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Cosmic Kid 36 Weeks
02.24.08 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Cosmic Kid 36 WeeksHello Friends,
Jude is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He’s shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during his nine-month amniotic bath. Jude swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of his first bowel movement. At the end of this week, Jude will be considered full-term.
I am UNCOMFORTABLE. He is still moving like crazy despite the fact that he’s huge, often making me quite uncomfortable, have difficulty breathing and eating, and sometimes even having difficulty sitting upright. Yesterday I could not sit at all and spent the day laying down on the couch or bed. Lucky for me it was not a work day! I have been taking advantage of my weekend by sleeping for a large portion of it. I am ready for him to come. Now. I am vacillating between wanting to be done with it all and amazed that it is coming so soon, this duel parenting thing. Three weeks at the most. That is amazing.
On Thursday I had a shower at work. It was quite surprising to me the amount of work that people were willing to put into gifts for the baby. I knew there was a big gift coming, that’s what they do, but my principal knitted a blanket, our secretary crocheted a blanket, and a quilting crew made a lovely quilt for the baby. They have been busy little bees! Plus, the whole staff went in together and bought a jogger so that I can get back on the track to walk and lose more weight. They didn’t say that, but I was thinking it! The generosity was unbelievable and I just felt so loved!!!
By Friday night, we were a tuckered out family! I had to stay late at work every night, for DI, then the shower, then to make props with my kids for the assembly my class is putting on for the school tomorrow (Monday). Yes, my plate has been full! Bradley didn’t feel like cooking dinner so we decided to go out to eat. Gigi’s vote was for ‘that place where you can serve yourself’. We scratched our heads then realized that she was talking about the Old Country Buffet. Apparently her favorite restaurant! We had a good laugh at that and made a date to go there with Grandma and Grandpa Kobs the next morning. For some reason, she just loves that place. However, I remember loving it there when I was a kid too. In fact, i went there for my 12th birthday I think. Man, was I looking forward to that night! We never went there as a family. Then when I got there, I understood why we didn’t go there. The food stunk!
Bradley spent Wednesday putting the nursery together. I came home to find it all complete (except the wall artwork which he is creating). The rug in place, crib put together, mobile up, shelves in… I started crying. It was just wonderful to know that we are a go in every aspect this time. When we were expecting Gigi we were remodeling the whole house and the nursery wasn’t a priority. This time it is wonderful to see this room all ready for the baby, and all done. Gigi is loving to play baby with the baby’s toys and crib. It is nice to have it all set up so she can have the environment for a little while before new baby arrives and takes it over.
A bit of sad news this week. Last year I did the Relay for Life with my friend Beth in honor of her mother who died of cancer a few years ago. While there we ran into an old friend, Mike McGourty whose wife, Christine (formerly Lamb) had just been diagnosed with a rare cancer. Sadly she passed away on February 4th leaving behind her two boys and husband. This has been stuck in my head all week and just fills me with sadness for their family. I hate that this happened to them. I am so thankful for my life and family. I am so blessed.
So now all I have to do before my leave starts is report cards. Almost there, data is collected, but I really need to get on those and have them finished early… Just in case. I don’t want to be doing them from my hospital bed!
Have a wonderful week!
Tamara
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Rocket Boy 35 Weeks
02.10.08 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Rocket Boy 35 Weeks
Current mood:Â
voluminous
Category: LifeJude now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he’s born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. You’ll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies. Yeah! We are there! He can come at any time!My little kicker has flipped! On Wednesday I was laying on the couch when I began to feel kicks horizontally on both sides of my stomach. One side was head, the other feet and bum. He stayed that way for a while until finally settling down into the more traditional head down position. I was suspicious of him being breech and thought that all those kicks seemed awful low. Now all of those wiggles and jiggles are directed upwards. I am not sure what is better: getting my bladder kicked and unexpectedly emptied or getting my stomach/gallbladder/lungs kicked and having difficulty eating and breathing.
His new positioning has also spawned my share of ‘mini’ gallbladder attacks. When his foot goes just right, he massages the gallbladder and stimulates a short but intense attack. In fact, the other day I came home from work midday (after a dramatic and tearful exit in front of my students) and the attack stopped shortly after arriving home. Then throughout the afternoon I continued having little attacks. While I don’t enjoy them, they are certainly better than the alternative six hour pain-a-thons that have been the previous pattern! My body is REALLY trying to have a big attack, I guess it’s time, but I am eating so well that I haven’t had a biggie in a while. Hopefully I can continue without an attack until my surgery in April.
I am feeling done. Like I want to be able to roll over at night without hurting. Like I want to sleep without having to go potty four times at night. Like I want to be able to exercise and walk normally again. Like I want to be able to tie my shoes without getting out of breath. Like I want to have my gallbladder surgery and be able to eat normally again. Like I want Gigi to be able to sit on my lap comfortably again. Like I want to sleep without the annoying hours of pregnancy insomnia again. I am just done. I am loving the baby and am surprised that I am so bored with being pregnant. Hail to all the women who do this more than twice. I am glad that March 19th is so soon. Only 43 more days to go…
This past week has been pretty uneventful. Bradley and Gigi both got pinkeye. So they had to run around to the doctors and get medicated. My dad’s birthday was on Thursday so we got together on Saturday for a birthday dinner. We are planning a trip to Ikea to buy a dresser for the baby with funds generously donated by my grandfather. The house is almost all painted, the baby’s nursery is coming together nicely, my leave is approved, all in all, we are ready.
We are having a meet the baby party/open house on March 30th at my friend Beth’s home in Marysville. If you are interested in coming (or helping), let me know and I’ll pass on the necessary information. It will be very low key, just a chance to meet the new little bundle!
Tamara
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Atomic Boy 33 Weeks
02.03.08 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Atomic Boy 33 WeeksThis week the baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He’s rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren’t fused together and don’t entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.
What a blessed week! Jude has settled into a more reasonable position – my hips have stopped hurting! Hallelujah! He is up in my ribs a bit now and then, causing me to feel a little claustrophobic because I can’t get a good breath. I am still getting those lovely contractions now and then, but I’m happy to report that they seem to have relaxed a little, coming less and less.
I have to apologize for my last few posts. As I look back I seem to be really negative about the pregnancy. This has been a more difficult pregnancy for me, but I am not a complainer usually. I guess I am trying to be as honest as possible so that when I do look back in five more years (or 25) I’ll have some kind of record of this time. As a second time pregnant mom, it is amazing to me how much of this process is forgotten or remembered in soft focus, not just by me, but by all of the moms I know! Most of the women I speak to have a hard time remembering much about being pregnant. When Guinevere is pregnant and asks me if I had (insert pregnancy symptom here) while I was pregnant, this will provide me with that memory hopefully. So, apologies for seeming so honest. It’s a little embarrassing!
I have done it! I spent this past week getting things finished and ready in my classroom for my leave. I finished organizing, sent stuff off to the printshop, and suddenly feel at least partially ready to go! It is a great relief.
Now thoughts are turning to the nursery. Initially we were pretty casual about the whole thing. He will sleep in our room, why get all fussed up about a nursery? We were planning on having Bradley share his office with the crib and calling it good. But as time has gone on, Bradley and I are suddenly enamored of creating our son’s own space. Partially out of necessity, we NEED to organize all that stuff that is being handed down to us! But the other part is pure nesting, plain and simple. We are running with the 1950’s space theme. We are doing the crib up with blue and brown stars to match the blue and brown walls, and we’re going to stencil silvery stars here and there around the room. In addition, Bradley is drawing ‘Atomic Boy’s’ artwork for the walls, some of which I am going to embroider, some of which will be just his artwork. I am on the lookout for soft robots, rockets and all that good stuff. I think it will be very cute and very livable for a long time. Even when he’s 8 years old, he can have a space themed room. So now we are trying to find a new home for Bradley’s drafting table, work computer and everything. It may be a while, but we will figure something out eventually…
Speaking of decor, we went to BabiesRUs yesterday and added some fun stuff to the registry. Namely the star pattern stuff, but also a few other fun things. We had a nice day, roaming the mall, looking for the just right super soft and cuddly stuffed animal for our son. We found it at Hallmark of all places. We usually avoid that store, but good things have been arriving there lately…
It seems like my world is getting smaller and smaller as this pregnancy progresses. We are doing fewer and fewer things that are unrelated to the baby. I guess this is how we begin to open our family circle to him. I sit here racking my brain for what we did this week, but it all centers around our little spaceman sitting in my tummy.
Enjoy the week!
Tamara
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Emerson Jude 32 Weeks
01.27.08 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Emerson Jude 32 WeeksBy now, baby Jude weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in my body. He’ll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.
Jude is making himself known often and with strength! He continues to kick and ‘stand up’, often making breathing difficult as well as making my tummy feel very full, even if I’ve only had a drink of water. Braxton Hicks contractions are still coming, more frequently and stronger with every passing day. At times they are a little painful, but nothing I can’t breathe through. My kids at school sure are getting a well rounded education!
This week brought some interesting insomnia with it. I managed to be awake every morning from 4:00 to 6:00 in the morning, falling asleep just in time for my alarm to go off at 6:30. A little groggy, yes. I slept in on Saturday which was really nice, but this morning I again woke up early but this time didn’t fall back asleep. I finally got out of bed at 7:20 after lying in bed for 3.5 hours. I am a little tired now, and am hoping that I can kick start a new routine this week of better sleep. Frequent potty trips don’t help either!
My work week was short, 2.5 days with kids, 1.5 days without kids, and a holiday. What a weird week! Having the teacher work days threw me into a tailspin of preparation for my maternity leave. I got all these ideas of how to support my leave substitute teacher and essentially just ran from one project to another like a maniac accomplishing very little in the long run. By the end of Friday, I realized that there was no way I could accomplish all of my tasks (homework, poems, WASL preparation, guide to my room and procedures) so I just focused on cleaning up, filing stuff away, and clearing out excess supplies. I left on Friday feeling pretty good. I think I’ll prioritize a list and methodically work away at it. That should be more effective…
We were bitten again by the Disneyland bug this week. It may have something to do with my niece and nephew going there today, Sunday. It may just be that time of year. I don’t care. I want to go again. We are thinking of leaving the day after school gets out in June, which may have us crossing paths with Gigi’s best friend Brooke (and her auntie Beth is one of mine) which could be pretty fun!
Bradley was extra ambitious this week. He decided to take on the task of painting the kitchen, bathroom, all the trim… Of course, it is a much bigger job than anyone ever expects. The cupboard doors alone need about 5 coats each! He is about 3/4 the way through and it looks very nice, but he is pretty sick of it all.
So, March 19th… That gives us about seven more weeks until the babaloo arrives. Amazing.
Tamara
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Jude’s Birthday
01.21.08 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Jude’s BirthdayI recieved a call from my doctor’s office. At first, they wanted to have us come in for the baby’s delivery on March 17th. Upon reflection, we realized that March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. Bradley decided that he wasn’t going to hve his son on a day reknown for boozing it up! He called back, and we are now scheduled to deliver on March 19th. A great day! It is usually the last day of winter, it is when the swallows return to Mission San Juan Capistrano which we visited on our honeymoon, and also it is the saint day for Saint Joseph, Blessed Mary’s husband and Jesus’s father. That’s kind of cool! So, March 19th, mark it on your calendars and unless I go into labor even earlier you can count on us being at the Povidence Hospital, on the table at 9:00 in the morning, meeting our son!
