Week 37

Less than a month to our due date!

I wonder if Ryder will want to hang out in his cozy current home that long, or if he will come early. I kind of hope he's a little bit early so that I'm not trying to deliver a gigantic baby :) I get to see how big he is in a few days! Can't wait :)

Ryder is now considered "full term," even though my due date is three weeks away. If I go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz. I can't believe there's so little time before we finally get to meet our little man and see what he looks like :)

The classes at the hospital this past week were really good. I'm glad we took them to get a little more information to help us prepare for what we are about to experience. I am still planning on going with no epidural. The part I'm most worried about is the healing part afterwards lol. I think I am fully capable of handling the contractions and delivery, just not looking forward to recovery.

I'm currently trying to find a pediatrician for Ryder and have an interview with two of them in Burleson this coming Monday. I'm looking forward to having that part covered and out of the way so there's one less thing to worry about. The dresser is getting delivered Monday also, so everything is just about ready! Not that there is really a time when you can say you're fullly "ready." Maybe prepared is a better word. One thing that I know Russell and I are both ready for is to hold our little baby and get to meet him for the first time and start bonding and living the rest of our lives together :)

Here is what Ryder might look like this week:



And here I am:

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 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 27

Hello all :)

I can't believe I'm already in the LAST WEEK of my second trimester! It's crazy to think that there are only 13 weeks left until Ryder is here! I need to get my booty in gear and get some stuff done! Thankfully, I was able to get the rest of Ryder's soon-to-be room cleared out and we just need to decide if we want to leave the carpet in there or put down other flooring. Any thoughts? Then we can start painting and decorating! I ordered our crib today, so we will be getting that in next week. I'm excited!

As far as Ryder's developments go this week, he weighs somewhere around 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended. He's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes, and perhaps even sucking his fingers. I think he is mostly a day sleeper and likes to wake up and play in the mornings and at night. He's super wiggly then :)

With more brain tissue developing, our baby's brain is very active now. While his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he were to be born now. I can likely chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements I may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. I hadn't really thought about it, but there are times when he has twitched several times in a row. Maybe it was the hiccups! I will have to pay better attention to that now. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother him, so I can't wait to just relax and enjoy the tickle :)

Earlier this week I had my glucose test for gestational diabetes. I had to drink a small cup of what I can imagine hummingbird fluid would taste like. It was 'fruit punch' flavored and had 75 grams of sugar in that tiny cup! I was so desperate for water about five minutes after I drank the gunk haha. Anyway, they make you drink the stuff and then take your blood a while later to test your sugar levels and how your body reacted to the sugar. I haven't gotten my results back yet, but I assume I'm good to go.

I feel like Ryder has really grown a lot this past week. I've been pretty comfortable for the most part, until I feel our little man stretch out and I can tell he's taking full advantage of all of the space he's allotted inside my tummy. He's been pushing on my lungs a lot and using my ribs like marimbas :) I'm really glad that I have a pregnancy body pillow to sleep with at night or I think I would be having a really hard time getting comfortable at night. If anyone would like a recommendation, I have the Boppy Total Body Support pillow. It's awesome :)

Here is what Ryder may look like this week:



And here I am:

Week 24

This week was a fun one :) We got to see Ryder again at the Arlington Perinatal Associates and my mom got to come with us this time! He was being a little shy and hid his face for most of the sonogram. We got one little frontal view and then he crossed his arms in front of his face and would only let us get a look at his mouth and nose. But we caught him holding onto his feet at one point and that was pretty darn cute :) He was totally healthy and his heartbeat was about 144. We don't have anymore sonograms scheduled at this point, but I think we are going to go get a 3D/4D sono sometime soon.

Here is the video from our most recent appointment:



Our little boy is growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. The doctor told us that he is right at a pound and a half, which is right where he should be at this stage in the game. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Here are some pictures from our last sonogram:












And as for me, in the past few weeks, the top of my uterus has risen above my belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball. That's kind of a lot to take in haha. It's weird seeing my belly button getting less deep too. Pretty soon it will be popping out! haha

Most women have a glucose screening test (also called a glucose challenge test or GCT) between now and 28 weeks. I actually have this scheduled for May 31. This test checks for gestational diabetes, a pregnancy-related high-blood-sugar condition. It's not going to be a fun appointment from what I hear (lots of time spent just sitting there for hours and drinking some yucky orange-soda-without-the-carbonation-like stuff and then getting poked with needles). Yay! Not.

Here is what Ryder might look like this week:



And here I am: