Happy Halloween

Well today is my day in our online baby pool. I would have loved to win but I'm afraid nothing's doin' down there. I'm still having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions. Also, he does this thing where (I'm assuming it's stretching) he pushes out his little bum super hard- it feels like a contraction but it's only in one spot. I had a lovely lunch with my sister- eggplant parm of course- now is no time to stop trying all these old wives tales. If you really think about it, he's not even due yet. He still has 4 more days. When I think about how scary preemies look in the hospital or the kind of complications they can have, I'm actually grateful. I just have to stay in the mindset that I am so lucky to have a healthy body that will nurture a baby for so long. Plus, Jody told me that he doesn't want the baby to have a Halloween birthday. I guess he's right- I have an uncle with a Halloween Bday and he always seemed a little weird...and smelled like pickles. Today is a wonderful, glorious day. It was my last day of work! Yep- I'm officially on Maternity leave. I walked out those doors today, in the 60 degree weather and I was so happy I almost cried. The 1st of the month is kind of a big day in our house. Our "dating anniversary" was April 1st and our kitty's birthday is March 1st. Maybe baby Justin is just waiting for 11/1 so that he can keep the consistency.

39 wk appt

I'm off "sick" again so I'll blog =) I had my Dr's appt this morning. Everything is still going well. I had a little scare because of the nurse. She told me that my blood pressure (which averages like 120 over 75'ish) had jumped to 140 over 92. I'm no nurse but I know that blood pressure is one of the "things to watch" at the end of pregnancy. When my Dr came in for the internal exam he took my BP 4 times throughout our checkup and each time it came up around my normal rate- he averaged it at 120/74. He said the original reading may have just been a fluke. phew! As predicted, my weight gain has finally slowed down. I've only gained 1 lb in 3 weeks. I'm not dilating yet but I'm "more than half way thinned". I really thought I would be at least 1 b/c of all the contractions I've been having. I guess they are still those Braxton Hicks. It's not like they hurt- it's just that my tummy gets rock hard like it's flexing and then I feel a little pressure down below. He reassured me (like everyone else) that dilation means nothing. He said that with the baby's head being engaged so low he has a feeling that he will come this weekend. He said he'd bet me a buck that he comes Saturday. I wonder if he was just telling me what he thought I wanted to hear. Oh well- I'll take it.

39 weeks!

Wow- could this be my last "belly pic Tuesday" post? I sure hope so. I'm just so, so, so excited to meet our son- he can't come soon enough. I have become that crazy pregnant woman that will try anything to get the baby out. I've eaten spicy food and eggplant parm. several times. I've been drinking 2 cups a day of raspberry leaf tea and taking Evening Primrose supplements. My sister loaned me her exercise ball so I bounce lightly on that while I watch TV. I make every excuse to use the walk and use stairs at work (taking them in wide lunge kind of steps.) I researched some accupressure points and massaged my hands/ankles. The truth of the matter is that this little guy will come when he wants... I know. I have a Dr's appt tomorrow morning so hopefully I get a good update. I was feeling pretty grumpy today so I booked 1 last maternity massage- maybe it will relax all my muscles and start labor! I really thought it would be today. It was my dad's guess and Gram's guess- aka the feast of St Jude. Jody has this visor clip/pendant of St Jude and I looked the guy right in the eyes this morning and said, "ok, do your stuff"...nothing. I have good hope for tomorrow because it's Linda's guess (notoriously psychic when it comes to baby info) and Jessica's guess. We'll see! Well- here's the pic, I think the bump looks small and low today.

ew

It's 11:30pm on Sunday...already. Where do weekends go? I don't want to go to work tomorrow! Oh well, at least it's the start of my last week before my leave. Thank God!!! There are no guesses on the baby pool for tomorrow- guess it doesn't sound like a good birthday =)

Single digits

9 days until baby Justin's due date. I can't believe it's single digits already. I've had a lot of tightening in my stomach the last 3 days or so. Nothing that's "time-able" or painful thought. Poor Jody, yesterday was his baby pool guess that he was so confident about. It was funny because I woke up with the stomach tightening and a pretty bad backache yesterday. Immediately I thought, "Holy crap, he was right this whole time!" Well despite cleaning the house and then walking for about an hour(in stores b/c it was so gross out)nothing happened. Jessica even brought over an exercise ball that I bounced a little on while I watched TV b/c I read that can help "guide" the baby down to where he needs to be. I just hate the "not knowing" feeling. The baby has been hiccup crazy for the last few days- getting them 3 or 4 times a day. I hope this means he's excited to come out and he's well on his way.

Let the game begin!

It's not too late to get in on our baby pool! I can't believe it but our first "guess" is for tomorrow! Okay, so it's Jody's guess and I think he just got a little too excited for the baby but hey, you never know. My weird pregnancy symptom of the day is numb thumb. Last night we carved pumpkins and I realized I lost feeling in my right thumb. Well, 20 hours later it's still not back... it feels SO weird. From what I've read I think it means that the baby is just sitting on a nerve.

