Baby Shower #5!!!!/Doctor's Appointment

Blog Post by Kati:

My final baby shower was today and it was a blast! It was thrown by the girls in my small group from church and all of my Twin Cities childhood/elementary/high school/college/adult friends were able to come! There was 14 of us and it was so fun to have so many girlfriends all in one place celebrating Baby Goose! :) We had a delicious lunch, played a couple of great games, opened presents and chatted. Here are some pictures from the festivities:

All the girls:



Fun presents!



Thanks to Bethany, Jenna, Lara, and all my girls for the wonderful afternoon!!!! :)

My doctor's appointment yesterday went really well. There has been definite progress from last week as I am now 50% effaced AND 1 centimeter dilated! I don't really know exactly what all that means, but it is more than last week so I'm happy. My baby bump also measured in at 40 cm...and since I'm only 38 weeks that means she has grown a lot in the last week (fyi for those who don't know (ahem, my sisters)- your baby bump usually measures the same number in centimeters as how far along in weeks you are). So the doctor said to have the hospital bag packed and that it could be any time! It is kind of hard for me to believe that since I still haven't felt any fake contractions or anything, but we'll see! :) We're making a final shopping run tomorrow to get some things that we still need so we'll be able to pack that bag and have it ready! We've already had the baby's bag packed for like a week, so if I go into labor tonight, at least she'll be all set!

It's amazing how at this point little mundane tasks become challenges: putting on a seat belt (I need a LOT of extra belt!), trying to get out of a bathroom stall (the ones at work are really small...or I guess I'm just really that big), sitting in a chair (kind of a free-fall, not so graceful) and getting out of chairs (requires physical and mental energy, along with a good push from someone nearby), putting on socks (I need longer arms), typing things on my computer at work (again, I need longer arms), and finding clothes that fit (it is a bad sign when are MATERNITY clothes too small!).

I'm just so thankful I'm at this point and that the end is in sight!!!!! And that I have such great people around so willing to help. :)

Leek

Blog Post by Kati:

Week 38!!!!!

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)



Ahhhhh, another Friday! Another fast week!

Baby Goose has been very active this week...I'm looking forward to my doctor's appointment today to see if things are progressing along nicely. I think they must be since she dropped a little since the last appointment. We'll see!

I have my final shower tomorrow. It is being thrown by the girls in my small group with all of my girlfriends. I'm excited!!! :)

Have a great weekend everybody!

Tick Tock Tick Tock

Blog Post by Kati:

The waiting game is killer. I haven't been having contractions or anything (besides the fact that she is definitely moving lower), but just feel like I'm ready and should be done. :) Everyone feels so sorry for me as I slowly waddle around...

A couple more quotes from people:

5th grade boy: "What does it mean if your water breaks? Because on Alien vs. Predators the lady's water breaks and an alien came out."
Me: "Um..." and then promptly changed the subject.


1st grade girl seeing me in the hallway: "Are you PREGNANT?????"


Random lady at the gas station: "Congratulations, honey"


And my favorite- my sister Laura: "I had a dream baby Clara was born and you and Chris couldn't decide on her name - it was between "Twen" or "Southdale". I hated both choices"
(FYI, Clara is NOT the baby's name)

After the weekend of not sleeping well at all, I have slept a little better the past two nights. I think I was just so wiped out from not sleeping. I'm ready to be not sleeping well for a better reason than being in pain! :)

Tomorrow Chris and I are going to Let's Dish- a place in Highland where we will be putting together 4 different meals to freeze. Each meal will be 6 servings, so we'll have a lot of meals! It will be a fun activity to do together. After that I'm going to the Timberwolves game with my dad. Even though the Timberwolves are pretty bad this year, it will most likely be my last opportunity to go for a long time! As many of you know I was once a DIEHARD T-Wolves fan...back in the day when they were good. But they still have a small part of my heart and I enjoy going to the games- especially with my dad. :)

Kona continues to hang out in the baby's room. She is very interested in some of the baby toys that are in there. She is so cute! And she's going to be such a good big sister.

Getting close

Blog Post by Kati:

Close. So close. It is getting to the point now where when I see people who I see somewhat regularly, it is a definite possibility that I won't see them again until after Baby Goose arrives. So saying goodbye is always a little strange. I had a chiropractor appointment yesterday and as I was leaving she said "Next time I see you you'll be two independent people!" I love it! :) And it is so weird at the same time!

