36 1/2 weeks

Hello,

As you can see from the pics, my "baby bump" continues to grow.

The doctor told me today that my cervix is still hard and closed...guess that means Rianna is not quite ready to make her grand appearance yet. I asked her if she could give me any idea of how big Rianna is now. I wasn't totally prepared for her answer. She says we are having a BIG baby. OH MAN!!!!! I wanna know how big! I weighed 8 lbs when I was born, Sal weighed 10lbs. Can you believe that? And Sal was worried that the clothes I packed to bring Rianna home in would be too big....they just may be too small! I guess we will have to wait until April 21st to find out for sure.

I'm feeling pretty good. At this point I'm being seen by my doctor once a week. Maybe next week she'll tell me that I'm starting to dilate. I'll let you all know.

Thanks to all of you that have been calling and e-mailing to find out how I'm feeling. It's so nice to have such a great support group. I hope you all will come to visit Rianna once she arrives.

Check back next week. (=

34 Weeks Down and only 6 More to Go!!!

Rianna now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is probably almost 18 inches long from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. Her central nervous system is still maturing, but her lungs are well developed now. That's great news in case she decides to come early.....hopefully she doesn't. Thanks to her recent weight gain, she's losing that wrinkled alien look. Most of Rianna's bones are hardening now, but her skull is still quite pliable. She already has finger nails, toe nails and even eye lashes!

Should Rianna decide to come early, we are all ready. Thanks to friends, family and some very special co-workers that were more than generous at the two baby showers that were thrown in little Rianna’s honor. Attached are a few shower pictures. Unfortunately I don’t have many as there were at least 5 different cameras snapping away. I will post some as I collect them. A very special thanks to Sandy, my sister-in-law. She threw the best baby shower for us. She had great helpers...Roxy, Maureen and Jennifer. They did a great job at making us feel very spoiled. My team at work threw the other shower for us...Liz, Jolene, Irma, Felicia, Melanie and Janet. A special thanks to you guys for giving Sal and I such a special party. I miss you gals!

Sal is still the only person to feel Rianna move. She does most of her dancing at night. And anytime someone places their hand on my tummy she stops moving. I think she’s gonna have her dad’s rascally habits! We all figured as much. We can’t wait to meet our little one. The anticipation of her arrival is killing us. Hopefully the next 6 weeks fly by.

My new favorite daytime television show is TLC’s “Bringing Home Baby”. It features new parents in the first 3 days of being home from the hospital with a brand new baby. It’s given me a pretty good idea of what we may experience. The biggest complaint parents seem to have is the lack of sleep, but that’s a given. No big deal. That’s why God invented Starbuck’s….right?

Jeffrey, my stepson just welcomed a new little sister into the world. His mother just gave birth to her fourth child. Soon he will be big brother to another little sister. Jeff’s mother was told by doctors that she was having a boy. So needless to say, they were quite shocked when a little girl popped out. Jeff has wisely advised us to have a boy’s name picked out…just in case. We are taking his advice. If you have any suggestions let us know.

Jeff won’t be here for the birth of his little sister, but will be home from college for the summer the following month. It will be so nice to have him around. He is a great big brother and I know he will be a big help to Sal and I. Heck, Jeff has WAY MORE baby experience than I do. He may teach me a thing or two. (=