Thirty Five Weeks

What Baby is Doing:

Got iron?
It's very important to eat lots of iron-rich food in the third trimester. Your baby absorbs this crucial mineral from your body to build up iron stores in her own body, mostly in the form of red blood cells. The majority of the absorption takes place in the final months before delivery.
Heads or tails.

"Should my head be up or down?"
The head-down, or vertex, position is the ideal position for birth. Labor goes more smoothly when the baby's head, the largest body part, comes through the birth canal first. About 3 to 4 percent of babies haven't flipped to this position by 35 weeks. If something other than the head appears first, the delivery is called a breech birth. Amazingly, despite the tight quarters in your uterus, your little acrobat may turn several more times before she's born.

Measuring up
Your baby's arms and legs are getting chubbier as she continues to gain weight. By the end of this week, she may weigh up to 5.5 pounds and measure around 16.8 to 18.5 inches long.

What Mommy is Doing:

What you should know about Cesareans
No matter how much thought and preparation you put into it, childbirth (like parenthood) can be unpredictable. There's always a chance your doctor will decide that there is some risk to you or your baby and, as a result, will deliver your baby by Cesarean section. A Cesarean birth is one in which the baby is delivered through a surgical incision in the mother's uterus.

Nearly one quarter of the births in the United States are Cesarean births. So even though the odds are that you won't have the procedure, learn about it now so you'll know what to expect if it's needed. Ask your doctor which circumstances he or she believes call for a Cesarean: Would he perform one if your baby were in a breech position, for example, or if your labor had stalled? Also ask your doctor to describe how he performs a Cesarean—the procedure can vary slightly from doctor to doctor.

The ABCs of GBS
Sometime between now and 37 weeks, your health care provider may test you for the Group B streptococcus (GBS) bacterium. About one third of pregnant women carry the bacterium, which is harmless to you but can cause an infection in your baby if he contracts it during delivery. The test is simple: Your doctor will take a swab from your vagina or rectum or will perform some tests on a urine sample. If you test positive for the GBS bacterium, you may receive antibiotics intravenously (through a vein in your arm) during labor and delivery.

While We Are Waiting:

Mommy and Daddy are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby.

When will it be?

What will the weather be like?

Will it be at night?

Will labor begin at work or at home?

Will it happen on the weekend?

Will the baby be early or late?

We hate waiting!

The Draining Hourglass

Today is Thursday, January 25, 2007.

We have exactly one month until our due date!

Get ready for Squirt!

Baby Chores

It might seem like the baby is the last thing on my mind lately since I haven’t written anything in so long, but I can honestly say that the baby is exactly why I haven’t had a chance to write!

Chris and I have been busy every minute of the day trying to get ready for this baby before the big day.

We took our tour of Labor and Delivery at our hospital last weekend. The tour was too long and not very informative, but I was so grateful to actually see where we would be in labor and where we would spend the first few days of our baby’s life outside of me. I’ve been having difficulty imagining our labor and delivery, but now it feels more like an impending reality to me. Just one step closer to being ready for baby.

I’m trying harder now to exercise and practice my relaxation techniques everyday. It’s really not hard to do, it’s just hard to find time and energy at the end of the day. I’ve been experimenting with different labor positions to learn what is comfortable now that I’m large enough to eclipse the sun, which is very different from what was comfortable when I was only six months pregnant.

Chris and I still make time to marvel at the wonders that transpire in my belly everyday. Just this morning, Chris mentioned that my belly isn’t round anymore. My belly is lumpy. And the lumps move. We are perpetually trying to guess which Squirt part is sticking out. I’d also like to say that it is fun trying to guess which Squirt part is smashing my lungs or banging my ribs or giving me heartburn, but that part is not as much fun. I keep hoping this baby will drop soon, but I’m sure I’ll regret that, too. I’ve heard that I’ll be tinkling more (is that possible?) and I won’t be able to sit or walk comfortably. BUT, I will be able to breathe. Seems like a reasonable compromise.

Chris recently received very important advice from a co-worker regarding how to know when the baby will arrive. Once you feel like you simply can’t stand being pregnant anymore, you still have one month left before the baby will be born. So, Chris has been asking me everyday, “Do you feel like you just can’t take it anymore?” So far, my answer has been “no,” which is very frustrating to Chris! He is ready to meet his baby!

In the meantime, we’ve been busy with lots of other chores. Chris finished building a bench for our kitchen and reorganized all of the cupboards. We need to file our taxes. We need to write our birth plan. We need to pack for the hospital.

At least we’re making some progress. I went shopping last night to buy a snow suit just in case we need to take Squirt outside without his car-seat (which has a winter cover). I returned home to find an almost identical snowsuit already hanging in Squirt’s closet. I forgot I already bought one a couple of months ago.

Hopefully, the rest of our preparations will be done with more efficiency.