So I realize that every parent thinks their baby is the cutest ever, and that we are a bit biased, but come on, look at this guy! This is after his first bath last week:

We are so in love with Max, every little thing he does or expression he makes just melts our hearts. He will be three weeks old tomorrow. We had some challenges the first couple of weeks with feeding…Maxwell wasn’t getting enough to eat, lost too much weight, got jaundiced, and scared his Mom and Dad to death. We’ve had one trip to the ER, lots of time with the lactation specialists, and a few pediatrician visits. For about two weeks we did an exhausting routine every three hours that involved breastfeeding, then finger feeding with pumped milk in a syringe, then pumping said milk. Then try to sleep for an hour and a half and repeat. Max was more interested in sleeping than eating. Thankfully this song and dance did help him gain the weight he needed and he is looking much better. At our weight check at the pediatrician Monday he was up to 8 pounds 2 ounces! We have another weight check with lactation tomorrow and are hoping for more good news on the weight front. They okayed us to go to just breastfeeding at the end of last week, which was a huge help. We still set an alarm to get up for feeding during the night but the shorter routine means there’s more sleep in between.

Jeff’s parents were here for a visit two weekends ago and his mom was able to stay for all of last week, which was a HUGE help. She cooked, cleaned, and just generally took excellent care of us. My mom has also been invaluable, coming over and doing the aforementioned cooking and cleaning and whatever else we need. Of course both grandmothers also love every minute of baby time they can get! Max’s uncle Greg and cousin Elizabeth were here this past weekend. Max and Elizabeth are each other’s only first cousins, so it was very special to see them meet for the first time.

Even though I am really tired, this time with Max is wonderful beyond belief. We love him so much and I treasure every minute with him. Jeff is such an amazing dad and I love to see the two of them together. I know it is very hard for Jeff to leave each day and go to work. We wish he could be home with us but are very grateful that he works so hard to take such great care of us! In these crazy times we remember how lucky he is to have a job.

Here’s a couple more pictures, we’ll try to post more soon. Thank you to everyone for the warm welcome Maxwell has received! My apologies if you’ve emailed or called and it is taking me a while to get back to you…I really appreciate hearing from everyone!

My two favorite boys:

With Opa:

Our family:

After bathtime, with Greg and Elizabeth:

It’s hard to believe I am 39 weeks pregnant! We are very eager to meet our son. Any guesses as to when he will arrive? I was nearly two weeks late and Jeff was three weeks early, so I’m hoping maybe that averages out to an on-time arrival. I haven’t felt any Braxton-Hicks contractions yet, but it is possible to have them and not feel them, so I’m hoping that is the case. I’m still getting poked in the ribs and head-butted in the bladder, but am thankful to overall feel very good. The weather here has continued to be crazy, with several inches of snow falling last week, and some snow/rain mix on Sunday. Jeff and I may have tempted fate, because when we had all that snow in December, we were talking about how great it was that we wouldn’t have to worry about any of that when our baby’s due date rolled around. Thankfully the forecast is pretty much calling for rain for the next week, so hopefully the temperature will stay above freezing. I am most definitely ready for Spring!

I am so ready to see our boy! I can’t wait to have him here for us to hold, it is really amazing that there is actually a person inside me that we will soon be meeting. Thank you all for sharing in our excitement and our love for him!

Here is the 39 week belly:

It’s hard to believe we are at 38 weeks! Actually coming up on 39 since I am a little late in posting this. Baby Boy Moore is now the length of a leek! He weighs close to 7 pounds and is about 19 1/2 inches long, though we’re guessing maybe a little longer. At my last appointment the OB was feeling his position in there (still head down, thankfully) and she said “This feels like a long baby!” Wouldn’t be too surprising, with a mom who is 5 foott 10 and a dad who is 6 foot 3! We are just waiting now, I think my coworkers are curious each day to see if I show up, and whenever Jeff or I call friends or family, we usually begin the conversation with “No news” or “Keri’s not in labor.”  I am planning to work as long as I can, I figure if I am overdue, I might as well be impatient at work. Since a good chunk of my maternity leave will be unpaid, I want to get in as many work days as I can until he arrives.

I certainly look very pregnant at this point…the other day someone asked me if I was having twins! Um, no, just 9 months pregnant, thanks. It didn’t bother me really though, I think on the whole I’m a good size for being full term. Being tall has definitely helped, I don’t stick out as far since there is more room in there for him, and I haven’t had problems with feeling short of breath like a lot of women I know.

Here’s the official 38 week shot. I’m sure you’ll recognize the trusty black maternity pants, as one of two pairs of maternity work pants they are in heavy rotation:

On Sunday I staged a belly photo shoot, Jeff took some pictures of the baby belly, and then we used the self-timer to take a few of both of us. Here’s one:

We have reached 37 weeks, which is officially full term! It is definitely reassuring to know that The Boy can come any time now without major concern. Of course we ideally want him to stay in another couple weeks to finish cooking. He now weighs about 6 1/3 pounds and is about 19 inches long. For those of you following the produce comparisons, that’s about the length of a stalk of Swiss chard. I can tell he’s taking up a bit more room in there as I get poked in the ribs every so often. Overall I still feel really good, some back ache still but in general I really have felt great. The belly does get in the way sometimes, not being able to bend over like I used to took some getting used to. Some of my shoes are getting tight, so I have been wearing my tennis shoes a lot. They are very comfy but getting them tied is a bit of a challenge! Jeff and I took Infant CPR on Saturday…those are skills we hope we never have to use, but it was good to practice just in case.

37 week belly shot:

And one of Jeff and me, this is taken in front of our house, the area behind us is what you see from our front porch:

So I’m a little late on this week’s post, here we are closing in on 37 weeks but I’ll update you on 36. The baby is now the size of a Crenshaw melon….yeah, we weren’t too familiar with them either. We looked it up and it looks like a large canteloupe to me. He was still head down at the last doctor appointment, so we are hoping he stays that way! We had a great shower with the Visser family on Sunday. It was fun to see everyone and we got a lot of nice things. My brother-in-law, his girlfriend and her daughter came up for the shower. It was really nice of them to make the trip, especially since it meant driving north to Lynden on Sunday for the shower, and then driving back south, and south, and east across the mountains to get home. Jeff has been very busy with a big work project, and it looks like the busy-ness will continue, so he won’t get to take much time off when the baby arrives. Of course we would both like him to be home for a while, but at the same time in today’s economy we are very glad that he has a job! I have no doubt that he will spend every possible minute with our boy and they will form a very special bond from the beginning. My plan is to work as long as I can until the baby is born, and then I’ll return to work in July, but part-time.

My wonderful co-workers surprised me today with a work shower! They plotted to get me to lunch totally unsuspecting what was going on. We had some yummy Thai food, gifts, then back to the office for cake. We have had some stressful times at work over the past year with budget cutbacks and layoffs, and I was reminded again today how lucky I am to work with such great people.

I have nursery pictures to share this week! First, here I am at 36 weeks, in the nursery:

Jeff and me with our cake at the Visser family shower:

Some nursery pictures. I need to get one that shows all of the striped wall so you can see the great job done by Jeff and Greg. We still need some kind of curtains and to hang some things on the walls.

The caterpillar toy is one I had and loved:

It’s too bad he won’t have any books….

Well, here we are at 35 weeks, closing in on full term! Turns out that Jeff was just a week ahead on his produce prediction, as this week our boy is the same weight as a honeydew melon. That’s a shade over 5 pounds, if you don’t happen to know that off the top of your head. He’s about 18 inches long, and pretty much just putting on weight from here on out. His lungs will be fully mature at 37 weeks. He gets the hiccups about once every day or two, sometimes they are strong enough that you can see my belly move with each one. Jeff finished touching up the paint in the nursery yesterday and also finished painting the changing table, so once all that is dry, we can put the room together! I still need to figure out what to do for a window treatment in there. There is a blind on the window, but I want to add some type of curtains/valance/something else. Other than that though, we have all the major pieces, just need to put them in place!

Next weekend is our Visser family shower at my Grandma’s. It will be fun to see the family again, I’ve gotten a bit bigger since we were last there! This baby is so lucky to have such wonderful, loving relatives on all sides. He’s also part of a mini-baby boom on the Visser side, as two of my cousins will be having babies in the months after he arrives. This is only fitting, as I was one of four babies born in a single year on the Visser side.

The official 35 week photo:

I’m now just six weeks away from my due date! Starting with my appointment on Tuesday, I now have weekly doctor’s appointments from now until he is here. Some part of him is pushed up under my ribs on the left side. Thankfully it’s not uncomfortable, but I can definitely tell there’s something there if I take a deep breath. Our boy is now about 4.75 pounds, or about the weight of….a canteloupe! We always try to guess each week which item of produce he will be equal to; and this week Jeff guessed honeydew melon, which I think is close enough to count as correct.

My dad and Helen were here this weekend, and it was great to see them. The last time we saw them I was about 6 weeks pregnant, so I certainly look different this visit. Also, I am eating like a normal person rather than having bland carbs at every meal like I was on that trip. We realized driving back from the airport that we neglected to take any pictures, so unfortunately I have none to share. We had a great afternoon in Seattle yesterday, it was chilly but dry and the sun came out while we were walking around. We had dinner at Purple Cafe and Wine Bar downtown…if you ever get there, I highly recommend the sea salt caramels. Yum.

Here’s the 34 week shot, have a great week!

Jeff pointed out this morning that next month we will have a baby! Hard to believe I’ll be full term in just 7 weeks. The Boy is now about the same weight as a pineapple, or about four and a half pounds. He continues to move around in there, which is always great to feel. At my most recent appointment (Thursday), the doctor said he was head down and turned to the side, with his bottom on my left, one leg folded up and one leg straight out. Doesn’t sound very comfortable to me, but I know babies are always smushed in utero. Maybe he’ll be flexible like his mom. Thursday was also our tour of the childbirth center at Providence. It was nice to see the rooms and learn a little more about how everything works there.

Jeff’s brother Greg came out this weekend to help with painting the nursery, and it looks great! I’ll post pictures once it’s all finished. I am very grateful to both Jeff and Greg for executing my idea for stripes on one wall, which was very labor intensive for them, and not at all for me. Thanks wonderful husband and wonderful brother-in-law!

You may have heard about the earthquake we had here Friday morning. It was a 4.5 on the Richter scale, but occurred about 36 miles under the ocean, so it doesn’t seem to have caused any damage. Jeff and I didn’t feel it, I was still in bed and he was downstairs getting ready, but we both heard the wall rattle…though we didn’t figure out what caused it until hearing the news later that morning. That was the first quake for both of us.

Here’s the official 33 week picture!