31-34 Weeks - The slowest weeks yet......

The last 4 weeks of the pregnancy have been the slowest by far. We are simply playing the waiting game. Even though we know it's still a few weeks before Addie will arrive, it feels like it should be any day now. Lacy bought the carseat today and gave me a tutorial on how to properly use it. It's actually sitting right in front of me staring me in the face right now. The nursery is still lacking the dresser, but we foung out today that the backorder deliver date has moved up to a sooner date. It will now be here February 22nd, exactly one month before Lacy's due date. Once we get the dresser here we can start putting away all her clothes. Speaking of clothes, once Addie gets here she may not wear an outfit twice for at least 6 months, every high school girls dream, that's how many outfits she has already. Once we get the nursery all put together I will post pictures, but right now it looks like a pink bomb went off in there.

Addie weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. Babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies. Obviously we want Addie to be healthy, but we are getting very anxious.

Addie is rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal.  These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Lacy is still feeling good, and growing by the week. She is still working out often and "sometimes" eating healthy. Yesterday, after she had gone to work out, she came in with a  huge bag from Cracker Barrell for dinner. I knew it wasn't for me because I had already eaten a sandwich, but it sure looked like enough food to feed a family of 4. Pancakes, bacon, hashbrowns, toast, eggs, etc. She will probably kill me for writing that, but it made me laugh because she said she ordered it while walking on the treadmill, haha.



A look back.... Lacy at 10 weeks.



Even though the picture is smaller,
Lacy is definitely BIGGER.
34 weeks.