Week 37

As promised, here is the week 37 update. I brought back the developmental update down below.. Two years ago when we hit 37 weeks with Perry we were at "full term". The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recently decided to change the definition of full term and to push it to 39 weeks. Now 37 - 38 weeks is considered early term, 39 - 40 is full term and 41 on is late term. Our OBGYN's take on the change is that planned C-sections were being scheduled as early as 37 weeks and there has been enough research conducted to lead to the conclusion that waiting just two more weeks makes a difference in the newborns overall outcome. Amazing to think that after almost nine months of gestation that two more weeks matter, especially when it comes to lung development. We had read during Perry's pregnancy that there is a chemical that is released by the baby when their lungs are fully developed which in turn signals to the mother's body that it is time to move into labor. Such a strong reason for us to try to go VBAC for this baby and be able to wait for her signal in order to let the magic of nature take place on its own.

Speaking of magic, Chris has been sustaining me with pastries over the last few weeks. He has made brioche cinnamon rolls, ginger raisin scones, chocolate croissants and cookies. I am still thinking about the cinnamon rolls. My god they were amazing. I do love it when he gets hit by the baking itch!

We are holding Perry's birthday party this Saturday, so more baking goodness is on its way. We are going with a western theme. I am excited to be able to give Perry a day that will be all about him before his little sister is on the scene.

Week 37 Developments -

Your due date is very close now, but doctors don't consider your baby "full term" until 39 weeks. Spending the next two weeks in the womb allows your baby's brain and lungs to fully mature. So if you're planning to have a repeat c-section, for example, your practitioner will schedule it for no earlier than 39 weeks unless there's a medical reason to intervene earlier. Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (about the size of a bunch 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
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Week 36

Baby B is certainly getting ready to vacate! During my weekly OBGNY visit this week my Dr. confirmed that she has indeed dropped. My fundal height had decreased which means she has in fact lowered down. Wild. We put together the co-sleeper this week and it is waiting in our room ready to go. Feeling like the time has officially come to put together the hospital bag. The whole idea of packing the bag though is somewhat perplexing to me. I spent a good deal of time focused on that last go around and then it turned out we really didn't need it, at least not right away. If all goes to plan this time we should have hours between knowing labor has started and time to head to the airport, plenty of time to pack a bag! Yet here I am again, thinking about what should go in it and looking up lists on the internet for suggestions. Although it was a good excuse to buy new slippers.

We actually hit 37 weeks this past Thursday. I am hoping to get that pictures up this weekend.

I can't help but continue to think on my experience with Perry. We would only have two more pictures to go if this was last time!

 

Week 36 Developments - Baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (or over 7!) 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 his nine-month amniotic bath. Baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, which will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

Maternity and Nursery Pics!

We had maternity pictures taken on February 1st and are so pleased with how they turned out. Our photographer, Liz, took our family pictures a year ago. We will have her back again for the newborn pictures and another session after Adeline turns one.

Here are some of my favorites, although it was really hard to choose! The gold bees on the nursery walls are such a nice contrast to the pink, Liz was really able to capture how the light bounces off of them.  Love the puppy shots too.

The nursery is set and mostly ready to go at this point. The mobile I ordered showed up a few days after our session (man how I had wanted it to show up on time!) but it looks great in the room. I will post a picture of it later on. We still need to get the closet situated and some photos up on the wall. Nothing though that couldn't be done after this little one shows up.

We also had an ultra sound today. Results were good. She had a heart rate of 153 and they are estimating her length to be between 16" - 17". She is also coming in at 7lb 3 oz, yoza! That puts her at the 73 percentile. I think I am changing my original guess that she is coming late and siding with Chris now that she might show up before her due date. Mostly because she is just going to keep on getting bigger! I do think she has dropped, in fact I am rather sure it happened on Sunday on the way home from brunch with friends. She feels lower now and I have pressure in my pelvis that wasn't there before and it seems that I am able to breath with less effort. She is making her way into position.

I will post the picture for 36 weeks tomorrow.  This post has plenty going on as it is!

Weeks 31 - 35

Round two of catching up.. Here we are in February and the weeks continue to fly by. I read the other day that there is a psychological aspect to the last month of pregnancy. Basically you are uncomfortable enough that it forces a woman to become mentally prepared for having the baby. In other words, get out and give me back my body! I do believe I have crossed over that line. Don't get me wrong, being pregnant is a magical and wonderful experience. But maybe a little bit less so when there is someone else’s appendage stuck in your ribs. Or when the sweet darling is using your bladder for a pillow. Or when you find yourself seriously considering asking your massage therapist for help with putting back on your socks..

We are certainly rounding the bend though, I took my last traveling work trip last week. Flew down to Philly for meetings in Mt. Laurel NJ and a celebratory dinner (recently resigned my largest client for 4 more years, lovely). Chris and I really dived in this weekend and finished the nursery. We had maternity shots this past Sunday which was great motivation to get it done. I promise to take some pictures soon to post. The room turned out really well, I can't help myself but to go in there at least once a day and take it all in. Perry keeps asking me if we can "go hang out in Adeline's room". I love the language and phrases he picks up and how he uses it.

