Belated 38 Week Appt

I am a little late writing this update as I am about to go for my 39 week appt tomorrow. But as anyone can guess, I am still pregnant. I am very excited about having this baby and even labor at this point. As my Aunt said to me the other night, no one would want to go through labor if pregnancy was easy and comfortable. I think the end of pregnancy becomes so uncomfortable just so everyone is looking forward to the pain of labor. But I only have 2 more days of work after today and I can't wait. I am so tired during the day and unmotivated to work that everyday is grueling. I am still getting my work done, but everything seems a little harder these days. I am glad I made the decision to work up until my due date (or a couple days shy) as I know I will appreciate all the time I get with my little guy once he gets here. And if I go passed my due date as most first time moms do, I know I will be anxious and trying to keep busy while sitting at home. I don't think I would survive more than a week of nothing to do but wait.

So my 38 week appt went well. Before I went in I was expecting a lot of progress as I had been having a lot of contractions in the evenings and had lost some of my mucus plug. I was hoping that I was only a few short days away from labor. At the appt my blood pressure was good, baby's heart rate was good and he was measuring on time. So far the doctor's estimate is around 8lbs, but there really is no sure-fire way to tell how big (or small) a baby will be. When she did the internal check I was 70% effaced and a finger tip dilated. So there was progress in the right direction, but not as much as I had hoped. I know the progress at each appt does not really tell you how soon you will go into labor, but my hopes were up anyways.

So far this week I have contractions every evening and sporadically throughout the day. Those are also accompanied by pelvic pressure and cramping in my uterus. At this point I just expect them to lead no where so I try not to pay attention. I have my 39 week appt tomorrow and we will see if anything has changed. I really want to go into labor on my own and not be induced, so hopefully this baby will cooperate and get things started soon. We are now less than a week away from my due date - so anytime now!

36.5 week and 37 week Appt

I need to catch up on the last couple of appointments that we have had. We had the 36 week appt on Friday 1/30 so I was a few days past 36 weeks. All looked good with the baby, heart rate was great, blood pressure was great and he was measuring fine. I also had the chance to have my first cervix check and they did the group B strep test. I was really looking forward to the cervix check to see if there was any progress (even though I know it does not mean much as to when labor will start). I thought the baby had 'dropped' as I no longer had heart burn and he had been sitting a lot lower. When the doctor did the check we found out that his head was still high and my cervix was long and closed - no sign of anything. I was definitely disappointed although I know 36 weeks is still too early for a baby to come, I was anxious for everything to get under way.

Our next appt was the following Tuesday 2/3 at exactly 37 weeks. The night before the appt I woke up suddenly and had to puke. It was so out of the blue. I was up half the night because I was afraid to fall back asleep in case I suddenly had to throw up again. I ended up staying home from work due to the combination of not sleeping and not feeling well. Andrew and I still made it to the appt and everything looked great again, great heart rate for the baby, good blood pressure for me and he was measuring right on target. When it came time to see what the cervix was doing I figured it would be the same as last time since it had only been 4 days. I was surprised again, his head was starting to engage and was low, I was 50-60% effaced and starting to dilate. I had been having more Braxton hicks contractions so I guess they were actually doing something.

In a couple of days I will be 38 weeks and I am more anxious than ever for the baby to get here. I am definitely tired of work and need a break. My motivation is so hard to keep up while I am there and my focus is lost. I am also so uncomfortable at night; I don't fit into most of my maternity clothes anymore as my belly is starting to hang out the bottom. I am having more and more contractions throughout the day and at night, and I just don't feel right, totally out of it sometimes. I know that I probably have 2-3 more weeks of pregnancy, but sometimes it is hard not to get your hopes up that my babies birthday could be any day now.

Maternity Photos

I went over to my parent’s house this weekend to take a few maternity pictures. Maternity photos are a tricky business as usually when I look my best in photos is when I am fit and trim and not showing my belly. The exact opposite occurs for pregnancy photos, you are at your heaviest (all around your body and face as well as your belly) and you have to show your belly as it is the focus. I think they turned out pretty good even though I feel a little chubby in them. Here are my favorites!

