No Cookies for You! Just One Big Ole Baby

What message must God be trying to send if my wall oven stops working just as I have a sheet of raw chocolate chip cookie dough ready to throw in? I've decided to let this be a reminder; if not having freshly baked cookies is my only reason to pout, then life is pretty good.

Couldn't help but think of the soup nazi from Seinfeld :)

We are still waiting on final repairs after having a service guy out and ordering parts (fun!), but luckily the fridge is still working so the dough is safe and sound. Thankfully, this mini crisis at the week's start was no indication of all the other good stuff to come.

Monday we met our doula, Julie, in person for a Prenatal Consult in our home. Both hubby and I feel very good about working with her. She talked with us for a full 2 hours and just seemed the perfect balance of knowledgeable, caring, and inquisitive. I felt like she was very confident with what she does but wasn't bossy, was a great listener, obviously experienced, and it just feels like a really good fit. She's had nothing but good experiences at our hospital as well, which is also reassuring.

We will be writing up our own birth plan come to find out, but Julie will provide examples of NUCB (natural unmedicated childbirth) plans, give feedback, and answer any ?'s we have. I can see the reasons why it's actually important for us to take ownership and craft the birth plan ourselves. We will give this to our OB at the next apt. and then Julie will come to our 36/37 week apt. to meet our doctor ahead of time. At that point, we will be seeing the OB every single week (beginning at 36 wks). I'll share my birth plan here once we write it too.

Our second to last perinatologist apt. was today, and I guess I can finally believe what we've been hearing for the last several ultrasounds. "This is certainly not a small baby!" I've heard some people say that fundal measurements (mom's belly) are more indicative of baby size than ultrasound (which can be off sometimes), but my MFM's u/s tech seemed pretty adamant that this is not necessarily so. Apparently, they look specifically at a few of the measurements as the "truest indicators" of baby size: head, abdomen, and femur length. When you see a perinatologist during pregnancy, they are practically doing a full anatomy scan every single visit, so they're pretty precise and measure everything...quite different from the condensed version done by OB's from what I can tell.

According to today's measurements (@33w5d), Preston is definitely on the large side. His head, abdomen, and femur length are all at the 90th percentile of growth.


Preston = measuring 35w6d
             = weighing approx. 5 lbs12oz
             = hb @ 158 bpm
             = head down and "in position" for a vaginal delivery
Mom = weighing 156 (26 lbs. gained)
          = bp @ 96/72


We asked about any concerns on baby's large size and were told that since I passed the glucose test with flying colors and blood pressure is nice and low, it's really of no concern...that he's just a big baby and has long legs. Come again?! Long legs?? Mind you, hubby is barely 5'8" and I'm 5'3". My immediate response, "I sure hope they used the right sperm!"

All in all, nothing but good news. I'm instructed yet again to just keep exercising 7 days/wk and to continue all normal activities. Alrighty then! Now before you think I am some kind of superwoman, I should clarify that my idea of working out these days is doing the elliptical with barely any resistance for 30 minutes with my heart rate not going over 115 bpm. Additionally, I now require almost daily naps and get tired after running one or two errands, needing to lay down on the couch.

I think if you look up the word "mosey" in the dictionary you will see a picture of me. Speaking of, here is my monthly bump shot. So hard to believe I'll only have one or two more of these before we actually meet Preston in person....

32 weeks

Hubby remarks several times a week now about how large and in charge I've become. While some pregnant women may not take kindly to this, I love hearing how noticeably pregnant I am...even from people at the gym who I've never spoken to in my life. I feel like some sort of freaking homecoming queen with all the compliments and attention (although I still find it a bit odd that strangers keep talking to me). Still, I'm damn proud of this belly! Sure, I have days where I just feel like the marshmallow man or nights when I can't sleep because I can't get comfy, but that is just part of the process. You will not hear a peep of a real complaint out of me, and more often I'm remarking what a miracle this whole pregnancy has been. I truly cannot complain.

So, this is it...the last 6 week stretch. Hoping and praying baby stays put to become full term, that there will be no reason to induce, and that we can deliver au natural...even if he does end up being a 10 lb. monster.