34 weeks

34 weeks.

Just 6 more to go.

Maybe.

Today we had the 34 week checkup and baby has a strong heartbeat and is in the down position, so unless he moves (i don't even want to know what that would feel like as he is SO big already), we're on track for a regular delivery. The doctor wants me to finish up the bottle of "no contraction" meds and then I'll be a little short of 36 weeks. He said at that point, given the size of my belly (and the corresponding size of the baby), it will be up to the baby to come whenever he wants.
I'm really rooting for an early October delivery since I'm so stingy with my time off from work/paid time off of work that I'll have to use, but kiddo is going to come whenever he wants to.

I turn 30 in just a few short days and am finding that I'm not as frightened about it as I once was, given that I have lots of other worrying to do (baby, work, other things). My mom is coming to town for the weekend and we'll get all of the kiddo's clothes washed and the nursery finalized. Then it's just waiting time.

E's parents are throwing another shower for us the following weekend, and I'm really excited for that too. Provided that the baby doesn't come early :)

33 weeks

Ian and I just got back from a short trip to RI for a baby shower thrown by my Mom. Pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150046&id=736320258&l=8fc5bc1c7d.

We've been home in VA for a couple of hours and we've already unpacked the presents. I need to start on my thank-you notes, but I think i'll wait until tomorrow night. Tonight I think we're going to watch the DVR'd new Project Runway and eat our pizza....

so tired and just 7 more weeks to go!

32 weeks...

Got back from the doctor's a little while ago. Everything is status quo at this point. I'm starting to get lots of aches and pains related to pregnancy and my hormones are starting to really rev up, which I'm sure is fun for everyone around me.

When the doctor measured my belly today he said I'm measuring 4 weeks bigger than where I'm supposed to be at right now. When I asked him what that meant, he said that I'll just be having a big baby and that I'll still probably go to 40 weeks. He also reminded me that this baby is on his own timetable, so who in the heck really knows :)

We're heading up to RI for our first baby shower tomorrow and e's got a wicked cold. I'm really hoping he's not miserable the whole time...especially since we have to drive up and back in three days.

That's all for now.

the best thing to come out of the L&D visit today...

we got to see peanut again! here's our sleepy baby. his eyes are closed at the top of the frame, and you can see his little nose and the top of his mouth. the round thing towards the bottom is his hand (if that gives you any perspective).

still not quite sure what you're looking at?
ian's devised this helpful key:

31 weeks...oh hello baby!

so ian and i decided to go to church this morning for the first time in a month. we get to church and by the end of the service, i was having severe cramping. thinking that i might be getting some cramps because i was dehydrated, i had a bottle of water as we were driving back to our house. we were supposed to go out to ian's folks house for lunch and at that point, we decided to go home, see where my pain was at, and then head out to manassas.

by the time we got to the house, the pain was coming in pretty consistent waves and i decided to call my ob/gyn and ask him what to do. we waited for him to call us back for 20 minutes and then i decided we were just going to go to the hospital and have him call ian's cell phone (we live 20 minutes from the hospital). about 10 minutes from the hospital, the doctor called. ian repeated all of my symptoms to him, and he said, okay, head right to the hospital and go to labor and delivery.

at that point, i was starting to get really panicked thinking that i was going to deliver this little boy today (the contractions were pretty regular and painful). we got into labor and delivery, got checked and then i was put on the fetal monitor and given some medicine to stop the contractions. the doctor determined that i was having contractions, but since they weren't doing anything to my cervix, that we didn't need to worry about anything. they still wanted to stop the contractions though because i was in a tremendous amount of pain. long story short, they determined that it has something to do with my IBS and so now i'm taking another medicine to relax my uterus for the next month or so. longer story short, the baby is totally fine and he weighs 4 lbs (!!) right now. we got to see him blinking and sucking his mouth in the sonogram and we have a picture of his face now. i didn't think it would be anything i wanted to see until he came out, but there he was! :)

so now i'm completely wiped out and looking forward to an evening with the best husband ever (he's going to be a WONDERFUL labor coach) and my healthy, kicking baby. what a day. what a day.

30 weeks?

okay. now is the time for a nice, deep cleansing breath. i'm 30 weeks along? in seven weeks, i could potentially be tucking my son into this very empty crib (except for the cat that I keep finding in it)? in ten weeks I will almost definitely be doing so? where on earth did the time go??

my dad and stepmom (mim and da) were here this past weekend and we had a great time visiting and hanging out. we went up to baltimore on friday for the orioles/red sox game and despite the earlier crazy thunderstorms and traffic, we ended up staying for 7 innings of the game and it was a really great time. i can't wait to bring this little boy next year to his first trip to the yards. :)

i start my "every two weeks" doctor's appointments on thursday and then in september we move to every week. we head up to RI in three weeks for a short visit, and then it's going to be my 30th birthday before i know it! 

and then the baby will be here. the next ten weeks are going to absolutely fly by!!!