Ultrasound and 35 Week Appointment and Maternity Center Tour

So we had a very long day yesterday going from an ultrasound, to the Maternity Center Tour to the second half of our 3rd birth class and then to a doctor's appointment today. It was 5 hours of baby fun!

First, the ultrasound was scheduled since this little guy was measuring about 2 weeks ahead with the fundal height measurement at the last appointment. They wanted to make sure that I was only having a baby and not a giant. The ultrasound was scheduled for 3:50, but as usual they were running late and we got back to the room around 4:30. The baby was looking good, with a good heart rate, active and in a good position - head down and dropped slightly. Again he had great chubby cheeks and from the Ultrasound measurement weighs 6 lbs 7 oz, but that can be off by a pound or two in either direction. I looked up and the average for 35 weeks is 5.25 lbs. So he is big and predicted to be between 8 and 9 lbs at birth. That was great news for me as I expected him to be around 10lbs at birth, 8 lbs sounds great from that perspective!

My Mom, Andrew and I then had time to go and get dinner before the Maternity Center Tour at 7pm. The tour was nice, very short and to the point, but gave us a lay of the land and a little about what to expect when the time actually comes. The rooms are nice, and you are able to labor, deliver and recover in the same room. They have a day bed for Andrew to sleep in and have jetted tubs in the bathrooms that you can actually labor in if you want to. All rooms also have a TV and DVD player, a fridge and bassinet warmer for baby once he joins us. We learned a little about the process of check in, and the time frame of everything (24 hours for a vaginal delivery, 48 for a c-section). Overall it was definitely worth the twenty minutes to learn what we did, but I don't think there is anything anyone really can do to prepare us for the actual event. We will just have to see what happens as it occurs.

Andrew and I then raced off to make the second half of Birth class where we were discussing Active Labor, Transition and Pushing. It was very informative and the teacher definitely does not spare you any details about how much it will hurt, but is good about mentioning that there is an end and that you have to keep your goal in sight - you will have a baby at the end of the pain. After the birth class I went home and crashed, I was exhausted!

Today's appointment went well. My Dr was pulled into an emergency c-section so my mom and I saw the nurse today. My mom wanted to come to a couple of appointments and this way Andrew can have a week or two off here and there - I know now that I have to go every week it is a little much for him. The nurse was great and was able to spend about 30 minutes with us answering questions. My blood pressure was good, right in the normal range, the baby's heart beat was at 132 (he was sleeping and normal is between 120 and 160) and the fundal height was back within normal range (I think because he has dropped the measurement is not as high as it was last time). The nurse did mention that she could tell that he has dropped some as there is a lot more room at the top of my stomach. Starting next week if I go into labor they will let it proceed naturally instead of trying to stop it as I will be 36 weeks. I also get to do the group B strep test next week and I start having the internal checks to see if I am dilated or effaced at all. That will be kind of exciting to be able to check any progress, although I know that it does not mean much at that point, I could be dilated at 3 cm for weeks or not dilated at all and go into active labor the next day. Either way the count down is on and I am getting more and more excited!

I promise more belly pics will be coming soon. My dad will be taking some this weekend, but I may get a couple tonight just to mark progress from the last ones.

