New ultrasound pictures - 30 weeks

Today, we had another ultrasound. The baby was not as cooperative as he was last time. He was consistently turned away from us and did not want to give us a good look at his face. However, with some pushing and prodding on my belly we were able to get him to turn over for a few shots. The results are below. As you can see, they're not quite as good as last time, but it's still fun to see him. He's measuring in at 3 1/2 pounds, which is the 58th percentile at this point in the pregnancy, so a little above average but not huge. They said it's hard to predict how much he'll weigh at birth, but he'll probably be a bit above average. If he sticks to the standard weight gain of half a pound per week at this point, then he should probably be about 8 to 8 1/2 pounds. Everything looked healthy, and they were very pleased, so we aren't scheduled to have any more ultrasounds. The next time we see our little guy, it will be in the flesh!

Mobile blogging test

Testing mobile blogging. I will use this to send instant updates when the baby is born!

28 & 29 Weeks

It's amazing how quickly time is flying. I feel like I just wrote my last post, and yet somehow, here I am once again having to post about two weeks at once. I can't imagine how quickly the next 10 weeks will go by! (Though my doctors and expeirenced parents assure me that they'll begin dragging soon as I get bigger and bigger, and thus more and more uncomfortable.) The time doesn't seem to be going as quicky for Mike. Literally every day, he says, "When's the baby going to be here?" He's just so eager to meet his son and start this new chapter of his life. It's very fun to watch his growing excitement!

Last Sunday, we were once again showered with gifts and well wishes. This time, the festivities were hosted by the principal at my school. Interestingly enough, we have three pregnant women at work at the moment, so it was a beautiful joint shower, which made Mike much happier because the attention was not all on him. We had a fantastic homemade brunch full of all sorts of tasty dishes and were even given a onesie featuring a traditional Portuguese dish, which Mike is very excited to show off to his family.

This week, I also took my first yoga class ever. The hospital offers prenatal yoga, and I decided that this was as good a time as any to try out an activity designed to help you get in touch with your body and breathing. I'm taking the classes once a week with Lisa, one of my pregnant co-workers. (She's expecting twins, and her due date is the day before mine, though she won't likely make it to that point with the twins.) Since I had never taken yoga before, I was not at all sure what to expect and was a bit nervous about my ability to do all the exercises, but I'm pleased to say that I was able to do everything without any problems! I should clarify -- I was able to do all of the physical exercises without problem. I'm not as good at the more mental, meditative exercises. The class started out with the teacher playing calming music and having us sit down and close our eyes while she narrated a visualization sequence. We were supposed to focus on the color orange. To help us do that, at one point, she directed us to imagine a spot on the very top of our head opening up and to then imagine someone pouring a beautiful pitcher full of orange juice into our heads, with the orange juice dripping down our spines. I could barely contain my laughter. I mean - orange juice dripping down my spine?!? That's something I'd expect in a yoga parody - not a real yoga class! I'm not sure what effect that whole sequence was supposed to have on me, but I don't think I experienced whatever was intended. In any case, the class did leave me feeling great, and I actually slept entirely through the night and felt rejuvinated in the morning, something that rarely happens these days.

I've had a cold for the past several days, so I've been spending a lot of time resting on the couch, but other than that I'm feeling great. Mike continues to be amazed by how large my belly is getting. Pretty much daily he says, "Man, you're getting big!" We are, after all, entering the period of rapid growth for the baby. At this point, he's gaining about half a point per week. He's just about reached his full length, but still has far to go to reach his full weight. Most of the energy at this point goes into packing on baby fat. Indeed, last week he was the size of a head of Chinese cabbage, and this week, he's the size of a butternut squash - or about 2 1/2 pounds. His skeleton is hardening at this point, so I'm making sure to eat lots of calcium. We go through over a gallon of milk per week now, as well as lots of cheese and yogurt, so he should have good, solid bones!

This Wednesday, we have another ultrasound appointment, so be sure to check back for some new baby pictures!

Dad's Corner: I am serious, and please don't call me Shirley

The first child/grandchild sets off a shock wave of changes within the family.  Parents become grandparents; children become parents/uncles/aunts; and unsuspecting couples become guardians to a helpless eating, pooping, and sleeping machine.  One of the biggest decisions that almost everyone involved must make is what to call themselves.  Are you a grandma or a nana?  Are you an Uncle James or Uncle Jim?  I think I'll stick with the old standby, Dad, but every now and then request a Pops.  What will you choose?

We've completed our tour of gift-getting.  Thank you everyone for your generosity.  It's amazing how much stuff we have, but it's even more amazing that everyone was so kind to give it to us.  We appreciate it very much!  The next step is to fill in any missing things we need with one more trip to Babies 'R Us.  Exciting, exciting.

Work has been busy, so I hope this crumb of a post will hold off some of the more ravenous of you for a little while until I can write something more substantial.

Babies words of wisdom: "You may think 'Airplane' quotes are funny, but wait until I quote 'Sing-Along Sally Sings in the Sahara' every 5 seconds for 3 weeks straight."

26 & 27 Weeks

The past few weeks have been very busy, so you'll have to excuse my lapse in the blogging world. Mom and Dad flew in on November 1 to stay for 9 days. It was great to have them here for one last visit before our family grows. Their visit was structured around a few key events, which just happened to all fall within one week of each other. On November 2, Liz hosted a baby shower at her house. All of the Pape and Ribeiro women along with the Elliott Road crew converged for a fabulous luncheon. This past Sunday, my family hosted a shower at Aunt Cindy's house, pulling together all of the Bancroft women and some dear friends. It was great to get to see everyone, and I especially appreciated Mom and Liz's decision to hold the two showers separately. I was actually able to talk to each of the guests and spend time catching up with everyone rather than simply jumping around person to person saying "hi" just to be polite and then moving on. Everyone was incredibly generous. We have truly been "showered" with baby gear, clothes, bathing supplies, blankets, and toys. We feel incredibly lucky to have so many people in our lives who already care to deeply for our son and are anxiously awaiting his arrival. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again to everyone out there who has given so generously to help us prepare for life with a baby. It really means so much to us!

As Mike mentioned in his Dad's Corner, we seem to have entered a period of rapid baby growth. It often feels like the baby is pressing outward on my stomach, completely out of room inside there. I'm also starting to feel quite large. It's becoming hard to tie my shoes, bend over, and even sit for long periods of time because my stomach gets compressed. I know that I'm only going to get larger -- we still have over 2 1/2 months to go -- but it's just interesting to have reached this point where I'm almost constantly aware of this whole new part of my body. No matter what discomfort it may cause at times, it's an amazing experience.

Last week, the baby was the size of a cucumber. This week, he's the size of a head of cauliflower -- over 2 pounds and about 14 1/2 inches. He's beginning to open and close his eyes. His brain continues to develop. This week, the brain is beginning to develop the grooves and indentations that we all associate with brains; up until now, it has been smooth.

I greatly enjoyed a day off today - one of the perks to the world of education - but it's back to the real world tomorrow, so it's time to head to bed. As Mike mentioned, a fabulous birthday gift from Liz and Larry is making it much easier for me to get a good night's sleep. I'm enjoying being able to sleep through the night (except for having to get up to use the bathroom), as I know those days are limited!

Dad's Corner: Stuff, Stuff, Everywhere

Who knew a male baby needed so many outfits.  I'm thinking we'll just change his onesy each time he pukes on himself.  He's not even here yet and he's kicked me out of my office and taken over my basement with all of his stuff.  The child who shall not be named yet has his own bedroom (freshly painted by Mimi), new bedroom furniture on the way (partly provided by the Pape Grandparents (have you picked out names yet (wow, three parentheses deep, is this legal?))), a wardrobe picked out by his throng of female fans (he'll be signing autographs in Crayola crayon at each house visit), his first sports jerseys (thanks Uncle Dan), his first geek shirt (just laugh at the joke on the shirt you don't understand, trust me, it's funny - it combines bodily fluids with network stack protocols... oh man I'm still laughing), and so much more.  Danielle has managed to organize most of it into a corner of the basement, but it's slowly spreading.

Danielle is doing well as usual.  She's getting noticeably bigger by the week now.  I think we're in baby grow mode now because sometimes she can feel her body having to stretch to accommodate him.  He's kicking and punching like crazy still.  We think he was even dancing at the Zonkaraz concert, but, like his mother, he has serious white boy rhythm.  Danielle's back has been a little achey lately due to how she has to sleep, but she got a body pillow for her birthday from Liz and it's already helped.  It's helped me sleep now too because rather than glom onto me, she hugs this pillow like it was her long lost lover Ricardo back from a month long "save the pandas" expedition.

All in all, I'm anxious to have the baby arrive.  I'm sure it will seem like it flew by when the date arrives, but I just want it to come now.  We still have our classes to go through (classes to teach you what used to be a natural thing...), but I feel like I'm just about as ready as I can get.  It's going to be one big learning experience, but I've been told I can learn me some stuff real good.

Baby's Words of Wisdom: "If you want me to tell you my name, put your hand on mama's belly and I'll tap it out in Morse Code.  I'll give you a hint, my last name is: dot-dash-dash-dot dot-dash dot-dash-dash-dot dot."