The Grays

Happy Father’s Day to ‘the dads’!

And a very special Happy almost-Father(s) Day to Bill.  You are an exemplary husband and I can’t wait to get to know you as DAD!

This past week my mom was in town for the baby shower and to spend time with me before the baby arrives (she got in on June 11th and left today).  It was sooooo nice to have her here – I haven’t seen her since Christmas!  She stayed with Bill and I and was a huge help in finishing the baby’s room.  She washed and ironed all of her new clothes, put new fabric in the dresser drawers, ironed the valences, set up the bed, and helped organize the closets and drawers.  I don’t know how I could ever have gotten it all done without her.  She has that special touch that only a mom has and it was so nice being able to spend time with her.  THANKS MOM!

Space is getting cramped in here, but I continue to put on weight and am gaining about an ounce every day.  I currently weigh almost 6 pounds – about the size of a crenshaw melon (un melón crenshaw) and am about 18 inches long.  I am shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covers my body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected my skin during the nine-month amniotic bath.  As I swallow these substances my body creates meconium, the blackish mixture that will form the contents of my first bowel movement.

My head is down and fixed in that position and I still favor the right side of mom’s uterus.  She continues to feel good but finds herself awake for an hour or so in the middle of the night a few times a week.  This week she will be packing hospital bags and making final preparations for my arrival!

Monday we celebrated Judy’s 58th birthday at our new home.  We invited the whole family over and it was nice to get everyone together to see our new place.  Of course we took our annual ‘Bill’s’ photo!

You can see in the second photo that Judy is getting pretty excited about the arrival of her first grandchild!

Last Sunday we celebrated the impending arrival of Baby Gray with a baby shower at Sue Daiza’s home.  It was so nice to have friends and family there to celebrate with and support me!  The food was wonderful (grilled chicken salad, fruit, scones, t.b.m. salad, and cake!) and the games were so much fun.  A special thanks to Sue Daiza, Karen Najarian, Aunt Terry and Aunt Martha for hosting the event.  Baby Gray got some beautiful things and I will never forget the event!

I captured one of those ‘feeling the belly’ moments while the moms were over to watch the Red Wings game.

Feeling the Belly

Our moms were pretty excited.

This week I am over 5 pounds and about 18 inches long, about the size of a honeydew melon (un melón). It’s crowded in here!    I’m no longer flipping around and am pretty comfortable hanging out on the right side of mom’s uterus, which now extends into her rib cage.  My kidneys are fully developed and my liver can process some waste products.  Most of my physical development is now complete — I’ll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Mom is feeling good – more prepared and confident about things now that the house is ready and she has had some down time.  I grew quite a bit this week and she has had several ‘incidents’ when she ran into things with her belly.  There is still more growing ahead!