A stellar shower

Anna threw a spectacular baby shower for Tinkerbell Saturday.
The theme was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and everything from the ceiling decorations to the Starburst candies fit the theme.
Thank you to everybody who made the journey to Massachusetts!!!!




Hand-decorated bibs.









Lucy in her party dress.










Kim reads to the kids.






Lucy and Eve get to know each other.

Belly shots -- 31 weeks

Looking bigger...

especially when shot from below!

Headphones in my pants?

Yes, OK. It's weird.

At my appointment yesterday, the midwife felt my belly and discovered that the baby happened to be sitting vertically with her head under my ribs and her butt in my pelvis. This is the opposite of where we want her in nine weeks when she's due.

It's early, so this is not a problem. In fact, I think the alien spends most of her time lying horizontally or flipping all over the place. She's still got plenty of room to move around and it's not nearly time for her to settle head-down yet.

Still, the midwife said that if I want to try to get her in the head-down position, it doesn't hurt to lie on an incline with my hips about a foot higher than my shoulders for ten minutes at a time. And also she said I could try putting headphones on my belly and playing music in the spot where I want the baby's head to go -- aka, in my pants.

I've read that there is some evidence that the inclined position worked. The music? That just sounded silly.

But even silly ideas deserve a try, right? I made a lullaby mix for Tinkerbell already and I just happened to put it on my iPod today. So I figured, if I was going to lie on an incline for a while anyway, might as well play some tunes for the baby.

I don't know if she liked it, or if she could even hear it, but she rolled around for a while. Whether any of this will flip her, I have no idea. But even if it doesn't, maybe she'll get to know the lullaby mix so I can play it after she's born and it will calm her. Maybe. Maybe it's just a way to make pregnant women feel like they have something to do so the anticipation of the last few months doesn't drive them nuts!

Little alien

I've taken to calling Tinkerbell my little alien because of the way she moves around in my belly. You can see it clearly through my skin and it's not just little kicks anymore. Sometimes she rolls around slowly and you can see the lump move and my belly shift -- it really looks like she's trying to bust out. It's just like something on the X-files.

Her baby crazies have gotten very strong. Sometimes she punches my internal organs so hard that I have to catch my breath. She's still craziest at night, usually when I lie on my right side to go to sleep and again around 3 a.m., no matter what position I'm in. I just hug my belly and follow her around with my hands. I don't know exactly what I'm feeling, but it's definitely parts of a person. Occasionally it feels like I'm actually holding a tiny baby, which is so cool!!!

The alien kicked and wiggled all through our first childbirth class Thursday night. It made it kind of hard to concentrate... well, that and the fact that the first thing we did was get down on the floor with mats and pillows and learn a relaxation exercise. Our homework is to practice this exercise (aka Jim has to give me a massage) to condition me to be able to relax just from him stroking my face or my arms. Even if I don't use any of these techniques during labor, I'm sure enjoying the homework.

Contractions, the good kind

The midwife put her hands on my belly at my appointment yesterday and said "Oh, you're having a contraction."
I said, "I am?"
She put my hand on my belly and, as it faded, showed me the difference between feeling the baby (a firmness in just one spot) and a Braxton Hicks contraction (when the whole belly gets firm).
If that's what a contraction is, I think I've been having them for a while. I just assumed it was the baby pressing on me.
She said it's quite normal to be having Braxton Hicks, even this early. As long as they don't hurt there's nothing wrong.
Then again, it's not so early. Our "days left" counter is down in the 70s. Our childbirth classes start next week.
On a lighter note, I finally got myself a hair cut, which is doing a lot to offset the feeling that my clothes don't fit right and I'm hot and smelly and out of breath all the time. I noticed this week that when I sit at a desk I can feel my belly rest on my thighs. It's a good thing the baby moves so much to remind me there's a reason for this. Otherwise I think I would be freaking out.

Photos, finally!

Here's Tinkerbell at 27 weeks. Her head's on the bottom left, facing up.








And here are her little feet (kinda hard to see with the glare, but use your imagination).






Too bad she couldn't come out to play this weekend with her cousin Lucy. We had such a great time!

Third trimester

We hit the 28-week mark Thursday, meaning we're into the long, final stretch.

Sometime around the middle of last week my female coworkers told me that I finally, officially look really pregnant. It's not just the shirts anymore. I was biting into an apple when one of them wanted to know what I'd been eating this week that caused me to pop out so suddenly. I told them it doesn't feel sudden to me.

The baby's still very active, although her movements often feel slower and longer, like she's rolling around rather than just kicking. She tends to get really crazy in the middle of the night. During the day she's more gentle and I've gotten so used to it I that sometimes I realize she's moving and I'm not even paying attention. It's strange to think that in a few months I won't have a creature in my belly anymore.

I had a chat with my neighbor when I was out mowing the lawn yesterday. She said the moms in the neighborhood have a play group every Monday morning and I'm invited to come. Yay!!! Maybe I will be welcomed into the local mom tribe after all! Apparently there were four babies born around March/April this year in our neighborhood, plus a few born last fall, so Tinkerbell's going to have quite a gang of neighborhood kids to play with. The woman across the street is due in October, we think, and I'm sure there are others out there that we don't know about yet. What fun!