That is fitting out of where!

Seriously now, if they wanted to scare pregnant women into not going into labor early by finding the largest fruit they could and telling them that is what they had to shove out then MBB should have been a watermelon a few weeks ago. But now, really, they should start show peas and grapes to encourage ladies like me to want to go into labor!

MBB is still hanging out growing a bit (another 1cm this week!) before making his/her entrance into the world. Just 5 percent of women give birth on their actual due date so even though the tracker on this blog says 7 days to go - keep in mind MBB could be cooking for another few weeks still.

Not much to share from this weeks Dr's appointment. Just a little growing which is good since what is basically happening is he/she continues to build a layer of fat to help control his/her body temperature after birth which we will want. MBB is also still facing down and all my vitals looks good.

All is looking up for me to birth at the birth center and it seems like each time I go there I get to hear a story of a great birth - we pregnant ladies are keeping those midwives busy

I am working my way through all suggestions by friends and family about how to encourage MBB to make an entrance (huge dinner of eggplant lasagna last night!) so keep those suggestions coming - if nothing else they are keeping us busy :P

Off to the office to get in some meetings while I can!

Come out come out whenever you want!

If you have been following along with this blog, you know that I have been thankful to have a very quiet pregnancy and so have been really able to have fun with MBB and the time we are spending so "close" together.

Luckily as far as pregnancies go as I head into my 39th (wow!) week, things are still going well and MBB is bopping along. The rest of me, however, is as Jason and I called it "mess!" I seem to have come down with one of those darn end of summer/early fall colds which has added to the fun of nighttime sleep.

Between that and getting prepared to leave work for what seems like forever (but is in reality only 3 months, if that!) it has been pretty busy in Boig land, so I am going try to do a bit of catching up in this entry - so sorry in advance for its length!

First off - for those who have asked for an update photos, Jason and I took one on Saturday. (click on the photo itself to enlarge it).

You can see that MBB is getting quite large (he/she grew another cm last week!). I have my 39 week midwife appointment this Wednesday so MBB will get measured again soon. We do not have an accurate weight or size at this point - so we all get to hold on in anticipation of the birth for that information.

Although I am enjoying carrying MBB around with me, Jason and I are also ready to see him/her and so we have been working to encourage MBB's entrance into the word - all "old wives tales" welcome. Yesterday we went apple picking to keep my movement up and I have been doing lots of walking with Hunter. Today I plan to try jumping jacks and that worked for one person I know. :)

Once MBB has been born, either Jason or I will try to update the blog as soon as possible with photos and information. We will only be at the birth center itself for 4-8 hours after birth so more than likely it will be Day 2 or Day 3 before anything is posted, but then you can expect to see the "outside the womb" MBB growth on a sporadic but decent basis.

Well off to eat some oatmeal and get some work done. Will post more on Wednesday after MBB's appt. Good Monday to all.

Ah hah! I knew there was a basketball coming. - MBB is full term!

Again with the disclaimer: MBB has started the 2am waking up things again, so my usual disclaimer that anything written below was done so on about 3.5 hours of sleep and I am not responsible for any misspellings, bad grammar or just general run on information!

So clearly the emails about the Baby's progression are getting obvious as to what MBB will be each week and since I already have one class a week on labor less helpful since that is the only topic they really cover. But they do provide some update statistics at least - so MBB is:

• According to the emails between 14 and 21 inches. However, I can tell you that MBB is definitely bigger than 14 inches since this past Tuesday Midwife Lisa measured MBB's head to butt as 15 inches so with adding legs I am guessing we are up to aprox. 19 inches - a perfect size! MBB gets measured each week now so we will have more actual updates for you as MBB grows. NOTE: We have had some questions on the weight of MBB - we won't know this till birth as the only accurate way to measure this is an ultrasound which wasn't medically necessary so I declined this trimester - although according to the inaccurate emails the Baby should be about 6.5lbs.

Although my due date is a little under 3 weeks away. MBB is now considered full-term and if he/she baby arrives now, his/her lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb. It also means that I can give birth at the birth center instead of the hospital - wooohoo.

My dream is for MBB to come the last week of September, so if you are thinking about us - keep that in your thoughts!

I have been having light Braxton Hicks contractions, but so light that I didn't even know I was having them until the midwife pointed them out to me - I just thought it was MBB moving around! For all those who don't know that is a good sign that my body is getting ready to check out MBB in the daylight -but it's not really an indication of how soon that might be. Besides that no other signs of labor yet, but I will keep you all updated.

That's all for sleepy writing tonight - off to try to catch some zzzzzzzzs.

The work pool has started

I had to share with everyone that my work has started a pool for MBB. If you want to check out what they have bet on click the banner below. (But don't vote - work only!)

Ask and you shall receive!

Many readers of this blog (and just generally folks in our life) have been asking for photos of me pregnant so you can check out MBB at this stage. Last night some friends of ours (THANK YOU Anne and Joe!) threw a cocktail party for Jason, MBB and I and below is the such a photo for you.

After checking out the rest of our photo, Jason and I realized we really don't have too many of me pregnant so we will be taking some over the next week and you can expect more postings to come.

Also in the photo world, we have gotten back our camera and so below are some updated photos of MBB's room. As you can see we are pretty much set to go - even Hunter is ready to meet MBB!

On month to go...

As we get closer to the birth of MBB, I am feeling the urge to post more frequent updates even though really not all that much is happening.

First - for those who have asked we will have new photos of MBB (in my stomach!) Sunday. Our camera has been visiting Casa de' Reich and we will picking it up this weekend. On the camera is also photos of the finished baby room for all to see.

Yesterday's midwife appt. and subsequent class went well. MBB had grown in length 3/4 of an inch bringing the total "head to rump" official size to 14.2 inches (36cm). With a few inches in the legs that we can't measure right now MBB is right on target to be between the average 19-21 inches when he/she comes out.

There are also other signs that we are moving closer to the birth of MBB, mostly the discomfort of the mommy :). Swollen arms and legs, acid reflux and less stomach room to eat and tie my shoes - all of which I am trying to take as positive signs that MBB is almost here! MBB is still moving around like a champ and just yesterday I have been able to start learning to tell the different between baby movements and "practice" Braxton Hicks contractions.

Another sign MBB is almost here is my appts at the birth center will now be weekly instead of every other week. So for those following along at home - every Tuesday is Natural Labor class (3 more to go) and every Thursday is a Birth Center appointment (till MBB show up!). Next Wednesday MBB will be full term - 37 weeks - and then the real countdown can begin.

We also did belly casting in class yesterday - you can check out this web site for an example of what that generally looks like for pregnant ladies - http://www.proudbody.com/index.jsp. We also did an hour discussion on Labor - the signs, the things to be concerned and not concerned about and all types of other things too graphic to post here.

Well off to work to continue to try to wrap up what I can when I can!

It's not a basketball even though it feel like one!

So I was right about the e-mails staying with the sports theme - just wrong about the specific sport of this week. This week MBB is a Tennis racket head (and in my opinion the most boring sport to watch on TV besides golf). Although I personally think a basketball would have been more appropriate as that is what MBB feels like most of the time. And you can tell that from the 36 week stats:

• 13.5 - 20.5 inches (more specifics to come after tomorrow's midwife appt) MBB should be around 6lbs right now. Still packing on about an ounce a day MBB will soon be the size of a Sumo wrestler - hopefully one with a very very small head!
• MBB is shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her/his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath.
• One week from today MBB will be considered full-term (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) so the waiting is almost over folks - get those camera's ready!

More to report tomorrow after belly casting and my birth center appointment, but yesterday's labor class went well. We worked on two new forms of pain coping as well as labor positions and stretching. Don't forget the Birth center said I could give birth on my head for all they care - so all options are open!

Good mid-week to all.

September already?

One month to go (about)! Depending on which midwife you ask, the day you ask them and the ultrasound you go by, MBB is expected to arrive sometimes between a month from yesterday (the 1st) and a month from next Saturday (the 8th). Folks around here have already started making predictions - so fell free to join in:

1. When is MBB arriving?
2. How big will MBB be?
3. Girl or Boy? - the controversy rages on!

So with all this excitement, MBB is a boring baseball cap this week. I am thinking the people behind the e-mails I get just felt the need to give all sports a fair shake (remember last week was a football) so let's see if next week a basketball pops up. So what else the e-mails told me:

• MBB is between 13.25-20.25 inches long and about 5.25 lbs.
• Starting to look more like the baby you see in all those Charmin commercials MBB's skin is pinker and smoother, thanks to fat deposits.
• His/her kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of MBB's basic physical development is now complete so basically the baby will spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Coming up this week is class #3 of Birthing from Within on Tuesday (great so far!), my 36 week appt. on Thursday where I get to take the Group B streptococci (GBS) - my last pregnancy test whoo hoo. The topic of class that day will be labor (gee what a surprise) and belly casting (photos to come).

Good Labor Day weekend to all and keep us in your good thoughts for our own Boig "Labor" day coming soon!