35 weeks, only 5 weeks to go!

How your baby's growing: Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

How your life's changing: Your uterus — which was entirely tucked away inside your pelvis when you conceived — now reaches up under your rib cage. If you could peek inside your womb, you'd see that there's more baby than amniotic fluid in there now. Your ballooning uterus is crowding your other internal organs, too, which is why you probably have to urinate more often and may be dealing with heartburn and other gastrointestinal distress. If you're not grappling with these annoyances, you're one of the lucky few.

From here on out, you'll start seeing your practitioner every week. Sometime between now and 37 weeks, she'll do a vaginal and rectal culture to check for bacteria called Group B streptococci (GBS). (Don't worry — the swab is the size of a regular cotton swab, and it won't hurt at all.) GBS is usually harmless in adults, but if you have it and pass it on to your baby during birth, it can cause serious complications, such as pneumonia, meningitis, or a blood infection. Because 10 to 30 percent of pregnant women have the bacteria and don't know it, it's vital to be screened. (The bacteria come and go on their own — that's why you weren't screened earlier in pregnancy.) If you're a GBS carrier, you'll get IV antibiotics during labor, which will greatly reduce your baby's risk of infection.

This is also a good time to create a birth plan. Using our form will help you focus on specifics — like who'll be present, what pain management techniques you want to try, and where you want your baby to stay after you deliver. It will give you a starting point to discuss your preferences with your medical team. Childbirth is unpredictable, and chances are you won't follow your plan to the letter, but thinking about your choices ahead of time — and sharing your preferences with your caregiver — should take some of the anxiety out of the process..

How I'm doing: I'm doing very well. It's very exciting to know that we're having a girl. We are very much ready to meet her now. We're feeling more pressure to have a name decided on now. We have a first name settled on so now we're just deciding what the middle name will be. We have 3 choices but we could still go with something completely different. We may wait until we see her to decide. And we're still not telling a soul. Surprisingly, I've been able to keep this a secret.

Our glider arrived at the baby store yesterday, so we'll be picking that up over the weekend and getting it set up. Scott really likes it and thinks it's really comfortable and I think he's going to try and take it over before the baby comes. If Tony were still with us I know he'd think it were his too.

I have one more biweekly appointment on April 1st and then I'll start seeing the midwives every week. They didn't mention the Group B strep test so that may or may not be happening at my next appointment. It's very important to me that I don't screen positive. If I do, I'll have to be hooked up to a continuous IV throughout labor which will mean a much less active labor and that in turn might make a medication-free birth more difficult. Many people say the worst position in labor is the one you've been in for the past 15 minutes so movement can be an important pain relief technique.

We have two remaining birth classes. I feel like we've learned a lot through this process and are well prepared for childbirth. I am not afraid at all even after watching many births on video and hearing many stories of difficult births. Learning more about birth, even talking about dealing with pain, makes me more excited to go through the process rather than scared. I think this will help me to relax; which I hope is the key to a less painful birthing process. But I'm not crazy and I still hope that I'm one of the luckier mothers who has less painful but still productive contractions, the baby moves into just the right position, and that her head isn't too big (although I hope all the DHA supplements I've been taking daily have helped her brain to develop well).

My last day of work is April 15th. Not too much longer to go.

27 weeks

How your baby's growing: This week your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14.4 inches long with his legs extended. He can now open and close his eyes, and he sleeps and wakes at regular intervals. He may suck his fingers, and although his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with assistance — if he were to be born prematurely. Chalk up any rhythmic movement you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and isn't bothersome to him, so enjoy the tickle. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. Wonder what he's thinking?

How your life's changing: Your body is gearing up for the final lap, so you may start noticing some new symptoms. Along with an aching back, for example, you may find that your leg muscles cramp up now and then. They're carrying extra weight, after all. They may also be aggravated by sluggish circulation and compressed nerves caused by your growing uterus. (As your uterus expands, it puts pressure on the blood vessels that return blood from your legs to your heart and on the nerves leading from your trunk to your legs.) Unfortunately, the cramps are likely to get worse as your pregnancy progresses. Leg cramps are more common at night but can also happen during the day. When a cramp strikes, stretching the calf muscle (by straightening your leg and then gently flexing your toes back toward your shins) should give you some relief. Walking for a few minutes or massaging your calf sometimes helps, too.

It may be the furthest thing from your mind right now, but it's not too soon to think about family planning. You'll want to have made some decisions before your baby arrives. In some states, if you're considering a tubal ligation during your hospital stay, laws require that you sign a consent form at least a month before delivery day. (You can still change your mind later.)

