One month and counting!!

Hey Peeps!

Ok, so officially we are down to one month before the "projected" due date. Which, if you do the math means that Courtney is 35 weeks and 4 days as of today (Wednesday). Now for those "baby illiterate" people out there (I would have included myself in that number prior to this experience), a full term baby is between 38 and 42 weeks which puts that September 1st due date right at 40 weeks. So, the baby could come tomorrow, two weeks, a month, or a month and a half... it really depends on the baby's timing.

I have a feeling (which could be wrong) that says that she is going to come early. We went to the doctor's office today and he measured Ms. Courtney's belly and found that she was measuring a solid 40cm from pelvic bone to top of uterus. Now for those that have read my prior posts you will know that the average is 1cm a week. So Courtney is measuring at full term which means that the baby is quickly running out of space.

Courtney can also attest to the fact that Madeleine is a space hog due in large part to the fact that at certain times during the day she can't breathe (Maddie is stuck up in her lungs) and at other times Courtney has sharp "crotch" pains which I like to think of as the baby trying to escape (really the baby is hitting her head against Courtney's cervix). Courtney has also had a ton of Braxton Hicks contractions which are basically harmless contractions of the uterus... think of them as simply a warm up routine for the real thing.

Interesting note. Doctor Ellis did say that it was very unusual that first time pregnancies result in tons of Braxton Hicks and those crotch pains... usually that happens during the 2nd or 3rd go around but even though it is unusual for Courtney, all is well. Maddie seems to get the hiccups about 50 times a day (which is cool because you get that wave affect as the hiccup sends her crashing into the wall of the uterus... which shows on the outside of the belly). The cool thing about hiccups is that it means that her lungs are developed enough to sustain her.

Another cool thing is that for about 6 weeks now Maddie has been in a head down position which makes the complications of a "breech baby" non existent for the most part. A breech baby is one that wants to come out of the shoot feet first which can't happen and usually results in a C-section. But Maddie IS head down and doesn't seem to be moving anywhere else so all should be well in that department.

Catch me on Thursday or Friday as I talk about graduating from Prenatal Classes (which have been a blast over the past 3 weeks).

Cheers,
Ash

PS. Start praying at this point because the baby could come at any time and we are asking for prayer requests that all goes well with the upcoming labor and there are no complications for mama or baby! Thanks!