Tick tick tick!

I feel like I"m a ticking timebomb waiting to go off. At 38 weeks 6 days, I could be holding baby girl in my arms today or up to 3 weeks from now (let's hope it's not that long). I am still way less comfortable than I was at this point with Brady who insisted in sitting on all kinds of nerves to cause sciatica & pelvic pressure. The one uncomfortable thing I notice this time that I didn't have before is random contractions. I'll have a few an hour & then it stops and then I get some more in a few hours or not again until the next day. It's been like that on & off for over a week now. At my visit last Monday I was still only dilated 1 cm but had gone from 25% to 50% effaced. I have my 39 week visit tomorrow & am hoping I've made a little more progress. I know that progress doesn't mean she'll pop out that day, but for some reason, progress seems encouraging. The pics below were taken at 38 weeks 3 days (complete with new stretch marks and all. It's funny- Brady gave me the ones below my belly button and baby girl has given me the ones above my belly button. Territorial siblings already? Hehe!). While I don't think she'll be as big as Brady as 9 lbs 1 oz, I do think she'll be atleast 8 lbs. Finding out her weight & length are just some of the wonderful surprises awaiting us. Hair color, eye color, facial features, and oh yeah- her birth day are some other things I can't wait to find out. Brady is still quite excieted to begin his role as big brother. He was kissing my belly today and shook his finger telling baby sister "You not gonna watch Harry Potter". When I asked him why not, he said "Cause it's too scary." Perhaps he's already practicing being protective of her?

Full Term!

I can't believe that as on Monday, baby girl is considered full term. It still would feel so wierd to have her this early, but it's comforting to know that if that happens, her lungs should be good to go. I had my last appointment on Monday. They offered to check me again if I wanted, so I said sure thinking perhaps I'd progressed from 1 cm the week before. Not so much. Still 1 cm & about 25% effaced. It kinda bummed me out, but I know that being dilated or not really means nothing at this point. My belly measured 37 cm at 37 weeks so I'd grown 2 cm in a week. The exam caused my back to hurt for a few hours that day along with 1, yes only 1, strong contraction. I go back for my next visit on Monday. If they offer to check me, I still may say yes. Kinda hoping it may get things moving along. I feel really lucky to not be uncomfortable at this point as opposed to having some seriously achy pelvic, hip & leg issues with Brady from about 8 months on. The only pains I've been happening are actually upper back pain. Strange, I know. It happens throughout the night & I think I'm just sleeping in a not-so-good position or something. It's not unbearable & I'm still sleeping fairly well, just getting up 2-3 times a night to go tinkle. I'm getting really excited to go into labor (wierd but true), experience childbirth again, and meet my daughter. It's neat that her birthdate, weight, length, eye color, hair color, features, everything will be a surprise. I packed up some toiletries for the hospital & have work stuff pretty squared away too (out-of-office written & ready to be activated and out-of-office voice mail ready to be activated too). Last night I sterilized the breast pump parts too. I am really looking forward to nursing again as it's one of the best things I've ever done for Brady. There's not much I can do now to keep him healthy other than regular dr's & dentist check-ups, but I gave him such a great start in life by nursing him for 12.5 months. It was a huge sacrifice, but I started off right (no bottles, no paci, etc) and followed my guy by not supplementing him with formula early on despite his slow weight gain, and I think it all paid off. I've posted pics below of me at 36 weeks 5 days from last Saturday. She's still growing & I'm enjoying the ever-blossoming belly. On a side note, we took Brady for his first dentist's appointment this morning. He definitely was scared since it was much like a doctor's office, but the dentist was great. She managed to brush, clean, and put a flouride treatment on his teeth. What a brave boy! He continues to be such a joy & I have no doubt he will be an exceptional big brother to baby girl. Oh, he's also decided that her name should be Charlotte! We had some families over to our house this past weekend including 5 girls ages 1-7 and one's name was Charlotte. Apparently he loves her name because he patted my tummy Sunday night multiple times & said that baby Charlotte was in there. He'svery insistent that she not be called anything but Charlotte. I think Charlotte Lin Davis has a nice ring to it, but we've decided to still wait and see how we feel about it when she's born.

Easter Fun & Baby Girl Happenings

We enjoyed a nice Easter weekend. I had a sore throat and earache Friday(never panned out to be anything, so I'm guessing it's due to the yellow haze of pollen outside), so I stayed home from work, but thanks to napping all day Friday & enjoying a nap Saturday while Rocky & Brady went to breakfast and the park, I felt well enough Saturday evening to meet up with my parents & John in Burlington for Thai food & a trip to Barnes & Noble. Sunday started off with Brady enjoying the goodies in his Easter basket- little bit of candy (including his favorite- M&M's- see pic below for a shot of his chocolate smeared face), Spiderman tattoos, Cars stickers, Spiderman book, Kung Fu Panda DVD, Sesame Street socks (he's sporting them in one of the pics- but since they'd been buried in the pack-n-play for so long, we soon discovered they are too small- baby sister will love them!) and a Disney watercolor book. Rocky had found the watercolor book the night before at B&N. Brady loves it! You put water in the marker and it "colors" the paper. But as the paper dries, the color goes away so you can draw on it again. Very cool! He'll be loving that one for a while. After basket time, I took Brady to Barnes & Noble where he read alot of books and then we went to McDonald's for lunch (his request) where he gobbled up his nuggets & apple dippers and then headed off to play in their play area. The one at Brier Creek has a really nice outdoor play area, complete with shaded tables for the parents to sit at. We then headed home for his nap time & that evening we had a nice dinner at Outback before heading to the park. What a fun weekend! The pics below are just a glimpse of how much he enjoyed it all.
It seems as if no blog post would be complete without an update on baby girl. I had my 36 week appointment yesterday. This included the swab for Group B Strep. Basically, if a mom tests positive, she is given antibiotics during labor to prevent transmission to the baby since GBS can make babies very, very sick. My belly measurements proved the fact that she had dropped which I already knew since I can breath better due to her no longer being lodged in my ribs. At 34 weeks I measured 36 cm and now at 36 weeks I'm only measuring 35 cm. I have never measured behind at all with either pregnancy, so this was proof that she had headed south. Since the doctor was already "down there" for the GBS swab, she checked my cervix & found that I am 1 cm dilated. I was dilated for 2 weeks before I had Brady, so it doesn't mean much, but it is 1 cm I don't have to dilate during labor. She instantly felt the head & said that it was nice & low. They won't check me again until I'm 39 weeks or if I think I'm in labor, but I'll still have weekly appointments from here on out to check my urine for sugar & protein, weigh-in (Oh Joy!), check my blood pressure (a nice 116/68 this week), measure my belly, and listen to her heartbeat. This is all becoming more real. Rocky has serious doubts that I'll make it until May. He's going to install the carseat bases this weekend. Other than that, most of the things I need to do are more for me than for her- haircut for Brady & me, oil change for my car, order breastpump parts, etc. I'm starting to wonder more & more what she'll look like- it's the daydream phase of pregnancy where my mind drifts off & I picture having a sweet baby girl in our house as we go from a family of 3 to a family of four. Even if I hold off having her until as late as I had Brady, that's only 5 weeks. Seems like 5 weeks ago was just here yesterday.