35 week ultrasound and appointment

We went yesterday for what may be our last ultrasound! That's fun to think of. I jump at any chance I have to see her, but she's so big now that we can't tell her face from her abdomen anymore. Everything looks great - she's very healthy, and the fluid level has gone down tremendously!

I get 3 different e-newsletters every new week of development. I always look forward to Tuesdays when I get my new fun facts about Hazel and the pregnancy. One of them said this today:

"Your baby weighs about 5.5 pounds..."

Ha! Try 6 lbs, 12 oz. Yes, 6 lbs 12 oz already, if the scan was accurate. Oh.my.goodness. Please Lord let her come early. Actually, like I've been saying, they are always amazed at my large baby. Once again, the technician asked me, "Is there any chance you are diabetic?" Because of her size, the machine estimates her due date to be November 18! I would be completely happy with that, but I've been warned by my mother-in-law that that probably won't happen. She had big babies, and they didn't come early. I jokingly told a single friend of mine last week that when she meets a potential spouse, an important question to ask is, "How much did you weigh at birth?" (obviously this is a joke! I love my husband and have never regretted marrying him, even if he does give me big babies :)

So the rest of the newsletter said this: "...and will continue to gain about half a pound per week until you deliver. [that puts her at 9lbs4oz for those who were curious] She stretches out to 20.25 inches as it approaches full term. Stem cells in the bone marrow continue to produce red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets to maintain a healthy immune system, but there is not really any development remaining for arms, legs, brain or organs. Your baby will simply continue to grow in size as it readies for its big debut."

So Hazel's pretty much fully developed! How fun is that? Hurry up and get here, girl!

For any mommy readers out there, were the ultrasound weight estimates right or wrong for you?

boy or girl?

Next week, we will find out if Hazel's cousin on the way is a boy or a girl. Finally, I was emailed a picture of what Aunt Christi looks like! She is beautiful, glowing, and a lot smaller when she's not carrying multiples! :) Everyone has a theory of what gender a baby is by how the pregnant lady looks. So for the fun of it, even if you don't know Christi or my brother, what do you think they're having - a boy or girl?

Is it a boy or girl?
	Boy
	Girl
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still off limits?

Last week was my birthday! My last birthday before Hazel (and hopefully subsequent children) arrives. When James and I got married, I made a goal in my head that I'd like to have our first child when I was 27, and look, it's actually gonna happen. I definitely didn't think of that when we got pregnant - at that time, it was more of the "we really want a baby" itch.

So I talked to Dr. Kapur last Monday about my diet. She asked me, "Emily, why have you lost weight?" I thought, Finally, she's going to allow me to eat my comfort foods again! I replied, "Remember how you put me on that diet...?" She made sure I was getting enough protein and carbs (which I am), and then said, "Fine, continue with your ban on sweets and fatty foods." Darn! I did warn her, however, that I was planning on eating chocolate on my birthday, to which she replied, "By all means, binge on your birthday." I knew there was a reason she was highly recommended by other Americans! I have to confess, I took her words a little too literally - I even cheated here and there all week before my birthday. I had a chocolate chip cookie on Sunday, I had three gigantic spoonfuls of this awesome chocolate fudgey ice cream, and I had pizza oozing with cheese. Then on my birthday, look at this list of off-limit food I ate:

• a coffee shop muffin
• a rasgullah (basically a ball of sugar)
• some fried mozzarella cheese sticks from Bennigan's
• a slice of chocolate mousse cake from my neighbor
• a slice of black forest cake from Jaya
• spring rolls and sweet and sour pork
• a big ol' chocolate ice cream dessert concoction

All in one day! And then for the rest of the weekend I snuck bites here and there of the rest of the black forest cake. I couldn't help myself, it was staring right at me every time I walked into the kitchen. On Monday morning, I timidly approached the scale at the gym, and you can imagine my surprise that after all that junk food, I had only gained 150 grams (1/3 lb). At this point in the game, I should be gaining roughly a pound a week.

So my question now is, is all that chocolate still off limits? I'm so tempted to say no way! At least I only have 6 more weeks-ish left. It could be that Hazel gained a lot of her weight early on and is now slowing down. Remember, she is a heavy baby, if the scans are accurate. Or it could be that God is giving my prayers the green light - I've been asking Him that if it's healthy and in His will, that Hazel would slow down in growth to the average size, and have even asked Him if her head could be a certain size, and also her weight. You may not agree with the idea of such specific prayers or think I'm putting God in a box. But my belief is, ultimately He's gonna do what He wants, and already knows my desires anyway, so why not voice them?

On the left is a picture of James and me outside the restaurant on my Day of Gorging. At present broadcast, there have been no explanations regarding the football player stance said pregnant lady is taking.

Here are my 34 week pics. Can you believe my due date is 6 weeks away?! I sure can't.

the grandmas can't resist

Once again, more packages! One from my mom ("Mimi") and one from James' mom, who hasn't decided yet what her name will be.
Isn't the red cute? This is what James' mom sent. I can't wait to dress Hazel in this for Christmas! I just love that little red jacket.


And this is from Mimi. Some more much needed practical items, like a thermometer and nasal suction thingy. And I don't think my mom ever saw a baby girl outfit she could say no to.

Much thanks to the grandmas!!

33 week goofing off

Back in July, I took a picture with some preggo friends. This is the picture - we were 18 weeks, 20 weeks, 16 weeks, and 26 weeks. Well, the girl on the far right has already had her baby girl! I'm jealous! :) The rest of us are waddling through our last few weeks. We met up last night and took some more pictures. We have definitely grown!

Andrea is 31.5 weeks, Kari is 35 weeks, and I'm 33 weeks.


That jumping picture cracks me up, especially the big thud after we landed. Andrea took us to find exercise balls at a local market, and we definitely got some amused and amazed stares. Most Indian women hide their pregnant bellies with scarves and loose clothing, so seeing three very pregnant foreign ladies walking around together was quite the sight! I saw an Indian woman who was pregnant too, and I smiled and nodded at her like we were in some sort of sisterhood. She looked at me strangely. Andrea joked that maybe she wasn't pregnant, and it was like I was saying to her, "Hey, we're fat too!" :)

taking a nap?

Hazel likes to camp out on the right side of my belly. I imagine this cute little baby all curled up in one corner. She's getting big enough now that when she does this I can see a huge difference when I look down. Here's a pic of my view of her right side curling up:

hazel's genes

I've always been fascinated with genetics, and James and I have quite a mixture of genes. I'm definitely no scientist, but I do remember from the chapter on genetics in biology that there's a little graph with quarters/percentages on what our offspring will look like. (Does that make you proud, Bobbie? :) Now I know James' dark hair and brown eyes are dominant, and my light hair and green eyes are recessive. But if you look at the alleles (is that the right word?) that we both contributed, she could really look any number of ways. I would have either contributed a green or blue eye color, James a brown or a green; I definitely only contributed a blonde/red color for hair, while James could have contributed either a brown or a red; and I contributed freckles and light skin while James either contributed darkish skin or light skin. It's fun to think of all the possibilities! Especially when we all know of exceptions to the dominant/recessive rule. For example, James' dad is dark with dark hair and eyes, and his mom has red hair and green eyes. Textbook genetics say all of the children would have dark hair and eyes. (right?) But only James had dark hair, his brother is a blend, and his sister has dark blonde hair and blue-green eyes. So really, anything is possible! And that's not even getting into whether or not she'll have curly or straight hair, be short or tall, have large or small eyes, etc.

I think it would be interesting if we had 3 kids, and each child looked completely different from each other, coloring-wise.

another parcel!

We got more stuff for Hazel in the mail today...can you stand it? This time from the wonderful family of my brother - mainly Christi, of course. She sent more onesies and sleeper sets than I could count (although one certain Sam Houston State onesie may 'somehow' accidentally disappear :). Hazel will have no problem staying warm in our cold house this winter. Christi also sent a bunch of bibs, socks, pacifiers, a cap, and some bows. And then for the much needed functional items, she sent several bottles and milk freezer bags! Wow, Hazel is one blessed baby. Thanks Aunt Christi, Uncle Andy, and cousins Boston & Livvie!

out and about at 32 weeks

I had to explain this to James yesterday, so I'll say it here too - for those of you who don't know, pregnancy weeks/months are determined by when you start the week/month, not when you complete it. So even though my due date is 50 something days away, I am 8 months pregnant. YEA!!

This week, I went for coffee with some good friends. It's nice to be able to drink a little more coffee again.

Also, we went out to eat with Adam and Andrea, and Aaron and Melanie. Melanie just had a son almost two months ago. We had dinner with them in Thailand while we were there and she was still pregnant. Now they have come to our city, and Andrea and I were able to look longingly at their baby and wish ours were already here. :)

peanut butter and pickle sandwiches!

Yep, the craving was peanut butter and pickles. Definitely not as fascinating as Andrea's craving for cricket burritos, but still a slightly strange combination, don't you think? Although in all fairness, my freshman year in college, my roommates and I decided to see if everything tastes good with peanut butter - oreos, cheetos, and yes, we even tried pickles. Let me tell you, everything really truly tastes good with peanut butter, so I don't know if this is such a weird craving when it's oh so delicious.

64% of y'all think Hazel looks more like me than James, but that's pretty close with only 11 votes, so I guess I should have given the option of 'she is a good mix of us both'. My personal opinion in the silly speculation is that she has my face shape, nose, and eyes, and James' mouth.

poll happy

I realized I have baby pics of James and me on the computer, so even though I said I wouldn't put this picture of Hazel on the internet, here it is. This was her picture at 24 weeks. Since I just discovered the fun poll thing, I ask, who does she look like? :)

Who does Hazel look like?
	James
	Emily
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craving

I had my first pregnancy craving today. Besides chocolate and sweets, but that doesn't count since I craved that before pregnancy too. Let me just say...it was gooooood, too. What do you think it was?

What was my first pregnancy craving?
	Mashed Potatoes and Scrambled Eggs (together)
	Tomato Ice Cream
	Peanut Butter and Pickle Sandwich
	Apple Tacos
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2 months from today!

Did you notice...my due date is two months from today! Fortunately, we're close to finishing things up for Hazel's arrival.

I got a package from my mom today! She sent me these super fun athletic pants that as you can see, I was really excited about! As these pictures show, I am quite the dork, as is James, so poor Hazel doesn't have much of a chance at coolness.

She also sent this really cute red top. Depending on your heat/cold tolerance, it's already weather at night for long sleeves, and soon, it'll be cool all day long! I am loving this October weather. So these are my 31 week belly pics.Mimi also sent Hazel some things, of course. A couple more blankets (one with ballet stuff on it!), some cute pink caps, and some handy nursing items! I would have taken pictures, but in my nesting excitement, I threw them immediately into the washer so I could put them away.

Dr. Kapur had us go once more to get an ultrasound this week to see if my diet was helping to reduce my excess amniotic fluid. As I'm sure you remember from my constant whinings about it, I haven't had sweets in over 5 weeks, and no sort of fatty foods whatsoever in over 3 weeks. But this time, my fluid levels have remained about the same they were 3 weeks ago, which is still lower than they were 5 weeks ago. Okay enough with all these numbers! Suffice it to say, the diet is helping to control the fluid level, and also control my weight gain, which Dr. Kapur is very pleased with now. And more exciting, Hazel is no longer breech! I wonder if it was the exercises I was doing to ease her out of breech, or if it was just taking her a little longer to get upside down. Hey, if I had the option, I'd wait until the last possible moment to suspend upside down, too.

So the funny part of the ultrasound measurements is that her head is still slightly large, but not excessively so. At the scan, I was 29 weeks 6 days. Her weight was 1.78kgs (3.96lbs) which is what they should weigh at about 32 weeks!! Dr. Kapur reassured me that her weight isn't excessive, and agreed and laughed at my remark that Hazel just must be a big American baby. After reading the reports closer, I see that her abdomen circumference, not her head, is the largest part of her now, age-wise! So James and I laughed at the thought of our cute little chunky belly baby.

This is completely unrelated, but Jaya gave Hazel a gift today. She had bought a child's lehenga for her 5 year old niece, but it's too small. So she gave it to me, knowing I've been dying to buy some cute Indian clothes for Hazel. She said that until Hazel can fit into it in about 3-4 years, that I can let my niece Olivia wear it. So Christi, what do you think of Livvie being an Indian maharani for Halloween 2008? ;)

30 weeks!!

Check it out - the first pic was me at 25 weeks, and this next one is at 30 weeks. I've grown, huh? (but since 25 weeks was when I was put on my diet, I now actually weigh 3.5 lbs less!) So maybe I should say Hazel has grown! (which she has...more on my still-giant baby later this week)

Andrea and I are introducing Hazel and her basketball...I mean, Jellybean. :)


She's 28.5 weeks here, and I'm 30 weeks. Can you believe Hazel will technically be full term in 7 short weeks? I have got to get her room ready!

a-movin'

I know I've told probably everyone I know, but I've never blogged about how much of a mover and shaker Hazel is! The first time I felt her move was at 18 weeks. I wasn't exactly sure that was a kick I felt at the time, but she leaves no room for doubt now. I read that you should feel your baby move at least 10 times every 12 hours. In our prenatal classes, they said that we should feel at least 5 kicks after each meal. So when I was 25 weeks, Hazel was moving so much that I decided to count how much I felt her move in a day. At 4 hours, I stopped counting because it became a chore to count so much - she had already kicked more than 200 times! In 4 hours!

I've been trying to get it on video because James and I both laugh at how much she moves my belly. Christi asked me to try to video it awhile back, but every time I get it on video, you can't see it very well. It's harder than you'd think. Finally, I think the camera caught her movements! See if you can see her moving in this 20 second clip. If you're having trouble seeing it, pay attention right at about 15 or 16 seconds onward, that's when she really gets going!

Thanks to Auntie Lata, a very generous lady in the English weekly ladies group I go to, Hazel will be sleeping in a real crib! Auntie Lata called me a few weeks ago and said she hated to see her crib go unused, so she wanted to loan us the crib until we leave next year. Apparently she bought it from a local market, who had bought it from someone at the Embassy. It's so big, we're gonna have to take the door off to get it into Hazel's room. Either that, or she'll just have two rooms!

God is so good to us. We didn't even ask for this, and weren't expecting to have anything nice for Hazel. Obviously she doesn't need luxuries that we can't afford, not to mention only use for 6 months, so we weren't concerned that her room would be half of a spare room and decorated in blue. But God has blessed us with such a nice piece of furniture, and something that we can decorate girly! Thank you Lord! And thank you, Auntie Lata!

third trimester

Whether it started at 27 weeks when I was exactly 3 months to my due date, or it started at 28 weeks, I'm not sure, but I do know I've arrived to the dreaded and exciting third trimester! I'm excited, because I'm in the home stretch. I've been dreading it though because I've heard the horror stories of these last several weeks. Here are the symptoms I've been experiencing:

• Discomfort while sitting
• Fatigue
• Frequent urination
• Hazel loves to kick my bladder and my ribs
• Excessive sweating, which is weird because I'm still not getting overheated
• Irrational mood swings

I guess if this is the worse it gets, then I had nothing to dread about the third trimester. But I have a feeling it's gonna get much, much worse! The mood swings are probably the worst symptom I've been experiencing, just because they annoy me by how illogical they are, and how quickly they come on. But hey, I haven't had a bite of chocolate in 4 weeks now, so can you really blame me?

28 weeks photos:

We just had our last antenatal classes last weekend. Some couples joined late, and some quit coming early, so with all the switching in and out, I think there were about 12 couples total. I had been looking forward to trying to build a relationship with at least one couple, but after several attempts at conversations, I could tell there really wasn't a couple that was interested in seeing us outside the classroom.

Here is a picture of the group on the last day. (I look so weird in this, like I was photo shopped in! :) I do know that the girl third from the left is due the latest, and the girl on the far right is due the soonest. I think with the exception of the girls on each end, my due date is next in line! It would have been a lot of fun to meet up with some of the couples after our babies are born.

Thanks Shefs for taking the photo! That was a great idea.

another mini-shower!

Wow, how blessed are we? First, the Fam sent a Shower-in-a-Box, and just today, we got another package, this one from my mom, with pretty much a downsized version of what they sent. (there are 6 of them versus one of her, you know :) Hazel's wardrobe and supplies keep getting cuter and cuter! I can't wait to hold my snuggly little baby girl.


Thanks Mom!!

Edit: Mom sent 3 sleepers, a pair of socks, a couple headbands, 2 pacifiers with a pacifier holder, a towel with ballet slippers on it, 2 matching wash cloths, and 3 receiving blankets.