Week 33

According to people who know these things, Ben is now about five pounds, twenty inches long, and he's able to tell the difference between light and dark in utero. I can't imagine that it ever gets too light in there, but whatever. We've also noticed that he gets the hiccups from time to time too. According to Mackensie, his other hobbies include stepping on her bladder and punching her in the ribs.

-P

Showered!

Last night, our small group at church threw us a baby shower. As a man, I don't get invited to many of those, but this one was a lot of fun and a real encouragement to Mackensie and me. It's great to know that we have such a strong support network behind us.

The only down side to the evening was when the men failed to beat the women at Baby Jeopardy. I blame myself, because I failed to correctly name the price of a five-pack of cloth diapers at Target, despite the fact that I've been in charge of researching and purchasing cloth diapers for Ben. Oh, and in case it ever comes up, a baby eel is called an "elver." I wish someone had randomly mentioned that to me before last night.

-P

Class

Last night I had my breastfeeding class at the hospital. There were 12 women in class - and the dude to non-dude ratio was 8:4. I was in the non-dude category. It was a good class and the teacher is one of two lactation consultants in the maternity ward, so there is a 50/50 chance I'll see her again. The woman to my right was in tears outside the classroom on the phone before class, and the woman to my left had gestational diabetes. She had to give herself a insulin shot during the session. It made me very thankful that my only issue is that my pants don't fit.

-M

32 week check-up

Yesterday I had my 32 week check-up. I'll go every two weeks for the next month, then every week for the last month. Everything looks good. I am measuring right at 32 weeks, and the baby's heart rate is strong and steady. My blood pressure is great - even after a very frantic drive to the doctor's office because I was running late. I am still ahead of where I should be weight-wise, but if it wasn't for that one bad month, I'd be on track. I have moved from the treadmill to the swimming pool. You'd think that with 50% more blood and about 10 lbs of fluids in me, I'd be fairly buoyant. Nope, I sink like a rock.

-M

This could get out of hand quickly

Uh-oh... it looks like our hospital has just added wireless Internet access throughout their facilities, which raises the possibility that I could make live updates to this blog throughout the labor & delivery. Maybe I could even step away and rest for awhile and let the blog keep Mackensie company. Because man, labor can be tough on the dad.

-P

Ultrasound

For anyone who hasn't seen the (20 week) ultrasound video yet, here it is:

What's all this then?

We're kicking this blog off at the beginning of week 32. According to the Internet, the boy is 4+ pounds right now and almost 20 inches long. Beginning this week, Mackensie starts seeing the doctor every two weeks, and soon it will shorten to every week.

We've made a lot of progress on the nursery lately, and we'll be getting it re-carpeted soon, which is the last major task for the room. Once it's fully furnished, we'll post pictures and/or video.

-P