38-1/2 Weeks and Still Nothing

Dr. Eyvazzadeh: "Where's the baby?"

Me: (thinking he means Nathan who he enjoys seeing each week) "At home with Grandma."

Dr. E: "No, I mean where's this baby?"

Me: (sighing) "I wish I knew!"

Yes, that's right...still no baby...and not many signs that she's planning to make her appearance any time very soon. I had a lot of cramping this week and a few contractions off and on, but when Dr. E checked me, he said, "No change." Disappointing...

I've been walking as much as I can and we even gave in and ate another pizza with special labor-inducing powers...and all I have to show for that is gas pain, yippee!

I know she'll come when she's ready and I really don't want her before that (unless there's some medical reason she needs to be out sooner) since God knows best. Just trying to be patient...but waiting and all this anticipation is getting to me!

Estimating the Baby Girl

This morning we had our long-awaited 38-week ultrasound to estimate Miss Ko's weight and see her position. She's head-down already and Dr. Eyvazzadeh said she has a "big head." Based on the head circumference, size of the abdomen, and length of her femur, he estimated her current size at 7lbs. 14 oz. Of course that's just an estimation...it's hard to know for sure when the baby is still inside. But we're happy that everything seems good with her and that before long she'll be joining us! I'm not at all dilated but have been having some contractions off and on for the past day or so. The doctor said walking can help things, so I'm planning some serious walking in the next week! More info to come...

Baby Spice

Nathan was up extra early this morning after having NO nap yesterday. I got up with him at about 6:15 and was waking up myself while he was tootling around, as he usually does in the mornings. He was in the kitchen drawers as usual, but today he decided to find out what was in the top drawer where I keep all the spice jars. Next thing I saw, he was carrying around a packet of gumbo spices that I'd bought awhile ago but never got around to using. A few minutes later it suddenly got very quiet in the kitchen and when I walked over to see what was going on, there he was... sitting on the floor, packet pulled open, gumbo spices all over the floor and Nathan, and Nathan happily eating the spices...mostly smiling but every once in awhile making a face that said, "Whoa, was it THAT taste?!" Unfortunately, the camera was in the other room and I never would've made it back without Nathan following me...it was priceless though!

36.5 Weeks and Counting

Went to see the OB this morning. All is well with the Little Miss--her heart sounds strong and she's head down, ready for action. We'll have our last ultrasound next Friday to estimate her size and make sure we're all set. I haven't gained anything for the past 3 visits, but Dr. Eyvazzadeh said not to worry, especially given my terrible heartburn. He said as long as I'm not losing, he's not worried. I so appreciate his easy-going attitude. He did say I can try Zantac for the heartburn, so I'll pick some up today. Mylanta, my usual standby, hasn't been helping much lately, so bringing in the big guns should help. Made the rest of my OB appointments, too, and I laughed when the receptionist stopped at the August 7th appointment and said, "We'll just wait and see beyond that..." I told her I hoped I could even cancel that one! It all feels very surreal right now--I know there's a baby on the way but it just doesn't seem possible. Just a few more weeks...

Because One-Handed Isn't Enough...

Can you tell we're starving this boy? Clearly he's malnourished...that must be the reason he's eating graham crackers from BOTH fists, right??

Yes, this is our son, the boy who SHOVES food into his mouth as if someone were lurking nearby, ready to take whatever morsels he may not inhale quickly enough. It's almost like the people I know who've grown up in large families, with lots of siblings. They always tell me that you learn to eat quickly because if you don't, the food will be gone. I assure you, this isn't the case at our house, but somehow the little man takes his eating very, very seriously...

Ride 'em Horsey

Nathan got this "horse" (yes, I know it's a zebra...) for his birthday from Aunt Marie and Uncle Philip. He's thoroughly enjoyed playing with it while standing up, spinning the little thing that makes music play. If you sat him on the "horse", he enjoyed sitting there but would quickly get down. Sometime this week he figured out how to get on the "horse" on his own and now happily bounces along for several minutes at a time.

Unfortunately, once I brought out the camera, the super-cute faces/poses promptly stopped, and it was all I could do to snap a few pics before he bee-lined for the camera. Little turkey...

Boxing Nathan

Nathan's understanding of language seems to be increasing by leaps and bounds each day. His use of "language" is improving, too, although his vocabulary still consists mainly of dada, mama, nana, tata, etc. He uses all kinds of inflection with those "words" so we know he's on his way to talking soon.

Today I was trying to pack a box of unused things around the house just to make space for more baby stuff and Nathan was "helping" as usual. He carried the box out of his room as I was getting the pile of things together. He walked back in a few minutes later when I was ready to start packing. I said, "Nathan, bring Mommy the box" thinking that was wishful thinking. He tootled out of his room and I heard John say, "Oh my gosh..." and then I looked over to see Nathan carrying the box into his room...a funny sight given that the box was as big as him almost!

I've heard people say that the time between 12 and 18 months is so incredible for language development and we're learning that it's all true. We're so excited to hear his first real words...to finally get a window into his little mind.