Isaac Aidan Ricci… (the love of my life along with his daddy)

Born on September 16, 2008, 1:35pm. 8lb, 0oz. 20 inches long. Beautiful, amazing, and God’s gift to us.

Apparently I’m now full-term (Full-term is 37 weeks according to my doctor), so I’m “allowed” to have this baby any day now. It’s such a weird feeling, going to sleep at night wondering if I’ll wake up at 3am with contractions!  I’ve been having lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions, which doesn’t mean anything about when I’ll go into labour… but they sure do make me think about it more!

I don’t really feel anxious to get this baby out though. I’m kind of enjoying these last weeks/days.  I am trying to burn into my mind how the kicks and bumps feel, so that I never forget. This is my first pregnancy, and it’s such a special and amazing time in my life. I don’t want to take any moment for granted. I’m also working for one more week, so hoping to get at least that far.

I had a doctor’s appointment today, which took all of like 6 minutes to determine that everything’s normal, and that baby is welcome to arrive anytime he or she pleases. I am certainly thankful for an easy and complication-free pregnancy. What a blessing!!!

I get to meet my baby soon! YEAH!

Wowsers! I am 37 weeks pregnant today.  Honestly that felt like FOREVER away when I first found out I was pregnant. And finding out I was pregnant feels like FOREVER ago.  I can’t believe it’s so close!!!

Here’s what the good ol’ interweb has to say about my little monkey as of today (or an average of all little monkeys everywhere): Your baby weighs close to 6.5 pounds / 2.8 kilograms and may be about 20 inches / 50 centimetres long from head to toe. No wonder it’s a huge procedure just rolling over at night! This baby belly is h-e-a-v-y!!!

And here is what the average 37 week fetus (aka unborn baby) looks like:

The babe

Isn’t she/he adorable? lol.

By the way, I am so stinkin’ confused about my due date.  You’d think I’d have figured this out a while ago. But I am confused nonetheless. Is it the 8th, the 9th, or the 10th? I don’t know. I think I’m gonna go with the 8th, because I want to have the babe earlier rather than later! I’m hoping I can have the baby early enough that I can see all the PM’s, especially Geoff and Kim & new baby Madelyn, before they all go home on the 13th or so.  But really, I know, it’s all up to baby! (or God, actually!)

I am feeling pretty good… I mean I have the usual complaints related to being 37 weeks pregnant, like it hurts to walk, and I’m humongous, and I pee every hour, and don’t sleep well… not to mention the swollen ankles and water retention…

BUT all that means pretty much nothing when I think about the amazing miracle that I’m going to meet soon!

(And yes, as of now, I still want 5 kids! But I guess I’ll wait until I’ve gone through labour to say it again!)

Oh, and my wonderful mother-in-law is coming over to clean the house (which is amazingly sweet and incredibly helpful)… and my mom is coming over to help me with some other projects and more “getting ready for baby” stuff on Saturday. I’m so glad to be close to family right now!

One last thing… my mom thinks I’m gonna deliver early (she thinks around Sept.1, so we’ll see!!). Yikes!!

(Just as I’m pressing “publish”… baby is having hiccups again…)

Holy moley! Only 5 weeks until my due date… and that means only 3 weeks until I am “full-term”.  (Since babies are born on average between 38 and 42 weeks, they use 40 weeks as your due date, but the average baby is fully ready anytime after 38 weeks).

I am working until I am 38 weeks and 3 days, so hopefully this baby will need to cook just a little longer. 40 weeks would be just perfect, as far as my schedule goes (I say with tongue-in-cheek… or whatever that saying is that means what I am trying to say… I’m bad with using the right saying… so confusing…).

Anyway…

5 more weeks!!!!!

I partially packed the hospital bag (can’t very well put in stuff like my toothbrush, etc. or my going home outfit, since I only own like 3 outfits that still fit me).  Hubby is as wonderful as ever, giving me foot rubs and back rubs, and being super understanding like 24/7.  He’s awesome, and I’m so excited to see him grow into being a daddy!

Enough of my rambling. That’s pretty much all you’re gonna get here from now on. Baby brain is now at it’s height, and my world is about to change in major ways!!!

I am 33 weeks pregnant… and I am seriously amazed at how quickly time is flying. Honestly I thought it was still like the beginning of July, and today I go to work and discover that the date is July 21, 2008. YIKES!

I went to the doctor today (I’ve been going every two weeks since late June). After my next appointment on August 8, I start going every week… and then only a few weeks later… blast-off! (Chris has taken to calling it blast-off… not sure how I feel about that, haha!). Anyway, the baby is great – she/he has rolled over and the back is now on my left side, so that explains why I get kicked all the time in my right rib

It’s been getting more and more interesting to walk… it’s kind of uncomfortable – there’s more pressure in my groin area, and my hips feel like they are getting disjointed (which is apparently normal, in preparation for labour & delivery!). I’ve also been so tired (although not like the first trimester which was brutal), and I’ve been HOTTER than I’ve ever been. Um, yeah, I was referring to body temperature, although Chris tells me I’m hot in that other way too. He’s a wonderful husband (must be the married-to-a-crazy-hormonal-preggo-lady instinct that God blessed him with).

Ummm, let’s see what else… the baby room is getting readier and readier (is that a word?!)… which one would think would cause the parents-to-be to also feel readier and readier. However… I am torn between feeling SOOOOO excited to meet my baby!!!! and totally terrified about being a mom!!!! Is everything going to go ok with delivery? Can I really survive labour? What’s it feel like? Will my baby be healthy & ok? Will the baby love me as much as I hope to love him/her? Is it a boy or girl?? So many questions running around in my mind! I could go on for awhile…

I had a photo shoot done with honey bunch, me and the belly (first family photos!). My sister took the photos, and I love the way they turned out. Here are a couple of my favorites:

can't wait to meet you baby!

Well, I was officially 30 weeks pregnant on Canada Day. Yay! Less than 10 weeks left now until my due date… and since I am actually considered full-term at 38 weeks (the due date is at 40 weeks), there are only 8 weeks until I am full-term! Yikes!

I’ve been feeling more and more tired as the third trimester goes on.  Swollen ankles, sore back, the usual pregnancy complaints.  But overall I’m just really excited to meet my baby soon!

The baby has been moving and kicking SO much lately.  Especially during the day when I am sitting still at my desk at work – I look down and see my stomach jumping and moving… it’s so great! I love it

Hmmm… what else to say. This is a boring post. But I felt obligated to write a 30 week update, since it’s kinda a milestone.

Oh yeah, I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning.  I go every 2 weeks now.

OH! And I went camping! I’m gonna write a separate post about it…

So this is my 28 weeks pregnant belly… I feel like I really popped out in the beginning, but haven’t continued at that pace (thank goodness!).

A few stretch marks, but overall, life is good.  I can’t wait to meet this miracle!

This is one for the history books kids.  The Granny Pants Rebellion is officially over.  A decisive victory has been won by the Granny Pants, and the Preggo Mama is defeated.

That’s right…

I caved…

I’m wearing my comfy maternity stretchy top panel thingie all the way over my belly instead of folded down around my belly button.  These babies are seriously touching my ribs.  Kind of an homage to Steve Erkel and Granny Panties everywhere.  Not all my pants have this type of stretchy panel thingie at the top – some are just an uncomfortable stretchy inch or two.  But these babies, along with a couple other things I now own, have enough material at the top to cover Nunavut (or my belly in a few short months…).

It’s a funny feeling, being in the thick of things… history being made before my very eyes.

Wow.

There are only 100 days left until the due date! After today, only 2 digit numbers…. yikes! We can’t wait to meet you baby

Actually there are only 13 weeks until the baby is considered full-term.  13 WEEKS!!! Holy macaroni! We got the baby room all painted last week.  The Coker’s, Carson’s, and Laura all came over to help paint while I sat on my butt in the living room trying not to breathe paint fumes.  It was quite the crazy day.  We’ve now got our dresser/change table – the one we picked out from our registry. Chris’s Granddad decided to buy us a baby gift, and he had it delivered to our house! We were (pleasantly) very surprised! It’s gorgeous and lovely and perfect. We also picked up the crib from someone Serena knows (they gave it to us for free!), and it’s beautiful!

The room is slowly coming together, and I can’t wait to see it finished.  Each step closer makes it more and more real to me.

I’m getting bigger and bigger as the days go on.  It’s amazing to me how I just keep growing!  I went to my latest doctor’s appointment last Friday,  and he said that next time I come (June 20) I have to do a glucose screening test for gestational diabetes, and get an RH shot, since my blood is Rh negative (I have A-neg blood).  Yay for needles.  (Can you sense my excitement? *cough*).  A small price to pay for my baby though!

Hmmm… I don’t really know what else to say. I’m just watching to days go by quickly… hoping I’ll be all ready by the time September gets here, and that I can accomplish certain goals in my job before I leave.  After that, I have absolutely no idea what my life will look like. I have no clue what it’s like. It’s like I landed a huge job with absolutely no experience, no training, and no way to prepare.  I have ideas of what I want it to be like, but who knows what will actually happen! I guess I’ll find out soon enough