40 week photos...official due date!!!

was really hoping that we wouldn't get to the point where we were actually taking pictures at 40 weeks...was hoping the pictures would be of the baby not my belly...BUT no such luck...so belly it is...i think the biggest difference between 9 months and 10 months is the fact that my belly is lower because he has dropped down...

we have made it to 40 weeks...baby in 41st week of growth

well today is officially our due date...which doesn't mean a whole lot other then we know that we will def. have a baby within 2 weeks...one way or the other...here is his growth this week...

Your pregnancy: 41 weeks

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How your baby's growing:

A bit over 20 inches long, your baby has continued to grow and may now weigh almost 8 pounds. As cozy as he is, your baby can't stay inside you forever. For your baby's safety, your practitioner will talk with you about inducing labor if your baby isn't born in the next week — earlier if there are any problems. Most practitioners won't let you wait more than two weeks past your due date to give birth because it puts you and your baby at increased risk for complications. About 5 to 6 percent of women have prolonged pregnancies that extend three or more weeks beyond their estimated due dates. Babies born at 42 weeks and beyond can have dry parchment-like skin and are often overweight. Waiting that long to deliver also increases your chance of developing an infection in your uterus that could be dangerous for your baby or of having a stillbirth. What's more, your labor is more likely to be prolonged or stalled, both you and your baby have an increased risk of injury during a vaginal delivery, and you double your chances of needing a c-section.

40th week of growth...we're getting there

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How your baby's growing:

It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it's a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called "molding" is the reason your baby's noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it's normal and temporary.

lots of contractions but none that are moving to the next level

growth during week 39...yeah...14 days until the due date!!

Your pregnancy: 39 weeks

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How your baby's growing:

Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

full term...yeah

here we are in our 38th week of growth...check it out...

Your pregnancy: 38 weeks

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How your baby's growing:

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

a trip through the months in pics

month 3 on the left and month 4 on the right
















month 5 on the left and month 6 on the right
















month 7

month 8

month 9

well there you go...hope you got as big of a laugh out of them as i did...

pics at 9 months...

i am HUGE!!!! can only imagine what the next few weeks will bring....

we made it...9 months...36 weeks..

growth during this week

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How your baby's growing:

Congratulations — your baby will be full term at the end of this week! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

sunday, sunday, sunday

i feel like a commercial for the monster truck show...haaaaaaaa...we went to the midwife today and found out that if we go into labor before sunday (36 weeks) we won't be able to have our midwives...we would have to go to the bigger hospital in burlington so the baby could be monitored for 24 hours...so i am back to laying low and not doing a whole lot until sunday...
on a positive note:
*it's already wednesday so as my dad would say...thurs, fri, sat
*im not going to get this rest time once the baby comes so i should take advantage of it now
*i still get to go to my prenatal yoga class

i am thinking this little guy might want to join us sooner rather then later as long as he can wait til sunday im cool with that...he is def. dropped down pretty low and i am starting to get the waddle walk at times...haaaaaaaaaa

35 weeks...we're getting there...

after spending the past 2 weeks 'laying low' because of contractions (nothing major) i have been given the green light to return to normal activity!! i am very excited about this...it has been tough to be lazy...seriously...
here is this upcoming week's growth..

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

day at the pool with friends

we finally had a day without rain...it was beautiful...here are a few pics...

running out of room in the belly...

i am def. feeling this guy get bigger...he is running out of space...he is in the head down position which means that his little butt is under one side of my ribs while his feet are busy kicking under the other side...haaaaaaaa i wonder if he will be this active once he is out? we might be in for a handful if he is...

here is what he is doing this week...

Your pregnancy: 35 weeks

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How your baby's growing:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

BABYMOON...one last getaway...

this is where dominic and i escaped to this past weekend for our babymoon...this is larry and mary's house in connecticut...this house has been a labor of love for them for the past 12-15 years...you should see the before, during and after photos...amazing!! it is beautiful and comfortable and welcoming...
this is the path leading up to the pool area...thankfully it was beautiful while we were there and we were able to enjoy it...
this was so great to be able to relax in the water and stay cool...
this is where we spent our evenings after having fantastic food for dinner...larry got a fire going and we all just chilled out...
on saturday larry and mary had some neighbors over to hang around the pool...rod is standing in the background holding a potato cannon...dominic is holding the potato...this became a very fun game for them...shooting potatoes into the woods...
dom had a great time with this and no doubt we will own one at some point in time and he will be shooting potatoes off into our woods with our little guy...

this was a great getaway weekend for us...larry and mary were amazing and we had a blast spending time with them...thanks guys!!!

my stomach grew a full inch since thursday...

Your pregnancy: 34 weeks

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How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

pics from wedding and holy matriwiffle

here are some links to pics posted from our wedding day and the holy matriwiffle game the day after the wedding...

matriwiffle


wedding pics

8 months and still growing...

well we are 8 months today...feels like we are getting close but then i think about the fact that we aren't due until sept. 13th...but time is passing...hopefully i can stay somewhat comfortable until then...haaaaaaa
here are some pics from today...

i can't even imagine how much bigger im going to get...thank goodness for cocoa butter!!

growth during the upcoming week

Your pregnancy: 33 weeks

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How your baby's growing:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

dominic & mikaela from the beginning...

here is a link to a movie that shelly, dom's mom, put together for us for our wedding weekend...if you have time check it out...very well done...
thanks shelly!!!

movie

wedding video...

here is a video of our wedding that Richard put together for us...
wedding video

i tried to upload it to this post but couldn't figure it out...sorry...i will post pics as i get them from people...

growth in week 32

Your pregnancy: 32 weeks

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How your baby's growing:

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

GOT WATER??? wedding hurdles

so the other day i was taking a shower and the water slowly began to trickle and eventually stopped flowing altogether...we thought it might be because the filter needed to be changed so we did that...got up this morning and things seemed to be all fine and dandy...until this morning after i had done 2 loads of laundry and dominic went to turn on the faucet in the kitchen and nothing came out...not even a trickle...i said 'you've got to be kidding me'...dom got right on it and called the people that put our well in when the house was built...they were up and taking a look at things within a couple hours...they confirmed what we were hoping wasn't true...OUR WELL WAS DRY...we were given the name of someone to call who fills wells...we put a call into him...i was the one that answered the phone when he called back...he said he would be to our house first thing tomorrow (thursday) morning...i told him we were getting married this weekend and had a bunch of people coming into town and what did 'first thing' mean to him...he said between 7:30 and 8am...i said great...he called back a few minutes later and said he told his other client that he had to come tonight to our house...said i sounded more desperate...so he was at our house within an hour filling our well...here are some pics that charity took...i think i might look somewhat small compared to the tanker truck...

30 weeks and still kicking

well here we are at 30 weeks...doesn't seem far off when i say we have 10 weeks until our due date but sounds like ages away when i say mid-september..haaaaa...here is what is happening growthwise this week with our little guy...

How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

week 30 growth...weight of a cabbage

Your pregnancy: 30 weeks

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How your baby's growing:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

baby's first lobster

last weekend dominic and i went to roxbury, maine for the 3rd year in a row for a lobsterfest...this is an amazing event to be a part of...the yard is full of rv's and tents...the garage is full of food, chairs and people playing music until the wee hours of the morning...
this is sunday morning...some of the rv's had already left...
this is the rv that we stayed in...
saturday is the big day of lobster...i was a little nervous because since being pregnant things don't always taste as good as the did before being pregnant...this is baby's first lobster
thankfully the lobster tasted great..as well as all the other food they had there...we had a great time hanging with friends and relaxing...here is a pic of the river across the road from where we stayed...
a good time was had by all...except maybe the lobsters..

growth this week...butternut squash

Your pregnancy: 29 weeks

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How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

7 months...first pics in a swimsuit...yikes...haha

well here we are at 28 weeks...7 months...hard to believe and yet def. ready to meet this little guy...i don't really feel any bigger then i did at 6 months..??? i went to my first pre-natal yoga class last thursday and will be going again for 10 more weeks leading up the birth...hopefully it will help tone, strengthen and relax me as the birth approaches...so these are pics in the only swimsuit i have found so far that doesn't look absolutely horrendous...