The Last Week, Hopefully I am now in the 40th, and what should be the last, week of pregnancy! This last week will hopefully see the arrival of Sophia Kim Adia. We will finally get to experience her with all of our senses and let her know how much we love her. I've posted a picture of the internal view of a pregnant woman in her 40th week of pregnancy. It is a miracle that such a big baby can enter this world through such a small opening! Women have been doing it for millennia, so I think that I will be just fine.
I'm making a list of people to contact once she is born, there are so many! Sophia is lucky to have so many people interested in her birth!
According to medtv.com, this is what is going on with Sophia right now:
Week 40 of pregnancy is the week that your baby may finally arrive. However, don't worry if your due date comes and goes without incident. It is completely normal to deliver two weeks early or two weeks late. In fact, only 5 percent of babies are born exactly on their due date.
During week 40 of pregnancy, "the bun in the oven" should be just about done. It's about time to turn this oven (you) off!
Your baby's reflexes are coordinated by the time you are 40 weeks pregnant, which means that your baby can:
Blink
Close his or her eyes
Turn his or her head
Grasp firmly
Respond to sound, light, and touch.
2008-04-04 (38 weeks)
A Week's Worth of Updates I would like to acknowledge the lack of posts this week, but to say they are not for lack of trying. Four times I have written posts and they have been lost when the web site froze or got too busy. So while I have had much to say, I just have been persistent enough in getting it out there.
Last Friday, my coworkers threw a surprise baby shower for me. I was most definitely surprised. There it was, about two weeks before Sophia's due date and I was sure they had forgotten. "They'll probably visit me in the hospital," I thought. Instead, when I thought that I was going with Sam to meet a state rep in the City Club, I was really walking into my first ever surprise party. I have posted pictures in the photo album already so that you can see just how surprised I was. There was punch, a lovely cake (picture attached) and many coworkers wishing Dean and I well. Dean knew all about it for about a month before hand. He sure can keep a secret!
It turns out that the surprise baby shower was the reason that Dean was adamant about not rushing into getting a dresser or changing table because the office was going to try to help us out with those last items. Happily, Dean and I went and picked out a dresser last Sunday! It isn't the dresser that goes with the crib, because we didn't especially like that one. It is, however, made by the same company that made the crib so the stain of the wood will match perfectly. It is also meant to be used as a changing table as well as a dresser AND it's low enough for me to comfortably change a diaper! If we decide we still need a changing table, we will get one later. The dresser is on it's way from the warehouse and once it arrives, we will fill it quickly with blankets, baby clothes and the like. Our nursery will be complete!
This week I also printed out a baby essentials checklist from Consumer Reports and went and got those last few things that we need to be prepared for Sophia. I also got a few things that weren't on the list including a white hat and some white booties for Sophia to wear with her white eyelet dress that Grandpa and Grandma Carlin gave her. I was disappointed that I could not find some old fashioned booties, the kind that you see bronzed, but I can't wait to see our baby dressed all in white. I just know that she will be adorable!
I saw so many little outfits at Babies R Us that were so tempting to buy, but I know that she won't be able to wear many of them more than once or twice. Unfortunately, I have found that I am a sucker for white. I say that is unfortunate because I can only imagine the stains. I have heard, however, that breastfed babies don't stain as badly as formula fed babies. We will have to wait and see.
I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and there are no physical signs that I'm any closer to giving birth this week than there were last week. My cervix still hasn't dilated much. Dr. Howell said that this isn't really an indication of when I will give birth though. Some women don't get dilated at all until they go into labor while others walk around 3 or 4 centimeters dilated for a week. Because of my consistent swelling and my pregnancy (read swelling) related carpal tunnel in my right hand, Dr. Howell told me to take it easy, keep my feet propped up at work and lay on my left side as much as possible while at home. Of course, that is easier said than done.
On the way home from work last night I picked up my new camera, purchased specifically to take countless wonderful pictures of Sophia. Dean had a lot of fun playing with it last night and figuring out which mode is best for taking pictures (there are two baby modes!). It is a compact super zoom camera (10x optical zoom, 7.2 mp) with a 3" screen on the back. It is so cool! Last night when Dean was testing the best mode to take pictures of people, I was the model. The camera caught the green in my eyes better than I have EVER seen. I kept asking if my eyes were really that green!
