35 Weeks...

Your baby weighs about 5.5 pounds and will continue to gain about half a pound per week until you deliver. He or she stretches out to 20.25 inches as it approaches full term. Stem cells in the bone marrow continue to produce red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets to maintain a healthy immune system, but there is not really any development remaining for arms, legs, brain or organs. Your baby will simply continue to grow in size as it readies for its big debut.







*The average baby weighs almost five and a half pounds now.
*Most babies born now will survive and without many long-term problems.
*Fat accumulations plumps up the arms and legs this week. These layers of fat will help him regulate his body temperature. They also provide those cute little dimples on elbows and knees!
*His hearing is fully developed, so be sure to talk to your son. Do you find yourself speaking in a high-pitched tone? That's okay since some studies show babies respond better to higher pitches.
*It's getting crowded! Your baby is now taking up most of the uterus and you may even feel like your chest has run out of room! Soon enough though, baby will move down and you'll be able to breathe easily again (just not walk so easily! Ha!).
*Your baby is 18.2 inches (46.2cm) long and weighs 5.3 pounds (2383gm).
*The testes have completed their descent in males.

Some rambling and a rough day...

Last night John and I started to go through a bunch of the stuff that we got from the baby shower. Let me just tell you how overwhelmed I was! There seems like so much stuff. Not that I am ungrateful or anything like that, I love everything we got and our friends and family were so thoughtful and generous! I just don’t know what we’re going to do with everything. Haha. We started making a list of what we have so that we can figure out what it is that we still need. There honestly isn’t that much left that we need. There are just a few things and we’ll be set. I guess I should start doing some laundry soon as well. I’m not going to do a lot of the clothes because I want to wait and see how big Aiden is when he arrives, but we’re going to wash his blankets, bedding, washcloths, and all of that kind of stuff. At one point I was telling John that I was having chest pains I guess because I felt so overwhelmed. I honestly was having them. It was probably due to stress or anxiety or something like that though. I think that we’re going to work on going through more of it tonight when we both get done work. I still need to take some pictures of the beautiful handmade gifts that we got.

Today I went for another visit to the dentist specialist so that he could finish up my root canal. I was fine at first when I got in the chair but not even 1/2 way through the appointment I almost passed out. At first I didn’t say anything but then it started getting really bad to the point I had no choice. I asked if I could sit up for a minute and of course they said yes. By this time I had sweat pouring off of me! They kept asking me if I was ok and stuff and I replied I was, I just needed a minute. In the mean time the doctor got a call from another doctor so he went to take it. The assistant was like are you sure that you’re ok. All I could say was I’m really hot. So she got me some cold rags and a glass of water. She took her hands and felt my forehead and then ran them down my arms. I think she was checking to see if I was hot or something. She was like I need to get the doctor and had someone else come and sit with me until she got back. Did I mention by this point I was mortified and so embarrassed??? Because I was! The doctor came back into the room and kept asking me a bunch of questions and asking me if I was ok. I just wanted to be done at this point, so I told him I was good to go. He started working on my tooth again, this time with me sitting up to see if maybe me having to lay back was the problem. I was ok for a few minutes but then I started feeling all goofy again and sweating my ass off. They were trying to hurry up and just get done and that was fine, I wanted them done. When he got to my back roots I could still feel everything he was doing which I don’t think I should have because there should be no nerves or whatever there. I didn’t say anything though because I just needed him to be done at this point. I wasn’t sure how much longer I was going to hold out. So he finished a little while later and I made it without passing out. Thank goodness! Hopefully what I felt was just a little tenderness and he did get everything he needed to. After he was done I just sat there for a couple of minutes and when I got up out of the chair my clothes were soaked from sweating so bad but my skin was cold and clammy. It was terrible! I went out to the car and sat in the air conditioning for a little bit before I drove to make sure I was ok. I called John and told him the whole story. He talked to me until I got to work ok. I’ve been really tired all day and I have a headache. I just can’t wait for the day to be over…

