Thankful Thursday

I should have an extra thankful Thanksgiving edition, but as I was stuck in a staff away day today and not nomming delicious turkey with my family and friends, I will stick to my normal format :)

I got an amazing package full of tons of cute clothes from my BFF Sabrina. Some were gender specific, but I will show you these which go with our penguin theme!

She was extremely generous and I was super excited to fold them all up and add them to the bebe's closet which is getting fuller and fuller week by week.

I also got a stack full of American magazines and sweeties from my sister-in-law Katie, who was in NYC last month, including Cow's Tales!

I couldn't tell you the last time I had one and I freaking love them! They always have some on sale at the cash register at UDF so it's the perfect impulse buy, yum!

Thank you!

Wooly Wednesday

Yesterday I met NBH's Auntie Margaret for tea because she got in touch to say she'd knitted a few things for the baby. Well she didn't knit a few things, she knitted the bebe a whole wardrobe! We got tons of adorable sweaters, hats and mittens.

She also got the baby a cute Winnie the Pooh soother blanket, a onesie/bib set and some socks, too. They are all cute, but are not as special as all the lovingly hand-made outfits!

Our winter bebe willl definitely be very warm and cozy!

Thank you!

35 weeks

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that they're 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, they aren't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times they kick should remain about the same. Their kidneys are fully developed now, and their liver can process some waste products. Most of their basic physical development is now complete — they'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

*How far along?: 35 weeks
*Total weight gain: Don't know
*How big is baby?: A honeydew
*Maternity clothes?: Yes, looks at the difference though between the same maternity top at 21 weeks and the same top now at 35 weeks-yikes!

*Sleep?: What's that again?
*Best moment this week?: Throwing my very first Thanksgiving :)
*Movement?: Yup. The other day I was putting on lotion and thought "What's that lump" and then I realized it was a toe. Feeling the outlines of feet and hands is vaguely creepy, sorry!
*Food cravings?: Nope.
*Labor signs?: No, just Braxton Hicks getting more frequent and ouchier.
*Belly button in or out?: Innie, but super shallow and I'm getting to the point where I might have to take my belly button ring out soon.
*What I miss: Not getting exhausted from taking a shower.
*What I'm looking forward to: Mani/pedis on Thursday before NBH's Aunt's wedding.
*Milestone: 35 weeks gone, 35 days to go....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes I know Thanksgiving isn't until next Thursday, but as we don't get Turkey Day off we celebrated yesterday. It was my first year ever making Thanksgiving and we had NBH's Mom and John, my friend Deb and her husband Dave and two kids Sophie and Aedan over.

Despite having some issues with the pie crust for my pumpkin pie, I think everything turned out really well! NBH was in charge of the turkey, gravy, stuffing and mashed potatoes and I took care of the cranberry sauce, carrot coins, green bean casserole, apple & blackberry crumble and pumpkin pie.

I'm also a huge dork and made some headdresses for Sophie and Aedan. Most impressively Emma didn't seem to care about Sophie playing on the floor on a mat or Aedan's trains and tracks either. She was a very good girl and was rewarded with carrots and turkey for her dinner :)

Thank you Friday!

I was going to do a Thankful Thursday post, but our mobile Internet connection wasn't cooperating. I got two lovely packages this week for the bebe.

First were these super cute Etsy finds from Abby in Nottingham. Are the bibs and hat adorable? You have to love that they are all handmade, too!

Then I got a package from one of my oldest friends Dana in Cincinnati with all sorts of goodies, but as some of them were gender specific all I can show you is this cute baby sleeping bag and super soft frog soother.

The bebe's closet is starting to fill up! We are so lucky to have so many people thinking of us and being so generous!

Thank you!

34 weeks

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Their fat layers — which will help regulate their body temperature once they're born — are filling them out, making them rounder. Their skin is also smoother than ever. Their central nervous system is maturing and their 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.

*How far along?: 34 weeks
*Total weight gain: Don't know
*How big is baby?: Cantaloupe

*Maternity clothes?: Yes, this question is kind of silly now, it's not like suddenly I'm going to start wearing non-maternity clothes

*Sleep?: Ugh, my quality of sleep is crap and I'm tired all the time

*Best moment this week?: Watching the Bengals beat the Steelers while eating vegetarian Skyline chili :)

*Movement?: My stomach makes weird rippling effects and often you can touch it and be like, yup that's a back/butt/head something under there. Also you can feel "limbs" kicking out; can't tell hands from feet, but definite appendages :)
*Food cravings?: No
*Labor signs?: No, just Braxton Hicks.
*Belly button in or out?: Innie, but super shallow
*What I miss: Sleep!
*What I'm looking forward to: Getting my hair done on Thursday and throwing my first ever Thanksgiving on Saturday

*Milestone: I can't think of a milestone, but a lot of these updates include information on stretch marks, which I don't. This is because it looks like I've been attacked by a cougar.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Love you & miss you; can't wait to see you in December!

