Cute baby stuff

So we were at Ikea the other day looking at furniture (which we did not get) and we happened across baby gear that was too cute for Claire to pass on.  In this case, baby towels which are a cross between a towel and some kind of halloween outfit (a multifunctional purchase).  I can only assume that this first one is some kind of frog-creature, maybe a cross between a toucan, a frog and something with blue ears.  Still, very cute.  It's kind of a hood and cape design.

This second one is pretty clearly a rabbit, unless you unsnap its head.  Then it's just a white beast with paws.
-jeff

New pic...

Well, in all fairness, the last pic was 2 weeks old and I certainly feel bigger since then, even if it's not all that apparent in the pix! (or maybe it is?!)
I am currently trying to decide on a doula for the labor, and a pediatrician for baby once she arrives (have to have one before we send in the hospital form, and I need to send in that hospital form!) I'm being terribly indecisive, because, well, I tried to get referrals from the midwife, but most of hers are for OTP (outside the perimeter for you non-Atlantans), and I tried to get referrals from friends, but a some are lukewarm about where they take their kids, or they absolutely LOVE them and of course, those docs not accepting new patients. Well, at least in this case, we can always change our minds if the first doesn't work out.
The indecision about baby's name on the other hand...where she's stuck with it for life (unless she decides it's so awful she has to change it legally) is totally stumping me/us! (Jeff can speak for himself, but we certainly haven't picked anything for sure yet either.) Maybe we just have to meet her...
-Claire

More belly!

Claire felt like the last belly pic might not have done justice to the glorious rotundness that is THE BELLY so I snapped another pic of it last night.  :)

-jeff

33 weeks and couting

So I went to visit the midwife this morning (a different one this time...trying to meet them all in the next visits) and they did all the usual tests etc. All's good so far. I have to start going back in smaller intervals now--starting with 2 weeks from now and then apparently going to weekly until baby girl gets here. We also go for the hospital tour this weekend and may or may not have the third session of our childbirthing classes (we're doing it as a private lesson because of scheduling conflicts so it's flexible.)
Also, we went to hang out last night with our friends Nick, Angela and their adorable 6 mo old daughter, Samantha (their blog is here - you can see pictures!) Sam was really good as usual--she doesn't seem to get upset about anything. She shrieked a little at the end of dinner but they were enthusiastic shrieks, not upset ones. We talked about baby gear and what they have that they like and use etc. They also gave us another big bag of hand me down clothes so that's great! We're close to set with just those, I think (they gave us one other big bag of newborn sized stuff earlier on.)
So 7 weeks seems like a long time to me at the moment, but I'm sure it'll go by fast!
-Claire

It's a girl...we're sure this time

It was not ambiguous this time.  We're definitely having a little girl.  They estimated that she weighs about 4 lbs. 8 oz., though there's a pretty big margin of error on that.  She was really squirmy before and during the appointment, and at one point the tech even had to start over measuring the amniotic fluid because the baby was kicking so hard.  Like before, she was not at all cooperative in taking ultrasound pictures, but we did get a few cute ones.  In this first one, you can see her leg (the longer thing on the left) and she's holding her foot with her hand (the smaller thing on the right).  She was using the other leg to kick Claire at the time...

Here we have a nice profile shot.  Look at that cute baby face!

This last one is the best shot of her face the tech could get because she didn't want to move her hand.  Still, you can see the right side of her face (forehead, eye, nose) and that blob underneath her right cheek is an arm.

Birthday ideas

I know we haven't received many comments (though hopefully a few people are reading this...) but I figured I'd toss this out anyway.  Claire's birthday is Sep. 20th.  She's going to be the big 30.  Does anyone have any cool ideas for something a woman 9 months pregnant could do to celebrate three decades (aside from going into labor...to that end, I kind of already discarded the idea of a surprise party...)?  I have a few thoughts, but all suggestions are welcome.

-jeff

The obligatory belly pic

We haven't put one up yet, and since my phone now has a camera, I figured I might as well snap one for posterity.

-jeff

Yeah, happens all the time

Yeah, Jeff's right, I get it all the time. Apparently I'm even bigger than I feel! (is that possible!) The really demoralizing thing is that it's been happening for months now ("no, I'm NOT due next week--I've got 4 months left!"). And continues (the people at the bank today, too.) I wonder if it's just that any time anybody sees an obviously pregnant woman, they just assume that the baby's almost due? Or maybe it's just me (being short does not help things.)
Interestingly enough on the flip side of that, I had a few awkward encounters early on with acquaintances who didn't ask or mention anything, though I felt like I was already showing and pretty obvious. I understand that side of things though, you don't want to ask only to find out the person isn't preggers at all! Another friend of mine has THAT happen to her all the time...strangers asking if she's pregnant when she's not (and she's not a big person at all--it's very odd.)

Everyone seems to have a guess

Much like a woman's age or weight, it's probably a bad call to venture a guess as to how pregnant she is.  If you do feel compelled, just like age and weight guess low.  (And if you do guess wrong, don't compound your mistake by then making an incredulous face when she says she's got 2 more months to go than you thought she did).  I'm not sure I'd have thought about it much before, but it seems to happen to Claire a lot.

-jeff