34 Weeks!

Well, we have had another eventful week getting ready for baby! Mommy got Kailyn's room completely cleaned, then Daddy went into the attic and got all of the baby stuff down. Then it was a disaster area again...then Mommy cleaned it again!! There are still a few small things to do like wash all of the bottles and pack the hospital bags, but we are getting closer to being ready for Kailyn everyday. We are getting so anxious to meet her :)

Here is what is going on with our little girl this week:
Kailyn now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) 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 central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that 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. Kailyn is trying to completely act as a newborn now and even starting to blink her eyes. She has immunity to fight against mild infections now. Her hair continues to grow and the fingernails and toe nails are completely developed.

As for Mommy, a new tiredness has set in. I am usually awake for at least an hour in the middle of the night almost every night, but some nights it is about 3 hours. It is hard to "rest" like everyone says to do when you can't even sleep through the night! But we are managing just fine. I think the never-ending to do list around her is not helping, just looking at it makes Mommy exhausted. Hopefully week 35 will hold lots of energy and time for Mommy and Daddy to mark some things off of it!

33 Weeks (Last Week)

So we officially have bedding for Kailyn's nursery!! We are still working on getting the more detailed stuff together. Mommy is being very picky and can not commit to any decorations...we have bought 2 mirrors and 3 lamps so far just to bring home and see which one looks the best :)

Here is a sneak peak of Kailyn's room:



Mommy has also been working hard to finish putting all of the sweet little clothes away in the dressers and hung up in the closet. Who knew girls came with so many accessories?! There are so many outfits that have pieces- a matching bloomer, headband, or hat. We have been able to fit all of the clothes up to size 3 months in the dressers and pack all of the rest away.


It has also been fun to get out some of the "girly" things Mommy has been buying lately. It is starting to look like a little girl's room. And we are loving the monogrammed items...seeing her little name in print is so much fun :)


So here is what Kailyn was up to during week 33:
This week Kailyn weighs a little over 4 pounds (about the size of a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's 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. Mommy will observe rhythmic movements of the baby. As she grows, there will be less fluid available, which makes the movements feel more frequent and vigorous. By now, the amniotic fluid is at its highest level. The amniotic fluid is very clear and there will be 2-6 cups of amniotic fluid at the time of child birth. Kailyn is taking intermittent deep breaths now, as she gets oxygen from the placenta.

As for Mommy, not many changes this week. The only thing that has been a little tough is sleep. It seems like every other night it is hard to get back to sleep after a middle of the night bathroom break. Laying there for 1-2 hours is getting exhausting and starting to catch up with Mommy!! Hopefully we can catch up on some rest sometime soon before Kailyn's arrival.

32 Weeks!

It is hard to believe that another week of this pregnancy has flown by! We have not made anymore progress towards preparing for her arrival this week. Mommy has washed all of the clothes and has organized them by size. All of the dresser drawers are full now and there is a stack of pretty little dresses waiting to be hung in the closet. The light for Kailyn's room came in yesterday, so Daddy got that put up and we love it!

Here is what Miss Kailyn is up to this week:

By now, she weighs about 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in Mommy's tummy. Mommy should be gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to the baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. 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.

Now, all the five senses of this little one are working. She can open her eyes and can focus her gaze on a fixed point. Kailyn has now developed sensitivity to the temperature, which means if you keep a hot pad on the belly, immediately you will get a swift kick. She can move her head to the side, but as she becomes larger, the movements will slowly decrease. And, according to research, she even has REM (dream sleep) which starts from the 8th month onwards.

Daddy made fun of this 32 week fact: "It is perfectly natural to feel increasingly tired, to have trouble breathing and also to not be able to move as fast as you used to till last week. You must keep in mind that the due day is close and the best idea you can have is to rest as much as you can." Mommy has been tired all the time for a while now, no new news to us :)

31 Weeks!

We had a great appointment with the OB/GYN this morning. Kailyn was super squirmy and very active. Her heartrate was 150, so she was wound up! It has been being in the 140's lately. Mommy's belly measured 30cm- it is supposed to be about the same as the number of weeks you are, so that is pretty close to 31.

Mommy is definitely trying to get into baby mode around here now that the holidays are over! We have lots of tubs of clothes handed down from Addison and Ella, so those are getting washed and organized by size little by little. The bedding should be finished soon, so we are waiting on that to get into the room before we start buying decorations. We ordered a white mini chandilier with pink lamp shades and hope that comes in the mail soon so that Daddy can hang it up. Then Mommy went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and bought supplies to make the hairbow holder. So progress is being made :)

Kailyn this week:
This week, she measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. Her fingernails have grown and she may even need a manicure after she's born. She's probably moving a lot, too, so Mommy may have trouble sleeping because her kicks and somersaults keep her up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that she is active and healthy. Also developing at an impressive clip: Kailyn's brain connections- she's got to make trillions of them. She's now processing information, tracking light, and perceiving signals from all five senses. She's also putting in longer stretches of sleep, which is why Mommy is probably noticing more defined patterns of wakefulness (movement) and rest (when she’s pretty still). Her lungs continue to mature. As her lungs become more developed, the chances of her surviving if born prematurely increase. Kailyn knows Mommy and Daddy's voice...and probably Big Brother Caleb's too! Singing to her, talking to her, and telling her all about the world she'll be joining soon is a great way for everyone to bond with Baby—and each other!