35 Weeks Pregnant - Pregnancy & Produce

I'm 35 weeks 4 days pregnant today...and only have 31 days left before my due date!! WOW!!


Last week was busy with my sister and Keeton here - this week is all about catch up, catch up on sleep & catch up at work.


Today we woke up to a huge snow dump - at least 12" in our yard and yet...no snow day-BOO! I was really doing the snow day dance hoping that Matt and I could stay home and enjoy a day together. No.such.luck.


Boo


I got a delayed start so I'll leave here at 8am and start what will surely be a 2 hour drive...fun times ahead.


Here's the update for this week-thought I'd better get this on here before we hit the 36 week mark!


"Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight."

"I miss you already..."

That's what Keeton, my 8 y/o nephew said to me this morning as he and my sister were packing up to leave.

Their time here was short, too short for me...but then would it ever be enough?

Maegan and Keeton arrived on Tuesday and left this morning/Sunday - not near enough time. I could easily go back to the whole topic of wanting to move home to Kansas, be closer to my family, etc...but I won't. There's no point, at least not for now. So I'll just cherish every minute we had these past few days and look forward to next time.

Next time ...

Next time I'll have a baby. Next time there will be a lot of changes in our house. Next time Keeton will have a cousin. Next time Maegan will be an Aunt. Next time I'll be a mom on the outside.

WOW.

While they were here we had plenty of fun and plenty of projects that without my sister's help would NEVER have gotten done-or at least probably not before the baby made their first appearance-sorry Matt, it's true.

*She put together the dresser-soooo glad to have that done and finally be able to start putting away all the wonderful things we've been given!

*She put in a closet organizer for me in the nursery-soooo much better now and while it's simple and nothing fancy, it really will help us maximize the space now.

*She helped us finish the tree mural in the nursery-the leaves had been cut out by my friend Amy's husband Justin and Maegan covered them with fabric and found a nifty way to attach them without messing up the drywall!

*She, along with my good friend Amy, hosted a lovely luncheon for me with some good friends/coworkers-it was so nice and I loved getting everyone together!

*She helped Matt and I go through everything we had and helped us decide what we still needed, what we had too much of and what we didn't have enough of! I seriously feel a little clueless on some of this stuff so it was nice to have an expert's opinion on how many towels, blankets, sheets, etc we needed!

*AND ... she presented us with a handmade quilt and crib skirt. Not just any ol' handmade quilt...a custom designed, by HER, made by HER quilt that couldn't be more perfect. It incorporates the very tree we painted on the wall, birds and owls-we love it.

My sister is amazing. I, of course, have always known that, but I think I haven't really fully understood it.

She may very well be my younger sister, but she is much more wise and much more amazing than I can ever hope to be. She is a wonderful mother to my one and only nephew Keeton. She is selfless-busier than me as a stay at home mom with all of her volunteer projects and community service commitments.

Maegan...you're the best. I can't tell you what these past few days meant to me and how I'll cherish all your time, efforts, advice and for just being here with me. The next time I get to see you I'll be introducing you to your niece or nephew-I can't wait!!

I miss you already.

34 weeks - Pregnancy & Produce

As of today, my ticker says "34 weeks and 1 day pregnant-Only 41 days to go!"


41 days to go? What?!?!?


Here's what http://www.babycenter.com/ says about what I may be experiencing:
"By this week, fatigue has probably set in again, though maybe not with the same coma-like intensity of your first trimester. Your tiredness is perfectly understandable, given the physical strain you're under and the restless nights of frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning, while trying to get comfortable. Now's the time to slow down and save up your energy for labor day (and beyond). If you've been sitting or lying down for a long time, don't jump up too quickly. Blood can pool in your feet and legs, causing a temporary drop in your blood pressure when you get up that can make you feel dizzy."


Ummm...yep! Fatigue-check! Restless nights, frequent pee breaks and tossing and turning-check, check check!


And here's the baby's development this week has been like:


"Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies."

We've been busy this weekend-prepping diapers, putting up a clothes line to dry the diapers, finishing the nursery painting and putting together the crib.

I'm hoping that at least SOME of these projects will actually be finished before the day ends...

Um yeah, wish us luck.

Dr's Apt Update:

We had another apt today with Dr. Scariano, our OBGYN-all went well.

I gained 1 lb over the past two weeks-much better than the 7 lb gain from the previous appointment!!

My blood pressure was "great"-it's been "great" every time so far.

I'm measuring 35cm-which is 1cm "ahead" or "big" but all is well-the Dr says there is no need to worry unless I am measuring over 2cm "ahead" of where I'm "supposed to be." Apparently I should be measuring 1cm for every week pregnant I am. SO...according to that, I should be at 34cm as I'm 34 weeks pregnant.

Whatever-as long as she's not worried I'm not worried!

Baby's heartbeat was at 150 today-always hoovers right around there, so consistent is good.

We now have all of our appointments set between now and our due date-which is only 6 weeks away!! We'll go back in on the 29th of March and then from there on out we'll be having weekly appointments-including an ultrasound at 38 weeks.

Dr. Scariano and I talked today about the earlier discussions of inducement-that's off the table again, although frankly, it really never was on the table as far as I was concerned. SO-in our discussion today, she'll be "letting" me go a week over my due date before addressing induction again. I'm feeling better about this...but again, it will definitely be a discussion, if we get to that point. ; )

OK...time for another round of FAQ's:

~Any cravings?
Certainly not cravings like you see on tv or in the movies-no pickles and ice cream for me thank you. Recently what I've really wanted is a BIG, glass of Ice Tea!! Random. But seriously...that's what I've wanted. SO...today, I went to Sonic and ordered an Ice Tea. Yep, that's right-judge me now. At one day shy of 34 weeks pregnant, I drank an ice tea, complete with caffeine. So there! ; )

~How's the nursery coming along?
Ah...well, tomorrow we're getting the carpets cleaned. We're not quite finished with the painting and still need to paint and hang the new closet doors. Our, or I should say, my plan is after the carpets dry, finish painting the walls and then start on the closet doors. Sunday we'll put together and set up the crib, dresser and such. Ask me on Monday how things went with my plan. ; )

~What is the nursery theme?
No real theme-but think nature, think outdoors, think fresh and a bit retro. Stay tuned-hopefully I'll post some pictures this weekend after we make some more progress!

~How are you feeling?
It's odd how many times in a day I get asked this-by people who NEVER talked to me before at the office, now all of a sudden everyone wants to know how I am. Interesting. Honestly, I'm exhausted. I don't sleep well at night-waking up constantly and then when the alarm goes off, I can't wake up. I'm not feeling like a "beautiful pregnant woman"-I just feel huge. Some days I don't feel like I even look pregnant-just huge. For the most part though, I honestly feel pretty good.

Alright...that's more than enough for now. Stay tuned for the 34 week update from www.babycenter.com sometime this weekend!!

33 weeks Pregnant - I'm exhausted

I'm not complaining, not one bit, but my days of feeling great seem to have left the building. I don't sleep well anymore-not able to get comfortable and I tend to wake up a lot...which means I'm tired, I mean exhausted...daily.


I say I'm not complaining, and I'm honestly not. It's just a sign that we're even closer to meeting our little one, and I'm certainly not complaining about that.


Without any further delay...our weekly update:

"This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood."

I passed!!

I passed my three hour glucose test!! Woo Hoo Ya'll!

This means don't have gestational diabetes and this is a happy thing!

I'm relieved and at the same time, I was prepared to do whatever I needed to do in order to have a healthy baby-even if that meant have a scheduled induction/c-section. It just wasn't what I was hoping for...but yes, I would have done it.

Now, I'm hoping to get to go into labor on my own and that there won't be any other complications-but, again, yes, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure my baby is given every chance to be as healthy as possible!!

32 weeks - Pregnancy & Produce

56 days to go ... um ... what?!?!?!? Yep, 8 weeks to go and this little one will be "done cooking."

WOW - wasn't it just August 16th and we were shocked by finally getting a BFP?!?!? (Big Fat Positive-pregnancy test)

Where did all the time go? I remember when I felt like we had plenty of time to get things ready and now I feel like we don't have enough time!

Our third birthing class was this week and we're actually really enjoying them-for the most part it has confirmed my feelings about the birth process. The only thing that I'd say I don't like is how it's freaked me out even more than I already was about being induced and having a C-section. I have always wanted to avoid those two things like the plague but now even more so.

Which brings me to a bit of news that I haven't talked about yet.

I failed my 1 hour glucose test and had to do the 3 hour glucose test on Friday. For those that don't know this test is to determine if you have Gestational Diabetes-click here for more info:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_gestational-diabetes_2058.bc - Needless to say I'm praying I don't have this.

I'm fine with following the GD diet if I were to have it...but I do NOT want to increase my chances of having to be induced, that then will increase my chances of having a c-section.

The Dr and I talked about this on Friday when I went in...as I cried. She says that I should wait to worry too much until the results come back on Monday-she doesn't know me very well. She also says that if I were to have it she wouldn't want me going over 40 weeks-which says to me that she'll want to induce me right around my due date. That also says to me that we're going to have lots of "discussions" about this...and for those of you that do know me pretty well, I think you know what I mean when I put the word discussions in quotes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about making the best, healthiest choice for my baby...I'm just not convinced that some magic thing happens right at 40 weeks that puts my child at automatic risk.

So...there will be ongoing "discussions" about this...stay tuned.

In other news, I gained 7 lbs in 2 weeks!! WHAT?!?!?!? I don't feel like I've gained 7 lbs in two weeks. I freaked a bit about this too...but the Dr was fine with it-I really haven't gained much weight at all so this big jump didn't concern her. But wow...seriously?

I am definitely feeling bigger-it's like it happened overnight. My once comfy pj pants are not so comfy anymore and are way too short. Something tells me that I'm going to start feeling bigger by the day as this little one keeps growing-check out the update for this week:

"How your baby's growing:

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth."