39 Weeks

How am I feeling? About the same, honestly.  The emotional frustration and exhaustion is weighing much more heavily than the physical pain.  I'm anxious about not knowing how or when Boomer is going to arrive (much more the HOW than the when).

The physical pain I've been experiencing comes and goes and shifts locations.  I think it has to do with where Baby Boy is at that point and what he's putting pressure on.  I can push through it, though, except when it's time to put on socks and shoes--The Hubby had to do that for me today at the doctor.

I'm still sleeping well with just one wake-up per night to go pee and I'm not having trouble getting back to sleep, so I'm definitely blessed in that sense!

I had one day where my feet were totally swollen, but I just haven't worn those shoes again and haven't had any issues anymore.

Weight thoughts: Gained 0.3 pounds this week--woo!  I don't think I've been eating any less, but who knows.  Honestly not worried about it at this point.

Doctor appointments? I had one this morning and it was slightly encouraging, if you're me.  I think The Hubby is still feeling pretty pessimistic.  The doctor said "this is a very different appointment than any you've had thus far" in the sense that my cervix was really soft and dilated to 1 cm.  It was soft enough that she was able to sweep my membranes, but still long (0% effaced).  Baby is still at -3 station.  She said he's starting to drop a little further down into my pelvis, but still not engaged and "sort of floaty".

I told her about my contractions (basically that they'll be regular for a few hours, but then nothing) and she seemed encouraged.  She said that we could cancel the C-section and go another week or so if we wanted since the baby isn't in any distress and I'm doing fine (my BP was 106/58 today).  I looked at The Hubby, who wasn't much help.  I told them that my gut was telling me to wait and neither of them argued, so I guess that's what we're going to do.  I still have this nagging guilt that my ILs have made plans to take time off on Friday (my FIL is self-employed, so it's hard for him to schedule a day off and my MIL's work isn't very flexible with time off), but I think I need to do what's best for my family and I truly believe that me not having to recover from a C-section is best for my family.  So we're postponing.  Because my doctor had already cleared her calendar for Friday morning, she suggested we come back in for another check.

I'm still feeling crampy and am hoping that that continues through the day and turns into something.  I'm going to go take a walk in a little bit and a friend offered to go walk some night this week as well.  The Hubby offered to throw everything we have at getting labor started--he said we'd get some spicy food, walk around the mall, and "get busy".  I told him that if he's interested in getting busy with this (as a pointed to my body), then he could have at it.

I had actually written an entire blog post about this Friday being a deadline, but it's now changed to an entirely different deadline.  It seems like this will be my last prenatal appointment and decision time.  If I've not delivered by then, we'll be deciding when to schedule the C-section and the condition of my cervix on Friday will determine how much longer we wait.

Movement? Boomer still moves quite a bit in the evenings, but his movements during the day have slowed down quite a bit.  Last night he was moving so much that it was hurting me, but I still tried to enjoy it because I know soon he'll be all wiggly on the outside.  He's mostly rolling around, but I'm still getting plenty of jabs and kicks, too.  He gets the hiccups once or twice a day and I actually felt them in a really odd place last night--the lower left quadrant of my stomach.  Based on what my doctor felt, it seems as though I was feeling his back convulse with the hiccups.

Baby preparation? On Sunday we did some cooking and cleaning.  We made: 5 pounds of taco meat, 6 pounds of shredded BBQ pork, and I cooked a whole chicken, shredded the meat, and then made chicken broth.  Tonight I'm hoping to make two quiches (I have some ham that needs used up) and some bran muffins to freeze.  I'd also like to do a batch of bagels, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get all of that done tonight.  I also have the ingredients to make some teriyaki chicken--it's a recipe I found on Pinterest that just requires you to throw all of the ingredients into a baggie, then dump it into a crock pot when you want to cook it.

