32 Weeks- I Love the Empathy Belly :)

I mentioned last week that we had a "Birthing" class last weekend, and I have to say it pretty much consumed our weekend!  Besides, the fabulous photos below of Todd wearing the 35 lb.  "empathy belly", I think that we both really got a lot out of the class and feel like it was worth sacrificing one of our last childless Friday nights and Saturday days for.  It was great to be in a room with couples who are all in the same situation as us, and be able to have an open forum and have a unbiased, well-informed instructor answer everyone's questions.  Even though I have read several books, articles, and blogs about the birthing process I feel like I really learned a lot about all the options available to me and I think that it really opened up the discussion for Todd and I to discuss what we are both expecting out of the birth of our first child.  (Besides a baby...)  This weekend we have our "Breastfeeding and Baby Care" class, so lets hope that is an equally good use of our time!

I am definitely slowing down as I get further into the 3rd trimester.  So is Emmett- I think he is starting to run out of room, which is resulting in him infringing on my rib cage and stomach.  Neither are particularly pleasant sensations, but at least we know our baby is growing big and strong!   My only real complaint is that am hungry ALL the time but cannot eat very much without feeling ill or getting heartburn.  (The latter is completely new to me, and I really hope it goes away after pregnancy!)  Luckily, I am feeling really good beyond those two small issues and don't have much longer to go.

Here we are at 32 weeks:

I also mentioned last week, that Todd wanted to contribute this week.  So here is a word from Emmett's Daddy:  
I wore the belly this weekend in our birth class.  The 10 minutes was nothing compared to the 40+ possible weeks Heather and every other woman has to go through during pregnancy.   So, ladies thank you for taking one for the team.  I was thinking during the class how can someone make an empathy birth for men.  Impossible yes, but I guess the closest thing a man could experience would be a kidney stone.  From the birthing videos, a kidney stone is nothing!  Again, thank you ladies for taking another one for the team.  I am quite frustrated with the place we bought our stroller from.  It has still not arrived.  I think the baby store forgot to order it when we were first in there.  They said it would be in on Tuesday of this week.  I called them today.  Their response, "the cup holders came in."  Next week, the unveiling of the nursery.  I am in the process of painting this week.  I have been painting bit by bit after work everyday.  Did I mention I hate painting, but between painting the nursery and the entire basement in January I am getting pretty damn good at it.

31 Weeks- Thank you California!

I want to start off this week's post by thanking all of our family and friends who came to and participated remotely in Emmett's baby shower in the Bay Area last weekend!  It was so wonderful to be able to share our excitement about our little guy and feel that same excitement returned.  We really appreciate all of the very generous gifts and well wishes for Emmett.  In particular, I want to thank my Aunt Julie for hosting the shower and making it such a special day for us, and Kacie for all of her help!  We love you guys!!

It was also great to be back in the Bay Area and take Emmett all around where his Mommy grew up.  (Even though he won't remember it and we will have to do it all over again someday...)  Todd and I took some time to go the Lafayette Reservoir (where he proposed to me) and went for a nice long drive through my hometown, Moraga.  Being in the Bay Area brought back a myriad of memories for me about my childhood, and lead to some great conversations between Todd and I about the kind of life and environment we want to provide Emmett and any other children that we may have.  As much as I complained about how boring Moraga was when I grew up there, it really is an exceptional place to raise kids with it's awesome schools and great sense of community.  I think both Todd and I agree, that we want that kind of neighborhood and community for our children.

We are making slow, but steady progress on the nursery.  We received his rug, and ordered his rocking chair.  Todd is going to start painting this week, and all of Emmett's little clothes and blankets have been washed and are in the process of being organized and put away.  Baby steps :)  This weekend we have our birthing class, which I have heard will be an eye opening experience for both of us!  Todd wants you all to know that he will elaborate on his experiences with the class next week on the blog.

