We had our last visit to Dr. Grant's office today, which also means our last ultrasound. Fortunately, the baby was more cooperative today than she has been the past two weeks, and we got some decent pictures.

 

 

Today's ultrasound went just like all the others have for the past several weeks -- everything looks great, mom and baby are doing fine, and we're that much closer to the big day.

 

Only now, we're counting down to the big event in days, not weeks. We are expecting to go in for a C-section at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, though it's still possible she'll come early. In fact, two friends -- Carla and Laura -- are predicting Saturday. And everyone except me is hoping it's not Friday, Feb. 29. Personally, I think it would be kind of cool to be born on Leap Year Day, but I can understand why it would suck for a kid. Still, it's a unique way to lie about your age when you get past 29, and I guarantee they sing extra hard at Applebee's on Leap Year Day.

 

So at the very latest, we'll have the baby on Tuesday. There will be mass e-mailings, text messages, Facebook and MySpace postings, and eventually some YouTube coverage as well. This baby's first few days will be well documented by her geek dad and all his high-tech toys (thanks MU for buying the really expensive ones).

 

Speaking of YouTube, check back a little later for video of the baby moving. That's right -- Jenny is so ready to pop, we can see when she rolls over in the womb, when she stretches her limbs, and we can even see when she hiccups. We were able to capture some hiccups footage tonight, and Jenny was trying to get more footage while watching American Idol tonight. Maybe bad karaoke makes the baby move more? I dunno.

 

Can you tell she's a fan and I'm not?

If anyone has any doubts about Jenny's uterus, those have been answered. Last Tuesday, our baby was estimated to weigh 8 pounds, 5 ounces.

 

That puts her above the 90th percentile for size. That also means she'll likely outweigh both her mom (7 pounds, 11 ounces) and me (7 pounds, 13 ounces) in the birth-weight department. And lastly, it also means that all those cute 0-3 month outfits she has will be lucky to see one, maybe two, wearings.

 

But, compared to where we were at last summer, when we weren't sure if Jenny's bicorniate uterus would carry a baby to term, this is very welcome news. But, maybe not so much for my bride.

 

Jenny is getting over a bout of the flu, which you can read about here in my latest Missourian column. She's also ready to have this baby. She has felt contractions for the last few nights, but so far the baby seems content to ride out this last week in the womb. She's coming out next Tuesday (March 4) whether she likes it or not; that's the day we have a C-section scheduled.

 

Sorry for the lack of ultrasound photos, but the prints we received the last two weeks aren't very good, so I haven't posted them. But the news has been positive at those ultrasounds: fluids perfect, heartbeat perfect, etc. etc. Jenny has done a tremendous job taking care of herself and the baby for these 10 months.

 

Jenny has several doctor appointments tomorrow, including one with the OB, another with the prenatal care specialist, plus she's going to the neighborhood pharmacy to learn how to pump breast milk. Her last day of work is Friday; she goes back to work on May 1. My paternity leave starts April 28 and lasts until Memorial Day.

 

As for me, I've been busy with freelance work, clearing projects off my plate at the job and a few little household chores here and there. I've also really been addicted to The Sims recently, to the point it's kind of ridiculous. I really need to find a new hobby. Oh wait, I have one on the way.

 

And with that, I leave you with proof that Jimmy Kimmel is a comic god:

 

And let me throw Ron Paul's name in the first sentence, as I shamelessly try to tie in Super Tuesday search engine words to bring people to the ol' Shapin' Up blog (hey, remember when I use to write about health and fitness? Me neither.).

 

So why the attempt to bring more traffic? Well, today's ultrasound produced the most adorable photo, and I want the world to see it.

 

But before we get to that, here is today's vital stats: 35 weeks, everything looked great, although she did give her mom a case of the worries when she had to be "buzzed" a few times into moving (and by "buzzed," I mean they put a little buzzer to Jenn's belly to coax the baby out of sleeping and into wiggling around). Of course, this is after she spent all morning moving around while Jenny caught up on her beauty rest (yes, we're enjoying it while we still can). So really, no surprise she wasn't moving much after all that activity this morning.

 

And now, on to the best ultrasound picture yet. This is her actually looking at the camera. She seems to have quite a bit of hair too -- Jenny said she may even come out with a mullet. I guess that would be my karma for all the fun I made of Denise on Survivor last season. But c'mon, the mullet. Really?

 

Here's the baby. What do you think?