The Hubby and I are starting to wonder if Boomer doesn't want to come out until he has a name.  We're narrowed down to two names.  One is the name we had picked if Baby Girl had been a boy and the other is a new name (to us).  I think we both like the new name better, but it is alliterative with our last name and neither of us is sold on that.  So we're still struggling, but determined to make a decision sooner than later!  We can tell it's affecting others because Baby Girl won't name any of her baby dolls, either, and told me last night that we'd name Boomer when he got here.  :)

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Yesterday Baby Girl told both The Hubby and me that "I think Boomer is going to come today".  I was really hoping she had some sort of intuition, but that wasn't the case.  She told me again today, though, that she thinks maybe he's going to come today.  Hopefully she'll be right sooner than later.... 

38 Weeks

How am I feeling? I'm in a lot of pain.  I'm not going to lie--it's fairly miserable.  I have been feeling near constant pain whenever I move for the last 3 weeks or so.  I can't come up with a better way to explain the location but to say that if you imagine where the legholes of your underwear hit your legs, it's there.  It hurts whenever I move--when I change positions in my chair, when I walk, when I roll over in bed, when I bend over.  I cannot lift either leg independently without a large amount of pain, so I sit to put on underwear, pants, and shoes.  It's worse on the left side (I think Boomer is still a little to that side), but that evens out a bit if I sleep on my right side for a night.  I've also noticed I can relieve the pain a little bit if I take a full-sized pillow, double it over, and sleep with it between my thighs.


I've had VERY small amounts of swelling, but I think they can mostly be attributed to the warmer temperatures, eating a lot of ham this weekend, and doing a lot of walking.

I did notice this week that my complexion is changing.  If I don't wear makeup I can see definite darkening on my left cheek and back toward my hairline on the right side of my face.  It's splotchy and not really that attractive.  I'm just glad I've got a darker complexion so it isn't as noticeable.

Lastly, I am having contractions.  They still feel like Braxton Hicks, though, in that they don't hurt at all.  When I slow down and pay attention, I can notice them every 10 minutes or so when I'm having them.  I actually haven't noticed any this morning, which is a little odd, but yesterday I felt them most of the day, even though I was fully hydrated and didn't exert myself any more than normal.

Weight thoughts: As predicted, I gained like 4.5 pounds from last appointment.  I pointed out to my doctor that I'd lost 3 pounds between the two previous appointments and that just meant a 2 pounds (or so) gain over two weeks.  She seemed fine with that.

Doctor appointments? I had an appointment on Tuesday.  BP remains fine (102/60, I think?).  My doctor said that my cervix "is beginning to soften" and "is closed up tight".  Gee, those are some really encouraging words.  But she seemed a bit more optimistic and said that while it's good to have the C-section on the books, if I show more progress at my next appointment (next Tuesday) she'd let me go for another week.  So I'll keep on walking and praying.

She took my fundal length and sort of giggled.  I looked at her and said, "over 40 weeks?" and she just sort of chuckled and nodded.  Yep....I'm huge and so is this baby, I fear.

Regarding the C-section.  I want to do a larger post on the way I feel about a VBAC versus a C-section, but I did want to say that I'm feeling some pressure from my family to do a C-section.  They don't *get* why I wouldn't want to do it, plus it's so much easier to plan that way.  My ILs already took the day off for next Friday and have plans to come down that morning and stay for some of the weekend.  I feel like I should keep the appointment just for everyone's convenience, which seems so silly as I write it.  But then I was thinking last night while I was doing Baby Girl's bedtime how much I would miss it if I was recovering from a C-section.  I'll be in the hospital longer and won't be able to do nearly as much when I get home.  A VBAC recovery would be a lot easier with another little one already in the house.  So I'm still going back and forth with what I want to do.  The Hubby is being supportive with whatever I choose and I think we'll have more of a discussion after next Tuesday's appointment.

Movement? Boomer's movement has definitely slowed down, but he still gives me some reassuring rolls and kicks every once in awhile.  Yesterday he got stuck on my left side and was giving me some major pain during a meeting, but after I walked back from the meeting, I didn't feel him there anymore.

