Week 35- The Final Countdown

Wow- it is hard to believe that I am already at the 35 week mark. I only have about a month to go until we get to meet little Cooper. It is still amazing to me how fast the past 9 months have flown by.

A lot of things have changed since the last time I wrote. My summer was officially over on August 17th and the new school year is now in full swing. I had the daunting task of changing classrooms this year and was a bit overwhelmed. Thanks to the help of my wonderful parents, friends and school custodians, I was able to get completely moved in. I was not used to not being able to lift things and really do as much as I would have liked to, so without their help I never would have been able to accomplish the monumental task of unpacking. Just ask my dad!

I really enjoyed the summer and getting to relax and just enjoy getting ready for Cooper. It was also nice to go back to school and get to see my fellow coworkers again and catch up with them. I have gotten many very sweet comments from my coworkers about my ever expanding belly. Thankfully it seems I am all baby. I really haven't seemed to gain weight anywhere else. Over the past few weeks my belly has just seemed to grow at an alarming rate. The maternity clothes I bought a few months ago that I thought were big enough to last me to the end are beginning to get a bit snug. Who knew.

The students at school are not used to seeing me pregnant so the comments I have received from them have been priceless. I had one little girl point to my stomach and ask,"What's that?" to which I told her that it was a baby. She got all excited and said, "A baby! I can't wait to see that!" Another little girl told me she hoped I was old enough to have a baby. (I'm still trying to figure that comment out.) Other kids just kind of stare at me and I even have a few in one of our special ed classes that start chanting "Baby" everytime they see me. Kids are too funny.

On another note, I went in today for my last ultrasound. They have been continuously checking the location of my placenta (which is too low) to see if it has moved to a higher location so that I can have a regular delivery instead of a C-section. At my last visit on August 4th it still had not moved completely away from my cervix. Amazingly enough, today the doctor felt that it had moved enough (we're speaking centimeters here) that he felt completely comfortable with letting me have a regular delivery. I have to say I was very surprised, but also very happy. I have had mixed feelings about the whole C-section versus regular delivery. I left it in God's hands, but do feel relieved that things seem to be as they should.

The ultrasound was incredible of course. It is always so amazing to see the baby up close. Cooper is up to about 6 pounds already! That puts him in the 69th percentile for weight so he is a bit of a chunker. He should gain about a half pound a week over the remaining duration of my pregnancy so he will probably be around 8 pounds at birth.

I will post the pictures from today's ultrasound and my previous one on August 4th as soon as I am able. You can really tell a difference in how he has filled out since my earlier visits. His face has really gotten chubby. Today, I could even see the hair on his head and of course, he stuck his tongue out at me. He is absolutely adorable (not that I am biased or anything!) and Ryan and I are looking forward to meeting the little guy that keeps poking me with his feet.=)