Baby Journal: Week 37

We received a few different brands of diapers from various people...not sure what is best, but we plan to use Pampers.

All of our girl's clothes, blankets and swaddling supplies for her first 3 months!

Just look at her cute little shoes, socks, headbands, bibs....this is her "accessory" drawer, hehe!

This is where our Little Lady will be sleeping- in place of the giraffe. Don't worry, giraffe, little lamb and boppy pillow will not be in there when our little lady is...for safety reasons :)

Bags are packed, bed set up....we are ready....Molly doesn't know what to think about all of these changes...

I had to do a quick model in my Dad's old running shirt from his college days. Thanks Dad, your old t-shirts are the BEST!

Frontal view

And of course you get the side view...my poor belly button...

September 14, 2010

How far along am I today?

37 weeks….oh my…we are closing in…

What is the favorite thing you ate today?

I prepared my Great Grandma’s Pineapple-walnut cookie dough on Sunday…and have been baking a few fresh each day. Don’t worry, I limit my intake. I have great self-control. These cookies are really truly quite delicious, especially fresh from the oven. AND they don’t have too much sugar, etc…so I count them as being a “healthy” cookie…with the pineapple and walnut, you know…

How’s the food stuff coming along? Cravings? Aversions?

Not much to say about food. I am bored with grilled cheese and carrots for lunch. I am craving a deli-meat sub and maybe some potato chips or some form of mac salad…or Panera bread. I am also sick of my usual breakfast of granola, yogurt and strawberries. I don’t really have the ability to vary up my daily meals…since food here is expensive and expires quickly…I just have to eat the same thing day in, day out.

Any new symptoms this past week?

Yes. My fingers are swelling- which nobody notices because I’ve always had long, skinny fingers, but I sure notice. We took some of our maternity photos this weekend and I insisted on wearing my wedding ring. I iced my hand prior to, during and after prying the ring off of my finger. I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to get it off at first, but I ran cold water over my finger for awhile and I managed. Thing is…we need to take a few more photos this Saturday…and my ring better fit!

What about the exercise routine?

I switched back to pilates this week and I kind of feel like it’s not as extensive a workout as my other DVD. So after this week, I will probably switch back. I like feeling the burn…and yes, I know I am 37 weeks pregnant…but that doesn’t mean I can’t feel the burn.

Sleep…is it good/bad/mediocre?

Sleep is terrible. Not only do my hips and shoulders KILL from having to sleep on my side, but I am now suffering from insomnia. I wake up to go to the bathroom and feel hot- the weather has warmed up here in Joburg quite a bit and our bedroom is the hottest room in the house….so then I just lie awake in bed forever…sometimes an hour or more at a time. I am a horrible napper, so I’m pretty exhausted. I know people say you get little sleep after the baby is born. Well, I am sure this is true. But I am looking forward to that sleep. Because at least when I do sleep, I will be more comfortable and I will, indeed, SLEEP.

How big is the baby…and/or what does he/she resemble?

Our Baby Girl weighs about 3 kilos now (as of Wednesday’s appointment). That is a little over 6 lbs. We didn’t get the length….but she is definitely “watermelon” size!

And special milestones for baby?

Our sweet girl is ready for delivery….but she’s nice and cozy in my womb. Doctor still says our girl’s head is nice and low where it should be (although it’s still not quite low enough!)…and she is facing the correct direction, umbilical cord is not near her neck (so there’s not really a risk of that happening)….all good things. BUT…Doctor thinks we still have around 10 days before this Little Lady decides to begin her real exit. We were hoping for 8 days…

How about the baby’s activity?

At our Wednesday appointment, we hooked up to the baby heart rate machine for about 15 minutes. Basically the Doctor then looks at the baby’s heartbeat pattern and is able to somewhat gauge when the Baby might arrive. If the heartbeat is all over the place that means it might be a little longer. If her heartbeat is steadier, then she is more ready. Our Girl….she was moving a bit too much and so her heart rate was not steady- boo! My excuse is that she didn’t like the noise of the machine and the pressure of the machine against my belly- her space. I also had a few fruit snacks right before getting hooked up. So maybe the machine is wrong? I can hope…

Did anything special (besides the baby growing!) happen to me this week?

Nesting has set in with a vengeance. I completed washing all of our daughter’s things on Friday, then I ironed everything that needed ironing. After that, I reorganized our closet space and cleared out two shelves and a couple of drawers for our daughter’s clothing and blankets to intermingle with our own. This weekend, I put Ben to work and we set up the pack’n’play.

Yes. We are using a pack’n’play for our girl to sleep in throughout the first 2.5 months of her life. This is something I continue to battle with because in my former job, I had to ensure that babies and toddlers were NOT sleeping in pack’n’plays. Because they aren’t consider the safest. However, here in South Africa, that’s what everyone uses. They hardly know what a crib is….well, they DO, but they wanted to charge us upwards of $200+ to RENT a crib for 2.5 months. To purchase a crib here would cost closer to $400. It just didn’t seem wise for us to spend that much money on something for 2.5 months. So...I am doing my best to accept that we must use a pack’n’play. We did buy a brand new sturdy mattress for the bottom as well as side-sleep positioners. We also have a back sleep positioner.

Moving on… my bag is also packed for the hospital.

So I’ve done all of the nesting I can do for now. I am very much looking forward to setting up our Baby Girl’s lavender and white nursery at home, though. I have many ideas I am aching to put in motion… It’s going to be ADORABLE!!!

What was the most random thing that happened this week?

Hmmmm, random. I suppose there are a couple things. Yesterday at the grocery store the cash register lady and I had a conversation:

CR lady: “Are you tired?”

Me: “yes!”

CR lady: “How far along are you?”

Me: “37 weeks.”

CR lady: “WOW! You are close!” she pauses and smiles, “I am 14 days pregnant!”

Me: “oh congratulations!”

Okay, so I thought this was kind of random because how does one know they are 14 days pregnant? I didn’t know you could tell that….but ok. It was still a fun conversation to have and the lady was quite sweet.

Also, this weekend as I was getting ready for bed, Ben says from across the room: “Wow, I keep looking up and expecting to see just Amanda, but then I see Amanda AND baby. I don’t think I will ever get used to you being pregnant….” Haha ;) Me neither!