I also wanted to mention that Boomer now has hiccups at least once or twice a day.  It's so fun to feel, as I've only been feeling it for the last week or two.  I hope they continue.  I remember that Baby Girl had way more hiccups than he has and those continued outside the womb.  At one point this week Baby Girl and Baby Boy *both* had the hiccups at the same time.  Adorable!

Baby preparation? I don't think we've really done much since last week.  The hospital bag is constantly in whatever car we're in.  I think we're down to two names.  If I'm feeling up to it this weekend, I'd like to do some freezer cooking and we're also planning on getting our laundry caught up and our refrigerator cleaned out so if our parents are spending time at our house they don't have to deal with our messes.

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This morning I got two different comments about my pregnancy within about a minute.  When we were dropping Baby Girl off, the sitter looked at my and told me that I'd gotten huge.  I laughed and told her about how big my doctor is measuring me.  Then when we were leaving another mom was coming to drop off her little girl and commented on how I was the happiest pregnant woman she'd ever met and that I looked pretty.  Two very different comments very close to each other!  I can see the pity and humor in my coworkers' eyes, though, as they watch me waddle around.  

37 Weeks

How am I feeling? Physically, pretty rough. Since last night I have been crampy and have had some backaches. Nothing horrible, but it feels like something is going on. I hope I'm right, but feeling very doubtful.

I'm tired, achy, and really irritable. Last night my anxiety hit an all-time high (before any of the physical symptoms started) and it hasn't really stopped since. So yeah...I'm ready to be done, which is a place I NEVER hit with Baby Girl.

Weight thoughts: One piece of good(-ish) news...according to the doctor's office, I've lost 3 pounds in the week since my last appointment. LOL It was a regular digital floor scale, so I'm sure I'll gain 5 pounds by the next appointment if I go back to the other scale. But my home scale was telling me that I'd held steady, so that's good to hear.

Doctor appointments? This is where this is going to get really long. I had an appointment on Monday. It was scheduled for 3:30 to get a good ultrasound picture of Baby Boy so we could figure out how big he was.

The easy answer is that he looks healthy.

The longer answer is that we will very likely be scheduling another C-section.

The story:

My appointment was at 3:30 and I didn't see my doctor until 5:15, which means The Hubby missed the actual appointment because he had to leave to go pick up Baby Girl. I was already really frustrated (and weepy) by the time I went back to the room, then found out that it looks pretty sure that we'll be scheduling a C-section. My cervix hasn't changed whatsoever (still VERY firm and closed, she said), making the doctor pretty sure that it isn't going to enough to make a vaginal delivery easy or possible. I realize that there are many people who have progressed quickly after having a closed cervix, but I'm just going off of what my doctor said. Boomer's head is actually bigger than Baby Girl's, which is saying something. When the doctor measured it, it was the size of a 41+ weeker, not a 37 week baby. It was measuring in the 99.5th percentile. Combine those two pieces with the fact that he's face up (which is not the way you want to deliver a baby) and it just doesn't look likely that we're going to be doing a VBAC. I know a lot of people don't understand why I want one so badly, but I just do. And it makes me feel like my body is failing me, like it isn't doing something right.

But the good news is that Boomer is big and healthy and we're going to have a wonderful little boy sometime in the next 3 weeks. And I know that that's what is really important. According to her estimates (which could obviously be off), he's already 7 lbs 6 oz, which is bigger than Baby Girl was when she was born. His head was huge, his abdomen was measuring in the 77th percentile and the length of his femur (upper leg bone) was 21st percentile, which means he'll be shaped a lot like her--short with a big head.

The doctor said I could still have my water break and could still go into labor, but she wasn't very optimistic about our chances for a VBAC. So we're still waiting to see what's going to happen. I did get a message this morning that she's scheduled my C-section for Friday, April 27th at 8 a.m., just in case. After the cramping and then waking up to a belly that I think has dropped some, though, my hope is restored slightly that my body was just being slow. I have another appointment next Tuesday morning and will be praying for some progress.

