36 Weeks (only 4 to go!!)

Your pregnancy: 36 weeks

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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.

The belly has now become HUGE!

35 Weeks

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.

See what your baby looks like this week.

Picture of the belly on Wednesday (35 Weeks!!!)

Bonnie's Wedding - Santa Barbara

Last week, Mike and I were able to take a trip all the way to California to see my cousin, Bonnie get married. We decided to take off a few days early and make a "babymoon" out of it. Yes, the final vacation before we become parents - don't worry, I got permission from my doctor (he even signed a note) and I survived just fine. In fact, it was super easy and soooo relaxing - just what we needed.

Mike and I took a 10 mile bike ride on Friday morning, this was our resting stop on top of the hill. Such a beautiful view!



The beach at the "Boathouse" an amazing spot we found for brunch. Right on the sand...


Getting some sun time. Yes, I'm sure people were thinking I should be "thrown back in!"


Mike getting some shade time :)

After a few days of R&R, Mike and I were joined by my mom and dad, my sister and her 3 adorable kids and my brother, Ryan and his girlfriend, Sarah. It was so fun to be around family, we miss them so much. I think that Mike and I are so lucky to have some of the greatest parents in the world and I'm reminded whenever I'm with my parents or his. I love my brothers and sister so much, I hate to leave them. I have a hard time holding back tears every time I have to say goodbye. And my nieces (all 4 of them) and my nephew are absolutely adorable. Each and every time we see them, I'm amazed at how much they've grown up. Time really flies.

And the wedding celebrations began...

REHEARSAL DINNER







BRUNCH AT THE BEACH WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY










AND FINALLY, THE WEDDING...

34 Weeks

This is a little delayed, sorry we were on vacation. That post is coming next, but first here's the update at 34 Weeks...

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.

See what your baby looks like this week.

Pictures of the huge belly at 34 weeks...

33 Weeks

Your pregnancy: 33 weeks

See the big picture

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.

See what your baby looks like this week.

Getting HUGE! (These were taken with my iphone, so they are a little grainy...)

Visitors!!!

Mike was out of town traveling for business for a little over a week- He went to Santa Barbara and Phoenix. Typically I'm very jealous when he gets to travel to the West and I'm stuck back here, but this time I was fine with it. Because I had some amazing friends come and visit.

My girlfriends from McCann came out to visit me - there were 6 of us in total. Kara, Jamie, Kelly, Denise from SLC and Katerina even flew out from Chicago to have a girls' weekend. We had so much fun - we walked around the city, went shopping at the boutiques, ate at some of my favorite neighborhood's secret spots and also hit up some of the must-go Stephen Starr restaurants, El Vez and Parc. We saw the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross' House, Elfreth's Alley, ran the Art Museum steps "Rocky style", picked up cheese and baguettes from Reading Terminal Market and had a picnic on the river.

These girls were troopers, we all slept in our little 795 sq. ft. apartment! We had a blast though and I miss them so much already. Thank you so much for coming out to visit me, you guys have no idea how much it means to me. I'm so thankful to have friends like you. I love you!

P.S. Mike, Baby and I would like to give a special thanks for the Baby Bjorn from you guys, it's going to be perfect (Mike's already tried it on, fit it to him and wears it around the house.)

Here's some pics of our weekend... (and you'll notice in the last one, there's a little extra someone... :))

Elfreth's Alley - Denise, Katerina, Kelly, Me, Kara, Jaimi


Walking the streets of Philly


Eating brunch at the Cheese Shop...mmmm.


Modeling in the alley


Elfreth's Alley again.



At my office - checking out the view from my balcony.


Liberty Bell


Shopping at Reading Terminal Market


Playing catch after our picnic - Nice form Kat!


And... wow, yikes.



Kara knitted me these darling baby booties - our little one is going to look so cute in them!


Shopping at Mimi Maternity - Katerina is going to make one adorable prego!


And one addition... JED!

Jed came in on Sunday night and stayed with me all week. It was so great to see him and spend time with him - I miss him so much. Unfortunately, work was insane this week and I didn't get to spend much time, but he's such a trooper. I love him, he's such an amazing person and we have so much fun together, even when we sit at home, watch American Idol, eat pizza and bake brownies. I love you Jed, thanks so much for coming to see me. P.S. you are the only person who is allowed to call me "Fat" in my current state.

There is no one that Morris loves more than Uncle Jed. This is a picture of Morris staring at Jed while he was packing up to leave... so cute.