Oh my...

Corey and I live in the best neighborhood in Tennessee. Cannonwood is full of some kooky folks, and they have welcomed us as part of their families. We're all from different backgrounds and work in different industries, but somehow it all works and we have a blast together. And now, two of our neighbors have taken it upon themselves to throw me a rather unique baby shower this Friday evening. Take a look at the invitation (a brown paper bag we found duct taped to our front door) and judge for yourself...

Corey's favorite part is the portrait of me and Charlotte on the invitation. Last night, we went out to Wal-Mart and bought a special shirt for me to wear to the party as part of my costume. We'll post a photo of my complete get-up later. I will also, of course, be barefoot.

36 Weeks Down, 28 Days to Go

The other night, Corey and I packed my bag for the hospital. He is also going to throw another smaller bag together with stuff he might need, including camera, batteries, etc. Since we live only a mile from the hospital, it will be easy for him to run home to grab something we forgot, but we both know it's going to be hard for him to leave my side at some points during all of this.

Corey's good buddy from high school and college, Nancy, is due to give birth any day now to her second daughter. We have been swapping e-mails on our progress, and have gotten a lot of valuable advice from her on everything from communicating with your obstetric team to getting a baby to sleep. Good luck Nancy - we're thinking of you and can't wait to hear the good news when the new little one arrives!

I am getting lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions (they don't hurt) that make my belly feel unbelievably tight and almost numb to the touch. Despite Charlotte running out of room inside there, she is not slowing down with the movement at all. Just stay head down there, kid! Here's what BabyCenter.com says about little Charlie this week:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her 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 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

Another valuable piece of advice from Nancy - try your hardest to work it so the hospital nurses change the meconium diaper! Not a bad thought...

Some final touches

We put some final touches on Charlotte's room last weekend. I painted a tree on one wall where we're going to hang family baby photos, and Corey hung the Michigan State mobile for maximum MSU-indoctrination exposure. We also stocked up the dresser beneath the changing table with tons of diapers and wipes, because we heard a rumor that babies need frequent diaper changes. We had our neighbors, the Marshalls, over for some cake and ice cream last night to celebrate the start of the final countdown to Charlotte and to see how her room is shaping up.

We keep asking ourselves if we have everything ready. It's hard to know, since we've never done this before! What if Charlie doesn't fit into the newborn clothes we have ready for her. Yes, we do have some bigger outfits, but not that many. I spend way too much time going through her closet and pawing through the outfits, probably because I'm so sick of my own current limited wardrobe and am living vicariously through her. It's funny - she has tons of clothes already, but they could all probably fit in one or two washer loads at once. Yes, there is a lot of pink, but Corey has luckily overcome his aversion to the color. I reminded him that the color of her outfits is likely going to be the only clue most people have about her gender until she gets some hair!

1 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced

I feel like the countdown has officially begun. There are exactly 30 days until the due date.

Today we had our first appointment where the doctor starts checking for things like dilation and effacement. We were tickled to hear that I am already at 1 centimeters dilated and 50% effacement. (For reference, the baby is ready to pop out when there is 10 centimeters dilation and 100% effacement, as well as a couple of other things.) I am measuring as big as I'm supposed to be for 37 weeks (I'm still a couple of days away from even hitting 36 weeks), but she said that's well within the normal range.

Dr. Bell said this was terrific, but that I could hang out at this point for weeks. So, it's not like I'm going to the hospital tomorrow or anything. She indicated that Charlotte is still head down and that everything looks good to go for a regular (non-caesarian) birth. She's happy with my weight gain (just a little over 19 pounds), blood pressure, etc. Yea! The overachiever in me loves passing tests and meeting goals.

Shower at work and 35 weeks

Today, my co-workers threw Corey and me the sweetest baby shower. Everyone brought in a different dish and we ate ourselves silly. I was so touched that everyone took time to help us celebrate, even though I'm leaving in a few short weeks. Charlotte received some wonderful presents, and I think Corey was tickled to have been invited as well. Looking back, I think I probably should have let him help me open some of the presents. Whoops!