Movement? Baby Boy is still moving all over the place a lot. I keep thinking it will slow down, but it hasn't yet. He has definite routines, though, and I typically know when he's going to be really mobile, so it surprised me last night when he was moving all over the place before and during dinner, which was also when the cramping started. It was really odd. He still really responds to peanut butter. I hadn't had any in awhile, then had some this morning for breakfast and he's been doing a jig in there since.

Baby preparation? Over the weekend we did get a hospital bag mostly packed. I apparently don't have a shirt to wear home in the bag, but that's a minor detail, right? :) Because we'd removed Baby Girl's car seat to put it in my mom's car while she was babysitting, The Hubby put it back into the car it came from behind the passenger seat (it had been behind the driver's seat). She's loving the new point of view and we decided that we wanted the infant seat where the passenger could get to the baby. After the cramping and things from last night, we put the hospital bag into the car this morning and even loaded up the base for the infant seat. It isn't installed, but at least it's with us. We also contacted the people who we're hoping will watch Baby Girl if we have an unexpected arrival and made a plan with that. So we could have this baby today (please....) and I think we'd be okay.

35 Weeks

How am I feeling? Very uncomfortable.  I'm still sleeping okay, so I can't complain there.  I'm waking maybe twice per week to go to the bathroom and I'm not even sure that that is what is waking me.  I'm not able to sit or stand or do anything for long, though.  I'm feeling aches and pains pretty much everywhere, especially from the waist down.  Over the weekend (right as I turned 35 weeks) I started feeling a pain just below my butt cheek.  I thought it might be sciatica, but I don't think so after reading and after it persisting all this time.  The pain has expanded and, for lack of a better description, I think it feels like Baby Boy has his head rammed against the left side of my pelvis, as the pain as moved a bit.  Either way, it's definitely inhibiting my ability to walk waddle.  

Weight thoughts: I have none at this time.  I'm sure I'll see another gain at my next appointment, but I'm just eating what I want at this point.

Doctor appointments?   We have all of the remaining appointments scheduled:

     Wednesday, April 4th
     Monday, April 9th (growth u/s)
     Tuesday, April 17th
     Tuesday, April 24th


Let's hope that's all of them!

Movement? Baby Boy is still really active.  For the most part, his butt is under my left breast, his back goes down my left side, and his head is just to the left of its goal.  I get kicks on my right side and there are also times that he gets his legs bent enough to kick me up high.  Whichever side I sleep on, his head rotates to that side, making me spazz a bit, but by the time I get out of the shower his head is usually back down (I can feel the pressure on my bladder).  So he's still not engaged, but I've been reassured that engagement typically doesn't happen until later and that baby can be a little tilted and contractions will put him in the right position for exit.

Baby preparation? I think at this point the preparation is just mentally.  Our sitter is closed tomorrow through next Friday, so The Hubby and I are going to spend some special time with Baby Girl (as much as possible, anyway).  I still feel the need to read some things about relaxation techniques, but I'm not sure how much good reading is going to do.  My goal is to get the hospital bag packed over the weekend, just in case, and to start deciding if I want to do some sort of playlists of music for labor.  Otherwise it'll just be getting prepared to shift my work to other colleagues and making sure our family is on board with care for Baby Girl.  And then we just wait.

29 Weeks

Twenty-nine weeks?  Seriously?  How did that happen?  Last I checked I was still safely in the 2nd trimester!


How am I feeling? Besides the sickness, pretty good.  Acid is still flaring up sometimes for reasons I can't determine (like this morning...).  I'm getting to the point where I'm pretty sore when I wake up in the morning, even when I use my pillow that goes between my knees.  I'm finding that my hips are sore from laying on them all night.  My limbs are still going numb regularly, which is disconcerting, but not troubling (it usually means I've been laying on them too long).

As far as new developments, my belly button is doing the crazy thing where it stretches out horizontally.  It's getting really shallow and very wide.  It never popped out with Baby Girl, so I'm hoping it won't this time either.  I also noticed recently that my stretch marks from last time are extending (as I told The Hubby, my stretch marks are getting stretch marks).  I'm not too worried about it, surprisingly.  The one change that has been bothersome to me, though, is that I have a freckle.  This sounds weird, but I have NEVER had freckles in my life and I found one on the right side of my nose on my cheek.  I know people talk about lots of skin changes that can happen in pregnancy, but I didn't have anything like this last time.  Weird.


Weight thoughts: I'm aiming for 3 pounds or less for the gain between last appointment and the one next Wednesday.  Not sure if I'll make it.  I'm just not eating that much but still seem to keep gaining.  I've given myself license to eat a few more treats, but my portion sizes have honestly been pretty small.


Doctor appointments?  Nothing until 2/22.

Movement?  Yep--Baby Boy is definitely still scooting around in there.  I've noticed that he LOVES peanut butter.  Baby Girl actually asked me if Boomer was kicking me and I told her "Yep!  He loves peanut butter." Her response: "He's doing a peanut butter dance".  Adorable.

I can't really tell what his position is now.  I think it's probably the same, but today I've been feeling more movement straight up from my belly button and even a bit in my upper left quadrant (previously most had been in my upper right quadrant), so it's possible that he's turned some.  I've actually been feeling movement almost everywhere today, so who knows.  My doctor is good about being able to feel, so she'll probably be able to tell me next week.


Baby preparation? With all the sickness, we've just been trying to keep our heads above water and not end up in the hospital.  So no, no more prep has been done :)

14 and 15....and might as well do 16 weeks

In all the excitement of making our official announcement, I stopped writing updated blog posts about my pregnancy, so I've missed the last few weeks.  I think it's okay, though, as nothing particularly exciting has happened.


How am I feeling?  Just fine, except for this cold.  I started getting a sore throat (not just scratchy) October 30th and am still blowing my nose and coughing some.  Baby Girl has it, too, and is still doing the same.  I think we both generally feel okay and are sleeping fine, but the cough is hanging on for a long time.  But as far as pregnancy goes, I'm doing good.  No more nausea!  I'm still exhausted every day, but I don't really remember that letting up much last time, either.  I have crazy dreams at least every other night when I typically dream only once or twice a month.  I'm also still having shortness of breath unrelated to the sickness.  All typical pregnancy stuff that doesn't bother me too much.  I still don't have to pee any more than I did pre-pregnancy.  I hope I'm blessed to escape that symptom again this pregnancy.

Weight thoughts: Up about 8 pounds.  Not horrible, but not great.  I know it will only go up from here, but I'm hoping to curb it a bit.  Some veggies, especially peas, don't sound great to me, so I've been eating less veggies than I normally do with dinner.  But I have found that I love a raw bell pepper and/or a salad, so I've been trying to have those on a regular basis.

Doctor appointments?  Just had one on Monday, November 7th.  We were scheduled to see a different doctor since my regular OB was on GYN rotation in the hospital, but were pleasantly surprised when my regular OB popped in and did my appointment!  The nurse had had me disrobe from the waist down and that confused and concerned the OB.  She immediately asked, "Are you doing okay?  Any bleeding?"  I told her I was fine...just following orders.  She laughed.  :)

She found baby's heartbeat--147 bpm.  I'm leaning toward boy, but of course we'll see.  She asked if we'll want to find out the sex of the baby and we told her yes.  She said, "Let's see if we can find out today..." and started moving around the ultrasound wand.  She said everything was a little small so she couldn't tell anything, but she did print out a picture of our little one for us to take home.  Love her.  She sent us down for the bloodwork for our quad screen and told us she'd see us on December 2nd--for our anatomy scan and (hopefully) gender determination!

Maternity clothes?  I've worn maternity pants twice in the last couple of weeks, but mostly because I didn't feel like wearing regular pants or didn't have anything clean.  I'm still wearing all of my normal clothes if I want.


Movement?  I've wondered if I've been feeling movement some in the last few days, but have told myself that I'm probably not since my doctor told me I have an anterior placenta.  From my understanding, that's the only problem with the anterior placenta--muffled or no feeling of movement.  Plus whenever I'm pregnant, I have an awful amount of gas, so I'm sure that's what I'm feeling.  I'm still holding out hope that I'll feel my baby move soon, though!

