Week 36 Update...

Sorry this is late...
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

Well, we should have more info tomorrow as we have another appointment, but meanwhile, as of last week, our brilliant boy was already head down and ready to go. I'm not dilated at all though, which is good as our goal is to avoid going into labor. We should have some more ultrasound pictures tomorrow so I will try to get them posted as well.

Love to all,
J

More Halloween Shower Pictures...

Michelle, Nichole and Me at the Shower in our Masks...






A picture of Tracey (one of the co-hosts) and Natalie and me at the Shower






Turner and I doing some of our famous present opening...










Jim Thome's spotted rump is visible in this picture. He's one of Michelle's dogs (and I have to say, our favorite as we have dog-sitted him quite a bit). He oversaw most of our present unwrapping





In case you can't tell, our hats say "Quinn's Mummy" and "Baby Daddy"

Big Ol' Belly....

WARNING: If you are icked out by pregnant bellies, I'm going to recommend that you skip this post... I don't want to be responsible for emotionally scarring anyone!!!

WARNING: If you are icked out by pregnant bellies, I'm going to recommend that you skip this post... I don't want to be responsible for emotionally scarring anyone!!!

Well, if you've made it this far, I'm assuming you know what you are getting yourself into. That said, my friend Becky is a great photographer and yesterday she came over to take pictures of my big ol' belly (AKA Quinn). Since I have no idea if I'll ever be pregnant again and moreover, since this has been such a wonderful journey for us, I wanted to capture it. Becky did an amazing job and I'm so happy with how they turned out so I wanted to share a few. I, of course, was not the easiest subject as I was constantly fidgeting and making generally hideous faces. Becky was a trooper to stick it out.

Oh, and these haven't been touched up or anything. In case you find them confusing, I have scars on my belly, etc, from the surgery I had last year. I don't actually mind the way they look as if it weren't for that surgery, we wouldn't be about to have Quinn...

So that's that. If you were brave enough to look, that's what I look like really preggo :-)

Love to all,
J

Happy Halloween!!!

Turner and I did some pumpkin carving on Wednesday and I wanted to share our pumpkins and wish everyone a Happy Halloween!!!

This is the pumpkin that I carved. (We used one of those carving kits, so don't be too impressed by me).














This is Turner's pumpkin, the scary clown pumpkin. His is holding up WAY better than mine as part of mine is falling.














And here they both are together.


Love,
J

Quinn's Room Update II

Here's an updated pic of the bookshelf. I can't get over how many great books he already has. I hope he takes after his mom and dad and loves reading :-)














This is the new ceiling fan that we put in. Turner and Amber both read that air circulation reduces the risk of SIDS so we had been indecisive before but decided to do it. We really like the look of it, but the light is a little dim so we're glad to have the two new lamps, too.















Here's a shot of his new toy box...














And, finally, an inside shot of the toy box. I'd like to point out that he hasn't even been born yet. I think he's in pretty good shape :-)


We are so thankful to have such amazing friends, family and framily. Thank you all for all you've done for Quinn. He's so lucky to have you all be a part of his life!!! (And not just cause you are spoiling him rotten, but because of your love and support).

Love,
J

Quinn's Room Update I

Here's an updated shot of the corner with the glider. I'm not sure too much has changed, but can see Phillipe, his new frog from Michelle, part of the piggy bank she made him and one of his photo collages of his daddy as a little guy.














Here's an updated shot of his crib. The only new thing here is the mobile my mom got him which casts stars and moons while it spins.














Here's the dresser with one of his new lamps.














Here's the mobile that Becky got him over his changing pad. I like the contrast of the bright colors with the silver mirror and clock (which is also new).



















And here's a wider shot of his changing area, the new toy box and the corner of his crib.


All in all, I must say, it's good to be a Quinn!

Week 35 Update...

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

So sounds like now he's more or less bulking up. I will say, I can sense a change in his movements lately which they say is normal as he's a little squished up. Overall, I'm doing well. We haven't done a good job getting rest this week so I'm a little run down, but that is as much my fault if not more than it is Turner's. This week is the DA's Conference though, so I get a half day on Friday. Might catch up on some relaxing and resting and I'm hoping to post some pix of Quinn's fully outdated room. We carved pumpkins last night so I'll try to get some pix of them up here, too.

We're going to the doctor today so I may have a little update though it is our last "normal" appointment before they get serious about checking me out thoroughly each time, so it may not be too interesting. Either way, all is going well and we're getting so excited about meeting him that we can hardly wait.

Love to all,

J