Archive for the ‘Pregnancy’ Category

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39 Weeks

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

Total Weight Gain: 33 lbs.

Pregnancy Woes this week: heartburn is horrible.  I will be so happy once it is done.  I get heartburn from just drinking water, and sometimes it feels like from mere breathing.

Happy times this week: The anticipation!

Belly Button Status:  Pops in and out depending on her position.

Food Cravings:  nothing.

Dr. Visits:  OB visit Wednesday.  I’m still 1cm, so no progress.

Labor Signs: I’ve started having back pain with the contractions.  They are still just braxton hicks, since I’m not progressing.  Oddly enough this week it seems like things went backward, less cramping, less contracting, less pelvic pain.  Maybe she changed her mind about coming out into the world…oh well Bella, we are coming to get you on Monday.

Projects I worked on this week:  Trying to keep my mind occupied.  It’s a full time job.

Looking Forward to: Tomorrow!!!  Tomorrow I can hold my Isabella.

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38 Weeks

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Total Weight Gain: 30 lbs.

Pregnancy Woes this week: contractions and more contractions.

Happy times this week: We got a TIME and are actually scheduled for the induction.  Wa-hoo.

Belly Button Status:  It’s actually gone back in quite a bit since she flipped head down.

Food Cravings:  salads.  weird.

Dr. Visits:  OB visit Tuesday.  We had an ultrasound and she has turned head down, wayyyyy down.  Head grinding against pelvis, going to fall out when I walk kind of down.  She weighs about 6 lbs.  One reading said 5lbs 14 oz, the other said 6 lbs.  Still in the 30th percentile.  And I am now a “loose” 1cm dilated.  The doctor said this should be good for the induction, and she said she didn’t expect it to take too long.  Hm, I’m not getting my hopes up.

Labor Signs: False alarm on Thursday.  I started timing the contractions at 10am and they were consistently 10 minutes apart.  Then they got down to 7 minutes.  Then to 5, like clockwork.  I drank 2 bottles of water and took a  nap.  They continued through the nap, so when I woke up I took a bath.  They continued at 5 minutes apart through the bath.  But I couldn’t see going to the hospital because they didn’t hurt and they weren’t increasing in intensity.  Eventually around 9 pm they tappered off and were completely gone over the night.  This whole labor thing is confusing.  Couldn’t she have a light that says “I’m done” with a little “ding” sound.  That would be very helpful.

Projects I worked on this week:  Re-nesting the nest.  If only these dogs would stop pooping on the floor!  They have no sense of respect for a freshly mopped floor.

Looking Forward to: February 15th at 12:30!

9 days until delivery!  (single digits!!  omg!)

look who's ready for a baby sister...

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Date and Time

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

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Craziness

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Minnie joins in the Nesting Craze

Pregnancy can make you do crazy things.  I spent the entire day obsessively cleaning EVERYTHING.  From the baseboards, to shampooing carpets, to door casings.  Everything must be pristine for Bella!

Now that I am full term there is this new sense of – what if she comes right now, in five minutes, today?  I know most first time moms go past their due date, so there is no logical reason I should think she would come before our set delivery date.  Yet there is the “what if” factor.  It’s difficult to deal with.  For the next 2 weeks I feel like I have to be completely ready in every way at the drop of a hat for Isabella to be here.

The thank you notes have to be finished and mailed, there can be no dishes in the sink, laundry must be folded, everything in order exactly where it should be – all ready for the guest of honor.  It’s like having royalty visitors on their way, but you don’t know when they will arrive.  And it’s beginning to wear on my mental state.

Just up the street from my house the city is putting in new culverts in a canal.  We live on a dead end street.  The other day while they were working on this canal they tore up the entire street.  I pulled up and saw the gapping hole across both lanes of my little road and proceeded to freak out.  I called my husband crying because “how can they block off an entire road, I’m pregnant and I could be in labor right now!”  I wasn’t in labor.  But the fact remains that I COULD have been.  Turns out they were directing traffic to drive straight through someone’s front yard to get around.  So I wasn’t trapped.  Whew.  It was a close call.  If those workers only knew they were about 5 seconds away from having a crazy pregnant woman yelling in their face.

I don’t think I can take 2 more weeks of this craziness.  Maybe it will calm down once I get every possible duck in it’s row.

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37 Weeks

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Total Weight Gain: 28 lbs. (lost another pound, not sure how)

Pregnancy Woes this week: contractions, heartburn, her movements are now somewhat painful – there’s just no room to be doing cartwheels in there now Isabella!

Happy times this week: She’s full term!  My husband had a surprise shower thrown for him at work this week.  It was fun, but he is IMPOSSIBLE to surprise.

Belly Button Status:  the same.

