So close I can feel him!

He is getting bigger and more active now. Every day I am amazed at the little life growing inside my wife's beautiful frame. I can't wait for the little guy to get here. Each week we have been moving mountains, each week closer to perfect as we prepare the house to receive our special guest. Only a few weeks more now. Just around the corner, yet it seems other-worldly still. So much we won't know until he comes.

I love this time and will miss it when he is here. I know it will be even harder, different, and so much better than I can imagine now.

Soon.

I think we're going to have a little frog...

Baby likes jumping!

So Baby Tebault has a new hobby for the past week. He likes to plant his little feet on the side of my belly, or just under my stomach, and push... and almost instantly, his head (at least, I think it is his head) bounces off the opposite side of my belly. My belly takes on an oblong shape and you can really see the two big lumps on either side as he stretches out. The the little guy repeats this - for hours and hours all day and night. He feels like a little frog, playing some sort of jumping game.  I love it, and it brings me a lot of comfort to be reminded that he is having a party in there.  Sometimes, he gets a little rhythm going with his hops, and my whole belly just bounces up and down and up and down. 

His other hobby is "marching", where he alternates moving one foot and then the other - the whole time bouncing his head off the other side of my belly. Sometimes, he'll stretch one leg out - it will shake for a second, and then return to folded position. I think he is stretching - just like we do, or a cat does.

Both of these hobbies he does at varying speeds of leg movement (usually speed is strongly correlated with sugary/cold drinks or me taking a nap on my side).

Early bird? Not this time!

These are contractions.

Our little man was rehearsing for his big entrance into the world this week.  I didn't realize it, but I have been having contractions for over a month now.  On Thursday, we went to the hospital because of some concerning symptoms, and when they hooked me up to the contraction monitors, they asked, "You're contracting every two minutes - did you know this?"  I did not, as I thought the mild aches and pains were nothing compared to others I have felt during the pregnancy, and I had not noticed any pattern whatsoever.  I thought the nurse was joking with me for a split second. 

The baby was perfectly healthy and didn't seem to mind the contractions at all - he just continued his usual pattern of moving a lot and taking cat naps.  The doctors gave me two doses of medicine to stop the contractions, and it seemed to slow them down a lot, so they discharged me.

Now that I am home and I know what contractions feel like, I can tell that I am having contractions occassionally, but it is easier to avoid the circumstances that trigger them: walking, going from seated to standing, high heat, standing on hard surfaces for a long time, etc.  I just have to listen to my body more and take evasive action if I feel one start.  It's no big deal to me and the doctors aren't concerned either, but it does slow me down a lot.  I'm not on mandatory bed rest, and the magical fetal fibronectin test showed that baby is firmly snuggled inside and not planning to make his entrance anytime in the next few weeks. 

These next weeks are very important for the baby's development, especially his major organs, his brain, and his chubby cheeks (these are the weeks when the baby plumps up with fat).  It is good to know he'll be able to do that hard work and still be cozy in my belly.

Date Change

Baby is due Oct. 21st

The more I learn about the childbirthing process, the less of a hurry I am in.  An induced labor comes with extra risks I am hoping to avoid, if at all possible.  Many doctors force inductions if you are 7 days late or more.  Up until now, I have been using the ultrasound due dates as my primary guess of when the baby is coming, however, the doctor has been using a later date.  I now think it wiser to use my doctor's date because it gives Baby Boy extra time to be "late" without requiring an induction.  If you would like more information about the risks of doctor intervention and inductions during labor, I highly recommend watching the documentary, "The Business of Being Born", but must caution that the documentary is not approriate for children or the workplace, as it shows some full-monty, reality-of-childbirth stuff.

So, I have changed my ticker above to reflect the doctor's later due date of October 21st.  For all the grandmothers keeping track with their countdown blocks - please make a note of it.  (wink)

Growth and progress!

These past few weeks have been spectacular. They have reminded me how much love there is in our lives and what a wonderful world we're bringing Baby Tebault into. I just celebrated my 32nd birthday, and it was a splendid time. I was surprised by a group of old and dear friends and my fantastic husband, who threw me a surprise dinner party at one of my favorite restaurants. I am so excited to surround Baby Tebault with such wonderful and caring people.

In other news, Baby Tebault has reached new proportions and has perfected the art of kicking Mama in the tummy. They are usually very gentle kicks and lovely reminders of his precious life. I thought I would mind more when I got to this point, but for now I'm savoring every little kick and don't mind the unpleasant side effects while I'm eating.

There is a lot of healthy developing going on, and plenty of signs that Baby Tebault is growing big and strong. There is also plenty of nesting going on, as Pete and I do our best to prepare for all the known and unknown aspects of parenthood. It does feel a little bit like building something in the dark - there's just so much we can't know right now about how it will all turn out and how ready we'll actually be for his arrival!

This weekend, we'll be building the baby's crib (thank you again, Grandpa and Grandma T) and hanging cute little boy clothes on cute little boy hangers (many thanks to the many very stylish folks who have contributed to Little Man Tebault's impressive wardrobe)!

Boot to the Head

Since most of our knowable interactions with baby at this point consist of baby kicking me, we have taken to calling the little guy "Kung Fu Panda" sometimes. Yesterday morning, Pete put his head on my belly to listen for any noise or vibrations from Baby Tebault. Sure enough, after a few moments of quiet, my whole belly bounced with a great big kick from the baby that nailed Pete square in the ear. It was a great kick and we've had some good laughs about the first time Baby kicked Daddy in the head, eventhough it was purely accidental. Boot to the head!

This brought back some happy 1980's memories for us and we thought we'd share a little "Boot to the Head" with you:

Click here to hear the classic '80's comedy routine, "Boot to the Head".

Pregnancy joy!

Today I feel very blessed for the privilege of being pregnant, especially in this time and place. As a newly inaugurated member of the population that understands the traumas, joys, discomforts, and life changing nature of pregnancy, I often marvel at how women in 3rd world countries and women in past generations survive(d) and thrive(d) during pregnancy. How does a pregnant gal get any sleep without a comfy mattress and 5,000 pillows to bolster the aching limbs and redistribute weight?

I got some new maternity clothes over the weekend (thanks Pete!) because I surprisingly outgrew the belly part of many of the maternity clothes I bought at the outset. I would like to take a moment to applaud the person who invented stretchy belly bands for the top of pants, shorts, etc. I bought some shorts and capris, which will likely be 99% of my wardrobe during this hot Phoenician summer, and I'm SO much more comfortable than I was without them. The belly is getting quite heavy these days and having the extra support around the belly feels nice too.

I still owe you all a video of the latest ultrasound and promise to publish one sometime before the baby arrives. I recently bought some new video editing software and have no idea how to use it; it wasn't as immediately user-friendly as I'd planned on. I'll likely get to the video project after our upcoming travel.