Alexander, Declan, and Brendan: 33 Weeks

I'm thirty three weeks along now and the baby is growing! This week the baby is about 17 inches long and weighs a little over 4 pounds now. Babycenter.com says this is about the size of a pineapple. Both Mat and I got a little squemish at the thought of a prickly pineapple in my belly. Thebump.com also has a new fruit this week. They say it is about the size of a honeydew melon (much better!):

Photo Courtesy of thebump.com

Most of the baby's development has occurred by now. The lungs continue to mature and the baby continues to put on fat. He or she is gaining about a half a pound a week now! I have definitely felt it on my daily walks. It's getting harder to get up those hills now.

Matt and I had our childbirth class on Saturday. It was about what we expected. I am glad we decided to go if for no other reason than it gives us a good idea of what to expect. Matt did a lot better than I thought he would with all the videos etc. I think the class was especially beneficial to him as he learned some things he can do to help me. I know a lot of men feel very helpless in situations like labor and delivery.

On Sunday Matt and Rick worked some more on the nursery. We are almost at a point where Matt can clear out all the painting stuff and we can start moving in the furniture. He's been working on it everyday after work this week. Here is a picture of Matt from last night. You can see the paint color and some of the trim that he has been working on. It's really looking nice . . . mom is pleased!

We both got a bit of a reality check this past weekend. Mine was in the form of the childbirth class. It was very emotional for me to see all the videos of the babies being born and seeing the moms with the newborns. Also seeing the real life ones in the hospital nursery . . . I got a little choked up a few times realizing that in just a matter of weeks we will have this little baby in our arms. Matt's reality check came in the form of a shower gift. We received our first shower gift in the mail over the weekend (Thank you Beyrouty family!) It was an adorable little sleeper with ducks on it. I opened it up in front of Matt and laid it out to show him all the cute little pieces (the sleeper, a hat and little booties). Upon looking at the outfit, Matt said, "Woe! I mean, this (pointing to my belly) this is just a round belly - But THIS (pointing to the outfit) this is ducks!" At that moment it became very real to him that the round belly I am sporting contains a little body that will be clothed with ducks soon! It was really sweet!

We are looking forward to our first shower this Saturday. It's a family style shower where husbands, wives and kids are all invited. I'll be sure to post some pictures of that on next weeks post or possibly in a post of its own. We'll see.

On to this week's belly shots. When I stood next to the wall waiting for him to snap the first shot he said, "Hmmm, looks like Alfred Hitchcock." I can only assume he meant the fact that I am standing at a profile . . .