For Peyton, with all my love...

I knew that I didn't want to just leave this blog without an "ending"... but I just haven't been able to find the words. So instead I'm going to borrow the words of another bereaved mother that I found online.

We Wanted a Baby

By Judy Smith

We wanted a baby but had an angel.

We wanted to nurture, but instead were comforted.

We wanted to watch our baby grow, instead our child helped us grow and change.

We wanted to teach about life, but were taught how to be more compassionate,

understanding and thoughtful toward others.

We wanted love; instead we were shown what unconditional love is all about.

We wanted to hold our baby in our arms,

instead we hold him in our hearts.

We wanted to be a normal family;

instead we have an angel that has touched so many lives in an incredible way.

We wanted intense joy, instead we were taught to look at each beautiful moment

in our lives as a treasured gift,

the highs are higher- the lows are lower- each day and minute counts.

We wanted a baby, but instead we have

an angel to always guide and love us.

We wanted to be parents, and we are.

Countdown to Baby!

Well some of you may have heard through the grapevine and for some this all may be new... but Mark, Mango and I had quite the exciting week/weekend! I'm going to start the story with where we are now... comfortably resting and home and gearing up for baby! We had gone to the Dr. for a regular check-in and although baby looked great, my blood pressure was a bit higher than normal for me, so combined with some mention of swelling the Dr. wanted to run some labs to just be sure everything was on track. Well he was just as surprised as we were when the labs came back indicating that I may have preeclampsia. So what is that? A very complicated and very poorly researched complication that they believe you actually have from the moment of implantation but that doesn't show itself until later in pregnancy. So to cut a long story a bit shorter, the Dr. had us come back a few days later to check in again and my blood pressure had unfortunately gotten a bit worse, leading him to recommend a stay in the hospital just to be monitored and looked at a bit more closely over the weekend.
Mango and I spent the weekend in the hospital, with Mark there most of the time of course, and we got a visit from a specialist who deals with more "high risk" pregnancies at our Dr's recommendation to ensure that we covered our bases. He did an ultrasound and again everything looks great with baby and as far as preeclampsia goes mine is still classified as mild. So both Drs are very comfortable with me being home on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. We will check my blood pressure at home and visit the Dr. weekly to check in.
So where does the countdown come in?? Well... Mango is going to be coming out a little earlier than his due date! With preeclampsia there is no "cure" other than delivering the baby... and the further you carry the baby the more you are running the risk of further complications and therefore further interventions. So again, both Drs agree there is no reason to heighten that risk once we get baby full term, which is 37 weeks. So right now our goal is to keep him happily baking up until 37 weeks at which point we'll get to bring him home!
So like I said at the beginning, we're all home and happy and under the watchful eye of a very thorough and caring doctor. We're excited to have this time to focus our energy on getting ready for baby! Thanks for all your support and don't be worried, Mango much prefers excitement and happiness in preparation for his arrival rather than unnecessary concern!!

32 Weeks

How time flies when you are baking a baby! I'm having quite a bit of fun getting ready for the arrival of our little one! I spent just about all day Sunday getting all of his fabulous gifts (thanks everyone!) from the shower laundered and put away... I also got my first taste of what it's like to do laundry and clean all day and yet somehow all my clothes are still dirty and most of the house is still a disaster! I suppose that's a good thing to get used to right about now?

Today I'm going to meet a potential pediatrician, hopefully the only one I'll have to go meet given our schedules are pretty packed these days with work, bradley classes, meeting with our doula, prepping for baby... oh yea, and of course, not over doing it in my last trimester! So anyways, as Mom and Dad continue to prepare ourselves and our home for the new arrival, this is what he's up to in my belly:

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. In case you can't tell what this is, he is supposedly about the size of a large jicama:

Of course, I also had my photos with Katy last week which was super fun! We go to go walk around a really nice park by their house, and I even convinced Mark to be in a few with me. I haven't seen all of the photos just yet, but Katy was kind enough to get a few to me quickly so I could put them on the blog this week:

31 Weeks

Wow, 31 weeks, so exciting! Mark and I had a fabulous weekend, thank you so much to Sandy and Charlie for flying all the way out here to visit with us! We enjoyed our apple picking with his parents and made a super delicious apple pie with the apples. We also had a fun trip to the Wild Animal Park with Katy, Ben and family...and actually I have a few photos from that, but unfortunately didn't take them off the camera yet, woops! Then of course, my shower, which was fabulous! Thanks to Aunt Bonnie it was delicious as always and so nice to get to see everyone and celebrate little Mango! He also got lots of awesome presents, now Mark and I just have to actually set it all up and get his room ready for him!