Good day!

At like 1am last night I realized I should have asked my Dr's office if they could fit me in for Thurs (today) instead of next week when there was no appts. Sure enough I got up this morning, called when the office opened and they were able to get us in for 1pm today. Jody even got to take an extended lunch to come with me =)

The tech said that she hasn't seen this much movement from such a big baby in a long, long time. Yep- that's our boy, he's a squirmer! Oh and he is definitely a boy. I asked if we could just peek there real quick and there were indeed boy parts. Even though it was confirmed 100% at 19 weeks I just wanted a little more assurance. What I thought was pushing/squirming actually turns out that it's a contraction. Sweet- let's go baby.

For a growth ultrasound they measure several areas on the baby (head, belly, bum etc...)and then they measure the fluid levels. The computer averages all the measurements and comes up with a number. At just over 38 weeks baby Justin is 7lbs 14 oz. His measurements are in the 79th percentile. The tech said that if I go to 40 weeks he would be about 9 lbs. My guess is the baby pool was 8lbs 11 oz at 5 days early. I think I'll be pretty darn close. She said that his head is very low. We got to see him taking his "practice breaths" so that's a very good sign for his lungs.

I have no pictures because the poor little guy is so smushed in there you couldn't see much of what was what.

Mood swing

Okay, so I played hooky (hookey? how do you spell it?) today from work because I had a mid-morning Dr's appt, like the previous post says. I figured I deserve a day or 2 to relax before the baby gets here and enjoy my last few moments of silence. Ugh- wrong. All I can think about is how bad I want the baby to come. Everything is ready and just waiting, including me. My "impatience" has grown into quite a bit of grumping over the day. I don't know how I'm going to wait this out. I know, I know- it's already been 38 weeks, what's a few more days, right? NO! I am just DYING to know when "the day" is going to be. I just have this bad feeling he's going to be late and I can't imagine 3 more weeks of waiting and wondering! AHHHHHH!!! I'm going bananas over here!

Alright- mood swing/vent over, thanks for reading.

Appt

Today I had my weekly Dr's appt. The Dr that I met with today I really like (I rotate at a group practice). He looks and talks like Dr. Drew, from that old show Loveline. He never really gives me the %'s/numbers as far as progress goes but he's really nice. He said that he can feel the baby's head up in my cervix. Anyways, this is the 2nd Dr to point out that it feels "a really good size baby is packed in there" so he ordered an ultrasound for my next appt. I know that those ultrasounds can be "off" so I wouldn't make any bets based on it but I was SOO excited. I never thought I was going to get another ultrasound and even just a quick peek at the baby would make this wait a little easier. Then I get home and re-check my appt card, the receptionist made the appt for the wrong week (11/4 instead of 10/28) when I called to fix the error there were no appts open for next week =( My office only does ultrasounds on Tues or Thurs. The woman on the phone was really nice and said to call back Monday and see if there were any cancels. I love baby Justin and I honestly love being pregnant but I am getting veeeeery impatient to meet him.

38 weeks!

This time is just flying! I am dying to see our baby! I feel so, so overwhelmed with excitement. I just can't wait to see what/who he looks like and how big he is. I've been trying to do lots of walking to hopefully "get things going". I went fishing with Jody, my dad and Jake the other day and took quite a good hike down to the 18 mile creek. I have a Dr's appt tomorrow morning so we'll just wait and see. Jody and I had a great afternoon- we went out to lunch and took a little drive out to get some apples from the cider mill. My left hip joint hurts pretty bad today. It kinda feels like the bones are rubbing together when I walk. I guess that Gram warned Jody about this- that I would have "adjusting" pains, but it was a good sign that the baby is on his way. Woohoo! A few baby pool guesses are within the next week, it's so weird! I took a side and front shot this week so you can see how low my belly is dipping. Hopefully it will encourage people NOT to get multiple navel piercings- I have 2 ugly scars above my belly button, as you will see =(

Lazy bum

Who knows how much longer until D-day... the baby is waay low. My pants (and undies, haha) keep rolling down because my belly is sloped downward a little now. It's quite an effort to keep them up- but it's for the good of all mankind that I keep on top of it and don't expose my giant bum. I just wish there was a little timer or alarm that would tell me exactly how much time I have left. I'm kinda sorta a "planner" and it's been tough not knowing exact dates.

I'm starting to think that nesting is either A.) a myth or B.) something that just hasn't hit me yet. Don't get me wrong- I like to have a clean house but I think nesting is always shown as this giant pregnant woman scrubbing her floors with a toothbrush. I am just way too tired for that. I have long surpassed what I originally planned as a healthy weight gain. I don't regret 1 single Reese cup or french fry but I gotta say- life is pretty tough this big/pregnant. I know that the swollen feet, the shortness of breath and the bad balance things are all normal but it's just so weird when it's you. Usually I HATE sitting around but these days I find myself crawling into bed mid-day just to "rest". I've gotten the hang of getting a little momentum before rolling over or getting up off the couch- I wish I could see myself. Even now, I'm only blogging because I needed an excuse for a "break". I just vacuumed and thought I was going to have a heart attack!

