30 Weeks

How far along: 30 Weeks

Countdown: 70 days!

Exercise: We went on a 2 mile nature walk outside of Albequerque last week with Jay's mother and sister. And today we're going swimming in the lake. Maybe get Mugsy to swim too!

Stretch marks: Yup, still not disclosing where they are though.

Sleep: Is the best thing in the world. We are enjoying every minute we can.

Best Moment of the Week: Landed my first location to start teaching Group Massage Workshops AND I found a massage therapist to take over my clinic's lease while I'm on maternity leave!!

Worst Moment of the Week: Leaving New Mexico. I know Jay didn't have enough time to see everyone he wanted to see, but I was glad to meet as much of his family as I did.

Movement: Corbin knows Riverdance apparently. Lots of spasms and they are starting to become predictable, like after I eat or when I lay down.

Food Craving: Pizza and salt

Food Aversions: Healthy food. I'm eating it, but it's work.

Gender: All Male

Belly Button: Is not an "innie" or an "outie" it is just flush with the rest of the belly. :(

What I miss: being able to stand up on my own from squatting or sitting on the floor.

What I'm looking forward too: Going to the lake today! I've been in my bathing suit, greased up with suntan lotion for an hour now in anticipation.

About the baby: Baby is the size of a head of cabbage. Roughly 15.7 inches long and almost 3 pounds. He is surrounded by only a pint and a half of amniotic fluid and that amount will decrease as he grows and takes up more room. So much for my water breaking in a dramatic Hollywood inspired flood. He's working on developing his eyesight and growing his brain mass this week. It's likely that he can detect changes in light outside the womb and may even start responding to different environments.

Jay and I are getting anxious/excited to meet this little person and see who he looks more like (the competitve nature of our relationship never ends :) ). He is working away on our hangar, installing the cam light fixtures and running the electrical loops for the downstairs today. I'm so proud of how hard he is working to get the space liveable for us and our new son. But I hope he can find a break point soon so we can dip in the water! :) All work and no play makes Jay a dull boy.

28 Weeks

How far along? 28 Weeks 4 days

Countdown: 80 days to go!

Exercise: Bradley class exercises: squats, tailor sitting, pelvic thrusts, and keegals- oh my!

Stretch marks: Yes, but not where you would think.

Sleep: Sleeping more than usual. Sleeping through alarms infact. Jay and I both are trying to enjoy everyday we get to sleep in seeing as how we won't get to sleep in again for 18 years.

Best Moment of The Week: My best friend offered to host a baby shower when I visit home next month! I'm super excited to play all the dorky games and see my friends and family all in one place!

Worst Moment of The Week: Organizing my bills. I really don't like bills.

Movement: Oh yea, tons of it. He's a little jumping bean. Our midwife Patty was able to track his position in our appointment today. She said he's already head down and will probably stay that way, only moving side to side from here on out.

Food Craving: BBQ & frozen ice pops

Food Aversion: Veggies that are not green.

Gender: Still a boy

Belly Button: I am determined to make it stay an innie.

What I miss: fitting into those last pair of pre-pregnancy pants. Dresses & elastic bands until October- sarcastic "yay"

What I'm looking forward to: Meeting Jay's family in New Mexico this weekend.

About the baby: Weighing in at 2.25 lbs, stretching out to about 14.8 inches long. Baby is growing! He can blink his new eyelashes and begin to detect light outside of the womb. This week we're working on developing the brain and packing on the pounds to prepare him for the outside world.

At my 28 week appointment today, the midwife said I was measuring 32 weeks! Good gravy almighty- 4 weeks ahead now?? We're unclear about the date of my missed period so our due date has been a guess this whole time, but come on already. She said she wouldn't be surprised if I'm more pregnant than we think in which case we would be going into labor much sooner than expected. Uh oh. So much for "plenty of time". Time is definitely running out to get ready for this little guy's arrival, including the much needed time I need to convince myself I can infact go natural.

Also learned that I have gained an impressive 33.25 lbs in four months. I hope he plans on taking most of that with him when he leaves. Oh how I long to get back into derby. I'd be pretty effective with take outs at this size!

Back to the Drawing Board

Jay and I are 90% sure we will name this little guy Corbin. Corbin what is the question. It went from Corbin Levi to Corbin Bennett and now we are looking at the names all over again. Well, more accurately I am looking at names all over again. Jay is having a good old time listening to me rattle off my lists.

So here are the new options we are considering.