Speaking of New Jersey, Chris is in Parsippany this week for work and then his travel winds down also. I am looking forward to savoring these last weeks as a family of three together before this new little one joins in on all the fun.

I do have a few medical updates to share also. We had an ultra sound back on 10th of January. Baby B is officially head down and they estimated her weight to be at the 4 lb 5 oz, which is at the 50th percentile (although at this point she is a least a pound bigger if not more). She has a nice round belly which came in at the 80th percentile and a heart rate of 160. There was some concern that my placenta might be too low to allow for a VBAC. Luckily they marked this in my charts but neglected to tell us so we didn't know it was a concern until they were validating that in fact it was not. The placenta is high enough to not interfere.

Our next and probably last ultra sound is on the 10th of February. They gave us some 3D images last time, curious if they will do that again this time. The technology is certainly impressive but you still really have to use your imagination. It is like taking a picture of someone who has shoved their face up against a window, not really very pretty.

And here is the rest of the weekly pictures, or really more bi-weekly. I do plan to post weekly from here on out. Although you know what they say about best laid plans..

I'm back! Weeks 25 - 30

Happy New Year! Between traveling to Austin for Thanksgiving, a week-long national sales meeting for my company in Orlando, spending the week of Christmas in Salt Lake city, a slew of allergies, colds and the flu... Well our little family has been rather consumed over the last couple of months and the blog was an unfortunate bystander. But I am back now and plan to see it out for the rest of this pregnancy. We have been trying to keep up with the pictures but have missed a week here and there along the way.

Speaking of this pregnancy, baby girl is coming along quite well. She gets bigger and stronger every day and wakes me up at night with her kicking and hiccups. Perry knows her name, although sometimes when you ask him what it is he says Santa Claus which is pretty darn adorable. Chris bought him a book about being a bigger brother for Christmas and it one of his favorite bedtime reads. We finished painting his new room and moved him in a few weeks back. We also converted his crib to a toddler bed which he loves. His room has carpet and he loves rolling around and practicing his somersaults. He is more a little boy and less a baby every day.

I thought I would break up the updates this week into two. I am planning to post weeks 31 - 33 this week, I hit 33 this Thursday. Part of me can't believe how quickly this is going by and the other part is tired of waiting. So stay tuned, more to come this week!

24 Weeks

The weather is really starting to cool down and we have had a few fires in the fireplace over the last few weeks, which to me really kicks off the change in seasons.  This Saturday was a rather nice day and we were able to get outside and winterize the yard.  Perry helped me clear out the garden (he does love pushing dirt around) while Chris took care of the lawn.  It felt nice to get outside and move around.  When Chris was done he took Perry for a few laps around the house on the mower, so he was one happy little guy. 

Hard to believe we only have 16 more weeks to go.  With the holidays right around the corner and with trips coming up to Austin for Thanksgiving and Salt Lake City for Christmas, the rest of the year is going to fly by. 

 

Week 24 Developments

Baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. Since she's almost a foot long, she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

23 Weeks

Adeline Lou Allen

A few weeks back I randomly picked up the baby name book and begin over again on the first page of girls names. There was Adeline, and after saying it out loud a few times I decided it was worth mentioning to Chris. He liked the name also and we started talking about nick names like Ada and Addie. We decided to take the name to the top of our list.

A week later I had gone up into the attic to put a few things that Perry had outgrown away in storage. I came across a Cabbage Patch Kid doll that I had bought 5 years ago while we were living outside of Philly. I had been at the grocery store and walked down the seasonal isle, which I never do. They had these 25 year anniversary Cabbage Patch dolls and there was one that looked just like the doll I had as a child, blonde side braid and everything.

So after mulling it over some I decided to buy her with the thought that one day if we had a daughter I could give it to her and if not I could be that crazy lady with a doll still in a box. The doll has moved with us since then to three different houses and all the way up to Maine. Back in the attic, I picked her up from where she had been tucked away and decided to take a look at the name. I don't think I ever really had before. This is what I saw..

 

I was stunned. After staring in disbelief I took her downstairs to show Chris. He couldn't believe it either and said "so I guess her name is officially Adeline now". If we were looking for some kind of sign, it has been delivered.

I called my sisters and my mom afterwards. My mom and Kim confirmed that the doll is indeed the same one I had as a kid. It turns out the 25 year anniversary dolls were made using the same molds that the originals were. So five years ago I bought a doll, my doll, to give to our future daughter and she already had her name, how amazing is that? I am still in awe. Adeline, we have been ready and waiting for you for a long time.

 

Week 23 - Development Update
Baby's sense of movement is well developed by now. She's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango). Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that the baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as dogs barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.