Not much has changed since Monday, I am 4.5 cm dilated now, so a little more than Monday, and Natalie’s head is a bit lower (-2 station).  My doctor seems quite perplexed that I am not in labor yet!  I asked her to strip my membranes and she did– maybe something will happen tonight!  I’ve been sore and crampy ever since, so maybe that’s a good sign?  Looks like I will get my wish for a March baby, though, yay!  (Andy and I have been arguing over whether she would be born in his birthday month or mine!  Thank goodness it’s not a leap year.)

Last night we tried timing some contractions and they were 10 minutes apart for an hour, but then we got too sleepy.  They aren’t nearly strong enough to keep me awake.  Not much else to report!  We will keep you posted.

Here is what everyone’s been waiting for– our second (and more detailed) look at Natalie. We had our 3D/4D ultrasound today and got a few pics of her cute little face! Most of the time however, she had both hands covering her face and then started turning away from the camera. Maybe she was sleepy, she kept yawning! (It was fun to watch.) The doctor was kind enough to do the 3D for free for us since we didn’t get to see her face all that much though. 🙂 Natalie is head down now, too, so that’s good news.

I was just looking at my baby book and it turns out my parents did an ultrasound with me at this exact same time (1/17/1985, at about 31 weeks) and I weighed 5 pounds at that point– the exact same weight the doctor said Natalie was today! Cool coincidence.

Here are the pictures. Who do you think she looks like? I wish I had some of my baby pictures scanned onto the computer. I think she will look like me. Oh yeah, and she has hair, we just didn’t get a picture of it. It was visible on the 2D ultrasound.

From the outside:

On the inside:

ps-  I have a Myspace now so add me if you do too. 🙂

So, last night was the first of Natalie’s baby showers (to which she politely sent her mother so she could be in attendance). I came home for lunch this afternoon, and lo, the house is full of babythings. Now, we’ve had a lot of babystuff around the house for a while: the changing table on the bedroom wall next to the exersaucer, and she’s had more clothes than I do for quite a while. 😉 Now, though, we are surrounded on all sides by Natalie paraphernalia. There’s a 20′ clothesline strung around half the living room with outfits pinned up every several inches, new pillows, blankets, and baskets, and many bags of assorted babythings all around.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m nothing but thankful to have this stuff, and to the people who gave it to us. It’s just something of a unique feeling to see the house filling up with stuff for your first child, and I thought I’d mention it here. 🙂

(Natalie countdown: T-73 days and counting)

As requested… 🙂

Just after we found out, about 4 weeks along:

And now….
4.5 months and 17 pounds (!!!) later:

My belly button has turned completely inside out, which is… different.  I don’t mind if people touch my belly but NOT my belly button, it feels too weird.

Natalie has been on a growth spurt this past week.  I can tell because:

1)  I have an insatiable appetite and the ability to eat huge amounts of food without getting full,

2)  I can feel Natalie moving around a lot stronger this week, including very distinct kicks and punches.

Last night Andy felt her kick for the first time!  So she really is getting bigger.  She should  weigh about a pound now.

  <--- Natalie love