Overdue!

Mae was due on the 8th according to the doctors and the 9th according to my calculations... both dates past and induction day arrived before she decided she was going to. :) Here is the final documentation and comparison shots of the belly.

Final comparison between Ace at 40 weeks and Mae at 40 weeks


Final picture of our family of 3.5.

36 Weeks

The final countdown! I am officially 9 months pregnant. Starting on the 10th month. Yes that whole 'nine months' pregnant is a myth... although to be 'fair' there are two weeks where you're not really pregnant, so I suppose that means that I don't start tallying the 10th month until week 38... but at some point I am legally tallying a 10th month and I think it should be noted that pregnancy is in fact more than 9 months (on average.)

I have had many friends who recently had babies (in October) that originally were scheduled for November babies. Stacy delivered at 35 weeks and my friend Angie delivered at 36 weeks. We'll see when little Mae starts to make her debut.

Last Monday we had another appointment and Mae's heartbeat was 144bpm and I was 1cm dilated. Which considering I was 1.5cm at exactly 40 weeks with Ace and zero before that ... I find it mildly encouraging that at 35 weeks I was already 1cm. With Ace the first 9 hours of 'active' labor I did not progress past that 1.5cm at all... so any advancement before the 'active' stage - I'm all for! Ace's labor and delivery story can be read here.

This past week and more specifically weekend, I have been cramping and contracting and extremely uncomfortable. I can't tell if these contractions are progressive or if they're just some practice... but I have had the braxton hicks with Ace (and Mae) and these have not felt like those. However, they do seem to stop if I get off my feet - so it's hard to tell. It is frustrating when I go out to do some shopping that I have to cut my venture short because I'm contracting too much to be remotely comfortable. Mae still is quite active inside - which makes me think she's tinier than Ace was. She keeps squirming around and kicking up and under my ribs, then she'll descend down and push on my cervix with some serious force. Good to know she's got some good strength and movement, but ouchie! Two nights ago I had some issues (I'm guessing) with my sciatica nerve. My entire leg felt pain, numbness like it was asleep, and that ache you get after a charlie horse. It was super awesome flippin' awful! Thankfully that symptom/issue has only occurred the once and subsided after about 20 minutes. Loving Husband was very helpful in the wee hours with helping rub, stretch, and generally hug is sad wife amid the pain.

Baby's crown to rump length is 13.8 inches. Baby might weighs about 6.3-6.5 pounds. I think she might still be a bit smaller than that - but we'll see. History shows I can grow them pretty big. :) In comparision to random objects she is now roughly the size of honeydew melon, a breadbox, or a 17" laptop screen. ;-) Her gums are firm with ridges that look somewhat like teeth, although we'll have a few months before teething begins. We are down to the final week before Mae is considered 'full term' - after that she is good to go!

Life is going well even amid the discomfort. Holiday festivities are in full swing and Mae is along for the ride. Ace is excited for Christmas and his sister to be here. We'll see which one comes first. :) We're hoping the holiday comes first!

T-Minus 30

That is correct - we have 30 days left until the due date! I'd say that it went by fast - and in some ways it has. I think it's like when we were in school. In the midst of it - it seemed to drag on FOREVER... but then when you look back wow that was FAST! ;-)

Mae is a good mover which I find comforting and a blessing. I'm glad that I don't have to do the 'count' of movements - in fact if I only felt her 10 times within 1 hour with very concentrated efforts, that would make me nervous. Both Ace and Mae move(d) a lot in utero and I'm glad for it. Even if I often do complain about getting kicked, punched, stabbed, scraped, and lurched forward, it means that she is growing and gaining strength.

I'm feeling pretty good - at night I seem to sweat a LOT regardless of the cover amount I have on me. That is less than pleasant in the morning, but overall a very small matter. I am starting to get that winded feeling - or at least I am now attributing it to pregnancy, since I am finally over the flu, the cold, the plague that I had. I went through 3 XL boxes of Kleenex since mid-November... and no I am not exaggerating. The week of Thanksgiving I developed a cough - which now is unproductive and lingering. I have to say a cough really reinforces the need for kegel exercises! Oye. TMI? Too bad.

Sunday marks 36 weeks, so be sure to check back then for the second to last 'official' belly shot. However, to not disappoint - I leave you with one that I took on Wednesday evening before the Women's Dessert.

Mae's Movement

Mae is a mover, just like her brother. I always regretted not getting on video HOW much Ace moved, so one afternoon two weeks ago when she was on a moderate motion session (yes this isn't 'full speed') I grabbed the camera and started filming. This was at 33 weeks.

