So we've made it to 39 weeks and our baby is still happily baking inside of me. It seems that this baby girl is in no rush to join this world, much like her older sister! Natasha was born at exactly 41 weeks, and Matthew jokes that the reason her skin colour is a few shades darker than anyone else in our family, is because...well... she burned a little, having been baking an entire week past her due date! =) My last appointment on Thursday was pretty uneventful - my OB checked the baby's heartbeat and measured my belly; the nurse took my blood pressure and weight, both of which were normal. I am going again next Thursday, but secretly hoping I won't make it to my next appointment! Of course, only time will tell.

Here's a recent belly pic (38.5 weeks). This is pretty much as big as I'll get!

14 days to my due date... where did the time go?

There is a 'myth' our there which says that labour & delivery floors in hospitals are always completely full on Fridays when there is a full moon. And this 'myth' is not entirely a myth because there was actually a study done on this, and apparently many hospitals claim it's true, as do many L&D doctors and nurses. It has something to do with 'pulling' of the amniotic fluid, but I am not entirely sure. Anyway, yesterday was a Friday with a full moon, but I guess this myth did not work for us. I am still very much so pregnant without any labour signs or symptoms.

We've had our 3rd and final stroller delivered on Thursday afternoon from Sears. We got a convenience stroller for Natasha because I dislike the simple $30 umbrella strollers. They require me to walk with my back kind-of hunched over and it's not comfortable. So we got a stroller that folds just like an umbrella one, but it's much higher and sturdier - Graco® IPO Convenience Stroller. And today we took it out for a test-walk, and it's super comfortable! Natasha also didn't complain. Our living room is beginning to look a little like a garage with all the strollers, so we might fold one or two and put them into the closet. I have to give credit to Sears.ca for their awesome delivery windows - they allow you to pick a day and time-frame for their major products so you don't have to sit at home for an entire week waiting for your purchase to arrive. And their delivery charge is only about $12 which is very cheap, in my opinion.

My hospital bag is packed and ready to go. It's actually very difficult to pack a hospital bag because you never know what size clothing you'll wear only a few days postpartum. Some women go into their pre-pregnancy clothes right off, but for others it takes time to fit into those again. I took some of each. And I've also packed our baby's going-home outfit, which is the same one Natasha wore home, along with some newborn onesies, sleepers, socks, hats, and blankets. We're pretty much set, so now it all depends on the baby!

So I finally had my 37.5 week appointment and ultrasound today and was relieved to find out our baby is no longer breech!

The appointment itself was very brief - my regular ob/gyn that I see is on a 3-week vacation and so I had to see another ob/gyn from the same office. Well, the one who saw me today obviously doesn't know me, and although he had my personal file on-hand, had absolutely no idea I even needed an ultrasound. So he started the appointment off by tracking the baby's heartbeat with his doppler and then measuring my uterus. After that, he kind of started heading towards the door and I had to quickly stop him and enquire about our breech baby. Duh. So he realized what I was saying about the necessary ultrasound was really important and asked the nurse to wheel-in the mini-ultrasound machine. He then did a quick scan, and soon enough pointed his finger towards a "white halo" at the bottom of my belly and told me that's the baby's head. He said our baby is no longer breech! So that was an exciting ending to the otherwise dull appointment.

With that behind us, all we can do now is wait for something to 'start' within the next 2-3 weeks. Oh, the waiting, the waiting...

So I had this entry all typed up yesterday and then just before posting it, I pressed on something that deleted the entire post. In my rage I made Matthew disable the smilies feature of this blog because I think that's what caused it to happen. Anyway...

Matthew's 27th birthday is coming up on March 30th and I've been asking him for weeks now to give me some birthday present ideas. But it just wasn't happening because his usual reply was a plain, old "nothing". Well, that wasn't working for me. I then resorted to having him come up with an Amazon wishlist, which he did, but looking at it I realized I did not want to get him yet another book or another DVD because that's all he ever asks for. I wanted something else, and he wasn't helping me! Besides, even though I know he loves his books, we don't have a lot of room left for them in our overstuffed bookcase.

I did, however, notice him mention the all-new-and-amazing 32GB iPod Touch recently. He wasn't actually saying he wanted it, but he just kept bringing it up here and there, and saying how cooler it was than his own 2-year-old 4GB iPod Nano. So I finally asked him if maybe he wanted the iPod Touch for his birthday, to which he quickly brought up the cost and the fact that his Nano was still functioning properly. But even though he kept bringing up all the cons, he still kept talking about all the pros of this little device. So I made up my mind and told him he's getting iPod Touch.

Surprisingly, it didn't take any convincing. Haha. I knew he wanted it and the rest was just talk. So yesterday afternoon we went to the Apple Store, and before having any second thoughts, we purchased the iPod Touch. Needless to say, Matthew spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening playing with his cool new "toy".

But just for fun, I had to make him a tad guilty for making this purchase.... So I pointed out how the cost of the iPod Touch could have bought us 30 whole cans of baby formula! 30 cans! It totally worked, but he knew I was just kidding... "30 cans of formula" is the name Matthew gave his new birthday present.

Natasha's latest favourite activity (besides bathtime) is brushing her teeth! She thinks it's incredibly fun and amusing. Up until a few months ago, I used to use Gerber's finger toothbrush, but that had to end when she started biting my finger pretty hard. Of course she wasn't doing it intentionally, but we had to put a stop to it at the same time. She now has 16 teeth, I believe, so I went and bought her an actual child toothbrush and safe-to-swallow toothpaste. She wasn't too sure at first, but she quickly learned to love the brush and now demands I brush her teeth after almost every meal. I wonder if she'll still be so into it when she's 3???

Hmm... cool invention!

Let me try it...

I think I like that!

So I've been trying to get everything ready for our baby's arrival since we only have some 20+ days left. I think Matthew thinks it's a bit too early, but I figure that just because Natasha was a week overdue, doesn't mean that this baby will be as well. And realistically speaking, she could arrive any day now and I really don't want to be worrying about necessities at the last minute or worse, when she's already home. So I've been doing some organizing and ensuring she has all her clothes ready, a pack of newborn size diapers, bottles, pacifiers, and so on.

We ended up ordering a beautiful bassinet for her from Sears - Elfe Newborn Bassinet. With Natasha we used the bassinet part of a Graco pack-n-play, and as practical and useful as it was, it also took tons of room near our bed which made it very difficult to move around it. This bassinet takes a lot less room and has wheels so we could move into the living room if we needed to. Its' weight limit is 18lbs so I think the baby will be able to use it for at least few months. I've already filled the storage basket underneath with newborn diapers, burp clothes, and wipes.

We've also purchased a double stroller from Sears, which we refer to as "Natasha's Limousine".  It's actually pretty neat and has a huge storage basket underneath. The wheels are pretty large, it's lightweight, and can also be folded to fit into a trunk of a car (not that we have a car, but it's a neat feature). The front seat reclines in 2-positions, and the back in 4 positions, which is important so that a newborn can go from laying down to gradually sitting up. Graco DuoGliderTM LXI Stroller is the stroller we got. Natasha had fun trying it out, but she was slightly scared at first.

Oh, and just for fun - here's a comparison of a newborn size Pampers diaper, versus a size 4 one (Natasha's current size). Natasha loves her Pampers diapers because they have Elmo pictures on them, and at every diaper changes she points to them and goes, "Elvooooo!" (yep, she's working on the "m" sound).

We also need to purchase a separate stroller for Natasha to use during the spring and summer months, and we're considering the Graco IPO Convenience Stroller. We need to research more but it seems to be what we're looking for. So much to do - so little time!

*sigh*

I waited close to 17 weeks to have my 3rd-trimester Ultrasound done to see whether my low-laying placenta has moved up. Well, yesterday was the date of my scan, and the good news is that it has indeed moved up. It's now completely out of the danger zone and does not interfere with the baby's exit way whatsoever. If the placenta was still laying low, then I might have had to go through a scheduled c-section sometime towards the end of my pregnancy.

Well after hearing these relieving news, I went to see my OB in his office. He checked my Ultrasound report and confirmed the above once again, but then told me the baby has flipped. Yes, our little girl is now breech. How exciting, huh? Now, why would she be head-down all through the pregnancy and then flip upside-down sometime in the past two weeks??? I don't know. But this complicates things and might guarantee me a c-section once again.

My OB indicated they'll do another mini-scan at my next appointment (37.5 weeks) to see if the baby has flipped into the correct position or is still breech. If she's still breech, then I'll have to consider my two options. One is an external version where I'll be taken to the hospital and my OB will try to manually flip the baby from the outside. Honestly speaking, I am not even considering this. Manual versions are extremely risky and could potentially harm the baby. They also work in only 50% of the cases, and there is nothing to guarantee the baby won't flip right back. My OB also told me that in 5% of the cases, the baby goes into an extreme stress-mode during the version, which would result in me having an emergency c-section right there and then. Oh, and did I mention it's also extremely painful?

So with that being said, I am not considering the above at all. Which then brings me to my second option - the scheduled c-section. The c-section would be scheduled for either my due-date of April 5th or a 1-2 days afterwards. The reason being is that our little girl is happy and healthy, and my OB indicated there is simply no reason for her to be born before I hit 40 weeks. And if I go into labour before that date, then I will make my way to the hospital where another mini-scan will be performed. In the case that I'm still breech, they'll wheel me to the operating room, and if by some miracle the baby's head-down, then I will continue labouring normally.

So right now we're just waiting for my next appointment to check on the baby's position. Keep your fingers crossed she'll flip!