37 Weeks Update

So, I am officially fully term, the baby is getting big and we just have to wait and see when the Lord will send us our little girl.

Last week there were worried a bit about the baby's size and position, so since they have an ultrasound machine in the office, we swung over there to check her out. Well, she is head down and ready to come. They supposed that at that time she was 5lbs 10 oz (give or take a pound). So if she really does grow 1/2 lb a week, then she is about 6.5 lbs. But that would suppose that I hadn't eaten so much Christmas chocolate...

They did give us a couple pictures, but we all know that ultrasound pics are not the best. I actually thought it was just because babies at 18 weeks of gestation looked alienish, but at 36 weeks, they look the same - only bigger. I'm excited to have real pictures to show everyone.

This is her profile - the little bubble in front of her face is a cross-section of the umbilical cord.

Today at my doctor's visit I learned:
Eliora last week was about 5lbs 10 oz, which is the 51st percentile for babies at 36 weeks gestation, so we expect to have an average sized baby, 7-8 lbs; in comparison to Kaela, tiny.
I measure 34 cm pubic symphis to top of uterus (standard is 37 cm), also indicator of smaller this time.
Gained 19 lbs total weight
I am dilated 1 cm with my cervix hard and unmoving - in short, the baby won't be coming this week, and probably not next. Looks like she is shooting more for her planned due date.

Christmas!

I think Christmas begins the Friday after Thanksgiving. I have a strong rush to decorate for Christmas on that day because if I don't do it then, there is so little urgency. You miss out on half the fun for half the season. So, up the Christmas tree went.

Kaela enjoyed helping get the room ready.

I will admit, I have not had so much fun in hanging ornaments before. Kaela just lights up our life. She still really loves to look at the lights and balls. (And so far, she doesn't pull them off.) I would had her a ball and she would rush to the tree to have Daddy help hang it.

Lee was given years ago a set of soldiers who play Christmas carols on bells. They intrigued Kaela so very much. She will come into the living room now and say, "Bah, mah!" (Translated - Bells! Music!) until I turn them on. She then starts to laugh and dance.

Merry Christmas to All!

Pregnancy Update: 33 Weeks

So I have had many requests that I do a post on myself and how the baby is doing and growing. Now, I must admit that this one is hard for me. Two weeks ago I had someone ask, "When are you due?" and I couldn't figure out for the life of me what she was talking about. Several things ran through my head and I answered with one of those and she looked really confused. Then I realized that I AM PREGNANT! I am so pregnant that people can tell just by looking at me. Seriously, I put on my maternity clothes in the morning and forget about it. I was amazed recently to see a picture of myself since I don't feel like I look that pregnant.

Update on Baby:

We are having a girl, and we have nearly settled on the name Eliora. It is Hebrew and means, "The Lord is my Light". She is due to arrive mid January, 2010. Her favorite time of day is about 8:30pm when Kaela goes to sleep and I can sit down and notice that she is indeed moving and awake. That is generally when Lee and I get to talk about her, rather than Kaela.

Eliora now should weigh about 4 lbs and be nearly a foot long, crown to rump. Those numbers are averages, so she is definitely different than that, but it gives a good estimation.

Update on me: I am 33 weeks along (of 40), in my 7th month and feeling pretty good.

My glucose levels last month were very low and my iron quite high, both good signs for pregnant ladies.

I've gained just less than 20 lbs, so I'm on track to gain the required 25-30lbs before January.

From pubic symphysis to the top of my uterus I measure about 30 cm. Now, that is small since I'm supposed to correspond in cm to how many weeks along I am, so I should be about 33cm rather than 30cm. But we aren't too worried about it since Kaela was so large (9lbs 8 oz) that if I measured correctly with her, having a smaller baby will be normal size.

Because of the split in my abs, you can feel our baby girl really well, just a couple layers of skin and muscle between fingers and baby. It seems that she is currently in perfect breach position with her head at the top of my uterus, but we have a long time for her to turn, twist and dance her way into the right position.

I had a man offer to carry something for me the other day and I thought that very thoughtful. When we got to where we were going, he set it on the chair so I, "wouldn't have to bend over so far to get it." I confusedly said thanks and then realized that he was helping not just because he was a kind older gentleman, but because I am expecting. Didn't even cross my mind! Maybe it will sink in the next month and a half....