32 Weeks

Time is tickin by quicker and quicker to the end of pregnancy and the welcoming of Mae to our family (on the outside!) I'm a nice solid 8 months pregnant and starting on the 9th month.

Mae is quite active and mommy is quite tired - so we're right on schedule for where we should be. :) I've been eating my weight in deviled eggs these days. In fact in the last week I've had a dozen eggs and I'm showing no sign of being 'full' of them so I'm sure to have more. She certainly likes them!

As I mentioned in a previous post Mae has been measuring small. We have another routine appointment on Wednesday and if she's still measuring smaller than the doctor thinks she should be, they'll do an ultrasound to just make sure everything looks fine. Most likely she's just a small little girl. If she were average then as of right now she measures crown to rump 11.8 inches and she weighs between 4.2-4.4 pounds. Her kidneys are fully developed and she is 'rapidly gaining weight.' I'd say I am personally much smaller this time around and I am carrying WAY lower than I did with Ace. The nice thing is that I am still able to wear one pair of 'normal' jeans - they're my 'fat' pants but I can still comfortably button them below the belly... although I feel those days are numbered as she's going to take over soon. :)

Ace is doing great as a big brother - he loves to wear shirts that say 'big brother' on them and even tries to spell 'big' when he has them on. He loves to hug his sister, talk to her, tell her good morning, say prayers for her at night. He's doing great. He's even understanding when mommy's back hurts and is too tired to run around. He tries to take care of me. It's very sweet.

Ace Loves Mae

Wiggy Birthday!

This weekend we celebrated my birthday - just a small gathering of girls getting together. Being pregnant and lacking babysitters - staying in seemed to be the most ideal way to go. However, we still needed to make it fun. So I decided to go with a little bit of theme - but nothing too drastic, and thus a 'Wig Party' was born. Simple, wear a funny wig. :) Nothing crazy or excessively elaborate required with a 'costume' and easily removed when all the fun pictures and amusement were done.



The ladies all came over and Ace had a blast testing out the wigs and running around. We ordered Chinese food. After we finished dinner, Ace was the model son and went to bed with no fuss or issue (helped some that he hadn't napped at all that day.) Leaving it just the gals to have some fun. We enjoyed taking some amusing pictures with our wigs and then broke out some ice cream, a little singing, and then put on a movie for a bit before pausing it so I could open presents.



I was spoiled as usual by my friends and then we sat around and chatted for a while before everyone headed home. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday. Bec and I stayed up for quite a bit and finished the movie and talked until the wee hours of the morning. It was a great day!

28 Weeks - Third Trimester

We have entered the final round of this pregnancy! The third trimester has arrived! Yipee! And wow that was fast in retrospect. :) Seven months pregnant and working on the eighth. Certainly feeling bigger and more winded!

Mae is a mover and a squirmer and less of a kicker (to date) than her brother. Ace used to get into one spot and kick over and over - whereas Mae is content to swim and when she gets stuck she uses an elbow, a heel, a knee... something SHARP to dislodge herself and continue her flip. OUCH! I'm not sure which I prefer... but at least she's going to have to cease a lot of that pretty soon as she's going to run out of room to make laps in there. Yes, Baby's crown to rump length is about 10.2 inches. Which is about the size of amusement park cinnamon-sugar-coated churro. Baby weighs about 2.4-2.75 pounds. She is about 2/3rds of the size that she will be if she goes full term. Her eyes now have color, and she can blink her eyes some now, and regulate her own temperature a bit.

Nesting has been quite a big event in the last few weeks around here. In the last week I have painted, built furniture, even pruned one of our trees outside - in addition to all other standard household tasks. I'm starting to run out of steam, but somehow keep going! It's amazing - my house will be sad when we're done with this pregnancy. :) Ace is super jazzed that he's able to play in his sister's room now, loves that he can play with his toys in there and often brings books in there because he wants to 'give this one to sister' :)

We've entered into the phase starting this week that I will be seeing the doctor every other week. We saw her two weeks ago and Mae's heart rate was 148bpm. That's the highest it's been to date - but still lower than her brother's average. Funny since the wives's tale is that the lower beats per minute indicate boy... Ace and Mae both defy that theory. :) I've had my glucose test and no gestational diabetes for me and the other test is normal (forget which one that is... but it's normal!) I am however still low on iron... which I have been for weeks now but I only gave in now and agreed to take the Slow FE daily. I'm not a huge fan of taking the extra iron, but I'll do it - since iron now is very good to help brain growth.

