Everything's coming up roses

We've had about 10 straight days of gorgeous weather. It's been over 60 most days and I have been padding around in a pair of Capri's that Beth got me for $6 from target early on in the pregnancy. Thank heavens for those, or I would have been sweltering in my jeans!! (Gotta love target!)

The garden is beginning to blossom. The apricot tree out front is in full bloom and there look to be a couple of other (fruit?) trees in the back yard that are blooming as well. Who knows what they will actually become. The garden is a bit like Christmas morning, there are all these packages throughout the yard, but I have no idea what's in them.

We have giant Calla Lilies and seem to have more coming up every day. We've had our first rose, along with the first blossoms on one of our cherry trees - who needs DC, we have our own cherry blossoms!! Green life is starting to grow out of what have previously been sticks. More photos can be found here. The cycle of life is starting in Northern California....now if only our little man would get the hint!!!

Green things growing up from sticks.

Fat Hands...

Dang. I was hoping to be able to wear my wedding rings up through the my pregnancy. But my hands have finally swollen up enough that I wasn't able to get them off my finger without some major coaxing. They are now sitting in our safety deposit box at the bank, but I can't help looking down at my hand and missing my rings.

...if only our little man had come a little sooner!!!

Doctor Update

So we had our 39th week doctor visit this morning. Most everything went well. As of now, I am 80% effaced and 1/2 cm dilated. As you hear on any investment commercial "past performance is not an indicator of future returns." Basically, where I am today means nothing about how what may happen tonight. Sweet.

Plus, I keep measuring small... heard this one before? So they sent me in for another test. This is the test that is actually described in the 39 week update I posted. At this point, they want to make sure that our little man has enough fluid and that he's getting enough nutrients from living in utero. The consequences of not passing this test would be to schedule an induction as he is fully baked and if things aren't great on the inside, he'd still be fine on the outside.

The net-net is that everything is still fine. He's doing well, there is more than enough fluid from being 6 days from our due date. We got to watch him on the ultrasound for a while. We got to see him practice breathing, watch him play with his toes, and rub his eyes. He was seriously active while we were there, and it is amazing to now know that all those movements and little human movements that we do every day - so much more real. We got a great couple of moments focusing on his face that Tim caught on the new video camera. Apparently Monday has large lips like his mom, and he may be born with the same "large and indescribable mouth" that I had until I was old enough to learn how to bring emotions to it (my father's description).

If we can figure out how to edit the videos, we'll be sure to post some soon!!!

Thank you!!

So, I am officially all caught up on my thank you notes (as of today anyway). It has been really amazing to witness the outpouring of generosity and creativity from our family, friends, and co-workers. When we found out we were pregnant, I purchased 75 note cards with Monday's name on it - I have since gone through those, another packet of pregnancy thank you notes, and am now in to my formal "CCR" note cards. We are surrounded by loving and generous people - what a world to bring our little man into... can't wait!

Oh man, UPS just dropped something by, looks like I have more notes to write!!

39 Week Update from Baby Center

How your baby's growing: Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

How your life's changing: At each of your now-weekly visits, your caregiver will do an abdominal exam to check your baby's growth and position. She might also do an internal exam to see whether your cervix has started ripening: softening, effacing (thinning out), and dilating (opening). But even armed with this information, there's still no way for your caregiver to predict exactly when your baby is coming. If you go past your due date, your caregiver will schedule you for fetal testing (usually a sonogram) after 40 weeks to ensure that it's safe to continue the pregnancy. If you don't go into labor on your own, most practitioners will induce labor when you're between one and two weeks overdue — or sooner if there's an indication that the risk of waiting is greater than the risks of delivering your baby without further delay.

A glimpse at how other people live...

So I feel like I have joined a new class of people: those that shop at Costco while eating "lunch" through samples...

I walked into Costco yesterday around 1:00 and was amazed by the amount of people that were actually there on a Monday! Who are these people and what do they do with their lives? Apparently, they avoid Costco on the weekends and go during the week - the eat! I watched several folks just travel from one sample station to the next. At 39 weeks and starving, I of course, followed along like a sheep, and got some good eats - they even sold me on some super yummy mushroom ravioli.

Speaking of starvation...

You know how they say you should never go to a grocery store when you are hungry? I think that especially holds true for Costco. Some of the books I have been reading have told me that I should pick up some nuts, dried fruit, jerky, etc to have in the hospital after labor... but I think I went a bit overboard...

Not as easy as I thought...

So we went to the fire station yesterday morning so I could show off how well I installed the car seat base. I think the fireman's first comment was "I think you broke every rule in the book!" Funny, I thought I followed every rule in the book. I guess it just goes to show you why, exactly, 90% of car seats are installed incorrectly! The nice man walked us through how to install it correctly in both of our cars. He also made us do it a couple of times so if we need to take it out and install the bases in other cars, we know how to do it. What a great service, I am so grateful that the fire department helps people out this way.

After that, we found the perfect scrap book for Monday yesterday morning - it actually matches his room! We walked both down to Burlingame ave for breakfast, about 1.5 miles, and up to Broadway Ave for lunch, around another 2.5 miles. We both successfully scored a nap, and had an easy night in. Not withstanding all the exercise, I had a terrible nights sleep - I am guessing around 4 hours.

We started walking to breakfast this morning talking about how we needed to keep walking.. and walking some more. So we opted out of our normal breakfast spots, and walked to one about 2 miles away. It took a while to get there (obviously - I am 9 1/2 months pregnant!) and we had to wait outside for a while to be seated. But the day was gorgeous and reminded us how happy we are living in California and specifically in Burlingame. After breakfast, we strolled home, by way of Burlingame Ave to get a final bit of exercise in. Then it was on to details like raking the front lawn (Tim did it), getting the oil changed on the car, and buying groceries. Though not the most restful day, we did accomplish a ton, and I am looking forward to falling into bed... and soon!!!

Not too much to report, but life is good. Monday is growing and stretching. Now his kicks tend to get me on both sides of my belly. My shape has changed as I do feel like he is getting increasingly lower... but it doesn't mean anything until he decides to show up!