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Brian and I have certainly been showered with love lately. My mom held a small baby shower for us with our old Ox Bow friends, who I have known since I was a little girl. Then my friend Melissa put together a fabulous party for a good number of our friends. Nicole organized games for the kids – who where plentiful – and Melissa’s husband Jeff was also very helpful.  This shower was at Brian’s business, and everyone was very impressed with the space – it’s quite professional but also made a good party setting. People also had huge compliments for Melissa’s food, which was delicious and sophisticated as always (see cake remains above, for example).

Below is a picture of the adorable sock-monkey-themed quilt that my mother made for El Jefe (click it for a bigger version so you can see all the monkeys):

Sock monkey quilt by Sherrie

Here’s a picture from when I was at 34 weeks (about 3 weeks ago). Only 10 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight if you can believe that!

Someone sent me a link to the below picture because my nickname for the fetus is el jefe, or “the boss” in Spanish. (The word is masculine, but of course we won’t know the gender until it’s born.) Ever since the first trimester, it’s been very clear to me who is in charge, and it ain’t me.

Speaking of which, el jefe is doing very well. Still squirming quite actively and has its tushy wedged in to my right side with its head down, which is a decent position for being born. Although I have stopped gaining weight (!) my uterus is still growing (rapidly) and so the midwives that take care of me are not concerned.  In fact, they may take steps to make sure I don’t go past my due date since gestational diabetes can cause the baby to get too big.

I know pictures are in demand, so here’s one of me and my sister-in-law. She is also pregnant and due only 2 weeks after me! Just goes to show what a little extra torso room (& standing at an angle) can do for you…

I have been fortunate in that everything about my pregnancy has been average and normal. Even my aches and pains are typical. Last month I went through a ritual every pregnant woman dreads – glucose screening. Basically this is a test to check your body’s response to sugar because pregnancy hormones can inhibit one’s ability to produce insulin, right when you need a lot of it. This leads to gestational diabetes in about 4% of pregnancies.

I just barely failed the first test, so I had to take another, longer test involving fasting overnight, drinking a sugar solution, and having my blood tested hourly (while I continued to fast) for three hours. This would be pretty unpleasant for anyone, but not eating while pregnant is no joke! I was mentally wrecked for the entire day.
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Here’s a better look at my belly, and at how we spent New Year’s Eve.

In case you haven’t seen me lately, things are definitely showing: