Less than 100 days!

I am down into the double digits now! Only 97 days until Kaylee's estimated day of arrival! 13 weeks to go . . . wow. Kaylee Bria will be here before we know it!!

This week is a busy week for us. Wednesday, Chris and I go down to the UCSD Hillcrest Hospital for the Labor and Delivery Tour. And Thursday, we have the usual prenatal doctor appointment. Along with the 1 hour glucose tolerance test. Not looking forward to that part, but you gotta do what you gotta do right? Hopefully I pass this one so I don't have to go in and do the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. After this appointment we start the appointments every 2 weeks.

Luckily today isn't as hot as it has been the last few days. I think having the air conditioner and the fan on has caused me to have a tickle in my throat. Too much dry air. Hopefully it goes away soon.

Update on Kaylee -

~~~~~~~~

Our little Kaylee bug is growing as always! She is now around 14 inches long and weighs around 2 whole pounds now!!

This week she reaches another big milestone. Her eyelids that have been previously sealed shut for the last few months, are now OPEN! She can now open and close her eyes and see what's going on around, even though there isn't much to see right now.

She also recently acquired the ability to say “yes” and “no” . . . in rudimentary sign language as she can now move her head back and forth. This is also the time where her head hair is starting to grow a lot more! A cute little cowlick or two may be springing into position right now, getting ready for years of cute-but-stubborn bed-head.

14 weeks to go...

Yup, I am slacking. I was supposed to update on Monday. I should have known that wasn't going to happen! Well, as the title says, I have 14 weeks to go. Time is short (or really long, depending on who you ask)--just 14 weeks left before I can go back to being a single-resident human. :-D

On the bright side, I only have 14 weeks to go (give or take a week or so in either direction). Which is good, 'cause I am starting to get really uncomfortable no matter what position I am in. Sleeping is a thing of the past. Since I am not allowed to sleep on my back or belly (which is uncomfy anyway), I am supposed to sleep on my sides only. But I find myself tossing from side to side every half hour or so. My hips really start to hurt at about that point and my belly is getting so big it's pulling on my lower back. And no wonder...I read today my uterus is now the size of a soccer ball! Yeah yeah yeah...typical pregnancy complaints.

Actually, I shouldn't really complain. So far I think I have had a fairly easy pregnancy. I am lucky in that sense for sure. I am getting closer to meeting this little girl and she is worth all the pains and discomforts I am feeling now.

Update on Kaylee --

~~~~~~~~

Kaylee weighs just under 2 pounds (850g) and is 13.62 inches in length. She is steadily gaining her cute baby fat. And her skin is starting to turn a cute shade of pink already. She's also growing more hair--and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

Her tiny respiratory system is getting stronger with each passing day and her swallowing reflexes are developing more as well. The nerves around her mouth and lip area are showing more sensitivity now. When baby is rooting for food later on, these will be very valuable! Another big development this week is an exciting one! Kaylee's nostrils begin to open! There is a study out of Belfast that suggests babies at this stage have the capability of scent preferences!

This week baby should be scootching slowly out of the old breech position and start rotating into a better position for the big exit on her birthday. Her head and feet are slowly rotating so that the head is pointed down towards the birth canal.

24 Weeks

Woohoo!! Well, we start off with some good news . . . Kaylee has a freshly painted room of her own! Chris and I finally finished painting over the weekend! It turned out really nice. We are waiting two weeks for the paint to cure before we start hanging the blinds back up and the shelves that will be in her room as well. So we are finally making some progress. Here is the link to updated pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/CJGrau/Nursery.

The bad news is . . . the third time is not the charm. Kaylee has a room but unfortunately she doesn't have any place to sleep! Chris and I headed down to Babies 'R Us once again in search of a crib. We looked around . . . found one we both liked. Inspected it . . . talked about it. Grabbed the little sheet to take over to the desk . . . sat down and told them we want this crib!! . . . Only to be told once again . . . "Sorry . . . we can't order this crib for you." So yes we have been there three times . . . found three different cribs we liked only to be shot down every single time. As Chris says, "It's like they don't even want to sell us a crib!" So once again BACK to square one.

Oh, and I updated all my tickers for my "new" due date of Sept 29th. I will probably try to start updating this blog on Mondays from now on since its the beginning of a new week and it correlates with the new dates. But we shall see if I keep up on it hehe. And I added a baby poll where you can guess Kaylee's arrival date, her weight, height, time of arrival and so on . . . have fun!

Here is the update on Kaylee -

~~~~~~~~

Kaylee now weighs about 1.5 lbs and is getting bigger everyday . . . almost a foot long now at 11.81 inches long. (size compared to 1/2 gal milk) By the end of this week, she will be weighing around 2 lbs and 13.5 inches long. Our cutie-patootie may even be a little more plump, but isn't anywhere near her full baby-fatted cute-self. Most of the "filling out" is coming up in that long awaited third trimester. Woo-hoo!

This is another big week for our magical growing baby! Just take a look at the checklist for this week: 1) ears: done; 2) fingernails: done; 3) lung walls: secreting "surfactant." What's that? Well, surfactant is sort of what it sounds like: a surface-activated fat whose main purpose is to assist Kaylee's little lungs during inflation (as in, filling with air, not getting more expensive). Just in case you're curious, our little submerged baby is still breathing in amniotic fluid, preparing and rehearsing the lungs an oxygen-filled life outside the womb. And 4) the center of her bones are beginning to harden.

By now the doctor should be able to hear her strong heartbeat, using a stethoscope or Doppler ultrasound device. If daddy were to put his ear right on the belly in the right position, he might even be able to hear it unaided if there is no background noise.

She now sleeps and wakes in a more regular pattern. You may notice that she is particularly active when mommy is trying to rest. She is also developing her preference between being right- or left-handed as well!

23 Weeks

This is not going to be a long blog this time around. I don't have much to report this week.

I FINALLY got around to looking at the classes UCSD has to offer and the tour schedule for the birthing facilities yesterday. At my last OB appointment my doctor asked if I has scheduled a tour yet and that I should do it very soon as they tend to fill up months in advance.

Now the tour is not exactly essential to the birthing process but I figure it would go smoother if Chris and I actually knew where we were going and what needed to be done. Also gives me a chance to see what is available to me and to ask any questions I might have. I figured I could also get a copy of the registration papers so I can fill those out in advance so Chris and I don't have to do it while I am in labor.

Needless to say when I called they weren't exactly booked up months in advance. Chris and I take the tour on June 25th.

I also ended up registering and signing Chris and myself up for a couple of classes while I was at it. I signed us up for an infant CPR class. It has been a while since I took any classes and thought a refresher might do me some good. I don't think Chris has had any sort of infant health classes so it's good for both of us to know and be prepared if, God forbid, something happens. That class isn't until August 21st so they were slightly more booked up than the tour.

The other class I signed up for was a one-time birth class. I was at the birth of Juliet's (my best friend) baby and was there to experience the whole thing with her. So I know basically what to expect for labor and delivery. Chris, however, does not know what to expect really. He told me the other day he thinks his job is to stand on the side and stay out of the way of the professionals and cut the cord when the time comes . . .

I told him I am going to need him to do a little more than that if I am going to try to do this birth drug free. I think he will be a wonderful support coach for me though. But I still think the class will be good for both of us. It's just the basics but neither one of us have done this before so it couldn't hurt. That class isn't until August as well but I feel better knowing I have that out of the way and can be more prepared when the time comes.

An Update on Kaylee -

~~~~~~~~

She is officially over the one pound mark!! Weighing in at a whopping 1.10 lbs (501g) and 11.38 inches long. About the size of a loaf of bread.

Her skin pigment is now forming and is very pink in color. She is now proportioned like a newborn except it is a thinner version of a newborn baby since her baby fat has not developed much yet. Her face and body now look more like a full-term baby. And pretty much looks close to how she will look at birth!

She may alternate between having very active and very calm periods. Her movements are becoming more restricted now as she fills up the uterus more. Cartwheels and somersaults inside the amniotic sac are no longer possible, but she can still hold the umbilical cord and touch and feel what is around her. Though she is already living in tight quarters, she will soon have even less room to move around.

Good news though!! Her lungs are in major growth mode this week, with blood vessels expanding and preparing to help her breathe after she's born. But here's why this lung development is so fabulous: If she were to arrive early her odds of surviving are significantly better now that her lungs are up and running. Of course, these and other important organs still have a long way to go to become fully developed, but most experts count weeks 23 and 24 as important, reassuring milestones when it comes to long-term healthy outcomes from pre-term labor. If born now, she would have a 20% chance of survival, with the odds going up with each passing day.

Making progress!

Okay well first thing is first! A little introduction is in order. Chris and I finally settled in on a name for Baby G! We are pleased to announce:
Kaylee Bria Grau!
Her name definitely suits her..Kaylee means Spunky and Bria is Irish for Strong. She is both very strong and spunky even in the womb as you have been reading.

Chris and and I also made some progress on Kaylee's nursery.
We got the walls primed and plan on getting paint on the walls next weekend.
Now if only we can find a crib and the rest of the stuff:-/
I posted some pictures on my picasa gallery if you want to check them out there.
http://picasaweb.google.com/CJGrau/Nursery.
I will be adding to them as we progress further.

We also went to the beach on Sunday evening to take pictures of the sunset and
get a walk in. It was such nice weather and the sunset was lovely.
Kaylee seems to be calmed by the sound of the ocean.
I included a picture that Chris took..It came out so nice.