At 38 weeks pregnant:
At 39 weeks pregnant:
The final days of pregnancy were good ones! We tried to be patient but we were so eager to meet our little girl!
Mar15
Feb14
February 9, 2012 – 37 Weeks – Full Term!
At 37 weeks pregnant:
- Katie is VERY relaxed and enjoying her time at home preparing for baby Ellie
- Ellie weighs about 6 lbs and 10 ounces according the our latest doctor appointment and she has verrrrrry long legs!
- she is now considered FULL TERM : )
- she’s practicing, practicing, practicing — simulating breathing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, sucking on her thumb, blinking, and pivoting from side to side
- her head (which, by the way, is still growing) will, at birth, be the same size circumference as her hips, abdomen, and shoulders.
Gigi and Poppi (Katie’s parents) helped us put the finishing touches on the nursery and it looks great! Now, the car seat is installed, the diaper bag is packed and the nursery is ready! The only thing missing is a beautiful baby girl! We are trying to be patient but we are so eager to meet our little girl.
Here are some of the latest pictures of the nursery. Gigi made the curtains — she is so talented — and Aunt Patti gave us the beautiful white shelf to go under the mirror. Her closet is full of adorable clothes and shoes, too! Thank you everyone who has helped us along the way, we are so grateful to have all of you in our lives!
Feb14
February 2, 2012 – 36 Weeks!
At 36 weeks pregnant:
- Ellie weighs over 5 1/2 lbs according to our latest doctor’s appointment!
- she’s getting closer and closer to being able to breathe on her own
- her skin is getting smooth and soft and her gums are rigid
- her liver and kidneys are in working order
- her circulation and immune systems are good to go, too!
Katie’s doctor asked her to stop working 40 hours a week because her blood pressure was a little higher than normal. Katie tried to assure him that it was just her nerves from being at the doctor but he didn’t buy it… she was upset at first but has since decided to use the time off to get all of the last minutes things ready for baby Ellie. She has been cleaning, cooking, baking, organizing, playing with the dogs and most of all RELAXING! It’s actually been great — but she really misses everyone at work! We check her blood pressure twice a day and it’s been perfect so we think she just has a small case of ‘White Coat Syndrome’ : ) She’ll be enjoying the maternity massage that her sister Allie got her for Christmas this week so she’ll be even more relaxed!
Thank you to everyone who has checked in on Katie this week, she loves hearing from you all!
Feb14
January 26, 2012 – 35 Weeks! Another POPPING Shower!
At 35 weeks pregnant:
- Ellie weighs approximately 5 lbs and is about 20 inches long
- my uterus (where she continues to live) is now 1,000 times its original size!! Wow — the human body is amazing!
- her hearing is fully developed and she responds best to high-pitched noises
- she continues to accumulate fat at a rapid pace these days (2% fat at 20 weeks, 15% fat at 35 weeks and will continue to increase to 30% at 40 weeks) making her once skinny arms and legs quite plump and irresistibly, squeezably soft : )
- her brain continues to develop at an amazing rate but the skull remains soft — allowing for an easier exit through the birth canal in a just a few weeks
This weekend, Katie’s amazing friend of over 15 years — Meagan — along with several other great friends and Katie’s mom, Shari, threw Katie another unbelievable baby shower! It was such an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many wonderfully sweet people! We can’t thank you all enough for being so great to us and getting Ellie so many fabulous things! Dan especially loved everything saying “daddy’s girl!”
Enjoy the pictures below, though they don’t do any of the great treats justice — all of the food was SOOO good! Thanks again everyone! We love you all and we can’t wait for you to meet Ellie!!!
Feb14
January 19, 2012 – 34 Weeks – She’s About to POP!
At 34 weeks pregnant:
- Ellie weighs approximately 4.5 to 5 lbs and is about 19-20 inches long
- her tiny fingernails have probably reached the tips of her fingers by now — getting ready for that first postpartum manicure 🙂
- she continues to develop in preparation for life outside the womb
- she still has the hiccups at least once a day!
We're getting SOOOO excited to meet our little girl!
This weekend, Katie’s kind and generous friend/boss and co-workers threw her an amazing baby shower! See the pictures below : ) We are so grateful for all of the amazing people in our lives! They spoiled us with such amazing things for Ellie and the cutest clothes possible. Thank you everyone for being so sweet to us! Ellie is so lucky that all of you will be in her life : )
Jan19
January 12, 2012 – 33 Weeks!
At 33 weeks pregnant:
- Ellie weighs 4 pounds 3 ounces according to our last doctor’s appointment and is about 19 inches long!
- she’s keeping her eyes open while awake
- she is also starting to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing
- her bones are hardening
- she is going through (more) major brain development — that’s one smart baby!
- antibodies are being passed from mommy to baby as she continues to develop her own fetal immune system — which will come in handy once she’s outside the womb and fending off all sorts of germs.
- This week, Katie has started putting things (like the remote control) on her belly. We enjoy watching them move all over as Ellie rolls around inside!
We had some maternity pictures taken by an AMAZING local photographer, Jenn Tuttle! Check out her blog at: http://www.jenntuttle.com/?p=3671. The pictures capture the joy and excitement we feel about this pregnancy! We can’t wait for Jenn to take pictures of Ellie when she is here, too!
Jan8
January 5, 2012 – 32 Weeks – Happy New Year!
Happy New Year everyone! We hope you enjoyed bringing in 2012! We are looking forward to all that this new year will bring, especially the birth of our little girl, Ellie Sophia Best! We decided on her name a few months ago but haven’t yet posted it on the blog, so there ya go 🙂 Sophia is Katie’s grandmother’s middle name and we couldn’t think of a more amazing women to name our daughter after! We love you Grandma!!! Ellie is a name that Katie originally liked and slowly convinced Dan that he liked, too!
At 32 weeks pregnant:
- Ellie weighs over 4 pounds according to our last ultrasound measurement and is about 19 inches long!!
- she’s still practicing several skills to prepare her for her debut in the world, like swallowing, breathing, kicking and sucking
- she is accumulating more fat, making her skin is opaque
- she’s sleeping in cycles
- her digestive track is preparing for it’s first meal
- she is very active but as she becomes bigger, she’s getting a little cramped, making her movements feel different
- we love watching Katie’s whole belly move as she rolls around in there!
We have been working on her nursery for several months now. First, Katie’s mom Shari and Dan gave the trim and doors a fresh coat of paint. They took out the old (yucky) carpet and put in the beautiful wood floor!
Then, we got the furniture 🙂 Dan assembled everything and the put in place… Katie’s parents gave us the beautiful and very comfortable recliner and we LOVE it!
Katie’s mom (the official nursery decorator) found some really cute pink and brown bedding at Pottery Barn kids and a really soft pink rug!
Then, she put her hidden artistic ability to good use and painted these ADORABLE letters for the wall!
Aren’t they amazing??? She is the best and probably just a little excited for her first grandchild 🙂
Katie’s parents also helped us put in a great closet organizer to help keep all of the adorable little outfits organized.
We are still working on a few finishing touches, curtains (made by the fabulous Shari) and some pink candles but other than that, the nursery is pretty much set! Thank you to everyone who has helped us make this room ready for our little girl. It feels so warm and full of love ❤
Jan3
December 29, 2011 – 31 Weeks!
At 31 weeks pregnant:
- she weighs 3 pounds 6 ounces (according to the doctor at our appointment this week) and is about 18 inches long
- she’s going through major brain and nerve development
- her irises now react to light
- all five of her senses are in working order!
- her brain is working overtime these days, developing faster than ever
- she’s making faces, hiccupping (I feel her all the time!), swallowing, breathing, pedaling with little hands and feet along my uterine wall, and even sucking her thumb!
31 Weeks - thebump.com
31 Weeks - whattoexpect.com
We had an amazing Christmas! Here are a few pictures:
We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by those that you love! We are looking forward to so many good things in 2012!
Dec26
December 22, 2011 – 30 Weeks – Merry Christmas!
At 30 weeks pregnant:
Dan asked me to stand in front of the Christmas tree because my shirt blending into the wall! I thought it was perfect for our picture this week! 🙂
- she weighs about 3.5 pounds and is about 17 inches long — still growing!
- until now, the surface her brain was smooth — but now, her brain is taking on those characteristic grooves and indentations, which allow for an increased amount of brain tissue (a necessary change which will prepare her for life outside the womb)
- her bone marrow has taken over production of red blood cells (before, tissue groups and then the spleen took care of producing the blood cells)
- much of the lanugo — the soft, downy hair covering her body — is beginning to disappear now because both fat and the brain are regulating her temperature
30 Weeks - thebump.com
30 Weeks - whattoexpect.com
We are so happy that my sister Allie is home for Christmas! We attempted to get a 3D ultrasound of our little girl this week, but she was less than cooperative. She was facing my spine so the technician was unable to get any good 3D pictures. We were disappointed but we still got a DVD of the ultrasound (2D) and we are going back next week to try again. At least she is comfortable in there 🙂
Dec26
December 15, 2011 – 29 Weeks!
At 29 weeks pregnant:
- she weighs about 3 pounds and is about 16.5 inches long — but she’s still got a ways to go — can you believe she’ll almost triple in weight before birth???
- she’s getting a little cramped in there, since she’s growing so fast, which means I’m feeling a lot of jabs and kicks!!!
- she’s growing white fat deposits under her skin, and her energy is surging because of it
- I feel her hiccuping all the time 🙂
29 Weeks - whattoexpect.com
29 Weeks - thebump.com
We’re into our 5th week of Bradley classes and we have learned so much! This week we focused on the first stage of labor. It’s interesting to learn and we are feeling more excited and less anxious with all of the knowledge we have gained! Thank you Mandi! 🙂
We took a tour of our hospital and an infant massage class this week. Both were very informative and we were even able to pre-register for admission, one less thing to do once labor begins!
Dan & Katie Best 