We had another great appointment with Dr. Ono today.  (He said Emmett and I appear to be in perfect health!)  He shared the ultrasound results with us.  The radiologist showed that he is measuring a week and a half bigger than his due date.  So did my uterine measurements today.  One nice thing that Dr. Ono explained however, is this does not mean that he necessarily be a big baby when I deliver him.  Apparently, babies do not necessarily grow consistently every week for the first 34 weeks.  So it is possible that he could not grow for the next 2-3 weeks and end up being an average size baby.  (Here's to hoping!)

Here we both are at 31 weeks:

30 Weeks- We Shall Call Him...Mr. Chubby Cheeks!

We had a wonderful, productive week last week!  On Friday, we had what will probably be our final ultrasound before he is born.  Beyond the ultrasound, which was the highlight of the week, we also  bought a stroller and a rug for his nursery.   We got REALLY lucky when we had our ultrasound and our technician had just been trained to use the 3d ultrasound wand and wanted practice on a later term baby, so she asked if we could stick around for an extra half hour while she practiced using it in exchange for some actual 3d images of our little guy!  After seeing his sweet little face, and his chubby little cheeks we were totally and completely in love :)  Seeing what he looked like, also made choosing his name easy.  Below are the first pictures of our little boy- Emmett Peter DeCook.

Emmett has chubby cheeks already!

He was opening and closing his little mouth the whole time!

He likes to touch his little face, you can see his little hand on his chin again.

We chose the name Emmett, because it was one of the few that we both liked and after seeing his face it just felt right.  We also wanted to include some sort of family name when naming him, and Peter was Todd's Great-Grandfather's name on his father's side and my Grandfather's name on my father's side.  

Emmett's activity has increased this week.  Not only can I feel him pretty much ALL the time, my belly has started leaping and making these strange wave like motions as he wiggles around inside me.  I think it's like watching TV for Todd...he is just fascinated.  We will find out how big he is next week, after my doctor's appointment when he reads me the ultrasound results.   I know I am growing, so I assume he is too!  Here we both are at 30 weeks:

Todd also wanted me to post this one, mostly because he thinks its funny but also because I think he wants everyone to see that I am truly starting to resemble Buddha.

29 Weeks- The Name Dilemna

It's been a beautiful week here in Portland!  I don't want to jinx it but it seems that spring may have finally arrived.  We have spent a lot of time outside, just enjoying the sunshine and also going for our daily walks.  Todd and Vivian now accompany me on all of my walks because Todd finds it alarming that I have contractions while walking and wants to make sure I take it easy while I am out getting my "exercise".  It's honestly great to have the company, and a really nice way for us both to discuss our day and what is on our minds.  One recent and ongoing topic of conversation for us has been what to name Baby Boy DeCook.  We have had it narrowed down to two names for the last few weeks, but seem stuck at this point.  I am really ready to just chose one but it's so hard to do without seeing his little face and knowing his demeanor .  Since I obviously have more interaction with the little guy, I feel like I have a sense for who he is but Todd really does not yet and his name is something that we both really have to agree on and be comfortable with. So for now, we will stick with Baby Boy DeCook or the "little prince"...but I don't know if I will be able to wait another 9-10 weeks to make this decision!

All of this outside time means we haven't made a lot of progress on the nursery, so there aren't a lot of updates on that front.  The only significant change is that we aren't going to do the argyle accent wall that we originally decided on, so the nursery will probably just be a nice, simple blue.  If you feel that the little guy really wants the argyle wall feel free to chime in and comment below.  I personally think that one argyle wall would be ADORABLE but I am not the one who has to paint it. :)

We had a doctor's appointment today and it went really well.  We are measuring just a little bit over what we should be, so that is a relief!  I took my glucose test today to check for gestational diabetes and my score was excellent, so there is no concern there.  We did also learn that I am still anemic, so I have to increase my iron supplements to try to counter that.  (All this really means is that I am a little bit more tired than your average pregnant lady, and at my level it doesn't affect the health or development of the baby.)  We have an ultrasound on Friday, so we will be able to tell you next week exactly how big this little guy is and we will have more pictures of him!

Here we are at 29 weeks: