Moving right along at 31 weeks today! I can't believe we're down to single digit number of weeks left before our little bundle of joy will greet us in the outside world. SCARY. Don't get me wrong; I'm ecstatic....but it's bittersweet all the same. I've just loved being pregnant and have cherished this special time with the baby before he is no longer protected by me 24/7. I already know I will miss feeling his movements and kicks on a daily basis and have read that some women feel a bit down after baby is born because they miss being pregnant. Rob even read some women feel phantom kicking after birth! I'm hoping I will be able to experience pregnancy one more time after this one, and I'm sure that's when it will really be a bittersweet feeling.
So, my 'support' group of other pregnant women (i.e. our private Facebook group) had a big day on Tuesday evening. Our first November 2011 due baby was born, 7 weeks early! Now this really scared all of us, because Mom was not carrying multiples, was not high risk, and had zero signs of pre-term labor. She just woke up Tuesday morning, stood up, felt a gush and thought she wet herself. She was embarrassed and thought she had become incontinet, so she cleaned herself up and laid back down in bed. The next time she got up again - another rush of water. She called her midwife and even she was skeptical, but of course told her to meet her at Labor & Delivery anyway. Lo and behold, her water had broken and she was already dialated to 4 cm by the time she got to the hospital. It was too late to stop the labor, so they transferred her to a hospital with a NICU and just 12 hours after her water broke, she gave birth to her baby girl. She posted pictures on our Facebook group page yesterday and while I realize this sounds naive, I was amazed at how NOT premature this baby looked. She was only 5 pounds, but still so developed! And I'm a mere two weeks from that point. It was a slap in the face as far as 1) That is what is inside me! and 2) Although unlikely, labor could really happen at any point now. She had every girl in the group panicking; they began packing hospital bags, installing car seats and the like. So I'm going to follow suit and start putting together my hospital bag list next week, wash his clothes, and will install the car seat as soon as we have it, just in case!
Baby D measures over 16 inches long and 3.3 pounds this week. Again, since he was estimated at 3 pounds at my 28 weeks scan, I don't really take these stats all that serious anymore because I think this baby is bigger than the average! However, I will believe it when the websites say he is headed into another growth spurt! He can now turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs and body are plumping out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's moving around like a maniac, to the point where I usually end up laughing so hard that he stops until I stop. It would also appear that this kid loves hanging out around my rib cage and sometimes it feels like I can barely breath. I get knees, elbows, hands or feet (or all the above) rolling and jabbing me to the point of discomfort. He gets the hiccups about twice a day, and has them right now as I type. And he's worth every minute and second of it!
We're in for an exciting and busy weekend; our first baby shower is on Saturday! I'm so honored that two of my dearest friends, Leigh Ann and Gina, are coming all the way from Philadelphia and New York City to help us celebrate. And I cannot thank my fantastic hosts enough: Rachel, Tamara and Leslie (and Leslie is doing this 34 weeks pregnant, no less!) - I owe you big time for doing all this for us!! I'm really looking forward to seeing all our friends, family and having my wonderful in-laws come in town to be there as well. Sunday we'll wind down the weekend with our maternity photo shoot. I'm excited and a tad nervous for this....I am putting on my brave face and will participate in the elusive and artsy bare belly shots. Our photographer is very good, so I'm crossing my fingers for some classy shots that capture the beauty of pregnancy.
Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
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