38 weeks

Our 38th week has begun. Paul and I spent some time today visiting pediatricians and then going to my appointment. We were hoping to hear that something had happened since last week, but we were given the same result. Nothing. No softening or dilating at all. Evan wants to stay where he is. My doctor doesn't want to induce quite yet since it can lead to a higher risk of having a C-section. So we have to wait until my due date to see if there is any change. If not, he would consider using a gel to help things along. Let's pray that Evan decides to work some magic before than!

Your baby has really plumped up. He weighs about 6.8 pounds and he's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). He has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold his hand for the first time! His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If he's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If he's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time he's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Latest present

My parents were so kind to purchase our glider for us. Right now it's sitting in our living room and I have a feeling that Paul will be enjoying it while we wait for Evan to arrive.

IT ROCKS! THANKS, MOM AND DAD!

Paul's 29!

This past weekend kicked off several important events: the end of school for me, Memorial Day, and most importantly - Paul's birthday!

We began his birthday weekend by having dinner at one of our favorite restaurants: Cibo. Then we headed home to watch Benjamin Button, have cake, and open presents. I gave Paul some new shoes that he wanted, a Scrabble dictionary, and a cute book of tips for dads.

Saturday we had some friends over for a BBQ to celebrate Paul's birthday. Paul made some delicious steak and chicken tacos for dinner. My friend, Valerie, some how got started on the topic of how Arrowhead water is disgusting and it gives her a sore throat the next day. That lead to Paul coming up with her doing a water taste test to see if she could determine which water was which. Here is the list (V= Valerie's water=Smart Water):

The results: Valerie voted tap water as tasting the best, our fridge water as the worst, and she couldn't decipher between her Smart Water and Arrowhead.

Sunday was spent having waffles and bacon for breakfast, then spending time with family at my cousins graduation party, and finally with a pool party/BBQ at Paul's mom's for another birthday celebration.

Paul, I hope that you had a marvelous birthday! I love you so much...HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY!!

37 weeks

Another doctors appointment...sigh. This one was the least exciting one yet. I was told that my Group B Strep test came back positive, therefore, I will have to received two doses of penicillin during labor so that it doesn't transfer to Evan. After my exam today, we were also told that there has been no change since last week. My doctor wanted another ultrasound to make sure that it was Evan's head he was feeling down there because my cervix hadn't softened at all. He gave us some suggestions as to what we could do to help out. One of those was sitting on a medicine ball, which I am doing as I type. Looks like Evan is just fine being in my belly for now. Too bad his parents would like to see him at some time!

As for other news...Paul and I installed the car seat in my car and the extra base into Paul's. We also received and filled out the paper work for the hospital so we won't have to do it when we actually get there.

Although it's not Evan related, I have some other TERRIFIC news...I get to keep my job! I received my recall Monday evening. What's even better is that I will be staying in my current classroom, grade level, and school! It is such a huge relief to Paul and me knowing that I will be employed and insured.

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Scrabble and fortune

Scrabble: It's been a while since Paul and I played Scrabble. Saturday night we played and I actually won! Usually Paul is the winner, but this time I whooped him!! (By three points.)


Fortune: Paul and I decided last night that we would be having Pei Wei for dinner tonight and tomorrow. It was great not having to cook and just being able to relax. My Spicy Korean Chicken was delicious. Paul believes that their Kung Pao isn't as hot as it used to be. I think he's built up a tolerance for it! After we finished our dinner it was time for dessert...fortune cookies! Here's what mine read...

I'm wondering if any of the lucky numbers will be Evan's birthday...

36 weeks

We've made it to 36 weeks: the first of our weekly doctor's appointments and the first of internal exams. I was hoping to hear some type of progress going on in there, but I know it's not common for first time moms. Right now I'm not dilated at all, but the good news is that Evan's head is down! I'll take that!

I've noticed that my legs are getting restless and they start to tingle when I sit for a while. Paul and I also attended a breastfeeding class last night. I learned a lot and was refreshed with information too. But I still wonder...they say that it shouldn't be painful and you shouldn't get sore because if you do, that means that the baby isn't latching on correctly. Then why does everyone I talk to say that it hurts!?! I am comforted by the fact that St. Joe's has three lactation consultants on duty Monday-Saturday. They will definitely be summoned once Evan arrives!

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like 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 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 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 are post-term.) Most likely he's in a head-down position. YAHOO!

Hooray Paul!

Paul has been working on receiving his masters and CPA certification for some time now. He has now completed his masters and today he received his CPA certificate!

YAY! I'm so proud of you, Paul!!!

Name

Since Evan's room has airplane/helicopter bedding, I was having no luck thinking of what to put on the walls that would go with it and that I actually liked. I found a lot of art online, but it was to pricey. Then I thought about doing the letters for his name. It's a really popular thing to do nowadays. No offense to those who do it...it is a cute idea, but I didn't want to go that route. After some searching, I found these vinyl wall stickers from etsy.com:


Then it got me thinking...what if we used the airplane lines to spell out his name? I ordered them about two weeks ago and they came in yesterday. Paul and I have spent last night and tonight putting them up on the wall. Here's how it looks:

We still have a ton of planes, dashes and clouds leftover too! We'll most likely be using them around the rest of the room.

Mother's Day

Now, I know that technically, I am not a mother to a child breathing air on their own, but I will be soon. Here's how my Mother's Day went.

Paul and I started the day by getting ready for church. When I was about to get my clothes out of my dresser, I noticed that one of the drawers was pulled out. Inside was a card and a wrapped present. I was completely surprised! Truly, I had not been expecting anything for Mother's Day - for the reason mentioned previously. I opened it up on the way to church and it was a jewelry box. (For a while now, Paul and I had talked about the fact that I don't have anywhere nice to put my jewelry. It usually just gets placed on the ring dish next to my sink in the bathroom.) Well, while I was checking out my gift, I opened up on of the compartments. Inside was a necklace with this pendant...

The "E" is for Evan (duh) and it has his birthstone in it. My husband is so sweet and thoughtful!

I also noticed on Mother's Day that people are much nicer to you, but it could be the fact that I'm pregnant. While offering each other a sign of peace, a man said, "Peace be with you, Mommy." On the way to get Communion, a woman behind me said, "Congratulations." At the Philosophy store, the five women working there kept talking to be about how cute my belly is and how Evan is a great name and that I should take in pictures of him once he is born. The girl at the register in Toys 'R Us also said "Happy Mother's Day." I'm thinking that everyday should be Mother's Day!

We then spent some time with Paul's family at his sister's house. There I received cards from his family and flowers from his mom. Paul was also able to spend some time practicing for when Evan arrives by playing with his nephew, Benjamin.

While there, Meghan and Josh gave us their bassinet for Evan to use while he's in our room once he's born. Thank you, Meghan and Josh! We are so glad to take it from you!

We had dinner at my parent's house that night too. It's always nice going to see our families, although I wish they all lived closer to each other...the day seems so long when we have to drive everywhere. But it is well worth spending time with family.

All in all, my first Mother's Day was more than I could have asked!

Yay and Nay

Yay: Today I received my first Mother's Day card in the mail. Thanks, Valerie!

Nay: Today is the first time Valerie and I have not attended the Dave Matthew's Band concert in the past several years.

35 weeks

I was just thinking the other about how excited I was to reach the mark of having 12 weeks left. Now here I am writing that there are only 5 left to go. These next few weeks are going to go by ridiculously fast. This week I'm having a work baby shower, class on Thursday night, and celebrating Mother's Day over the weekend. Next week it's a breastfeeding class on Wed., doctor appointment on Thursday, Baptism class on Saturday. The following week there's another doctor appointment (since we'll be going every week starting the 14th), Paul's birthday on the 22nd, my last day of school on the 22nd (and I need to be packed and out of my classroom by this time), graduations, birthday parties, and Memorial Day. And that's the end of MAY!

We are still working on getting his nursery complete. As of right now, it seems as though a baby tornado has plowed through his room.

I'm hoping that it doesn't look this way much longer. We are slowly washing clothes and putting it away. We've order the wall decals for his name and they've been shipped. My mom is going to adjust the window valance. Paul finished the bookshelf and now we just need to put things in it. Every time I walk in Evan's room I stress. I know it will come together at some point.

I keep talking to Evan about a good time for him to come out and we've come to an agreement. We've decided that he should wait until after his dad's birthday, but come before his due date. He needs to have my fear of being late to things, especially his due date! But of course, I don't want him coming out if he's not going to be ready. :) I just want to have as much time with him during the summer before I have to return to work. He told me that he agrees and he'll make sure he's not late.

As for how he's doing...

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 (but as we know, Evan already surpasses this). 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.

5 weeks to go!!

Baby Shower #2

This morning was my baby shower and I had an amazing time! Since the invitations were baseball themed, the shower was as well. My sister, sister-in-law, Mother-in-law, and dear friend were all such wonderful hosts. Thank you to all who came and were there to celebrate with me!!

Since it was a "baby" shower, there were plenty of babies there to go around! This is my niece, Mara, with Carter and Benjamin.

My belly shot!

TONS of delicious food! We had salad, veggies and fruit, mini burgers, and mini-corn dogs (to keep the baseball theme going). I LOVE CORN DOGS!
Alison Terry made my shower cake. Not only was it beautiful, but delicious too! Thanks, Alison!Mara couldn't wait to have some!
Playing one of the shower games - matching celebrity babies to their parents.My sister gave me these bibs.
I am in love with this hat! I tried to wear it, but it doesn't fit.This frame is awesome! It has a Cleveland Indians pendant with a space for a picture. I can't wait to see a photo of Paul and Evan at their first Indians game together!
My mom, sister, and myself.
Thank you again to everyone that came!!