Visits

Lots of good things last week:
Dad arrived on Wednesday for 4 days of quality time. We ate at our favorite Seattle restaurants, toured Pike Place Market, walked the dogs at Golden Gardens, watched the sunset from Kerry Park (see photo), drove south towards Rainier (trying to get to Paradise for lunch, but didn't estimate our travel time accurately and had to turn around about 20 miles early), philosophied with the "kabal" and talked. It was great to see dad in Seattle and have some time alone before Gilhooly arrives.

On Thursday, I saw one of the other doctors from the group of OB/GYNs that our doctor belongs to. He said that as of Saturday we are "to term" meaning that if labor starts, they won't stop it. Gilhooly could come any day! The doc also said that we're measuring a little larger than average - my belly should be about 35 cm but we're closer to 37 1/2 cm - another indication that Gil may either be early or big or both (or neither!). As we've heard before: gilhooly's heart rate is good, my blood pressure is good, he's still moving a lot (which is good), my weight is good, he's still head down with his back to my left...all good...knock on wood.

That night I went to an infant cpr and first aid class. The amount of material covered was overwhelming and very useful. It seems that the shorter the period that knowledge will be applied, the longer the class: our birth class was 2 hours a week for 6 weeks to prepare us for a 10-24 hour period; our newborn care class was 5 hours to prepare us for a 1 year period; cpr/first aid was a 2 hour class for a 10 year period. Kind of funny.

Saturday night we went to a holiday party and discovered that 5 friends have had children in the last year. It was good to hear their stories about the first days and months and to see them happy and relaxed. I was also amazed to see some of the children sleeping in the midst of the party. As one mother said, "it's just white noise to them." I guess after months of listening to my heartbeat, conversations, and all of the swishing of my belly, a party could seem like white noise. Perhaps the lesson is to not be too concerned about noise during nap time.

Sunday, I started packing the bag for the hospital. I put together what I thought was a pretty cute first outfit (blue onesie, fluffy white outer suit with ears, black hat), but J is convinced the outer suit is too big. So, now I want to hang all of the clothes in a closet and see everything we have lined up by size. I still think the white suit will work perfectly, but will need to show some other options to J.

Gilhooly and I have been playing a "game" recently (at least I think it's a game...I don't know if any of his movement is purposeful, but indulge me :). When he's in an active mode, he'll kick a foot out as far as he can to get my attention. If I'm lying down and able to play, I'll start massaging where he kicked. He'll either press against my hand for a while or he'll push something else out. As I've done this more, the amount of area that he'll move has gotten bigger. The other day, we were only playing with the area to the upper right of my belly button. As of last night, we had covered the whole right part of my belly.

Last night, I was really uncomfortable as we walked around a store looking for garage shelves and drawer liners. I'm not sure if he's fixin' to get ready to drop or if I was full from dinner or if I was feeling practice contractions. I also had a fairly emotional day yesterday, but I think that is because I hadn't worked out for a week. The trip to the gym yesterday was much needed. I look forward to going back today.

We're really excited for J&J in Minnesota who welcomed their baby girl last Monday! Can't wait to meet our "future daughter-in-law." :)

Only 10 days of work and somewhere between 2-6 weeks before we meet our newest family member.