day-to-day pregnancy

[ Sunday, October 31, 2004 ]

We had our first baby shower yesterday (for couples), hosted by our friends Karen and Daniel. It was a lot of fun, and we got some beautiful gifts for Kate. Among other things, a bouncer with toys to kick, little soft books, very cute outfits, wipes warmer and a baby blanket.


[ Friday, October 29, 2004 ]

Yesterday a (pregnant) friend asked me what I loved and hated the most about pregnancy. It was an easy answer - I like feeling Kate's movements (when she is not kicking my ribs, that is) and I hate the physical limitations of the last few weeks of pregnancy. I can no longer bend at the waist, the back aches all the time, picking up things from the floor is an exercise of both patience and pain endurance, and small tasks such as getting up in the morning have become big ordeals. I guess the philosophical answer to the question is - I love the emotional aspect of being pregnant, I hate the physical aspect of being pregnant.


[ Tuesday, October 26, 2004 ]

Awake again at 4 am. Kate is active almost all the time now, and although her movements are not so quick anymore, they are getting more uncomfortable. Last night not even David's voice would calm her down. People still have a hard time believing how close to birth she is, because my belly doesn't look much bigger than 6 months. I, on the other hand, am very conscious of the calendar and worrying that we just aren't ready for her - we still haven't been to all our classes; we don't know how to change, bathe or feed a newborn; we don't even have diapers yet; I haven't learned anything about breastfeeding or bought nursing bras.


[ Monday, October 25, 2004 ]

From WebMD, about the 33rd week: Your baby measures about 19.4 inches from head to toe and weighs about 4.4 pounds. The next few weeks will mark lots of growth in the baby. The fetus will gain more than half its birth weight in the next seven weeks. Baby begins to move less now as it runs out of room and curls up with knees bent, chin resting on chest and arms and legs crossed.


[ Friday, October 22, 2004 ]

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday, and got some interesting news: first, he predicted that Kate will arrive on time, which goes against my gut feeling that she will be early, and everyone else's hunch that she will be late. Second, it seems she has already "flipped" and is hanging upside down. That doesn't mean anything as far as how soon she will arrive, but it tells me those punches to my ribs are actually kicks, and the kicks in the kidney are in fact punches.


[ Sunday, October 17, 2004 ]

For the past few days I've been fighting a terrible cold, with everything from backaches to cough. Ironically, I was supposed to be getting a flu shot (which is in shortage and being given only to those in high risk groups, including pregnant women). Yesterday, I arrived at the nearest flu clinic location 3 minutes after opening, only to find more than 200 people in line and all vaccine doses already given out. Everywhere in the region, the lines start forming at 1:00 am for vaccination that starts at 9:00 and ends almost immediately. It reminded me of the old Soviet bread lines. I guess I am not getting a flu shot this year!


[ Wednesday, October 13, 2004 ]

From WebMD, about the 31st week: Your baby measures about 18 inches long from head to toe and weighs about 3.5 pounds. Rather than hearing vibrations, baby's nerve endings in his ears are connected now so that he can hear distinct sounds, like familiar voices and music. Your uterus now fills a large part of your abdomen, and you've probably gained between 21 and 27 pounds.


[ Tuesday, October 12, 2004 ]

On Friday we went to see The Radiators play at the Birchmere. It was amazing how Kate seemed to respond to different songs, sometimes seeming to jump up and down, sometimes just kicking/punching and other times moving slowly from side to side.


[ Tuesday, October 05, 2004 ]

We finished our baby registry at Babies R Us just in time to receive the invitation to our first baby shower, hosted by Karen and Daniel Sanders.


This weekend we were out shopping when we ran across BebeSounds, a prenatal heart listening device similar to the dopplers doctors use. Now we can chase Kate's heartbeat around, as she seems to guess when we are listening and promptly starts moving.