33.5 Appt

So things are starting to get interesting again with our appointments as we near the end of this pregnancy journey. I found out that there is nothing I can do to relieve my extreme left leg numbness and pain - I just have to wait for the pregnancy to be over and things will get better (hopefully). The numbness is constant and the pain comes and goes, but is pretty steady in the evenings when I want to sleep. That is definitely one symptom that I will be happy to be rid of when I am done with this pregnancy. My weight is up again, which I guess is normal, but I have already passed their ideal pregnancy weight gain goal of 20-30 pounds by a few and I still have several weeks to go - I am not too worried about it but I am not looking forward to losing it all on the other side. My blood pressure was also up for me. It was 120/76, which is still in the normal range but at the highest it has been for me. Nothing to worry about yet, but I hope it is not a trend that will continue as they will start worrying about pre-eclampsia. The baby was looking good and his heart rate was a healthy 151. He is still head down. But he is measuring at 35 weeks which may mean that he will be a large baby. So we get to go in for another ultrasound to measure him and see how chubby he really has become and to see if his size will be a problem at birth. Andrew was almost an 11lb baby so I was expecting this baby to be on the large side. Our ultrasound is right before our next appointment on Jan 20th. After that appt we go for weekly status checks until the baby is born.

Next week we have a meet and greet appt with our pediatrician - so I am currently putting together a list of questions that I want to bring up at that appt.

1st Child Birth Class

Andrew and I ventured out to our first child birth class on Tuesday and it was exactly what I was looking for. I opted to take an independent class outside of the hospital after hearing that they tend to focus on the interventions that are offered or may happen rather than how to focus and succeed through child birth. I found a class that is offered in Redmond by an English woman who has studied to become a mid-wife. She teaches natural child birth and a lot of the students are looking to do pain med free births. Although that may not be the route I take I want to have as many tools and as much knowledge as I can when I go into labor. I don't know what to expect or how I will interpret the pain of childbirth and I want to have as many options as possible. My goal for my labor is to go as far as possible without medications, but will not be disappointed if I decide to go the route of epidural. I don't want to set myself up for disappointment, as anyway my little boy is born healthy and happy will be an amazing experience.

Back to the birth class. The class in itself is a 6 weeks series and each class lasts about two and half to three hours depending on the questions and discussions of that class. Tuesdays class was an introduction to how the class will be run, the other couples in the class (9 total including Andrew and I) and starting in on the birth process. We started by discussing words or themes that would describe an ideal birth environment. For example: Calm, Movement, Water, Peaceful, Birth Partner, quiet etc. From there she mentioned how similar the birth environment is to the romantic environment in which a baby is made. Which makes sense when you learn that the hormone that is released when making love, Oxytocin, is the same hormone that will start labor and continue labor until birth. By understanding what happens and how labor starts will help me be more relaxed and comfortable during the actual event. She also talked a little about the 3 r's of labor. Relazation (the more relaxed the quicker labor tends to go), rhythm (laboring mothers tend to pick up a rythm that helps them cope with each contraction) and ritual (mothers also seem to repeat certain rituals during every contraction). We ended the class by watching a birth video of a home water birth in Mexico. Both for the mothers to watch how she seems to have a rythm and pattern during the contractions and for the birth partners (Andrew) to watch how her husband supports her during the labor.

I really enjoyed the class, the teacher used a lot of humor to explain everything but at the same time did not beat around the bush with how painful the process is. Our next class is next Tuesday. I know that although the class may not be Andrew's idea of a good time, he will learn a lot from it. It is great for both of us!

3D Ultrasound

We went in for our 3D ultrasound on Saturday and I was so excited to see what my little guy looked like and to get a peak into his world right now. It was Andrew and I as well as my mom and grandma that went to Pregnancy Journey for the ultrasound. They have a great setup with the ultrasound projected on a huge screen where everyone could see everything. It was an amazing experience to be able to get a peak at what he looks like and how he moves before he is even born. He was awake the entire session and even opened his eyes for some of the pictures. He kept his hand in front of his face for a lot of the time and kept chewing on his umbilical cord, but we were able to get some good shots of him. He is definitely my chubby baby! Even the ultrasound lady commented on how active and chubby he was as he kept kicking her and moving for her.

A profile view of his chubby cheeks!

A straight on view that is a little squished!

One eye open, one eye closed with a hand covering the second half of his face!

And finally a picture of that appears he is done being photographed (with evidence of him flipping off the camera)!