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A baby story: Week 36

Week 36:  Baby’s the size of a crenshaw melon!

Here’s a picture of what a crenshaw melon looks like because, if you’re like me, you probably have no idea!

We are officially in our ninth month of pregnancy!  And it’s been another very busy week here in pre-baby land.  It is crazy to think that within the next 4 weeks or so Kevin and I are going to be parents.  Just let that one sink in for a minute…

Our weekend was filled to the brim with baby-related things:

  • Meet the Labor & Delivery team: We went to meet a panel of resident doctors, labor & delivery nurses, an anesthesiologist, a perinatoligist, a lactation consultant, and a pediatrician to get a better idea of what to expect on the big day and afterwards.  We left the meeting feeling reassured that Kaiser Oakland is the right facility for us and that they are overall pretty progressive and practice what they preach.  We asked two questions that were important to us but we weren’t sure how it would fly at this facility and were very happy with their responses:
    • I asked about the benefits of allowing the umbilical cord to finish pulsating before clamping and cutting it and the perinatologist was in favor of it and said that it could only benefit the baby (it’s only delaying the clamping/cutting of the cord a few minutes and she can still be placed on my abdomen or at least held by Kevin for skin-to-skin contact before the cord is cut and then she is placed on my chest)
    • Kevin asked what the chances were that the father would be able to “catch” the baby and one of the resident doctors said, “Well, I had one yesterday!” which was so good to hear!  So if Kevin decides that this is something he wants to do then at least we have the support of the hospital to do so.
  • Newborn care class:  The class was pretty basic (diapers, what signs to look for for healthy or sick babies, dos and don’ts, etc.) but it was fun and entertaining nevertheless.  What I liked the most about it was that all of the dads in the room were the first to grab the baby doll we were to work with to change the diaper and clothe them and then when the instructor told us that for the rest of the 2 hour class the babies could not be put down but instead had to be held, it turned out to be all of the dads who picked up the babies and held them.  So cute!  Kevin didn’t look too bad holding that little plastic baby either.  🙂
  • Meeting with our doula:  Kevin and I along with my sister Jessie met with our doula on Saturday morning at our apartment.  We had a nice little breakfast together and talked about the roles everyone will play during labor.  At the end she gave each of us a large sheet of paper and a set of pastel chalk and told us to draw what we think Sirena is doing in utero.  We were given around 10 minutes to create our drawings and come up with a title.  Here’s what we came up with (I saved the best for last)!

Here’s my drawing, titled Loving her Little World.  I had a dream years ago (when we were still living in Long Beach) that I was pregnant and my uterus came out and it was a glowing, deep blue color with a little baby girl inside who smiled at me–this dream was my inspiration for the glowing blue uterus that Sirena’s been living inside of the past nine months.  I pictured her enjoying nature with her best friend Lola.  The doula said to think of a message for her and “Welcome!” was the first thing I thought of since there are so many people that can’t wait to welcome her into this world.

Here’s Jessie’s drawing, she said it was a lot more esoteric and symbolic than mine and Kevin’s.  I can’t remember all of the details of her drawing so I’ll need to ask her when she’s back in town!  🙂

And here’s Kevin’s drawing, titled The Amazing Sirena.  He said that she is in utero playing jump rope with her umbilical cord and has a swing set in the background.  The circle on the left is the moon which symbolizes him and the shape on the right is the heart and sun which symbolizes me because I am her lifeline right now.  The conversation bubbles with the music notes coming from us symbolize when we talk to her but because she doesn’t understand us quite yet he says that it just sounds like music to her.  And the conversation bubble coming from outside on the left that says “Woof!” is, of course, her big sister Lola.  I honestly wasn’t sure if Kevin would enjoy the art activity with our doula (wasn’t sure if it would be a little too “out there” for him) but he seemed to enjoy it a lot.  Seeing his picture and hearing his description made me fall in love with that guy ten times over.  And, of course, I cried a bit when he was talking about it.  🙂

Tomorrow (Friday) we’ll be at 37 weeks and with that came a whole lot of comments this week about just how close we are to meeting her.  I had three people remind me that now that we’re at 37 weeks and Sirena is considered full-term, she could “come at any minute”!  Although I really really can’t wait to meet her, I would really really love it if she would continue cookin’ for just a wee bit longer…there’s still so much to do!  I started to get a little stressed out thinking that maybe we wouldn’t even have this weekend to prepare for her arrival but in the end I decided to just trust her—to trust that she is going to come at the right time.  We decided to get the most important to-dos taken care of this weekend (baby clothes and bedding laundry, buying her crib mattress, signing up for a cloth diaper delivery service [more on that later]) and just take things one at a time and make the most of our alone time.

After sharing my worries with a co-worker she told me to “enjoy the anticipation”…what perfect words to live by right now.  Once she’s here, she’s here and there’s no turning back!  🙂  So I am doing my best to enjoy these last few days/weeks that we’ve got to be in complete awe and wonder at what our life is about to become.

Belly shots!

It’s pretty apparent, she ain’t messing around any more!

I really wonder how many more of these weekly belly shots we’ve got left!

Other pregnancy updates

  • Total weight gained: 13.5 pounds
  • Fun baby developments this week:  She weighs around 6 pounds and measures around 20 inches, her skin is smoothing out, her gums are rigid, and her kidneys and liver are in working order.
  • Number of weekends we’re hoping to enjoy, just the two of us (ahem, three of us with Lola), before the little miss arrives: Three.  Fingers crossed, people!
  • What I’m most looking forward to when the baby’s born: Other than seeing and holding our sweet little girl?  I can’t wait to (not necessarily in this order)…
    • Sleep on my stomach
    • Eat a big ol’ brownie sundae
    • Drink a beer
    • Eat sushi
    • Go for a run
10 observations on “A baby story: Week 36
    1. Lisa

      Thank you Monique!! Glad I wasn’t the only one crying over here. And here I was thinking it was the pregnancy hormones. 😉

       
      Reply
  1. Judith

    Glad you had a good experience at the hospital!!! Everything will go as smooth as ice! I’ll go with you for the big brownie sundae when your ready. lol Just relax, your friend is right, enjoy the anticipation. Love you.

     
    Reply
    1. Lisa

      Thank you Judith! It was so good hearing your voice on the phone this week, too…can’t wait for you to meet her!

       
      Reply
  2. bri

    Aww!!! So excited for you both! I love all of your drawings and Kevin’s is so sweet. Can’t wait to meet her (fingers crossed she waits a little bit longer so that shes closer to her due date)!!!!! Xoxo

     
    Reply
    1. Lisa

      Thank you for crossing those fingers for us! How cool would it be if she had the same birthday as her Uncle Brian, though? 😉

       
      Reply
  3. victoria

    Your daughter is going to love this blog. Way cooler than a baby book. And Lisa, you really do look incredible! Have you been doing push-ups? Squats? Your arms and your butt…my God. : )

     
    Reply
    1. Lisa

      LOL! Victoria, you cracked me up! Thanks for the compliments, I swear the only thing I’ve been doing physically is walking Lola. 😉

       
      Reply
  4. mauricio rivera urbina

    Hola Lisa , me alegro de que todo esté bien con tu embarazo y ya se encuentran preparados para recibir a la nueva ciudadana de los EEUU. Espero que el día del parto todo salga bien sin problemas. Bendiciones de Dios. Saludes.

     
    Reply

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