All is well...

We had a doctor's appointment and everything looks good. I've gained weight and the baby is moving like crazy. She pushes out against my stomach all of the time, I guess trying to make room in there to stretch!

We had our second childbirth ed class last night, which Mat was able to make. He is traveling so much that he will only get to come to 3 of the 5 classes. But we didn't really have any other options. I guess that is why they tell you not to procrastinate in getting into the classes. Anyway, last night's theme was the "physiology of birth". I found it pretty interesting. Next week, we'll be going into the comfort measures and coping techniques for labor. Crazy to think our due date is less than 7 1/2 weeks away!

32 1/2 weeks...

The countdown is now in the single digit numbers...8 weeks to go!  That is a jicama above for those who were wondering what the baby size is now.  I guess they weigh a similar amount.  I didn't realize jicamas grew to be 3.75 pounds.  That is a huge root vegetable!  I can't believe we are down to less than 8 weeks until the baby is due.  Although, I did just learn at my childbirth ed class that on average babies are 6 days late!  Hopefully, the baby will be early or on time. I don't know if I could handle waiting past the due date because I am so focused on that date and how it will happen by then.   Any guesses on when the baby will arrive? Mom had her babies all early.  Juliette had Alex early and Shaelea late.  We'll see!

a couple of things...

Today I drove a government vehicle up to where I was working...at lunch I was outside talking with a visitor who was loading up his bike to ride up to Linville Falls and out to the coast and was saying good-bye to his wife who'd been his car support for the last 6 or so days. Well, I opened up the door of the car to grab out my bag or something and he says "Hey, you really need to quit smoking. I'm a nurse."

I turned around and said "What. Are. You. Talking. About?"

And he said "I can smell it from here when you opened your car door."

"Aha, this is not my vehicle, just the one I'm supposed to drive on certain days, so it's from someone else." It made both of us feel much better when we got that cleared up because I was wondering why in the world he was accusing me of such a thing!  I don't really notice it anymore, it is along the lines of a new car smell...I don't really like either.

***

A tiny bird flew into the visitor center today because we leave the door open on nice days. I saw it in there for a while, but then didn't see it for about 5 hours and I thought it'd left on its own. About 5 minutes before closing I was helping some visitors and one of them asked why a bird was in the building. He was awesome and was able to catch it in his hands and take all the dust off the bird's feet and feathers, I opened a window and he released it out and off it flew. I'm glad he made his presence known before I locked him inside for the night!

time is surely passing...

It's already been a couple weeks since our ultrasound...we are now at 31 1/2 weeks. The analogy for week 31 is 4 navel oranges.

I guess this is suppose to depict her approximate weight (according to babycenter 3.3 pounds, but the ultrasound tech said 2 weeks ago that she was 3.6, so she's probably bigger now).  All I know is that at my doctor's appointment last Tuesday they were happy that I've gained an additional 2 pounds.  Which brings my total weight gain so far to 16 pounds...I wonder what my end weight is going to be since the baby is just gaining weight now until she's born.  Any guesses?

She's been super active and is pushing at my stomach all the time, I think she's trying to make more room in there for her.  Sometimes my belly does really look like a weird quivering mass.

I had my first gentleman say to me yesterday "you must be due pretty soon".  I don't know if that was because I was not allowing him to go in an area that was closed for habitat restoration or if he really thought I was huge.  My uniform is not flattering, but I didn't think it was THAT unflattering!

our baby, in utero

29 1/ weeks, approximately 3 pounds 6 ounces

I took a picture of the ultrasound print that was done on Monday, so that I could share and post it, so it has a bit of a glare.  Pretty crazy what they can see via the 3D ultrasound when they are doing this all on the outside of the belly!  We think she looks like Mat right now, we'll see if she still looks like him when she's born!  Only 10 more weeks now until she's due to arrive.  We are getting excited to meet her!

end of Mat's weekend, beginning of mine...

Last night after work, we went back up to the Parkway to do a lovely hike up Sam Knob. It is at a much higher elevation than our house, so it the temperature was perfect for hiking. Maddy and Mat had a multi-sport day as they had gone mountain biking with friends that morning. I appreciated that they were willing to go out again, as I really needed to get outside and do some hiking.  It started with a lovely walk in a forest, then opened up into the nice meadow Mat is standing in and then we hiked up the top of the mountain behind Mat.



View from one of the summits.  The nice thing about evening hikes is that it tends to have fantastic light out instead of harsh light from the bright sun!  Now I'm ready for my weekend after that lovely hike!  This is turning into one of my favorite hikes around here.  I personally treasure hikes here that allow for long distance views!  I miss them after living out West and then being here where often the summits of mountains have trees, so you don't have much of a view.

29 weeks...

All righty, the baby is the size of a butternut squash this week and about 2 1/2 pounds and about 15 inches long. She's definitely stretching and moving around in my belly, which is pretty cool to feel and watch. Not a fantastic photo of me but you can kind of see the belly bump.  It seems some people aren't as fascinated by the veggies I put up as I am, so that want to actually see my belly's progress...



But here's the butternut squash which is supposed to indicate the approximate size the baby is at this week.  On Monday, we are going in for another ultrasound to find out if the placenta has moved up.  My doctor doesn't seem to be worried, she said that 99% of women's do, so I'm just mostly excited for another opportunity to see her moving around and to see if she looks even more like a baby and less like an alien.

Fun with friends...

Last weekend, Mat's friend from college, Matt, and his brother, John, came into town for several days of mountain biking.

They were nice and on Monday, we went for a couple of walks in the woods so I could tag a long and then they went mountain biking in the rain that afternoon!  Even though it was an overcast day, they all still jumped in at Skinny Dip Falls.

Mat doing some yoga maneuvers as he jumps!

Matt jumping in with Mat and John watching.

John jumping in.  One of many such jumps.

I didn't jump, I was the spectator.  Maddy joined in the fun by swimming out to the guys after they jumped and trying to greet them out in the water which basically is another way of saying "drown them".  This picture is not fantastic, but since Sarah wanted more pictures of me on the blog and less of vegetables, here is one.

As always, it was fun times hanging out with them and Mat LOVED all the mountain biking they did!