Corbin Otto
Corbin Rocco
Corbin Elliot
Corbin Bennett
Corbin Henry
Corbin Oliver
Corbin Syrus
Corbin Wesley
Corbin Balthazar
Corbin Barnaby
Corbin Ezra
Corbin Van
Corbin Levi

Plenty of time to decide. And no one ever died from not having a middle name so blank is always an option. Heh Heh Corbin Blank Stokes .... maybe.

I got a big belly.

I used to have a cute bump. Now I have a big belly. Soon I will be scaring small children down at the lake when they see my giant uterus coming at them. With my limited knowledge of physics and gravity, I do not see how I will be able to remain upright for 12 more weeks. The skin on my sides is stretched taut even when I'm not having those Braxton Hicks contractions. I am lathering up with lotion everyday to try and prevent the inevitable. But if this belly is on the path I think it is, it's going to be mind blowingly huge.

At my last appointment I was around 24 weeks pregnant, fundal height measuring 27. Your fundal height is the measurement from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus (aka your fundus). It is measured in centimeters and by some weird quirk of nature it should match your week of gestation. I measure big. I measure 3 weeks big at last count. My midwives are confident that it doesn't mean I am doomed to have a ten pound baby, I just have a large uterus. Lucky me.

Actually, lucky baby. Enjoy your giant home while you can Corbin, because once you're evicted I'm doing some serious renovating and getting my pre-pregnant belly back!

Bradley Class Numero Uno

Last night, Jay and I attended our first Bradley childbirth class. The instructor, Chan McDermott, came highly recommended to us not only from the midwives at the Austin Area Birthing Center, but from several patients who overheard the initial recommendation and had to add their testimonials as well.

Classes are held at a Gymboree in Austin. I had never been inside a Gymboree before. It is a padded, colorful wonderland for tots. There are slides, and tunnels, and monkey bars, things to climb on, things to jump off of, and padded foam mats as far as the eye can see. They offer art classes, skill building at all levels (2 months-5 years old), and it makes for easy play dates for the youngin's to interact with kids their own age. Here at the airport there is one kid under 5, two teenagers, and that's it. And I doubt there will be any new additions in the near future. So if we want our baby to even see another baby we may have to consider something like Gymboree in the future.

We found that of the 10 other couples enrolled in our class, more than half came from the Austin Area Birth Center. Our instructor was apparently AABC's very first water birth 15+ years ago. I believe every couple in the room was expecting their first child, and everyone was only having one child (no twins). So we had alot in common with these people right off the bat.

We learned about the history of the Bradley method and its variations from other childbirth classes, the importance of posture, squats, and Keegals, and the role the men are playing in all of this. Jay did very well spotting me during our practice exercises and he wouldn't let me cheat on the pelvic rocks- which are hard to do with a baby in the way. I think he'll prove to be a solid coach down the road. He didn't even squirm during the birth videos!

27 Weeks

How far along? 27 weeks today! (3rd Trimester!)

Countdown? 91 days to go!

Exercise: I thought about it. I've been working 3 days in a row, climbing up flights of stairs, waddling around clients, and all the lunging- I feel like I've worked out for hours by the time I get home. If my 4th of July stays open I'll go swimming in the lake.

Stretch marks: I thought I spotted some on my top half yesterday, but it may have been from my clothes. I'm afraid to look again.

Sleep: Had the worst dream last night. Our baby was born 13 weeks too early and his head was the shape of a toilet paper tube. But when I woke up after that dream I couldn't get back to be so I got a head start on today's activities.

Best Moment of the Week: I had a couple come in for a Couples Massage Workshop they pre-paid for in February! They were hilarious and picked up the art of massage very quickly. I love teaching people how to enhance their wellbeing and create a stronger connection using Massage Therapy. Every workshop I teach reaffirms the fact that I got into the perfect field. When I started massage therapy training a week after high school graduation, there were some doubts as to whether or not it was the right fit for me. 5 years later- I couldn't imagine doing anything else!

Worst Moment of the Week: Mugsy got her skin infection back, luckily we still have the topical sprays from the last time she had a flare up, but we did have to shave her again. She was just getting her coat back :(

Movement: Jay felt his first outside kick this week. Jay's dad also got to feel one. I can start to pick up on fetal hiccups which feel like kick but they are more frequent and rhythmic.

Food Craving: Waffles and ice cream

Food Aversions: None this week

Gender: Still a boy

Belly Button: A shallow innie

What I miss: normal dreams

What I'm looking forward to: A trip to New Mexico in a few weeks and a trip to Virginia Beach in August!

About the baby: Looks like almost 2 pounds of my weight gain can be credited to the baby at this point. He should be stretching out about 14 1/2 inches long. He is sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing his eyes, and possibly sucking on his thumb (or foot if the ultrasound was correct).

13 more weeks to bake!