Wrapping This Thing Up

This pregnancy, that is! 

Yesterday was my last day of work and I am officially on maternity leave now!!  They had a huge breakfast for me at work which was so sweet…and so yummy!  It really was the perfect start to the day and I appreciate them doing that.  We had every breakfast food you could imagine, and even a freezer full of smoothie’s (my pregnancy craving!).

After that I went to all of my final Doctor Appointments and it felt good knowing those weekly trips have come to an end!  Ryder was so funny at my Dr. Appt telling everyone how he was having a baby sister and right now she lives in Mommy’s Tummy, but Friday we’re going to get her from the hospital!  He really has this whole thing all figured out!  Even in the room he sat there eating his chips, ordering me around as if he was the Dr. telling me what I needed to do!

The appointments went great, Maisy is fabulous…and very content right where she is.  I am still not dilated or showing any signs of going into labor on my own!  No weight gain this week, blood pressure was normal, and my stomach is measuring at 40 weeks, so just a little big.  And we ended the appointment with “see you friday morning!”  I can’t even believe the time is here so fast!

Today Aunt B came over and helped me clean my house…like clean, clean!  It feels so good to have everything scrubbed and looking and smelling fresh. 

Maisy’s bag is packed, my bag is packed, and Ryder is all packed up too!  We have to be at the hospital at 5:30am Friday morning and the surgery is scheduled for 7:30am.  I’m definitely feeling nervous and anxious, mostly about the surgery and the recovery from it…but I’m definitely excited that we’re finally going to get to meet our baby girl.

Ryder’s nose started running a few days ago and hasn’t stopped.  I’m thinking (and hoping) it’s just allergies because it’s not turning into anything besides just a runny nose.  BUT now today Alan came home from work not feeling well, like he’s coming down with something.  Worst possible timing for any of us to get sick, so please pray that by Friday we are all 100% and everything goes smoothly.

Time to wrap up this post AND this pregnancy!! 

38 Weeks!

My final week of pregnancy!!  I can barely believe it…but here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is officially a little chunkin, at well over six pounds and 19 1/2 inches long.
• Is also officially considered “full term.” In other words, he or she is STRAIGHT UP FREELOADING from here on out.
• Is practicing making fists and fetal breathing in anticipation of life outside the womb.

You:

• Have probably had enough of this magical special time, thank you very much.
• Backaches, joint aches, heartburn, indigestion, constipation, Braxton-Hicks contractions, painful kicks, bladder pressure, stretch marks, itchy skin, swollen ankles, fatigue, dry mouth, mood swings, did I miss anything else in this cavalcade of late-pregnancy hilarity?
• Are alternating between crazy excitement about finally meeting your baby and crazy panic about oh my God, you’re finally going to meet your baby and they’re going to expect that you take it home and like, keep it alive and stuff.

She totally just laid out any complaint I could possibly have, so I’ll just say DITTO!  I finally packed a little hospital bag for Maisy and I plan to pack mine this weekend.  I know, I can’t believe I’ve waited until the last minute, but I guess having a planned c-section date gave me this mental block that I’ll be good as long as I have it done by then! 

I had a sonogram on Wednesday and everything is still looking great with Maisy.  They mentioned her abdomen being large again but brushed it off that she’s just a big baby, so I’m hoping it’s nothing to be concerned about.  They estimated her weight this week at 7 pounds 8 ounces and said that based on that she’d probably be just over 8 pounds at birth.  I can’t wait to see how accurate that is! 

At my weekly check-up my blood pressure was good, her heartrate was good, and I gained 2 pounds bringing me to a total of 24 pounds.  We went over all the details of the surgery and I’m starting to get a little nervous.  I had absolutely no complaints about my c-section with Ryder, so I’m just trying to think about how smooth that went and pray for the same this time around. 

Ryder went to my appointment with me and got very protective when the Doctor checked Maisy’s heartbeat.  I told him to listen because the doctor was going to find Maisy and he would be able to hear her in Mommy’s tummy.  As soon as he heard the heartbeat sound, he came over to the doctor with a very concerned and serious look on his face and said “dat’s enough….DAT’S ENOUGH!!!!”  I don’t know if he thought maybe the wand was hurting me or hurting Maisy but whatever his issue was he was going to put a stop to it! 

ONE MORE WEEK!!!!  (sorry no picture today! I’ll make sure to take one more before I have her.)

37 Weeks!

I’m officially considered full term now!  Here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Weighs about six and a half pounds, and is 21 inches long — quite possibly the same length he or she will be at birth.
• Is packing on close to a half-pound of pure, unadulterated baby chub every week.

You:

• Are probably dismayed to realize you are STILL outgrowing your maternity clothes. Your shirts ride up to reveal a couple inches of belly (or elastic waistbands), your pants might bulge and pucker weirdly as your uterus drops lower, and some tops might feel especially tight as your ribcage expands to handle all your pushed-up organs.
• Might be having serious trouble getting a good night’s sleep thanks to your size (my limbs keep falling asleep under my body’s crushing weight), your baby’s jolt-you-awake-caliber kicks, bladder calls, Braxton-Hicks contractions, and your brain’s constant buzz of excitement and anxiety and massive to-do lists.

I had another sonogram this week and an appointment with the new OB that will be delivering me.  Both appointments went well, Maisy is looking great and is getting bigger by the moment.  I didn’t put on any weight this week, blood pressure was great, my last round of blood work and Group B Strep test all came back fine, and my stomach is measuring big…the Dr. said he would guess she weighs about 8 pounds right now.  I’m not dilated at all, but wow this last part of pregnancy is rough!  When I stand up I can’t even believe how much pressure I feel immediately, I look ridiculous walking waddling around, and I feel like I’m constantly out of breath.  I’m starting to see yet another blessing in having Ryder as early as I did! 

I’ve gotten a lot of last minute preparations done for Maisy this week, like washing things, getting everything put away, and Cindy took me shopping tonight and now I feel like we really have everything we need and are SO ready for our little girl.

Ryder is the most ready out of any of us.  All he talks about anymore is Maisy, everywhere we go he will start to tell complete strangers how “Ryder’s gonna have a baby sister! And we’re gonna name her Maisy!”  He got really sad though because someone made a comment to me about how they bet I can’t wait to lose this belly.  Every day since then he has walked up and hugged my belly and say “Ryder don’t want your belly to go away”.  I’ve been trying to explain to him that Maisy will be here for us to hold and won’t live in Mommy’s belly anymore so there will be no reason for me to have one…not sure if he gets that part, but once she’s here I’m sure he won’t even think twice about it. 

Here we are at 37 weeks:

2 more weeks…14 more days…I can do this…

A Celebration for Maisy

Today I got to enjoy a late lunch with some close family & friends to celebrate Maisy!  It was nice to have some girl time and even though we were there for Maisy, her big brother seemed to be the topic of most of the conversation.  He’s just so funny these days and everyone always has their own stories of the things that come out of his mouth!  And now I just changed the subject to him too…so back to what this post was really about…

Here is everyone that came out to celebrate with us today:

Of course we had yummy treats to share!

And I got some really cute things for Maisy! 

Plus some money that I’m hoping to put towards a double stroller.

Thanks so much to everyone who has had any part in helping us welcome our baby girl into this world.  She definitely has lots of people waiting to meet her and love on her, and I’d say we’re ready for her any time she decides to make her appearance (hint hint…come on Maisy!).

36 Weeks!

Here’s what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is six pounds. SIX. POUNDS. You probably have clothes in your house that already fit a six-pound baby.
• Is still not fully cooked yet, even though MOST babies born at this point will do just fine. But the lungs are better off with a couple more weeks of maturity.
• The size of your baby will start displacing amniotic fluid over the final few weeks. As the fluid gets reabsorbed into your body, you may notice that your baby’s movements feel “different.” You might not feel as many kicks as you used to, or the sensations are just…well, “different.” It’s mostly because of the cramped quarters in there and less fluid.

You:

• Are not done yet. I am sorry.
• Have gained 25 to 30 pounds, according to the books, which also say that it’s “not unusual” for your weight to remain unchanged between weekly OB appointments. Say it with me: SHUT UP, BOOKS.

I can’t even believe I’m 36 weeks pregnant already.  This has definitely flown by…and although at the moment I feel like I’m SO ready to be done, I know that in a few weeks when the time comes I’m going to wonder how in the world it’s over already.  These days I’m just feeling big.  I’m ready to lose this belly and be able to walk without getting out of breath again!

I had my 36 week doctor appointment today and got checked for the first time…not dilated at all yet!  I gained 1 more pound, so 22 pounds total so far.  My blood pressure is good and I still don’t have any swelling, so things are right on track.  My c-section has officially been moved back to June 24th and I’m on schedule for my last 2 appointments and my surgery with a new doctor.  I’m at peace with it though, I know that once she’s in my arms it won’t even matter to me how she got here.

The only picture I got of myself today was with Angela at her shower….more to come on that in the morning, I’m too tired to keep blogging.  But here’s a sneak peek:

3 more weeks…shew.

Maisy’s Room!

Yay, we finally have Maisy’s room together!  I didn’t have a theme, I just fell in love with the bedding and knew I wanted to pull some of the bright colors out of it, and everything kind of fell into place from there.

Ryder made stairs for himself to be able to get into Maisy’s crib!  Thanks to Mandi for passing down Bailey’s old crib, I absolutely love the white, it looks so good with her bedding.

Unfortunately I still have Ryder’s old wood dresser in there, I’ve been planning to get a white one to match the crib, but it’ll work for now. 

 

We’re trying to decide if we went a little overboard with the polka dots, but they’re only in that one corner, and I think the brown curtains and the simplicity on the other side tone it down some.

 

This is my favorite part of the room:

I’m in love with these bright colors and the name blocks that Nicki had made pull it all together so perfectly!

I can’t wait for Maisy to get here so she can come enjoy her room as much as we are now :)

 

A baby is today’s joy, tomorrow’s hope, and yesterday’s dream come true!

35 Weeks!

Here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is over five pounds now, although these weight guesstimates will start getting very useless very quickly over the next few weeks.
• Since most of your baby’s organs are fully functional and major developmental milestones behind him or her, the next month is all about weight gain. And since “normal” weights for newborns these days can be anything between six and 10 pounds, it’s hard to predict how big YOUR baby will be from here on in.

You:

• Are the very picture of motherly grace and beauty. Also: waddling.
• Fatigue may be a big problem right now. You may need a daily nap, or find yourself crawling into bed by 9 pm. (I can barely make it to my toddler’s 8:30 bedtime most nights.) And while I’ve always seethed at people who love to cheerfully remind pregnant women to “Get some sleep! Once the baby’s here you won’t get any sleep!” I have to say…dude, get some sleep.

I’m feeling pretty good this week, considering I’m carrying around a baby the size that some people have at full-term!  I can feel my back arching and my stomach swaying side to side as I walk.  Luckily my back pain has been completely gone for a few weeks, thank God! 

I’m getting out of breath really easily these days.  Sometimes I just stand up and feel winded!  But then there are times that I get a burst of energy and don’t get short of breath at all, it’s strange.

I can definitely tell Maisy is running out of room in there.  Her movements now are all nudges and attempts to stretch, no more dancing and rolling around like she used to love to do.  I’m really getting so anxious to meet her and start learning all her little quirks and her little personality.

Next week I’ll start having weekly appointments with the OB and they will start to check me for dilation and all that fun stuff!  She’s going to be here before we know it!

Here we are at 35 weeks:

Doctor Appointments

More Dr. Appt’s to talk about…Imagine that!

First, Ryder had a check up with his Kidney Doctor last week that I haven’t mentioned yet.  They did a sonogram of his kidneys and bladder which he sat completely still for and didn’t even cry!  What a big boy he was!  I had been telling him about it the day before and on the way there, so he was prepared and handled it like a champ.  I told him “Just watch the TV and you’ll be able to see pictures of your kidneys” and he said “Dat’s not a TV momma, Dat’s a computa!”  Oh, Excuse me!  The Doctor reviewed the images and said that Ryder’s body is doing exactly what he wants it to do every time.  He said there are still pockets of fluid inside the damaged kidney that he measures to make sure are getting smaller, which they are, and he measures the kidneys to make sure they are getting bigger, which they are!  We go back in 6 months for another follow up.

I talked to Ryder’s Pediatrician on the phone this week.  Just as I was recovering from the sadness of finding out Miss Erin was leaving, I find out his Pediatrician is leaving at the end of June!  We love her so much, I just can’t even get over it, she has been such a voice of reason for me in all of these decisions I’ve had to make from Day 1 with Ryder’s care.  He’s her little buddy and her name gets mentioned quite often in our house, mainly when someone is stalling at bed time.  I usually hear over the monitor “Momma….Mommma come see what’s da matta!”  What is the matter Ryder??  “Ryder doesn’t feel good, Ryder needs to go see Dr. Cray!”  What hurts?? “My tongue! (or whatever body part he has decided hurts that day).”  I don’t even know how to start telling him that all these people are not going to be his people anymore! 

