Thirty-seven weeks

How far along? Thirty-seven weeks - 4/29/11

How big is baby? 

 Swiss chard.

Okay...?? 

Next appointment: May 3. 

Symptoms: I look like a hippo. Even my face is swollen. I had Nathan take a picture of me on Easter Sunday (mostly because I wasn't wearing pajamas and had actually brushed my hair), and I realized how horrible I look these days. Someone should have told me! Sorry, guys...won't be posting that photo.

 

Reflections on this week: My 36-week appointment on Tuesday went fairly well. Apart from having an extremely crappy ultrasound because the tech had a stick up her butt (traumatic childhood, perhaps?), we got a lot of good information. Baby is doing well, in almost the 80th percentile for overall growth, and is head-down, lined up and ready for delivery. Her head was measuring at 38 weeks and her belly at 37 weeks! As for Mommy, I am sitting at 2.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Yay for progress! 

What I'm looking forward to: This weekend is my niece's third birthday party, so we'll get to see lots of family and have some fun. I'm excited to get to spend time with everyone! Also, I'm looking forward to having a little down time at some point. Maybe some time to chill out with my feet up and watch a movie? :) That would be awesome. Sunday is already the first of May, which means we are approaching the Baby finish line! Yay! 

More about baby: Baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, her lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. Baby weighs approximately 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads (oh, really?), and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. 

I think, at this point, having a brunette would be shocking. :) 

***NOTE***
This is being published a week late because I was not feeling well last week and didn't get a chance to finish the post. I know you were all holding your breath, waiting to hear about my cervical progression.

Easter Weekend 2011

Yeah, I'm a little late. It's the story of my life these days. :)

The festivities started on Saturday morning, when I had the brilliant idea to take our children to one of the large community Easter egg hunts. Yeah, we won't be doing that again. Not only was it totally overwhelming for the kids, but we managed to score a grand total of about six eggs from all three of their baskets combined. I have never seen insanity like that in my life. I wasn't even aware that there were that many children in Bastrop county. Seriously!

They did get to see a big helicopter, though. That was cool.

I think Nicholas was still a little confused at this point.

There's nothing quite like traumatizing your children during a religious holiday, let me tell you.

We headed back to my parents' house after the initial chaos was over for lunch and a (much calmer) egg hunt. My grandparents and my aunt also came to watch the kids, and it was good to visit with them. 

 Examining their haul.

Thanks to Grammy, they didn't get much sugary stuff.

Sunday morning, we got up and dressed for church. I wanted to try to get some pictures before we left, since the kids always seem to get messy at some point during their morning at Sunday school, and they're usually in the best mood before 10:00 hits. Thank goodness we were able to get a few decent pictures!

The "serious" one.

The "not-so-serious" one.

I think Nicholas is a T-rex.

 

Daddy and his little girl.

 The boys.

They don't always hate one another.

Daddy and the kiddos.

Where's Mommy? Well, after seeing recent pictures of myself, I should have been hiding behind the nearest clump of trees in shame. 

After church, we went to the Alexanders' for lunch and more egg hunting.

 Teamwork.

I found one!

Are they still in there?

Our attempts to get a family picture fell pretty flat, so we'll have to try it again after Baby comes (and I'm not so puffy). It was also really hot, and most of the grass is completely dead from lack of precipitation, so we'll wait a little while to see if we can get a better outside shot. Come on, Texas...we need some rain!

It was a good weekend, and I think the kids had lots of fun. We kept the candy scarfing to a minimum, thank goodness. These guys do not need any more energy! Hope you all had a great Easter weekend!