Sunday, April 29, 2012

37 Weeks = Full Term!



How far along? 37 weeks! I'm fullllll term :) (this was supposed to be posted on thursday! I'm always late!)
Total weight gain/loss: I swear it fluctuates each day... on Monday it was 34 lbs and then Tuesday is was back down to 28 lbs... 
Maternity clothes? God I miss my regular clothes!
Stretch marks? still none on my stomach
Sleep: They are so crazy when I remember them.
Best moment this week: Both baby showers & taking Maternity pics with AE Photography. Check out Alison's facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonEastPhotography
Miss Anything? Work! I went to the doctor on Monday for my check up and was fine and then late (around 2am) Monday night I was having trouble breathing and some contractions and ended up passing out. When I got up that morning I had a horrible headache and called the doctor (I swear they put us on hold for like an hour and kept passing us off back and forth to different people before they finally said to come in) and went in. They said my blood pressure was higher than normal and that I had to have bloodwork and then take a jug home and pee in it for 24hrs and bring it back the next day. He ALSO took me out of work because of my blood pressure and the contractions. Luckily the test was normal so I don't have toxemia :) But I do miss working because I have hardly any interaction with anyone other than Ben now...
Movement: He seems pretty uncomfortable with how much he adjusts.
Food cravings: Not many anymore other than mint chocolate chip ice cream! mmmm!
Anything making you queasy or sick: eggs, mexican, meat
Gender: Boy :) 
Symptoms: The heartburn has reached an all-time high. I swear I had to sleep upright the other night because I literally was having the acid come back up my throat and swallowing it. I eat tums like they are candy. The swelling has gone down tremendously since I stopped working which is good. I find myself having mood swings between really excited to really sad. I also am ALWAYS hungry no matter how often I eat.
Labor Signs: Just some contractions Monday night but none since :) I do have really bad round ligament pain that's really low under my belly/groin area so I know he definitely getting lower.
Belly Button in or out? in! 
Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody... but I am happy to meet my little man soon :)
Looking forward to: meeting Jude in the next few weeks!!




Work Baby Shower Pics:




















Ben's Church Baby Shower Pics:














A PREVIEW of Maternity Pics by AE Photography:







More maternity pics to come :)

Sunday, April 22, 2012

36 Weeks!


This should've been posted Thursday... whoops!
So let me start by saying on Monday I went to the doctor and he killed all my dreams of having a natural, water birth. Apparently nowhere around here does them and he claims "you'll be fine" without pain meds. While I am PRAYING I can have an "easy" birth without pain meds and without pitocin to speed up labor, I am at least going to keep my mind open if I have to get the pain meds in an IV... I do NOT want an epidural. Needles freak me out and so does the idea of being numb. I want to be able to move around and use breathing and relaxation techniques to make it through labor... BUT, don't be fooled. I am super scared/nervous about having this baby! If only a stork really did bring it........

How far along? 36 Weeks! One more week left until the baby is okay to come out!
Total weight gain/loss: it fluctuates between 28-29lbs
Maternity clothes? even my maternity clothes are getting small...
Stretch marks? none on the belly still! let's hope these next couple weeks stay that way!
Sleep: So many crazies!
Best moment this week: finding out that the baby is LOW! The doctor could tell me where his head was and I think he could even touch it.. crazyyyy!
Miss Anything? Being able to walk normally, eat without heartburn, and take deep breaths/wear normal bras with underwire
Movement: all the time but I can tell he's getting squished in there
Food cravings: Not as many. Still eating lots of melons and a lot of peanut butter.
Anything making you queasy or sick: eggs, mexican, meat
Gender: Boy :) 
Symptoms: heartburn, rib pain from him kicking me, let's get a little personal here- diarrhea (oh god it's awful), contractions, hungry every two minutes, trouble sleeping because of dreams and not being able to find a comfortable position, moodiness, SWELLING like crazy in legs/feet/ankles
Labor Signs: More contractions on Wednesday but much worse in pain and closeness so I went to the doc... wasn't dilated any more but he told me the baby is super low. He said he wants him to finish "cooking" until next week at least and if I wanted a note out of work they would give me one. Buttttt I am going to tryyyy and stay at work until the last minute. The doctor said the mystery of pregnancy is that we never know when the baby is going to come... so be prepared no matter the day.  
Belly Button in or out? in
Happy or Moody most of the time: typically happy except when my husband is lazy and doesn't help me around the house or forgets to buy stuff that I repeatedly asked him to.... 
Looking forward to: Baby showers #2 and #3 and maternity pics this weekend!!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

35 Weeks!




How far along? 35 weeks! Only TWO more weeks to go until full term!
Total weight gain/loss: It seems to change every time I see the doctor! It was 28lbs on Monday but only 27lbs on Friday.
Maternity clothes? yes! Bought a pair of maternity yoga pants that I've been pretty much living in all week since I haven't been at work (I'll get to that further along...)
Stretch marks? still just boobs and hips, none on the belly and hopefully it stays that way.. fingers crossed!
Sleep: I think the dreams just get crazier and crazier and keep having more and more people in them that I haven't seen or talked to since college or high school or even middle school. I had a nightmare the other night that had Mike Delany in it and we were searching an old creepy house and he went to the third floor and the door closed behind him and I just knew he was trapped so I got spooked and ran out of the house and I remember someone else was waiting outside but can't remember who now.. I woke up really scared because I hadn't had a nightmare in so long that I ended up holding my pee for a few hours until the effects wore off... I'm such a big baby.
Best moment this week: Not so sure this is a good moment BUT the doctor made me take the whole week off so in turn I was able to finish getting the diaper bag for the hospital packed for Jude and finished the majority of the nursery decorating :)
Miss Anything? Not having acid reflux so bad that I literally feel like I'm swallowing fire, fitting into normal sized clothes, not having such annoying contractions, being able to go a few hours without peeing, being able to find a comfortable position to sleep in (I have to note here that this has become THE biggest nuisance ever. Not only is every position uncomfortable and I have to swap sides often, but I find myself waking up even more sore than before I went to bed if that's even possible and it's so bad that even my HANDS are KILLING me when I wake up. I don't know if it's because I'm so tense when I'm sleeping that I'm squeezing them or if I just put them in positions that cut off the blood supply but it is badddd!) and not being so hungry 24/7... oh and also being able to touch my toes and reach things that used to be easily reached... and not getting out of breath trying to reach said things.
Movement: a lot.. especially during contractions... 
Food cravings: Still fruit but last night I was craving chocolate ice cream with fudge & marshmallow and today it was Cook Out.. I literally passed a Cook Out and had to circle back around to get it because I was dying to have a hot dog and a coca cola with their ice (I LOVE their ice!!)... side note: if you are not from NC and don't know what Cook Out is, you live a sad, sad life. :)
Anything making you queasy or sick: beef/eggs/those meals Melissa always makes for lunch 
Gender: Boy :) 
Symptoms: See above "miss anything" section!
Labor Signs: And this is what you've been waiting for folks.... On Monday on my way to work I started having contractions again while driving. By the time I went to lunch at 11, they had not gone away so I called my doctor and the nurse of Dr. Sansing whom I had seen at the hospital wanted me to come in so at 1pm I went in to the office. Dr. Sansing didn't seem to worried about the contractions but one of the first things out of her mouth was that she was taking me out of work... ALL WEEK! eeek! So I was supposed to spend the whole week relaxing and not doing anything stressful. Normally, this would be great to not have to work, but I really didn't want to use all my PTO up and I have a hard time relaxing nowadays so I knew this wasn't going to be easy. But I digress. She told me to come back in if I had any more contractions.
On Wednesday night at around 9pm I started having some more contractions but these were more in my lower back so I took a hot bath and then slept through them. Not so bad so I didn't call the doctor. 
Then on Friday I decided that I could handle a short little outing to Target and Babies R Us to return two things from our baby shower. But as we were leaving Babies R Us, I started having contractions. These were much more painful when I was walking. It literally would take my breath away and I'd have to bend over and squeeze Ben's hand really hard. When we got home, I kept having them but they weren't AS painful when I was laying down on my side and the pain was a little higher up. But if I got up to walk to the bathroom, the pain was sharp and lower like before. The contractions were varying in time but ranged from 2 mins apart to 8 mins apart randomly and averaging about 5 mins apart. We started timing them around noon and by one fifteen decided to call the doctor. They wanted me to come in so I went in and saw Dr. Eisenberg. She explained to me that having contractions are going to be a normal thing from here on out and not to worry too much and just try to deal the best I can. She said once they are a steady 3-5 mins apart and I can't talk through them because they are so painful then it's time to go to the hospital but if I get them and the office is open, to come in so they can check if I'm dilated. So she went ahead and checked then and I was one centimeter dilated. I was very surprised by this since on Monday I was not dilated at all. She said that this is normal since I'm getting close to full term and I'm likely to start dilating a centimeter or so each week until it's "time" and then of course I'll dilated the rest of the way. 
So for now, it's just a waiting game to see if I go into labor soon or not, although I think I'm clear until AT LEAST Friday since the swab Dr. Sansing did last Friday was supposed to tell me if I was going into labor in the next two weeks and it was negative. 
Belly Button in or out? I think it's going to stay in
Happy or Moody most of the time: depends on the day.. I'm very stressed trying to figure everything out. I really really really want a water birth but the hospital I'm supposed to deliver at doesn't have birthing tubs so I'm going to try and talk to my doctor on Monday and see if I have any other options. It is just stressing me out thinking about giving birth and finding a pediatrician and dealing with money stresses and Ben losing weight to join the military and everything else. TOO MUCH to think about but I am VERY happy to see little man soon! 
Looking forward to: The baby shower my work is throwing me next Saturday :) they seem really excited about it so I am too!!


Here is a sneak peak of part of the nursery... 


Please ignore the mess on and around the changing table. That is no longer there and the changing table itself is a lotttt more organized. And keep in mind that the saying will be directly on the wall but I've just been taping them to the wall for now until everything is in it's official place! I have two other quotes in the room like that, both from Harry Potter. 

Sunday, April 8, 2012

34 Weeks!





How far along? 34 weeks (and three days)
Total weight gain/loss: 24-25 lbs as of Thursday. I haven't gained any weight really between this week and last
Maternity clothes? even those are starting to get really tight..
Stretch marks? no more than last week
Sleep: still a lot of crazy dreams, a lot about people I haven't seen or talked to in years
Best moment this week: Not much happened but we found out Jude is head down! And since I've been 34 weeks, I did have a good Easter with both families!
Miss Anything? Not being so fat!
Movement: hiccups a lot and he moves my whole stomach now when he moves around
Food cravings: chocolate again
Anything making you queasy or sick: beef/eggs
Gender: Boy :) 
Symptoms: the WORST heartburn/acid reflux ever, Swelling in hands, feet, legs, and face, peeing all the time, contractions, being hungry allll the time, dizziness
Labor Signs: On Friday I spent from about 10pm to 12:30am having cramping and was dizzy and it was hard to breathe so I called 911, the ems came and took me to HP regional where they hooked me up to a monitor. Ben arrived shortly after and they gave me an IV in my left hand (ow!) and told me that I was actually having contractions (!! I was so surprised, I thought they were going to tell me I was just over reacting) so they were going to give me shots to stop them. They gave me a shot that burned like crazy in my left arm then about 45 minutes later she came back in and said that I wasn't having as many contractions so they gave me one more shot that burned in my right arm. The shots really sucked because I was shaking really bad to begin with and the side effects of the shots made my heart beat really fast which made the shaking even worse. Then I waited a while while the IV kept dripping making me freezing and was so tired. Dr. Sansing finally came in around 4am and apologized because she had been doing a C section and she checked to see if I was dilated, which I wasn't and then she did a swab to see if I was going into labor. We waited until about 5:15am and the nurse told us the test was negative so we were able to leave. We got home at about quarter to six and passed out. 
Middle Name decided? Noah
Belly Button in or out? in still but flat
Happy or Moody most of the time: Haaaappppy camper :)
Looking forward to: more baby showers, maternity pics and meeting Jude! :)




Monday, April 2, 2012

33 Weeks!




How far along? 33 weeks :)
Total weight gain/loss: 24lbs as of my doctor's appt on Monday the 16th
Maternity clothes? only!
Stretch marks? It has finally happened... not on my stomach but on my sides/love handles :(
Sleep: Crazy dreams, peeing constantly, sleeping for longer than 12 hrs in a row sometimes.
Best moment this week: Our first baby shower with friends/family! We got so many great gifts for Jude :)
Miss Anything? having friends I could count on.. they are few and far between nowadays...
Movement: he gets the hiccups a lot, kicks my ribs a lot and he is starting to push down.
Food cravings: melons (watermelon, cantaloupe and honey dew!)
Anything making you queasy or sick: beef
Gender: Boy :) 
Symptoms: headaches/migraines, swelling, heartburn
Labor Signs: Not that I know of
Middle Name decided? Noah
Belly Button in or out? pretty flat!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Haaaappppy :)
Looking forward to: the next two baby showers, maternity pics and meeting my little man!!


Here is some Baby Shower Pics: