First Christmas Break

My first Christmas has been very eventful. I got to meet Great-Uncle Mark and John and I even got presents! Wow, I am so loved! They haven't even met me and already everyone is showering me with attention. I also got to meet Caitlyn Amber Welcome, she's just a few months older than me, and she is the daughter of Brandon Welcome, Mommy and Daddy's old youth pastor and mentor who is living with his lovely wife Kristy in Ireland.

Other family news, Mama has had a headache for almost a week! She hates taking anything when she's not feeling well because pain is usually her bodies way of telling her something, but this head ache just would not go away! Tylenol didn't do a thing, so under Auntie Becca's advice, Mommy called the advice nurse. Thank goodness we have a nurse in the family! The nurses at Kaiser wanted to see me and mommy right away to make sure we didn't have pregnancy induced hyper tension.
Momma and Daddy were not really worried about me...I was moving just fine, and the headache is probably more about the holiday rush and mommy missing her friend Shana (she passed away two weeks ago). But they got to listen to my heart beat for over 20 minutes and got to see me on an ultrasound! The last time they did that, I was just 18 weeks old and in this picture I was 35 weeks and 3 days! The nurse told mommy it looked like I was still floating from the ultrasound, head down, and the placenta is above me by mommy's lungs...which explains why she never feels me up there. The picture of me above is a profile to the right with nose and eye cavity visible. To the left of the picture is my belly and hands curled up against my chest.


Below is the Picasso of me...you can see both eye cavities and my chin...and some large funny looking lips. Mommy thinks (and hopes ) I am going to have Uncle Ryan's lips. We'll see! The picture below is a closer shot of my profile. Good luck seeing exactly what I am...I should be there in a month or less...Mommy is hoping I come sooner then later! All the tests they did on me show that I am active and healthy. I have a strong heart beat and everything looks good. Hopefully the next time you hear from me, I'll be on the outside!

Two weeks to go???

What a busy week we've had! Between mommy and daddy losing a friend, mommy trying to finish her Master's, the teacher that will replace mommy so she can spend lots of time with me coming to work, and Christmas just right around the corner, things have been pretty crazy around my house. My mommy had a birthday and we though I might be born on the same day... mommy and I have the same due date, but mommy came 6 weeks early. With all the stress around our house, I could tell they were worried about me, but I was a-okay, just bobbing around and going with the flow. I'm not quite ready to come out...daddy is thankful because he doesn't want me to go into the NICU.
Yesterday mommy and I went to my 34.5 week appointment. Our midwife got sick, so a new doctor we've never met saw us. My heartbeat was strong, I'm head down, and the doctor said I would be full term if I came out in 2.5 weeks! Wow! My life in here has flown by! There's no real rush...I don't think anyone would worry if I hung out in here for 7 more weeks. Well, mommy might mind. We'll see- I already have a mind of my own and I'll come out when it's just the right time!

Life before Life....

Well they say I am healthy...boringly average is the way the mid-wife put it, although my mommy and daddy think I am sensationally wonderful and completely extraordinary. Aside from a little scare in the first few weeks of my life in here, (if mommy knew she was pregnant I'm sure she never would have played tug of war with her first graders!) life has been pretty easy!
I must sit well with mommy because she hasn't even been sick! Now that I'm squishing her stomach, she is eating a lot of tums...I'll drop down lower soon enough!
I went from springing off the walls of my watery home to just making little adjustments and occasionally rolling a bit. Every so often I get really active and jolt my mommy around a bit. Daddy loves to feel me. Me and him have "boy time" together after mommy goes to sleep. He talks to me and I jab my elbow or knee out towards him. I've had several showers with lots of presents already, and although mommy and daddy worry about having everything just right, I know we'll be just fine together! All I need is food, clean diapers, love, and a LOT of attention! Right?
We'll see! 6-8 more weeks to go!