Thirty-Two Weeks

Today Nick is 32 weeks old. Only 56 days to go! My midwife appointment yesterday was great - I have gained 24 pounds so far, so I'm on track for a 25-35 pound gain altogether. My BP was 99/61. Nick's heart rate was 148 (it has always been in the 140s). And he is still vertex, so I canceled my moxibustion appointment. He moves a lot so my midwife said I don't need to do kick counts. I am still quite comfortable and still sleeping through the night. We are getting so anxious for his arrival!!

Our second 3D/4D ultrasound was as amazing as the first one. Jeff and I agree Nick looked the same, with chubbier cheeks :) He was already quite cramped in there, so I'm glad we didn't wait any longer to schedule it. I wish we were rich so we could have one every weekend!!

According to The Cradle, because of the rapid brain growth of the last few weeks, the circumference of Nick's head has increased by about 3/8 inch (9.5 mm). The developing brain pushes outward on the skull, but it also folds in upon itself to create more of the convolutions mentioned earlier. Mild edema, or swelling, of my hands, feet, ankles, and face is still considered to be common, as excess fluid continues to collect in my tissues.

According to Pregnancy Weekly, Nick is just under 17 inches long from head to heel and weighs almost 4 pounds. He will gain weight more quickly now and will probably double in weight between now and his birth. Just like a newborn, Nick sleeps most of the time. He even experiences rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the period of sleep when we dream! This week marks the peak of Nick's movements; from now until delivery he will have very little room to move around and I will probably notice a marked decrease in kicks, punches, and rolls.

According to Baby Center, by now, Nick weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in my uterus. I'm gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to Nick. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth.

We officially moved into the new house on Monday. We are slowly unpacking and getting settled in. Since we moved so far, I switched La Leche League meetings - now I will go to an evening meeting in Ann Arbor. We went to our first one tonight (it happened to be a couples meeting) - it seems like a great group of women and I'm excited to get to know them better. One of the ladies changed her daughter's diaper while we were there and she uses the same cloth diapers we've decided to use! I asked her how she likes them and she said she loves them :)

We had our sixth Bradley class this week and the topic was second stage. We played a version of the newlyweds game. Jeff and I tied for first and won a Bradley water bottle :) We watched a home birth that demonstrated the squatting position during second stage - I am really going to buckle down and start doing my squat exercises each night, because that position looked great!

I don't think anything exciting happens for the rest of the pregnancy - Nick should get a few inches longer, he'll keep gaining weight and his brain and lungs will continue to develop. Eventually I won't feel him move as much or as strongly because he'll be so cramped. We are so busy over the next eight weeks - I'm sure they are going to fly by!