Week 35 *barf*

Week 35 is upon us and I'm not sure what to think. For some reason I look at this week as being the "baby could come at any time" mark. It isn't too far from the truth. Our hospital policy is that babies born after 36 weeks are just considered low birth weight and, if healthy enough, can stay on postpartum with the moms. Which basically means, next Monday, I'm pretty safe for delivery.

I also went to the OB for my last bi-weekly appointment and the physician said the baby is measuring about a week ahead of schedule and if I were to go into labor right now, I'd be safe and he wouldn't stop me. Of course, that was at the 34 week appointment.

I have another appointment this Tuesday and this will begin my weekly appointments. This week he is going to do a swab for my GBS status. GBS stands for Group Beta Strep and is a bacteria that lives in a woman's vaginal and rectal areas. If passed to the baby during delivery, the baby can become sick and need antibiotics. Fingers crossed for a GBS negative status!!

This week, Baby B is about the size of a coconut. She weighs in now at 4.2 to 5.8 pounds and measuring 17.2 to 18.7 inches long. Her hearing is fully developed now and responds best to higher pitched noises. That's a good thing because her eye sight will not be fully developed at birth so she'll at least be able to hear me. She's also beginning to beef up a little more in preparation for her big arrival.

The Good: We installed our car seat bases this week which was pretty exciting. Now no matter what vehicle I waddle to when I go into labor, we'll have a base installed for the baby's first ride home. The OB also told me the weight from the previous week probably wasn't accurate and even though it looks like I've lost weight this week, I'm actually right on track.

We had a baby shower with work friends last week as well which was amazing. After the shower was over, I took B on a tour of our labor and delivery unit and the postpartum unit so he could feel a little more comfortable when we arrive. Of course, he asked tons of questions, which I'm so excited about, and got a grasp of what is to come. At the end, we turned in our preregistration form so when we get there, all we have to do is check in and get an arm band.

I also ordered about 6 more cloth diapers this week and they came in the mail. My favorite is definitely the red, black and white plaid ones. Now the baby has panties for the Dawg games!

The Bad: I'm really beginning to get uncomfortable. My Braxton Hicks contractions have started to become more frequent which makes me feel like I have to sit up straight all the time. I'm also starting to have the "real deal" contractions which aren't all that fun at all. Of course, I'm only having one or two a day so I'm still a long way away from delivery.

And of course, the very possible worst happened. I saw my first stretch mark while getting in the shower one night. Ok, so maybe it isn't the worst that could happen but it still made me sad. B doesn't understand why I'm not just embracing the stretch marks as a small side effect of the much more important human that I'm growing. While I'm incredibly impressed at what my body has been able to endure during the last 8 months, it's also a little sad knowing that I now have "tattoos" that are going to be staring me back in the face every day.

The next day, B sent me this link. Check it out. I'm pretty amazed.

Until next time!

-W