Sunday, November 24, 2013

37 Weeks

Once again, I'm posting a few days late so I have more than usual to talk about.  Last weekend I made 2 casseroles plus a lasagna and they're in the freezer waiting for the baby to arrive.  Since that is off of my list, I've been working on knocking out some of the other items.  I ordered a dresser for her room today and I'm excited for it to arrive so that we can get the room in order.  I also ordered some wall decals from Etsy and am waiting for those to arrive as well.  Etsy says it should be shipped by tomorrow... I hope they're right!  Here's a little preview of what it will look like (with a different name, of course).


I think I posted a while back that her room will be pink and teal/turquoise with chevron accents and birds, so this decal fit everything perfectly.  The colors will be slightly different (and I ordered another one to go along with it) but it's pretty close to this.  I'm excited to put them up!

I still have a blanket and a few pillow covers to sew for her as well as another boppy cover but I should be able to finish them within the next week, especially since I get Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving.

I actually made notes of what to blog about this week, so bear with me... this might be a long one :).

For the past month or so, I haven't worn any flowy tops.  They've all pretty much been fitted because my belly is so big that the flowy ones make me look like a circus tent.  Thanks to my hernia surgery last year, I don't have an outie belly button this time, so I'm not quite so self-conscious about wearing the fitted shirts.  I'm hoping I can also avoid some of the turkey comments this Thanksgiving since my belly button isn't popping out ;).

I received my Group B Strep result and it was positive this time, grrr.  That just means I'll have to get an IV antibiotic while I'm in labor, which is a bummer because I want to be up and moving around as much as possible.  I guess I'll just have to deal with an IV pole following me around everywhere.

Baby is sitting very very low now.  Saturday seems to be the magic 'drop day' because I keep waking up on Sunday with her feeling even lower.  People at work have been making comments about how low she's sitting.  While it does help me to breathe a bit easier, it makes walking up stairs harder and it means my wardrobe has been cut in half because my shirts don't go down low enough to cover my entire belly.  It has made things a bit more interesting :).

And now for the normal weekly updates:

Contractions: I've been feeling them multiple times each day but nothing close together or consistent.
Cravings: After thinking about this a bit, I realized the one thing I've been drinking a lot of this pregnancy is tea mixed with lemonade... also known as an Arnold Palmer.  I don't drink them daily but close enough.  I guess that has been my craving :).
Weight:  My total is up to 31 lbs
Swelling:  My feet are puffy all the time and my right hand (moreso than the left) has been swollen.  I've actually contracted what's referred to as "pregnancy induced carpal tunnel" so my right hand/forearm goes numb randomly.  My hand went numb while putting my makeup on the other day and sometimes it's numb when I wake up. 
Things to do: Buy a couple of final items from my registry (Target), pack the hospital bag, pack a small bag for Logan, reinstall the infant car seat, etc....
Heartburn:  It is under control but only because of my friend Zantac.
Stretching: Minimal stretching beyond what I have from Logan.

That pretty much covers things for the week.  The baby should be around 7 lbs and 20" long but it can vary from here on.  She's still very active and enjoys sticking her behind out near my ribs, just like Logan did.  The doctor said I will probably be pregnant for a couple more weeks, but we'll see!  Logan seems to really enjoy using my belly as a pillow so I'm sure he'll miss it when it's gone ;). 

I'll end this post with a couple more pictures from the week.  Enjoy and don't forget to enter your guess in my baby pool!  I was going to close it tomorrow (my birthday, yay!) but think I'll wait until I hit 38 weeks on Wednesday.  Just use the link in the upper right area of the blog :).



Thursday, November 14, 2013

36 Weeks

I'm sooooooo tiiiiiiired.  Right now it's 9:55pm and I can hardly keep my eyes open.  Working full-time, helping to take care of Logan, and all the other things I do (laundry, grocery shopping, etc.) is starting to wear on me.  I've been having trouble getting comfortable in bed at night too, which has kept me from sleeping very well. 

