40 week update!

Yesterday marked 40 weeks and Baby Girl's due date!  She's approximately the size of a jack fruit now (whatever that is) at 18 to 20 inches and 6 to 9 lbs. 

She's fully developed and not much has changed since last week, except that she's put on more weight!  Her heart rate was strong at 146 yesterday and she's very content and cozy in there.  Which is smart on her part since it's pretty cold out this week and of course our heat decided to stop working yesterday and no one has come to fix it yet.  While I slept much more comfortably with no heat in 20 degree weather, I would have been way too nervous to keep a newborn there and we probably would have found a hotel for the night.

If baby girl does not decide to come on her own this week or weekend we will get to see her briefly on Monday for an ultrasound to make sure she really is happy in there.  I'll also be sent for a non-stress test to check on her as well.  If both of those go well and she still doesn't want to come, I have been scheduled for an induction on Wednesday.  I have a feeling I will be at that appointment on Wednesday morning...

I was in such a cheery mood to be walking around on my due date with no signs of baby coming that I bought muffins for my house full of people.

But being 40 weeks pregnant was the perfect ammunition needed to convince Hubby that we should get our Christmas tree.  We put the lights on last night so we literally ended our due date on a bright note!  And it's actually pretty fun to answer "When are you due?" with "Today."  The reactions I get are pretty amusing.

I really can't complain too much, I still have this pregnancy thing pretty easy.  I only get really frustrated when I get stuck.  I sleep between two mounds of pillows to keep me on my side.  But sometimes when I'm trying to switch sides I get stuck on my back between the two piles and feel an awful lot like an overturned turtle.  I've needed to ask for help getting up a few times too, I hate needing help to do something so simple so that's when I get the most frustrated.

How far along? 40 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  Up 22 lbs overall

Maternity clothes?  I’ve given up on the dresses and just rotate through my 3 pairs of work pants and 2 pairs of jeans because I’d much rather sit like a guy with my legs spread than with my knees together.  

Stretch marks? Nope!  Grateful for this.

Sleep:  I got a few good nights of sleep this week, only waking up once, while family was in town.  But as soon as they went home I went back to waking up a lot.  The past two nights were every hour!

Best moment this week:  Spending Thanksgiving with family!  I'm so thankful to be bringing Baby Girl into a family that loves her so much already.  She is definitely blessed with amazing grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Miss Anything?  Being comfortable.

Movement:  Not as much now, she’s definitely cramped.  I generally have to put my hand on my belly and feel around to tell if she’s moving.

   

Food cravings:  Nothing in particular.

Anything making you queasy or sick: All the same things…the sweet potatoes, bananas, and crab are the worst.

Belly Button in or out? Neither but it’s really looking like it wants to pop out, I’m wondering if that’s what she’s waiting for…if it needs to pop out like a turkey timer to say she’s done!

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or Moody most of the time: MOODY but only if you aren’t being super nice to me :-P

Labor signs?  A little crampy...maybe early contractions?  

Looking forward to:  Not having to answer the phone with "no baby yet."

 

Ready.

"As you reach week 40 of your pregnancy, you may feel as though you’ve been pregnant forever, and would like to give birth to this baby today. It’s normal to be excited, nervous, and irritable all at once."

 

This is it exactly.  I know her due date hasn't arrived yet (eeeekkk, it's tomorrow!) and that a due date is only an estimate of when she might make her appearance, but I'm just so ready.  I AM excited, nervous, and irritable.  Maybe I should capitalize IRRITABLE....
 
1.  I'm ready to hold my baby.  I want to hold her in my arms so badly, I think I may not share her at the very beginning.  

2.  I'm ready to see her!  I know newborns come out all covered in guts (yes that's the technical term) and typically have a cone shaped head from making her way out (which is normal, the bones in her skull are not fused yet for just that reason) but I know I will think she's the most beautiful creature on the Earth the very moment I see her.

3.  I'm ready to play with her.  Yes I know it will be awhile before she's really engaged by toys or books, but I'm so excited to spend hours trying to get her to laugh or smile.

4. I am ready to learn her personality.  Yet another thing that will take awhile to develop, but I want to know if she'll be quiet and serious or loud and crazy or anything in between. 

5.  I'm ready to not worry about what's going on in my belly!  I know this will be replaced with even greater worry that I'm doing everything right and that she's healthy, but right now I can't even see her to see how she's doing.

6.  I'm ready to not have feet in my ribs.  This rib pain is really getting to me.  I've even been woken up at night because of the pain.

7.  I'm ready to be able to sleep on my back or stomach, I really hate sleeping on my side.

8.  I'm ready for these hormones to calm down, I feel like I want to fight anyone who gets in my way or disagrees with me.  Hubby has been a trooper these past few weeks.  I feel like I spend more time whining to him or ordering him around than anything else.  I don't mean to, but pregnancy has stolen my filter!  He is amazing and hasn't snapped on me yet!  

9.  I'm ready to know the date that my life will change forever.  I hate not knowing if she's going to come today or in a week or anytime in between.

10.  I'm ready to go on maternity leave.  I am really worrying all the people in my office who think I'm going to give birth in my cubicle and that they'll have to help.  Or that they'll have to drive me to the hospital and I'll give birth in their car.  (Yes, both are sentiments that have been shared with me.)  I get comments and questions all day long, which is to be expected, if I were on the other end I'd be asking the questions too, but it is getting old.

Bottom line, I'm just so ready to be a mom and to not be pregnant anymore.

 

Round troubles.

The newest hassle I've discovered this weekend: round tables.  A round belly cannot comfortably sit at a round table without being way too far from the table.  I had to move my seat twice at restaurants this weekend!  Okay Baby Girl, you can come anytime now!!

I did so much walking this weekend that I'm shocked I haven't gotten any labor signs yet.  I know people that have mild contractions for weeks before real labor starts, not me, I haven't had a single one.  I've danced around my house, played tourist in DC with the family, and walked around the biggest mall in the area (got a little Christmas shopping done, woo hoo!)  My feet hurt (but aren't swollen so that's good) and my hips hurt, but NO labor signs.  In all fairness her due date isn't for two more days so I can't fault her too much for not coming till then.  But I have a feeling I have a stubborn little one on my hands!  

39 Week Update!

No baby yet!  I'm a little late on the 39 week update. I've been a busy pregnant lady hoping it would put me into labor, but not yet.

At 39 weeks pregnant, Baby Girl is the size of a watermelon, eeeeekkkk.  She's probably somewhere between 6 to 9 pounds and 19 to 21 inches long.

She's developing more layers of fat to help her regulate her body temperature outside of the womb.  Other than that, she's just chilling in there.  She's obviously very cramped in there, I keep trying to tell her how much more space there is out here, but I guess I haven't been so convincing yet.

Not much different is going on with me this week either.  I'm still walking, dancing, and bouncing on the exercise ball in an effort to get her to join us on the outside!  My next doctor's appointment is on Wednesday, which is also my due date.  The doctor told me that if I'm still pregnant and make it to my appointment that they will schedule an induction date for the following week.  I really don't want to be induced because I've heard it makes for a longer more painful labor, but I also don't want to be pregnant forever so we'll see!

How far along? 39 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  Up 20 lbs overall

Maternity clothes?  Even maternity clothes are uncomfortable now.  I want to wear pajamas all of the time.  A few of my maternity shirts are too small now.

Stretch marks? Nope! 

Sleep:  So very tired.

Best moment this week:  Family coming into town!! :-)

Miss Anything?  Being comfortable.

Movement:  Much less this week, she's cramped.

Food cravings:  Ginger Ale.  

Anything making you queasy or sick: The same things as usual.

Belly Button in or out? Neither but it’s really looking like it wants to pop out!

Wedding rings on or off? On which I am really glad about! 

Happy or Moody most of the time: MOODY :-/

Labor signs?  Unfortunately not. 

Looking forward to:  Holding baby girl!

Nesting!

Pregnancy nesting: A powerful urge felt by pregnant women to prepare their home for baby by cleaning and decorating. 

This pregnancy symptom was one that had eluded me, until now, at 39 weeks.  Yes, I wanted to decorate and finish the nursery, but it wasn't so much a powerful urge, just something that needed to be done before Baby came, and I love decorating.  But today I did not want to go to work, not because I wanted to just stay in bed or go shopping (most common reasons I don't want to go to work) but because I want to clean my house!

The past week I have been so impatient for Baby Girl to get here.  But today my thoughts are "I can't go into labor yet, my house is a mess!"  I cannot wait to get home from work today to pick up!  I'm not about to start scrubbing things but I don't want any clutter.  I have a massive to do list growing in my head.  I'm even obsessing about the fact that I left the ironing board out this morning. 

On the plus side they do say that nesting is one of the final stages of labor so maybe the end is near and she won't hang out in there till Valentine's Day!

Now what?

Everyone kept telling me this baby would come early.  So we prepared for her to come really early.  We got her furniture set up, packed the hospital bag, installed the car seat, bought everything on the new baby checklist, but now what?  We've been done with all of those things for weeks.  So I've just been waiting.  I was happy waiting until 37 weeks when she was considered full term.  But now that she's full term and just hanging out in there I am getting very impatient.

 

The not knowing is getting to me.  We left the nursery this weekend and I told them "we'll be back for a Christmas tree next weekend." Then thought...maybe not.  Maybe baby will be here and we won't be ready to go out tree shopping next weekend.  It's odd to think that I could be pregnant for just one more day or she could be late and I could be pregnant for 3 more weeks (which seems like an eternity!)  I wish babies were able to give an exact date that they would choose to arrive!

In the mean time we are going with some old wives' tales to naturally induce labor.

1.  Walk:  We've been walking the dogs a lot and shopping a lot and I make sure to get up and walk around the office often.  So far walking does not seem to do a thing.

2.  Squats:  Apparently squats can help the hips widen and coax the baby to drop and engage.  I've been doing squats every day during the entire pregnancy since I have heard that they can make labor easier.  I've added some wide sumo squats and stretches to the regimen this week too to hopefully help stretch things out!  I also helped Dan with some yard work this weekend, the only thing that accomplished was the inability to walk up the stairs without grimacing in pain.

3.  Spicy Food: This weekend I topped my chicken with "Devil's Spit" and "Wilbur's Revenge" BBQ sauce.  That just resulted in heart burn.

4.  Exercise Ball:  Apparently sitting on the ball and just moving back and forth and side to side is also supposed to help open up the hips.  I've also added bouncing around on it too to try to get her to come out.  Again, nothing.

5.  Dancing:  Yes, I've been dancing around the house.  Swaying hips are said to get the baby to drop and engage as well, but I think she just enjoys it.

6.  Galloping: Haha, yes, I laughed out loud when I read this one. Apparently some women claim that imitating a horse galloping is what induced labor.  No, I have not tried this one. 

I'm hoping my efforts have at least helped things progress. I'm anxious for Wednesday's appointment to find out!

38 Week Update!

2 weeks till the due date! Time has started to drag.  I feel like I've responded to the "When are you due?" and "How much longer?" a million times with "2 weeks."  I always stop to think...is it really still 2 more weeks?? Yup, it is.  2 weeks seems like an eternity away.

This week Baby Girl is the size of a pumpkin at  19-21 inches and 6-9 lbs!!  She's fully developed and will be able to fully function outside the womb as soon as she decides to do so.

At this point I'm sick of being pregnant, mostly because there doesn't seem to be a point to it anymore. She's fully developed so why is she still hanging out in there???  Come on baby, just come out, we all want to meet you!!!  But she's still nice and cozy in there and doesn't seem to be planning on coming any time soon, although there's no real way of knowing.  She could come tonight or maybe not until December.  The longest the doctors will let her go without inducing is 2 weeks past the due date, that would bring us to 12-12-12 which would be a really cool birthday, but I'd prefer she not hold out for that!

Here are the current standings for the date guesses:

The most popular individual date is November 30th, but 43% of you think she'll come within the next week so I'm hoping you are right!  I really hope Shirley is right and she comes tomorrow ;-)

Dan and I had maternity photos taken last weekend (thanks Rose!)  I had been debating getting them done, I mean what girl doesn't want pictures done when she weighs 20 lbs more than she ever has?  Well I am definitely glad we did it, while there were a few photos that showed how awkward I feel with this giant belly, there were also a lot of really nice ones that document how happy Dan and I are to be able to go through this experience.  I'll share some with you soon! 

How far along? 38 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  Up 20 lbs overall, eeesssshhhhh!

Maternity clothes?  Even maternity clothes are uncomfortable now.  I want to wear pajamas all of the time.  A few of my maternity shirts are too small now.

Stretch marks? Nope! 

Sleep:  what’s that?  Dan hasn’t gotten much sleep this week either because of his schedule, is it bad that I’m kind of happy we are sharing the same sleepy miserableness together?

Best moment this week:  Hearing Baby Girl’s heart beat at the doctor’s, best part about having weekly appointments now!

Miss Anything?  Being comfortable.

Movement:  Mostly at night, while I’m trying to sleep.  We definitely have a night owl on our hands!

Food cravings:  Ginger Ale.  Not cravings so much as the only things that seem appealing: chicken or turkey stew or ravioli or tortellini with broccoli, butter, and salt.  I’ve been wanting cheese pizza too but know better than to eat it with this heart burn.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Anything other than the above.

Belly Button in or out? Neither but it’s really looking like it wants to pop out!

Wedding rings on or off? On which I am really glad about! 

Happy or Moody most of the time: MOODY :-/

Labor signs?  Unfortunately not. 

Looking forward to:  caffeine.

Current Standings!

Currently the popular vote is tied between Baby Girl making an appearance on November 21, 22, or 24th and weight is tied at 6lb 3oz, 6lb 12oz, and 7lb 2oz.  All but one person believes that she will come before her due date so I'm hoping you're right!  And 62% of votes have Baby Girl weighing less than 7 lbs, here's hoping that's the truth too! :-)

 

And yes, I put the votes into Excel so I could make charts, would you expect any less?

In other news, I figured out a way to get my socks on that doesn't take 20 minutes, hurt my back and stomach, and end in a sweaty-out-of-breath mess, so that's pretty exciting!

 

Cast your vote!

Let's forget the stress of the Presidential Election and have a little more fun with this ballot!  When do you think Baby Girl will make her appearance and how much do you think she'll weigh?

Here are some facts to help guide your decision:

I am my mom's oldest and was born 6.5 weeks early and under 5 lbs.

Dan (and Shanna, yes he's a twin) is also his mom's oldest and was also born 6.5 weeks early and under 5 lbs.

Baby Girl's due date is November 28th.

I've had essentially no labor signs aside from one Braxton Hicks contraction about a month ago.

I have gained 19 lbs.

According to the doctor I am currently at 1 centimeter and Baby Girl has not dropped in to position yet.  

Baby Girl is head down.

So what do you think?  Want any more information to make your decision?  Just ask away!

37 Week Update!

Woo Hoo, we've reached full term.  My doctor said to do lots of squats and walk around to get things moving because we're all ready for her now.  3 more weeks till the due date though!

At 37 weeks Baby Girl is the size of a wintermelon  (yes a wIntermelon, not a wAtermelon, although it does look like I have a watermelon stuffed under my shirt) at 18.9 to 20.9 inches and weighs about 6.2 to 9.2 pounds.  For my sake let's hope that the 6 pounds is more accurate than 9 pounds!!!

 

 Not much new is going on with Baby Girl.  She's gaining about half an ounce a day (all the more reason I'd love to welcome her into the world sooner rather than later), practicing some skills: inhaling, exhaling, sucking, gripping and blinking, and getting her first sticky poop ready for her first diaper, fun, fun, fun!

I am as ready as I can possibly be for Baby Girl to get here.  I've had all of the material things ready for a while and I feel like I'm mentally ready for delivery (as ready as anyone who has never experienced it before can be) but now I'm also physically ready.  I have had a pretty easy pregnancy.  Aside from some first trimester complications and a limit on my exercise abilities I really don't have a lot to complain about.  My cravings weren't too insane and I felt as healthy as a pregnant lady can.  But now I'm done.  I am sick of carrying around this extra weight and the random aches and pains and now the absolute lack of sleep.  I just want my body back.  And I don't mean that looks wise, I know it will take awhile to get back to where I was before pregnancy, but I want control of my body back!

Newest lovely pregnancy symptom is hot flashes.  I mean, feeling like I'm in a furnace, hot flashes.  I even resort to sleeping with my windows open when it's below freezing outside and taking breaks at work to go stand out in the 40 degree weather to cool off.

I realize that this all makes it seem like I'm miserable.  I'm really not.  I'm still in super high spirits about having a baby and am so happy, I'm just ready for her to be here and so very very very very very tired.

How far along? 37 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  Up 19 lbs overall.  1 lb gain since last week.

Maternity clothes?  Even maternity clothes are uncomfortable now.  I want to wear pajamas all of the time.

Stretch marks? Nope! 

Sleep:  would be absolutely divine.

Best moment this week:  Hearing Baby Girl’s heart beat at the doctor’s, it was so loud and strong this week.  It was the loudest and clearest it has ever been on the Doppler.  I don’t even remember what she told me the rate was because I was only listening to the heart beat.

Miss Anything?  SLEEP.

Movement:  Mostly at night, while I’m trying to sleep. 

Food cravings:  I haven’t been hungry at all lately.  I generally have to force myself to eat something for breakfast.  Doctor confirmed that Baby Girl hasn’t dropped yet so I’m assuming it’s just because I have a full grown baby squashing my stomach.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Still all the same culprits but we can now add crab to the list which is odd since it was an early craving.

Belly Button in or out? Neither but it’s really looking like it wants to pop out!

Wedding rings on or off? On which I am really glad about! 

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Labor signs?  Nope.  All along I had been happy putting a “Nope” there, but  now I really wish I had something to say! 

Looking forward to:  Not having to sleep on my side!