Pregnancy Week 32

This from babyfit.com...
Your Baby: At almost 4 pounds (2 kg) in weight and 19 inches (48 cm) in length, your baby is nearly filling up your entire uterus. Most of the time her head will be facing upward, but there’s still enough room to somersault now and then. In her spare time, baby is getting ready for her first loving look at Mom, as she practices opening and closing her eyes. Baby's skin is also becoming less wrinkled, as layers of fat continue to plump out the body.

Due when due is due...

...The due date is definitely starting to run away from me...whenever people ask me the standard question of "how far along are you?" I frantically begin complicated calculations and inevitably come up (most of the time) with the wrong figure...then I mumble something about "I'm due in 2 months or so" at which point I get a long searching look...I know, I should know this by heart down to the minute and second, but as I told a good friend of mine yesterday....my instincts tell me that the countdown really isn't that important - at least to me - because from now on, it can be any day or weeks later than expected, so why do the numbers?....Bean will make his appearance when he is good and ready...

Good friends of ours welcomed their first babyboy yesterday (5 lbs, 11 oz.)...we got text message updates on Jacob's cellphone which is not only a great idea on the part of the brandnew Daddy - not sure if we'll be that diligent and able to multitask- but also gave us the opportunity to experience the anticipation...thank you to the Baldwin's for sharing and welcome to the world, Boone!

Aside from an appetite befitting of a ditch digger, I don't have any complaints about this last trimester. Still feeling good, still sleeping well enough, still able to do most things I want to do.
Bean's starting to settle into a daily routine. He likes to kick it up a notch intermittenly during the night, rest during my morning excercises, then do his own push-ups and sit-ups mid-morning, take a prolonged nap over lunch, tidy up his digs mid-afternoon - lots of poking and scraping around - then lay low until dinner, which he reserves for his big acrobatic moves, much to my astonishment...it's a weird feeling to see your bellybutton slowly - or jerkily - move north or west, while you are reclining perfectly still on the couch or in bed...

Birthing 101

This past Saturday, Jacob and I went back to school to learn how to give birth...

Labor and delivery is a substantial topic, we gathered from the extensive class schedule and the fact that our class at the Transylvania Community Hospital started promptly at 8 and didn't let out until 4 p.m.

Clutching two pillows we were welcomed by Terri a wonderfully funny, bubbly and very knowledgeable maternity nurse, who is also the mother of three - we knew we were in good hands almost from the start. Joined by two other couples, who will give birth about 2 weeks before us, we wasted no time wading into an exploration of the many ways to safely deliver a healthy baby.

We learned many useful facts, saw a lot of new and helpful things and Jacob even excelled at demonstrating a proper birthing position himself (if there is back labor...he is ready)

We joked a lot, laughed a lot and I enjoyed how much at ease everyone was asking some potentially embarrassing questions without hesitation.

For example, according to Terri, nurses will applaud you if you poop during labor...that means you are pushing and bearing down properly...and farting...don't even worry about that now, because when the contractions come, you won't care ...she also regaled the guys with stories of testy women (during the second stage of labor that's almost inevitable) who tell their husbands and boyfriends to get lost ... and how they will have to pack hurt feelings away and patiently continue offering light massages, ice chips, encourragement etc.

Dads don't have it easy either nowadays. Gone are the days of nervous pacing by the coke machine.

We saw four different movies and by the end of it, not one of them too gory or graphic (the guys all enjoyed one that should have been titled "The projectile birth of a fourth child" but since we are all first-timers, that's an unlikely scenario for any of us.

We saw the birthing center (a separate wing of the hospital) and the actual labor suites, complete with big tubs, TV, and a sleeper seat for Dad. The rooms seem really small but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this small community hospital is very "en vogue" when it comes to walking, active un-medicated labor...they will let us roam, squat, get in the tub, shower, hop around on a medicine ball - whatever we want to do... I'm very excited about that since I hope to be pro-active in how I approach contractions and pain and how I deliver this Bean.

We both appreciated all the information - it really has eliminated whatever anxieties I harbored before - and I think it has made Jacob very comfortable with what's coming his way.

If you talk to him ask him about the mucus plug!

It's July and I'm heating up!

Modesty is quickly cast by the wayside, when temperatures sore and my personal comfort level tolerates only the thinnest layer of absolutely necessary coverage...

I measured my waist this week just to see and I came in at 36 inches, that's a pretty "round" number considering I used to wear 25-inch waist jeans and Jacob today tops out at a 30 inch waist....

Bean continues to thrive. His heartbeat measured 150 per minute this morning at the doctors and he is kicking with much power now (yesterday I was reading on the couch and he managed to make me "rock" from side to side to where I lost my spot in the book).

About 10 more weeks to go. We're excited to meet our "bulge"

Sprinting toward the Finish!

We did it!

Jacob, Bean & I, together ran the Brevard Rotary Firecracker 5K on 4th of July. We made it across the finish line in 30:35, which is a very respectable time for me (thanks to Jacob's selfless pacing and company). Previously on solo "practice runs" I had run the same distance in a time anywhere from 32 to 35 minutes, so averaging a 10 min./mile is pretty impressive for me.

Our sweet little cousin Sara ran the same race in 23:something, but then again she's only been retired from college field and track for a couple of months now. We'll just see how fast she can go once we load her down with a jogging stroller and an infant...

Along the route Jacob and I got some cheers and a few raised eyebrows, but overall it felt great to be able to mark this milestone of our first pregnancy's last trimester's beginning (we are almost 30 weeks along now) in a fun and casual community event on our nation's birthday as an independent country.

For the rest of the day, we ate pie and took naps at home, looked at old cars and new pottery at the town's fair and rested up for the fireworks show. Another lovely day with my two favorite guys!

I've kept up with my running with an eye on running this race and now I'm ready to take it easier and go slower...this morning was my first foray into power-walking...and it felt just as good and is probably going to be a lot easier to keep up on my back and knees.

I just hope & pray that I will continue to be able to be active and keep moving about as Bean puts on the weight and I keep making more room for him.

Summer of love

True, we've been surly all winter long feeling homesick for the snowy slopes of Colorado, but now as high summer hits North Carolina, we're falling in love with our new homestate.

Though there isn't much snow to speak of during the winter months, Transylvania County has a seasonal treat of equally supreme nature - swimming holes.

Since temperatures have climbed into the 80s, Jacob's newest obsession is to find the perfect place to swim - and not one of these places contains chlorine or floaties - unless you count leaves and flowers, which make the whole swimming experience not only refreshing but akin of a luxurious spa treatment.

This past weekend we took Jacob's parents, Cindy and Ronnie, to Jacob's best find so far - Wolf Creek, a dammed stream with dozens of dramatic waterfalls, numerous serene pools and a raw and wild beauty that takes my breath away when I look around and consider it.

To get to it, we do have to take a drive and then this pregnant woman has to brave a steep hike down - which I have done with a small tumble here and there - but it is all worth it. Look at the pics - this is living it up in Transylvania.

Showered with goodness

Friday, June 29, Bean & I got to be the guests of honor of our first baby shower (Bean was the only boy in attendance). Hosted by my three dear friends, Kris, Carol and Alston, the affair was as much fun as it was meaningful to me. The guests represent almost all female friends I have made in the time since I married Jacob. We ate delicious food, we laughed, we told stories & I got to unwrap countless generous gifts that ranged from cute to useful - some of them even Jacob approved of.

I feel blessed that so many could come and celebrate the almost-arrival of a new life with me. As I make the transition from woman & wife to woman/wife/mother they will be invaluable to me with advise, comfort, laughter or even simple distraction. I will cherish the non-mothers for how wise they make me feel in their admiration and I will treasure the mothers for all their experience that they are so free to share with me.

I am strong in the knowledge that all these women are only a phone call away when/if things get tough or are just too cool not to share - that, to me, is what makes life truly glorious.