Now time for the pictures.

Uh oh where'd he go!?

He's very excited to meet his sister who comes 'after Christmas' :)There he is!

24 Weeks

6 months pregnant! I've been feeling really good lately - I am still able to pick Ace up with no issue and I can holding as well I ever am able to. :) In fact I spent Monday at Disneyland all day and walked around and stood for a long time and didn't feel that I needed to stop any extra than usual. The belly is ever expanding and more weight is going on me and baby (4oz in a week!) both - I can feel it - but that's ok!

Baby Mae is about the size of a ear of corn (8.7 inches) and weighs almost 1.5lbs. Right now her brain is developing rapidly - need to eat more Omega-3s, leafy green veggies, and protein! And things to stimulate those smarts! :) Our baby girl also stands a fighting chance now (about 50%) if she were born this minute. We're obviously hopeful and confidant that she's sticking right where she is for now. Her lungs are developing branches, her eyes are completely developed.

She is quite a squirmer in the evenings - at the moment she still likes to be lower rather than higher in the kicking department - having had Ace in my ribs/lungs kicking me all the time - I'm not sure which is preferable. I think the ribs/lungs FEEL more resilient -so I might have to go with that. I suspect she'll move upward as her space begins to lessen. :)

Ace has been doing great getting ready to be a big brother. He's been helping me clean out her room (formally the office and dumping ground of all things that have no home.) We'll be painting it soon after we get home from California. I'm sure he'll be happy to help do that. He loves to come over and say 'hi' to the baby by rubbing my tummy, and often talks about my stomach moving (regardless if it is) it's great he's so interested in his new sister.

We are all healthy and happy - and I'm enjoying my numbered days in the honeymoon stage! :)

Big Brother in Training

Ace is going to be a great brother. I am sure he will be jealous occassionally, I'm sure he'll want to be the center of attention and not sharing it, and I am sure he will act out that he is not the only kid in the house anymore - but I think for the most part he is going to be a very loving and protective older brother.

As of late he has wanted baby Mae to come out so he can hold her. So we've substituted baby with Tigger and 'practiced' holding baby sister. He also likes to touch my stomach and feel the baby move. It's really sweet and makes me so happy he's excited for his sister to be here... even if he doesn't totally understand what that will mean for his world entirely. :)

Stacy's Shower

Last weekend was my friend Stacy's baby shower. She has had a rough go with some details of her pregnancy - mostly that she's been on bed rest for... a long time. She went in around 18 weeks and discovered her body was ready to deliver! Obviously FAR too early. She had a procedure done to help ensure baby Haly stayed put, but as a consequence of that she was put on strict bed rest. As the weeks have gone on this past month her bed rest has been relaxed some, and she's finally able to drive a little. Baby Haly and Mom are both healthy and that's what is important!

The party was a good time to celebrate baby Haly and Stacy got some really fun stuff. She is going to be doing cloth diapering, so we enjoyed a game of diapering the balloon without popping it. :) It was fun and amusing. It was nice to meet some new people and see some old friends that I hadn't seen in a few months. It was a nice afternoon.

21 weeks and 28 weeks

20 Weeks - Half Way!

Yay! The half way mark! So excited that I am now half way through this pregnancy. It hasn't been too bad thus far - the morning sickness was less than pleasant - but it's over so that's fine :) I survived! We are officially entering the beginning of the 6th month of pregnancy. We are 20 weeks away from being an official family of four!

From this point forward, baby will put most of her (or his) energy into gaining weight and, apparently, so will I! Loving Husband is also doing his part. ;-) Hopefully, Ace will as well! So far I have gained 10lbs. Right now baby weighs approximately 10½ ounces and is about 7 inches long, about the size of a can of Red Bull or a cantaloupe. Interesting difference in comparisons there. :)

If this baby is a boy, the testes have begun descending from the pelvis into the scrotum. If it's a girl, her uterus is completely formed and the rest of her "parts" are in development. Won't s/he love that I'm sharing all this when s/he's 15 years old? haha.

And now for the belly fun!

17 Weeks

I've entered the honeymoon phase! Also the occassionally nervous phase. You see when I was vomitting, dizzy, headaches, etc... I knew that baby was happy and torturing mommy just as s/he should. But now I'm feeling good - but baby still isn't kicking around yet (legs aren't quite strong enough yet to feel) so occassionally I don't feel pregnant at all. The belly is still there, but still - it's a weird feeling from feeling sooo pregnant to feeling nearly normal. I'm not complaining and I'm not a constant ball of stress - but occassionally I get a wave of worry. Ultimately though, God is in charge and everything will work out as it should.