Today we got to check in on Maisy and see how the baby girl is doing.  She’s growing!  A lot!  She now weighs 6 pounds 4 ounces!  Her abdomen was measuring ahead of schedule, but hopefully that’s stemming from nothing more than her being a big baby.  I begged asked nicely for a new picture, and the sweet sonogram tech tried really hard to get me one, which resulted in me laying on my side with her jamming the wand into my hip bone aiming down to try to get a good angle of her face.  It’s really hard at this point because she’s so low and so squished in there!  But here is what we got (sorry it’s kinda creepy how there is a reflection of her face, I promise she doesn’t have 2 heads!)

 

After the sono it was time to go see my OB for my regular check-up.  Which ended in more tears.  Gosh.  I am either A) over emotional right now, B) a big baby, C) struggling with major attachment issues, OR D) ALL OF THE ABOVE!  Obviously the answer is D!  Here’s the run down – I have been with this doctor since I was pregnant with Ryder.  The day Ryder was born I was sent to a new hospital (where Ryder’s doctors were) to be delivered by a new doctor.  I was so sad that my Doctor wasn’t going to be the one delivering me.  Fast forward to this pregnancy, everything is going great, I’m on schedule for my doctor to do my c-section and thennnn find out he has to leave the country that day.  We moved the date back 2 days to accommodate only to find out today that the Perinatologist will not approve the new date because it is prior to 39 weeks and not medically necessary.  Nice!  So now, I have no date and no doctor.  There are 3 other doctors available in the practice (who I have never met), he wants me to think about scheduling with one of them for the rest of my pregnancy.  The last thing I want to do this close to the end is start seeing a new doctor.  period.

ANYWAY I gained 2 pounds, bringing me to a total of 21 pounds.  Blood pressure is good, no swelling, Maisy has a nice strong heartbeat.  I’m very thankful for how healthy she is and ready to bring her into this world…maybe she’ll come early on her own and none of the above will even matter! *saying prayers*

34 Weeks!

Here is what Alpha Mom has to say about this week:

Your Baby:

• Weighs as much as your average cantaloupe (4.75 pounds-ish) and is almost 18 inches long.
• Reaching the 34-week mark is a big milestone for anyone concerned about pre-term labor, as babies born at this stage usually do just fine (provided they’re otherwise healthy). Other than a slightly longer stay at the hospital, they generally don’t experience any of the long-term health problems that prematurity can cause.
• That said, don’t let your baby go and get any big ideas about escaping just yet. More baby fat and a few more weeks of lung maturity will still make everybody’s lives easier.

You:

• Fatigue, heartburn, nausea, frequent trips to the bathroom. It’s like the Return of the First Trimester, only much bigger and rounder and gruntier.

This week is a major milestone for me because this is the week that I had Ryder!  So it now marks the time that from this point on I have no clue what to expect!  I never experienced those final weeks of pregnancy where your feet swell, you feel all the pressure from dilating, and you just want to be DONE.  I’m already feeling ready to be done though, so if that’s any clue to what the last weeks have to offer, I’m a little nervous!

At my sonogram wednesday everything looked good with Maisy still, they will do new measurements next week so I’m anxious to see how much bigger she has gotten.  She is head down and her head is so low that they weren’t even able to get the pictures of her brain that they take every week.

Here we are at 34 weeks:

33 Weeks!

Has another week seriously gone by already??  Here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Weighs over four pounds and is 17 inches long.
• The skeleton is hardening, except for the skull, which will remain soft and flexible to allow it to fit through the birth canal, and also to grow and allow adequate space for your baby’s enormously brilliant brain.
• Kicks and movements are practically visible from space now, and you may look down and realize that your belly is no longer round, but pointed, as a knee or elbow stretches out for a few seconds before disappearing beneath the surface again.

You:

• Are big. Yes. And the whole world may suddenly seem like it’s got an opinion about when you’ll go into labor, and it TOTALLY DOESN’T CARE that you aren’t even full-term yet, it thinks you’ve dropped and popped and are going to give birth in like, two weeks. Tell it to shut the hell up with my blessings.
• May be waddling more than walking, and misjudging your circumference as you bump into counters and knock things over on tables.

