Week 37

Well, we are now considered full term!!! That means that the babies lungs as well as everything else is now fully developed and he is safe to be born at any time :)

Our Dr's appt went as expected on Tuesday. Our little boy is being stubborn and still in a frank breech position. My placenta lobe is still too close to my cervix at 2.5 cm. So, we are currently scheduled for a C-Section on Dec. 14th. Unless the baby and my placenta miraculously move by then, we will be welcoming Ronan into the world at 39 weeks 1 day. Miles and I have accepted the fact that we will not be having the all natural vaginal delivery we hoped for, but we are trying to acknowledge the positives of a C-Section :)

This weekend my fabulous friends Rose and KK put on an amazing shower for us! It was sooo much fun and we truly realized how lucky we are to have such an amazing group of friends :) We are officially stocked up on all the baby needs we need, and then some! Our house is starting to look like baby central with all of the cool gear Miles has put together for baby.

We also took advantage of the super warm weather we had here to put up Christmas lights. I think this is the first time we didn't do it in freezing weather :)

Below is a pic of the beautiful Rose and KK that put the shower on :)


How your baby's growing:
Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Week 36

Four more weeks to go! We're both getting really excited for the arrival of the baby and I am excited to have my body be a bit more comfortable :) Not much to add this week. On Tuesday we have a growth ultrasound to get measurements on the baby, see if he is still breech (which I am pretty sure he still is), and see if my placenta has moved up.

We did our pre registration at the hospital so when we go in for labor or a C-section, all the paperwork has already been filled out and submitted.

I'm adding a pic that Miles took of me in the bath last weekend when we were 35 weeks.

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

Week 35

So we had an appt with the Dr this week and our stubborn little boy is still breech :( We will have an ultrasound again at 36 weeks to see if he's finally turned. If not, we will have to discuss C-section dates. Of course, if he moves to a head down position by the time we are scheduled for surgery, we won't go through with the Csec. I will also most likely try some acupuncture and a chiropractor to get baby to spin.

We also interviewed 2 different pediatricians this week. One was so so, but the other one we liked a lot. I would still like to try to find at least one other office to visit, but the one Dr we liked is here in Monument which is really convenient.

My discomfort level keeps progressing. Sleeping comfortably is a thing of the past. I have had different numbing issues in my hips and legs. This has proven interesting when I am walking outside and all of a sudden my leg gives out :)

I knitted a couple of hats and some booties for baby. I have a few pics below for you all to marvel at...lol!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Week 34

Not a whole lot to post about this week. I have been doing some inversion exercises that I read about on spinningbabies.com in hopes of getting Ronan to move head down. I've also been trying to fight off a cold and have been dealing with more headaches lately. A restful sleep is something of the past as well, but I suppose my body is getting me used to this for when the baby comes :)

Our next Dr's appt will be on Tuesday. We also started out breast feeding class this week. It was really good and insightful. I feel like being armed with all this knowledge is giving us more of a chance to have sucess with breast feeding. We have one more class to go and then we are done.

Oh, and a big Happy Birthday to Grandpa Daryl!!!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Week 33

So we had our bi weekly Dr's appt on Tuesday. We had a bit of frustrating news as we found out that the baby is still breech. At our prior appt, our Dr was pretty confident that he had turned head down, but an Ultrasound showed that he is still being stubborn. She estimated his weight at 4 lbs 8 oz, which is ahead by about a week. She also said he had nice long legs, so it looks like he will be tall like his parents :) My placenta lobe is still too close to the cervix to have a vaginal delivery. We are getting another ultrasound done at 36 weeks to see if it has moved up or if the baby has finally turned. If neither has occured, or only one has happened, we will have to set a date to get a C-Section. I am really hoping that everything progresses in a way that allows us to do a natural vaginal delivery, so everyone send positive thoughts our way!

My mom and I went to see Wicked today in Denver with a group of friends. It was a lot of fun, but sitting in not so comfortable theatre seats for that long did a number on my back. I've been having a bit more trouble sleeping lately as well. I wake up about every 40 minutes to flip on my other side. I have a lot of hip numbing and shooting pain down my thighs and pelvic area. I know it will only get worse so I'm trying to get used to it.

On an awesome note, our friends in Boston got us an amazing baby gift! Miles put the baby swing together today...Thanks Mike and Katherine :) Miles also found a really cool night light to go in the nursery! Oh, and I finally finished my blanket and I'm pretty proud of the job I did. I have also learned how to knit some hats and cute little booties. Perhaps I will post some pics when I'm all done :)

How your baby's growing:

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.