How I'm doing: I feel pretty lucky at the moment. I am still able to sleep well and even though I'm doing things slower, I don't really have any aches and pains to speak of. I really feel like yoga has helped with this. I have noticed a definite increase in flexibility and strength since I started attending regularly. Unfortunately, after this week I will be down to only attending once a week since our birth class is also on Thursday evenings. I have also been trying to go to the gym as much as possible too. Swimming still feels a little strange since I'm more buoyant than before. But I alternate swimming with riding the bike.

As I mentioned, our birthing class starts next week. We will be taking an 8-week Bradley birthing class which focuses on husband-coached natural childbirth. We are taking the class through Birth and Beyond which is a birthing and infant resource center in Santa Monica. Our midwives recommended the class and we'll be taking it along with a friend and her husband who are due about a month after us. We're very much looking forward to getting the ball rolling.

The baby is kicking quite strongly now. She can easily be felt from the outside it's just a matter of being in the right place and the right time to catch it. She's fond of kicking up a storm and then taking a nap as soon as her daddy tries to feel her move. He has felt her though. She kicks so strongly that you can easily see my stomach move, even through clothing. We've tried to catch this on tape but she's been uncooperative so far. She seems to be a feisty one. But she's only kicked me hard enough, or in the right location, to hurt once. Hopefully it will stay that way. She does like to stretch and pushes back when my pants push into my stomach when I'm sitting. She doesn't like my elastic waistbands I don't think.

Halfway there - 20 weeks!

How your baby's growing: Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom, and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, we use measurements taken from the top of the baby's head to her bottom — known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, we use measurements from head to toe. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against her torso during the first half of pregnancy and are very hard to measure.)

A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats her entire body to protect her skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. (This slick coating also eases the journey down the birth canal.)

Your baby is swallowing more, which is good practice for her digestive system. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that's the result of cell loss, digestive secretion, and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in her bowels, and you'll see it in her first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery).

How your life's changing: You've made it to the halfway mark — Congratulations! The top of your uterus is at the level of your belly button now, and you've likely gained about 10 pounds. Expect to gain an average of about another pound each week from now on. (If you started your pregnancy underweight, you may need to gain a bit more; if you were overweight, perhaps a bit less.) Make sure you're getting enough iron, a mineral that's used primarily to make hemoglobin (the part of your red blood cells that carries oxygen). During pregnancy, your body needs more iron for your developing baby and the placenta, and to keep up with your expanding blood volume. Iron-rich foods include lean red meat, poultry, fish, lentils and other legumes, spinach, and iron-fortified cereals.

If you haven't already signed up for a childbirth education class, you may want to look into one. Whether you're a first-timer or a pro, you can benefit from a structured class that helps prepare you for the rigors of labor and delivery. Most hospitals and birth centers offer classes, either as weekly meetings or as a single intensive, all-day session. Ask your doctor or midwife for a recommendation. At 37 weeks, you'll be considered full-term, so plan to be done with classes by then.

How I'm doing: Only two more days until the big appointment. We are very anxious to find out the sex of this little baby so we can stop referring to it as an "it". The baby moves around a lot. The movements are only strong enough so I can feel them when I'm still and not distracted by something else. Scott still hasn't been able to feel anything from the outside yet. It might be a couple more weeks. Sleeping is a little interesting already. I'm most comfortable sleeping on my side "bear hugging" a pillow. I think it provides some support for my belly.

We will be signing up for our birthing class shortly. Unless we decide something different based on our appointment on Tuesday with our midwife, we'll be signing up for a Bradley Method birth class at a place called Birth and Beyond in Santa Monica. Our 8-week class will be starting February 7th. This will put the ending date right around 37 weeks. It's pushing it a little bit but I'd rather have all the information fresh in my mind when I go into labor and we're pretty sure I won't go early.

It's Chanukah already. Tuesday night marked the start of the first night of Chanukah. It feels like it's barely fall but the holidays are already here. We are in San Diego this weekend celebrating Chanukah with Debi, Jim, Gary and Cat. We had a nice dinner, opened our gifts and played a couple of games of Scattergories. Other than that, it's just been a nice relaxing weekend. Only two more weeks of work until the long Christmas and New Year break which we're all really looking forward to. We'll be in Redding for about a week and then back to San Diego again to visit Bauby and Grandpa while they're in town from Chicago.