Week 33: Becoming More Immune

Week 33 brought 2 more showers for Baby G! We are feeling very lucky to have so many people "shower" us (ha ha :) ) with celebration and gifts for the baby. First, Tom's parents threw us a shower in Wisconsin where many of his relatives and friends from the church he grew up in were able to come to. My parents also came for it so that was fun to have all four of the grandparents-to-be together! Tom's favorite gift from that shower had to be the Packers onesie and matching Packers stocking cap we got. I'm sure Baby G will get lots of use wearing it this football season! Here's a photo of the Denisons and Getchius's at the shower:

Then in the middle of the week Tom's coworkers threw a shower for the both of us. It was very sweet that they invited me along too. We played a game there where we had to guess the costs for a bunch of typical baby items--diapers, bottles, nooks, formula, etc. We're still newbies at buying for most baby items so it was a good reality check to get an idea of how much each of them cost. For some we overbid, others we under bid, so it was educational. Tom's boss's wife knit a blanket for us, so we've definitely gotten lots of really thoughtful gifts from these showers! With the three showers in a row the nursery has really come together. Really the only other things we need are a rocking chair and a changing pad to change his diapers on, then the room will basically be complete. Yay!

This week we also had a prenatal appointment with our nurse practitioner. Baby G is measuring right on target. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but up to week 36 they measure the height of your uterus in your stomach and for every week it measures 1 centimeter. So this week it's 33 centimeters high. I guess after week 36 a lot of babies start to drop lower so it's less accurate after that. But regardless, I think it's pretty neat that the measurements work like that. We also learned this week that at my doctor's office the latest they let women go overdue is 1 full week overdue. So it's nice to know that the longest I'll be pregnant is a full 41 weeks-whew!

As for baby, this week he has maxed out the amount of amniotic fluid that there will be till his due date. With this, his kicks and punches feel a bit more pronounced--and that's true! Also pretty neat: I'm passing antibodies to him to help build his immune system.

This week I was hit with significantly worsening back pain. This is really frustrating for many reasons as I really like to be active and it's been difficult not feeling up to moving around as much. Tom has been a trooper giving me extra back rubs and our heating pad has been getting a lot of use too. I've also been doing more of my workouts in the pool at the gym we go to which helps to take some of the pressure off. An old coworker of mine recommended a place for pregnancy massages that I'm going to check out next week. They evidentally have tables that allow you to be able to lay on your stomach so I'm really looking forward to that.

Finally, here's week 33's baby bump:

Week 32: 4 Pounds!

Baby G has now (most likely based on averages) crossed into the 4 pound mark and is approximately 19 inches long! As more fat collects Baby G is looking less transparent and more opaque. That's good, because a see-through baby might be a little alarming :) It's crazy to think he's approaching actual full term baby size. It makes it seem all the more real and makes me all the more excited for his arrival!

This week was a fabulous week. We had our first baby shower thrown by my wonderful girlfriends. We call each other the WOWZAs which stands for Women of Wild Zany Adventures. We get a kick out of referring to ourselves using this acronym and we even refer to the husbands of the WOWZA women as the MANZAs. Our group started with friends from college and has grown to expand some additional friends we've met and gotten close to since college. We get together as much as we can since we all live spread out over the midwest, but manage to be able to make time for get-togethers every couple of months. I love them each dearly and they did one heck of a job on throwing a fabulous shower. The shower included craft time where we all decorated one-sies with iron on sayings and pictures. They turned out just darling. Then we played a baby shower themed version of the game Cranium which was also a riot. I was overwhelmed by the amazing gifts Baby G got at the shower and I must say I'm feeling much more prepared now for his arrival. We got tons of adorable baby outfits, blankets, bath items, items for his car rides, you name it! Thank you to each of you who came, it meant a lot to me! Here are some pictures from the shower:

First, me and the grandmothers-to-be:
Me with the WOWZAs!
All of the lovely women at the shower (minus Sue, Kate, and Katy)
The super fun one-sie craft!
Showing off the name tag they made for the baby entitled, "Baby G fetus":
Also this week we began our first child birth class. It's a 3 week series put on by the same organization that we went to for our Breastfeeding class a couple weeks ago. The class is really informative and it's just really nice to be around couples who are all due around when we are. It's also nice to learn more about when to go to the hospital. Everyone in the class is delivering at Methodist Hospital and they taught us the 5-1-1 guideline. Basically when my contractions are every 5 minutes apart, last for 1 minute, and this pattern lasts for 1 hour is when we should go to the hospital. There are obviously other reasons why you'd want to go to the hospital but this is the main guideline they have us follow. For some reason I always felt like you went to the hospital the second contractions start, but I was obviously wrong!

Last but not least is week 32's baby belly pic:

Week 31: Big Brain Growth!

Week 31 brings some important growth: more growth with regards to the connections in little Baby G's brain! He's now able to use all 5 of his senses, including being able to track light and process information he hears from the outside of the womb. He's also having longer stretches of sleep (hopefully learning this technique quickly to help us after his birth!!) and I have noticed there are more defined patterns of his movement and his resting periods. In terms of his size, he is a little over 18 inches long and over 3 pounds, with a projected 3-5 more pounds to gain till his B-day (birth day :) ).

As for the mom-to-be, I'm noticing things getting a bit more cramped as far as room in the belly goes. When I work out I notice that there's less space to take real deep breaths but I will say I've been dedicated to working out regularly which has really helped me feel like my muscles are staying loose. The other not so fun symptom lately has been major leg cramps, though. For some reason they always strike in the middle of the night and cause stabbing pain in my calves and hamstrings. Poor Tom must think I'm being attacked since I wake up a little less than quiet from the pain!

I'm feeling both a mixture of great anticipation and excitement to meet our little guy and also a big amount of anxiety about not feeling ready yet. I can't wait to see if he has hair on his head, what his personality and temperament is like, and of course lots of cuddling to do. But I haven't packed my hospital bag, we have no diapers, we have no car seat, etc. So luckily nothing thus far has shown any indication that he's going to come early so that gives us plenty of time to "nest" and prepare for his arrival! I know it'll all get done but anyone who knows me knows that I love to prepare things WAY in advance, so I'm working on balancing that with reality.

Below you'll see the last 3 weeks belly pics. Thanks for following along with the blog everyone!