I also prepared our taxes last night. We owe about $1,200 less than I originally thought! Double yea! All the more to spend on Sophia! She is going to be so spoiled, at least at first when it won't negatively affect her.
2008-03-28 (37 weeks)
Sophia's Coming Early I've decided that Sophia is coming early. I had previously thought that she would come late because I heard that msot first borns come late rather than early. Dr. Howell let us know that is not true. So why do I think she is coming early?
1. I stay swollen non-stop now. It used to go down at night as I slept and I could avoid salty foods for a few days and that would take care of it. Not any more. This week, I've stayed consistently swollen no matter what time of day. Yesterday, I tried to put on my boots that are a size too big and couldn't get my feet in. Usually, my feet look pretty normal in the morning and wearing socks or boots will help keep the swelling down, at least where the socks cover. Now that isn't even an option! In fact, I think the bottom of my feet are starting to swell too!
2. This morning I woke up with a dull ache in my lower back. I slept like I usually do, I even had extra pillows to support me. Anyway, it's the afternoon now and it hasn't changed at all. Fortunately, it's not that bad. Anyway, I read that lower back pain is a sign that labor could soon be on its way-- though that could mean days or weeks.
3. The same place that I read that lower back pain could be a sign that labor may begin soon I read something else that I've been experiencing. I will spare you all the description of that one.
Okay, so maybe none of this means anything. However, I would much rather think that this all means that Sophia will be coming early rather than think that I will just be miserable for another two weeks!
Speaking of, this is what is going on with Sophia in this 39th week of pregnancy according to whattoexpect.com:
Your baby's weight and height have probably increased only a little from last week (and your overstretched skin is probably grateful for that). But his or her brain is still developing rapidly (a pace that continues during the first three years of life), with changes you'll be able to recognize firsthand as your baby's skill-packed bag of tricks expands almost daily.
Heard that babies cry a lot? There's definitely truth to that rumor — as you'll find out soon enough (and usually during the middle of the night). But what you may not have heard is that tiny babies don't produce tiny tears when they cry, since their tear ducts aren't open for business yet. While you'll be consoling your crying baby right from the get-go, it won't be until sometime after the first month that you'll be wiping tears off those chubby cheeks.
Your baby's skin has now finally changed from pink to white (no matter how dark-skinned he or she will be eventually; pigmentation will occur soon following birth). That's because a thicker fat layer has been deposited over the blood vessels (making your baby's cheeks — both kinds — pinchably and kissably round).
2008-03-27 (37 weeks)
Let's Hope our Doctor Delivers The doctor's appointment yesterday went well. Dr. Howell was one vacation, so I met with Dr. Suba. Our friend who is in nursing school had good things to say about him so I was excited to meet him. I'm glad that Dr. Howell is our doctor. Dr. Suba rushed through the appointment and I felt like he had some place more important to be and didn't really take the time that Dr. Howell does. That said, Dr. Suba said that the heart palpitations weren't because of anything that I did. Rather, my body is reacting to Sophia. He just said that I should take it easy.
17 days before Sophia is here, give or take. I'm not sure yet if I want her to come early or what. I guess I'm sick of being swollen (I couldn't even put on my boots that are one size too big this morning), having to walk REALLY slow and having to wear the same things over and over. So I guess I wouldn't be disappointed if she came early, but I'm also not hoping for it. As long as she arrives healthy and safe, I don't care when she comes.
This last week will hopefully see the arrival of Sophia Kim Adia. We will finally get to experience her with all of our senses and let her know how much we love her. I've posted a picture of the internal view of a pregnant woman in her 40th week of pregnancy. It is a miracle that such a big baby can enter this world through such a small opening! Women have been doing it for millennia, so I think that I will be just fine. 
There was punch, a lovely cake (picture attached) and many coworkers wishing Dean and I well. Dean knew all about it for about a month before hand. He sure can keep a secret! 