I can’t stop laughing about the last two things because they could not be more true!  I’m definitely in that stage of pregnancy where everyone who sees me makes a comment about how I’m about to have the baby RIGHT THEN.  Even after I tell them no, that in fact I still have until the end of June, they insist that I will never make it.  As if I’m not getting a sonogram every single week that confirms week after week that (God willing) I really do have 6 weeks left.  I can’t blame them though, I know that I carry way out in the front, it’s nothing new, and even I don’t realize how far this thing is really sticking out.  Until I get it too close to the stove, or bump into every corner I turn, or even worse, when I bump my belly into other people on accident!  Sometimes even I wonder how it will continue to grow for another 6 weeks, but God knew what he was doing when he decided that it took that long for a baby to be ready to come out into the world, and that a woman’s body is that amazing that even when she thinks she can’t get one inch bigger, she does! 

So here’s to the next 6 weeks!

Slight Change of Plans

Well it looks like Maisy is going to have a new birthday!  The Doctors office called me yesterday and said that my Doctor is going to be out of town for my original c-section date of June 24th.  Of course I panicked because I have made so many plans based around this date (which I realize is ridiculous because most people don’t get that luxury!), and also because my Doctor didn’t get to deliver Ryder since they had to send me to Richmond where his Doctor’s were.  I really didn’t want to have another delivery with a Doctor who I had never met.  Luckily at my appointment today I was able to talk to him and we decided to move the c-section up a few days so that he can do it before he leaves.  Her Birthday will now be June 22nd!  Unless of course anything changes before then!

Speaking of Doctors appointments, nothing too exciting today.  This weeks sonogram was so fast, they just checked her organs and her blood flow and sent me on my way.  No pictures, no sneak peeks at the baby girl, just the boring stuff.  But atleast she’s still doing good, I can’t ask for anything better than that.  Over at my doctor I got on the scale and didn’t gain any weight since my last appointment 2 weeks ago.  That leaves me at a total gain so far of 19 pounds.  But my stomach has definitely grown and is now measuring at 36 weeks which is just over 3 weeks ahead of schedule.

Atleast I get to have her 2 days sooner now, every little bit helps :)  I’m just a little nervous about having a Wednesday child, Friday sounded like a way better deal!  Does this poem seem to ring true for anyone? 

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child born on the Sabbath Day,
Is fair and wise and good in every way.

I’m not superstitious at all, but when you’re pregnant sometimes you wonder about those old wives tales when everything is such a mystery.  Now all I can think is, I don’t want her to be sad and “full of woe”!

32 Weeks!

I can’t believe how fast the weeks are flying by!  Here’s what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is about three pounds, 11 ounces and 16 inches long.
• Is starting to get pretty crowded in there, so you may feel more subtle, rolling-type movements instead of sharp pointy kicks.

You:

• May notice a slight change in your belly shape over the next few weeks — kind of…downward sloping. Not so much of a nice shelf for your bowl of ice cream as you’ve had in the past.
• This change also might signal the retirement of some of your maternity clothes and you’ll need longer shirts instead of just roomy shirts. I can pretty much guarantee that the shirts that no longer fit will be the cutest ones.
• STAY HYDRATED. KEEP YOUR FEET ELEVATED WHENEVER POSSIBLE. DON’T MAKE ME STOP THIS BLOG AND COME BACK THERE.

I’m definitely feeling more rolling-type movements now instead of punches and kicks.  It is pretty crazy to feel an elbow or foot slide across from one side of your stomach to the other.  Or sometimes I’ll feel movement in all four corners of my stomach at once!  She is definitely getting crowded in there and I can feel her move all the time.  Even when she’s not moving, she’s hiccupping!  I actually started to get sad the other day thinking about not feeling her move anymore a couple weeks from now.  Even though I can’t wait to meet her and am so anxious for that day, there’s just something special about a Mom and baby being together every second.  I know I do my fair share of complaining about pregnancy, but that is one part I will miss.

NOW…onto the parts I won’t miss! Haha!  Pain in the ribs…still got it, Heartburn…still got it, something new…it is getting so hard to get around.  I’m starting to get out of breath really easily and when I stand I have a lot of pressure, so bending over or squatting are seeming near impossible.  This makes having a toddler to take care of, a house that needs to be cleaned, laundry that needs to be done, dinner, dishes, etc…so hard to accomplish.  Sigh.  Which makes me start thinking about what it will be like after having a C-Section when I really won’t be able to do any of those things.  Sigh.  But, things will work out, they always do!