Happy Sweetest Day!

I know it's some made up Hallmark holiday (that I learned in college is a WNY only thing) but eh- I still like it. Judge me if you will. Who wouldn't want an excuse to be just a little extra mushy even if it's just for a few minutes? Today is also one week until Jody's "predicted" due date. Ever since like March he has sworn that the baby would come 10/25. I'm not totally convinced that Justin will make his arrival that soon but you better believe I have everything packed and ready just in case.

Growth update

Every week you get to see "how big is baby" in relation to a fruit or vegetable- it's been kinda cute. Well this week I get my last one. They just kind of clump the last month together. I feel like it was just yesterday that he was just a poppyseed- now he's a watermelon!

Weeks 37-Delivery (Month 9): Watermelon




At week 37, your pregnancy is considered full term, meaning baby is likely to thrive after birth. Baby spends these last weeks in preparation for the outside world… meaning careful refinement of the blink, suck, inhale and exhale. Meconium, which you’ll probably find in the first diaper, is accumulating in the intestines. If (okay, as) you worry about giving birth, consider what it’s like for the little one. During the journey out of your womb, baby will produce more stress hormones than any other time in life.

Stick a fork in him...he's "done"

Yep- that's right, 37 weeks aka FULL TERM. I can't believe it. Now he's just hanging out in there putting on some more weight. I know I should knock on wood but once again I luck out with my wonderful pregnancy. My fat feet have pretty much went away. They are still a little swollen at the end of the day but nothing like last week. I've been walking more and drinking a ton of water- I think it's helping. Tomorrow is another Dr's appt so I'm excited to see if I've "made any progress". Also tomorrow night is Legally Blonde at Sheas- woohoo! I'm super excited. And what does a big full term belly look like you ask? Like this...

Weirdest "Compliment" ever.

..."You have a great pelvis!"

Today was my 1st internal appt. As I suspected my lil peanut is in the head down position with his little fanny pushing out just above my belly button. My feet are still ugly but apparently normal and healthy. The nurse went to measure the fundal height (that's pubic bone to top of uterus for you non preggos) and she looks and me and says, "wow! you're really full in there." My fundal height was measuring right on track but apparently I feel very "full and compact". She went on to do the internal and that's when I got the "compliment" about my pelvis. She told me not to let anyone order an ultrasound (there are 5 Dr's at my office) to try to scare me about the baby's weight- she said that they're usually inaccurate and I should be just fine. I guess my body was just built for this big baby. I'm not dialated yet but my cervix is thinned to 50%. I got a lil packet info about "the big day" (parking, signing in etc...) it's so close!

I am BEYOND excited. Plus Jody talked to his boss today- between his paternity leave and vacation he will have almost a whole month off paid leave when Justin gets here. I couldn't be happier. I have been daydreaming about it all day now. Our little family- spending our 1st month together. It will be just starting to snow,I'll make cookies with hot chocolate, Jody and I will snuggle on the couch watching a movie with baby Justin sleeping in my arms. I don't know what I did to deserve a life like this but I feel like the luckiest woman alive.

Yabba Dabba Do! (36 weeks)

Great- last night while I was sleeping someone cut off my feet and replaced them with Fred Flintstone's feet. It's not that my feet hurt or anything, they just look soo ugly. Normally I have very bone-y (and vein-y, sorry I know, it's gross)feet. Now they look like 2 cooked sausages, haha! Oh well...good bye ankles- see you in a few weeks =)

Here is my 36 week belly pic. I wanted my work clothes off ASAP so I got brave and went bare tummy- oooh!

It's a Miracle...

The nursery is finished. I can't believe it! I'm not one to toot my own horn but it looks fantastic. I don't know if it's a mental thing (knowing it's for the baby)- but it feels so sweet and relaxing in that room. The rest of my house still looks like a Tornado hit it but at least this one room is "ready". Now I'm 10 million times more excited! Here is a before and after pic. (I used to use it for crafts/sewing projects so it was a disaster, haha)

Whoa- tomorrow?!?!

...Is exactly 1 month from my due date. Now I know that a due date is only an estimate and most people can give or take 2 weeks but that's pretty darn exciting! Tonight Gram and Linda both told me I look really "low". Hopefully that means baby Justin is moving down to where he needs to be. My original guess was 10/31 but for some reason the date 11/6 has been sticking out in my head. I think he's going to be fashionably late.

Today my dad was over so he helped me set up the window treatments for the nursery. They look just adorable. I feel a little better compared to last night's hysterical breakdown. I was putting away laundry, I folded up all the baby blankets/towels from the shower and then it hit me... I have no where to put these. I looked at all the shower gifts, still in boxes/bags in the living room and my crazy kitchen (our new oven is being installed) and I just lost it. Our house looks like a disaster zone- it hasn't been this messy since we've moved in. I have lots of projects this weekend, haha.