Strong Baby

I suppose the baby and I are a bit stronger after the 4.5 mile hike in Marin that we undertook with the family last weekend. I know, 4.5 miles is nothing, right? Try it when you're nine months pregnant, carting around an extra 35 pounds! Fortunately we were spared the killer walk up from the "Tourist Club"; unfortunately we missed out on the German beer and reward for our hard work as we arrived to the parking lot 15 min after closing. Will have to return in six weeks for Oktoberfest at which time Dad can carry his boy!

For more family photos from last weekend, click on the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/melissawilla1

37 Weeks

This week from Baby Center:

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Traffic Circles vs Traffic Lights

As a follow up to last weekend's conversation about the merits of traffic circles vs traffic lights, here is a story on Hans Monderman, a Dutch traffic engineer. Monderman eliminated all traffic control (stop signs, lights, etc) in the mid-sized city of Drachten; to great success. Here's the crux:

At the town center, in a crowded ­four-­way intersection called the Lawei­plein, Monderman removed not only the traffic lights but virtually every other traffic control. Instead of a space cluttered with poles, lights, “traffic islands,” and restrictive arrows, Monderman installed a radical kind of roundabout (a “squareabout,” in his words, because it really seemed more a town square than a traditional roundabout), marked only by a raised circle of grass in the middle, several fountains, and some very discreet indicators of the direction of traffic, which were required by ­law...

A year after the change, the results of this “extreme makeover” were striking: Not only had congestion decreased in the ­intersection—­buses spent less time waiting to get through, for ­example—­but there were half as many accidents, even though total car traffic was up by a third. Students from a local engineering college who studied the intersection reported that both drivers and, unusually, cyclists were using ­signals—­of the electronic or hand ­variety—­more often. They also found, in surveys, that residents, despite the measurable increase in safety, perceived the place to be more dangerous. This was music to Monderman’s ears. If they had not felt less secure, he said, he “would have changed it immediately.”

36 Weeks

The little guy is getting ready! The doctor confirmed this week that the babe's head is down, in position. Got to see a blurry sonogram picture for the first time in months... was rewarded with a wink from CJ! Feeling okay; walking and sleeping are becoming increasingly uncomfortable, but overall I feel fine. Mom and dad arrive on Friday for an extended weekend visit... guess we need to start calling them Gram and Gramps!

From BabyCenter this week:

Your pregnancy: 36 weeks

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

How your life's changing:

Now that your baby is taking up so much room, you may have trouble eating a normal-size meal. Smaller, more frequent meals are often easier to handle at this point. On the other hand, you may have less heartburn and have an easier time breathing when your baby starts to "drop" down into your pelvis. This process — called lightening — often happens a few weeks before labor if this is your first baby. (If you've given birth before, it probably won't happen before labor starts.) If your baby drops, you may also feel increased pressure in your lower abdomen, which may make walking increasingly uncomfortable, and you'll probably find that you have to pee even more frequently. If your baby is very low, you may feel lots of vaginal pressure and discomfort as well. Some women say it feels as though they're carrying a bowling ball between their legs!

Late Night Antics

Melissa and Colin woke me up for a hunt. At first I couldn't figure out why they were shoving my groggy face into the kitchen wall, but then I heard the scratching. Oh, the scratching... I almost squealed.

He was in the vent right behind the stove. So I set myself up on the kitchen counter (I never get to hang out on the counter when C&M are around) and got ready to pounce. But after about 10 minutes of waiting, I realized that the mouse was stuck. Like many mice in the neighboorhood, this one had probably gorged himself on one too many sustainable-organic-locally-farmed cupcakes. So I meowed to Melissa, "The mouse is trapped in the exhaust vent and will probably start decomposing there tomorrow" and started to make my way back to bed. But apparently she misheard me because the next thing I know she plops me back on the counter.

So I put up a show of it for another 10 minutes until I see that M&C aren't giving up. They seemed to think I should somehow drag the mouse out of the vent. At this point I'm getting pretty tired. So, I resort to a tried-and-true tactic - I start making a mess of the countertop. Next thing I know, I'm off the counter and on my way back to bed. What a night...

A Trip Downtown

Our fearless pregnant heroin today traveled to the gym and the Asian Art museum. All went well and the Ming exhibit at the museum was fantastic.

On the train ride to the museum, I had to elbow a couple of AARP members out of the way to secure the handicap section for her.

Garden Addition

With the help of my dad (Harry) we found some new plants to conceal some of the exterior supports of the deck.

The nursery where we bought the grass calls it "Eaton Canyon Grass" and charges $22/pot. Lowe's sells "Purple Fountain Grass" for $10/pot. Why are we such suckers?

Happy cat

I like being at Colin and Melissa's house because it is so quiet and peaceful. I can't imagine this ever changing!

Of Mice and Cats

I almost caught a mouse today. I was in the apricot tree. He was there too, eating the apricots. I smelled him. Then I saw him. But he got away.

I usually don't like going near the apricot tree at this time of year because all of the rotting apricots make it smell like the still behind old-man Chips's house. I really wish Colin and Melissa would get off their lazy asses and clean up the rotting fruit.