Here we are at 32 weeks:

Checking In on Maisy

There’s the sweet little babe, just resting and making herself comfortable in Mommy’s tummy!  Her estimated weight this time was 4 pounds 10 ounces!!  I can’t believe she is that big already, Ryder was only a pound heavier than that when we brought him home!  It’s going to be so different having a baby with some meat on her bones!  Everything is still looking great with her kidneys and the blood flow in her brain. 

I can’t tell you how relieving it is to get good news at each of these appointments.  It’s SO different this time and I’m so thankful to be able to experience what it’s like to have a healthy pregnancy and baby.  This is the exact time with Ryder that we were leaving appointments crying, listening to terrifying statistics, wondering about the health of our unborn child, and praying our hearts out!  To be on the other end of it now and living in our happy ending is the most unexplainable feeling, it can make me laugh and cry all at the same time.  All I can say is that I don’t know what I would do without Ryder and that I thank God every day that his amazing little self is here with us to spend our lives with.  What a blessing he is to us, I can’t wait to meet his little sister and have my heart stolen all over again. 

Sorry I’m getting all sappy, but just being in this time of the pregnancy brings back so many horrible memories, but then makes me overjoyed by the outcome, and then SO thankful at our current situation and how smooth it’s all going.  God is so good!  And of course this song keeps coming on the radio and making me all emotional, I love it so much and had to share:

This…

Makes me SO happy!!!  Freshly painted, brand new carpet, so nice and clean, ready for the new little bundle that will be coming home to it in just 8 weeks!  This space that went from a computer room, to Uncle G’s room, to the dogs room, to a mess of a storage room, is now ready to be decorated and made just perfect for our baby girl.

 

Daddy worked so hard this weekend clearing out the room, doing an attic swap, painting, and replacing the carpet.  I’m so thankful to have such a handy husband.  And I’m sure he is so thankful to not have to hear my mouth about it anymore, ha!  “We only have 10 more weekends……We only have 9 more weekends……I’m just sayin’!”  I can tell that I’m so ready to start nesting and the anxiety of not being able to do anything was really getting to me.  So you can imagine my excitement to be able to hang her first little outfits in her closet!

Now onto decorating, no rush, after all we DO have 7 weekends left!  But here’s just a little sneak peek of what to expect:

Stay tuned for the final reveal :)

31 Weeks!

Here’s what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Blah blah blah 3.3 pounds, bag of oranges, sock full of nickels, etc.
• Enjoys yawning, sucking his or her thumb, kicking mom in the diaphragm.
• Turn-offs include: getting the hiccups, really loud noises and you trying to do all that boring “sleeping” at night.

You:

• Can totally round down your answer to “two months” when people ask you how much longer you have to go. DO NOT focus on the crazy week-to-month-ratio math at this point in pregnancy, particularly when there are breakable, smashy objects within reach.
• May be weirdly and inexplicably congested all the time. I, for one, appear to be allergic to my pillow. This is also prime time for pregnancy colds, as the toll on your body and immune system is getting higher by the week. Take it easy, slow down, take your vitamins and try try try to get enough sleep.
• Can now play everybody’s favorite game, Guess The Body Part That’s Sticking Out Next To My Belly Button! Elbow or heel? Head or butt? Did I seriously just maybe feel my baby’s BIG TOE?

Maisy is still very active and loves moving around in there.  She gets the hiccups atleast 2-3 times a day and sometimes they are so strong that my stomach jumps with every hiccup.  I noticed in a meeting the other day that 2 of my co-workers were watching my stomach move from across the table! 

I’m getting even more Braxton Hicks contractions now and they seem stronger to the point where they take my breath away sometimes.  Still have heartburn too, those seem to be my two symptoms that stick with me pretty much the whole pregnancy.

I had a doctor appointment this week…Maisy’s heartrate was 148, my blood pressure was normal, and I gained SIX pounds!  Yes, in 2 weeks!  I’ve been waiting for that huge spike and it came this week.  So that’s a total gain of 19 pounds so far.  But it’s official that I do not have diabetes and they won’t be testing me anymore (yay!) (that probably explains the 6 pound gain…I might have gone on a sugar binge after passing my last test!)