*I just fell asleep on the couch*

Back to my post... I had my 36 week checkup today and it went well.  My blood pressure was great, I only gained another pound, and he was happy with everything.  Baby is head-down and her heart sounded good.  He had to do the Group B Strep swab, which was anything but pleasant but it's over with now and I'm just waiting for the results.

Contractions: I've been feeling some little ones throughout the week.  Nothing consistent, though.
Cravings: Nothing this week.
Weight:  My total is up to 28 lbs
Swelling:  My feet are still puffy, especially in the evening.
Things to do: Buy furniture and other items from my registry (Target), pre-make meals, pack the hospital bag, pack a small bag for Logan, reinstall the infant car seat, etc....
Heartburn:  It is under control but only because of my friend Zantac.
Stretching: The top of my stretch marks (from Logan) are stretching a bit, but nothing other than that.  I'm just trying to figure what to put on the rest of my super dry skin.  It hurts :(.

Baby has been very active, as usual, and now I know that it's really her butt and feet sticking out the side of my belly ;).

*I just fell asleep on the couch again*

This is out of control :).  Anyway, I might only have a couple weeks left before she arrives so I'm feeling more of a sense of urgency.  With that being said, I'll be closing my ExpectNet baby pool on my birthday, November 25th.  If you still want to enter a guess, you'll have until then... so guess!

Well, I've fallen asleep about 5 times (or more) in the 30 minutes I've been trying to write this post.  I think that's a clear sign that I need to go to bed.  Well played, baby.

Doctor appointments are now weekly, so I'll update after my appointment next week.

Monday, November 11, 2013

35 Weeks

Once again, I'm posting a bit late.  The main thing I've noticed this week is that I'm exhausted, almost to the same level as I was in the first trimester.  At night I have been trying to put my feet up to alleviate some of the swelling and if I don't go upstairs by 10:00, I usually fall asleep on the couch.  It makes sense, though... the baby is getting bigger and my body is preparing for a pretty big job :).

To answer a few questions I've been asked this week:  No, I'm not due sooner.  No, it's only 1 baby.  Yes, I'm ready for her to be born ;).  Baby is about 18" long right now and somewhere around 6lbs.  Her main job for the duration of the pregnancy is to put on weight and let her lungs develop a bit more.  She has been having hiccups quite a bit lately so I think she's in the loop on the lung development thing.

Between Saturday night and Sunday morning, I noticed that she had dropped again.  She seems to be settling into my pelvis now, which hopefully means she is head-down.  I told Jason it feels like she's a gopher trying to burrow her way out.  Even though she has dropped, I'm still not able to breathe very well.  This is due to a combination of her feet being in my lungs and me fighting a chest cold.  Hopefully the latter will pass soon, though.  She seems to be more comfortable because she has been moving around even more than usual the past couple days.  I've been seeing/feeling her poking her feet, knees, and butt out in different spots of my belly.  She appears to be taking after her big brother by sticking her behind out on the right side of my belly.  That was one of Logan's favorite things to do.

Here's the weekly summary:

Contractions: I've been feeling some little ones throughout the week.  Nothing consistent, though.
Cravings: Nothing this week.
Weight:  My total is up to 27 lbs - we'll see how that has changed on Thursday
Swelling:  My feet are still puffy, especially in the evening.
Things to do: Buy furniture and other items from my registry (Target), pre-make meals, pack the hospital bag, pack a small bag for Logan, reinstall the infant car seat, etc....
Heartburn:  It is under control but only because of my friend Zantac.
Stretching: I haven't noticed too much more stretching, but the itching is another story.  Yowza.

My next appointment is on Thursday and I have to be checked for Group B Strep (wahoo).  I'll leave out the details but those of you who have been through it before will know what that means.

If you read this, please keep us in your prayers.  Even though I'm covered by 2 insurances, the medical bills keep rolling in and it doesn't look like I'm going to be eligible for Short Term Disability through my work until January, so I might be without a paycheck at all for a few weeks, depending on when she makes her appearance.  I know everything will work out but it has added a bit of stress that we could really do without :).

Thanks and don't forget to enter your guess in our birth pool.  Time is running out!

Friday, November 1, 2013

34 Weeks

I just read my 34 Week post from when I was pregnant with Logan and had to smile... that week was when I received my job offer for the company I'm still working for.  I still can't believe how that all happened but am so thankful that God blessed me with a great job, even when I was 8.5 months pregnant :).  Some interesting things have been happening at work this week, some that I won't go into detail about but I will talk about my benefits briefly.  When we completed our open enrollment for insurance last year, I could swear I elected to receive short term disability coverage, just on the small chance that I would get pregnant ;).  This week I started getting my paperwork together to file for it and was told that I'm not currently covered.  Oh, the thoughts that ran through my head ;).  And what makes it even more difficult is that the HR Manager resigned his position and moved out of state a couple weeks ago.  The interim HR Manager has been trying to help me but can't find my original signed copy of benefit elections anywhere (what are the chances?).  So, I've been trying not to stress about what's going to happen when the baby gets here.  I'm just praying that something will work out so that we don't have to rely solely on Jason's salary.  Everything will be fine, though...

I had my 34 week checkup this afternoon and it went fairly well.  I told the doctor about my slip last weekend, which is still causing me a LOT of pain and he sympathized but said it's going to hurt because of where the muscle/ligament strain is and where the baby is positioned.  I imagine it will take a while to heal so I'm just trying to manage as best I can.  The doctor seemed completely unaware that I was sent to Labor & Delivery on Monday so I had to explain things to him, including the part about the nurse saying the baby was either breech or transverse (sideways).  He decided to do an impromptu ultrasound (with the same prehistoric u/s machine he used to confirm my pregnancy).  He said the baby is head-down but slightly transverse, so kinda diagonal, I guess?  He's not concerned about it at this point but wants to check again at my next appointment too.

The doctor read over my birth plan and said everything looks fine, yay!  I've read a few articles/blogs this week that have touched on birth plans and they seem to be very anti-BP, which is fine but I just want to comment quickly on that.  I know that labor and delivery can be a very unpredictable experience and many different things can happen, however.... that's why I titled mine "birth preferences".  It's a plan but as I experienced with Logan, it can change very quickly.  There are some things that I'm pretty adamant about (skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding, delayed cord clamping, etc.) and I have good reason to want those things.  For example, when Logan was born, I got to see him briefly but then he was whisked away to the NICU and I was taken to my room.  I wasn't able to get out of bed for 12 hours, which meant I couldn't see him, hold him, feed him, talk to him for 12 hours.  It was a very difficult day for me filled with a lot of longing, guilt, anger, etc.  If I can avoid that from happening again, I will make every effort to, including drafting up an 'annoying' birth plan ;).  I'm not knocking anyone who chooses not to have one... that's fine and dandy, but I want to have one in place.  If anything, it will be something that Jason and I can look at throughout the labor & delivery process to help keep me focused.  That's my little spiel ;).

My blood pressure is still 120/80 (normal) but I have gained a total of 27 lbs, ack!  I'm guessing the fact that I haven't been able to walk this week has played a part in that gain but the doctor didn't seem concerned about it. 

I started getting a sore throat last night and it has been even worse today along with some ear pain and pressure.  I had the doctor check it for an ear infection but he said it isn't infected at this point.  I'm taking some Sudafed to clear up the small amount of fluid that was in my ear and hoping the pain will go away quickly.

Ok, here is the weekly summary:

Contractions: Haven't really noticed any this week.
Cravings: Nothing this week.
Weight:  My total is up to 27 lbs
Swelling:  The swelling is back with a vengeance.  I'll blame it on the 70+ degree weather that returned this week ;).
Things to do: Still need to buy furniture and other items from my registry (Target), pre-make meals, pack the hospital bag, pack a small bag for Logan, reinstall the infant car seat, etc....
Heartburn:  It is under control but only because of my friend Zantac.
Stretching: Stretching and more stretching.  I take it as a sign that she's growing :).

Baby's current size is about 18" long and 5.5 lbs, whew!  Only 6-ish weeks to go :).