My doctor's appointment was long but good on Friday. My doctor checked the baby's heart rate with her little wand and was doing it for longer than normal. Then she said that she wanted to hook me up to the big baby heart rate monitor for awhile because the baby's heart rate seemed lower than what it should be. She told me not to worry but of course I was freaking out a little bit. The nurse rolled in this big machine thing that looked like it was from the '80s and put a couple of straps around my stomach. I was in charge of holding the sensor that picked up the heart beat and holding a button that I had to push every time I felt Baby Goose move. And then I just had to lay there and watch the little markers mark the heart rate paper and make sure the sensor stayed in the right spot and concentrate on if she moved or not so I could push the button all for 20 minutes or so. It was actually very cool because I could hear the heart beat and watch the movement on the heart rate paper that said where her heart rate was. It got to the point where I could almost predict when she was going to move because her heart rate would speed up a little and I could see it! Anyway, after a long 20 minutes my doctor came back, looked at the long heart rate monitor paper and declared that everything looked absolutely perfect. Whew! But I wasn't done yet- still had to go to the lab and get my blood drawn to test my hemoglobin. So I was at the doctor for over 2 hours, but am so thankful that everything is great!

I'm pretty sure that Baby Goose is dropping lower, slowly but surely. I feel more pressure on my bladder and in my hips and pelvic area. Sleeping is getting more painful and it is no longer comfortable to be on my back for any amount of time (I used to be able to lay there for a couple of minutes before switching sides and feel some relief, but no longer!). And I am now needing more mental and physical preparation to get up from chairs or do any other moving around that requires larger movements. All of this is a GREAT sign to me, because it tells me that she's staring her slow descent into the world. Come on out early, Baby Goose! We're ready for you! We can't wait to meet you! :)

Swiss Chard

Blog Post by Kati:

Week 37 Info:

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, her lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.



No idea what swiss chard is. :)

I can't believe I only have 2 more weeks of work before Baby Goose arrives! This week flew by so I can only imagine the next 2 weeks will do the same.

We have a pretty calm weekend ahead of us which will be nice. We can get a lot done. Come on, nesting instinct!!!! :)

Have a great weekend everybody!

Nursery

Blog Post by Kati:

As Chris mentioned in his post, the nursery is pretty much done! Here is the before picture (remember it was a total JUNK room!):And here are the after pictures:

The crib showcases my aunt Jenny's awesome quilt, and the beautiful rocking chair we got from my aunt Margie and Grammy:
The changing table and the giant teddy bear from my aunt Coco and uncle Jim:And of course the Baby Goose showcase:
I think the room turned out pretty cute and it feels great to have it ready to go for Baby Goose!

Here are a couple of comments I have gotten the past 2 days:

"Do you have a ball in there?" (3rd grader seeing me outside in my coat)

"Any day now, huh?" (Stranger at a store)

And I also get a lot of pity looks as I waddle around. :) But I still feel really good- much better than I expected to feel at this point. It is just getting a little more painful to sleep so I switch positions a lot, but it takes a lot of effort to do that. Which for some reason for me requires some grunting and groaning. :)

Been A Long Time / Updates

Blog Post By Chris:

Boy I have not posted for a long time. It has been a pretty crazy time for work. The Thanksgiving weekend brings the busy shopping time of the year, and I am required to work a lot during that time. So needless to say I haven't had much time to post. I haven't heard many comments about Vikings updates, but they are now 10-1. I think them doing so well this season causes me to be more nervous every game.

I also have not given a lunch buddy update for awhile. There really has not been much to talk about, or at least nothing funny that he has said. However, he always seems to forget that I am married to Mrs. Gosselin, every single week. Ah wait there was a story. Last week when I went in for lunch buddy duty Alejandro and I decided to play checkers. Usually we just set up dominoes and knock them down, and that seems to keep him entertained. Well last week he didn't want to do that, he wanted to play checkers. I had not played checkers in a long time, and had a vague memory of the rules ( I know, there are not that many rules). So that led to a made up game with checkers pieces. Needless to say, Alejandro ended up winning the made up game. I hope he never plays checkers against someone who knows what they are doing, because I definitely did not teach him the correct way.

As Kati has so kindly kept the post updated we have had plenty of showers, each being unique in it's own way. Our nursery is all done, most of the baby clothes have been washed, now we just need to wait for our little girl to be born. T-minus 24 Days!!! So since we are so close to the day I think it is okay to finally tell the name that we have decided. We are going to name her..... no just kidding, we still aren't telling.