Another week gone by...

This weekend makes Week 33 for us! What do I always say?! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! :)

Here is the info I got in my emails this week…and as always, my comments are in italics.

Your baby is approximately 15 ¼ to 17 ¼ inches long and weighs between 4 ½ to 5 pounds.
Whoa! What a big boy he is getting to be!

Your baby’s skin is beginning to look less red and less wrinkled. Fat stores are continuing to be deposited under his skin. His bones are all beginning to harden except for the skull. The skull needs to remain soft and pliable for delivery.
As I said before, I can definitely tell he has bones now! They give him more powerful kicks and jabs!

In these last few weeks before delivery, billions of your baby's brain cells are helping him to learn about his environment. These cells help him to listen, feel, and even see. In fact, this is another important week for visual development. By now, your baby may now be able to experience his surroundings visually, since the pupils of his eye can now detect some light. His pupils are constricting and dilating to allow him to see dim shapes.
I just love info like this! Thinking back to when he was just a bunch of cells makes it extra amazing! Now, he is a little guy! :)

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As I mentioned before, Ray gave me a Pregnancy Countdown Clock for my birthday. It sits on the bookshelf that separates the kitchen and the dining room. Anyone in the kitchen can view it very easily. Ray and Mom are good at calling out the magic number it says every day or two. Them noticing and sounding excited makes me feel good. But for some reason, when they say the number, I cannot help but respond, “Yep…that’s a long time”. What’s really weird is that it is different when I notice the number on the clock myself! I get a little chill of excitement that runs from my head to my toes! That is followed by me thinking, “That’s soon! Time is flying! Do we have everything done?!” :)

Yesterday, the clock said 50. That is definitely a blog worthy number, but I never got around to it. This morning while fixing my toast, I saw 49! I told myself that I must blog about that number! FORTY NINE! Can you believe that?! Gees! That is a month and a half away…and if we don’t go to the day, it is probably closer to a month! I’m still nervous, and honestly, I don’t expect that feeling to go away. After all, the unknown is pretty scary! But at the same time, I’m SO excited! I want to meet our little guy! At this point, I feel like I know him as well as I can, considering I’ve never seen him or met him. But needless to say, the day he arrives will be the beginning of a lifelong journey. It will be fun to see how he looks like Ray and I and what personality traits he gets from each of us! But at the same time, I’m just as excited about getting to know HIM. I cannot wait to watch him learn, form his own opinions, show interest in different things, etc.

Speaking of only have a month to a month and a half left, I know it won’t be easy to get through. My tummy is so large. The look of it doesn’t bother me at all. But my big belly makes sleeping, getting dressed, etc pretty difficult. In a way, I feel handicapped. I guess you could say I am really. When I am standing, my tummy is so heavy. Sometimes, I even grab Ray’s hand, stick it under my bulge, and say, “Do you feel how heavy that is?!” And when I’m sitting, our little man fits so tightly between my chest and my thighs. When I start to feel real uncomfortable and decide it is time to reposition myself, I think about Baby Tse. He cannot be comfortable either. After all, the last time I went to the doctor, she told me his little head is already pointing down. So, I think of his head crammed into my thighs.











Doesn't that look uncomfortable?!

Last night, we went to Sam’s for a few things and then to Wal-Mart. As always, I had to go to the restroom several times, which I am used to. Something I’m not used to is how tiring such a little outing is. I thought it was bad a month or so ago. Well, it is more difficult now. Because all my innards have moved upward to make room for Baby Tse, breathing is harder. I get winded pretty easily. Used to, Ray and I could walk around Wal-Mart for hours. Last night, I was exhausted after 30 minutes. My full mid-section made my legs and back hurt.

We probably could’ve finished shopping sooner, but I move so much slower nowadays. I still try to keep up a pretty good pace so we can get what we need and get out. It is so very obvious that I’m pregnant now. Even little bitty kids check out my belly! It is cute! What I have found is that women are so thoughtless when it comes to pregnant women. Well, that is my experience. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been bumped without an “excuse me”, “pardon me”, or “I’m sorry”. They also turn down aisles on two wheels and do not offer to let me go. Instead, they cram their buggy between me and aisle to get where they are going. Men, on the other hand, are completely different. I cannot count the number of times a male has held the door open for me, given me a very friendly smile, etc. Last night in Wal-Mart, Ray cut across a main aisle, cutting a guy off. Neither Ray nor I saw him because we were coming out from behind a display. The guy slowed down to let him go but didn’t see me behind Ray. He slowly started pushing his buggy again when I walked out. I said, “Excuse me. I’m sorry. Go ahead”. He smiled and said, “No, go ahead. Please.”

And now that I think about it, I’ve had other experiences I can share about women vs. men. Women can be so selfish/sarcastic about pregnancy. One time, I had on a big comfortable Elmo shirt. The woman who was ringing me up said something about Elmo and my shirt in the form of a question. Since I wasn’t paying much attention to her, I smiled and said, “Yeah”. She said, “It is?” I was getting annoyed and said, “What now? I don’t know what you asked me, I guess”. She said, “Do you have Elmo inside your tummy?” I glared at her and gave her the most sarcastic “Yeah” possible. I think she was just old, hated her job, and was in need of a cigarette. But since she worked at Babies R Us, you’d think she could better suppress her stupidity.

Last weekend, Ray and I stayed at the Gaylord Texan. One of the things we did was go see ICE. While in line, the usher guy said, “How many in your party? 2 ½?” We smiled and Ray said, “Yeah!” He said, “When are you expecting?” I said, “February 17th!” He said, “Congratulations!” Then, when we went to breakfast the next morning, our waiter came to our table to get our drink order. He said, “Would you like a decaf, ma’am?” I said, “No thanks. Just a water please”. One of the times he came back to check on us, he gave a very genuine smile and said, “How far along are you?” I said, “8 months”. He said, “When are you due?” I said, “February 17th!” He smiled again and said, “Congratulations! My sister is due in March!” A little later, he came back to make sure everything was okay. He said, “Would you like some more juice?” I said, “It’s okay, I can get it”. After all, it was up on the breakfast bar. He said, “Are you sure? I don’t mind getting you some”. I said, “No, its okay. Thank you though”. See what I mean about caring men? That guy in Wal-Mart might have been a dad himself. Or maybe he has a wife who is also expecting. Who knows. But the other guys I talked about were young, about mine and Ray’s age, if not younger.

Number one, it is no secret that I’m not a girlie girl. I’m not into extreme beautifying, gossip, "tee-heeing" (as my Granny would say) and such as that. That just isn’t me. But at the same time, I do have some very good female friends and family who I enjoy to the core. They are great – fun, caring, thoughtful, etc. However, most women I encounter are just rude. It is almost as if they have this “been there, done that…big deal” type of attitude. They seem bitter. And I know I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say it again. The men in my life – my grandfather, my uncle, our male friends, Baby Tse’s grandfathers-to-be, and definitely Ray have been awesome too! They do everything from ask how I’m doing all the time to telling Ray he better take good care of me. In conclusion, our friends and family (male and female) have been wonderful! We’re so thankful for them all!

Pretty soon, everyone will have a little face to put together with a name - and it won't be Baby Tse! He has a real name! We are really looking forward to sharing it with everyone...and it won't be long now! :)

~T.T.