Week 36

It's crazy to think how close we actually are to finally meeting Ethan. There's only a month to go (according to his due date!) I am so unbelievably nervous about everything. At first I was really only worried about getting through the birth process, but the more time goes by the more nervous I am getting about actually being a good parent too. Patrick and I have so much to learn and I'm so glad to have such a supportive spouse. I keep envisioning that first night that we're at home together as a family of 3 and it totally scares me because I don't feel ready for this at all.

We picked up the crib and changing table this week and so the nursery is finally almost ready. Check out the pictures of the assembly process and the almost completed nursery:

And Spot decided that the changing table was her new princess bed. Too cute!!

We had a doctor's appointment this morning and we'll be going in every week from here until the end now. The doctor did the group b strep test (not as bad as I thought it would be) and we should have the results in a day or two. If I test positive I'll just need to receive antibiotics when I go into labor to prevent infection for Ethan, but hopefully the test will be negative and I won't even have to worry about it. I'll keep you posted. Following the GBS test, the doctor did a manual exam to check to see if I was dialating yet and to check the position of the baby. This involved a LOT of pressure and gave me a preview of just how much this whole process is going to hurt...not fun! I haven't started dialating at all yet, but the doctor was able to feel Ethan's head and it's pretty low. (That's evidently a good thing!) I gained another pound since my last appointment so I am up a grand total of 20 pounds even right now. Ethan's heartbeat and my blood pressure were normal, and when the doctor measured my belly he said that everything looked good with that too. He also indicated that I've been measuring a little small up until now (but still well within the normal ranges) but Ethan caught up this week and now I'm right in the middle with the measurements too.

Here's the official word on week 36: "Your baby is still packing on the pounds - at a rate of an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like the weight of a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during his 9 month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting a blackish mixture, called meconium, which will form the contents of his 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 weeks are post-term.) Most likely he's in a head down position."

Week 35

First of all, let me wish a very happy Father's Day to Patrick. Even though Ethan isn't officially here yet, he is already a fantastic father-to-be and he worries so much about both of us. Ethan is a very lucky little boy to have a daddy who already loves him so very much. Not having much of a relationship with my own dad, it is truly a beautiful thing to watch Patrick get so excited about all of the little things that go along with being a parent. I cannot wait to watch the relationship that he and Ethan are going to have develop over time.

I went to Raleigh this past weekend for a quick trip for one last visit with my mom and sister and to visit my good friend Lindsay and her absolutely adorable baby, Graham. It was really nice to be "home" and now that I'm back in Charlotte I'm kind of sad to think that I won't be going anywhere again for awhile. (I'm not supposed to travel past the 36 week mark, which I am now rapidly approaching.) I'm really glad that I was able to make the trip and meet Graham, who will surely be one of Ethan's first friends. He's super tiny and Lindsay is estimating he might have reached 7 pounds by now. He is such a well behaved little guy and slept during most of my visit. Ethan kicked him as well (he kicked Mary Grace when he met her!) and I'm not sure if it was a coincidence of if Graham actually felt it, but at that exact moment his face got all red and scrunched up for a second. I sure hope Ethan doesn't turn out to be a bully!

Our "bump pic" has changed just a bit :)

In pregnancy symptoms, I've noticed that my feet are starting to swell a bit. I can still wear all of my shoes (and yes, that includes the heels!) but it is a change from how I've been feeling up until this point. I also have some pains in my legs (that kind of feel like I've been doing splits or high kicks or something but I haven't been doing any exercise that would cause this so I figure my body is getting itself ready to be ripped open.) Sleep is still elusive in the middle of the night, and I've been going since around 4:30 this morning. Hopefully I'll be able to nap later this afternoon!

