Full Term

On Sunday I'll be 37 weeks and considered full term, which basically means Peanut is fully developed and will mainly be adding on the pounds for the next few weeks. I thought I'd share some recent photos of my growing belly.

35 Weeks

This Tuesday Trinity and I had our 35 week doctor appointment. We didn't think we were going to get to see the doctor because she was delivering a baby, but thankfully she arrived back to the office by the time it was our turn. We had several questions that I wanted to discuss with her, including talking about my "birth plan." After getting our questions out of the way, the doctor did her normal procedures:

-Check the heartbeat: going strong at around 135. This is somewhat slower than it has been the past few weeks, but the doctor said that is relatively normal as you get closer to your due date.

-Check the position of the baby: the baby is still head down, which was a relief to me. If the baby is breech (head up), then that means a scheduled c-section. For some reason, a c-section is ten times scarier than a natural childbirth to me. I mean, it is a major surgery!

-Measure my uterus: Yikes! I'm measuring at 38 weeks, three weeks ahead! Up until this week, I've been measuring exactly on schedule...1 cm for every week. But my weight gain is normal at 1 pound per week, which is a good thing.

-Estimate the weight of the baby: 6 pounds! At 35 weeks, the average baby weight is 5.25 pounds, so again bigger than expected! At this point, a baby gains around a half pound every week, so that's around 8.0 to 9.5 pounds, depending on when I go into labor.

At this point I really started to get nervous. I do NOT want to have a ten pound baby! Of course, Trinity thinks that I should have been expecting this all along, as he and his dad were both ten pounds. But as even our doctor has told us, parents' birth weights are not always the norm for a baby's birth weight. So I've been hoping that Peanut is much smaller than dad and grandpa!

Because it is still early and only an estimate, our doctor did not seem too concerned. She said that it could just be a growth spurt or the position of the baby. But she did schedule a sonogram for our next appointment at 37 weeks. At that point we'll get a better estimate of the true size of Peanut. So, the silver lining is that we get to see Peanut again before he/she arrives!

Two days later I am still a little nervous about this most recent news, but I'm starting to calm down. I realize that there is nothing I can do other than eat well, exercise, and pray that Peanut gets back on schedule!

Old Wives Tales

There are tons of Old Wives Tales that are suppose to help you determine the sex of your unborn child. However, they sometimes aren't 100% accurate, as my aunt learned when her baby boy had to sleep in a pink room. Since Diana and I aren't finding out the sex of Peanut, we decided we would look into all of these and do them in an attempt to find out the sex. Here are the results.

The first was an actual test which asked us to answer some questions. The test can be found here. The results were below for the questions but apparently we are having a girl.

You have a 33% chance of having a boy.
And you have a 66% chance of having a girl.

And Here's Why...
You are carrying the extra weight out front, so it's a boy.
The hair on your legs is not growing any faster during your pregnancy, so it's a girl.
Girls are carried high. You are going to have a girl.
Sleeping in a bed with your pillow to the south indicates that you will be having a girl.
Your feet are not colder than they were before pregnancy. You are having a girl.
You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread. You are having a girl.
Dad-to-be hasn't been gaining weight along with Mom-to-be, so it will be a girl.
The maternal grandmother doesn't have gray hair (dyed or natural), so a girl will be born.
You didn't have morning sickness early in pregnancy, so it will be a boy.
You are looking particularly good during pregnancy. Therefore, it must be a boy, because girls steal their mother's looks.
Your chest development has not been very dramatic during pregnancy. You should expect a boy.
Since the sum of the mother's age at conception and the number of the month of conception is even, it will be a boy.
A needle on a thread held over you belly moves from side-to-side, so it will be a girl.
Your urine is a dull yellow color, so you will have a girl.
You have a craving for salty or sour foods, which means that it is a boy.
Your nose hasn't changed during pregnancy, which indicates a girl.
You have been craving fruits, so it is a girl.
Your baby's heart rate is 140 or more beats per minute, so it's a girl.

We took one additional test like the first one and it returned the exact opposite results so clearly this might have some margin of error. It was 60% Boy, 40% Girl.

Here's a test that you can do next time you change or get out of the bath. Look in the mirror at your breasts. If the right one is larger, you're having a boy! A larger left breast indicates a girl (if they're the same size, does that mean you're having one of each?). Girl

Hold a pendant over your hand. If the necklace swings back and forth, you're having a boy. If it is more of a circular motion, then it's a girl. This can also be done by suspending a ring on a string above your belly. Boy

Do you have acne? Some believe that getting acne during your pregnancy indicates you're carrying a girl. Maybe the acne is caused by twice the amount of female hormones? Boy
Pick up a key. If you've picked it up by the thinner end, you're having a girl. Picking it up by the bottom, rounder part means a boy is on the way. Did you pick it up by the middle? Then congratulations! You're having twins! Boy

Thankfully, this one doesn't refer to your weight gain. The belief is that, if your husband puts on weight during your pregnancy, then you will be having a girl. If he doesn't put on a pound, then you're carrying a boy. Boy

To conduct the this old wives tale you simply take your wedding ring and tie a thread about 12 inches long to it. Sit or lie down and hold the thread over your pregnant belly. The ring will either go in circles or side to side (back and forth). If the ring goes in circles, you're expecting a baby boy. If the ring goes side to side you are expecting a girl according to this old wives tale. Girl

Maybe when we learn the actual sex of the baby we can figure out which of these were correct.

Trinity

What if's on raising a child

I lay in bed last night for over an hour thinking about discipline and my child. My mind wandered around to different possibilities as to what my kid was going to be like. In all of these thoughts, Peanut was a boy. I imagined him at school on the playground and him picking on a kid smaller than he was. How do you teach your children that bullying is wrong? I thought on that question for a while.

Do you take away the thing they love most in an effort to teach them that being cruel isn't acceptable? What if that doesn't work? I walked through the idea of punishment and all of the different ways to go about it. I could contact the kid's parent and tell them what is happening and apologize. Make my son do the same. But I know what bullies can do and then it made me worry for the kid because he or she might get retaliation.

I tried to sleep but instead just kept going back to this. What would work? I don't want to use force on this issue as it wouldn't really be a way to tell my son not to hit or pick on someone and then have me use my superior strength to do the same. I considered physical embarrassment if it came to it. If my son was picking on a kid for stinking, I could always make him stink right before school. Maybe rub something like sulphur into his clothes. Maybe living the life of his victim would make a fitting punishment.

I also considered just talking to him. Discussing why bullying is wrong and how disappointed I was in him. That is always going to be my first try but if that doesn't work I have other ideas.

There were a lot of these types of situations I dreamt up last night. Another involved the first time my child steals something. Pot calling the kettle black on this one as I had a bit of a grabby hand in my youth but if I catch my child they will be forced to take back whatever they stole and perform a walk of shame. In a way I hope that is enough.

This does make me fearful though. In days past this would have been enough but I wonder how far I might have to go. Will I need to get police to come speak to my son or daughter? Can a scared straight tactic work? What if we go to return the item and the store calls the police? I have heard of this happening and it scares me.

The idea of parenthood is one I think a lot of people think of as having a baby. I think of it as having a baby followed by a toddler, then a child, a young adult, a teenager, and a grown up. I am not worried about the baby part. It is the rest of it that scares the living hell out of me.

Trinity

An update on...well, everything

We are down to about 6 weeks left until we find out whether Peanut is a boy or a girl. Life has been pretty hectic in getting ready to have a baby, and I know we are just in the prelude to the craziness that is coming soon. We went to our final class on Wednesday to learn about being parents and it was a pretty big waste of time.

Outside of learning about cord care in the first few weeks, we were taught swaddling and diaper changing, both of which we already knew. I think we were more prepared than other parents in the class though so that shows we are ready.

We have picked a pediatrician, who is slightly hot for a woman in her late 30's/early 40's, so I won't mind taking the baby to the doctor.

We now have the rest of Diana's doctors visits scheduled and begin the weekly visits very soon.

Once we get through this final baby shower on Saturday, we will be able to go look at the registries and make sure we have everything we "need" for the birth day. I am going to guess that means a shopping trip is in my future. Yippeee!!!

Diana is measuring right in line with her weekly progression so hopefully we will soon find out what to expect in regard to baby size. The doc said around 36 weeks so we shall see.

We have yet to install the car seat or pack the hospital bag so as of yet we aren't completely ready but we are getting there.

Who knew babies were this much trouble?

Trinity

Wall Decorations

Last night, Diana and I finally decided on what we wanted as wall decoration in the nursery. We have been struggling with finding suitable wall art. We wanted bunny artwork to match the rest of the room, but we couldn't find anything that matched.

I had been shopping for Peter Rabbit books a few days ago and saw that there were some very small versions of the books. We had a lot of picture frames that we have been saving and I put the idea together that we could take one of these books and cut it down to make "prints".

So, yesterday we spent a couple of hours getting a copy of "The Tale of Benjamin Bunny", going to find mattes, and finding a final three frame picture frame. We then spent about an hour trimming out the prints and picking our favorites. We ended up with four 5 x 7 frames, along with the one three panel frame. All in all, it turned out very well. I don't think we could have found better art and we only spent $40 for something that is original and unique.

Trinity

Dear Peanut

Dear Peanut,

I had some time to kill today so I went and bought you The Complete Tales of Peter Rabbit. Your mother thought it would go well with the room we have waiting for you. I got the complete tales because, as you will learn, your father doesn't like to have gaps in a collection. God help us if you inherit that gene.



Now, I want you to know that I don't expect you to be able to read this at first but I want you to be able to think back at all the times you and I sat down and went on adventures with Jemima Puddle-Duck or Benjamin Bunny.

I can't wait to hear the words "Dad, read me a story".

Love,

Your Father