Abby's Open House

Thanks to everyone who stopped by for Abby's first open house today. What a day!!! Fran, Theresa and Paul came by first, and had Abby to themselves for a while. Then Ben and Jackie visited for a few hours. Richie arrived when Ben and Jackie were still here, and then in came Nonni and Papa!

The late crew, who showed up just before 8:00 were Grammie and Gramps, Auntie Linda and Uncle Leo. We had a great time, and so did Abby.

Hope we can do that again soon!

Lots of love,

The Amatos

Single Digits...

Can you believe it? Just 8 days until our due date! She seems to be pretty comfy in my belly, so I am not sure if we should focus too much on the actual due date. Something tells me she could be a late arrival. But what do I know !?!

I have been feeling great. As much as I love being pregnant though (and I do), I can't WAIT to meet our little girl!

Thanks to my mom for the North Shore shower, Andy's mom for the South Shore shower, my boss Jen for our work shower, and Auntie Debbie and company for our surprise Kilinski shower at Grammies. We are ridiculously lucky and grateful, and are so blessed to have family and friends like you! The nursery is stuffed with the most adorable new clothes, furniture, and other baby necessities, and you've all made this a wonderful and happy (and stress-free) experience for us.

Lots of love!

Almost here...

2 weeks and 4 days left until our due date!

I just got back from the doctor's office and had a normal check-up. I go once a week now to make sure everything is normal. The baby's heartbeat is strong as usual and everything seems fine. I've been feeling well, just the occasional sharp pain in my uterus, but no complaints! She'll come out when she's good and ready:)

The baby is full term now! This means that if she arrives now, her lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb. She probably weighs over 7 pounds by now, but there is no way to know for sure.

Anyway, that's the latest!! Stay tuned!

35 Weeks Along & 35 Days To Go!

Today is a milestone for sure! I am 35 weeks along as of today, and I have 5 weeks, or 35 days, left until my due date.

Things are great. Andy and I are still putting together the nursery furniture, and we still have a long list of to-dos, but we're so excited for our baby girl so it's all worth it. I am feeling good and really just can't complain.

We still haven't picked a name (so many of you have been asking) but we promise to name her as soon as we see her. We just want to make sure it fits:) We won't bring her home as "Baby Girl Amato!"

At this point, a typical baby should measure over 18 inches long and should weigh 5 1/4 pounds (honeydew melon), but we know our little girl weighs more than that, since that's what she weighed almost 2 weeks ago! I would guess that she weighs just about 6 lbs.

Because she's so snug in my womb, she doesn't do somersaults anymore, but she is moving around and kicking like crazy. I can feel her movements all through the night, and all day at work. it's so hard to focus on anything but her! Her kidneys are fully developed and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — and she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight, and getting those chubby cheeks even chubbier:) They say she should gain about a half a pound per week!

All is well in baby land:)

Belly Picture!

This is a picture of me and my friend / coworker Regina, who is due on August 22, a month before me!! She is already home on maternity leave, gearing up for child birth. LUCKY GIRL!

Thought you'd all like to see a picture of our little girl!! This was taken on Thursday, August 6, at which time she weighed 5 lbs, 2 ounces. Look at how pudgy her face is!!!

I've angled the picture so she is upright. Her face is right in the middle of the picture. Her eyes are closed, and on the left side of the picture you can see that her right cheek is illuminated. I can't wait to kiss those pudgy cheeks!!!!!

This picture doesn't do justice what we got to see up on the screen during our ultrasound, but at least I can finally share a picture of her! :)

Baby Beats - We're Almost There

We had our final ultrasound on Thursday and found out that the placenta has finally moved enough out of the way that we can expect a normal delivery! We are very excited!!!

The best part is that we finally saw our baby girl's little, tiny pudgy face on the ultrasound screen! It's the first time she's moved her hands away so we can actually see her. We got a picture and I'll post it soon to the blog.

We went up to Maine right after the appointment to spend a nice few relaxing days with Denise and Stephen at their Old Orchard Beach condo. It was our last chance for a vacation before this all starts! It was a really nice time, but of course I left the ultrasound picture on their kitchen table, so it will be a couple of days before I can send it to you, since Denise had to put it in the mail to get it to me.

Anyway, all is well in pregnancy land. :) Just 44 days until our due date! :)