34 week update...

How far along: 34 weeks

Total weight gain: 34 pounds now.. ob said it's baby fattening up..hmmm

How much does baby weigh: According to the Bump, I'm now carrying a honeydew melon..soon to be a small watermelon, hovering around the 4ish lb mark.

Maternity clothes: Done buying new ones, just rotating a few pairs for work. and wearing lounge pants when I'm home. comfort is key right now..

Stretch marks: Small stretchies on my hips. Still none whatsover on my belly, so far *fingers crossed*

Sleep: Actually getting decent amount of Zzz's since we have the window open and the fall breeze keeps my body temp down. I also shove pillows up against my back in addition to my huge maternity pillow, so that helps.

Best moment this week: Hearing Cole's heartbeat/kicks on the fetal monitor after noticing decreased activity lately..

Movement: He sleeps alot more now. And he's running out of room in my cramped uterus. But when he's awake and active you can definitely see every roll or twist he makes. I'm often lopsided from how he's moving.

Food cravings: None. Just enjoying treats here and there..

Belly button in or out: Definitely popped and keeps popping more each week. Turkey is almost done ;-)

What I miss: Getting in and out of the car with ease, climbing stairs w/o nearly passing out, and lately sushi (mmmmm)

What I'm looking forward to: Maternity leave! One more week to go....

Milestone: Hitting full term of 37 weeks !!

No piggy flu for me, thanks....

So last week I held out my arm and received a swine flu shot. Oh excuse me, I guess the PC way of saying it is novel H1N1 vaccine. According to sources this virus was originally referred to as “swine flu” because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs (swine) in North America. But further study has shown that this new virus is very different from what normally circulates in North American pigs. It has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in Europe and Asia and bird (avian) genes and human genes. Scientists call this a "quadruple reassortant" virus.

All that jibberish aside, whether you think a pandemic of the swine flu is headed our way or not, your chance to get inocculated is just around the corner. Luckily I fell into Tier 1 of high-risk groups for getting the virus, being nearly eight months pregnant. I attended a closed-door session for preggos only at the Burlington County Health Department. Never have I seen so many bumps of all sizes. They came from all over NJ to get the shot. It takes about 8-10 days for the virus to start innoculating both me and baby Cole but now I won't have to worry about Cole being born in prime flu season or me catching it either. Oh and I got the seasonal flu shot a few weeks before that. And I'm happy to say that mama-to-be and baby are doing just fine, no funny side effects from either shot. yay!

For more info on the swine flu, visit http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/qa.htm

Well one of us passed anyway.... ;-)

Mr. Laz and I went to an infant CPR & lifesaving techniques class this week at the hospital.

It started out innocently enough with a few other couples sitting in front of their "babies". I use this term loosely b/c gone are the cutesie flesh colored babies of classes past... they are now futuristic silver versions. They seriously could pass for mini terminator offspring. I guess it's easier to be non-denominational this way. But they are pretty creepy looking and seem to have their mouth frozen in a permanent shocked "O".

...And apparently their heads come off. haha. Take a look at the below pic...yes that's a CPR robot baby without it's head. The bad news is that's what happened to Jay's baby while delivering back whacks during the choking portion... the good news is that the lodged item in baby's airway wasn't an issue anymore ;-)



In all seriousness the class was super informative and Jay and I feel as prepared as we can be. I'm sure we'll still panic when it happens but at least we know what we're supposed to do. And the teacher assured us, the head won't come off of our baby no matter what ;-)

33 week bump pic....

I know I skipped over 32 weeks...sorry. i've felt really craptastic every night and i've been getting home when it's getting dark, so not the most ideal circumstances for pics.

And it's a bathroom image this week done by yours truly again b/c the nursery is once again in disarray while we finish lots of decorating projects in there. I'll be taking some pics of the progress this weekend so you can see the transformation! And next week's belly pic will be back in the nursery I promise ;-)

Mums for a mum....

We joined the ranks at our townhouse development and got some fall mums. They are everywhere you look in our development. They looked so pretty and crisp against the house and tree on a pretty fall day that I couldn't resist taking a pic.. now if I can only remember to water those bad boys ;-)

Barely keeping it covered...

Nearly most of my maternity tops are now too small for me. They all lift up high and play a little peekaboo with my belly. And my belly is only going to get more and more out there over the next few weeks... Here's my Friday-morning-it's-been-a-long-week-and-my-shirt-barely-covers-my-bump pic :P

31 weeks bump pic...

Pregnant woman walking...

So we took the tour of the Labor & Delivery at Underwood Memorial Hospital this weekend. It was an incredible experience for both mr. laz and myself. We got to see the Observation room where we go first if we are instructed by our OB to do so. Here is where they check out the baby's heartbeat and monitor my contraction pattern. If I'm contracting enough I would then by admitted and taken to my private room. If it's not really labor just yet, they will likely send me home.

From there we were shown the area where babies are bathed and specially monitored/treated. And right next to that room was the operating room for c-sections. I was suprised how close it is to the actual delivery rooms. The private delivery rooms are pretty nice, complete with wallpaper and wooden furniture. And every room has it's own window view which is nice. And there is a tv in each room to help you pass the hours..The rooms are called LDRP because you go through the entire process in that one room. So labor, delivery, recovery and post partum all are in one room. Unless you have a C-section of course... but I'm not going to have a C-section ;-)

The tour guide (who happened to be a breastfeeding lactation specialist) showed us what happens after baby is delivered and went over the timeline of how events will happen. So we know what happens over the next two hours from when we deliver. She assured us that most babies are very blue until they take their first few breaths. And that they get little hospital bracelets as soon as they are placed on the table. The tour guide then took us over to see the nursery which had only one little baby in it. The little newborn was all swaddled in one of the warming beds area of the nursery. We were told that the little warming bed area is also little boys will get their snip-snip procedure ;-)

Overall, the tour was very informative and it was definitely an eye opener that my time was coming. A few mommies on the tour were due at the end of this month and they looked ready to pop and very nervous, especially when the guide said "See you in a few weeks" at the end of the tour. But I'm glad we had a chance to see everything and get a better idea of what to expect :)