37 Weeks = Full Term

Wow, the finish line is in sight.  As of today, our baby girl is considered "full term", even though we'd like her to stay in there for a few more weeks and get bigger and stronger.  She is probably about 19 inches long, which is the size of a head of swiss chard, and weighs roughly 6 1/3 pounds.  Her proportions are finally sounding like an actual baby, rather than just a fetus!  I am continuing to feel fine and sleep pretty well (thank God for the TempurPedic mattress!), so I don't have any major complaints.  This phase of pregnancy is still better than the nausea and rash I had earlier in the pregnancy.  Here are the belly photos - don't gasp!

We had our newborn care class on Monday, and it was really helpful to learn about diapering, bathing, feeding, soothing, sleeping, etc.  I also have had a few moments this week of being overwhelmed by the kindness of everybody as we get ready for the baby's arrival.  We received a surprise package from a childhood friend with an adorable hand-made bunny and a nice card wishing us well on Friday.  Then, on Saturday, I got spoiled with a pedicure by Matt's mom - the foot massage was heavenly!  Lastly, I had a baby shower at work on Wednesday, where they had a nice cake for me, and got us a gift card to Buttered Noodles, our favorite kid store!  Especially at a time when the anxiety about the unknowns of the next few months are creeping in, these kind gestures mean so much.

We also celebrated what would have been my grandfather's 86th birthday on Saturday with a family dinner at my sister's house.  It was a great evening, and we know Hank was there with us!

The big news for this week is that we've decided on a name for the baby.  Evelyn Rose!  The name Evelyn came to Matt while we were having our ultrasound at 18 weeks, and we searched for other names, but kept coming back to this one.  The name Rose has a lot of family connections for us - it was both my great-grandmother's name and Matt's great-grandmother's name.  Several people, including Matt's sister Kristine, have it for a middle name on that side of the family, as well.  Now begins the period when we only want to hear your opinions about the name if you have nice things to say!  :-)

I saw an interesting article about exercising during pregnancy this week, and it made me happy that I've continued to exercise as much as possible throughout the pregnancy.  Not only is it helping me feel better, but it's helping our baby have a strong and healthy heart!  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/exercising-for-two/

This coming weekend, Matt is hoping to finish staining the bookshelves for Evelyn's room, and we are planning to go get the car seats installed in our cars.  It's still hard to believe we'll need to be using them soon!