Food Cravings:  I’ve been loving my pasteurized goat cheese lately.

Dr. Visits:  OB appointment Monday.  She checked me and said I was 1 cm dilated and she’s still breech, so it will be a c-section.  At the hematologist on Wednesday I found out that I needed another transfusion, so Thursday was transfusion day.

Labor Signs: Well I was 1cm dilated on Monday and on Tuesday I had the “bloody show” and lost my mucous plug.  Since then it’s been lots of contractions.  But they aren’t following a regular pattern yet.

Projects I worked on this week:  Nesting kicked into high gear.  I cleaned just about every square inch of the house, including the garage.  You can’t bring a baby home to a cluttered garage you know.

Looking Forward to: Now I’m just looking forward to Isabella being here.

2 weeks until delivery!

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36 Weeks

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

Total Weight Gain: 29 lbs.  (I lost a pound this week)

Pregnancy Woes this week:  Cramps, funny vision anomalies, and the usual…

Happy times this week: The 3-D ultrasound was really cool this week (my cousin is in training to be an ultrasound tech, so I get them for free!)

Belly Button Status:  the same.

Food Cravings:  I’ve been loving my pasteurized goat cheese lately.

Dr. Visits:  OB appointment Monday where we set the date of February 15th.  Everything looking good.

Labor Signs: BH are getting more frequent.  I started timing them the other day and sometimes they were less than 5 minutes apart, but it didn’t last. Sometimes they are crampy and hurt, other times just tightening.   She’s “dropped,” so maybe that’s a good labor sign.  Some days this week I’ve had cervical pain so I’m hoping that I’ll find out I’m a little dilated at next Monday’s appointment.  Who knows.  I think interpreting labor signs is about like reading tea leaves…

Projects I worked on this week:  Got the car seat installed!  After nearly an hour and a half with a state police trooper I am now officially a car seat installation expert.  Put together pack and play, which was NOT meant for a 36 week pregnant person to do.

Looking Forward to: Next week’s OB appointment.  Next week she’ll be full term!

3 weeks until delivery!  23 days!  (Deja vu)

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2 steps forward, 1 step back

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Monday we went to the doctor to get a date.  It was supposed to be the week of the 8th, so that I can get a transfusion before going into spontaneous labor.  Well aparently something changed because the date is now February 15th!  The OB said that the MFM recommended waiting until the 39th week and because of that she couldn’t legally induce sooner.  I understand that the longer she bakes, the better things are for her health.  And the pregnancy hasn’t gotten so bad that I’m dying for her to come out yet.  It’s just that I like my planning…and when anything changes with my plans it freaks me out.  If the week of the 15th had been the date all along, I would have no problem.  But I don’t like things changing this late in the game.

In other news I have “dropped”.  Saturday she actually turned head down for a few hours, but then turned back around.  I thought it looked like she had dropped, but I wasn’t sure if it was possible to drop with a head up baby.  The doctor confirmed that I had indeed dropped.  And today I have cramping and lower pelvic pain that feels like she is going to fall out when I stand up or walk.  I had always thought Bella was going to stay snuggled in the uterus until we induced, but now I am starting to wonder if she’ll come sooner than the 39 weeks.  And that has me worried about what happens with the transfusion if I go into labor before the 15th.  I should have asked the doctor this last week, but I was too shocked by the news of “another week” to ask questions.

I’ve also started this crazy over the top nesting thing.  At night after work I feel like I’m on speed and have to get EVERYTHING done right now this second, can’t wait.  I must wash everything and clean everything and organize everything.  And did I already wash that?  I think it should be re-washed.  I was so excited for the 24 season premier.  But I could not enjoy any of it.  I was running around washing and folding and sewing and trying to watch Jack.  Even a nuclear threat couldn’t keep me interested long enough to sit still.

And don’t get me started on the hospital bag.  Every night I go through the list of necessities and take things out of the bag, put them back in to make sure I have it all.  I go over the list again to be sure nothing was forgotten.  And I find myself going over the list at night thinking I am forgetting something.  I am fully expecting that when it is time to go to the hospital we forgot the entire perfectly packed hospital bag.

I feel like I am so ready for her, yet she is a world away.  In my mind these 4 weeks that seperate us feel like 4 years.  Isabella, I am just so excited to meet you!

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35 Weeks

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Total Weight Gain: 30 lbs.  (what happened this week?!?  It must have been the picadilly)

Pregnancy Woes this week: Headache from hell that laughs at tylenol.  “Mwah-ha-ha” it says.

Happy times this week: Seeing Bella on the ultrasound and hearing that she is doing great.  Shopping for her final necessities.

Belly Button Status:  sensitive.  Don’t touch!