Jet Set Bebe

If you could get frequent flyer miles in utero, this baby would probably have a return domestic flight by now! We've done two return flights to London, return flights to Bangkok via Dubai, return flights Bangkok to Koh Samui and today we are going down to Bristol.



This is my last flight for this pregnancy and I had to get a letter from my doctor saying I was "allowed" to fly. I find this slightly patronizing, but I'm flying Easy Jet and with most low cost airlines, they don't make things simple. In this case any woman more than 28 weeks pregnant needs a letter saying they are fit to fly.

I'm just down for one day for a conference and back up Friday night. Nothing exciting; I know some people think travelling for work is glamorous, but when you work for a charity it means cheap flights and even cheaper hotels, so nothing posh. It does mean I will accrue more TOIL (time off in lieu; time back rather than overtime) and have enough to take the day before NBH's aunt's wedding off as well as make my last day the 15th of December, rather than a half day on the 16th.

33 weeks

Baby’s senses are continuing to improve -- when light peeks in through your (extremely) stretched belly, those tiny eyelids and irises blink and dilate. And, baby can now recognize and react to simple songs… time to start practicing your lullabies! Growth (at least inside your womb) is starting to slow, and you may notice baby descend into your pelvis at the end of this month.

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. They are rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and their skeleton is hardening. The bones in their skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for them 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 their brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

*How far along?: 33 weeks
*Total weight gain: Don't know
*How big is baby?: A honeydew or pineapple- at least it's fruit I've actually heard of this week.
*Maternity clothes?: Yes and I think I *finally* found a dress for NBH's Aunt's wedding on 11/28!

*Sleep?: Some nights are okay and some are crap.

*Best moment this week?: Getting the bebe's cot up and built

*Movement?: If you want to feel the bebe move all you have to do is stick your hand on my bump; the kid doesn't like people up in their space
*Food cravings?: No, but I'd like to hit up Tony Roma's while I can still manage to fit in some onion loaf and ribs in one sitting- I'm reaching the point where I get full quickly, but am hungry an hour later.
*Labor signs?: No
*Belly button in or out?: Innie
*What I miss: My hair being easy. I have a bazillion flyaways and my highlights are growing out too quickly because my hair is growing so fast.
*What I'm looking forward to: Throwing my 1st Thanksgiving in Scotland; our dining room table, chairs and sideboard arrived yesterday!

*Milestone: Hitting the 8 month mark

The Bacon Sniffles

I'm not going to debate the pros/cons of getting the H1N1 vaccine while pregnant; anyone can google WHO, CDC or NHS recommendations, but I will tell you my experience of it. I did my research and consulted my doctor and followed the advice that all pregnant women in the UK get the vaccine.
I got it yesterday and the only side-effect I have is a red area from the injection and it feels like someone punched me--I think my arm is more sore that it should be because I have to sleep on my side because of my bump. It didn't hurt and while we did sit and wait for quite a long time, I'm pretty sure that's because appointments never run on time at my doctor.

So this should mean no swine flu for me and added bonus, none for the bebe as I pass on my immunity to them. I like that last bit since otherwise babies can't get the vaccinne until 6 months at which point I'm guessing all the hub-bub will have died down.

32 weeks

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, they'll gain a third to half of their birth weight during the next 7 weeks as they fatten up for survival outside the womb. They now have toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Their skin is becoming soft and smooth as they plumps up in preparation for birth.

First bump picture in the new house, we haven't hung it yet so we propped the Cincinnati photo, that's normally in the background, up on the window sill for consistency ;)

*How far along?: 32 weeks

*Total weight gain: Don't know

*How big is baby?: Jicama- seriously how do they pick these things? I googled it and the baby weighs roughly as much as a full 2 liter of pop!

*Maternity clothes?: Yes; as you can tell from the photo above, I should no longer attempt to wear non-maternity tops, even if they are long line sweaters.

*Sleep?: Not as much as I'd like, but a bit better now Emma isn't as barky in the new house.

*Best moment this week?: Moving into our brand-spanking new house and taking a shower in my own home for the first time in over 5 years!

*Movement?: The bebe never used to move during the day and went nutso at night and now their movement is getting more consistent throughout the day, although still mostly at night.

*Food cravings?: Nope; but I'm excited Starbucks "red cups" are coming soon!

*Labor signs?: No

*Belly button in or out?: Innie

*What I miss: Having a telephone and real internet. We can't get a phone line until 11/19, so I can't call America or have America call me (it's expensive on cell phones) and the mobile internet connection isn't strong enough to support Skype.

*What I'm looking forward to: My last antenatal class; NBH comes with me and we get a tour of the hospital.

*Milestone: Going from owning a one bedroom flat to a 4 bedroom house!