37 Weeks

This week Muffin is as big as romaine lettuce (approximately 6.5 pounds and 19 inches).  At this phase, the baby's weight should be increasing by about half an ounce per day.  After my most recent OB appointment, we are uncertain whether Muffin has been keeping this pace, so we will find out more with an ultrasound on Wednesday afternoon.  

This week, the baby has developed enough coordination in his or her fingers to grasp small objects (like his or her nose and toes).  Muffin is also still sucking his or her thumb to practice for feeding sessions.  I had some very noticeable Braxton Hicks contractions that were very uncomfortable.  I also had some lower pelvic pain, which Dr. Bedia said is likely due to the amount of scar tissue I have and the baby's position relative to those adhesions.  All of these are just signs that labor is coming, but do not help to give any indication of when.  Welcome to being nine months pregnant!  Luckily these symptoms have eased up as the week progressed and they were not constant.  Dr. Kaufman will do my first cervical exam on Wednesday, so we'll also know if I'm making any progress toward being dilated and effaced.

Since we don't know what the outcome of Wednesday's appointment will be, Eric and I have tried to prepare for all possible scenarios.  Gavin's suitcase is packed for his "vacation" at Nana and Papa's house, our hospital bags are still ready to go, we've finished stocking the freezer, put the finishing touches on the nursery, adjusted the week's meal plan and grocery list, and are thinking about how we could wrap up work obligations by mid-week if necessary.  It's very possible that this baby will stay put for several more weeks, but we want to be ready for an earlier delivery as well.  We took my usual weekly bump photo, but we also took the second photo in the "series" of pregnancy test, pregnant belly, tiny baby."  I took this series of photos with Gavin as well.  

This week we also played with baby names some more.  We "test drove" each name on our list for two days.  We would refer to the baby by the name in conversation and text to see how it felt to use that name.  It didn't help me to rank the names any differently, but was reaffirming that I am happy with the choices that we have. Now we just have to wait to meet this baby and make our final decision!