It's been quite a busy week on the baby front ...

[caption id="attachment_443" align="alignright" width="383" caption="later rearranged to spell "CAN RATS GO APE!""][/caption]

Sunday - My Boston gal pals threw me a lovely baby shower.� It was so awesome to have (most of) my best girlfriends in the same room at the same time, especially since many of them never cross paths.� We had a lot of fun eating yummy food (and rearranging some of it to spell funny things - "CAN RATS GO APE!"), "ooo"ing and "awww"ing at cute monkey outfits and stuffed polar bears (AKA "Buddy Bear"), and chatting about Baby Lump.� Thanks to everyone who came, and a special thanks to Kara who hosted the party and made tons of delicious, homemade food!� Mmm - spinach and artichoke dip ...

Monday - I had my 35th week doctor appointment, where I withstood a pleasant little group B strep screening, found out that according to the ultrasound Baby Lump is in the 40th percentile size-wise and also learned I've been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions unbeknownst to me.� For some reason - I guess I didn't pay close enough attention to this part during our natural childbirth class - I was under the impression that Braxton Hicks contractions were supposed to be discomforting or painful, when in reality, they don't have to be.� Apparently all those times I've called James over to "Feel how incredibly hard/tight my belly is!" I've actually been having Braxton Hicks contractions ... who knew?

Tuesday - James and I took a tour of the labor/delivery and postpartum floors at the hospital.� It was really comforting to familiarize ourselves with the hospital, and it was especially fun imagining how we would be back there again soon to meet Baby Lump! We keep joking that Baby Lump's ETA sounds sort of like a shipping date ("expected time of delivery - two to six weeks").� The coolest part about the tour, however, was when were strolling past the NICU and one of the nurses brought out a one month old, 4 lb. premature baby girl (of a set of triplets) who was getting ready to go home in the next couple of days.� Definitely the smallest being we've ever seen, and completely adorable.� But man - imagine having to spend one whole month without your newborn!� It made me very thankful that Baby Lump should be coming on time.

Oven Timer: 35 weeks, 4 days

Topics: Weekly Updates, Events, tour, baby shower, Braxton Hicks contractions, group B strep test, 35 weeks, premature

Well, I had my ultrasound on Monday after my doctor's concern that my belly was measuring slightly smaller than normal, and I'm happy to report that everything is A-okay with Baby Lump.� I guess I must just hide it well, huh?

[caption id="attachment_406" align="alignright" width="352" caption=""Congratulations Pamela!!""][/caption]

So Lump is estimated to currently weigh 5 pounds (though I think it's hilarious that there is apparently a 13 oz. margin of error when determining weight via ultrasound).� (Raising a glass of sparkling cider)� Here's to hoping he/she doesn't have some crazy ridiculous growth spurt in the next several weeks before birth!

What's also cool is the ultrasound technician was able to tell for sure that the baby's head is down, which means Baby Lump is starting to gear up for a (hopefully) smooth landing.� Apparently it's highly unlikely the baby's position will change at this point, so it looks as though I won't have to worry about Baby Lump being in a breech position.� Hurrah!

In other news, I wouldn't be surprised if Baby Lump gained a whole pound of weight from my cake consumption alone today.� My wonderful colleagues at the Office of New Media at BU threw me an awesome little baby party today, where they all wished me "Happy Baby!"� (Because, seriously, what else are you supposed to say at baby parties?)� Check out the cake they got me - definitely not a Cake Wreck, that's for sure!� Special thanks go to my boss, Pam, who made all of the arrangements for the little shindig.� I had a great time!

Check out the latest ultrasound pictures on the Sonograms page!

Oven Timer: 34 weeks, 2 days

Topics: Weekly Updates, Milestones, cake, ultrasound, baby position, baby party, presentation, 34 weeks, sonogram

Be prepared.� The Web site I'm about to share with you may either crack you up or creep you out, but I'm assuming more often than not it will be the latter.� For me, I think it does both.

So basically, there's this site called ManBabies.com.� It takes normal pictures of father-son interactions and superimposes their heads on each other's body.� Case in point:

[caption id="attachment_388" align="aligncenter" width="550" caption="ManBabies Pool Time"][/caption]

Creepy, right?� How about this one ...

[caption id="attachment_389" align="aligncenter" width="550" caption="Backpacking ManBabies"][/caption]

Pretty funny, I think.� Anyway, I'll let you decide for yourself.� My sister shared the site with me, and I definitely thought it was worthy enough to be featured on the blog.� Hey, it can't be any worse than the Baby Shower Cake Wrecks or the Martha Stewart Halloween costumes, can it?� I'm not gonna lie - if Baby Lump turns out to be a boy, I'm kind of looking forward to taking a picture of James and him and making a ManBaby picture out of it.� My new laptop is fully equipped with PhotoShop.� ;o)

In the interim, feel free to check out more ManBabies at ManBabies.com at your leisure.

As for Baby Lump, my last doctor appointment revealed that my baby bump is measuring slightly smaller than it should be for 33 weeks gestation (See, It's not just me being paranoid that I seem small!).� Based on my too-small belly, our doctor scheduled an ultrasound for this Monday.� A little worrisome to me, but on the bright side, we get more fetal baby pictures!

And there's no need for James and I to avert our eyes; apparently it's not possible for the untrained eye to tell the baby's sex, even this far along.� Another cool thing is we'll probably be able to find out the exact weight of Baby Lump, along with his/her position in the womb.� Hopefully his/her head is starting to point downward to make for an easy landing.

Oven Timer: 33 weeks, 2 days

Topics: Weekly Updates, Internet Fun, Bizarre, ManBabies, ultrasound, baby bump, baby presentation, 33 weeks, belly

[caption id="attachment_378" align="alignright" width="265" caption="Boy or Girl?"][/caption]

So James and I have successfully completed our natural childbirth class, and I am happy to report that I still plan on attempting the feat of childbirth sans medication.

Interestingly enough, one of the most memorable things about the class occurred when we were all re-introducing ourselves at the beginning of the second session.� This time our instructor, Sandy asked everyone to also reveal the sex of their babies-to-be.

First of all, James and I might just be the last couple on Earth who wants the sex of their baby to remain a surprise.� Okay, okay - I exaggerate, but it honestly seems like surprise-seekers like us are few and far between when it comes to the baby gender game these days.� Of the six other couples taking the class, we are the only ones who aren't aware of our baby's flavor.

Sandy actually ended up commending James and me at the end of class for wanting to keep Baby Lump's sex unknown.� She verbalized my exact thought process: There are very few true surprises in life, so you might as well take advantage of them when they come along.

The thing is, the lack of gender surprise among the couples isn't even the most shocking part.� The most shocking part is that of all six couples, not one of them is expecting a boy.� That's right - all six couples are having girls.� What are the chances?� (Math geeks, break out your calculators).� Now, I'm pretty sure this doesn't say squat about the odds of me having one gender over the other, but I am extremely interested to see whether Baby Lump conforms to the trend set in my childbirth class.� Interesting, huh?� Does this make anyone second-guess their birth stat projections?

Baby Lump's Week 32 Development:

Measurement/Weight: Baby Lump weighs about 5 lbs. and measures between 17 and 18 inches in length.

Other Highlights: At about this time, Baby Lump is running out of space and settling into the tucked, head-down fetal position.� He/she is also experiencing alternating periods of deep sleeping and being actively awake, much like a newborn does.

Oven Timer: 32 weeks, 3 days

Topics: Weekly Updates, gender, natural childbirth class, childbirth class, sex of baby