I haven't posted in a while! I have been so busy working, trying to finish my Junior League volunteer hours before James is born, putting finishing touches on the nursery (pictures will be posted soon), and getting everything ready for my maternity leave at school.
It is official, I have 18 more teaching days of school left and I am "retiring"! I always wanted a spring baby because of my school schedule but of course we knew it wasn't up to us. James' due date could not have worked out more perfectly though. My maternity leave at school is six weeks long and it just so happens that it starts on day one of the last six weeks of school. I will have to go back on June 4th the day after the last day of school to pack up all of my things and clean my room. I will also visit my kids sometime during the last week of school and say goodbye. It really is bittersweet. I have been at the same school for eight years and will miss everyone but it is time for a change. I could not be more excited about being a mom and also continuing to work real estate with Elizabeth Ho at Keller Williams!
We had a doctor's appointment on Monday the 23rd and it was another routine appointment with everything completely normal. James is still positioned head down, his heartbeat was 142, and my baby bump measured 35 cm vertically . I was in between 34-35 weeks at the time so that is exactly in the normal range since the measurement is supposed to be within 2 cm of how far along you are. We go back to the doctor on Monday the 6th for a full exam since I will be 36+ weeks and will continue to go weekly until James arrives. Dr. Matthews said he will be able to tell us more after the exam on Monday as to when we can expect his arrival.
Below is what babycenter.com says about how our baby boy is developing:
Your pregnancy: 35 weeks
How your baby's growing: Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight. I am guessing James is a little bigger than 5 lbs 1/4 ounces and is actually closer to 6 lbs or a little more right now. At our 4D ultrasound the ultrasound technician measured James' head, leg, stomach, and arm. They all still measured developmentally exactly one week ahead of my May 1st original due date with my estimated due date to be April 24th based on the measurements. The computer also gave an estimate of James' weight to be 5 lbs 5 ounces at the time based on the measurements and that was two weeks ago! My doctor is estimating that James will weigh in the high 7lbs to low 8lbs when he is born. Dr. Matthews said usually a baby will weigh about the same as Mom and Dad did at birth. I weighed 7 lbs 12 oz when I was born and Sean weighed 7 lbs 14 oz when he was born so we can assume he will be at least somewhere in the high 7lb range.
I have been very lucky and haven't had any real issues besides being a little more tired in the evenings these last couple of weeks. I am still sleeping at least 8 hours a night which I am trying to enjoy because I know that will drastically change soon! I do notice that James doesn't feel like he is doing flips anymore but he does continue to kick me in the ribs and is much more active in the evening and at night, hmmmmm....I wonder where he gets that from? I will update again after our appointment on Monday and will try to catch up on all of my picture posts soon!