The shelves that we ordered for Ethan's room arrived this week and I thought that I was going to be very handy and put them together while he was at work. Ha! First I had to call him and ask where I could find a screwdriver. He nervously answered my question and asked why in the world I needed to know that. Wanting to surprise him with the completed shelves I just told him I was working on a project. He was scared, I could tell :) I did okay through the first couple of steps, but then got stuck as the pictures got slightly more complicated. I was only midway through when Patrick got home from work, but he was very complimentary of my work and picked up where I had left off. Everything was going fine until he went to put the final piece together and realized that the middle piece (upon which everything was fastened) was in backwards. And yes, I had put that piece in backwards. So we had to take everything apart, switch around the middle piece, and then complete the shelf assembly. What a project!

I'm continuing to work on my never ending to do list this week, and we are making some progress. We finally have a camcorder so now we'll be able to take some videos when Ethan arrives (but no birth videos, promise!) I'm planning to run out and pick up some essentials tomorrow so that I can cross a few more items off of the list. Every time we're making progress on the list though, I think of 10 more things to add. Hopefully this will be the last week of my frantic efforts to complete everything and next week I can start relaxing and preparing for baby. We'll have another doctor's appointment on Friday, and then I'll start seeing the doctor every week from here until the end. I cannot believe that it's almost time...it seems surreal!

Here's the official word on week 35: "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). 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."

Maternity Photos

My good friend Erin is a fantastic photographer and recently started her own photography business. As a gift to Patrick and I, she spent an hour with us taking some beautiful maternity photos. (Let me know if you need her contact information because she is FANTASTIC!) Below are a couple of my favorites from our recent afternoon together:

Sleep

Dear Sleep,

We've had a love affair for 30 years, so I'm not sure why you keep trying to break up with me these days. I miss you so! Every night I have high hopes that we are going to reunite, and then 2 am hits and you once again abandon me. There are only so many infomercials that a girl can watch in the middle of the night. One of these days I'm actually going to buy something and we just don't actually need gym equipment, cooking gadgets or even worse, strange jewelry entering our home right now. I just don't think Patrick would understand that I've replaced you with these seemingly useless gadgets! Dear sleep, please return to me soon. Laying awake with a very active baby practicing karate chops in my stomach is not the most fun way to pass the 2 am - 4 am hours. I want you back in my life! I'm told that it is going to be a long time before we can get back together and this makes me so sad. I would settle for one more good night. Do you think we can work something out? I look over at Patrick who sleeps like a champion during these hours and I can't help but feel a twinge of jealously. Please let me know what it will take for you to return to me. You know where you can find me. With all my love, Melanie

Week 34

This past week has been filled with trying to organize the nursery with all of the wonderful goodies from the shower. Now that most everything has been put away, there are several projects I need to get done. We need to install the car seat in the car, wash all of Ethan's clothes, pack a bag for the hospital (in the off chance that this little guy decides to make his debut early, which after Lindsay's early arrival I am now totally nervous about!), get an email distribution list ready for Patrick so that he can let everybody know right away when Ethan does actually arrive, go buy a few of the remaining items from our registries that we'll need....the list seems endless! I keep thinking that I have tons of time to do everything, but Ethan is due to arrive in just 6 short weeks. I am so nervous!!!!

On Tuesday night we did our maternity photo shoot with my good friend Erin. For any of you that live in Charlotte area, I HIGHLY recommend you use Erin's photography business. She is so talented! Patrick and I had so much fun with Erin and hopefully there will be some cute shots. (I'm not exactly the most photogenic subject these days, so I'm sure that made it slightly difficult for Erin!) Once we get the pictures back I'll definitely share a few of them.

We had a doctor's appointment earlier this morning. Everything went well and Ethan's heartbeat, my blood pressure and my belly measurements were all within the normal ranges. According to the doctor's scale I am officially up 19.2 pounds. I must confess, I love the scale at the doctor's office because it is so much kinder than the one at home. According to the home scale I need to add almost 4 pounds to that total so we'll go with the "official" weight gain. The doctor did deliver some scary news today - since I am now at 34 weeks whenever I go into labor they won't try to stop it. (I guess prior to this point if I had gone into labor they would have employed some medical interventions to try to keep him in as long as possible to give him more time to develop.) I won't be officially full term for another 3 weeks, but he's big enough at this point that if he decides to try to enter the world early the medical community won't try to stop him. Wow!! Everything seems to be happening in fast forward right now.

