Baby boy names...

Jeff and I are open to hearing any boy names that you may like and are not planning on using in the future... here are the few names that we like: Mason, Alexander, and Ezekiel. open to suggestions!

Estimated due date: January 31, 2011
Countdown: 10 weeks
Gestational Age: 30/31 weeks Nov 22-Nov 28
Trimester: 3rd
The baby is as big as a: Butternut squash, 18in 3.1 lbs

My body:

Movin' on up, my uterus can now be felt four inches above my belly button. This means that my uterus is pushing all the internal organs, that used to be there, somewhere else. So my stomach feels like it's in my chest and my lungs feel like.... hmmmm... they don't even feel like they're there anymore... I guess that could explain why I've been short on air lately.

Indeed, in an effort to provide spacious-enough accommodations for my soon-to-be bouncing boy, my growing uterus has compressed my lungs, limiting their ability to fully expand when I take a breath and causing me to feel like I've just run a marathon when I've only climbed a flight of stairs. While this shortness of breath during pregnancy may feel very uncomfortable (at times), my baby is blissfully unaware and unaffected. My baby boy gets all the oxygen he needs through the placenta. So I'll try to relax and take a deep breath.

According to "What to Expect When You're Expecting" it says that, "that out-of-breath feeling may get better toward the end of my pregnancy, when my baby (and its uterine home) drops down into my pelvis in preparation for delivery.  Until then, I need to be sure to stand straight as I can (given the weight I'm carrying around) and sleep propped up or on my side so that my lungs have more space to... well, breathe."

My Baby
As far as growth goes, my baby's still on a roll, measuring an impressive 18 inches and weighing in at more than three pounds.  I can still expect my baby to gain at least three to five pounds, possibly more, before we meet.

My baby's brain is working overtime these days, developing faster than ever. Connections between individual nerve cells are growing at a frenetic clip, and he can now perceive information from ALL 5 senses.  Sure, he can't smell anything right now, but that's only because he is still submerged in amniotic fluid and needs to be breathing air to get a whiff of anything. Lucky for me -- and my baby -- I will be one of the very first scents my baby breathes in, a scent that will quickly becomes his very favorite (hopefully).

So what's my little boy doing all day while I'm busy feathering our nest for his arrival? Making faces, hiccupping, swallowing, breathing, pedaling with little hands and feet along my uterine wall, and even sucking his thumb.  In fact, some babies suck their thumbs so vigorously while in the womb that they're born with a callus on their thumb (what a sucker!)