Little Swimmer

She loves swimming around in there!

Exceptional Ladies.

We had our final "Centering Class" yesterday, its a combination of medical check up and prenatal class. So we checked Megan's weight yesterday - obviously this could be a little sensitive and I may not be supposed to share this - but I am amazed at Megan's growth. She has increased her body weight by 38 percent in 39 weeks. Nearly all of that weight is sticking right out of her mid-section. She has virtually doubled her blood supply, and she is probably carrying some water weight that is not localized in her stomach, but otherwise she has it all up front and center. 38%! Over the past 39 weeks I have consistently tipped the scales at 213 lbs., for me to gain 38% of my body weight I would have to gain 82 lbs. I find that amazing. So much so that I had to share my calculations with the doctor when it was our turn to check in with her. She seemed a little surprised, checked Megan over to see that she wasn't overly swollen, made sure that she hasn't gained too much over the past two weeks, and then determined that Megan was fine but big. Her heart rate has remained remarkably consistent over the past nine months, and everything is good. She told us that we had better take plenty of pregnancy photos because Megan was "exceptional." I am taking the liberty of applying the same term to little Greta, who surprisingly, is probably not that big. The doctor said that the baby was likely around 7.5 lbs. Mostly, Megan is carrying a lot of water and and other equipment that Greta needs while on the inside. While that has been great for Greta, it is starting to wear on Megan. Greta's 7.5 lbs. is little more than a fifth of all the extra weight Megan is carrying around for her. This is one reason, among many others that I can think of, why Greta, who is fully developed and ready for life outside of Megan, should hurry up and come on out already! We'll let you all know when that happens.

Still Waiting

Hopefully I won't get much bigger than this. Only one more week till the official due date!!
Matthew did a little photo shoot last night :-)

Ready for Launch

She has dropped. Unfortunately with first babies that still means it could be another 3 weeks from now...but it's good to know she's in the right position as of at least last week, if not before. The Dr. is pleased with all my "numbers"--which was so encouraging to hear. And at this moment Greta and I are experiencing one of our frequent Braxton Hicks practice contractions.............ok it's over. It doesn't really hurt, but can be a bit uncomfortable!

Matthew's new thing is to say to baby "I'm coming to Gret yah!!" We're all ready for her. Since I've stopped working I've gotten the chance to fully nest...washed all her clothes, blankets etc and organized her things. It's so incomprehendable that soon we will be holding her and bathing her and changing her and playing with her. What will it be like?? Waiting 9 months for the best present ever takes a lot of patience!! Of course we know it will not always be easy and fun, and that especially the first 6 weeks will be somewhat a blur of tiredness and shock at the adjustments we'll be making. But we know we will have a lot of support from family, friends, and our church and feel very blessed for that.

Sorry no photos this time around. I could scare you all with a picture of me taken in my swimsuit the other day, but I'll spare the world wide web that one. No, I was not going swimming (I've chickened out on doing that--people stare at me enough as it is in regular clothes!!)--but I always wanted a picture of me in my bikini fully pregnant, as I remember looking at one of my mom taken like that when she was getting ready to have me :-)

Let's hope there won't be time for another pre-baby blog entry and that next time we'll have a photo of our little baby to show you all!