Week 37

Your little one is now about six pounds in weight and measures slightly more than 20 inches in length. Growth will slow down now, so your baby will be able to fit the narrow passageway to the outside and so he or she can store up the energy needed for delivery. (www.whattoexpect.com)

Well folks, it’s week 37 that we’re working on now! On Friday I will be full term!!!! How crazy is that? We’ve successfully made it through a great and relaxing Thanksgiving weekend. Paul and Julie and the kids were over (mom’s brother and his family, for those of you who don’t know) and Joanne, Bill, and the girls (dad’s sister and his family). It was fun to all be together. We did have one strange happening, over the weekend, however. Keith and I went home for the day to take a break, get stuff done at home, and relax. We planned to go back to mom's that night. Well, we were sitting on the couch watching a movie. The baby was kicking pretty hard (like normal) and I didn't think anything of it. But then after one of his kicks I heard a pop from inside my stomach!! It sounded like someone was cracking their knuckle. I looked at Keith and said 'did you hear that??' he said 'yeah what was it??' he thought I cracked my knee or something. But i hadn't moved. Just after that the baby's movement stopped and when he did move they were very small movements. So I freaked out (of course) and called the doc. Hamilton was the one to get back to me, and she said that movement changing was normal but the pop sound was not, so I should go in to the hosp to get checked out. At first I thought my water broke-- that seemed like the only possibility. But I wasn't leaking and there was no gush. So we went to the hospital and they put the baby on a heart monitor and me on a contraction monitor for 20 minutes. The nurse said everything looked normal, so she sent me home! But she couldn't tell me what the pop was- she had never heard of it before. I hope the baby is ok!! He's moving like normal and everything, but it was just all so weird. Fortunately my appointment on Tuesday is with Hamilton- the same doctor who called me back. You’d better believe I have some questions lined up!!
In nursery news….Drum roll please…it’s finished!!! Thanks to my wonderful husband, that is. We brought home a glider my mom re-covered the cushion for, and on Sunday, Keith put together the bookcase he was refinishing. It looks awesome! I did all the little finishing touches: put books and stuffed animals, a memory box, a piggy bank, and some baby books (the ones you actually record in) on the shelves. I also hung the quilt-square wall hangings near the glider and over the crib, and it looks SO CUTE! Keith hung the quilt over the changing table to add to the wall. It definitely looks like a nursery now! Every time I walk by it, I have to stop and peek inside. I’m so excited! I have every intention of putting pictures up, but have been really bad with it. I’ve just forgotten, time and again. I have pictures from one of my showers, but I look very…oompa loompa-like (only slightly taller)…so maybe I’ll take some neck-down pictures for the sake of belly recording. He is kicking and moving more than ever now! You always see those pictures of babies folded in half, in the womb. It is not so for little Collier. He has his head down, his feet stretched to one side, and his bottom on the other side. He likes to do this thing where he kicks off my stomach on the one side, causing his butt to bounce off the other, which makes his feet hit again after the butt bounce. Evidently this is fun because he did it for a good 15 minutes straight, last week. I think he thinks he still has tons of room to move around…no one has told him that he’s getting bigger and he really shouldn’t do these things. Sometimes he moves around so much and kicks so hard that even my tummy rubbing, which normally stops him, isn’t enough. But when daddy talks, he listens. Keith will come over (when I’m at the end of my rope) and talk to him, while putting his hands on whatever body parts are jutting out, and he calms right down! Once he is calm, Keith will move his hands, and the baby will start right back up. Sometimes we have to repeat the process 2 or 3 times to get him fully calm. Conversely, this method also works when I get a little nervous about how little he is moving. If I go through long, quiet periods, it can make me nervous, because he’s obviously an active little guy. So I ask Keith to come over and wake him up, for peace of mind. Keith just has to come over and talk to him a bit, and he wakes right up. It’s good to know that he knows daddy’s voice. We’re both getting really excited to meet him, and to be parents!Keith put together the stroller (RV), car seat, and pack-n-play over the past two weekends. We have spent a great deal of time trying to figure these contraptions out. There is nothing “pack” about the “pack n play” though…it’s harder to collapse than it looks. Keith and I were viewing it as something we could easily use every weekend if we wanted to up and go to mom and dad’s, but something tells me after one or two trips, that will be nixed from the option list and it will be reserved for longer trips only. It will be very handy to have downstairs for the first couple of weeks, however. Who knows- maybe we’ll get it down to a science and take it everywhere (?).

I picked out two outfits to bring to the hospital to bring the baby home in, yesterday. One was lighter, so we can use it if we’re allowed to put the ‘bundle me’ car seat blanket in (sometimes hospitals don’t let you put anything in but baby). The other one is heavy and fleecy with built in feet. We both kind of stood there for a minute trying to envision how much of the outfits he will take up. I’ve heard opinions across the board of what his size will be, but I can’t help but envision a little peanut (though average sized for a newborn) who doesn’t quite fit into everything just yet. Anyway, what else I packed…I’ll have to bring his new hat and mittens from the Ricard family, to keep him nice and toasty. I also plan to bring the baby book from Claude to fill in, in between contractions. J It will give me something fun to do. The weekend’s experience with the last minute hospital run pretty much ‘warned’ Keith and I that the baby could come at any time, now! I should make a list of items I want to bring, today, so that if I have to pack in a hurry, I can. Keith and I both think the baby will be coming earlier than his due date. Between how crowded he is in my short torso, and how active he is, he’s bound to trigger earlier labor. When it comes down to it, we will take him when he is ready to come. I am anxious to move past the “I’m an elephant” stage of life, and stop looking like a sausage in whatever I wear, but not so much so that I would want my baby’s health to be compromised in any way. I’ll wait as long as I have to.
A funny aside—my dad has taken to calling the baby Noah. He is convinced that’s what his name should be “because his bedroom is nautical”. So at family gatherings (ie: Thanksgiving) he refers to the baby as Noah in front of family, and as a result, everyone thinks his name will be Noah. Everyone ‘awww’s’ and comments on how cute it is. But when Keith and I tell them that we have not yet decided on a name, and Noah is simply dad’s whim, they all seem disappointed and some even suggest using Noah as a middle name if we haven’t found one already. Time will tell. I do intend to blog about what the names are that we have chosen (both of them) after the baby is born.

That’s about it for now…I’ll keep everyone posted!