36 weeks!

36 weeks

Baby is the size/weight of a honeydew melon

Yes, it’s been a while. We’ve been frantically moving, cleaning, and unpacking for the past few weeks. During this time, my belly has taken on a distinctive bullet shape. My last doctor’s appointment went well, and so far, no signs of a jail break. I thought for sure that with my constant fake contractions there would be some interesting news, but as the doctor said (his exact words), “It’s tied up with twine and glued shut.”  So, back to cleaning, and unpacking, and school work, and editing I go.

I’m proud to announce I have finally packed my hospital bag and assembled the kick boxer’s sleeping area, so if he makes a surprise appearance tomorrow,  we’ll be slightly prepared. The nursery is sloooowly coming together, and I hope to post pics of the final result soon.

New symptoms of the ‘mester:

• inability to walk a straight line after eating (think drunk, constipated goose)
• crazy swelling in hands
• feet going numb from all the extra weight ( I often feel like Godzilla stepping around the debris in our yet-to-be-unpacked house)
• inability to stand/walk for moderate amounts of time
• peeing every 20 mins

I start my 37th week today, so by next Tuesday, I will be considered FULL-TERM! Time is flying. Seeing as how both Jorge and I were born three weeks early… I’m terrified–in a good way!

Once I have the convenience of internet again, I will post pics of the baby shower, adorable gifts, and more! Either that, or I’ll be in the hospital.

32 Weeks!

This reference is more for weight than size… but the only other I could find was generic “squash”

We’re on the home stretch! Only about eight more weeks until I pop! (five weeks until “full-term.”) He weighs about 3  3/4 lbs. and is about 16.5 inches. I can’t wait to get my lungs back; drinking water/ brushing my teeth leaves me short of breath.

Baby is still rocking and rolling and getting the hiccups at least once a day. He hates the hiccups.

Hiccup. Hiccup. Squirm.

Hiccup, hiccup, hiccup, roll, punch, hiccup.

The other day I was telling Jorge how he had been a little more quiet than usual. Jorge leaned down, his face an inch or two away from my belly, and began yelling things like, “Oh my goooodness, little buddy! You’re just a little guy!” Then he quickly kissed my belly and WHAMO! Kicked in the kisser–baby kicked him right on the mouth.  Jorge can rile up kids in utero.

Here’s a little snip of video of baby’s recent activity:

29 weeks!

29 weeks

Baby is the size of a butternut squash

Baby Velasco has been very active. He has added creepy, alien-like rolling motions to his movement repertoire. He also seems to be an octopus; his cross-belly  punches (punching on both sides,  high and low) make my whole belly jiggle like a bowl of jelly (that is, when my stomach is not lopsided and rock hard).  The other day we were watching TV, and every time I looked down, my baby lump was sticking out in a different area.

We had a great time at our “How Not to Kill a Baby” class. This last week we got to play with creepy, germ-infested baby dolls. We were given a tub of baby paraphernalia that included diapers, booger-suckers, clothing, and a blanket. Then we got to strap on the diaper and clothing and attempt to swaddle our plastic children.  When the instructors asked, “Has anyone here never changed a diaper?” guess whose hand was the only one to go up (it wasn’t Jorge’s). Here are some shots of us giggling and not paying attention as we snap pictures:

This was right before he attempted to shove it in its mouth

He’s a pro

Mothering instincts kicking in

I’ve been having a swell time setting up my Target/Amazon baby registry–translation: baby crap is expensive, and half the time product reviewers swear the product flung their infant into air, snapped them in half, or set them on fire.

We got to visit Jorge’s friends Dave and Stacey and their little one, Ryder, in San Diego. Belly paparazzi made another appearance.

Belly Paparazzi

Here are some outtakes of the 29 week shoot. Next week–30 weeks!!!

26 Weeks!

26 weeks, baby socks from Kristina and Matt

The size references aren’t so great anymore…went from squash, to corn, to eggplant, to lettuce…

Some stats. Kickboxer is :

• 1  2/3 pounds
• 14 inches long

and my belly is 40 inches around! My bellybutton is starting to look like the closed slit of an eye and I get kicked every time I pee.

My last week of the second trimester! Today I had to take my glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. The test consists of chugging a super-concentrated Gatorade-like substance in five minutes and then getting blood drawn.

Hummingbird nectar drink for pregnant people

It was gross but not as bad as I had heard. Last week we started our “How to Birth a Baby and then Not Kill It” class, which was pretty fun. Mostly they just talked about random do’s and don’ts that I already knew, but we did get to watch a great Bill Cosby clip about giving birth. We also did a pain-threshold test involving holding ice with a clenched fist for as long as possible–which I rocked, btw.

Little guy is still rocking and rolling and partying it up in there, and both families have started a “When Will She Pop?” pool.  Other than that, real ‘cited about starting the third trimester tomorrow!

I’m sure most of you have seen this, but just in case…

School Assignment

I had to write an “I am” poem using simple present participials for my teaching grammar course. Thought I might as well include it here.

I am

I am a pregnant woman,

Sniffing through the room

Snatching up donuts and unguarded cake

Begging for a push to help me off the couch

Scratching at my belly

Giggling at the little man’s kicks and punches

Laughing, then crying

Falling into bed and kicking off the covers

Drooling in my fortress of pillows

24 weeks!

24 weeks

So I hear my uterus is the size of a soccer ball. When I look at myself sideways, I believe it. This week bebe is the size of a tasty ear of corn, measuring almost A FOOT long and weighing about a pound and a half! What a sneaky little thing; one minute (or a few weeks, in our case) he’s just a weeny olive and then BAM! Corn!

My belly button has been replaced by a stranger’s belly button–a glorious half-innie-half-outtie. I’ve been taking the opportunity to clean it thoroughly as skin that has never seen the light of day surfaces. It’s hard to believe I’ll start my third trimester in just two weeks.

This is the amazing outfit the child (aka Cynthia) made with her own two little hands:

Kelly found some of Jorge’s baby clothing, including an amazing tiny blue jacket:

And here is an adorable penguin-headed towel for after the little nipper has a bath:

Mr. Kicks-a-Lot

After feeling some pretty good jabs, we decided to check out what my insides look like (again). We wanted to see exactly how this  little man was making himself felt/seen from within layers of me, pee sack, and uterus. “He’ s still little,” I say. “He can’t reach out through everything in my belly!”

And then I found this handy diagram:

I immediately cried, “That’s him! BAM, mamma, BAM!” Look at that pounding-feet position he’s got lined up! No wonder we can feel him so well.

And here’s another gem I found–and by gem I mean absolutely terrifying glimpse into my future (this is for you, girls).

22 weeks!

Yes, I’m behind again. But in my defense I’ve been crazy busy with work and my summer course. SO, here is last week’s post for week 22.

We’ve been having a grand time feeling the punches and kicks; this week we’ve even seen them! It’s very distracting while I’m trying to work…I end up staring at my belly and waiting for the next attack. Baby does not like when I a) stop moving b) start moving) c) get hungry d) eat–or at least, that’s when he’s most active. Last night I put a bottle of prenatals on my stomach and watched it jiggle around when he kicked.

It’s a…….BOY!!!

Had our 21 weeks ultrasound appointment yesterday and finally found out the gender! In the words of the technician and our doctor….100 % sure it will be a little dude when it pops out. I had a moment of panic during the beginning of the ultrasound when I thought I heard the tech mumble under her breath something along the lines of, “I’ll just get HER (something)  measurements….” I figured she had already spied signs of the gender, and it was then that I realized how much I wanted a boy, hahahaha. BUT, a few minutes later she prodded the little spazz to get a glimpse of his underside and I spied the goods! She quickly verified, yep, indeed  boy, while Jorge said something like, “Where? What?” and I got to announce, “I saw it, I saw it!”

After the ultrasound, the doctor said that baby Velasco had been surprisingly very cooperative and they had gotten all the measurements they wanted. Not only that, but everything looked great and was “ideal.” He said “we could cross 950 things to worry about off our list” haha. So, all in all, great news for the day! Doc asked me if I had begun to feel him kicking around yet and I replied, “Oh, yeah.” He said that it was surprising that I was feeling it so strongly this soon for a first pregnancy; Jorge said he wondered what the last few months would be like if he were already kung-fu-ing now. While I’ve been feeling him for the last few weeks, his jabs have gotten much stronger over the last week or two (he’s punching me as I type). Maybe the Korean food gave him a boost. He was dancing throughout the ultrasound, enough to make the tech comment on his spastic movements.

As requested, here are the new pictures–no more alien, he actually looks like a little human! (Hard to take the pics because of the super glossy finish)

He was sitting on one leg in this shot

Freakish 3-D pic. The tech said they don’t work well until they’re older, but we enjoy what appears to be a popping eye and full-toothed grin

Guess dad was right yet again (Think of looking up from underneath…the long part on the right is a thigh..staring at butt cheeks)

20 weeks!

Just a quick update with some pics from our vacation. Had a great time in Hawaii and Korea and I must say, Korea is a very pregnant-lady-friendly country! Bathrooms and free filtered water galore. On the metro men would point to my belly protrusion and then stand up smiling and give me their seats.

Here is a side shot (there were many during the trip, thanks to my belly-paparazzi husband) to make up for my missing 18-20 week pictures.

19 weeks

And here is my 20 weeks bump shot (back in Hawaii again for return flight).

And here are the adorable baby socks I couldn’t stop buying in Korea (one pair was a gift from my Korean friend Suji).