38 weeks and the way has been blessed

On Sunday, Sage and Heather co-hosted my Blessingway at our place. If you're not familiar with Blessingways, they're traditional ceremonies intended to celebrate becoming a mother. Mine was a very intimate gathering with the most important women in my life (minus my mom, other sisters, and other best friends who are out of the area of course). The night before, Sage came over and made a cast of my belly:



We did a few rituals including a very luxurious foot-washing using warm water and essential oils. It felt wonderful, and we used the baby tub which was adorable. At the end, Heather decorated my belly with henna. As you can see, she's really talented!



Now, 4 days later, I'm still rocking it:



It felt so special to be honored that way, and it got me thinking. Making the transition to motherhood is really the biggest change in a woman's life and I am thankful to have had this rite of passage. I know it's going to be the biggest transition in my own life, by far. I've been through lots of changes through the years but none quite like this. I guess the difference is that through all previous changes I've remained pretty much the same person. But I know that motherhood will change everything. This pregnancy has given me a headstart to some extent and I am thankful that I've had 9 months to prepare myself...though in some ways I still feel ridiculously unprepared. Everyone assures me that caring for their newborn is more or less intiutive, and that you just do what you have to do until it starts to come naturally. I really hope that's true!

According to babycenter.com:

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Maternity Photo Shoot with Kelly M!

Last weekend we had a maternity photo session with the very talented Kelly M. She chose a gorgeous natural setting for us and I'm SO THRILLED with how the photos turned out. She even added us to her blog! I hope you enjoy these photos as much as we do:



Also, I'm 37 weeks! That means baby Zokay is now full-term, and should be just fine if she is born at this point. According to babycenter.com:

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, her lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Refinishing Popi's cradle

Before I was born, my dad (Popi) built me a beautiful wooden cradle with his own hands. My mom brought it down to us from Oregon when she came for Thanksgiving. It's always been a part of my life, and now it will be a part of our daughter's life too. After 31 years it was still in pretty good shape, but needed a bit of refinishing. Kailen and I sanded it down and added a couple of coats of new varnish this weekend. My mom made a new mattress and bumper out of pink flannel. I don't have a photo of the finished product, but trust me...it's lovely! Here are some photos we took while refinishing it:

Baby shower pics and 36 week update

I feel like such a slacker just now getting a chance to post about this! We had a great time at our California shower. Sarah was an awesome hostess (no surprise there - she's an awesome EVERYTHING!), and the onesie-painting station was a big hit. Yet again, we were really touched by the love and generosity everyone showed toward our little one. We now feel much more prepared for baby Zokay's arrival and are getting very excited to meet her! Here are some photos:

Here I am as of Thursday morning (36 weeks). Whoa belly!



And according to babycenter.com:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

Wondering what a crenshaw melon looks like? Well wonder no more:

You know your due date is quickly approaching when...

...the perishables you buy expire on the same day. Case in point:



I can only assume that bonus points are awarded if you already consumed said perishable over a week ago, and have now also consumed its replacement!

I realized that today marks another major pregnancy milestone: the one known in "the biz" as 35/35, meaning that you've reached the 35 week mark and have only 35 days to go! Holy crap, that's like, just over one month!!!

According to babycenter.com:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she'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, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Nursery area complete!

Last weekend my sister Sage came over and helped put all the leaves on the tree applique behind the crib. Kailen and I had gotten as far as the trunk and branches, but now spring has sprung! The Etsy seller even threw in a bunch of birdies and a couple of large owls, all for free! We put one birdie in the tree and still need to find homes for the rest. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our crib sheets match the tree perfectly, and all by accident. With the exception of a few minor details, it's done! What do you think of the finished product?







Also, last Saturday Sarah E. hosted a wonderful shower for us at her home in San Ramon. Sarah was my maid of honor, and I think of her as the older sister I got to choose. Her three sweet boys call me Auntie Zoe and we always joke about how confused they'll be the day that they find out we're not really related. We had a wonderful time. Once again, we were incredibly touched by the love our friends and family members already have for this little girl before she has even arrived. I'll be posting pictures very soon!

Here I am as of Thursday morning:



And according to babycenter.com:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

A jicama you say? I love jicamas!

I had an entire post devoted to jicamas all typed up and then realized...that was sooooo last week! I think that's a definite sign that the time is flying by way too quickly. Granted, I love jicamas so it wasn't a chore for me to sing their praises. Some cultures call them yam-beans...how odd! If I could make up a name for them that was a combination of two other edible things, it would be potato-apple. That just seems so much more fitting! But I digress...

Why all this talk about jicamas? Probably because I can't think of anything baby-related to talk about this week. Things are moving right along and as far as I can tell, all is well! I had "the talk" with work about my plans for maternity leave, and it went well. Unless my doctor suggests otherwise, I'll be reducing my hours to 3 days per week as of February 9, and then stop working completely as of February 23. Is it bad that I'm counting the days until then? Speaking of days, there are only 60 of them left until baby ZoKay arrives!

According to babycenter.com:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.



Here I am as of yesterday morning: