Weekly Update - 33 Weeks

from babycenter.com

How your baby's growing: 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.

How am I feeling: Hard to get up after sitting down. Sleeping is painful. But otherwise pretty good. Oh yeah, and the colostrum has arrived!

Doctor Appointment

Had a doctor appointment today. Blood pressure good, measurement 33cm, heartbeat good. I did get another blood draw today. Apparently they lost the order for my anemia test last time so they had to do it now. No biggie.

So I go again in two weeks and then after that it is once a week! Time is definitely flying. I'm trying to enjoy all the belly-baby movements. While I can't wait to see her, this being my last pregnancy I will definitely miss feeling her wiggle in my tummy.

Oh and for future reference... don't ever make an appointment at 3pm on the day before Thanksgiving... traffic getting there was nuts!

Belly Picture - 32 Weeks

32 Weeks!

Weekly Update - 32 Weeks

from babycenter.com

How your baby's growing: 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.

How am I feeling: Fine really. Hard to breath sometimes, or rather just a lot of shortness of breath. A little heartburn now and then but not to bad really. Sleeping is still a pain, but I don't expect that to change really until after she's born... when we really won't be sleeping! :)

Belly Picture - 31 Weeks

31 Weeks

Weekly Update - 31 Weeks

How your baby's growing: This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

How am I feeling: My only complaint is sleeping. I lay on one side for awhile and am fine and then after awhile my hip and butt hurt so bad it wakes me up. So I try and roll over which is not only a process but hurts in itself. Once on the other side it takes awhile for the pain to subside and I'm fine and go back to sleep... few hours later I do it all over again. After a few rounds of this both sides hurt and I have to get up for awhile.

Moya moves a lot, day and night, but it doesn't really bother me or keep me awake. I like knowing she's there.

Heartburn is starting to creep up but honestly it hasn't been that bad really. Not like how I had with Belle. And a few Tums seems to take care of it.

Doctor Appointment

Went in for a routine appointment today. Baby's heart rate is at 154, uterus measuring 32.5cm. All seems to be going well.

I asked her about the thigh pain and as I suspected she said it was just normal ligament stretching. She said the flip side is that normally means a quicker labor. So... more discomfort now means less later I guess? :)

I also asked about relief from my confused bowels (either everything moves to fast or two slow). She said I can take tums for the to fast and Citricil for the too slow. :)

Next appointment is on the 26th.

Belly Picture - 30 Weeks

30 Weeks!

Weekly Update - 30 Weeks

How your baby's growing: Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

How am I feeling: My inner tighs and pelvic area are killin me, but other then that I'm fine. Pretty soon I need to start figuring out what I'm going to do work wise after she's born, that's also giving me some stress. But I'm enjoying feeling her moving around so much and looking forward to meeting her. :)

Guess we need a new one!

Who knew that car seats come with an expiration date?! Go figure but apparently they do.

I was looking at the bottom of Belle's old car seat and noticed it said on there "Do not use after December 31, 2008." I called Evenflo today and yup, car seats come with expiration dates. It makes sense really. They do that because the safety standards change and this way it ensure (hopefully) that people are not using car seats that are no longer considered safe.

They do have a good shelf life... 6 years. But for those of us who waited a good amount of time between kids it means ya get to buy a new one.

The stroller we have that came with the car seat is still good however. BUT, the only car seat that would fit on in a safe way to it is another evenflo car seat. A model called the "Embrace Infant Car Seat." But looking at it online it didn't seem to have the best ratings.

So now the delima. I want to buy something safe above all else. But do I go ahead and shell out more for another travel system (carseat and stroller)? Or do I just get a car seat and make due with the stroller we have even though we couldn't use the car seat carrier with it?

The one I like is the Quinny 3 stroller and the Maxi-Cosi car seat. They fit together. But they also are oodles of money. The car seat alone is 170! The stroller is 550!!! Darn thing should be made out of gold for that price! The car seat also has some reviews saying how small it is. So maybe it wouldn't be a good choice when I just know I'll have a big baby. But then Melissa fit Noah in her's just fine and he was born bigger then belle.

But I can't afford it anyway so we need to look for an alternative. Looking online right now I see a couple potential options:

If we go the Travel System option here are a few that look promising:

1. Safety 1st Acella Sport Travel System : This one looks nice (online at least) and isn't too horribly expensive (146.80 on amazon). Good ratings. I'd need to see it in person first because one of the things I'd want if I get a new stroller is something that isn't huge and bulky.

2. Chicco Cortina Travel System : Looks from the picture a lot like what we have now. Its a bit more expensive (289 on babiesrus). Good ratings but I dunno... need to see it.

Another way we could go would be to, instead of a travel system buy a car seat and then a car seat frame stroller to hold it. For example:

1. Graco SnugRider Infant Car Seat Stroller Frame (48.80 on amazon with good ratings. Looks like it folds up nicely.) which wold work with either the Graco SafeSeat Infant Car Seat (116.22 on amazon) or the Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat - Giselle (139.99 on amazon)

2. Kolcraft Universal Infant Car Seat Carrier (52.49 on amazon) Says that is fits most car seats.

So will need to do some hunting around soon. Not like we can go to the hospital without a car seat! :)

Belly Picture - 29 Weeks

29 Weeks!

Weekly Update - 29 Weeks

How your baby's growing: Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds ( like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

How am I feeling: Okay. Getting pretty uncomfortable and had some, what I think were, Braxton Hicks yesterday. But mostly I'm doing just fine.