32 weeks

Here's a belly shot taken today (32 weeks, 1 day) after yoga.

The babycenter.com email for this week says that he is about the weight of a large jicama (3 3/4lbs). The amount of blood running through my body has increased 40-50%, and I know it! I am hot, ALL.THE.TIME. Luckily my work has been great (ok, it is the perk of working in the Real Estate & Facilities team), I have a personal air conditioner/heater for my desk and a foot stool that props my legs up like I have an ottoman under my desk.

The email also says its time to discuss who will be in the labor & delivery room with you. Hmmm, in case you really don't know me at all it will just be Brian and I! I'm not all about the family "bonding". Depending on how long we're in the hospital we'll see guests. Obviously grandparents will be allowed to visit after we've had a few hours to rest and bonding as a new family of 3. I've never had a stitch, let alone a hospital stay - so it's not something I am looking forward to or even remotely comfortable with - in fact just walking into the hospital might be the getting through the worst for me. Phobia. So don't bank on getting the okay to see me (who am I kidding, the kid is who everyone wants to see!!) until we arrive at home. I'm hoping we're blessed with an insurance company that rushes you out within 24 hours...hee hee.

We may have agreed on a name!

Yes, you've read that correctly. I'm not going to post it, its been maybe an hour since we've "decided", so I need to sleep on it and come back to it tomorrow. I'll give a slight hint, his full name would be 7 syllables long. Although, I think this is it, I love it more every time I think about it and Brian feels he may have had the "ah ha" moment he's been expecting to have. *sigh*

So the 31 week post is a few days late, but we've been busy! We started the week by attending partner prenatal yoga. Bri was nice enough to appease me and come since he knows how much I've enjoyed taking yoga. Well, turns out he thought it was great and is now attending a 4 session Intro to Yoga class! The first half of last week was crappy, pun intended! Evita caught something, that we found out from other people seems to be afflicting other dogs in the city. It was not fun, and the poor poor girl just looked so sad. All I will say is we're ready for a kid - at least after 2 years they can tell you what's wrong and before that they wear diapers. The good news is that she was getting a little chunky and dropped some weight over the week.

I'm now going to the doctor every two weeks, and that went well. I think he still remains breech for now, but we have a few weeks before it becomes a slight issue. Saturday was a very long day! We had childbirth prep class from 9am - to a little after 4pm. Lots of info to digest but luckily the books we've read have addressed most of it. Then we showed our condo to prospective tenants - I'm happy to say we found a tenant and are extremely excited. It's a huge relief, and I feel like 100 lbs lifted off of my shoulders in a matter of moments. So we're officially going to be landlords. We're not making money but at least for now we'll still have our little slice of the city. We've also made some progress in terms of childcare. Our soon-to-be behind the house neighbor runs a daycare, and has a spot if we're interested. I still feel like we need to check out some more options to check pricing, but you almost cant beat tossing the kid over the fence and then going to work. I'm just kidding about tossing him over the fence, I was thinking we could cut a doggie door in the fence and have him crawl through. AND we've started to set up appointments with potential pediatricians. whew.

At 31 weeks he's approximately the weight of four navel oranges. Yeah, the comparisons are just odd now, huh? They don't really say much other than he's plumping out. I have read that we're still a few weeks away from his lungs being 100% mature, but everything else is just functioning fine.

This weeks post brought to you by...

...Dana! Thanks for the reminder to do a blog post. I forgot to post last Friday; most likely due to the fact I wound up at the doctors office and then later in the day at the other office for a non-stress test. Whoops! Baby Boy Birkett is doing well. Personally, I was never concerned and actually thought it was a bit of a waste going to the NST especially after we heard the heartbeat, but hey better safe than sorry. Turns out we just have a chill little peanut who doesn't really think it's necessary to move about too often, even if I drink a years worth of sugar to get him to move. The ultrasound revealed that he's doing everything he's supposed to, including practicing to breathe and the technician did agree that he is pretty chill (for now) and probably just likes to sleep. I'll admit it was super cute watching his little rib cage move up and down while he was practicing.

I'd like to blog about something very near and dear to my heart this week - Evita. The picture to the left has been purchased as a poster, matted and framed. When you come visit be on the lookout for it - I love it!

Blame the hormones or the people who keep telling me that she'll basically be as good as nothing once the kid comes, but I can't get enough of her lately. Most everything she does is just adorable to me and it's never been like that before. In the morning when she does downward dog just before she goes outside, the fact that she snuggles next to my belly, or hops on Bri's lap when he gets home - it's just too much. She's just so darn amazing. Now I've been lucky to have a slew of animals as pets during my lifetime - a cow (for real), multiple cats, dogs, hermit crabs and fish (my favorite were Ren & Stimpy) so I have enough experience to know she's just special and not in a handicapped way. She has more personality than I've ever seen in a canine and man is she loyal to Bri and I. I have no doubt she'll be great around the kid too. I am being realistic in the fact that we need to start "re-training" her a bit. She needs to start sleeping in her bed, not ours, and I shouldn't get in the house and drop everything for her right away. I think this will help minimize any hurt feelings if they abruptly have to all end at once. So, if you come visit us to see the kid, be sure to pay a little attention to Evita also!

So we're hitting the home stretch and I'm feeling good for all those inquiring minds. I really do have the urge to nest, just check the previous post. It's kinda driving me insane that I don't have a room to paint/decorate just yet and I fear by the time I do I'll just be too darn tired to do anything. Not that it is truly important I just have the urge/ambition to do it now.

We hit 30 weeks today but I'll do a little catch up from 29 weeks. Last week he was approx the weight of a butternut squash (2.5 lbs) and his lungs and brain continued to mature. Since I got to see it first hand last Friday, we know his lungs are maturing right on track. This week (30 weeks) he continues to pack on he weight and is now approx 3 lbs! I should be expecting him to gain about 1/2 lb each week. yikes! everything else is just continuing to develop and mature.

(29 weeks - weight of a butternut squash)

(30 weeks - weight equal to a head of cabbage)

I'm toast

It's the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLIII and I'm laid up on the couch - only spending the first half out. I think it's official, I've tried to do too much and am now paying for it. Lesson learned. Most of the time I forget I'm pregnant minus the mini beach ball in my gut. Bri is sitting in Tampa, FL enjoying the Super Bowl live and will be spending the rest of the week in FL on business. I am slightly bitter that nothing in Bri's life has to change - he can drink and galavante around the country with his boys all he wants. Oh, and please don't feel sorry for him when he tells you he passed on a work trip to Hawaii (3 weeks before I'm due) - he in all seriousness considered going. Nice, eh?

Anyhoo - I thought, wow perfect time for me to get the house cleaned the way I like it and run some extra errands. So I ran a lot of errands yesterday - groceries, waiting in line to get frames and matting cut, yoga, and an hour walk with Evita since it was so nice out. Since I didn't get started cleaning, I woke up early today and quickly made a chili in the crockpot. Then it was time to clean. I moved all of the living room furniture (I think this was the mistake), swept, dusted, mopped and vacuumed the floors. Then I removed the couch cushions, vacuumed the couch and chair, re-stuffed the couch cushions to make them "like new" and moved all the furniture back in place. Wouldn't you know, I've been in some pain for the rest of the day. The bummer? It's only the living room that I've completed, our place is small but I was really focused to have it cleaned right. I really want to give the same treatment to our bedroom, but don't want to move the dressers by myself. I'm frustrated to feel physically limited AND my house is not the way I want it!!

Other than today's (let's hope I feel much better tomorrow) little bump in the roadd everything is going well. I can't believe it's February - we have such a busy month coming up. On Friday we reached 28 weeks, less than 10 weeks until Baby Birkett is considered "Full Term" at 37 weeks. According to babycenter.com he is the weight of a Chinese Cabbage, approx 2 1/4 lb.