I'm pretty sure I'm heading to Raleigh next weekend to see my family and meet the super adorable baby Graham. This will probably be my last road trip prior to Ethan's arrival, so I'm looking forward to being able to hit the road for a couple days and see my family and friends. Patrick is nervous about me being out of town and away from our hospital, but I still have the green light for travel and barring anything strange happening this week I'm looking forward to my weekend getaway in Raleigh.

Here's the official word on week 34: "Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers - which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born - are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about pre-term labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine."

Charlotte Baby Shower - Pictures!

The diaper cake - full of goodies including a personalized "Ethan" onesie with an elephant on it!

The cake - it matched the invitation and the nursery theme perfectly!

The beautiful, bright flowers

The grandmas to be - Mom & Chris

Me & my sister Carolyn

Guests arriving - Chris & Maria deep in conversation

Carolyn & Alli are all smiles

The food was delicious - there were even mimosas (for those that could enjoy them!)

Looking at a super tiny diaper - so cute!

A personalized monkey lovie from Alli

Opening the food themed gift from Rebecca (bowls, spoons, bottles & bibs)

The elephant quilt for the nursery from Aunt Carolyn

How cute is this tiny little bathrobe?! I can't wait to see Ethan in it!!

Me (33 weeks pregnant) with Tracy & Jennifer - the wonderful shower hostesses

The beautiful elephant diaper cake Melissa made (Melissa & Chris in the background)

There is so much organizing to do in the nursery now!

Charlotte Baby Shower

Before I tell you all about the baby shower, I want to send a very special congratulations to my dear friend Lindsay who welcomed her adorable baby boy, Graham Matthew, into the world on Friday night. I got word of his arrival following the shower and the whole family is doing well. Those of you who read this regularly have seen Lindsay and I taking our bump pics together for the past couple of months and now Lindsay is officially a mommy! I have to say that this news has seriously rocked my world because it makes this whole process that much more real. I'm starting to really freak out about labor and delivery now, but since there isn't much that I can do about it (this little boy has to come out, so worrying isn't going to help anything, right?) I'm trying to remain calm. For some reason, Lindsay having her baby home with her has made it really hit me that we are going to have a real, live baby of our own really soon. Craziness!

So the shower this weekend was absolutely beautiful! My friends Jennifer and Tracy hosted the shower and I felt so special and loved. There were almost 20 guests in attendance, and it was so nice to have so many of the people from the different aspects of my life (family, friends from bible study, friends from my BDO days, friends from First Research and neighbors) together in one room. I'll try to post some pictures here shortly.

The food was delicious! The shower started at 11:00 so there was a yummy breakfast casserole, several different small sandwiches, assorted fruit, BLT dip, a sweet dip with graham crackers, lemonade iced tea, orange juice, and even mimosas. It was a fabulous spread! The cake was elephant themed and it matched the invitations exactly. These girls know how to put together a well coordinated event!

I was once again overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of everybody. We got so many wonderful things for Ethan - a bathtub and bath books from Allie, a food themed goodie bag (bowls, bibs, spoons and bottles) from Rebecca, an elephant quilt from Carolyn, a bag of necessities from Carrie (including onesies, a rubber duckie, butt paste, diapers, wipes, soap and lotion), a beautiful picture frame and footprint stamp frame from Dawn, a basket of goodies from Angie (including a personalized Ethan bib, board book, toys, bibs, adorable bath robe and stroller toys), a crib aquarium from Maria, gingham towel and washcloths and nursing pads from Amy, some sleepers from my mom, a stuffed bunny rabbit (Lindsay would be so proud!) and board books and a scrapbook from Laura, personalized fun from Alli - an Ethan monkey lovie, an Ethan dot blanket and a Daddy's caddy golf striped bib, Renae gave us some useful items including snack cups, wipes, a portable placemat, pacifiers and clip, car kick mats and some cute items including Janie & Jack (my favorite store!) overalls and quilted pajamas, a polo onesie and matching hat from Erin, fun toys including wrist wrattles, take along tunes, Lamaze peacock toy and dinosour onesies and Guns N Roses rockabye CD from Claire, baby monitors from Chris, diaper cake full of goodies and diaper bag from Tracy & Jennifer, and personalized Ethan sports taggies and elephant diaper cake from Melissa. Whew - it was so much and we so appreciate everybody helping us to welcome this little guy in style!

