Today marks the beginning of week 33. These days, the baby is gaining about a half a pound a week, making the grand total thus far about 4 1/2 pounds. He still has plenty of growing to do though, and may grow a full inch this week and get close to doubling his weight by the time he is born. With this much baby inside my belly now, the level of amniotic fluid has maxed out (meaning there's no room for more fluid). What that means for me is that all the pokes and kicks I'm getting from him now can start to get a little uncomforatble since there will be less fluid now to cushion the blows. Also this week, antibodies are being passed from me to our little guy as he continues to develop his own immune system, which he'll need once he greets us on the outside!
Not a whole lot is new on my end this week. I'm still feeling bigger and bigger and getting a little bit more uncomfortable. I pretty much have to sit tilted back or perfectly straight up (which maybe will fix my slouching habit for the time being...haha), since leaning forward is pretty uncomfortable with all that baby in my belly. Standing or walking for a long time is starting to bother me a little more (achy feet, ankles, and calves), but it's still not too bad. (I just have to remember to take a seat once in a while.)
Mark and I went to the doctor for another visit yesterday morning. Other than getting scolded for not wearing green on St. Patrick's Day, everything was A-OK...haha My weight is still (barely) on track, my blood pressure is still great, and my belly is measuring exactly where it should be for the due date I was assigned. (Although, people like to tell me otherwise... A polite way of saying I look huge these days, I guess...haha)
Mark and I went to a Baby Care class this past Tuesday night. They went over car seats, general characteristics of newborns, diaper changing (which was way less complicated than I thought it would be!), different ways to wrap the baby up in receiving blankets, etc. Another major topic they went over is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and how to prevent it. I guess the biggest thing that has helped over the years is a campaign to get people to make sure they put their babies to sleep on their backs. I guess this is different from what most people used to do, which is put babies to sleep on their bellies (to avoid them choking on anything they spit up). Just getting people to put babies to sleep on their backs has apparently cut the rate of SIDS down by 50%! The other major thing they emphasized is just to have nothing in the crib with the baby other than the mattress and fitted sheet to cut chances down of suffocation. Scary stuff to think about, but I guess it's good to get the information now!
We heard back from the daycare we registered with last week, and it looks like we definitely have spot, so that's great. (Something else major checked off the list!) The next major thing we have to decide on is the baby's pediatrician. The baby will be on my insurance plan, so we're going to have to take a look at the list of doctors in the area that are covered (which fortunately, looks like quite a few).
Well, I guess that's it for now!
-Mandy :)
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