Growth

Just for some perspective here are my weekly photos from weeks 22-34 (I'm now at 36 weeks). Once I hit the 30's the belly became a bit out of control. You can also really see how chubby my face has gotten the past few weeks  And to think I thought I looked huge back at 25 weeks. I had NO IDEA what was in store and I still have potentially another month to go.  Believe it or not I'm still measuring right on schedule. 

Just thought this was a fun little review of my belly growth over the past 3 months.

Also, can someone explain to me how despite the pre-natal vitamins I've been taking my hair doesn't seem to be getting any longer. I thought pregnancy made your hair grow faster???

Stuff

-We had my in-laws over the other night to watch football (my FIL) and to work on the nursery (my MIL) and we had such a great time. I wish they would come over more often to hang out.

-Bedrest sounds great in theory...forced to relax, yes please...but honestly after about a day it gets annoying, especially when you have a mile long to-do list that you are eager to complete.

-I haven't bought one Christmas present yet and have no idea when I'll start. No one has told me what they want and I don't have the brain power to come up with ideas on my own this year.

-With that said I haven't been able to tell anyone anything that I want because there really isn't anything that I need or want other than maybe a new phone that takes better pictures than my crapberry.

-My mom and older brother get back tonight from their Europe trip so now I don't have to worry about the baby coming early and them missing it. This has actually been a big fear of mine the past week.

-I was really looking forward to decorating our new house for Christmas this year but since I was told to essentially be a couch potato Kristian has had to take the lead on all the decorating. I didn't want to put it off just in case the baby does come early, I want to bring him home to an already decorated house. With that said I think he's actually doing a better job decorating than I would have.

-The nursery is about 90% done and it's looking great. I can't wait to put the finishing touches on it and post pictures.

-Since I've been home I've become obsessed with watching A Baby Story on TLC. I cry every episode. Also, I'm getting more and more nervous to deliver this child.

35 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

 

How Far Along: 35 weeks

*This was taken at my in-laws house during Thanksgiving, I still look really swollen from all the fluids I got in the hospital*

 

Size of baby: According to babycenter.com the baby is about the size of a honeydew melon

 

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds . Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  I refuse to answer this since my weight gain is a bit exaggerated thanks to all the fluids I got in the hospital and Thanksgiving yesterday. I don't even want to weight myself. Maybe next week. 

Maternity Clothes: Maternity clothes and Kristian's clothes for lounging around in. 

Gender: BOY!

 

Movement: Lots of movement, sometimes it's so strong it hurts a bit. Our nieces and nephew got to feel him kick yesterday which was fun. 

What I miss: Right now I miss being able to do anything other than lay around, I feel like there is still so much to do and I can't really do any of it and it's driving me a bit crazy but keeping him inside is more important at this point. 

Sleep: Since I didn't sleep at all in the hospital Tuesday night I've actually slept great the last two nights, my body was exhausted.

Symptoms: Lots of braxton hicks contractions and swelling, I now have cankles.   Also, some nausea on and off. 

Cravings: Nothing really, I don't have much of an appetite. I've been drinking lots of water to stay hydrated and that fills me up. 

Best Moment this week: NOT having the baby on Tuesday night, I really want him to wait until my mom gets back from Europe and until he's further along. Also, Thanksgiving yesterday was really nice. 

What I am looking forward to: Hopefully getting everything done before he arrives. 

Thankful

This year in particular I have so many things to be thankful for. There have been so many exciting and wonderful changes in my life and I'm truly blessed and grateful. So this year I will be giving thanks especially for:

-My amazing, wonderful, loving, handsome husband who treats me better than I ever imagined possible. I still can't believe how lucky I am to have him.

-My sweet baby boy that is (thankfully) still growing in my belly. I'm so excited to meet him and watch him grow up.

-My family, including my in-laws, who have always been so supportive and loving.

-My fur children, Halpert and Moxie, who provide hours of entertainment and unconditional love.

-My house, at this time last year we were stuck in a condo we hated and dreamed of owning a house that we loved, a few months later that dream came true.

-Our jobs, yes it would be great to win the lotto and retire early but in this economy we both know how lucky we are to have jobs that support our growing family.

-And of course our friends who have been there for us for years no matter the ups and downs.

Today we'll be celebrating and stuffing our faces at my in-laws house. Just think, next year there will be a high chair and sweet almost 1 year old baby boy at the table with us. I can't wait!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

False Alarm

This is how I spent my evening last night...

Yep I spent my evening in Labor and Delivery. Fortunately baby is okay and still baking away in mommy's belly where we hope he will stay for a few more weeks at least.

When I was leaving work I went to the bathroom and noticed I was bleeding a bit, since I haven't bled at all during the pregnancy I freaked out a LOT. I left work and called my doctor's office. They told me to go ahead and head to the hospital to get checked out. Between the rain and the holiday/rush hour traffic it took me an hour to get there. I was a little stressed especially since my mother is on vacation in Europe until next week and I have this fear the baby will come while she's gone. I called Kristian, who was already at home, and he met me at the hospital.

When I got there, I went to the bathroom again and this time didn't see any blood which was comforting. They hooked me up to the machines and saw that I was having contractions 2-4 minutes apart!! Most of them I couldn't even feel and the ones I did felt just like my regular braxton hicks, nothing too painful. The nurse checked my cervix and HOLY MOTHER OF SWEET BABY JESUS, that is no joke, it hurts!! Honestly, I think she stuck her whole arm up there because apparently my cervix is very far back. Thankfully I wasn't dilated at all so the nurse didn't think the baby was going to be coming that night.

