Week 29 Update

I'll keep this one relatively short. For those of you who are not on facebook (and for the Jordan's who haven't seen this video yet), below is a link to a video I did for Grandma and Grandma Jordan, so that they could see the nursery. Jason encouraged me to also put in on facebook, and since then I've enjoyed sharing with other friends. We love how the room is coming together!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFV2qM_2gp4

And now for an update on our baby girl in her 29th week, per babycenter.com:
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.

Week 28 Update

We are officially in the 3rd Trimester! That means we have 27 weeks down, and 13 to go until our baby girl arrives. We are so excited!

Our next doctors appointment is this Friday. Now that we're in the 3rd trimester, we'll be seeing the doctor once every two weeks (instead of once a month). Once we hit the 36 week mark - meaning only one month to go - we'll see the doctor each week.

And for another update - we've signed up for childbirth class. It's a three week class on Tuesday nights, starting June 29th. It will be held at the hospital where we will be delivering the baby, which is great because it means we'll get the tour as part of a class (one less thing to have to do, since I was going to schedule a time for that anyways!). Our doctor recommended lamaze, since they'll focus on techniques to get through the pain, but will not be judgemental about getting an epidural. Apparently some of the other types of classes will lecture you if they hear you're going to get an epidural. But God made smart people in the world so that they can give us relief during the most painful time of our life. I plan to thank God for that as I roll over for the first needle I'll ever be glad to see. I will say though - my plan is to get as far as I can without it (without going past the point of no return). That's partially because I'm curious as to how much I can take, but also because I realize the big downside of an epidural is that it often slows down the process (which sometimes leads to the need of a cesarean, which I really want to avoid).

Now for the update per BabyCenter.com. She's growing so much - sometime soon I'll post a picture of my pregnant belly!

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Week 27 Update, a Couple "Holy Cow" Moments, and Baby Names

I'm feeling a bit chatty this morning, so am going to cram in a lot here :)

First, a couple "Holy Cow" moments that I'm going through this week:

• HOLY COW! Our baby girl is due THREE MONTHS from yesterday!
• HOLY COW! This is the last week of my third trimester, which means she's only going to get bigger, and at some point soon, I'll have to get brave and find a way to get her out of me!

Now that I have that out of the way, I'll share an update on names, since many people have been asking.

First, I want to ask a favor - we'd LOVE to hear your opinions. But, we only want the good ones - like how much you love the names, or which is your favorite. You might have a story of a girl you knew in high school that you didn't care for - after all, it's natural to associate names with someone you knew. But please keep that memory to yourself. Negative opinions about names we love - and potentially the name we are going to pick - really bring us (me) down! If you have any other ideas to add to the list, we'd love to hear them. Our plan is to have 2-3 names as potentials, and then pick one of them when we meet our baby girl.

That said, we have two front runners:

• Madeline Grace (we'd call her Maddie for short)
• Aubrey Grace

We also had Lillian Grace (would call her Lily) on the list, but we're thinking of scratching that one off the list. We keep hearing of others naming their baby the exact same name, which makes it feel a little less unique. Too bad - I wish we had the idea first!

Before I move off the topic of names, I HAVE to share a funny story. A girl I work with has a cousin in Memphis, who works as a nurse in the Labor & Delivery unit. She had a few really fun (or sad, rather) stories about names mothers gave their children:

• One mother chose to name her child something that is spelled C-H-I-N-E-S-E. Does anyone else think of the language Chinese? So the nurse commented on how interesting the name was, and pronounced the name as the language is pronounced. The mother was irritated, and said, "no, it's Shiness! Why can't anyone say by baby's name right!" Well, maybe because you spelled it like the language...
• Another mother named her son Nosmo. The nurse asked how she came up with that, and the mother said she had a vision as she was being wheeled to the ER. It was later that day that the nurse walked through the hallways of the ER, and saw a sign that said "No Smoking". And, the mother's last name is King. I feel so bad for that child, having NoSmoKing as a name! Although it is a great life motto.
• Another mother named her son Jron. Or that's how the nurse thought it was spelled. The mother got irritated at the mistake in how the nurse spelled it, saying "No - it's J - coma in the sky - R-O-N" (J'Ron).
• My favorite - a mother named her daughter La-a. When the nurse asked how that's pronounced, the mother responded "Ladasha - but the dash aint silent!"

Don't worry. I didn't get any ideas for names from that story :)

And now for the update on our baby girl, from babycenter.com:
This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

Week 26 Update

Our baby girl is doing well. I feel her kick more and more strongly every day. In fact, we were able to SEE her kick for the first time last week! We couldn't tell what body part it was, but we'd see my stomach bulge as she kicked in certain spots. We had a great time watching her dance that first night!

I got the test results back on the gestational diabetes test, and we are all clear. They did find that I'm a bit anemic, but that's nothing some iron supplements won't fix (I started taking them the day I got that news).

And now for the update per babycenter.com:
The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days