As of today, Jackson is 35 weeks old and should weigh around 5.5 lbs. For those who are keeping track and have cast a vote on the poll, I'm hovering between a 14 and 15 lb. total weight gain at this point. Brian has been doing his best to boost my total gain by making brownies for me to eat. Saboteur. Meanwhile, Brian refuses to record how much sympathy weight he's gained, so I don't have any statistics to share there.
According to the websites and baby book, at 35 weeks Jackson's lungs should be fully developed, so if he were born today, he most likely wouldn't need to spend time in an incubator. At our last appointment, the doctor told us that his head was down, but not yet engaged, so he's moving in the right direction, but waiting for the right time to get into position.
He has been quite active lately, pushing on my left side to expand his living arrangements. My massage therapist, Rachel, has a theory that this is what is causing my hip pain -- I'm stretching my left side out to give Jackson more room, which is causing my right side to become pinched. It makes sense to me. Fortunately, lying on the heating pad for about 10 minutes each morning before I get out of bed has helped to eliminate the worst of the soreness.
Yesterday morning while I was trying to catch a snooze with my heating pad, Riley was trying to wake us up by walking on top of us. I moved suddenly and it startled him, so he jumped from my hip to my stomach before bounding over Brian out of the bed. This, of course, startled Jackson as well and the poor little guy got the hiccups. It was kind of funny actually, but a little disturbing. Needless to say, last night we decided to implement a closed door policy with the cats. We've been planning to start locking them out of our bedroom anyway so they'd be used to it by the time Jackson arrived, but Riley's accidental pounce on my tummy made the decision a little easier.
Last weekend, I finally managed to get most of my hospital bag packed. I've been vowing to do it since the beginning of the third trimester, but I just felt silly doing it so early. However, so many people I know have had their babies as early as 34 or 35 weeks that it seemed pretty important to get it done. I now feel prepared to throw the rest of my list in the suitcase and head out the door should the need arise.
Brian has been nesting a bit himself lately -- he has cleaned the basement, washed windows, sprayed for wasps outside, and has plans to sweep the garage and do some landscaping this weekend. I think it's fascinating that it isn't just expectant mothers who go through nesting phases, but fathers too. I'm all in favor of it because it means I get to enjoy sparkling windows and brownies.
Tomorrow, we have plans to see the high school dinner theater production of "Little Shop of Horrors." My friend Heather suggested today that we should really make sure that we go out to dinner and a movie as much as possible in the next month, and that I should leave my purse at home, because it will be the last time we'll be able to do that sort of thing for a while, or at least do it without being loaded down with diaper bags and Baby Bjorns. That seems like very good advice to me.
On Sunday, there is the shower at Grandma's place, thrown by my friend Kelly. I'm excited to see Kelly, whom I haven't seen since Christmas, and my friends from high school, Amy and Kami. It will also be great to see all the Beno women, most of whom I haven't seen since last fall at the family reunion, when I was about 6 weeks pregnant and too cautious to tell anyone yet. I love hearing everyones' birth stories right now, so times when women get together like this are so fun for me.
This was intended to be a very brief update on Jackson's development, and I see that I've blathered on for paragraphs. I didn't realize that I had quite so much to say at this point.
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