Week 38 Update

Note: This post has been added to!

From "What to Expect" for Week 38: "Hitting the growth charts at close to 7 pounds and the 20-inch mark, your little one isn't so little anymore. In fact, baby's big enough for the big time--and the big day. With only two weeks left in utero, all systems are (almost) go. To finish getting ready for her close-up, baby has a few last-minute details to take care of, like shedding that skin-protecting vernix and languo. And producing more surfactant, which will prevent the air sacs in the lungs from sticking to each other when your baby begins to breathe--something she will be doing very soon. Baby will be here before you know it!"

From the Dr.'s office on Tuesday: Both my blood pressure and the baby's heartbeat look and sound good, and my labor is progressing! The Dr. checked my cervix and said that I am dialated to a 2 and that I'm 50% effaced. Crazy! To give you some background on that, I started having sporadic contractions last Thursday, and have had at least a few everyday since. In fact, I had them so regularly on Saturday (every 5-10 minutes for about 5 hours) that I thought we'd have to go to the hospital (3 weeks early)! We came home from my birthday dinner at Red Robin and packed our hospital bag, then decided to read up on the signs of labor to decide whether or not we should go to the hospital. Well, though my contractions were regular, they weren't increasing in frequency or intensity (pain), so we decided to go to bed and see what happened, and...my contractions lessened and haven't been as regular since. So, no baby yet. But, several good things have come from this little scare, like: (1) the baby's pack 'n' play is now officially all set up, (2) we now have all the essentials for baby's arrival, (3) we are pre-registered at the hospital, and (4) we now have a good idea of when to really go to the hospital. In all honesty, the baby still might not come until her due date (or after), but at least we feel and are much more ready for her arrival now in case she does come tomorrow. =)

In case you were curious to see, here is our baby's pack 'n' play all set up:


And our "nursery" (the corner of our bedroom dedicated to our baby--what else can you do when you live in a 1 bedroom apartment?):


I can't believe there are only 2 weeks left!!