Baby Kicks

As you can see, Abigail and the baby are already friends. She rests her head on my belly and the baby kicks it. It’s very sweet how she doesn’t seem to mind, or maybe she likes the kick. We wonder if she knows there is a baby in there. Speaking of the belly, this is what it looks like now. I know, it seems ginormous compared to my pre-pregnancy state!

We had another appointment with Dr. Polon today, and he said all is going very well. We told him that we watched a video online of a woman delivering her baby’s placenta and we were both completely floored—we had no idea that it was so big and balloon-like. Dr. P said, “It kind of looks like a big What-A-Burger!” We talked about pain medication, and he said he thinks I'll do fine if I don't want to have it. He said he is very careful not to give epidurals too early in labor because that can sometimes stall the natural process. I am reading and preparing so that I can forego medications, but it is good to know all the available options just in case something happens beyond my body’s control.

As for the appointment specifics… my weight is now up a total of 21 pounds to 147, and my blood pressure is still around 100/60. The baby’s heart rate is still in the 130s range. The fundus measures 33 centimeters which means that the size of my uterus is exactly in line with how many weeks pregnant I am—33 weeks. So the baby seems to be just the right size for its “age”—not too big, not too small. I am still feeling really fantastic with lots of energy. My sweetheart thinks I’m sexy despite my burgeoning belly, which I very much appreciate! So far I have escaped all of the dreaded final trimester symptoms like feeling uncomfortable, backaches, hemorrhoids, stretch marks, etc. The only difficult thing is tying my shoes. We have seven weeks to go!

Drew is going to post a blog soon because he built a little something for the baby. It is so cute!

How about "Shimmer"?

Today we saw Dr. Polon for a check-up. He is always so cheerful at 9 a.m. despite being one of those docs who works all hours all the time. We aren’t sure how he does it but we’re glad he does! Today our baby’s heart rate is in the 130s range, and my blood pressure is 98/60. My weight is now 144 and I’ve gained 18 pounds. Dr. P says everything is going perfectly. As you can see by my belly, our little baby is growing. We have a little less than 10 weeks to go!

Drew talked to our 4-year-old niece Sophia last night on the phone. She said she wants her cousin to be a girl with long hair named Shimmer. We think that is the most inventive suggestion we have received yet. As every expecting couple probably does, we have received many opinions on names. Although we have a small list going, we are mainly undecided. When we settle on some possible names we are going to keep them to ourselves. Everyone has an opinion, but lucky for us -- ours is the only one that matters!

We bought some books about birth this weekend to prepare ourselves since we aren’t taking any birthing or baby classes. Dr. P said to bring the books to our appointments if we have questions, and he will go through the answers with us. I can’t think of a better birth class teacher than Dr. P anyway, so this should work great for us.

Also we investigated the diaper decision. We both assumed we would use disposables, but then we bought a package of them for nearly $20 and learned the entire package will last little more than a week. Yikes! Also, we learned that one child creates about two tons of unbiodegradable diaper waste in her first two years of life. So, we looked into all-in-one cloth diapers and think this is the way we'll go. Hopefully our baby will like the Fuzzi Bunz!

Our baby has been moving and squirming a lot, even when I'm on the treadmill at 6am which is when she/he is usually quietest. So I know someone is getting stronger in there!

We've got a squirmer

Our baby is an active one. He/she has been moving constantly in the last month. Luckily, it has not kept Catherine awake. I guess she's used to the yoga party going on in her stomach. The baby is especially active around 9:00PM. Hopefully this is not the routine once he/she is on the outside.

Catherine has been playing a lot of music for the baby. We're hoping that once the baby is here, he/she will respond to the music. We've read that by playing the same music to a baby that you played for them while in the womb, you can calm them down. This may come in handy.

Catherine just recently read that the baby's head is growing a lot right now. This of course has her worried. Most of you may not know this but I have a massive noggin (thanks mom). Hopefully, this is not passed along to our little one or I could be in the dog house come March 22.

Abby had a big week. We took her out to the park and broke in her new Flying Squirrel. She almost fainted from overheating, so I had to run her down to the lake to cool her off. Of course once we got to the lake, she just waited for me to throw her fetch toy, which I did not have. That didn't stop her though because she just jumped in and went searching for it anyway.

A few days later, Abby received her big Christmas gift. As you can see, she is really enjoying it.

Longhorns are #1 Baby!

January 4th brought a little football game known as the Rose Bowl and the 2006 national championship. Although we were nervous and cringing at times, we were overjoyed by the 38-41 Longhorn win in the final minute. Needless to say there was a lot of cheering, jumping around, pacing and finally sheer happiness. When Vince Young ran the final touchdown on 4th & 5, Drew cheered and I cried. What a moment! We could not sleep and stayed up well past 1:00 a.m. watching the highlights. Baby was bumping around this entire time probably because of the adrenaline. Wear that burnt orange proudly folks -- Texas is #1!!!

In an attempt to wean ourselves from football season, we have gone to a few Texas basketball games. One of the partners at Drew's firm has center court tickets on the floor that come with catered pre-game dinner and quick game plan talk from one of the coaches. We love these nights out and our baby seems to like the hip hop music and buzzer noises since she/he often kicks a lot during the games. Living in a college town with big time sports to cheer for has been so much fun.

Meanwhile, back to the reason for this blog. I saw Dr. Polon this week for the blood glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. The test was negative despite woofing down lots of dark chocolate Enstrom's Toffee over Christmas (oops). Blood pressure was still 100/60, and my weight is up to 140 putting me at 14 pounds gained. I imagine my already big belly will expand quite a bit in the next 2+ months since our baby still has to double in size. Stay tuned for those ridiculous pictures! Now I begin seeing Dr. P every two weeks.

Hook Em Horns!