Small Occasions

I am getting the word out that I am starting my own shop of little girl dresses! I have been sewing furiously for several months to build my inventory and now I can finally let you all know. (You have probably noticed the lack of blog entries since I now spend Kaela's nap sewing.) The shop is all handmade dresses for little girls sizes 3M to 5T. I concentrate on dresses for special occasions, but I enjoy making dresses for every day.

I sell the dresses in my online at Etsy, which is a website dedicated to people for selling their handmade objects. The link on the left will take you there, or the direct link is http://www.SmallOccasions.etsy.com

I would like to show some pictures of my work. These are just a few samples - head over to my Etsy website to see them all and their descriptions!

I likewise can make customized orders: If you can describe the item in detail, we can see if I can make it just how you want it.

I do wish to say thank you to all the girls and their moms who let me take pictures of them. I had fun as well as got pictures to show off my pretty dresses.

I hope you enjoy looking around at what I have done, and hope that you think your small girl will look wonderful in each!

Sunday Afternoons

Kaela woke up from her nap and Lee went in to get her. This is how I found them:

When she woke again, a position change was all that was needed.

We love our Daddy!

The Cranberry Festival

This weekend Lee, Kaela and I went on an adventure to the Cranberry Festival, about an hour south of our home. We had lots of fun together. To the people who are wondering if I look pregnant, Lee told me to hold my shirt under my tummy to show everyone just how pregnant I look!

There was lots to do there: we ate lunch, made music with a whole set of percussion instruments, saw ponies, viewed cranberry history, and bought cranberries.

The neatest part was when we took the bus over to the actual cranberry bog where they were harvesting the berries. They ride tractors over a partly flooded field to pull the berries off the plants, then the flood the bog entirely and the fruit can float to the top. They then coral them over to a hose where they sort and clean them before loading them onto a truck. We got to see it all!

We were told there that there are 3 fruits native only to the United States: the blueberry, the concord grape, and the cranberry. Now, if I were a colonist tasting a freshly picked cranberry, I would make a nasty face, and never ever try one again, fearing that it was also poisonous. They are sour, hard and have such little flavor. How do cranberry sauce, juice, and Craisins all taste so good?

Kaela styling Andrew's sunglasses.

There was a presentation on owls up there which was neat to see - Kaela called out "Caa, caa" to them all.

Andrew Onken, our friends from Lee's school and the ward.

All in all, we had a blast with friends and just being together as a family the week before midterm exams.

Toddler Fun

Ok, so I promised a post here sometime soon. This is Lee again – I know, it’s amazing, I’m running two of these in a row! I figured it had been a while since we put a post up here, and we had lots of fun pictures, so this is just a fun picture entry. Each one has it’s own story, so I get to use (drum roll) HEADERS!

Kaela at the Beach

So a few weeks ago we went up to crane beach with some friends, about a half hour north of Boston. It was a lot of fun, and Kaela had a blast playing in the sand and in the waves. She’s really  becoming quite a water bug – she jumped right in and spent much of the day in the water!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bednobs and Broomsticks

Ok, so I had to include this one. Kaela often gets excited anytime that the broom is taken out. This is often really annoying when mommy is trying to sweep, and Kaela wants to take the broom for herself. Sometimes Kaela will sweep, other times she’ll bring it over and hold it up to “show” it to us (she really doesn’t like it if you try to take it while she’s holding it out, though). I don’t like her broom fancy just because it’s long enough for her to reach my head. . .Anyway, I digress. These two are from one night when we were putting off bedtime a bit, and I decided to show her that broomsticks can be good for flying/galloping (take your pick).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Optometry freaks

These two here had to be put in as well. I try my best to keep my optometry equipment from Kaela, just because it’s rather pricy stuff, but sometimes she’s too quick. Oh, and the brush, let me explain that. Any brush that Kaela gets hold of is either a hairbrush or a toothbrush – and it can switch back and forth. I think the basting brush was being used to tame her wild locks that particular morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pillows

So a few times this summer we’ve ended up pulling out the inflatable mattress and sleeping in the living room, just because the AC in our apartment only cools that room. Kaela loves to play with the pillows – she thinks its a really fun game to put her head on them. Other times she just likes to dive into them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Move

Some of Kaela’s favorite activities are playing around in the car and playing on mommy and daddy’s phones (actually, she’s now to the point where she’ll put lots of things up to her ear as if they were phones). I hope we don’t make her too technologically inclined.

 

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Luckily, she still makes time to stop and smell the flowers. In fact, she usually is careful to stop and smell almost every flower she comes across. . .

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