35 Weeks

Hard to believe it's been 4 weeks since I did an update and now only 5 weeks left to go until mini-kuper is due. Let's see...what's been going on???

Doctor's Visits - I had an appointment on 9/10 and 9/24 - both were pretty uneventful for the most part. Her heartbeat was 140 bpm on 9/10 and 150 bpm on 9/24 and at both appointments everything looked normal. At my last appointment they said that anytime after 36 weeks if I go into labor they will not stop it (and that generally the meds to stop it after that point don't work if you really are in labor). I go back in 2 weeks - October 10th - and they'll start doing pelvic exams to check for progress. This will be the start of weekly appointments.

Childbirth Classes - John and I completed our last childbirth class this week. Overall the classes were good and I'm glad that we went through them. A few weeks ago we took a tour of labor & delivery at Methodist Hospital - it really made things seem real, that's for sure.

Nursery - Last weekend I bought a glider and ottoman off of craigslist which was one of the last big items needed for the nursery. My next project for the nursery is to sort through clothes, get them washed and put away.

Baby Showers - I had my first baby shower today at work. It was awesome! We had a fondue themed food day and instead of playing games, everyone made onesies. Basically, you take a piece of sandpaper and you color a design on it in crayon, then you put it face-down on the onesie and iron over the back side of the sandpaper. The heat transfers the crayon to the onesie and you're left with a personalized gift - pretty sweet. I got lots of great gifts, too, from the people in HR which was very generous and thoughtful. Now I just need to get to work putting those things away in the nursery.

I have a family shower next weekend, October 4th and a friends shower the following weekend, October 11th. 'Aunt Kristi' and 'Uncle John' will be coming in to town October 3rd for the weekend. We're going out to dinner Friday night to celebrate Jim's (baby kuper's grandpa) 60th birthday...location still being determined. =)

Contractions - I almost forgot to mention that I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a while and this week I had my first "real" contraction...or preview of what's to come as I like to call it.

Lots left to do in the next 5 weeks: books to read, get the nursery finished, pick up last minute necessities, pack bags for the hospital, try to act prepared to be parents...etc. etc. etc.... yikes!!! I guess I better end this update and get to work.

Here's a picture from today at 35 weeks, she's definitely dropping.

31 Weeks

Wednesday night we had our childbirth class through Methodist Hospital. We learned a lot about labor positions, counting contractions, when to go to the hospital, etc. Also watched a few childbirth videos but the instructor felt it wasn't enough so we're going to watch more this week too. You could tell the guys were pretty shocked but John managed to hold it together quite well. On Septemer 10th we'll take a tour of Labor & Delivery at Methodist and I'll also have my next doctor's appointment so I'll do an update around that time.

Here's a picture from last night - 31 weeks 2 days:

Ultrasound Today - 30 weeks 5 days

Had a doctor's appointment and ultrasound today to measure mini-kuper. To everyone's surprise, I'm sure, we are not having a huge baby! She's weighing about 3 lbs. 10 oz. which is right on track so as of now I do not plan her arriving early into this world.

John and I tried to determine on the ultrasound which of us she looks like. I think she has his nose and my cheeks. On the 4D picture you can really tell how chubby her cheeks are. And we also got a picture that shows she has a ton of hair (according to the wivestale, it would explain all the heartburn).

She is head down so she's in good position for birth and was kicking away. We can't wait to meet her in 9+ more weeks!

I will take new belly pictures this weekend (31 weeks).

Bottom- arrow pointing toward full head of hair. Top- profile picture (nose and lips).

4D pictures of her face...look at those chubby cheeks!

Nursery is done!

I had a very productive weekend - finally got the nursery done, other than name letters and putting away whatever I get at my showers.

Nursery - Before:



















Nursery - After:

Baby Kuper's Coming Home Outfit(s) - A gift from Great Grandma Durham on our trip to Muscatine last month.

29 Week Pictures

As promised, here's pics from today - 29 weeks 2 days. Our Childbirth classes start Wednesday; I'll let you know how they go

Week 28

Finally... A reason for all the comments about how huge I am.

Had a doctor's appointment today, had lots of questions. One of which wondering if the size of John and I as babies will have any effect on the size of mini-kuper...or mega-kuper as some are now calling her. She said that if John and I were both 9 lb. babies (John was 9-3, I was 9-4) that there's a good chance that we would have a 9 lb. baby as well. She said that is why they measure the uterus at each appointment and if it measures large then she will do an ultrasound to get an idea of the baby's actual size.

After all that was said, I hopped up on the exam table and she took her measurements and my uterus measured 31 weeks (I was 28.5 at the exam) so they are going to do an ultrasound at my next appointment (August 27th) to see how big she is. It will be nice to see her again and see how much she's grown in 10 weeks...and make sure that she is still a SHE.

Depending on her size, we'll need to talk about options and make a decision from there (going early, c-section, etc.). I am on the 2 week plan for appointments now and then at 36 weeks I'll go every week. Needless to say, we are very committed to getting the nursery done soon and hope to get a lot of work done on in this weekend.

Names - It's been entertaining to let people guess names. My aunt, Kathe, has been the most creative - coming up with a new one every time she sends an e-mail. My mom continues to call her Walter - funny story for those of you who haven't heard it yet: My friend Beth was explaining to her 3 year old daughter that Kristin (friend) and I were both expecting babies and that's why they were giving away some of their stuff. Beth explained that Kristin was getting a boy but that I didn't know yet what I was having so Hannah predicted that I was having a girl named Walter. She was right about it being a girl, but I can't say that I am in love with the name Walter, especially for a girl. I later found out that she picked this name from one of her current favorite books: Walter the Farting Dog (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Walter-the-Farting-Dog/William-Kotzwinkle/e/9781583940532/?itm=1).

I will take some pictures on Friday (29 weeks) and post them soon.

Rough Week

As much as I enjoy being able to see and feel mini-kuper move...it's been a rough week for me. I keep getting rude comments about how big I am and wonder "what's wrong with people?" Were they brought up to act that way?? No manners? You don't see me going around saying "geez, looks like you've gained some weight". Of course, the raging hormones don't help either...

John's cousin gave us a crib so I went and picked it up last night. We're taking the crib I had bought on craigslist over to my parents house. Last night we celebrated my birthday and also farewell dinner for Grandma Durham (John's Grandma). Tonight, we'll be celebrating my birthday over at my parents house and tomorrow night I am going to Mineola for the Taco Run and will celebrate my actual birthday with John and some of my friends from work.