One and a half weeks

Every day I say how far along I am at least twice a day. That means that being 35 weeks did not sneak up on me at all. And I always tell people that 37 weeks is considered full term and I don't really think I'll go all the way to 40 weeks, which is considered 'normal'. It's not like I didn't know that soon there would be a baby soon... But I guess it didn't hit me how close it all really was until Erika as she was leaving this weekend said something along the lines of 'just 2 weeks now!' and I was floored. We could have a baby, not early or something to worry about, but a perfectly healthy, happy baby in just two weeks. One and a half weeks now. Wow.

Baby Boy Basque only needs a very few things for his first few days, so we are making sure the list is completed this weekend:

1. Cradle - Cindy and Ken still have the cradle that Ken made for Alan. It's beautiful and they're sending that this week. So Baby Boy will have a place to sleep.
2. Car Seat - Alan is ordering it today and we'll go to the fire station this weekend to get it installed. They won't let Baby Boy leave the hospital if you don't have a car seat.
3. Diapers - We will go this weekend to get newborn diapers and the accouterments. We are going with cloth diapers.
4. Pack Hospital Bag - We've got to have a bag packed of snacks and other essentials like a tooth brush and socks! Who knows how long we'll stay, at least 2 days probably more.

One more really important thing we need before Baby Boy Basque makes his appearance:

A NAME! Unfortunately not too much progress on that front. Luckily we can decide when we see his cute little face in person! Though we might be so distracted counting fingers and toes that we won't get around to a name for a while.

Anything else we need for the first couple days that we're forgetting?

First time ever I saw your face

We had another round of ultrasound on Tuesday to check on the growth of the baby.  Once again, it was all good news - he's the right size and shape, and he's even flipped to be head down since the last ultrasound (which is how he should be at this point).  In some of the previous ultrasounds, the tech had a little trouble tracking him down inside Emily's belly.  Not this time though - it's ALL baby in there!

Profile view using 2D ultrasound... it's tough to get a good view of him this way anymore now that he's so big

The regular ultrasounds are nice, but next was the really cool part.  Since the tech was able to get through her checklist pretty quickly and the baby was lying in a cooperative position for a change, she decided to take a few minutes to use the 3D probe to try and get a real picture of the baby's face.  It turned out way better than I expected it to... so incredible to see his little face for the first time.

Check after the jump to get a sneak preview of Baby Boy Basque's handsome face!

Secretly Pregnant

She hides it well, doesn't she? :)

More Baby Facts

One of my favorite things about being pregnant is all the amazing things that are happening to my body and to the baby in such a short period of time. It just is astounding that there is a whole little person living inside me right now! He's about five pounds and is developed enough that he could be on the outside kicking his dad instead of on the inside kicking my bladder. It's better for him to stay tucked in my belly for the next 5 and a half weeks, but he's just putting the finishing touches on right now.

The Chicago Museum of Science has an interactive online exhibit where you can watch a video called Make Room for Baby that shows how the organs move and adjust in a mother's body for the baby. Definitely take a look - it's crazy how small the liver gets!

After the jump some cool facts about babies.

Stuffy Nose (Be Prepared for Complaints)

I'm finally getting over the first illness I've had during the pregnancy. On the surface it appeared to be a simple cold - but it was much more malevolent than that. My nose was so stuffy! I am not usually one to take anything when I am sick, but man I really wanted some NyQuil or Sudafed or _something_. Sleeping is hard enough with our huge baby wiggling around in my belly, but not being able to breathe adds a really not fun dimension to that.

I am certain that I got sick from standing in cold, dirty water all night Wednesday night and Saturday night. As a side note - Alan's post and pictures about Wednesday night's flood didn't quite convey the magnitude of water that was pouring from our ceiling. It was more water than the quantity of four showers and coming in anywhere within a 2 to 3 foot radius. We filled buckets in a minute and the sink couldn't keep up with the water we were dumping into it. Finally we just threw in the towel (forgive me) and made the levee in that picture Alan took.

These are the worst things about being sick this past week:

Breaking the fourth wall (5/3 - 5/12)

The reason the temperature and weather affected us so much this past week is because we're now getting to the point where they're tying in the new construction parts of the house into the existing original sections.  This means that areas that so far have been safe and untouched (the upstairs bathroom and the 1st floor living room in particular) are now starting to suffer some of the same violations that the master bedroom and kitchen already went through.

The start of the new second floor above the temp laundry room

Lots more pictures and details after the jump...

Well-deserved

It's not always as tough as this weekend has been.  This is a picture from earlier this month of Emily (and baby) enjoying some sunshine and quiet time, both of which have been far too rare lately.