The Keene Family

Today marks the day that we are officially past "pre-mature." If JT is born this week, he is considered "pre-term." His lungs are fully formed and waiting to breathe real air. The only thing happening now is gaining fat and immunity. These pictures are actually from week 36, but we had so many other pictures last week I decided to save it for this week. It could be my last one... or we could have another one at week 40! (To compare with week 32, click here .) Then I decided it would be funny to see all the pictures together at once. I'm at the point where I don't remember what my stomach used to look like... so the "little movie" below is the product of my time spent avoiding making dinner. Since stopping work last Friday, I have felt so good. I have had more opportunities to rest when I need to, and to exercise when I can. I've been sleeping better at night from the exercise, and then I feel better during the day. No complaints here. We'l...

This week was pretty busy. On Thursday, Jim and I spent the whole day together doing baby-prep. We started our day by taking maternity pictures. (Check out the cool copyright logo across them that I can't get rid of legally...) Then we went to Babies R Us and Target and bought most of the things we still needed. We actually ended up going to three Targets. It turns out the one in Redmond is the only store in the greater Puget Sound area to actually have the dresser in stock. We are still waiting for our car seat to come in at Babies R Us, but then we really will have everything. We also had a check-up. Our appointments are every week until my due date now. Everything looks just fine. I told my midwife that JT had been doing somersaults lately and that I couldn't tell where his head was anymore. She felt around and thought it was still down, but grabbed the ultrasound machine to double check. Sure enough, he's where he is supposed to be. Thank goodness! Today I had a nine...

What a lucky day for me! My department at work threw me a surprise baby shower. Friday afternoon, they all sneaked around decorating and bringing in cupcakes and gifts, lied to me about several things, and then got me to walk into our lounge to "help" someone so they could laugh at my reaction. It was so much fun! Even the men stuck around for games. :) This week, Jim and I went to a breastfeeding class at the Women's Center in Bellevue. Some of the information we had already recevied, but some of it was new. We even practiced different feeding holds with dolls and pillows.

This Sunday, I had my last baby shower at Grandma Hall's house in Seaside, hosted by Aunt Julie. Aunt Julie hosted my bridal shower for Jim's mom's family seven years ago; the picture on the left is from June 2001, and the picture on the right is from this weekend. It was a Harley-themed shower and soooo much fun. I started water aerobics again this month. It is wonderful. I sleep so much better those nights! We got a tour of the childbirth center at our hospital on Tuesday with our childbirth class. It was reassuring for everyone to know where to go and what everything would look like. I also had a check-up with my midwife, who measured my belly and declared everything right on schedule. We went over our birth plan at the appointment, too. This week my goal is to put everything from the shower away, finish my thank you notes, and get some sleep!

This weekend was busy! I had a family baby shower on Saturday with my mom's side, and another one on Sunday with friends. In between, my mom, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and I managed to get in some girl time: watching Juno and getting pedicures. I will be busy writing thank you notes this week for all of the thoughtful, useful, adorable presents we received. It's starting to get exciting!