Holy crap! I don’t have many more of these updates to write!
All of the baby’s systems are now pretty much developed and she would probably be perfectly fine if she were to arrive now. Of course, it won’t hurt for her to hang out for a while longer and continue to fatten up. I’d been on high alert for signs of labor since I hit 37 weeks (I’m almost 38 now, as I write this), but after our doctor appointment on Friday, I’ve relaxed since it looks like the baby is in no rush.
My doctor “checked” me for the first time, which is a nice way of saying she felt my cervix (not super pleasant) to see if I’d made any progress toward going into labor. She said that my cervix has begun to thin out, but hasn’t dilated at all, and the baby hasn’t dropped. At this point, I’m feeling pretty confident I’ll make it to 39 weeks. Our next appointment is this coming Friday, when I can get checked again if I’m curious — of course I am! — so we’ll see if there’s any progress then.
Everything else is still looking good: my blood pressure is normal, the baby’s heartbeat is strong, my belly is measuring on track, and I’ve gained a total of 35 pounds. The recommended weight gain throughout an entire pregnancy for someone with my pre-pregnancy BMI is 25-35 pounds, but I strongly believe that should be adjusted to take Girl Scout cookie season into account. 😉
I continue to feel surprisingly good, other than some tightness between my shoulder blades that was bothering me this week. I visited my chiropractor for the first time in a long time, and he cracked the crap out of my neck and back — so good. He recommended I come in twice a week until the baby arrives, which I’m more than happy to do to stay as comfortable as possible. I also had a prenatal massage, which took care of the lingering tightness. I’ve scheduled one last massage for 39 weeks, so we’ll see if I make it!
The weather continues to be beautiful in Seattle, so dresses are still my jam. I attempted to make this maxi look slightly different by layering a shirt over it instead of a denim jacket. It… sort of worked? At least I was comfortable!
My co-workers threw a baby-book shower for me this week, which is the tradition for our team since we’re a bunch of word nerds (copywriters and copy editors).
For some reason I expected there to be a super-casual pile of books, but I was so touched by the effort everyone put in to make it a really sweet shower! It was a lunchtime potluck with plenty of food and desserts (yesss!) to go around.
I was sweating and red-faced the entire time I opened gifts because it was slightly stressful to have everyone looking at me. I’m still one of the newer members of the team, as I only started my job in July, but I’m so thankful to have such wonderful co-workers who I really love working with (seriously, not a bad one in the bunch!) and who keep me laughing pretty much all day, every day.
Fun story: Technically, day one of my pregnancy was also the same day I started my job! A pregnant woman’s due date is calculated as exactly 40 weeks from the first day of her last period, and I vividly remember getting my period on my first day of work, July 21. I wasn’t actually pregnant at that point, of course, but I got pregnant shortly after, and that’s just how doctors calculate the due date. Weird, huh?
So thank you, co-workers — and especially my boss — for being so supportive of the new girl who wasted no time in getting knocked up!
At a baby-book shower, you might expect there to be repeats of some classic books, but the only repeat I got was one I wasn’t expecting: Corduroy, times three! This was amazing because Corduroy was actually my beloved childhood bear, yet none of the three women who gifted it to me knew that; they all just loved the book when they were kids.
Now we have copies for our house and for the grandparents’ houses. 🙂 Corduroy is pretty pleased with the whole situation.
Aaron and I finished off the week by touring our daycare and paying a deposit to secure the start date! Again, I’m so relieved to have this taken care of before the baby arrives. I have no idea what the daycare situation is like in other cities, but in our kid-packed suburb, daycares give priority to families who already have an older kid who goes there, so it’s hard to secure an infant spot as a new family. I’ll pass along the same advice we got early in our pregnancy to other new parents-to-be: Get on those waiting lists NOW!
The weekend kicked off with one of the most spectacular weather days we’ve had in a while — blue skies, a few puffy clouds and temps in the low 70s. Aaron went on an all-day mountain-bike ride with a big group of friends, so I took a meandering two-hour walk (including plenty of bathroom breaks and bench time to rest) and covered 4.5 miles.
It was sooo nice to be outside in shorts and a T-shirt, soaking up the sun. I did wear SPF 30 — no worries, Mom. 🙂
Aaron got home Saturday evening just in time to rinse all the dirt and blood off his legs (standard mountain-biking life) and get ready to go to a 30th birthday pizza party thrown by our friend Gillian for her husband David.
It was warm enough to eat outside!!! Yayyyy, Seattle!!!
Gillian made the most delicious cupcakes! How cute is this couple?? That night also happened to be their six-month wedding anniversary. I was a mere 11 weeks pregnant at their wedding, and I remember being hyper-aware of the teeny-tiny bulge in my belly at the time. In fact, I never posted this photo anywhere because I thought someone might notice. HAHA.
Back to the pizza party — it was so much fun, and my friends’ gentlemen were very fascinated by the belly. They kept thinking they felt the baby moving, but it was just me laughing at them.
The next day, we got a head start on celebrating Aaron’s upcoming 30th birthday by having a wonderful lunch with his dad and stepmom, and then dinner with his mom, stepdad and grandpa.
Have I mentioned how much I love both sets of my in-laws?? They are the best! I’m a lucky girl to have become part of their families.
I don’t know anyone who loves her son as much as this lady. 🙂
And that brings us up to speed! Aaron’s actual birthday is tomorrow, which is also the day I hit 38 weeks. Things are looking good for Aaron to not share his birthday with his daughter, which is great since we have fun plans to celebrate!
Hopefully I’ll be able to write next week’s recap to share it with you all. After that, we’ll be ready for this kiddo to come anytime!
Dev on Running 