They thought I was dehydrated so they hooked me up to an IV (that also hurt) and pumped 3 bags into me pretty quickly. I was literally having to get up to pee every 20 minutes from all the fluids. They also gave me a pill to slow down the contractions. After about 3 hours with little change they told me I had to stay overnight.

They moved me into a delivery room and kept me hooked up to the IV all night and would give me more pills throughout in the hopes the contractions would space out. Finally this morning it looked like it was working and my contractions were very irregular and more like 10-15 minutes apart. The doctor determined that I could go home but that I need to basically be on bedrest until my next scheduled appointment next week where they will check me again to see if I'm dilating. I am allowed to go to my in-laws tomorrow for Thanksgiving (they actually live closer to the hospital than we do) but basically I am only allowed to sit around and eat, that I can do! Kristian also basically has to cater to me for the next week.This does however put a big crimp in all the things I planned to get done this weekend for the baby but I guess Kristian can just do it all for me.

I'm very thankful that baby boy didn't arrive early, even though at 35 weeks he would probably be fine, it's better if he can stay in there for a few more weeks. We were both very anxious last night at the thought of him coming right now, I definitely don't feel ready yet and the thought of labor is scaring the shit out of me. This is all getting very very real but at least now we've had our test run so hopefully next time it won't be quite so scary.

Weekend Recap

It's amazing to me that our baby free weekends are rapidly coming to a close so it's important to try cram in as much as we can while we can. I haven't been feeling that great that last few days, as I get closer to D-Day the worse I seem to feel physically so it's been tough getting shit done and just doing anything other than lay on the couch. Here's a quick recap of our weekend.

Friday Night-
-I made my husband take me out to dinner. We haven't been out on a "date" in a while and I felt I was due. We went to a little Mexican place close to our house and I've now discovered the best queso dip in Northern VA. Kristian loved his meal so much I really thought he was going to hug the waiter. I think we'll be going back.

Saturday-

-While my husband and father-in-law went to check out a gun show (yes a real gun show, not the kind where you just show off your biceps) I did some more baby shopping. I decided to check out a baby consignment shop I had heard a lot about. I picked up several little outfits (all in great condition) and only spent $17! When you think that most babies only wear an outfit a couple times before they grow out of it most of this stuff looked almost brand new. My only complaint- they didn't have a public restroom to use...when you have pregnant chicks as your main customer I highly suggest having a bathroom for them to use. Common sense.

Sunday-

-Got up early and dragged Kristian with me to see Breaking Dawn. If we go to the movies (which isn't often) we always go to the early show on the weekend because it's the cheapest....only $6 a ticket as opposed to $12.

-Overall I liked the movie but not nearly as much as I liked the book.  The theater was pretty packed for it being so early and there was a woman at the end of our row who thought it would be a good idea to bring her approximately 4 year old daughter to see the movie (totally not appropriate by the way). Well I guess the child is neither Team Edward or Team Jacob because she started SCREAMING during the movie (and not at a scary part either). The mother just acted totally oblivious until finally people started yelling "Take her out of the theater" or "Leave" before she finally got up and took the child out. By the way, nobody said anything for about 5 minutes, all hoping she would settle down, when the screaming got louder that's when people started to get pissed.

**Here's the thing I get that kids are going to throw tantrums and it sucks for the parent but you need to be a responsible adult and take your child out if you're in a theater or restaurant or other public place and they throw a fit (if you're on a plane and literally cannot go anywhere that's different). I know it's inconvenient but it's not fair to ruin the experience for those around you. Rant over.

-I spent the afternoon, washing baby clothes and working on a DIY project for the nursery while Kristian slept in his recliner watching football

So that was our weekend in a nutshell. I'm hoping to get a lot more accomplished on the baby prep front during the long holiday weekend as well as start decorating for Christmas. We'll see if my energy level can match my to-do list.

34 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

 

How Far Along: 34 weeks

*Despite my hugeness I'm still measuring right on schedule according to my doctor's appt. yesterday*

 

Size of baby: According to babycenter.com the baby is about the size of a cantaloupe (this feels about right)

 

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is almost 18 inches long. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he's born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever. His central nervous system is maturing and his lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies (this is comforting!)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +28 pounds approximately. I suspect Thanksgiving next week will definitely push me over the 30 pound gain mark.

Maternity Clothes: Yep and I'm already sick of the few outfits that I keep having to rotate but I refuse to buy more clothes to just wear for a month.

Gender: BOY!

 

Movement: He's still quite the mover and shaker and his movements are getting stronger by the day. You can just see my belly dancing around which is neat.

What I miss: My cute winter clothes and boots that no longer fit. I'm so sick of wearing the same few outfits over and over. Also being able to roll over easily in bed, it's a huge production to get comfortable every night.

Sleep: Still not great but I'm getting use to the lack of sleep.

Symptoms: Same as always. The braxton hicks seem to be increasing in frequency and the swelling is getting worse. I had to retire my wedding bands this past weekend :(

Cravings: Anything liquid, I'm ALWAYS thirsty.

Best Moment this week: Washing all the baby blankets and a lot of the clothes-Nesting has kicked in full force. Also, the changes/additions we've done to the nursery. It's so close to being done and I LOVE it! Can't wait to share pictures.

What I am looking forward to: my maternity leave! Work has been so busy lately that I can't wait to take my 6 weeks and just focus on my little guy. It will be the longest I've gone without work and/or school since I was 15. Not that taking care of a newborn is a vacation by any means but it will be a nice break.  

**Starting in 3 weeks I will be having my weekly appointments and they will be checking my cervix each time to see if I'm dilating. I'm not looking forward to the actual checks since I hear they can hurt but I am curious to see if/how much I'm dilating.**