week 38

average size: 18.9 to 20.9 inches, 6.2 to 9.2 lbs.
what's going on with baby: "She may have about an inch or so of hair already. She's slowly shedding that white goo on her skin (called vernix caseosa) but you might see some of it at birth."



i thought i would make some cookies as a thank you for my midwife and nurses who will be taking care of me at the hospital during and after labor/delivery.

i know it's their job, and they get paid for it, but they work very hard and can have extremely long hours, so i thought homemade cookies would be a nice treat for them! plus, i could easily make them in advance and just freeze them until it's time to head out the door to go to the hospital.

we LOVE this recipe for chocolate chip cookies. like...LOVE love. the cookies turn out so soft and delicious on the inside with the tiniest bit of crispyness on the outside:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/soft-chocolate-chip-cookies-ii/

here's all the ingredients! oh, and i normally just use the normal size chocolate chips, but i had leftovers of regular and mini, so i just combined for this time instead of buying a new bag haha...i already had all the other ingredients, so i was good to go!

making the yummy dough...

pretty much wish i could just dive into this photo

and the 24 cookies are all rolled out and ready to be popped in the oven!

i follow the recipe's instructions exactly, baking for 9 minutes, but then i let them rest on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. i do not wait for the edges to start to brown before taking them out of the oven.

when they come out of the oven, they sometimes look like they could be a bit raw in the center still, but by the time they cool down, they are PERFECT.

and here they are all sealed up and ready for the freezer! i put a sheet of wax paper in between the 2 layers of cookies, and used our vacuum sealer to get almost all the air out of the ziplock bag. it worked better than i thought since it's not made to work with ziplock bags. i was able to fit 18 out of the 24 cookies in the bag, so i just chose the best looking ones.

see you again, cookies, when remi decides to make her appearance! i've never frozen cookies before, so i hope they stay okay. everything on the internet says they will (and my mom freezes different cookies every year for xmas), but i've never tried it before!

my appointment this past week with my midwife went well! she did another exam on me, and i was 1cm dilated and 40% effaced! progress! the exam the week before i had nothing! now, i can't get TOO excited because i could stay this way for 3 more weeks lol...checking how far i am isn't really all that helpful since things can go extremely slow, or extremely fast, however, something about it still makes me feel good. makes me feel like my body is doing something right! so it's still a smidge motivating. i just have to remind myself that if tomorrow i haven't progressed any further when she checks me, that that's okay!

we also had a breastfeeding class last wednesday. it was...alright. i knew everything already, so i'm glad it was free (offered by our county's government office). in my opinion, i won't TRULY know what i'm doing until she is here and i can practice since every baby is different, but i'm at least informed already on everything so i know some things/techniques going in.

on friday we met remi's pediatrician!!! i asked my midwife if she recommended anyone, and right next door to the midwives/OBGYNs, there is a pediatrician practice who is affiliated with our hospital! perfect! they have many satellite offices, and this was just one, so they only have 2 peds there and a nurse/lactation consultant, but this was EVERYTHING i wanted! so i made an appointment to meet with one of the peds to ask a few questions.

i LOVE her. omg...it could not have gone any better! in the waiting room they have a sick-child area and a well-child area (something i wanted to look for), and she answered all my questions with really in-depth responses. i wanted to find someone i love as much as the midwives i see, and she is perfect! so nice, and i love how it's a small office because the communication between doctors/nurses seems to be INCREDIBLE, and you know how i am with organization lol...so veeeeerry happy :) YAY! another check off the list, and i got to fill out more of the hospital pre-registration paperwork since we are definitely choosing her!

another week down, and another week closer to remi being in our arms! here is this week's bump photo!