Zucchini!

Lately, Annie's been making fresh baby food for Madeline. This includes such staples as potatoes, blueberries and zucchini. (Sorry Wisconsin, no cheese just yet!) Madeline has been a good sport and tried all the new stuff her parents keep feeding her. Luckily for her parents, she's even enjoyed it, even the Zucchini!

36 weeks

Here is our baby at 36 weeks. Note that the baby is sucking its left thumb, then has one of its feet by its eye, then its right hand in a fist above the foot.

The baby is still in the Frank Breech position, so that means a C-section for us. Baby has also been getting some raging cases of hiccups lately, and even though Jon and I have explained that it would have fewer hiccups if it just turned upside down, baby is not in the mood to flip.

I wonder if the baby will sleep like this once its born. And, when cuddling into the "fetal position" will our child stick its feet in its face?

Baby weighs 6 lbs and 5 ounces, so its very much on track even though the baby will be making an early arrival.

Here is what's going on developmentally, according to babycenter. com:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) (or in Baby Ladewig's case, 6lbs, 5 oz) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.)

Hi Baby!

Here's a look at Baby Ladewig from Thursday. Everything looked great, and the baby passed all the tests with flying colors. I got to see a big hiccup session as well.

Book Reviews

Now that pregnancy is almost over, I wanted to share the books I read and how they helped me.



Easy Labor, suprisingly enough, is not a work of fiction. Written by an anesthesiologist, this book discusses every single type of pain management and pain relief moms can use during labor. It gives input from doctors, nurses, midwives and moms. Easy Labor provides an unbiased look at alternative and medical intervention for pain during labor.













What to Expect When You're Expecting gives a general overview of pregnancy in a question and answer format.

This book was a good source of medical facts and answered many general questions.











Knocked Up, by Rebecca Eckler, is a humorous account of Rebecca's pregnancy that reads like a novel. This book gave me a welcome respite from the facts and figures of some of the other pregnancy books. I read Knocked Up during my first trimester, when I needed a laugh more than I needed to read more medical jargon.


















Baby Bargains drills down and gives you the scoop on which baby gear is worth the extra money, and what you can skip altogether. I found it to be a great resource for choosing furniture, toys, car seats, breast pumps, and all the other things that were totally unfamiliar to me as a first-time parent. Jon and I got a kick out of seeing all the parents in Babies R Us clutching their copy and referencing the book when making a purchase.


















Written by a mother of four, The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy is a practical and humorous book about what's going on with baby, mom & dad's bodies and minds during pregnancy. It deals more with feelings and emotions than other pregnancy guides, discussing your husband's fears and telling moms-t0-be to check their vanity at the door for a while.





















Shopaholic & Baby, by Sophie Kinsella, is part of Kinsella's series about Becky Bloomwood, a Londoner with fabulous taste and a wee bit of a shopping compulsion. Becky's credit card bills and letters from the bank always make me feel better about myself.













Jenny McCarthy's Belly Laughs tells the story of Jenny's pregnancy. Jenny shares all the things nobody ever told her about pregnancy, and frankly, nobody ever told me, either. Jenny tells her story in her trademark gross-out style, but with pregancy as a backdrop, it doesn't have its usual shock-value. This book made me realize that motherhood means getting past my usual gross-out threshold.









Your Pregnancy Week By Week gives weekly updates on what's happenning with both baby and mom. The chapters are short and easy to understand. I also downloaded the audiobook to my iPod and listened to it during my commute.















Buff Moms-to-Be was great for me to use as an exercise guide during pregnancy. They should put a warning on the chest-press exercise that it shouldn't be done after the 7th month or so. I almost had to get help from the staff at the gym when I couldn't get up from the bench!

35 weeks: "Your baby is very uncooperative"

I thought I'd have at least a few years before I would get a bad behavior report.

At today's doctor's appointment, the baby was sitting on one of my veins during the biophysical profile, cutting off oxygen to my brain. I had to stop the exam and get water and ice packs twice. The baby wasn't moving much either, so we failed our first BPP. That meant a trip to the hospital for more monitoring.

I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, so I thought the baby could use some energy before we took the next test.

We drove through McDonald's for a quarter pounder and a Coke before heading to the hospital, and what do you know, we passed this test! The baby is still in breech and weighs 5 pounds, 12 ounces.

We are both doing fine and home safe and sound.

Here's what's going on at 35 weeks:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (or 5 3/4 pounds in our baby's case) (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Here is a picture from Friday's ultrasound. Everything was too eventful to get pictures today.

Boy or Girl?

There are just 12 days left to vote on whether Baby Ladewig will be a boy or a girl! We moved up the date, because Dr. Picco told me at my last appointment that I will either be induced or have a C-section between 38 & 39 weeks. We'll find out May 12 which one it will be, so stay tuned!

For those who like a little evidence to back up your predictions, here are some old wives' tales and what they would predict:


Carrying High, Carrying Low
The way you are carrying during your pregnancy is one of the most oft cited ways of determining the sex of your baby. The general story goes that, if you're carrying low, you're having a boy. If you are carrying high, then you must be having a girl.

I feel like I'm carrying to the right, since that's where the baby likes to hang out, with it's head under my right ribcage. I wonder what that means?

VERDICT: Baby is a Republican?

What Your Urine Says
This next test to determine a baby's sex may not be for everyone, although it is very simple. Just take a sample of your urine and mix it with Drano.