Food Cravings: nothing particular.

Dr. Visits:  So I had a headache the entire week.  It was a never-ending headache.  Wednesday I started to get concerned about it and called the nurse.  She told me to call the Hematologist since it could be my anemia.  The hematologist moved up my appointment to this Thursday.  I went in and had my usual blood test.  My hemoglobin was still pretty good, so it was unlikely that it was anemia.  The hematologist called the OB so they could talk about what could be causing the headache.  But while she waited on hold we talked and she figured out that the medicine I was on has a side effect of headaches.  Doh.  I’m stupid.  She also noticed that my white blood cells were increasing and wanted me to get checked for a UTI.  I love her.  Most doctors don’t care about anything outside of their specialty, but she really cares. When I went to the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor that afternoon and I also left a urine specimen with the OB.  Turns out I had a bad UTI with blood in my urine.  This explains why my kidneys are hurting.  Doh again.  So I guess it’s a good thing I went in for the headache.  At the MFM everything was great.  She is on the same growth curve, 30th percentile, and is weighing 4 lbs 10 oz.  She had hair!  Also still head up.  No more MFM appointments so we can scratch one doctor off the list!

Labor Signs: More BH.  They are getting more frequent.  One night my husband touched my belly button and it threw my stomach into a crazy BH frenzy all night.  But then it went back to normal around 2am.

Projects I worked on this week:  No more crafts, just getting the nursery organized and everything washed.  There is so much to wash!

Looking Forward to: Setting a delivery date at my Monday OB appointment!

Only 3 weeks until delivery!  21 days!

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34 Weeks

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

Total Weight Gain: 25 lbs.

Pregnancy Woes this week: just the usual.

Happy times this week: Baby Shower!  Prenatal Massage!

Belly Button Status:  same.  no longer interesting.

Food Cravings: nothing particular.

Dr. Visits:  Saw the Hematologist Tuesday, my Hb dropped by a point.  No need for transfusion at this point, but if continues to drop, might need one at next visit, or before delivery.  Wednesday I saw the OB.  Everything is still looking good.  She said that at the next visit she will check my cervix and check if Bella is head down or not.  We’ll probably also set a concrete date for induction at the next visit.  I scheduled out my 3 remaining OB visits for the pregnancy.  It feels so weird, now there is a definite end in sight.  She wanted to move up my next MFM appointment to next week.  She claims the belly is still measuring small…I think her tape measure needs calibrating.

Labor Signs: A quiet week.  Some BH, but nothing interesting.

Projects I worked on this week:  Finished the flannel blankets.  Now I’m done with all my crafting projects before she gets here.

Looking Forward to: Ultrasound at the MFM next week.  I wonder how much she’ll weigh???

Only 4 weeks until delivery!  28 days!

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The State of the Belly

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Last night as I was making myself a breadstick I burnt my baby on the oven door…while she’s still inside me.  This is not looking good for my parenting skills.  I misjudged the size of my belly and leaned over to check on the breadstick a bit to close and my belly touched the inside of the oven door.  Then I lifted my shirt to check if it left a burn mark.  But I have no clue if it did, why?  Because the underside of my belly is as distant and remote to me as the other side of the moon.

When I look down at my belly it really doesn’t seem THAT big.  But when I catch a glance from the side in a mirror, I think “where the hell did THAT come from.”  At least now I can’t complain that random people tell me I look too small for how far along I am.  Lately random people at the gas station and such seem to think I’m going to go into labor any minute.  It’s so funny that maybe a month ago I was scared about a small belly and now I am expecting a phone call from the post office any day that my rotund midsection requires it’s own zip code.

I’m glad my belly only decided to pop out in it’s massive glory late in the pregnancy though.  Now I only have about a month of this belly.  And this belly is not fun.  It adds a layer of complexity to every day tasks.  Putting on tennis shoes now requires a good 10 minutes, a firm seat to sit on, lots of huffing and puffing, a few grunts, and patience.  I am trying to wear slip on flats every day for the rest of the pregnancy.  If only the weather would cooperate with me.  AND the weather…  It’s 30 degrees outside, everyone else is bundled up in sweaters and coats.  I walk outside in a long sleeve cotton shirt and a coat.  Immediately sweating, so I take off the coat.  Still sweating, so i push up the sleeves, and good god, who made 30 degrees feel like 80?  Someone is playing tricks on me!  AND the sweating…  No matter how much deodorant I put on and no matter how strong it is, I still sweat bullets every day.  I bought the super-strong deodorant that has like 40% of the antiperspirant active ingredient, and I slather it on daily.  Years from now my arm pits will grow eyeballs from all the Aluminum zirconium tricholorohydrex glycine I used during pregnancy.

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