week 29

Friday, 9/12 was our 29 week check-up at the doc's office. Everything seems well, I took the gestational diabetes test and the nurse said if she doesn't call me on Monday then that's good news...and no call...so YAY!!

My dr did say though that she {Ava} must not be a huge fan of sweets. In fact, they seem to make her act almost comotose. Usually the baby's heartrate is 160-ish after drinking the gloucose drink for the diabetes test, and her's was at 135. The dr said this just means she's not a big sugar fan, and if I'm needing her to get moving for anything, she's going to take some poking & proding, not just a snickers bar to get her going. I blame my non-dessert-loving husband for that. but, it will only be better for her later on in life, so I can't complain. And you gotta know that he reminds me about every other day if I'm in the mood for something sweet that Ava probably won't like it...so this is probably for the best.

one of the nurses tried to encourage me to have the 'plaster belly' done...for those of you who don't know, click here for plenty of examples that are NOT me. I mentioned it to Sam after we left...his resonse...'yeah, that's just weird.' so, no offense to anyone who chooses to partake in that adventure, but we will pass. I don't even know what you would do with such an object after it's done. coffee table art? wall hanging? yeah, not really our style.

We are, however, having pregnancy pictures taken before delivery. My cousin is a fantastic photographer in the Independence area, owner of The Portrait Gallery. She will be taking pictures of Sam & I {hopefully in the near future since I'm continuously blooming...} and I can't wait!!! Sam is less than enthused, but he's a good sport and the best husband!

so--an update on our daughter:

• she is appx 16.7" from head to toe and weighing in at around 2.7 lbs
• statistically the average birth weight is 7 - 7.5 lbs...we can only hope and pray she is that small! I was 9lb 10 1/2 oz. Sam was smaller than that, I think between 7 - 8 lbs. so HOPEFULLY she has more of his genes come delivery time!
• this is incredible: she is still opening/closing her eyes, and can even see silhouettes and people in the right light!
• supposedly her size right now is about equal to that of a butternut squash, so that's fun
• we love you Ava Mae!

(playing catch-up...) week 28

• Ava's approximate size: 15" {head to toe} and 2.4 lbs.
• interesting fun fact: blood/nutrients/etc. travels thru the umbilical cord at nearly 4 mph!
• brain is still developing, making the folds & grooves of a fully developed brain.
• her hair is getting longer {we're hoping for a full head of dark brown hair :) }
• lots of things I've been reading about are very encouraging to do the kick-count; babies should move about 10 times w/in the hour {includes hiccups, kicks, etc.} and if she doens't move 10 times then to drink some juice, move around, lay down, just do something to get her going. so I'm trying to get better about that.

Her most active times are right before bed, around 9pm {which, I'm sad to say I had a terrible night sleep on Sunday night and was awake until about 1:30am -- I never knew she was such a night owl! she was moving like crazy!! that MUST stop when she's out of the womb} and she's usually active in the mornings around 9am, and then sometimes after lunch or around 2pm. we like to play together -- she pokes at me and I poke back. it's fun. I sure can't wait to meet her!

27w + 2d

Friday 9/5 I think I felt Ava have the hicups for the first time! I'm sure she's had them before, but this is the first time I've consciously noticed them. I was at work just sitting at my desk at the computer and felt this little pulsating feeling in my lower left part of my abdomen. It was pretty rhythmic, it felt like a pulse every 3 seconds or so, taking longer sometimes than others. It was really cool.

Sam & I had our labor and delivery class today at St. Lukes! It was sort of long, we opted for the all day class rather than the 6 or 8 week classes. There were 7 other couples with us. One couple had twin girls on the way...we're just thankful for the one girl we have coming :) The nurse talked about the hospital, about laboring at home and when you need to come to the hospital with this handy trick to remember: 5-1-1. 5 minutes apart - 1 minute long - 1 hour stright of contractions. and then always the general rule of thumb that if my water breaks to go in then no matter what. I do feel more prepared and more confident about several things...I just hope now I can remember them for 3 more months!! {that's what Sam is for though...he's my "coach"}
we practiced 3 different breathing techniques-calming, rythmic, and pattern {my favorite is just the long, slow, steady calming breathing - reminds me of yoga, which always seems peaceful}. They had the coaches participate in the breathing too, so they get used to what they're supposed to remind us to be doing once the big day gets here! Sam did very well and I am very confident we'll make a great team!

St Lukes participates in a program called BABY FIRST. this is where once the baby is delivered, they give mom, dad & baby 1 solid hour together without any visitors (assuming everything goes well with mom & baby and no medical intervention is needed right away). This gives them both a chance to bond with their new baby, a time for breast-feeding, and just in general a time for both parents to spend together with their new kiddo. They say the studies they've done with this show a lot of pro's for both the parents bonding as well as the baby's development, how quickly they latch on, how quickly they are able to stabilize their own body temperature, etc. So I'm really looking forward to that as well.

27 weeks = 3rd Trimester!

I can't believe that the 3rd trimester is already here!

here is a picture from a website I visit very frequently that I just think is adorable. though not my own baby, still precious none-the-less.

her length is now going to be measured from head to toe, not head to rump any longer...and she is over 15" long and weighing in around 2lb 3oz. I just can't wait to meet her. I am so excited and I know these next couple of months are going to fly.

I really have enjoyed being pregnant for the most part. and though it is getting increasingly more uncomfortable, it makes me almost sad that it's nearly over. I love feeling her move inside of me, punching and kicking and twirlling.

one side affect that I have NOT enjoyed however is this new onset of leg cramps in the middle of the night. For about a week solid my right calf will cramp up. Usually it's not too bad, it wakes me up enough to straighten out my foot, or pull it up to make the cramp go away. but 2 nites ago it was unbareable and I could not move! I had to wake Sam up and frantically ask him to please un-cramp my leg by quickly pulling my toes toward my knee...he did so with no complaints or arguing (I think he might have even been asleep thru the whole thing) and after some stretching it finally went away. but it continues to happen just about every night and I'm about done with the leg cramps.

and so far thru-out this whole pregnancy, I haven't had too many CRAVINGS, but I have noticed that I LOVE fruit. Just about any kind of fruit. I could eat it all day long. peaches, kiwi, apples, grapes, cantelope, pineapple, plums, you name it, I'll probably eat it.