Contents under pressure

At my weekly OB appointment I discovered that I'd gained 3lbs and 3 centimeters...since last week! Let it be understood that it is no coincidence that after one week of my dear husband being home I have gained and grown! As usual, everything else seems to be coming along nicely. I'm not dilating yet or anything like that just yet.
I met the third and final doctor from the practice today and liked her a lot; I'd be happy to have her show up on "labor day." She was easy to talk to and her first name is Elisa, so we could relate on the many permutations of our respective names that we've heard over the years.
In other news, our storage pod arrived yesterday and with half of the contents removed, so far we've only seen damage to one lampshade and everything else seems just as we left it. We steam-cleaned our new apartment's carpets yesterday so today we'll begin the furniture odyssey...it's frustrating to be stuck spectating, but at least Steve has my mom and family members to help this time around!

Baby Shower!

Dig that beautiful cake! On Saturday my mom hosted a baby shower for us and invited future colleagues, quite the variety of friends (some going as far back as 6th grade and some we'd only met months ago), and family. My friend Leslie and Steve's parents George and Sue win the "longest travel distance" award, having come out all the way from California just to be here, and our friend Yook even consented to come up from Brooklyn as a surprise guest for Steve (what party is complete without at least one surprise guest? Or at least that appears to be my family's motto!).

As you can see from this photo (which doesn't show the two strollers, the "exercise jungle," the bouncer, or the car seats we also received), we got a *ton* of things off our registry, which we are so excited about, as well as some really sweet surprises -- apparently we invited a handful of crafty people, so we got two hand-made blankets, and a hand made sweater, hat, and quilt that were just beautiful. We still have a few things left to pick up but the guests were more than generous in helping contribute!
Several guests also brought babies so we got to see the range of development:

In this photo, the boy on the chair is 2 years old, the baby in the bouncer is 3 months old, the baby in Allie's lap is 10 months old, and there was another4 week old baby who slept quietly for its entire stay in the one air-conditioned room (let's hope we're that lucky!). All the babies were really well behaved and happy, giving us some welcome confirmation that we are in for as much fun and love as we are sleepless nights and poopy diapers. Speaking of which, we're going to use cloth diapers, and Allie and Pete were kind enough to give us some lessons in how to use them, so we got a practical education as well (thanks guys!).
These are two very happy campers (shown with our gift-distributing helper):

Thanks again everyone!

Hiccups

I almost forgot: in the last couple weeks I have *finally* noticed Acorn having the hiccups! Suddenly I'll be aware that the usual movement has suddenly become a very rhythmic twitch...twitch...twitch...twitch...and I have to laugh. In fact, when the midwife checked the heartbeat today Acorn had the hiccups right on cue, and she could actually see my belly twitch...twitch...twitch...twitch...if only she could have picked up the sound!

Midwife #1

I am at 36 weeks and officially in my ninth month -- the birth could happen any time now and the baby would be just fine out in the world!
Had my weekly appointment today and met one of three midwives who might be at the delivery - she was very nice. More exciting was the fact that Steve was with me! He has safely arrived in Connecticut. The OB's office is right by the hospital they use for births (literally connected by a walkway) so we took a minute after the appointment to take a quick tour of the OB ward. It wasn't anything fancy but all the rooms are private so that's a plus; it will do just fine.
In other news, I am measuring exactly the same and weigh exactly the same for the third week in a row! I swear I'm going to start growing a 'bump' out my back!

Another week, another doctor

Met the second of three doctors at the OB practice today for my latest visit; yet another very nice man. I measured at 33 cm again and the same weight again and asked him about it, and he said that such plateauing is normal and if I measured 40cm at 40 weeks they'd be very concerned for the baby's size! He said if they were worried they'd order an ultrasound, to which I said, well, the other doctor did just that, but only because he said it couldn't hurt. Too which he replied, nope, it can't hurt. He was very reassuring.
The ultrasound happened 45 minutes later and everything looks great -- Acorn is ~5.9lbs edit: 5 lbs 9oz! Which means (s)he weighs right about average for this stage. The ultrasound tech commented that both the heart and lungs looked great and were pumping away, and that there was plenty of fluid. By her estimation the baby looks totally healthy. She measured the diameter of the skull at 8.6cm, with me silently thinking, okay, no bigger than that; you stay at 8.6 and I'll get to 10 and everyone's happy!
And yes, I avoided learning the gender one last time, so yes, it's still a mystery. 5 more weeks or so and we'll all find out.
Up next week: I meet the first of three midwives at the practice and my husband comes home!

By the way...

...the baby registry is pretty much at 100% complete, so feel free to use it at will. And thank you to a few of you who have seen fit to purchase certain items already -- it's been like Christmas in July!
In related news, we are having one more baby shower on July 24th, and I'm looking forward to it. Mom and I have spent several days coming up with ideas for favors and food. I've unwittingly uncovered a surprise guest or two, I'll be meeting some new colleagues from my upcoming job, and Steve's mom and step-dad will be in attendance too! I'm so excited to see everyone!

The new OB office

Everything went well at my new OB office. I handed them all my old records and they found them to be complete; I got a bunch of education around the hospital they use and their practice; and I got to review some information that I already knew, which I assume they have to tell me just to be safe -- no unpasteurized or raw foods, and what medications are safe, for example. The only frustrating part of this process, in which I'll meet a new MD or Midwife each week right up until 40 weeks (6 people total), is having to retell my story over and over again: actually, I used to live in CT. I moved back here for a job and for family. I just got my MSW which is why we lived in Colorado. My husband is wrapping up a job out West. And so forth. Can't they write that stuff down in their notes too? I already miss having one doctor who knows me fairly well and whose memory is easy to jog, but I understand their system of having me meet everyone so there will be no strangers come delivery day.
One perk with joining the new office, though, is in discussing my weight and how I'm measuring and all that, the MD I met this week decided we should do another ultrasound just to check out how big the baby is and how it's doing. So I get to see Acorn one more time!! I'm bummed that Steve will miss it and I'll have to be stubborn about not learning the gender one more time, but I'm still pleased to see the latest baby images. It'll have been 15 weeks since the last one -- nearly four months -- so it's going to be eye-opening. That will take place after my next appointment next Wednesday. If the images are clear at all, I'll scan them.
Other tidbits: the MD told me that in his experience, tall women don't need c-sections, and that I have "birthing hips." Well, thank you very much! (He may be the only man on earth with the possible exception of my husband who can walk away intact after saying such things to me.) Of course, my mom is tall and still needed a c-section because my brother refused to leave the womb*, but I didn't get into that. He also told me that there is a very high chance that this kid is going to come late, that most first pregnancies go past their due date. I was already prepared for that and am hopeful that in5.5 weeks I'll be able to live with those few extra days.
All in all, I feel good about the new office and confident that things will work out just fine with them.

*My brother was due to be born on July 4th, 1976 -- the bicentennial! Instead, he made his appearance FOUR weeks later on July 29th. They don't allow moms to go over their due date that long any more. It's just mind-boggling to think about!

Not much to update...

...other than that I'm in CT. The road trip proved to be pleasantly uneventful and totally manageable.
I have my first Connecticut OB appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday; the first to check in and transfer records, the second for my 34 week check up. I'll continue weekly after that.
Other than that, it's hot and humid (and right now I don't mind the humidity, as previously stated when complaining about the dry!) and I'm just trying to keep cool and wait for my dear husband to make the journey too.

Latest Bump Photo

34 weeks...6 to go!