Dear Baby …
You watched your first NHL playoff game last night, with me and Daddy. The Montreal Canadiens (our team, as you’ll quickly learn) were playing the Washington Capitols.
It was a very close game, and you were getting just as riled up as Daddy. He kept his hands on my belly and you thrashed around like crazy, especially when Montreal scored a goal.
I have heard that babies like watching hockey because of the brightness and the action. So I suspect you will enjoy it even more when you can see the screen (instead of just listening from your watery little bed).
I can’t wait you and Daddy can watch Montreal games together (… while Mommy sleeps).
xoxo
Welcome to Week 34
Sunday, April 18, 2010
33 weeks pregnant — now in Week 34!
Good morning, blogospere! Today I’m only six weeks from being in Week 40, can you believe it? Week 40 as in the end of the line, everybody out!
Editor’s note: Please don’t remind me that some babies overstay that welcome by a week or two — I don’t think I can handle the idea of still being pregnant in the middle of June.
The BEST news if that if he was born this week, he would be known as “pre-term” and not “premature.” He would probably be able to live just fine, unaided. Huge relief!
Week 34 is expected to be pretty quiet, compared to the bustle of Week 33. No doctor’s appointments or classes until next week. However, this week we do have the all-important pre-admission hospital tour!
Since we already go to our local childrens/maternity hospital for my OBGYN appointments, the tour will probably not be super enlightening — we already know where to park, where to pay for parking, where to register, etc.
But I am really excited to actually see the birthing rooms, and the rooms you stay in after you have the baby. Right now I’m just picturing rooms like I see on TV and in movies, so it will be nice to see the real thing — and know what to expect on the big day.
Here’s what happening with Baby Boy this week:
Baby’s size: He weighs about 4.7 pounds (almost FIVE WHOLE POUNDS) and measures just under 18 inches long! Of course, this is just an estimate from the wise and powerful internet — he could be bigger or small (but my money’s on bigger!)
Development: He’s pretty much ready for the outside world — just building antibodies and his skin is getting thicker.
Appearance: The fuzzy coating of hair on his body is starting to disappear, and be replaced by the cheesy-looking coating (vernix) that covers a baby when it’s born. And his fingernails are growing past his fingertips — he could even be born with little nail-scratches on his face!
Weekly re-cap
(April 11 – April 17)
Symptoms: Swollen ankles and feet, pressure on my bladder when I walk around, leg pain.
Body changes: The newest development is that I keep bumping my big bump into things — counters, doorways, etc. — because I mis-gauge the distance. Must learn to be more careful!
Belly button: Still in (barely) and very small/wrinkled. Feels kind of smooshy around the perimeter of it, which I think is new?
Baby movement: More squirming and shifting (especially against my right side), but he’s getting so big that I can see him clearly though my skin — like on Tuesday, when I saw the huge baseball-type form. I have taken to leaving my shirt up above my belly when I watch TV at night, so I can look down and see the contortions — so cool!
What’s new? Darling Husband has been really loving that he can press on my stomach and feel where the baby is, and where the baby isn’t. Can’t believe there was a time that I was in hysterics because he never got to feel any movement!
Energy level: Low. I’m trying not to over-exert myself because of the oh-so-low blood pressure.
Baby preparations: Pre-washed and dried the diapers four times (last time will be today). So excited to put them in the diaper drawer and have it all ready!
Cravings: Trying to buy every single item in the bakery section of the grocery store. It’s probably best that I leave the shopping exclusively to Darling Husband.
High point: Going to our labour and delivery class yesterday (more on that soon!), and feeling much more confident about the whole scary “birth” thing.
Low point: Anxiety over work (again). Four weeks left, four weeks left.
The trouble with layers
Friday, April 16, 2010
32 weeks, 5 days pregnant
When you’re pregnant, layers are your friend — they allow you to strip things off when you get all hot and sweaty.
When you’re pregnant, layers are your enemy — they make it very difficult to get everything properly situated after you pee (which you do 45,302 times a day).
Today I am wearing leggings, a tank, a skirt, and a wrap-ish top — all fitted.
Each item requires careful smoothing over the layer underneath it.
No matter what I do, I still look all budge-y and line-y.
I am the biggest idiot on the planet.
How grown-up are we?
Friday, April 16, 2010
32 weeks, 5 days pregnant
A few weeks ago, for some strange reason, riding the bus to work reminded me that Darling Husband and I really needed to make wills.
Maybe it was the BAD DRIVING by the EVIL DRIVER or the TREACHEROUS POTHOLES that made me think of death? Ugh, anyway.
Apparently, you need to make a will before you have a baby because it’s very important to name a guardian, should anything happen to both me and Darling Husband. I thought of this months ago, and it vanished from my head in a whirl of Omigod-I’m-preggo-ness.
But we made the appointments and went through the proper steps. We are now both proud owners (owners?) of …
- A last will and testament
- A living will
- A power of attorney
Our wills are basically carbon copies of each other’s, except mine leaves everything to Darling Husband, and his leaves everything to me. Oh, and my executor is Best Friend, and his executor is his brother.
The important part — that part that is basically the reason for doing it — is that both our wills state that Little Sis gets Baby Boy (and any future kids) should anything happen to both of us. We feel very strongly that she is the best choice, and I feel much better knowing that it’s official.
The living will is an extra item that basically says we don’t want to be vegetables in a hospital bed for 20 years. We both agree that we wouldn’t want to put each other through that.
The power of attorney is something I hadn’t even heard of, but basically it is sort of like a living will. It gives Darling Husband the power to make decisions for me, if I’m unable to make them myself — and vice versa. Sounded like a good idea.
If you’re considering getting this stuff done, it really is a good idea. It cost us $310 total for everything — so I assume it would be half that for just one person? However, this lawyer was working in a bit of a dive, so perhaps he is cheaper than most?
So now, we are armed with six neat little envelopes — one document per envelope, three documents per person — that determine all of these important legal decisions. What do we do with them? Well, we’re going to the bank tonight to get a shared safety deposit box for them.
So grown-up, huh?
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