Baby's crown to rump length is 13.5 cm or 5.3 inches. Baby is the size of an onion or a baked potato (which sounds delicious and might just be our lunch today!) Baby weighs about 150-200 grams or 5.3-7.0 ounces. Fine hair called lanugo is starting to appear. Baby's fingerprints and toeprints are forming. Baby's teeth beginning to form enamel. Crazy how all of this happens all so quickly.

This past week Baby (and the rest of the family) traveled to Hawaii... so why I don't have official 'baby bump' progress pictures - I do happen to have some of me around Hawaii. :) A full Hawaii post will be coming shortly!

13 Weeks

Today Baby is a peach... or at least the size of one... or a nutter butter covered in chocolate, yum! Baby's crown to rump length is 7-9 cm or 3.0-3.5 inches. Baby weighs about 35 grams or 1.25 ounces. Baby TIME's teeth sockets are starting to take formation and hair follicles are forming.

Mommy's belly is sticking out more and more on a regular basis. The past few weeks even though I look ginormous in some instances (for being under 20 weeks) it doesn't always stay that way and when I lie down my stomach basically disappears. It's a weird phenomenon. Morning sickness is winding down, I haven't felt sick every day now for a week or so. I just get random waves every now and again. Hoping that we continue to trend that direction!

My friend Angie is due on November 11th with her first (a boy!), so she's in her 21st week and I am in my 13th. Here we are nearly 'neck and neck' for the belly war face off... ok not really she's winning by a few weeks. ;-)

12 Weeks - 2nd Trimester!!

We've made it! Yipee! I can still recall when we passed this first milestone when I was pregnant with Ace. Breathing a sigh of relieve that we had passed the ultimate first volatile hurdle. And we've reached that point again. Whew! Today, we begin the 4th month of pregnancy.

Baby today is from crown to rump the length is 5-6 cm or 2.0-2.4 inches. So in size reference the size of my pinkie finger, a Vienna sausage, or in the fruit measurements a yummy plum! Baby weighs about 14 grams or 0.5 ounces. Baby this week starts to create insulin, guess I should make sure my diet isn't entirely made of sweets then ;-) Because I certainly crave them! And the liver starts to create bile. Somehow insulin sounds more dressed up and pleasant than 'bile.' But both are good to be developing!

Craving wise thus far have included funfetti cupcakes (as I had with Ace early on) and a LOT of sweets. I also am having baby amnesia at the moment and cannot recall any others at the moment.... ;-) but I know there have been others. Including when I ate blueberry waffles with a dill pickle. Both only tasted good if I had a waffle bite with a pickle 'chaser' bite. That was a pretty bizarre one. Otherwise there's been LOTS of aversions to food, including my beloved McDonald's double cheeseburgers. I keep joking this baby is NOT mine. Guess we're saving some money by not having McDs as often as I did when I was pregnant with Ace. Still not eating that much healthier though, so we'll see how the pounds pack on. :)

My energy level seems to be steadily improving which is wonderful. However, sickness and headaches continue to make their appearances. Although in truth the sickness is far less than it was several weeks ago. So hopefully, we're on the downward trend of those pleasant perks of pregnancy. ;-) We have also entered into the once a month category for pictures. So enjoy the 12 week photos!

10 Weeks

A quarter done! It goes by fast! Then again I can still recall being pregnant with Ace and he's nearly 22 months old now. Time speeds by so fast when you have children (and are growing them!) This week I have many pictures for you. You see 10 weeks was the first milestone in my first pregnancy. 10 weeks was when I first started to show. So I decided to dawn the same outfit I had previously and give you a comparison of what I looked like at 10 weeks when pregnant with Ace and how I look pregnant at 10 weeks pregnant with TIME.

Baby's crown to rump length is 2.5-3.0 cm or 1.2 inches. Baby is the size of a kumquat or less glamorous a prune. Baby weighs about 3-5 grams or .25 ounces. Our baby's head is almost half the size of their body and all organs and external structures are now present. His/Her face is also well formed as of this week.

You'll get another post tomorrow about Baby TIME with more pictures, because we have another ultrasound of s/he tomorrow morning. We're very excited to see the baby again. Should be exciting! Always nice to see Baby and know s/he is safely growing away inside. Granted I've had plenty of morning sickness to bless me with the assurance that s/he's still happily producing hormones and affecting me. Enjoy these pictures of the belly.