Week 34

This week, on average, most babies now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Ryder was just under that about 3 weeks ago, so I wonder how much he weighs now. We will get to have another sonogram after 37 weeks and see if he's turned head-down and how big he is. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. The need to worry about preterm labor has pretty much diminished; babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

As for me, I've still got a decent amount of energy, but these hot days are kind of getting to me during car rides and things like that. Russell always used to freeze me out every where we were, but now I'm the one freezing him out. I never thought I'd live to see that day! My bladder is also taking a major beating lately. I think Ryder is starting to drop and use it as a punching bag. Not too much longer to go!

I'm really excited about our baby shower coming up next week! My mom is coming up with so many cute ideas for it :) Can't wait!

Here is what baby boy might look like this week:



And here I am:

Week 33

Hello all :)

This week, the average baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (about like a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. However, "little" Ryder was over 4 lbs at his 31 week sonogram. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Our little guy is growing right along and I'm growing with him. It's starting to get a lot harder to get out of bed and I was reading thru a funny article about all of the things that pregnant women miss during their nine-month "heist." One girl mentioned missing being able to get out of bed or off of the couch without having to roll off. Haha, so true!

Here is what Ryder might look like this week:



And here I am:

Week 32

Oh my goodness, busy busy busy! Lots has been going on, including the nursery being completed (paint and flooring-wise). It is so dang cute I can hardly stand it! Heather did an amazing job on the walls and Russell did a beautiful job on the floors. Here's what it looks like with the crib in there. I can't wait until it's actually totally done tho :)



We picked out a dresser this past weekend (on July 4), so we should be all set furniture-wise after that gets here.

So at this stage of the game, I ought to be gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to the baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). I know he's got at least some hair, because we were able to see it on the last sono. His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.

To accommodate me and Ryder's growing needs, my blood volume has increased 40 to 50 percent since I got pregnant. Pretty crazy huh? I've had to get on iron pills in order to make sure that I've got enough iron in my blood since I'm on the now-normal end of the spectrum right now. I kind of feel weak when I don't take them.

All and all, everything is moving right along as hoped!

Here is what mister Ryder might look like this week:



And here I am:

Week 31

Hello all :)

The biggest news of this week is that we had our 3D/4D sonogram! It was so neat to see Ryder in 3D :) He was hiding his face for most of it, but the ultrasound tech was awesomely diligent about trying to get Ryder to move his arms out of the way so we could get a face shot. Here are some of the better pictures that we got:











You can see where he was holding onto his feet in a breech jack-knife sort of position. He really didn't want to move out of that position at all...little stinker. I'm still so excited that we got to see his little face, even if it was only for a few seconds. He even gave us a little smile once :)

The doctor told us that he is measuring about a week ahead of "average" and was over 4 lbs. He's also on target for a growth spurt here pretty soon, so I hope he doesn't get toooooo big! Of course, I hope he grows according to God's plan for him and comes out nice and healthy and strong. I can definitely tell that he is getting bigger, because I can see my whole belly shift around when he moves. It's not the occasional jump or flick of motion anymore. He's really getting big! Also as of this week, Ryder can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin.

Here is what little man might look like right about now:



And here I am:

Week 30

Hello all :)

I cannot believe there are only TEN WEEKS LEFT (give or take) until Ryder is here! It seems crazy to think that 30 whole weeks ago we found out that we were about to go on this incredible journey to parenthood :)

We've made some progress on the nursery. All of the tan walls are painted and Heather has made some good progress on the "wood" wall. Here are a couple pictures of what it is starting to look like:





Also this week, I scheduled classes up at the hospital where I'll be delivering (Medical Center of Arlington) for our child birth prep, breastfeeding and infant safety info. Those will all be coming up the first week of August. I've started getting more and more Braxton Hicks contractions, but my doctor told me they are nothing to worry about unless they are about 5 minutes apart for one to two hours straight. They aren't really painful, but more like pressure. Everything in my belly gets really hard and I just feel pressure all over and on my lungs. Not the most fun thing to ever experience, but not as bad as I thought they'd be.

If he is growing at an average pace, Ryder is now about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in my uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face (Normal adult vision is 20/20).

I am sooo excited that I finally scheduled a 3D/4D sonogram for next Friday! We will finally get to see what our little guy looks like (if he cooperates). I can't wait a whole week for that! But I guess I'll have to :)

Here is a picture of what Ryder might look like now:



And here I am, feeling gigantic:

Week 29

Hooray for baby bedding! At my work shower last week, my mom suprised me with the fact that she bought Ryder's mattress and bedding for me. That all arrived this week and I couldn't wait to get it all set up. I didn't even wash any of it first haha. I set everything up and took a few pictures before I threw everything in the wash. I couldn't resist :) Here are some pictures of the setup:





We also started painting Ryder's room this week. We are painting three of the walls with a light tan color and the fourth wall is going to be painted to look like old barn wood. I got the idea from a room setup image that came with the bedding we got :) It's so cute!!! Heather has been so incredibly amazingly awesome to offer to paint the wood for me since I'm not *supposed to be* around all of the paint. I can't wait until it's done!

These days, baby Ryder now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds on average (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain (it will be a big one if it's anything like his daddy's hehe). To meet his increasing nutritional demands, I'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. My doctor prescribed me an iron supplement because I'm at the point where I need to maintain my levels because they're getting kind of low. This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in our baby's hardening skeleton each day.

Here is what baby boy might look like about now:



And here I am:

Week 28

Hello third trimester!

Since last week, we've decided to tear up the carpet and go with a laminate wood floor that matches our office. I'll need to start looking for a rug or something to put down now to act as a sound absorber. I can't wait until everything is done and we can start setting up his room :) The crib came in this week and I came home to Russell getting it all set up for me! It's so pretty!

Also this week, my coworkers threw me a suprise baby shower! It was so much fun! I came into the kitchen at work expecting to be walking into our 'lunch and learn' thing that we do every couple of weeks where we learn about a new topic related to the software we use at work. However, this time I see my mom and sister, Heather, and Russell all sitting there! I was like um....what's going on!? Haha. Turns out there was no lunch and learn and it was all just a cover-up for the shower :) Here are a couple pictures of that:









And in baby growth news, by this week, Ryder weighs somewhere around two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures, on average, 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels. He can blink his eyes, which now sport lashes. With his eyesight developing, he may be able to see the light that filters in through my womb. He's also developing billions of neurons in his brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Here is what Ryder might look like right about now:



And here I am: