 1 day, which is almost a week ahead of where we are based on my original due date. Everything looked and measured just fine as well so that put my mind at ease. The coolest part of it all was I got to see her yawn! She had her little face turned just right as they were measuring her head, she opened her little mouth and treated her mommy to the biggest, cutest yawn I've ever seen! We got a picture of it so I thought I'd share it with everyone. I personally don't think she's going to wait until February to make her arrival but we'll see how the next few weeks progress.


As for me, I'm holding steady on weight gain as this was the second week in a row with no change. Everything else is healthy and normal so its just a waiting game from here on out. I think that hospital bag I've got a list made for needs to actually get packed though. Its crazy to think that she could be here soon! Also, here's this week's installment of belly pics.

Love you all,
Lucretia

Nursery Updates

Since today was Justin's day off, we went to work on getting a few more things done in the nursery. All that's left in order for it to be complete is putting up 26 (yes, we counted) more circles, finishing the bee trails and painting, then hanging, the two shelves that will go to the right of her crib. My mom's also making curtains for the window to match the bedding. All Brianna's bedding, blankets and clothes are washed and waiting for her as well. Here's a couple pictures of how the nursery's shaping up. We're pretty excited about how its turning out! Hopefully, Justin's next day off will be as productive and we can get everything finished up.