This week, you're the size of a pineapple--and almost finished growing! Your immune system is continuing to develop with the antibodies passing through the placenta, from me to you. And your digestive system is working (hopefully more like your daddy's than mine)!
Your dad and I are hard at work preparing our home for your arrival--so this little yellow house can be the perfect place after the womb. Before bed, your dad helps me put my socks on and then speaks into my belly, baby, this is your daddy speaking. Your mommy and I love you so much. and I hope you can hear him. I think you do--you kick back your response, most nights, and I feel so at peace having my boys so close. This week, we baked chocolate chip cookies and I imagined you in the kitchen sneaking chocolate chips. I can't wait for you to be the best thing about our little family, sweet boy. Your Aunt Carrie packaged up clothes for us--and so between Diana and Carrie you will be well-outfitted! All of this clothes look so big and so small, all at once. Just like you. Every week, we get a little closer to bringing you earthside. Too fast. Too slow. All at once.
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32 weeks is eight months of pregnancy! And the time is just flying!
I can already tell you're going to be the biggest goofball. Monday night, after our Infant Care class (where your daddy practiced changing diapers and swaddling), I laid in bed and you were going crazy, kicking up a storm and butting your tush against my belly. So I laughed. And I realized, the more I laughed, the more you moved! When I stopped laughing, you went even crazier, like hey, mom, are you there? And, when I woke up Tuesday morning, you picked up where we left off. It made me so happy to imagine you playing in the womb, silly goose. Monday's class, baby 101, essentially, was great insight into how much we already feel prepared for you. And how much is still unknown! Your daddy practiced changing diapers on a very plastic baby (not nearly as cute as you will be) and we played peek-a-boo with onesies. On Tuesday we had Infant CPR where we practiced what to do in case of an emergency with a blowup baby that was, again, a poor stand-in for you. And, on Wednesday, we got to see you, sweet boy! You're still head-down and perfect. We got to see you blinking and breathing and it was such a treat! This week, you're the size of a honeydew melon (or a Care Bear!) and your brain is capable of controlling your breathing and digestive functions. Your eye cells can officially see in color and your skull is developed, though not solid, so you can pass through the birth canal. This week, our new couch (perfect for cuddling you) was delivered and we are, as your dad says, getting our house ready for YOU! Can't wait, sweet boy. You are so so loved. I never thought we'd get here, baby. Down to the single digits of weeks between us as a single entity and you earthside. While I will miss everything about making you from scratch, I daydream about all that we will do together and cannot believe my good fortune. You are the most wonderful thing that is already happening and is just about to start.
You're the size of a coconut this week. OR, I learned a box of chocolates (because life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get). We talk about the mystery of who you'll be; we just want you to know you're safe and loved. This week, all five of your senses are activated. You can hear, see, smell, touch, and taste (maybe that's why we've been craving chocolate cake). Your face continues to fill-out, in these in-between weeks. At nearly four pounds, you're still so small. I do everything in my power to keep you growing and treasure the moments where you move so big--like you're clamoring to see all we've been doing to prepare for you. Your nursery is my favorite room in the house, with its cozy waiting for you-ness and the rest of the house is coming together, too. Your daddy says that this will be the perfect home for a baby and I think he's right. If, for nothing but the love. What an amazing week, kiddo.
Over the weekend, your dad and I did more work on the nursery. We put up shelves and the animal decals. We read you a book in the glider (yes, I cried) and put the sheets on your bassinet and crib. We spent the weekend meal prepping and making more room for you (literally and figuratively), earthside. Meanwhile, in the womb, there is less room for you every week, as you grow bigger and stronger. Now, you're the size of a cucumber! Your kicking is becoming more consistent this week (and we've started kick counting). Your excess body hair is shedding, your bones are hardening and are preparing to join the world. And your lungs are fully developed and you're practicing your breathing (I also like to lean into your daddy and practice my breathing, too). We started drinking our red raspberry leaf mocktail this week: 2 red raspberry leaf tea bags 1 1/2 cups of boiling water 1/2 a cup of cranberry juice juice of 1 freshly squeezed lemon Red raspberry leaf tea is used during pregnancy to strengthen the uterus, improve labor outcome, and prevent excessive bleeding after birth. We're here for it! Except we have been told to tone it down (don't want you to come too early, now). We had a doctor's appointment on Thursday and I always love to hear that you're doing well. It's my favorite thing. Your heartbeat is exactly where it's supposed to be--and the sweetest sound I've ever heard. This is the last week of March. And, like I said as March began, I'm feeling pretty certain that you'll be here in the next M-month--which brings me unlimited joy as, every day, you get a little closer to coming home. Week 29 and we're feeling fine! Well, actually, we've thrown up several times this week and you're both super kicky and then I won't be able to feel you, when you hide behind our placenta and it freaks me out. The countdown is so real, as we bid adieu to the double-digit weeks. 11 Weeks until you and less than 80 days left in this part of our journey together--it's heady and surreal. I find myself getting teary, when I think about how much more technicolor life is going to get, with you.
This past weekend we started your nursery: Your daddy made your crib, built your dresser/changing station, put all of your shelves together--and it's already the happiest room in the world. And, every day, we add something new: A mobile, your Lovevery Playmat, animal hook, blankets, sheets, shelves...each one marking your nearing arrival. This week, your primitive memory is beginning to develop so you'll start retaining the music and voices you hear, red blood cells are forming in your bone marrow, and you can differentiate between light and dark. As all of these parts of you continue to develop, I can't help but think about who you'll be when you arrive earthside. This is the first week of Spring and, like the birds song, you are ever present and full of promise. My belly is full of tulips and beginnings. They will grow, like weeds, alongside you until you are ready to make your entrance. My Sweet Boy, We have been together for 200 days, now, in this tender, holy growing season where I can't help but keep my hands to your expanding body. I feel everything. I notice everything. I appreciate more. I rub butters on my belly, singing you lullabies to anchor you earthside. I read your tiny board books aloud, full of words that transcend time; the stories of my childhood, shared. I imagine who you'll be, what your chubby fingers will feel like holding onto mine. Will you recognize my voice, in the earliest moments? Will we know one another, all at once, as if we were always meant to be? I gather blankets and swaddles to wrap you in. Buy bonnets to cover your head from the summer sun. Write notes to fill pages of your baby book. Fold onesies. I cannot believe your body will be, for a time, so small. I consider my hospital bag, knowing the treasures within will be your first sight and smell of me, whether or not you remember (I will always remember). When I close my eyes I try and try to imagine your journey to us and I am undone by the moments before and the lifetime after, where I look at you and you look back at me (I will always be undone). Your daddy plays piano and guitar, in the early evening, and in response, you move in me with such spirit and life. You dance a dance of innocence, hope, joy incarnate. As I carry you, I carry the promise of this hope; we will hold it together. I feel my love for your daddy deepen, somehow. I loved him before, so entirely, but I watch him now, falling in love with his fatherhood, with you, and my adoration grows and grows. I see him as the man who gives me everything, everything. Life, love, happiness, our babies, a soft place to land, a home. A home I feel lucky to bring you up in. Happy to my core. As the days blend together, in their closeness, I have never felt so close to heaven, so held in the very palm of holiness. Have never longed for anything like you, baby, thank you for being our miracle. We got to see you this week, baby! All 28 weeks and perfection that you are. Your heartrate is 138 (perfect), you weigh two pounds, 10 ounces (perfect), your feet and your legs and your spine...all of you is exactly as it should be and we could not be more grateful. You could not be more perfect. You're also already head-down, exactly where we want you! This is SUCH a big win for us, little one! Your heartbeat is slowing down to prepare you for life earthside, all of your internal organs are maturing and your skin is getting more and more baby-like. Even in this picture, we can see that you're starting to chunk and I can't wait to kiss your little cheeks! We've been a team for seven months and it's been the greatest seven months of my life. I love you so much, sweet boy. You're so talented, already controlling your body temperature, blinking, dreaming and sticking out your tongue. I wonder what you're dreaming about. I dream about you--do you dream about your daddy and mommy, too? Do you dream of the adventures we'll have, the books we'll read, the days we'll spend together? Do you dream of your past lives? This week I also got the T-DAP vaccine to keep you safe. I took a breastfeeding class and annoyed everyone with my questions (although, people also seemed to really appreciate them. Probably something you'll have to get used to. Your mommy is very focused on doing what is best for you. Always). We've started to put your nursery together and it's the happiest place in the world! I can't wait to rock your in you glider, read you the stories we're collecting for your library and tummy time it up on your playmat. Sweet baby, you are the size of a papaya this week!
We took our weekly polaroid and my belly was enormous! As if, overnight, you had a gigantic growth-spurt. And it is very possible you have! You are growing bigger every day! Now, your eyes are able to blink and squint in response to light. You're getting chubbier (more to love--oh, I can't wait for us to see you in next week's ultrasound)! You're kicking like crazy and, maybe I should be used to it by now but, every time feels like the first. I am so obsessed with you, baby. The weather oscillates between spring-like and early-April showers. When it isn't raining, we go for long walks and count your kicks. When the rain is unbearable we watch bad TV and make dinner at home. This week, your daddy could hear your heartbeat, just by putting his ear to my belly. If that isn't proof of miracles, I don't know what is! Everything is so exciting because you're well on your way! We're officially in the third trimester and so beyond lucky to be your Papa(ya) and Mama(ya). Your brain is developing rapidly, your bones and joints are mineralizing (and your skeleton is officially complete), you're practicing your sucking-reflex so that you'll be ready for milk and you're over 2 pounds this week. It's crazy!
This week, we took our glucose test: 28 jelly beans in 3 minutes (though not a Guinness Book of World Records). And passed with flying colors! 104 means that we've got nothing to worry about! Unfortunately, the jelly beans were disgusting and, once we got home, I started throwing up (and kept throwing up for the next few days). Not so fun! But it's all worth it for you. It's also March, now! We're edging closer to the third trimester and you kicked so hard, this week, that it made your daddy laugh. I'm pretty sure we're only one M-month away from meeting you, now. And every day we get more excited! Furniture for your nursery is starting to come in and I have a feeling it will be my favorite room in the house (even more than the parlor)! This week, we mark a pretty exciting milestone: On Monday 2/26, we will have LESS THAN 100 DAYS TO GO! Double-digits, baby! These countdowns really make it feel as though you'll be here before we know it!
Your lungs are still developing, you will continue to do adorable womb things like hiccup and tap dance. At 25 weeks, you are the size of a head of cauliflower (also, I read, a Barbie doll)! We will eat roasted cauliflower in celebration! This week, you're continuing to get cuter and chubbier, your skin is getting more opaque (and less wrinkly) and you learned a new trick! You can stick out your tongue, cutie. I applied for maternity leave this week and am actively planning our time together. I can't wait for our days of cuddling and joy. The Pinterest Boards are chockful of activities and the playlist in soft and loving. I've started reading through the labor and delivery booklet we were sent, after our first childbirth class--and it makes everything feel even more real! So much to think about and I feel grateful for every decision we get to make and every opportunity to bring you here healthy. |
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