Full moon

Not only do I feel like a walking full moon, but tonight is actually a full moon.  There have been tons of studies done to see if its true that more women go into labor and babies are born during a full moon but there has yet to be any conclusive evidence.  There are theories about the gravitational pull of the moon in this phase, and it probably takes into account if you are a werewolf mama.  In any case, I will not spend my evening pointing my belly to the sky or baying at the moon.

Little blueberry is not so little anymore.  It is officially the size of a mini watermelon.  Seeing as how I can't see my feet over my belly, I'm not sure how mini this watermelon really is.

The baby is wiggling and jiggling and is pretty much saying "let me out of here!".  Last night, it was moving so much at bedtime, that it kept me up even though I was exhausted.  I am now waking up 4-5 times in the middle of the night and the worst part is having to rearrange myself and all of my pillows each time I get back into bed.  There is a process that I have to go through each time, arranging the pillows in their correct spot, making sure that I am sleeping on the opposite side of how I slept in the last sleeping set and making sure my belly is propped up.  Whoever thinks sleeping is easy is wrong!

Yesterday was my last day of working at the shul and they planned an ice cream party in my honor!  There were 4 kinds of ice cream, strawberries, wafers and toppings galore!  There is no excuse better than having a very pregnant lady in the office to break out the ice cream.  It was really sweet of everyone and we all enjoyed the treat - Blueberry included!

10 day countdown!

Blueberry says "Now you see me...

Now you don't!"

Well, today is the official 10 day countdown! We went to the doctor again and they said I am still at 1 centimeter but looking good. I think the doctor was expecting me to be disappointed that I am not further along but I am still having a fun time being pregnant.

I love watching and feeling the baby move and think I am really going to miss being pregnant. I know there are so many things to look forward to when the baby is actually born but lucky for me, I've had such an easy and fun pregnancy that I will miss the feeling of actually having Blueberry inside.

Seeing that the hospital run can be any day now, Chris and I have our bags packed and ready to go. There are just a few last minute things that we will each have to throw in when we are ready but the suitcases are sitting there waiting with clothes, snacks and toiletries. 

My next appointment is a week from Thursday, which just so happens to be my due date.  We'll see if I make it to the appointment or not!

38 weeks

38 weeks down... 2(ish) to go!

At this point, the baby could really come any day.  I am considered to be full-term and all of the babes organs are fully developed and it would be safe to have the baby any time from here on out.

We went to the doctor on Tuesday and they said I am 1 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced.  When I asked the doctor what that means about when I will have the baby, she said "Your due date is still September 6th - so it could be any time from now until a week after that."   Not very helpful as far as planning family travel... so at this point, all I can do is sit here and wait for Blueberry to be ready to make an appearance!

I have my suitcase mostly packed and ready to go - assuming that when its really time to go to the hospital, I can throw in a few last minute things.  I created a 4 hour playlist the other day for labor/delivery with a mix of fun, pump up and relaxing songs that we can plug in at the hospital if we want.

Most of my baby books are done, with the only chapters left unread being the ones about after the baby comes home.  

Everyone at the shul keeps coming into the office and peeking in to see if I am still at my desk. Some of them look a little disappointed to see me still sitting there.  Others are just realizing now, when I stand up, that I am pregnant.  Next week is my last week of work and then my only job will be mommy!

Baby flips

Now that the Olympics are over, the baby has had some free time and doesn't need to practice anymore... which is a good thing because there isn't much space anymore for practice!

You know that thud you hear when you put shoes in the dryer?  Well, that is the sound that I feel like my belly should be making all the time.  I just feel these huge movements that are really clunky and thunky and my belly shifts every which way.  Its fun to watch and there's certainly no missing it , but every once in a while, it causes me to wince.

Our last doctors appointment went well and she said that the baby seems like it will be in the 8 pound range now, but that I should be able to handle it easily cause I'm tall.  We'll see how that goes!  She also told me I wasn't ready to have the baby yet this week cause I was too happy.  We have another appointment tomorrow so we'll see what she has to say this week.

I've decided that if I could chose, I want the baby to be born on September 8th.  That way, everyone's travel plans work well and if its a boy, the bris will be when everyone is already scheduled to be in Chicago!   Obviously I can't do anything about it but if the 7th comes and goes, you better believe I will be doing everything I can to induce labor so everything can happen before Rosh Hashana!  

The votes are in

Thank you to everyone who voted on the Baby Survey!  Votes have been counted and the results are below.  There are some trends that I am seeing - the main one being that most people think that the baby will be born on my birthday - what a fantastic birthday gift!

When the baby is born, we will go back and determine the winner for each category!  Thanks for playing!

36 week appointment

Yesterday, we went to the doctors office for our 36 week appointment.  This was the last of our every 2 week appointments and from here on out, I will be going in once a week to check in.  As of yesterday, Blueberry is still cooking and isn't ready to join us yet.

The doctor said that everything is looking great and that the baby is at the 68th percentile for weight and they are very happy with the way the baby is growing.  At our last ultrasound, they took measurements and said that everything was perfect - music to an almost-mother's ears!

Blueberry is the size of a honeydew and it seems like we are going to be staying in the melon category from here on out.  I guess that's what happens towards the end, there are only so many categories of baby-sized fruits left.

The picture above was the best image they could get of the baby at our last appointment.  What you are looking at is the baby's face and torso (face in the middle, chest on the left).  See the dark dot in the middle?  That's the baby's eye.  From there, you can kind of put together the rest of the image.  It sure looks like chubby cheeks to me - but there's really no surprise there, is there?