I'll try to post some pictures here in a few minutes. It was such a special weekend and I'm so sad that it's over now. I was really emotional when my mom and sister left to drive back to Raleigh because I realized that the next time I see them I might be a mommy myself. Hopefully we'll get another visit before Ethan comes, but there's a good chance I won't see them again until he's here. Yikes!!!!!!

Mid-Week Update

Since my family is going to be in town this weekend and I have a baby shower coming up (so excited!) I'm not exactly sure when I'll get the 33 week update posted so I thought I would go ahead and post a mid-week update. Last night Patrick and I had our final childbirth preparation class. This one was much more informative than previous sessions as we went through all the different medical interventions that might be necessary during the birth process. We watched a video about an epidural (I'm pretty sure I'll be having one of those unless something happens that prevents me from being able to get one) and learned all about a myriad of things that can go wrong and what procedures the doctors perform to address the different situtations. We also learned a lot about c-sections. Hopefully I won't have to go that route, but if I do at least I feel a lot more informed about the process. The funniest part of class was when the guys had to get into delivery position and practice the technique to effectively push out the baby while the girls served as their coaches. The best part was when the instructor told the guys they had to grunt and make noise through their pushes - I could not stop laughing. Just picture my husband in this scenario and you might crack up too! I'm not sure that there is a graceful way to do all of this, so I'm hoping that Patrick will be overcome by the miracle of our little boy and not remember me in this most compromising position!

Earlier today I went to the dentist to have my filling repaired. Having dental work done while 32 weeks pregnant is not an ideal situation, let me tell you. It started off okay when they began to numb my mouth, but while I was laying back waiting for the numbing to take effect I could feel my blood pressure dropping and I started sweating profusely. When the dental assistant returned I quickly asked for directions to the restroom to splash some water on my face. After that I felt completely fine, so I think it happened simply because I was laying on my back for so long (and evidently that is not an ideal position during pregnancy because it cuts off blood supply or air flow or something like that - if only I could actually remember the real reason!) While my dentist was drilling Ethan decided to respond with swift kicks in my abdomen and rib cage. Every time there was a loud noise he responded. I'm not sure if he was scared of the noise or thought that it was time to party! It was not fun, but I'm glad to have it over with. My dentist did say that it was smart to come in now because leaving that hole for the next two months would have more than likely caused me to need a root canal and a crown on the tooth down the road instead of the much more manageable filling repair. It's all fixed up now and Ethan has calmed down considerably. Fingers crossed I won't need any additional dental work between now and the time Ethan arrives!

Our little Rocky turned 2 this week as well. I'll have to post some pictures of his birthday festivities. He is definitely still a baby and loves to be carried around and cuddled all the time. I'm not sure if it's because we've always babied him or if this is his natural disposition, but he is an absolute sweetheart and we are so lucky to have him in our lives. Caddy loves having this playful guy around and they are best buds. (Spot and Holly are best friends and generally steer clear of this crazy pair.) He's been terrified of all the thunderstorms that have been rolling through here the past couple of days, so I've been doing my best to take excellent care of the "baby man."

Well, that's about it from here so far this week. I'll do my best to keep updating in a timely manner, and hopefully the rest of this week will be fairly uneventful.