Baby preparation?  The Hubby continues to clear out Baby Girl's room and she continues to anticipate her big move there.  I'm anxiously awaiting the gender determination so I can start planning the nursery and determine if we'll need new clothes and other items.  I've also been loosely shopping for a double stroller and trying to decide what kind to get, especially since Baby Girl is older and more independent, but much better behaved when she's strapped into a stroller.

8 Weeks

Written 9/21/11 - 8w4d

How am I feeling?  I actually feel great.  I've had some bouts with exhaustion, but nothing horrible.  Last time I was falling asleep on the couch before dinner, but now I can at least make it until Baby Girl is in bed.

The nausea hasn't been bad at all.  It's definitely tapering off and I only get it when I get really hungry or really full.  For instance, yesterday I had TWO large pitas with tabbouleh, feta, and tzatziki in the middle of the afternoon.  I felt fine for the first hour after eating it, but then by the time we got home, I was feeling pretty rough and just needed to lay on the couch for awhile.

I still get surprised by a shooting pain in my left bo.ob sometimes, but it's nothing severe.  Just surprising.

I feel like the bloat is really on now.  I notice it by the end of the day, but I'm pretty confident that most people just think I'm looking fat.  Still no sign of needing to move to maternity clothes--I'm in the same place I was last time in that I have some clothes that were getting too big on me when I got pregnant, so now I can just wear them for awhile.  Once we've told people about the pregnancy, I'll start wearing some cuter maternity shirts, just because I can.  That, and to make people realize it's baby and not fat.

My weight seems to be holding fairly steady.  In the first couple of weeks I gained about 5 pounds, even though I was actually eating less.  I lost 3 of those and am back to up around 2.  I'm allowing myself to eat junk again, though, so I'm guessing the pounds will creep on sooner than later.

What's new?  We got to see our little gummy bear last Wednesday.  I was having major anxiety about not feeling pregnant, so they set me up with an ultrasound at 7 1/2 weeks instead of having to wait until 9w6d.  Thank goodness!  We also met our new OB and we both love her.  We didn't think there was any way we'd like her as much as our old OB (who is going to be focusing on surgeries instead of delivering babies), but we really, really do.  Baby's heartbeat was 168 bpm and we got to see the spine, umbilical cord, and the rest of the blob of baby that was in there.  How cool.  Our next appointment is at 11 1/2 weeks.  I think after that appointment we'll start telling the world, but will want to tell a few close friends before then...just need to figure out how and when :)

Fun facts?  I love that The Hubby is so into this pregnancy.  Since he has an iPhone he has a pregnancy app that's giving him updates about the baby, so sometimes he'll randomly tell me what size the baby is now.  For instance, last night he told me the baby is the size of an olive.  How exciting and absolutely adorable :)

Five (and a half) Weeks

Written 8/31

I'm feeling...okay.  I find that if I let my stomach get acid-y, I get nauseous.  I also apparently ate too much yesterday (I had a snack of a small apple and a stick of string cheese at 3:30) and was really nauseous from that.  But otherwise I'm not feeling much nausea.

I'm still having some digestive issues.  I woke up around 2:30 Monday night needing to go to the bathroom.  I can't tell if it's when I sleep on my back or if it's unrelated to sleeping position.  I'm SO not ready for my sleep positioner already, so I'm hoping it's unrelated.

I'm still feeling a little crampy sometimes, but again, nothing too severe.  I'm waiting for it all to hit, though, knowing that the full-blown nausea hit at 6 weeks for me last time.

My waist is already gone.  I might have been delusional thinking I had one again, but it's totally gone already.  I'm not bloating too badly, but can tell a bit of a difference.

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but my starting weight was 208, which was really exciting (I hadn't been below 210 since I was pregnant with Baby Girl).  Even though I'm actually eating less than I was before getting pregnant (I'm committed to listening to my body and my body doesn't seem as hungry now), I've gained 4.5 pounds already, which makes me sad.  My goal is to gain as little as possible (without going overboard, of course).