34 weeks

On Tuesday we had the final ultrasound and 34 week check up. This ultrasound was not nearly as interesting as the 20 week one. The gender mystery was already known, and there just wasn't as much to see this time. The baby is so squished up that it's hard to make out many body parts. The technician did focus in on her face for a while. It was cool to see her mouth and lips moving and her eyelids blinking. She has big full lips like Tony. The good news with the ultrasound was that my placenta has moved to the right place, so we don't have to worry about it blocking the cervix.

The official weight gain is 30 pounds, but at least the rate of gain is slowing down now. I only gained one pound since the last visit. My blood pressure is still considered normal, although it is a little higher than my usual. My belly is measuring normal for 34 weeks; however the baby is in the 75 percentile for size. Because she's so big, the doctor says she'll have to come out at least a week early. So the countdown to birth is now 5 weeks instead of 6.

I had a brief pelvic exam to do a strep test. Tony was thrilled to get to witness that. Then we got a discussion about when we should call or come to the hospital. From both the doctor and our childbirth classes, we keep being told that first time mothers take a long time in labor and delivery. The average is 15 hours in labor and 2-3 hours in delivery. Oh goody.

The next checkup is in two weeks. After that, I have to go every week until she's born

It was like soooo gross

Yesterday we started childbirth classes at the hospital. We took a hospital tour, learned some relaxation techniques and positions, and then we watched a labor video. I found most of it very informative. The video had the same effect on me that "The Miracle of Life" video did in seventh grade. I was intrigued by the process while being grossed out and unable to contain my uncomfortable giggles. I am not a serious person, and serious situations often give me a bad case of the "church giggles". Tony and I, along with several of the other couples, couldn't stay straight faced. Am I really mature enough to do this myself? I'm sure it won't be so funny when I'm the one with the giant baby head emerging from inside of me.

Construction of baby junk

This weekend we finally got down to some serious baby preparations. The three showers that were thrown for our baby in various states provided us with plenty of clothes and lots of gift cards. We finally bought a crib on Friday. Upon getting it home and building it quickly and easily, we decided we didn't like it that much but we could live with it. On Saturday, we went shopping for other baby things, and Tony found a crib he liked so much better. So we bought it and briefly had two cribs in our house. After the return of the first crib, we set up the second crib. The second crib was a real pain in the ass to put together. But assembling it paled in comparison to the monumental task of building a bookshelf that we bought at IKEA. That piece of crap took forever to build and pushed Mama and Daddy to new levels of anger and frustration. If it weren't so heavy, I think Tony would have tossed it out of the window at several points in the construction. After an hour or two of profanity and dirty looks between partners, we finally slid the diabolical bookshelf into position. It actually looks quite nice and is a wonderful place for all of Maggie's books, toys, etc. I'll take a picture sometime and post it.