Here we are at 31 weeks!

30 Weeks!

It feels so good to be in the 30’s!  I knew I was getting close to the end, but finally reaching that 30 week mark brings confirmation that this ride is almost over!  Here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Weighs about three pounds and is 17 inches long. Since most full-term babies are between 20 and 22 inches long at 40 weeks’ gestation, your baby will pack on more pounds than inches in the 10 weeks or so.
• Is starting to get a little crowded in there, but still has room to wiggle and roll and punch and kick.
• Despite all the movement, it’s still damn near impossible to tell what position your baby is in for sure (head down, breech, transverse, etc.), but it’s also still too early to be worrying about it. MOST babies settle into a head-down position around 36 weeks, and some still manage to flip themselves around after that.

You:

• May feel like you’re gestating a pissed-off housecat rather than a chubby wittle baby at this point, with some movement and kicks causing ACTUAL PHYSICAL PAIN. Some women experience kicks so sharp and unnerving they mistake them for uterine contractions, even if they’ve already been through pregnancy and labor and should really know better.
• Some of these women may even write pregnancy guides on the Internet.

Luckily I haven’t had many painful kicks from Maisy, but wow have I been getting a lot of them!  Pretty much anyone that has wanted to feel her move has been able to because she is just constantly rolling around and kicking or punching or hiccupping or shaking or whatever else she does in there. 

When I was pregnant with Ryder I had this horrible pain in the lowest rib on the right side of my rib cage…and it has returned!  It seems like once the baby starts taking up so much room there is none left for all of my organs so all my insides get shoved up into my ribcage which is just painful!  On a less painful note though, my back is feeling 100 times better!!  I still have a very faint pain going down my leg and the only numbness left in my foot is in my middle toe.  So weird…but much better than what it was, so I’ll take it!

Here we are at 30 weeks, the first one is Me with Maisy and the second is Me with Ryder – still carrying the same! (Don’t be surprised if next week you see a tattoo across my forehead that says “YES I’M SURE IT’S ONLY ONE!”)

 

29 Weeks!

Only 10 weeks left!  Here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Is big and strong enough to resemble a sinister alien thrashing around your abdomen, as my husband kindly pointed out recently, upon noticing a rouge pointy elbow jabbing up and down around my belly button.
• Is sucking up every drop of calcium you can provide as his or her bones continue to harden and become more…uh…bone-like.
• DID I MENTION THE POINTY JABBING? WITH THE SHARP LITTLE BONES?

You:

• Might start noticing a resurgence of first-trimester-type symptoms like heartburn and other gastrointestinal issues. Things are getting a BIT crowded in there, and the lack of room means slower digestion and more gas and constipation and woe.
• Are gaining weight. I don’t know or care to look up what the “recommended” amount is at this stage, but most likely you are starting to notice a steady upward movement of that little thingie on your doctor’s scale. If you’ve been using pregnancy as a dietary sweet tooth free-for-all, now might be a good time to start reining it in and focusing on healthy foods and portions instead of “BABY NEEDS CAKE AND A TUB OF FROSTING ON THE SIDE.”

Since I just updated about our doctor appointments, I don’t really have much to add about this week.  But here is our picture, Ryder wanted to be a part of this one, I didn’t realize that my belly is the perfect height to rest on his head!

Mommy & Maisy Check-ups

There’s our chubby little girl!  She has definitely put some meat on her bones since the last time we got to check in on her.  What a sweet little face, I just want to kiss all over it.  On the left side of her face is the umbilical cord which she finally decided to peek around for a second so we could get this picture.  The rest of the time she was hiding behind it, so this is the only one I have to share.

The good news is that baby girl looks “fabulous” and is showing no signs of anything wrong, Praise God!  She already weighs 3 pounds 1 ounce and her heartrate was 148.  All of her measurements came back perfect, her blood flow study was normal, and she was even already taking practice breaths.  Her score today on how well she’s thriving and developing was an 8/8!!  I did have a bit of a scare today though after the sonogram, the Perinatologist asked me to meet him in the conference room for a discussion.  An all too familiar feeling came over me and I panicked a little bit, but luckily he just wanted to talk about me, not the baby, I can handle that!  Turns out some of my bloodwork came back that I do have a blood clotting disorder and he just wanted to go over all that with me.  The scary thing about the disorder is that it is linked to a very high miscarriage rate (I can’t tell you how blessed I feel today to have been able to get pregnant so easily and hold onto my sweet babies!) and diabetes (go figure!)

On that note, our next stop was to see my OB where we got some more good news…I passed my diabetes test!!!  Hopefully for the last time!  We’ll see, but for now I’m good and I get to stop testing my sugars, Hallelujah!  Blood pressure was good, Iron was low so I have to start on a supplement for that, and I gained 5 pounds for a total of 13 pounds so far. 

I will now start seeing my OB every 2 weeks, and I go back to the Perinatologist (Maternal Fetal Medicine) in 3 weeks, then I start weekly appointments after that.  Let the craziness begin! 

28 Weeks!

Another week has come and gone, here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Continues to get a longer and fatter by the day. Shocking, I know. His or her weight has actually doubled in the past month alone, which is why you’ve probably gotten comments about “popping” recently.
• Weight is around 2.5 pounds right now, which (if you’re like me, gazing in horror and your inside-out belly button and spidery stretch marks) might sound a little frightening, since the baby clearly needs to gain a LOT MORE WEIGHT before he or she is fully cooked, and oh my God, how in the world is anything bigger going to fit in there?

You:

• Are either feeling like this pregnancy will NEVER end, or that 12 more weeks is simply not nearly enough time to prepare. Or you might feel both ways, changing your mind one minute to the next.
• Must move furniture and fold clothes and organize the linen closet and replace the bathroom vanity and finally get rid of that sooty stain on the marble fireplace and yes, DARLING, these are all essential tasks that MUST be completed before the baby gets here, DO NOT ARGUE WITH ME, NOW GO HANG UP SOME SHELVES.

We definitely need to get moving on getting Maisy’s room together, we just need a few free weekends that I don’t see in our near future!  The good news is that I’ve ordered every single thing for her room, so as soon as we can replace the carpet and paint, the rest will all come together easily.  I can’t believe that we are so close to her arrival, as fast as these weeks come and go, I know that the next 11 weeks are going to fly by!

My sciatic nerve pain seems to be getting better.  The pain isn’t in my back anymore, the worst is in my leg and my foot is still a little numb.  I got a massage last weekend that was SO wonderful and definitely provided some relief.  If only I could afford to get one of those weekly!

Maisy is SO active, I feel her move all throughout the day and she likes to wake up around 4am and start dancing in there.  She moves every part of her body at once, so that’s the only thing I can figure she’s doing in there.  She loves story time with Ryder too, every time we lay down to read a book she starts going crazy.  Can’t wait until I can lay with both my babies and read to them :)

Here we are at 28 weeks (gotta love the mirrors at therapy!):

27 Weeks!

Here is what Alpha Mom says about this week:

Your Baby:

• Hey! Remember when I told you your baby was as big as a gummy bear? Oh, about 19 or 20 weeks ago?
• Now imagine a two-pound, 15-inch-long gummy bear. Yep.
• Eyelids (which have been fused since 11 or 12 weeks) can now open and close.

You:

• Are officially in the third trimester! Feel free to celebrate/panic at will.
• May notice more of that pesky round ligament pain as your belly gets harder and bigger and rounder, or as it starts to dip down a little bit, looking a little less perky and cute than it did a few weeks ago.
• Depending on your baby’s position, the kicks and movements might be a little painful. Feet up under your ribcage, jabs to the cervix, random body parts of mystery poking you way off to the side, where you didn’t even think those little appendages were long enough to reach.

Finally in the 3rd trimester!  This has been the toughest week for me through this whole pregnancy.  I hurt my back last weekend, which in turn has pinched my sciatic nerve, so I have been living with a constant sharp pain shooting down my right leg and my foot is completely numb.  I haven’t found anything that gives me any relief, so I’m just praying that somehow this goes away and doesn’t last the remainder of the pregnancy.

On a happier note, Maisy got the hiccups this week for the first time which is always a special milestone.  Don’t ask me why, but I looked forward to that with Ryder too!  I guess because we’re always wondering what these babies are doing in there, and that is one thing that I know for sure, is when she has the hiccups. 

I’ve been getting Braxton Hicks contractions more frequently, probably about 10 every day.  I really need to start drinking more water but I’ve never been a big water drinker and it is one of the things that triggers horrible heartburn for me, so it’s hard to make myself drink it. 

Here we are at 27 weeks, only 12 more to go!!