The final countdown - week 38

Maggie, Lola, and Mr Nay enjoying the great outdoors

Well we are getting down to the final couple of weeks! Getting the baby's room finished and just general preparation!

At this point we are having weekly appointments with the midwives, where they perform a biophysical profile (measuring the baby's size, health of the uterus and placenta via sonogram) each visit. As of last Friday, Lola weighed approximately 6 pounds 1 ounce - up from 4 pounds 9 ounces three weeks ago, so she's putting on about half a pound of weight per week. The baby is doing very well.

Maggie is also doing great. As usual she doesn't want to believe the pregnancy is impacting her ability to get around and do things, but the need for naps has gotten markedly greater. Lola is most certainly taxing mommy's resources already!

Finally, Maggie's been talking to Mindy about the smell of things to come: continued lack of sleep, feeding, good baby books, etc... She's been a huge help and an inspiration, we've been taking diligent notes!

Week 35

We're getting into the last few weeks now, Lola has started to drop down into the pelvis making it easier for Maggie to breathe. This process is called lightening, and we are both hoping as it progresses Maggie's heartburn will lighten up a bit too, as some days its been pretty rough.

We had a checkup last week, they did a sonogram to be sure that everything is going well. Baby's length measured, heartbeat listened to, etc... it was estimated Lola weighs 4 pounds nine ounces, so today she's probably around 5 pounds.

Maggie's been doing great, we're working to finish up the baby's room, reading up on the Bradley Method, and just getting ready for our bouncing baby girl to arrive. Here's a picture from today, I think Maggie is looking very beautiful!

Surprise!!!

Let's go back in time - say, to the weekend of July 10th. Scott, the pups and I are all loaded up and headed to my mom's house for a "last" visit before Lola's arrival in August. I'm already thinking Red Sox games on tv, delicious clams at Harry's, Lola talk and a weekend-long visit from Meaghan!

And so Friday and Saturday pretty much fell in line with those thoughts. We also drove up to NH to see Meaghan in a benefit fashion show Saturday night. As expected, she looked stunning and displayed her catwalk sass while we cheered her on from the floor.

Meaghan before the show

Afterward, on the way home and just about out of nowhere, my mom turned to me and said, "I have to tell you something". "I have to let you in on a surprise because we can't pull it off without you figuring it out."

I said, " Is it a good surprise?" fortunately, it was! A baby shower on Sunday!

How did we get roped into being the balloon artistes?

Sunday was a beautiful day and with the help of Meaghan, my mom, Doug and Scott, it was a great time spent with family. I gained an additional 3 lbs and had a blast. To top it all off, I got a call from Mindy! The Blossom family was soon to be jetting off to Alaska to attend a wedding (which precluded her attendance at the shower).


The food was superb [all made at home - paella, bacon wrapped scallops, mashed potato "martinis", a chocolate fondue fountain and a gorgeous cake from Konditor Meister - my fave!!], the games were fun and the laughs, plentiful.

Week 31 - 4D Ultrasound

Click the picture for a larger image

Today we returned for another 4D ultrasound of the baby, this time we tried a different tactic. They recommend the mother drink some fruit juice 30 minutes before the session to make sure the baby will be moving and active. Well Lola has been nothing but active throughout the pregnancy, so we skipped the juice hoping she'd be a bit more still, allowing better pictures of her face.


Our plans were thwarted by Lola's love of nestling into the placenta and her apparent love of sticking her hands and feet in front of her face. At one point she had her big toe stuck in her nostril! We got to see lots of live shots of her yawning and opening her eyes, very cool, but the great full face shot eluded us this time. We've posted a few of the better pictures.

Week 30

It's week 30, it seems like things are moving at a very fast pace lately. Just this week we have a meeting with our estate planning attorney, the first appointment with the Stony Brook Midwives, and another 4D ultrasound at the end of the week. Maggie has been doing great, she does get winded more easily, is having to nap more often and she's noticed that sometimes when she walks her belly is swinging back and forth, kind of making its own way.

We attended a tour of the Stony Brook University birthing center led by the midwives. They gave an overview of their practice and answered lots of questions. The midwives are all about good pregnancy outcomes. For example, they deliver babies naturally 89% of the time versus about 60-70% of local ob/gyns. Additionally, they help in establishing a birthing plan and are much more focused on all aspects of the pregnancy. We're looking forward to our first appointment.

Lola's got wheels

We took our first dive into baby gear this weekend, we bought a stroller and car seat combination, the Graco Quattro 32. It's the new version that will hold a baby up to 32 pounds, so we should get a lot of use out of it. Mindy sent us a good coupon to Babies R Us that we took advantage of, it went together easily and seems really sturdy. Quoting "la blossom", there's no going back now!

Man, those French...

As the belly grows I'm faithfully slathering my anti-stretch mark oils and creams as instructed. It usually feels pretty good and seems to be working so far. But the french description can give anyone pause, grossesse - that's so me!

mmmhmmm... yep, soooo me.