The countdown shortens

I went in for my 37 week check up and ultrasound this morning and got some good news...the countdown until baby Anna arrives has been shortened a bit!

My doctor did a few measurements during the ultrasound to estimate her weight, and the calculation came back around 8 pounds as of today. Technically I've still got a little under three weeks to go, so that would make her very close to 9 pounds (Jack's weight) if she was to come on or around her due date. Of course the ultrasound estimate can be off by half a pound, but either way, she should be a nice healthy size. My doctor even said she had chubby cheeks from the ultrasound picture, just like her brother! I'm not really sure how she could tell anything from that ultrasound image though...I could barely make anything out.

So we're looking at an induction date of Monday, November 3rd if she doesn't come on her own before then (and assuming the hospital has a free bed in the maternity ward that morning). Instead of 17 days, now we're looking at only 10!! Whohoo!

I've been procrastinating on getting my hospital bag packed, but this news is providing a much needed kick in the pants. Bob has joked around that I should at least be able to manage adding one item a day, but even that has been a struggle for me the last week. It just seemed like with Jack I brought way more than I really needed, since I spent most of the time in a hospital gown anyway. The one item I will not go with out (they were the first item in my bag) are my beloved Jolly Ranchers, which were a lifesaver when I had Jack and couldn't eat or drink anything. Hopefully I can have them at this hospital too! Anybody else have any favorite must-haves for the hospital?

Vickie's Voodoo worked!

I mentioned in my last post that a friend of mine tried a trick with my wrist that will supposedly tell you the sex of your child(ren). Well, after finding out this morning that we're having a girl for baby numero dos, I must say that "Vickie's Voodoo Trick" (surprisingly named by Vickie herself) seems to have some merit to it...at least in my case! I guess that still makes it very anecdotal, as with all the tricks to determine baby gender, but fun to try!

Anyway, the more this news has sunk in, the more excited I've become about it. For a long time I didn't have strong feelings either way about whether I wanted a girl or boy, but when I really started to think about it, I was quickly going to be outnumbered by three Looney men if this baby ended up as a boy. I already struggle enough now to get to see anything on television that ISN'T sports related between the hours of 5pm and 11pm, so it was really going to be tough once Jack and a little brother started vying for control as well. Phew, at least there is still hope for HGTV and occasional Weather Channel viewing (though I refuse to watch Abrams and Bettes...a subject for another post).

I was amazed at how many pictures the ultrasound tech took this morning. With Jack, we were in and out in about 10-15 minutes, but this one took about 30 minutes. Of course the only not so pleasant thing about an ultrasound is having to drink a bunch of water an hour before hand. The woman scheduling the appointment told me 32 ounces....HA! I maybe drank half that amount and was miserable. That's about as near to cruel and unusual punishment for a pregnant woman as you can get! Anyway, the baby looked great and we even got to see her with her hand up to her mouth, perhaps starting that thumb-sucking habit early on! She was very busy in there as well, which I think means my limit of calm children has been hit with Jack :)

My favorite response to this news was from a friend of ours in Austin who wrote Bob and I some notes now that he has a little daughter of his own:

"Note to Bob: That little girl will have you wrapped around her finger before you know it. Believe me...I know.

Note to Kate: When Bob says, "There is no need to buy yet another outfit for her," he is doing so because he doesn't understand that once she wears something once it can never be worn again due to the acidic qualities of female baby skin. At least that is what Erin tells me..."

I knew a clothing fund was a good idea to start now.....I wonder if Bob would believe me if I told him my skin never stopped being "acidic" as an excuse to shop for clothes?