90% Baked: BBJ3

This morning, we had our 36-week appointment with my OB. It included a sonogram for which I've been extremely excited and even counting down weeks. I was proud of myself for even waiting as patiently as I did. And, finally, this big day got here. As the time of my appointment drew nearer, my heart raced a little more and my tummy fluttered with butterflies as I was anxious to just hear that this baby still looks healthy! Thank God, that was definitely still the case. Fluid level is great, cord looks good, Baby is measuring about a week ahead (which he has the whole pregnancy pretty much), seems to be about 6 pounds, 9 ounces as best they can estimate, and even has some itty bitty rolls we could see when he was all scrunched up in there! Quinn was with us today, and I asked the sonographer if we could try to show him the 3D images to show him what the baby looks like. The sonographer said that at 36 weeks, it's generally too hard to really see much because the baby is so crowded in the womb that it can be difficult to see past arms and legs. Well, she was spot on about that, because Little Man wouldn't let us see his face at all. We got peeks of his nose . . . . so we know he has one! But, we couldn't really make out the image of whose it looks like or what shape it is, etc. We saw he has a full lip, and we could see tiny distorted glimpses of his eyes, but he was being exceptionally stingy with the view. Sam and I had even talked about waiting to "see" him at this sonogram to know which name to go with... but no luck since Baby was not AT ALL cooperative in this endeavor. Both hands and both feet were completely covering his face - even an ankle and leg were blocking our view. No matter how the sonographer tried, no matter how many times she probed and pushed and completely abused the left side of my belly, no matter how active he was - he never moved those limbs away. The one thing he was NOT shy about in the least was his "boy parts." With all extremities successfully and busily obscuring his face, his penis and scrotum were in wide-open view. We got a great 3D image of it in all its glory, but nope - not the face. The occupant inhabiting the womb is, without question and without a doubt, a boy.

We know he is head down, he was facing my left side, and I was able to distinguish what body parts I was feeling pushing out on my right side... the back of his head and his spine. The sonographer kept commenting on how very active he is - and yes, he is. But, she also commented on how shy he was being about letting us get a good sneak peek of him! Oh, and another very cool thing to note at this stage that we got to see was Baby swallowing and practicing breathing. Pretty neat! Anyway, the appointment continued with a visit with my doctor. She said everything looks exactly as it should, which is great news as always! I'm relieved my blood pressure has continued to stay normal and healthy - since it started elevating at 37 weeks when I was pregnant with Banner. I'm also happy to report that my weight gain has been the least with this kiddo so far. I've only gained 19.5 pounds with him at this point, so I'm pretty stoked about that - although I'm not sure how that is happening. I didn't gain a pound in the last two weeks - and that just seems impossible after what I know I've eaten this past week! I'm also not sure how that's true when I feel SO heavy! But, I digress. My OB was pleased with everything and we are on track for a C-section date of February 16th. In short, the appointment went very well, but while I was beyond grateful that he is healthy and that all looks great still, I was disappointed I didn't get to see his precious face yet. I quickly got over it, though, because, well - less than 3 weeks from now, I will be able to actually see him!

Eek! 3 weeks! Three little weeks left with my family of 4. Three short weeks of sleeping through the night (well, let's be honest... with Banner and Quinn, it's usually interrupted sleep, and usually shorter-than-I'd-like sleep, but "through the night" by definition). Three weeks to tie up loose ends and get as much done as I can at work and at home before there's another little human to tend to. And, at the same time - still 3 more weeks to deal with this awful reflux, to feel the insane pressure of this little boy's head down south, to waddle around feeling like my water could break at any moment, to try holding my big boys on my lap with complete failure as neither of us is ever comfortable, to lift and bend and squat in complete discomfort, to try to get comfortable in bed after hoisting a big belly and a body pillow when turning over, to try to shave and bathe and dress with very little ease. Sounds like quite a bit of time left still when I put it that way!

But, it will be here in what feels like tomorrow, I know. So, I'm trying to savor this time and give BBJ3 more time to bake in this ever-growing oven of mine. I'm trying to enjoy these last weeks of his rolling and jabbing because I know, without a doubt, that I will definitely miss that part of being pregnant. So, with these coming weeks, we will continue to just nest and get things in order. Although, I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with how "ready" we are - if a family or a person could ever truly be "ready" for such a life-changing event of adding another person to your family. I have his baby book, we have his clothes washed and put away, we have blankets and swaddles and diapers and wipes... and an infant carrier ready to be added to the mix of carseats in my back seat, we have bottles and pacis to be sanitized, we have frozen meals in the freezer (thank you, Mom & Kira!), we have the date and time of his (private) bris set, we had a sibling class and a "Babymoon" (more on that in another post) and a baby "Sprinkle," we had maternity pics taken, we have sheets and crib and bouncer and Moses basket all ready and waiting, we have gifts for the boys to give Baby and (probably more important) for Baby to give to boys, we have hospital bag (mostly) packed, we have the big boys settled in their big boy bunk, and we have two big brothers who seem to be ready to meet their little brother!

My belly button is closer to popping out with this pregnancy as it ever has been (it never did before, and it just might this time!). I feel like it's an oven timer just waiting to pop out: "DING! All done!" So true. So very close to being "all done" and meeting this little fellow - who may or may not actually have a name now! (No really... I don't even know.)