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!