Second birthing class…

Today was our second and last birthing class over at the hospital. We had a different teacher this time and she was so much better than the one we had last week! The time seemed to go by quicker and you actually wanted to pay attention. It seemed that after talking to today’s instructor, the instructor we had last week hardly went over any of the information she was supposed to. So today we played catch-up. We covered the rest of the birthing process and also c-sections. I am really going to try to avoid a c-section like the plague. I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to keep saying it. I’ve said the whole time that I’m going to stay at home until I absolutely can’t take it anymore, before going to the hospital. I don’t want to be laid up in a hospital and being told what to do. I want to be able to walk around and do what I want to do without feeling pressured to do things (if that makes any sense at all). After going over all of the information today in class I honestly think that I am going to try to go through natural labor and do it without an epidural. I talked to John about it and he said that’s fine if I want to go that route. I just think it would be much better for me and baby Aiden. I know I say that now but when push comes to shove I may change my mind. As of now, I’m going to try it though. They also went over postpartum depression and how to care for your baby after you bring them home. It was a lot of common sense type stuff but the instructor was good and really into teaching all different stuff you need to know. We practiced all the different breathing exercises and positions during labor. I think John is going to be a good labor coach, he’s really supportive. I told him that we’ll see about that whole getting in my face and telling me how great I’m doing stuff. It might be ok once in a while but I could totally see me ending up head butting him! Haha. We also got to go on a tour of the labor and delivery, postpartum rooms, and also the nursery. We got a spiffy little certificate saying that we completed the child birthing course too. Now we have the breastfeeding course in mid July and then we just have to wait for Aiden to be ready to show up for dinner! Only 41 more days to go, if he makes it until August 4th…

34 Weeks...

Your baby is tipping the scales at about 5 pounds and is 19.8 inches from head to toe. He or she is running out of room in there and you may now be able to tell whether it is a hand or an elbow pushing against your belly. Have your partner touch your belly and feel your baby's movements; it's a playful and loving way for the two of them to get to know each other.







*Your baby acts completely like a newborn, with his eyes opened when awake and closed when sleeping. You may also find him settling into more of a routine for sleeping & awake times.
*He has learned to blink. He can also see more clearly when there is a bright light on your stomach and probably has the outline of all your organs memorized!
*Antibodies from your blood are being tranferred to him. These immunities continue to build until birth. Then breastmilk will add even more protection against disease.
*Your baby may have already turned to a head-down position in preparation for birth. *If he is your first baby, he may be settling into the pelvis with his head pressing against your cervix.
*Fingernails have reached the end of the fingertips now. He may scratch his face even before she is born!
*Your little one's length is 17.7 inches (45cm) and weight is 4.7 pounds (2146 g).

Ninth doctor’s appointment…

We went to the doctor's today for our two week checkup. It was a really quick visit with Dr. D. I really like seeing Dr. R better. She takes the time to talk to us and explain things where Dr. D is just pretty much by the book, that's all normal with no explanation, and always seems really rushed. I've really given some serious consideration to finding a midwife and doing the home birth but I'm scared to death to do it. What happens if something happens to me or the baby? I want there to be emergency help on hand right there if either one of us needs it. That is seriously the only thing holding me back from it. Anyway, back to the doctors appointment. She said everything is going well. Aiden's heartbeat is excellent, it's good and strong. He's an active lil bugger!!! I'm still measuring big. She said in another few weeks they're going to send me for another ultrasound to see how big he is actually measuring. If he is too big then I should probably opt for a c-section. I am going to avoid that at all costs. I've said it before and I'll say it again, obviously if there is no other way to get Aiden out then I will have a c-section but that is my absolute LAST resort!!! So we'll see what happens. We go back to see her in another 2 weeks for some sort of testing and then we start our every week checkups. John and I just can't wait until he gets here :)

Feeling better...

I’m feeling better. I guess that whatever the specialist did got my tooth all aggravated at first but also helped. So it is feeling better now. It still hurts a little but nothing like before! We started our child birthing class over at the hospital on Saturday and it was ok. It was very long and drawn out. I think it was more because of the instructor than anything. John was comparing her to the teacher out of Charlie Brown. Haha. We made it through the class and hopefully learned something that will help. We have one more class this Saturday and then we get some sort of goofy certificate or something. Did I mention that the closer we get to the due date, the more scared I get? I guess or hope a lot of girl’s go through this. John is so excited about Aiden getting here, he can’t wait! Don’t get me wrong, I can’t either but I’m just scared. I’m the one that has to download this lil man. You know? Anyway, yesterday we had to go to a wedding. It was John’s cousin that got married. We had a great time because of the company that we had at our table. That’s all I’ll say about it :-)

I busted my ass at work today trying to get a bunch of things done. I took off work tomorrow so that we can try to get some stuff around the house done and get things ready for the baby's arrival. Thursday afternoon we have a doctor's appointment to go back for our two week check-up. Hopefully things are going well. I'm sure they are but I wonder if Aiden is still measuring two weeks ahead. This weekend we have the childbirth class on Saturday morning and then we’re leaving for the shore to spend some time with a bunch of my family. We won’t be back until Sunday night. So we won’t get anything done this weekend. Argh, I just feel like we have so much to do and time is going by so quickly.

33 Weeks...

Your baby is now 19.4 inches from head to toe and weighs about 4.4 pounds, and you are probably both very aware that it is getting more and more cramped in there. Your baby's adrenal glands have grown and are producing hormones that stimulate you to lactate. Are you thinking about food more in this home-stretch? Seafood can boost the development of your baby's brain, which will develop most during the ninth month. However, the FDA recommends you consume no more than one serving per month of shark and swordfish due to potentially higher levels of methyl mercury found in these fish.





*Amniotic fluid is at its highest level during your pregnancy.
*Your baby's head size has increased 3/8ths of an inch due to rapid brain growth.
*Neurons and synapses are developing in huge numbers -- forming connections in your baby's brain will give him the skills he needs to thrive as a newborn. This week, he may be able to coordinate sucking and swallowing with breathing.
*While most of his bones are hardening, his skull is quite pliable and not completely joined. The bones will be able to move slightly to make birthing easier.
*Your baby takes intermittent deep breaths -- of water! That's okay, though since he gets oxygen from the placenta. This breathing exercises muscles and encourages his lung cells to produce more surfactant (a protein essential for healthy lung development).
*If your baby is a boy, his testicles will be descending from his abdomen into his scrotum. Sometimes one or both testicles won't move into position until after birth.
*Your infant is now 17.2 inches (43.7cm) long and weighs 4.23 pounds (1918gm).

Another week here & gone...

It has been a long week and I’m once again exhausted. I actually haven’t been feeling well. I’m not sure if I’m just getting over tired or if I am coming down with something. My tooth that they started the root canal on a couple of weeks ago has been killing me all week. So this morning I went back to see the specialist and he had to open it back up again and pull a bunch more roots out of it or whatever it is they do. So hopefully it will feel better now. I haven’t been sleeping at night between my hips killing me and my mouth hurting so bad, so tonight I think we’re going to go to Babies R Us after work and look into getting me a body pillow. Maybe that will help some. I also keep waking up and realizing that I’m actually sleeping on my belly. So John is getting upset about that too. I’m sure that it can’t be good for the baby and I know when I do Aiden kicks and punches me. So it must bother him too. I’ve always been a belly sleeper but I’ve been trying to sleep on my left or right side since my belly started getting big. Aiden has been moving around like crazy lately. Sometimes he punches and kicks me so hard that it hurts and I have to stop dead in my tracks until it passes. We still have to go through everything from that we got at the shower over the weekend. We just haven’t had to time to do it yet, it seems like we always have something to do. John and I have to set our priorities and get this stuff done. We only have like 7 more weeks until baby Aiden gets here! Time is flying by. This weekend will be another busy one. We start our childbirth class on Saturday morning. That should be fun and hopefully it will be informative. The closer we get to my due date the more scared I get about the whole thing! Then we have to go to a wedding on Sunday. So we won’t get much done then either. I think I’m going to try to take a day off work next week like Monday or Tuesday so that we can spend the day getting stuff done around the house. Aiden will be here in about 7 weeks or 50 days, however you want to look at it. That is if he stays in my belly until August 4th! I posted a little note to Aiden on another website that I have a blog on so I’m going to repost it here…

dear aiden,
if you don't stop kicking the crap out of my belly i'm going to have to punish you as soon as you get here. it doesn't matter how much you punch and kick, you're not going to get out into the world by punching through my belly. haha. just kidding, you won't be punished. just take it easy in there. i love you and can't wait until you get here. 7 more weeks to go...
xoxo

To Aiden...

Hello there Aiden. I just wanted to say that I can't wait for you to get here. I want to hold you and tell you how much mommy and I love you. I want to read to you and look into your eyes and see your reaction. I want to tell you that I will do my very best to be the best dad ever. We will do lots of fun things together. I will teach you how to ride a bike and climb a tree. How to throw a ball and how to work on cars. Oh yes we will get very dirty but that is part of the fun right. You will go on picnics with mommy and me and we will have pb&j on toast I love you already Aiden. You have made me happier than I ever thought I could be. Your mommy and I both love you and we can't wait for you to get here.

Love,
Daddy

My baby shower...

As far as my baby shower goes, it was really nice. I was really surprised and overwhelmed with the whole thing. The story goes something like this…

Sunday morning we were supposed to go out to brunch with my mom and sisters and then my mom supposedly got called into work. So I got all pissed about that. It’s an ongoing thing with her and that’s all I’m going to say about it. So we were just going to go without her. Next thing I know I get a frantic phone call from my mom that she needs me to bring her something to work right away. So I got even more pissed! At one point as we were driving there I turned to John and asked him if this was some evil ploy to get me to a baby shower and he was like no. He asked me why and I said well, when it was time for my bridal shower they got me to the restaurant by calling me at work and telling me that my mom had just slipped and fell on ice and I had to get there right away. He insisted it wasn’t so I went with it. Then my sister kept telling me to call her, like when we left and when we got there. We were going to meet her at my mom’s work and then go to brunch like we had planned. I thought it was weird but whatever. So then we get there and end up parking a couple of cars down from her car so I called her to ask her what she was doing. Her reply, I’m still at Target checking out. I was like what, so she repeated herself again. My reply was how is that when we’re parked next to your car? She was just like Traci don’t be a douchebag and just come inside. All of the sudden, everything made sense. So of course I get all pissed and upset now. Aggravating me first thing in the morning and getting me all upset is NOT a way to try to surprise me. I’m just stressed and tired right now and haven’t been feeling well for a couple of days. So I turned to John and was like thanks a lot! He apologized and said what was I supposed to do? As we were walking in I lost it and started to cry. I said that I would have worn a different outfit or something. I just felt shitty! So I had to go back to the car to try to fix my make-up as I had black eye make-up running down my face now. I finally composed myself so we could go inside and as soon as I did and we went to walk into the room I started crying again and made a complete ass out of myself! Why was I crying? I couldn’t tell you. I just was so I felt stupid. So I was trying to calm myself down once again. Once I finally managed to accomplish that things were great. It was good to see a lot of our family and friends. There were definitely some friends that were missed though but I understand why they couldn’t make it. It was just too far of a trip. Hopefully once the baby gets here they will be able to come visit us or we will get to go and visit them. We got a lot of awesome stuff and we have an awesome support group of family and friends behind us. I will take some pictures of some of the awesome stuff we got later and post it. Not the typical baby stuff but we got some beautiful handmade quilts and blankets that I love. It was just an awesome day and they pulled it off without me knowing about it until the last minute. I’m not sure if I liked that but it’s what they wanted to do. They wanted it to be a surprise and it was. My sister made beautiful little favors with moon and star cookies in them and they had a beautiful poem attached to them. I absolutely loved them! Everyone did a great job of putting things together and planning the whole thing. Now we just have to go through everything and see what we have and what we still need and of course find some place to put it all. It was a long and tiring day but it was an awesome one…

Baby shower surprises...

Today was my baby shower. I’ll write a short description for now as I’m exhausted and I’ll write a longer more detailed entry tomorrow and possibly add pictures if I have time.

It was a total surprise until the end. I hate surprises because I’m a dork like that. I ended up in tears and all emotional. When I finally composed myself we all had a great time. It was overwhelming. We got a lot of awesome stuff for Aiden off of his registry, beautiful handmade gifts, and then just stuff people bought us. We have a very awesome family and awesome friends. There were lots of surprises and it was good to see alot our family and friends…

32 Weeks...

Your baby is 18.9 inches long from head to toe and weighs almost 4 pounds. He or she will gain weight more quickly now and will probably double in weight between now and his or her birth. Just like a newborn, your baby sleeps a lot of the time. He or she even experiences rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the period of sleep when we dream!







*Your baby is up to 3.75 pounds (1702gm) now and is 16.7 inches (42.4cm) long.
*You might notice he's not moving around as much now. Don't worry! He is fine -- just running short on room. He still has plenty of growing to do though, believe it or not!
*All five senses are working. Your little one is fascinated and practicing testing these out as much as possible!
*Toenails are completely formed even though he may not be quite ready for a French manicure.
*Hair on your infant's head continues to grow in. Will he have dad's black hair or your red hair?
*Brain scans have shown that babies have periods of dream sleep (REM) starting around the eight month. What do you suppose your son is dreaming about?

