Impatient

We had our 39 week and 1 day appointment last night.  To my disappointment I did not make much if any progress from last week.  She said he has dropped a little so thats something to celebrate, and possibly slightly more effaced than last week, maybe another 10%, nothing to call home about.

Ugh, are you serious?  

She told me to not worry about it and think of it as more time for the baby’s lungs to develop and become more mature.  I know, I know, its better for him the longer he stays in, but when I am watching a couple coworkers and a sister-in-law (she had a good excuse, TWINS!) go before me when they were all due AFTER me, its a bit frustrating!  I get to be uncomfortable, running to the bathroom 20 times a day, swollen legs hands and feet and I can’t forget about my favorite heartburn.  Yeah me!  It really wouldn’t be that bad if it wasn’t the 10th month dealing with this and I can see the end, but I can’t seem to reach it fast enough.  

Can you tell my favorite trait (from my father) is really getting to me…my impatience (love you dad!), I kind of feel like a prisoner in my own body – let me out!

False alarm #1

Andrew and I were out and about last night picking up some last minute items for baby and me, when I noticed there was a little more fluid than I was used to going on…literally about 5-6 instances in about an hour, which is far more than normal.

So, I called the nurse line and spoke to a RN, and she asked me to come in and get it checked out to make sure it wasn’t amniotic fluid.  The test came back negative so we were sent home within about an hour and a half.  Not a big deal, just a quick visit to the hospital about 9 PM last night just to come home to my comfy bed.

I wasn’t having contractions, but it was fun to see baby hooked up to the monitor and see and hear his heartbeat for a while.  Andrew was a little nervous at first, but I was pretty sure we were going to be sent home.  I am more uncomfortable than ever now, with some major low back pain and belly aches here and there.  I just can’t seem to get comfortable in any position.  Here’s a picture of Mufasa and I crashed on the couch last night shortly after arriving home from the hospital…

We were also just notifed not long ago that we became an auntie and uncle again to a little boy and girl, twins!  Maybe when I am visiting them in the hospital they will need to roll out a bed for me too!  One can only hope!

Ouch

No worries, I think I just found out early this morning which side baby prefers me to sleep on.  About 4 AM, typically my 4th or 5th time waking up at night, I went to roll over to my right side and the pain on the side of my belly nearly took my breath away, OUCH.  I quickly (or as quickly as I can these days) readjusted and it subsided almost as quickly as it came, with a few lingering aches that just leaves me wondering even now, if I move a certain way will I feel it again?

So, I got the hint…until our Monkey Man arrives no more rolling around in bed, just suffer on one side if at all possible.  Hey, if I go numb maybe that’s better anyways, then I won’t feel anything!

I am ready…any time now would be good…there’s always stuff I would like to get done at work and at home, but its really time. 38 weeks and 5 days, we’re ready!

38 week 2 day appointment

Well, we’re getting there…I actually lost one pound from last week, basically I have stopped gaining weight the past couple weeks which is completely normal and of course kinda nice to see the scale not go up all the time!  Monkey man’s heartbeat was going at a good 120-130 bpm, which is very good.  She told us once he is born and settles in a little it will be more around 100 bpm.

He hasn’t dropped any more from last week, still at -3 which she told us is not uncommon and most women don’t drop until they’re in full labor.  However, I did make some good progress the past week…I am about 40% effaced and she said just slightly dilated, about 1 cm (only 9 more to go).  She was surprised to see the thinning progress and as long as I make more progress next week she thinks its likely I won’t make it to my due date (hint, hint for all you baby poll betters).

I don’t want to get anyone overly excited, but last night we thought we may have had some contractions.  I basically felt some minor menstrual cramp type aches below my belly that didn’t go away when I re-adjusted myself or moved.  We even started timing them the best we could and I called into the birth center at our hospital for some advice, but it wasn’t overly predictable or intense so we chalked it up to Braxton Hicks and all those other fun aches and pains women get during pregnancy.  We mentioned it to our doctor today too and she said as long as they aren’t getting stronger and at regular intervals then its probably nothing to get worked up about at this point.  So, we wait…impatiently and take it day by day.

I may need to start doing some of those “home remedies” to coerce labor…anyone up for running a marathon?  Maybe spicy food would be better in my situation?  I am all ears for other suggestions for getting this labor going!

Final baby shower

Last, but certainly not least, here are some pics from my baby shower last night hosted by my colleagues Stephanie & Lanee with others helping bring some food.  They did a great job and both Andrew and I had a lot of fun gabbing with everyone and opening gifts.  Thank you!!

 

Is that a monkey or bear?

 

The most FAMOUS monkey of all, Curious George!

 

I was told this book will help me with all those "weird" things that pop up that I have no clue how to handle at 3 AM. I can't wait!

NO socks

I confess, I have resorted to wearing no socks at all beginning this morning.  In the beginning of this little adventure my pants started to get kinda tight, then the shirts either get tighter or stopped covering the growing belly and now my socks are getting too tight. Did you ever think you could have a problem with your socks?  Seriously?  I expected the clothes not to fit, thats kinda obvious.  Its not like my old pants and shirts where I can’t even get the socks on, but I think its worth not wearing them to save my cankles.  At the end of the day even though I take my socks off, it looks like I am still wearing them anyway so what’s the point?  At the end of this whole thing, I think I will not only need some great ab workouts, but does anyone know any good workouts for cankles?  

It is definitely just the water retention so hopefully no cankle exercises will be required.  My doctor says its not that bad, but at the end of each day I kinda think otherwise…my calves and ankles turn into trunks, well, what I can see of them anyways.  :)

I have been told in the past to drink lots of water to help flush out my system and reduce retention.  However, I just learned yesterday from another, more experienced, pregnant colleague that her doctor told her that the more water she drinks the worse the heartburn gets cause the water pushes the acid up.  Okay, let me get this straight…drink LOTS of water to reduce swelling (and go to the bathroom 20 times a day), or drink less to help with the heartburn.  What?  If anyone can help answer this feel free to let me know!  I get heartburn from oatmeal or the most bland foods, basically it doesn’t matter at this point I just have it all the time.  

Sorry, I know I am being a little (or a lot) whiney so I will stop now…I think my (least) favorite quality from my father is starting to show through – impatience!  Only about 2 weeks to go…it will be the absolute slowest 2 weeks of my entire life!  (can I be any more dramatic?)

37 week and 1 day appointment

Last night we found out if baby is ready to join us…apparently not quite ready yet, he wants to stay and cook a little longer and prolong the anxiety for his parents!  Figures, just being stubborn like his mom and dad.

My PA told me he is now considered full term so he can come any time and they wouldn’t be concerned about him.  Surprisingly I didn’t gain any weight from last week, and my pulse, BP and belly are all on track as they should be.  She measured me for progress and although I am not dilated yet (she wasn’t surprised), she said I am about 20% effaced, or thinned.  Which means he is making progress, but at this point for a first baby she wasn’t surprised with where I am.  She also mentioned he is at about -3 station, which means he has moved down, but not very much yet (I believe they move down from -4 and progress to +4 in labor/delivery)…So, we wait another week to see if he drops some more and if my body starts preparing a little more for his arrival.

Cooking & freezing

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Danielle & my mom for coming over to help me make some meals for our freezer!  It went by really fast and we ended up making 5 different dishes which made about 8 dinners since some of them were rather large we split them into 2 dinners.  Here’s a list of the food we tackled:

• Meatloaf
• Enchiladas – these looked so good I wanted to eat them right away!
• Pizza hot dish
• Cheesy ham and potato bake
• BBQ beef

I am really looking forward to digging them out of the freezer in the next couple weeks to keep us going while baby is demanding our time!  Plus, there was the bonus of Andrew’s younger brother coming over too which kept Andrew occupied with the PS3 while we were busy in the kitchen!  Boys and their toys!

Car seat!

We finally did it…yes we now have a car seat so we can bring our baby home from the hospital.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute!  Thank you to everyone who helped us purchase this from the gift cards and cash at the Baby showers!  Here it is..

Also, a BIG thank you to Andrew’s older brother and our sister-in-law for allowing us to use their Snap & Go stroller.  We’re really excited about it!  Here’s a picture of one…

Our appointment is tonight to find out if baby is getting ready to join us, we’ll keep you posted!

Feet? What feet?

Where are my feet these days?  I know they’re still attached, and I kinda manage to put shoes on them daily, but I can’t remember the last time I was able to see them on a regular basis.  Not that my feet are really something great to look at in the first place, especially these days, but it’d be nice to get a better look at them in case they are kinda looking mangy.  

Maybe its time for a pedicure?  Not just any pedicure, a parafin wax pedicure!  Ahhhh…