Here was us bright and early this morning
So far I've just had one dose of the antibiotics, an ultrasound that showed he's still head down, and lots of monitoring.
My trusty pressure point rubber.
Alright, going for a walk. Could be a long day, but looking forward to meeting our little boy!
Weight gained: 20lbs
How I'm feeling: Kind of annoyed, I hate this suspense and the waiting just goes on and on! But still feeling good. Walked an hour on the treadmill yesterday, did weights today. It's a beautiful day today, Doug and I are planning on going up to my parents. I've been torn between feeling kinda stir crazy at home, but also not wanting to be too far from the hospital. But now it's like, screw it, who knows when/if anything is going to happen! Still feeling Braxton Hicks, but that's about it. I'm trying to remember my hypnobirthing stuff and 'trust my body' and trust my baby knows when it's time to be born. It is hard for a control-freak type of person though. It was interesting to see that a 40 week baby's brain is 2/3rds bigger than a 38 week baby, so I know this time is still valuable for him.
Doug has been so awesome. Massaging my back and feet, helping me vacuum, errands and grocery runs. I asked him to pick up a brownie mix and look at this:
what a guy!
Midwife news: Yesterday's appointment we did another non-stress test, baby still doing good. The exam showed dilated 2+cm's and same 70% effaced. They are making me schedule the induction, so at the latest we'll meet him on the 26th or 27th. So this is my last weekly update! Doug and I have been trying all the old wives tales to get labor going, but obviously, nothing working yet. The craziest one is this 'nipple stimulation', they say to do that for 1-3 hours a day, excuse me?? Ain't nobody got time for that!?! And then they suggest to 'borrow' a friend's baby and let them 'nurse' to stimulate the oxytocin, yeah, I don't think I have any friends willing to do that either. Kind of funny. So we wait!
Days till due date: -7
Here was me on my due date. But since no baby, off I went to work.
They actually had a nice little luncheon for me and gave me a couple nice things
Weight gained: 20lbs
Cravings: Another run was made for lemon icies!
How I'm feeling: Pretty good, I stopped the inclines/declines on my treadmill workouts, I think that's what made my back hurt so bad that day. Feeling more "uncomfortable", but overall still pretty good. I do seem to be obsessive about dust and crumbs in the house now, Doug helped me a lot while I was working with a to-do list and vacuuming.
Midwife news: So today I went for more tests. They did an ultrasound which showed baby is about 7.5lbs, and I have plenty amniotic fluid left. Then a non-stress test which showed some 'contractions' (Braxton Hicks?) and baby's heart was responding well, praise God. Then she did another exam. This one showed I am 1.5cm dilated, 70% effaced, soft cervix, and baby is LOA (good position, not back to my back). Yay. She said she would be surprised if I had to be induced because it looked like stuff is happening. So that's great!
The ultrasound wasn't actually as cool as I thought it'd be, he's so big now so it was just looking at random parts here and there. And his head is down so no face shots.
Apparently this is his hand (4 fingers there)
and his little back
awwwww
Otherwise, we wait. And I go back to work tomorrow. Boo, but oh well, I've got to be getting near the end! I did get a massage yesterday where this lady rocked it out on my ankles with some reflexology. But it's all on baby's timetable.
I was worried about him coming on his cousin's birthdays, one is today which I'm pretty sure is off the table, the other one Friday... we shall see! Can't do much about it. In 3 days they do all those same tests on me again, which seems a bit excessive, but I guess I'll have another peek at where things stand.
Days till due date: -3
(blast from the past same sweater! - hope to see you again someday flat stomach!!!)
Weight gained: 22 lbs, I gained 4 lbs in 2 days and most of it went right to my feet. I had the busiest day at work yesterday that I've ever had and had huge cankles when I got home :( it was really nice though, Doug drew me a hot bath and set up all these candles for me to lay in there and relax... :)
How I'm feeling: Well, slightly worse, but still pretty good. The kicks are more kicks vs gentle nudges. I feel like I even have a perma-bruise up on my right side of my belly! I really hope the swelling/water weight doesn't get too crazy, nothing worse than being all bloated, swollen and edematous.
Midwife news: My midwife today said that I am 1cm dilated, I always thought the first cm was kinda a gimme, but a friend said she went in at 0 so I should be thankful! She also said it looks like baby's back is lying on my back which apparently isn't good. She recommended different positions (like kneeling on all 4s) to get him to roll over. I'm actually pretty annoyed because he's been in this position for weeks and shouldn't someone have mentioned that earlier so I could be doing these moves?? Anyway, I also saw this online, which perfectly describes me, so maybe it's not so terrible.
Let's hope that's true! She did say he's still pretty high up and didn't venture any guesses of when anything was going down. So we wait! I spent an hour on my hands and knees today and scheduled a chiropractor appointment my doula suggested, so hopefully anything I can do to help.
Days till due date: 4 (when did that happen?!)
Still hoping he comes before so I don't have to go in to work, but thinking that's the way it's going to be. We shall see!
Random gifts received: 2 more. One a Willow Tree statue, the one with the man and woman holding a new baby and from someone else this large blue elephant
...ummm, bright baby blue is not really my style, I was thinking he might not stick around too long, but then I saw he might also be September's new best friend
awwwwww, maybe he can stay a little longer
We really like the bright pop of color and trees.
So I'd wanted to use the other side of the room to have a desk to hold all my craft items. I'd planned on making my own, but in the 3rd trimester you start to not have as much energy I guess. Pretty soon I'd just found this old desk on Craigslist.
I think it was about $70 which is cheaper than all the wood would have cost me to build one from scratch!
in my love for white painted furniture, once again I sanded, primed, painted 3 coats of white latex paint, and 2 coats of polyurethane, put on some new drawer pulls and we're done! I also painted that white chair we found by the side of the road one night.
The best part, Doug turned one bottom drawer into a opening cabinet door instead so I can store my sewing machine in there!
The room is definitely fuller now (what can you expect going from nothing to housing a desk) but I think it will be a useful little crafting nook. Yay!
Weight gained: Same, 18 lbs.
How I'm feeling: Good, excited to meet baby boy. At my appointment yesterday the midwife said the plan is 39 weeks: check internal progress, 40 weeks: ultrasound, 41.5 weeks: induction. So praying he decides to come on his own! Doug said I'm still walking normal vs. waddling so I still don't think he's dropped yet. Not sure what that really means, reading first time moms usually "drop" a week or two before labor. Maybe he's still cozy in there.
Cravings: Fruit still. Enjoying fresh pineapple and making a big batch of crockpot applesauce from a bunch of the apples we got last weekend.
Nesting: My craft desk is almost done being painted, so the mudroom will be complete. Ordered the last batch (for now) of baby stuff: all his cloth diaper inserts and the Owlet sock. Oh my gosh baby stuff is so expensive. Still trying to borrow a co-sleeper from friends for the first few weeks or so. We both have the carseat bases set up in our cars and the hospital suitcase is like 90% packed and ready to go.
Prep: Still reading, attending a couple extra hypnobirth classes last and this weekend, trying to "relax", and taking tons of supplements.
everything I take everyday, isn't that crazy?!?
All the drinks for the hospital cooler. My plan is to "re-bacterialize" with probiotics since I have to take the antibiotics during labor. Normally I hate Kombucha and stuff like that, but those Kevita probiotic drinks are even kinda tasty.
Working on some craft projects for gifts:
Monogram kitchen towels for housewarming. (imagine it right-side-up)
Flower headbands for baby girls
That's about it, enjoying our last weeks as a family of 3.
and of course donut eating
bring on the homemade applesauce and fresh crisps!
