Much Awaited Pictures!

Here are some pictures many of you have been begging for. This one is Monty cuddling with Mr. Moo. I took a couple other pictures after this one, but he was on to me so he just looks miserable. I can't forget to include my older child on the blog after all. This next one is me taking a picture of my reflection in the mirror. This was apparently taken on 6/13 - almost a month ago if that gives you any idea of my progress since then! Don't worry, the light spots on my belly are just a result of the flash in the mirror. I am not developing spots.
I don't remember taking this picture, but here's one of Michael anyway.
This is me on that same day 6/13 but with my shirt over the belly. (so as to eliminate belly reflection)

And this is part one of the apartment Baby Tour. Enjoy, though it might be a little dark.

Week 34 and 35

I realize I never actually gave a fruit update last week. At 34 weeks the baby was roughly the weight of a cantalope, and now that we are 35 weeks today she has achieved honeydew melon status.

At 35 weeks, we are just 2 weeks away from full term, although Anika is not due to join us for another 5 weeks. At this stage, babies born now have an excellent chance of needing little to no medical intervention after birth and usually even if they need help for a few weeks, they match up developmentally with their full term counter parts rather quickly.

But I do not appear to be in danger of delivering early. I'm not having contractions very often that I can feel, although apparently the uterus contracts all throughout pregnancy, rarely does it come across my radar.

We have now finished our Lamaze class, and while I sort of felt it was mostly a waste of time, I think we learned a few helpful things to get us through labor.

This week we are down in NC at my folks, and all my brothers and sisters are here with their families. Which is both tiring, and very nice. Michael is enjoying spending time with my brothers since one by one our regular hang-out friends are either in shows, rehearsal, or moving away now that grad school is over.

Yesterday my Mom took a picture of me in my maternity bathing suit, so if she ever sends that image my way, I'll be sure to post it for you. Let's just say I am so big that my family is joking about twins. Take a honeydew melon, strap it to your belly, add 20 pounds of cushy water balloons, and you can approximate what it is like to be me these days.

I look forward to walking up and down stairs without having it be a production.

Babies and Back pain

So I have been having a sharp pain in my lowerback/hip kinda area and my midwife recommended seeing a chiropractor. My chiropractor recommended seeing a physical therapist. My physical therapist recommended a masseuse. (actually, chiropractor recommended both the pt and the masseuse, but it sounded better the other way). So now I have seen them all. The massage was lovely, but it made the baby very curious about what was going on, she kept moving all around. Hopefully one of these things will help my back out. It is the first time a doctor type person has recommended a massage. Since Michael and I usually get these for special occasions, I feel sneaky getting one without him and without a special occasion as an excuse.

But I suppose I am carrying his child so maybe that is special occasion enough. Though if that is the case, it seems I should have 9 months worth of professional massage.
:)

33 Weeks - Pineapple time

Finally, we have gotten a good fruit of the week. It has been slim pickings lately, but I am happy to report that Anika is roughly the size of a pineapple. If she is average, she should be approximately 4 lbs and 17 inches long.

In response to having a pineapple inside it, my belly is expanding exponentially, and I really do plan to post a new picture soon. So stay tuned.

I am happy to report that the last midwife visit went well - the baby appeared to have switched into a head down position, although she was not perfectly lined up for birth or anything. So that is excellent. No one wants to give birth to a baby butt first, it much harder.

The baby is due in 7 weeks now, and if she is born after 2 weeks from now chances are good she wouldn't even need extra help to breathe! Exciting isn't it!

The other baby

I didn't get a chance to post yet about my other baby, Monty the Dog. Last monday Monty had a seizure in the morning and we had to go to the doggy hospital. It was very scary for us all. The good news: they tested his blood and watched him all day and found that he is not going through organ failure, nor does he appear to have eaten poison. So he appears to be a happy, healthy dog with mild epilepsy.

Epilepsy is apparently very common in small terrier type breeds, which Monty probably has some of, and since it is mild (we only think we know about 2 seizures ever) he doesn't even need medicine or to see a doggy neurologist.

So its exciting times here in the Phillips household! Perhaps our first baby thought he wasn't getting enough attention....

32 Weeks - A general update

Now I am 32 weeks into the pregnancy. Ani will be full term in 5 weeks, but she isn't due for 8 weeks and could take as many as 10 before they start thinking about inducing labor. This week, she should be about 3.75 lbs, which is the size of a jicama. In case you are like me and you have never heard of a jicama, it appears to be a mexican potatoe or turnip like vegetable.

Though we are more fond of referring to her as a jumping bean.

She moves a lot now, great big movements that you can see from the outside, but she is still very shy about when she will do them. No one but Mike (and the midwives) has been able to feel her kicking, or even see her move from the outside so far. As soon as someone's hand goes on my belly she sits very still unless it is her Dad. Strange but true.

At the moment she is hanging out in the breech position. For all you non-baby lingo savvy folks, that means her head is at the top of my uterus, instead of down by the pelvis where it will need to be for birth. Most babies get ready to go between 32-36 weeks, so its about time for her to start working her way down before she runs out of room and gets stuck backwards. It appears that she is hanging out sideways in my uterus - with her head at the right side of my body and her body stretched across my belly instead of up and down. Apparently she is already trying to avoid following the crowd of other babies and create her own position.

As Jenna has requested pictures, I will try to work on that this week. I know the last ones I took of myself did not give an accurate picture of our progress. So far I am extremely fortunate. All my weight is in my abdominal region, so I am keeping my chin and my arms and my ankles at the moment. I am also not really having any heartburn and am long since past the nausea stage, so other than some back pain, I feel great.

Well, ta ta for now.

31 weeks

31 weeks today. In just 6 little weeks she will be considered full term and if labor starts they won't stop it. that's just a month and a half!

We took our second glucose screening on Wednesday and I am happy to report that I do not have gestational diabetes. I do seem to take longer than a normal person to process sugar in my system, so I am still supposed to cut down on sugar and white flours, but I am fine.

So that is wonderful news and we feel very good about that.

This week we started rehearsals for As You Like It at Richmond Shakespeare. I am the master of verse, which is sort of a co-director type position with an emphasis on text work. I love this play and I think we are going to have a lot of fun as long as I don't tire myself out.

But that's pretty much it for now. Thanks for everyone's prayers and concern this week!