In 27 days, I will finally be able to hold this precious baby. And I can. not. wait.
The heart rate was 136 this morning. That's the lowest it's ever been. Last week it was 146, and the week before that it was 152. The sonographer also commented that the baby was "practice breathing," which she said was a really good thing. But the whole point of this sonogram was to check the baby's weight. It's NOT a good thing when the sonographer tentatively asks what my other two children weighed. Mason was born on his due date at 40 weeks and weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce. He was 21 inches long. Hannah Kate was born at 39 weeks and weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces. She was also 21 inches long. That would be right about the time I am told that this baby currently weighs 6 pounds 9 ounces. That may not mean anything to you, but let me put it into perspective.
My sister-in-law reminded me today that Abbie weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces when she was born. So this baby already weighs more than Abbie did at her birth. At this point in my pregnancy, baby B is gaining about 1/2 pound a week. My section is scheduled four weeks from yesterday. So, if you do the math, the baby could potentially gain another two pounds by July 16. If you add that to the 6 pounds 9 ounces, that puts us at 8 pounds 9 ounces. As my doctor so encouragingly said, "Well, the good thing is that you have to have a section!" It's possible this baby could even top 9 pounds! Oh how I hope not!
So the whole point of the story is that baby B is very healthy but also very big. And let me just tell you. I'm feeling every bit of this 6 pounds 9 ounces! I am very well aware of fingers and toes and elbows and knees. I am very well aware of that little head, too. I'm thankful for every poke, every jab, every punch, every uncomfortable moment. I would be thankful if I could get some sleep, but I'll probably have to wait until after the baby is born for that. I know it sounds crazy. But I have a feeling I'll sleep more after the baby comes than I do now. It's not that I'm not tired. I'm plumb exhausted. But there is no comfortable position in which to sleep, and I spend more time rolling from side to side than I do actually sleeping. Last night I managed to sleep about four hours.
There is so much excitement, so much anticipation surrounding the arrival of this baby. Now that we have a date, it's become more of a reality in Mason's and Hannah Kate's worlds. They can understand July 16, understand how much longer that is. It is absolutely fascinating experiencing this pregnancy through their eyes.
They are constantly asking whether or not the baby is moving. It got to the point that, when I answered no, they would get worried that something was wrong. So now when they ask, if the baby isn't moving, I tell them the baby is sleeping. That seems to work much better. They've also had a lot of questions concerning how the baby is going to get out of my tummy. I just keep telling them that the doctor is going to help get the baby out. Mason referred to it as "when the baby pops out," but I had to stop that because Hannah Kate got upset when she likened the baby "popping" out to a balloon popping. During the past couple of weeks, Mason started asking how the baby eats. So I've been telling him that when I eat, that same food feeds the baby. This past Sunday when we were eating lunch, Mason asked me if the baby was moving or asleep. The baby wasn't moving at the time so I told him the baby was sleeping. That didn't go over so well because . . . how can the baby eat (after all, I was eating) if he is sleeping?! Hannah Kate is now more concerned about the "cream" that will be rubbed on the baby's eyes after the baby is born. We have a picture of her shortly after she was born with the antibiotic cream on her eyes. She is sleeping, of course. But she is also convinced that it somehow "hurt," and she doesn't want that to happen to the new baby.
Hannah Kate is in a much better place now that we got all of the baby clothes out of the attic, washed and folded them. She's no longer worried that the baby doesn't have any clothes to wear. Her only concern is that we have more girl clothes than boy clothes. I've explained to her several times that I loaned a lot of the boy clothes out so if we have a boy, and I get those clothes back, we will have plenty of boy clothes. We also pulled the cradle out of storage. I still need to clean it though. We bought a new swing. I absolutely hated the one I had with Mason, and it (accidentally) got broken during one of our moves. I loved the one I used with Hannah Kate, but I'd borrowed it from a friend in Mississippi and returned it to her when we moved back to Louisiana. The only other thing I need that I don't have is an infant carrier. Again, I hate the one I used with Mason and Hannah Kate so we decided to upgrade. I've picked out the one I want, and I think my friend and I are going baby shopping on Saturday so I'll get it then. Now all we need is baby. And a boy name.
I still think we're having a boy. But we don't have a boy name. Well, we have a list of three names. I guess you could say we have a list of only two names because Seth doesn't like one of my names, but I just can't take it off the list because, every time I think of this baby as a boy, I call him by name. Samuel. I just love that name. That was the first boy name I had picked out before finding out Hannah Kate was a girl. And I wanted to call him Sam. I just think that is so sweet. My husband, however, does not. He said that no child of his would be named Sam Bayham. Now. I have to admit. I hadn't put it together like that. But I don't care. I still love the name. Samuel. So it's still on the list. And that's what I call "him" lots of times.
And . . . just one more story . . . I can honestly tell you that cute and pregnant are not two words that you will find in the same sentence with my name right now. I'll refrain from sharing the words that would be more appropriate in the same sentence with my name right now. But I guess it just all depends on the eye of the beholder. My last blog post detailed some of last week's adventures at Vacation Bible School. I mentioned that I taught the kindergarten class a few days. Well, one of my kindergarteners told his older sister after the first day that his "teacher is having a baby, but she's still pretty hot." Now. When I heard that, I'm not sure if I was more embarrassed or more flattered. Regardless. He really could've been telling the truth. We had some problems with the air conditioner in that classroom the first day so by the end of the morning, I was very obviously hot. So maybe that's what he really meant.