I'm not doing this one!

VERDICT: Baby is a Scientist?




Heartbeats
One belief that has been around for some time, and even had some acceptance in the medical community at one point, is that the fetal heartbeat differs for boys and girls. If you're having a girl, then the fetal heart rate will be above 140. A boy will have a heart rate below 140.

I get to hear baby's heartbeat 2x a week now, and sometimes it is above 140, and sometimes below. Last week it was 121, on Friday it was 153.


VERDICT: Baby is confused?

Craving Something…Sweet?
Many people believe that your cravings are caused by the sex of your baby. So, if you can't get enough chocolate, you could be having a girl. Does the idea of drinking straight lemon juice sound delicious to you? Then those sour cravings are a result of the little boy inside of you.

Who wants to drink straight lemon juice?

VERDICT: Girl

Weight Gain
The belief is that, if your husband puts on weight during your pregnancy, then you will be having a girl. If he doesn't put on a pound, then you're carrying a boy.

VERDICT: Girl

Is Her Face Round and Full?
Some say that the shape and fullness of your face during pregnancy can indicate your baby's sex. Every woman gains weight differently during pregnancy, and every woman experiences different skin changes. If people tell you that because your face is round and rosy you are having a girl.

My face isn't that full ...

VERDICT: Boy


Breasts
If the right one is larger, you're having a boy! A larger left breast indicates a girl!

Isn't everyone's different, depending on the dominant hand?

VERDICT: Girl


Keys
Pick up a key. If you've picked it up by the thinner end, you're having a girl. Picking it up by the bottom, rounder part means a boy is on the way. Did you pick it up by the middle? Then congratulations! You're having twins!

Who picks up keys by the thin part?

VERDICT: Boy


British Scientists
According to this recent study, how a mother eats affects the baby's gender. If you eat bananas and cereal for breakfast, you'll have a boy.

VERDICT: Boy

34 weeks

34 weeks according to babycenter.com:

The baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (actual weight from Friday's sonogram: 5lbs, 4 oz) (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 skin is also smoother than ever. 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.

Here is the baby's face with its hand in front of it:

33 Week Ultrasound

Today we had an ultrasound. The baby weighs 5 pounds and had a heart rate of 141 beats per minute. The baby was making a face with its mouth that made it look like it was talking. Still in breech position, playing with its feet.

Here is a close-up look at the baby's nose and lips.

33 weeks

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

The baby was very active today! I had some Oreos and the baby went nuts rolling, punching and kicking around. I'll have to remember that for my next ultrasound.

Mommy's friends held a baby shower this past weekend. We got lots of things the baby needs, and I saw some of my friends get really competitive about baby shower bingo!

The CRV was filled to the brim, now it's time to finally finish baby's room ... as soon as the air conditioning gets turned on ... it's hot in here!

31 weeks

It's been a busy week!

According to babycenter.com, this week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (actual weight according to sonogram: 3.75 pounds) and is heading into a growth spurt.He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Oh, boy is our baby on the move! This week, I felt the baby almost sit up, when it moved from the transverse position into the Frank Breech position. I can feel the head directly under my right ribcage.

Frank Breech means that the baby keeps its feet in front of its face.

This week I also went to meet baby's pediatrician. They had an orientation for expectant parents. Jon had class, so it was me and 4 couples. The pediatrician's office is really nice, they have 7 doctors, 16 RNs and LPNs, 3 pediatric phlebotomists, and a lactation consultant. It's also right in between my gym, the library, and a park. We prepared a list of questions beforehand, and

Baby Ladewig at 30 weeks

Today we had another ultrasound and biophysical profile of the baby. The baby weighs 3 lbs and 8 oz. So, it gained 3/4 of a pound this week. Let's remember there are 10 more t0 go! Jon came with me to this ultrasound. He asked if the sonographer would put some jelly on his belly and look around there, because he's gained some weight, although not as much as Mommy.

The OB's office has a new 4D sonogram machine so we could see the baby's face a little bit. Baby opened its mouth, picked its nose, then before we could get a good shot of the face, proceeded to stick its hands and feet in front of its face so we couldn't get a good shot.

Baby passed its biophysical profile with flying colors, so that's good news.

Baby Ladewig at 29 weeks

Here is Baby Ladewig at 29 weeks. The sonographer told me that its head is on my right and feet are on my left. This confirmed my suspicions that baby is sticking it's head out, and not mooning us, as had been suggested previously.

The picture is in profile, and baby appears to be sucking its thumb. Either that or yawning. Are we boring already?

My other favorite pose was when the baby decided to show us it could touch its toes to its forehead.

Baby weighs 2 lbs and 12 ounces.

20 week ultrasound pictures

2008 -- Expecting the Unexpected

Well, it's 2008 & time to come to terms with the fact that this is the year that our lives will really change. On or around June 7, we'll be joined by the littlest Ladewig, our first child. Being pregnant has already meant a lot of changes: no more alcohol, no more caffeine, and no more staying up past 10PM. It also means doing something I never thought I'd do: willingly posting unflattering pictures of myself on the Internet. But, due to many requests, I'll be doing just that and posting my "progress pics" right here. Jon suggested in the interest of equal time, I should post some unflattering pictures of him as well. Maybe I'll just include some stats on our belly race. I started with a waist 9 inches smaller than his. I'm now only 4 inches smaller, with a rounded belly slightly resembling a toddler's.