Eighth doctor's appointment…

Today we went to see the doctor again for another check-up. Things are still going really well and Aiden is still growing and squirming all over. They checked his heartbeat and she said it is perfect. She looked at the results from the ultrasound and said that everything looks good and that they are just going to keep an eye on his size. I guess to make sure that he doesn’t get too big. She said that if he continues to measure big they will send me for another ultrasound to check it out. I guess they worry that I won’t be able to deliver him. We also talked to her about doing the whole cord blood registry thing. She said that if they had it back when she had her kids, she definitely would have done it. It’s a good idea and it can really help out if you need it. So John and I are going to have to talk more about it and see if it is something we can afford to do and everything. I talked to her about the pain in my hips and she told me a few things I should try to see if it helps any. If not then she said she will send me to a specialist (I forget what kind of specialist) to have it checked out. So we’ll wait and see what happens. We also talked a little about doing a birthing plan and stuff like that. I am really going to try to avoid the whole c-section thing unless obviously they say to me Traci, this is the only way to get him out and we need to do it. Then I will do it. I want to try to deliver him myself though. I told John I’m going to labor at home as long as I can before going to the hospital. I know people that were in labor for way too long and I don’t want to be tied up in a hospital bed and being all uncomfortable. I mean, we’ll see what happens in a couple of weeks but for now that’s my plan. I think that’s about it for now or at least all I can think of. We go back to the doctor’s in another two weeks for our next check-up. It was another good appointment and things are going really well :)

31 Weeks...

Your baby now weighs approximately 3.5 pounds, measures about 18 inches from head to toe, and is getting used to the world of light and dark by opening and closing its eyes. Its facial muscles continue to strengthen, and your baby can make different expressions.





*The rate of physical growth slows down just a bit, but even though he doesn't get much longer, he will gain a lot of weight the rest of the pregnancy.
*Fat continues accumulating. This layer of fat turns his skin from red to the rosy pink he will have as a newborn.
*Calcium, phosphorus and iron are being stored and his bones are growing and hardening.
*Your baby is 16.2 inches (41.1cm) long and weighs 3.3 pounds (1502gm).
*His brain enters another period of rapid growth, producing hundreds of billions of new nerve cells! Amazing!
*He may move to the rhythm of music. Studies with heart rates show that he also prefers some types of music to others -- already!
*Lungs are the only major organ left to complete development. Remember, that while you may be anxious to meet your little one that these last few weeks can be vital - with each day increasing your baby's ability to breathe on his own.

Is it Friday yet...

I went to see the specialist yesterday and he started to do a root canal on my tooth. He was kind of a jerk but I had to deal with him, I just wanted some relief fast! So he hardly gave me any Novocain at all. I wasn’t numb or tingly or anything. So I could feel pretty much everything he was doing. I had such a bad infection he had to put a “drain” in my cheek/gum area to let the infection come out. He suctioned some of it out and it was some nasty stuff! He told me to do salt water rinses for the next two days and then on Friday I have to go back and have the drain taken out. So last night I just ate mashed potatoes and some corn for dinner because we went to Boston Market as we had some errands to run. After we were done eating I felt something back in my cheek that wasn’t there earlier so I was all sorts of sceeved out about it. John kept telling me to just leave it alone. I couldn’t, it was bothering me. So I kept playing with it, I thought it was food or something that got caught back there because of the swelling. Well finally about after an hour of me messing with it and John yelling at me to keep my fingers out of my mouth, it came out. Let’s just say I accidentally pulled the drain out of my cheek. It had to have started falling out anyway, because it was not there earlier in the day. So I was all sick over it and John was mad at me because he kept telling me to leave it alone and of course I didn’t. After we were done with our errands I just went home and went to bed. I didn’t feel good and I was exhausted. Needless to say I was up most of the night with horrible hip pain and my mouth hurting. So I kept John up too. I feel bad that I keep him up all the time because of my tossing and turning. I’m just so uncomfortable! I called the specialist this morning and told them that my drain fell out this morning when I was doing my salt water rinse (a little white lie) and they said that it was Ok but I still have to come in tomorrow morning to have it checked out. Other than that things are good. I’m tired and would love a nap right about now. The swelling is starting to go down in my cheek, so that’s a good thing. Aiden is still a little squirm monster. You should see the way he rolls around in there! The only bad thing is that heat is already unbearable, I think it was in the high 90's the past two days! So I don’t know how I’m going to make it through to August with this extreme heat and having to cart Aiden around in my belly…