Other than that, we have our first appointment with our new doctor (and the only doctor we'll have to go to for the rest of the pregnancy! yay!) on Friday. I've still been feeling really good, the fun of having him kicking around in there is far outweighing the little gripes that come along with feeling quite huge. :-) I'm also excited for this coming weekend, for Katy to take some maternity photos of me, so finally I'll have some cute ones to show as opposed to ones like this which are great for showing off my new double chin (haha!)

Here are Mango's "stats" for this week: This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy. Other than the comparison to the oranges, Mango is still compared to the same fruit size as last week, so no fruit picture this week.

30 Weeks!!

Wow, the time has flown by and suddenly I am 30 weeks pregnant! What an exciting week to celebrate too!! Mark's parents are coming in to town on Thursday and we have lots of fun things planned... Friday we're going to go out and go apple picking in Julian (yum!) and then out to dinner at the always delicious Stone Brewery with my parents. Not sure what we're up to Saturday just yet, but then Sunday is a big day for Mango...the baby shower!! I'm so excited to see everyone and celebrate our growing baby boy! Can you tell I'm excited for this weekend?

So now that I'm at 30 weeks I don't know if I have too much to report for myself... I am pleased to say it appears I have the feet swelling under control for now thanks to the suggestion of our Bradley teacher, that nettle leaf tea really seems to be helping! Other than that we're just trucking along, watching this belly grow and trying to adjust to the little aches and pains that come along with suddenly carrying a large squash in my belly.

So without further ado, here are Mango's THIRTY week "stats": Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision – which means he can only make out objects a few inches from his face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.) This week, he is the size of a:

For my photo this week you can tell I had another photographer than myself and my self timer, hehe... but I'm sure Katy would like me to let you know that this was with my camera and very spur of the moment, so clearly not up to her regular standards. :-) This was actually taken two days ago when we had our glorious spa day (thanks mom!) but it was so much better than my normal photos I had to use it even though it's a few days pre 30 weeks:

29 Weeks (whoops again!)

Oh dear, late again! Thank you to Eddie for reminding me today that I was a tad behind!! Always nice to know people are waiting for their Mango updates. :-) The DeGeorge family has had a busy week, we started our Bradley class on Tuesday night. It seems like it will be a pretty entertaining and informative class that should give us a lot of information from nutrition now all the way to after Mango is born. It's also nice to spend some time with other couples who are right where we are, including a few other mama's from my prenatal yoga class. In addition to starting our childbirth class, we've also been busy on the phones and internet doing some more research on birthing options. We had our latest appointment at our current Dr's office (all's well with Mango and mama!) and were informed one of the Drs is leaving the practice. Ultimately this just means we have a much greater chance of some random on call Dr. delivering Mango. We were never loving the idea of possibly getting a random Dr., but when the chances went up it seemed like a sign that maybe we should explore other options. So we are! We had a few ideas of our own and a few from Doula Rosie we're looking into, and overall we feel like it's a positive thing that will result in a more personalized birth experience!

So, lots going on around here, and of course Mango continues to grow, here are his "stats" this week: Your baby is growing rapidly now. This week he weighs about 2 1/2 pounds and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is getting bigger to accommodate his growing brain – which is busy developing billions of neurons. Every day, about 200 milligrams of calcium is deposited in your baby's skeleton, which is now hardening. With this rapid growth, it's no surprise that your baby's nutritional needs reach their peak during this trimester.
And some more proof of the ever growing Mango, my ever growing belly!!

Woops!!

I just realized that I forgot to post this week! So here's a slightly delayed 28 week post. We are continuing to get a kick out of my growing belly, still guessing at just how big it might get over the remaining 12 weeks! Our next check-up is next week and after that we go to the every 2 week appointments, starting to seem pretty close huh? We have finally decided on a name for our little guy which is pretty exciting, but now that it's so close, we're just going to let him tell you what it is after he's born. :-)

On a non-Mango related update, we have a pretty exciting weekend coming up. Can't believe it, but the Peanuts are turning 3!! Saturday we'll be at their hot air balloon themed birthday party which should be quite cute if I know my sister. Chris and Tara are coming down for the weekend too, so we're excited for that as well!

I don't think there's too much else to report this week, so here is the Mango update: By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels. He can open and close his eyes, which now sport lashes. This movement is more of a reflexive blink than a deliberate opening and closing, but it won't be long before he's batting those beauties at you. He is about the size of a: