Week 33

In the 8th month and moving right along!

Dad
A big happy B-Day to the daddy-to-be!! Kirk celebrated his 27th birthday on Monday. He also learned a lot this week (see 'Happenings' below)


Mom
Mom has been doing well this week - somewhat tired as Baby Renegar is determined to resume his nocturnal training sessions.  Just when I was learning to get comfortable the kicks and rolls showed up at 2am again....how I love this kid already!  Speaking of being comfortable, I'm having a tough time not just sleeping, but also sitting, standing, etc. I'm not sure what purpose the discomfort serves, but I know that there must be a reason.  Perhaps it gets mothers to think "surely it will be better if I just have this baby..."


Happenings
A lot has happened in the Renegar household over the last week or so.  As mentioned above, we had an early celebration of Kirk's birthday on Saturday followed by our first baby shower and childbirth class on Sunday.  A big thank you to everyone who made the shower a success -  I feel truly blessed to have so many who care about Kirk, the baby, and myself.  And it's wonderful that our little baby boy now has enough baseball outfits to last a solid 4-6 weeks of his life (don't worry there's always room for more!)  Another fun and exciting experience was the first childbirth class.  We covered the first 2 stages of labor - what to expect, how to behave, etc.  We practiced relaxation techniques and as I'm  fairly practiced at yoga and meditation, the big goal is to teach Kirk how to stay calm and focused during labor. (Yes, that is a little backwards, but I wouldn't have him any other way).

Baby
Baby continues to grow and develop this week.  He is about the size of a pineapple and his brain has made such big leaps forward that his head has grown between 1/4 and 3/8 inches.  (Yes, after watching the ultrasound tech measure his head a few weeks ago, the idea of it getting bigger does scare me!)  However, this growth is needed so that baby can learn new tricks such as coordinating breathing with sucking and swallowing (this means fewer hiccups).  And I did get to witness this first hand - baby's back is facing, sometimes laying, against my belly.  So the other day I could actually see my stomach rise and fall with the baby's 'practice' breaths - very cool. 

This week was our non-stress test, a procedure used to make sure that the baby is getting sufficient blood flow from the umbilical cord. This is determined by seeing heartbeat accelerations whenever he is active.  Of course my baby, being from such a stubborn and strong-willed family, decided that he wanted to sleep during the test - the worst thing he could do - and he was force-ably woken up by the nurse twice to get him moving.  Once he cooperated, we passed with flying colors.  (Yes, that's my giant belly!!)