It's Growing...

Steve took pictures of the belly every week just in case we ever found anything interesting that could be done with them. Since we're STILL WAITING for Baby William to get here, I had plenty of time to create a movie with the pictures so you can see the development of the belly from start to finish. Unfortunately, several weeks of pictures were deleted from the camera so there is a big gap. Luckily, my belly didn't grow that much during that time, so hopefully you don't feel too deprived that they're missing. And if we're really lucky, this will be the last post before you will all get to see baby pictures.

I Passed!!!

That's right, California Bar results were finally released last night. Until about a week ago I had successfully put the Bar Exam out of my mind (no human could possibly survive for 4 months under that kind of suspense). There was one slip a couple of months ago. April and I were watching the movie Yes Man and to my horror I noticed that the airport scene was filmed at the Ontario Convention Center. It all came flooding back to me, but only for a moment. Then last week I started having the nightmares. In some I passed and in some I failed but in most I never got to find out. I was confident when I walked out of the exam in July. However, that confidence slowly drained to about 50% as of yesterday. But then at 6:00 PM it finally all seemed worth it.

8,667 people took the CA Bar last July with a 56.4% pass rate, putting me in the company of a very relieved 4,888. The pass rate for the California Bar usually falls between 30% and 60%. I expected it to break 60% this year because there were so many law students taking the test (law students do better than repeat takers).

If you really want to have fun you can take the very Bar Exam that I took (the California portion anyway) for yourself. The State Bar published it here. I can't think of a more fun-filled way to spend 12 hours.

We're Ready When You Are...

Thank you notes written...check

Baby supplies purchased...check

Stock up for the Apocalypse...check

"Nursery" set up and organized...check

Since we're staying in our 1-bedroom apartment until Steven gets a job, we weren't able to decorate an entire room for Liam, but his little "room" in the corner is all ready to go whenever he is! (which hopefully will be soon, the doctor says his head is engaged and he's ready). BTW, don't worry about the pillows and blankets; they are only there for the pictures and will be removed for safety when our little one arrives ANY DAY NOW.

Kicking the Habit

Today was my last day of Lovenox and asprin (for now).

My hematologist tested my blood levels on Friday and everything looks good. Since the baby is now full term could come at any time, both the hematologist and the OB think it's better to be off the blood thinners until after labor to prevent any possible issues with delivery. Unfortunately, I'm not completely off drugs, since I still have to take a pre-natal and a Folbic tablet (mega-dose of Folic acid + B12). But now my belly won't look like this anymore:

It's also nice to not have to get induced and have the option of an epidural. I did get pretty good at giving shots though, (you'd hate to see some of my earlier bruises, you'd think I'd been beaten or hit by a car) and my doctors all commented on the nice symmetry of the bruising. And it will be nice to let the bruises heal. Not that it I'm suddenly going to start wearing crop tops or bikinis during the next few weeks, but if is going to be massive anyway, it shouldn't also have to look like I've gotten in a fight with my fetus.

Step right up and submit your guesses for the great baby weight tournament*

We are accepting guesses for the birth weight of our first born. Who ever has the closest guess to the actual birth weight will win---the baby! No scratch that. The winner will get the next best thing which is mad respect from WAG (That’s what we’re calling the blog for short now, I know it’s missing the T).

Here are the rules:

1. One guess per person only
2. Guesses must be submitted via comments to this post
3. Your guess must be at least two ounces away from all of guesses posted on the blog before yours
4. A tie means both guessers win
5. The final deadline for all guesses is November 24 or when William is born (which ever comes first)

And now a few facts in the interest of complete information:

If William were born today he would weigh approximately 5 pounds 13 ounces.

When his mother was born she weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces

When I was born I weighed a meager 6 pounds 5 ounces, however my father (and William’s name sake) was born at a whopping 10 pounds.

April and I aren’t in the running because of potential conflicts of interest/favoritism/impropriety (actually now that I think about it I don’t know how we could possibly cheat). But just to let you know where we stand; April’s guess is seven pounds six ounces and my guess is six pounds twelve ounces

May the best man (or woman) win.

*H/t: Dagny, from whom we totally stole this idea.