One of the sweetest presents we got was a big magnet to stick on the car that says "It's a Girl!". Since I won't be driving around much in the first few weeks after Charlotte is born, I think I'm going to wait until Corey isn't looking and then slap it on the back of the Mustang. Think he will mind?

I am now 35 weeks pregnant, and even though the illustrations aren't changing much from week to week, I am really glad for each day she stays put and continues to mature. Virtually every mother I know had her baby early, so I'm trying not to put much stock into Charlotte waiting until March 13th. Of course, I am the daughter of a woman who carried TWINS until the day before her due date (this is really rare), so I might just have the same "talent".

Here's what's happening with Charlotte at this point:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she'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, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Yeah, Charlie isn't slowing down her kicking one bit. If anything, I think I'm feeling her moving around even more. If she comes out with a black belt in karate, I will not be surprised. My sister Erin is reporting that baby Zach (now 22 weeks along) is kicking her more and more, and higher and higher. By the time Erin and Andrew come to visit at the end of March, I bet Zach will be working on his black belt as well.

Visibly pregnant voter

After my OB appointment this morning (more about that later), Corey and I voted in the presidential primary election. I was tickled to see a sign that informed everyone that the elderly, disabled, and the "visibly pregnant" would be allowed to skip to the front of the line. Wheeee!!

So we walk in all excited about skipping to the front of the line one to find that there is, in fact, no line. Bummer! Had there been a line, I would have felt bad leaving Corey at the back and probably not have exercised my right to skip anyway. Oh well -- at least we got out and performed our civic duties, right? I got one "I Voted" sticker for me, and one for my belly (the poll worker insisted).

ANYWAY, back to the OB appointment. We met the last doctor in the practice, Dr. Lynn Ellington. We really liked her, and not just because she's a Vandy Med School grad. My weight gain still looks great, my blood pressure is great, my fundus measurement is great, and the baby's heartbeat sounds great. Lots of greats. We were happy when Dr. Ellington confirmed Charlotte is still head down. Stay that way, kid!

Now we start going to appointments once a week. Dr. Bell will start checking me for dilation and effacement. Once I officially hit the 35-week mark, Dr. Ellington says they won't try very hard to stop my labor if I do go into pre-term labor (term is considered 37 weeks, even though the due date is calculated as 40 weeks). A lot of women who start getting contractions pre-term are just dehydrated, so I'm going to need to keep drinking lots of water over the next month to distinguish false labor from the real thing.

All in all, things are going very well!

34 Weeks!

I know we're approaching the hardest part of the pregnancy, and we're starting to suffer a little from a combination of impatience and worry that we're not quite ready. We want to meet Charlotte, but we still have a lot to get accomplished before she gets here. I'm having a hard time getting a good night's sleep, which definitely affects Corey (a very light sleeper!). Being tired and having less than a month left before my final day on the job is not helping me keep my mind on alumni development at work.

On the other hand, we really have to count our blessings that I'm not suffering from a lot of the physical and mental woes that the pregnancy books warn about. I'm able to go on our nightly dog walks (which are about a mile long), I'm not having pre-term labor, I'm not on bed rest, and I'm certainly not so miserable that I can't function. The biggest thing I really have to worry about it keeping my pants up and my belly covered while not getting so sick of my small pregnancy wardrobe that I want to scream each morning when getting dressed. I only have to come up with 21 more work outfits before I quit, and then I'm home free. My poor coworkers must be a little tired of seeing the same ensembles again and again.

We're excited for tonight's childbirthing class, because we get to tour the maternity floor, birthing rooms, nursery, etc. I have heard that the hospital recently completed a big renovation of that floor. It will help us get mentally prepared for the big day when it comes if we can picture in our minds the setting.

Here's what the BabyCenter.com says is happening with Charlotte this week:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

And from IAmPregnant.com:

Your baby's crown-to-rump length this week is approximately 12.8 inches and the total length is around 19.8 inches at this time. Your baby now weighs almost 5 pounds. Your baby's hair continues to get longer and thicker. Your baby's hair color probably is not going to be the same color from birth onwards, so you should expect it to change in color. Your baby is shedding most of lanugo, but the amount of vernix caseosa is increasing. If you were to deliver your baby now, it would probably be called a pre-term infant instead of premature. The only difference is in the maturity, particularly lung maturity. A pre-term baby is less likely to need intensive care because its lungs have developed. Doctors can test lung maturity with an amniocentesis that checks levels of surfactant. The baby now rests on your uterus and is no longer floating. Fingernails now reach over the finger tips and the baby can scratch itself.

Don't scratch yourself, Charlotte! We'll get you a little manicure once you have arrived. How does a nice shade of light pink sound?

Rehearsal

Apparently, Charlotte has invited some friends over for a dance party in my tummy right now. There is no way there is only one baby in there -- more like a trio of octopi rehearsing the Detroit Hustle. She was also jumping around a ton last night during childbirthing class while we learned about epidurals. I'm going to interpret that to mean she's all for them.

Anyway, the other night we took some more photos of a couple of items of baby gear with some stand-ins for the future user. Reclining comfortably in the safari bouncy seat (a gift from Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Don) is the super cute new pig I got from Sara Thomas at the baby shower (on which we put the keepsake booties sent by Great Aunt Sibyl). Below that is Charlotte, version 1.0 (aka the "Cabbage Patch Doll" my mom made me when I was little, and whom I named Charlotte after the spider in Charlotte's Web) waiting to be changed in the changing table part of the Pack 'n' Play (a gift from "Greatest" Aunt Janet, Great Grandma Meem, and cousin Lindsay). Next, I think we need to try out the swing and the carseat with another baby analog.





Last night during class, the instructor forgot to turn off one of the intercoms. Several times during class, the sound of a few bars of Brahms' Lullaby tinkled over the loudspeaker. We all figured it was someone's cell phone until Dawn explained that the music is broadcast every time a baby is born at that hospital. Everyone in the class giggled with excitement when she told us that. Now we have something new to look forward to -- hearing Charlotte's lullaby playing after she pops out!

Coming up on 33 weeks with 50 days to go

I was chatting with a colleague who raises money for another school at Vandy, and she mentioned that she had her baby at 33 weeks. CRIKEY! Corey's dad was very early (I seem to remember hearing it was about a month?), and my brother-in-law, Andrew, also came about a month early. Since 37 weeks is considered "term" (although they set the due date at 40 weeks), does that mean Larry and Andrew were born at about 33 weeks or so?

I forgot to mention in my post yesterday that Dr. Bell poked around and determined that Charlotte is in a head-down presentation. Babies are unlikely to flip around again after this point, so it's looking like we won't have a breech birth. We probably won't know whether she's in an anterior or posterior position (whether she's facing my spine or my belly) until she's born, but that doesn't matter nearly as much as head-up or head-down. We all know that babies who come feet first turn out to be a little strange (just kidding, Ernie!). Dr. Bell also mentioned that Charlotte doesn't seem to be a particularly big baby, which is music to my ears.

Here's another update on Charlotte's progress at 33 weeks (adapted from i-am-pregnant.com):

Your baby weighs about 4.4 pounds at this point. The crown-to-rump length of your baby is approximately 12 inches and the total length is around 19.4 inches. With the exception of crying, your baby is capable of doing everything that a newborn baby will do. Your baby is restricted now inside of the uterus, but still can kick and move. Your baby sleeps a lot of the time, just as newborn babies do. Your baby's eyes move in the manner of REM sleep and researchers believe that babies can dream vividly in utero. When your baby is awake, she is listening, feeling and learning. There are billions of neurons in the brain that make trillions of connections. Your baby will probably have settled into the birth position by now and your caregiver can most likely tell which way your baby is presenting. If your baby were to be born now, the lungs would probably be strong enough to function properly, but your baby may still need extra care from specially trained doctors and nurses. Your baby's eyes open during alert times and close during sleep. The eye color is usually blue, regardless of the permanent color as pigmentation is not fully developed. The final formation of eye pigmentation requires exposure to light and usually happens a few weeks after birth.

Here's what BabyCenter.com says about Charlotte:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Since Corey has one parent with blue eyes (Larry) and my mom had one kid with blue eyes (Abbey), that means that Corey and I do have a small chance of having a baby with eyes that stay blue. That would be so fun! I'm crossing my fingers.

Photos from baby shower

Erin & my bud, Sara, threw a Charlotte's Web-themed shower for Charlotte last weekend! It was so much fun, and Charlotte got tons of great presents. Corey stopped by at the end to thank everyone, and even got to open a special present. Here's some photos my mom took at the shower.

Yeah, I love my maternity dress, but it makes me look HUGE!!

The cake was shaped like Wilbur (the pig from Charlotte's Web), and the icing spelled out "Charlotte will be Some Baby!"

There were three preggos at the shower - my Aunt Toni, Erin, and me. Surprisingly enough, there was still plenty of food left over for all of the other guests.

My co-worker, Angela, and her daughters, Bayleigh & Jaeden, got Charlotte a sassy little outfit with a jean skirt, matching bloomers, and a onesie that said "Love Bug".

Aunt-to-be Stephanie bought us our diaper bag that matches Charlotte's stroller.

Aunt-to-be Erin crocheted Charlotte her very own filet-crochet doily so Charlotte wouldn't forget how to spell her name.

Corey got to open a special present from his mom. Let the Michigan State indoctrination begin...

For Charlotte to wear to her first MSU football game.

Thank you to everyone who came to the shower or sent gifts! We had a great time, ate way too much, and generally wreaked havoc at Sara's house. Charlotte is one lucky baby to have so many loving friends before she is even born!

32 week appointment

We saw Dr. Bell today for the 32-week appointment, and everything is going very well! I do need to drink more water though, so I'm obeying her orders and sipping on agua as I type. We go back in a couple of weeks to meet the last doctor in the practice (Dr. Ellington), and after that we'll go every week until Charlotte is born.

We got a lot of questions answered this week. Although I am prepared to basically do whatever Dr. Bell tells me to do once I go into labor, it was nice to hear that her policy is to give me an epidural whenever I feel like I need it (no waiting until I'm dilated a magic number of centimeters) and to avoid an episiotomy unless absolutely necessary. The same goes for the other doctors in the practice (which is terrific, since I have about a 40% chance of delivering with a doctor other than Dr. Bell). Corey also asked if he should give blood in advance in case I have to undergo a c-section, and Dr. Bell said it is very rare for a c-section to require her to give a patient blood. Since Corey has the magic O-blood type, she encouraged him to give blood anyway. My B+ blood is not quite so much in demand (nor should I be giving blood while I'm pregnant anyway).

Our childbirthing instructor told us to have everything ready to go for Charlotte's arrival by 36 weeks, so we have a little over 3 weeks to complete the preparations. We're probably in pretty good shape, but we need to confirm dog and cat care arrangements with the neighbors and buy some diapers! The last coats of varnish are being applied to the changing table this week. Now we just need to teach Corey to change a diaper. Thank goodness future grandparents Barb & Larry are heading down to help us out after the birth!

Like a champ!

Big compliments to my normally weak-stomached husband. Not only did he refrain from barfing during the live birth video last night during childbirthing class, but he didn't squirm, look away, or even blink. He handled it like a champ! The film was pretty tame -- there was very little in the way of crotch shots, and there was much to make fun of in terms of the complete weirdos featured giving birth. One of the mothers had such a weird-looking belly and gross, biker-looking husband that you couldn't help but be distracted from the whole birth aspect. Another couple featured included a husband wearing my Duke football jersey, but also sporting a gold tooth and a whole bunch of suspicious-looking body art.

We did practice some breathing in class. The instructor made us close our eyes while we did it so we would't be self-conscious about breathing in front of other people. Huh? From what I can tell, the whole childbirthing process is all about completely losing your dignity anyway. I'm also confused as to why we had to sit on the floor to practice the breathing. All that did for me was to make it hard to get back up on my feet again. Poor Corey was trying to lounge comfortably on the floor in his suit, but it wasn't working.

Check out how Charlotte is coming along as she reaches the 32-week mark, according to BabyCenter.com:

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Jicama? Yeah, I don't eat that very often. I'm definitely starting to gain weight faster though. We'll see what the doctor thinks at my visit next week. After this visit, I have to start going once a week. We also need to come up with plans on how to get me to the hospital in case I can't get a hold of Corey in time and all sorts of preparations for animal care while we're at the hospital. Good thing we live so close to Williamson Medical Center!