bump watch: 39 weeks

39 weeks tomorrow. i have been pregnant for 272 days!

there's not much new to report.  baby is still head down and completely uninterested in making an appearance anytime soon. in fact, my whole "situation" down there was compared to a fortress today. lovely.

i am feeling pretty good considering i am lugging around this huge belly.  sleep is still iffy--i woke up  at 5AM today to go to the bathroom and then i HAD to eat.  i was laying there telling myself to go back to sleep, but my stomach wouldn't listen.  i got up in the dark and had some cereal. oliver probably thought i was crazy!

i am having some swelling in my hands and feet, especially after i am outside for a little while, but its really not terrible. my blood pressure is still perfect so no worries there.

we officially have an eviction date (~41 weeks) but i am hoping baby girl decides to come on her own before then.  its crazy to think if she hadn't flipped i would be prepping for a c-section tomorrow!

my hospital bag is packed and re-packed, the carseat is installed (FINALLY) and we are just ready for this baby to decide to come.  oliver still has to pack his bag and get his projects done, but he did tell me last night that "those would be good things to work on once we are home with her".  so at this point i think the nursery is at a stand-still until shes born.  i will definitely post some pictures once all the projects are done and we get the rocker in.

not much else to talk about with this one. i am just ready to not be pregnant anymore! fingers crossed there will NOT be a 40 and 41 week post.  :)

                        

bump watch: 38 weeks

38 weeks pregnant.  i have been pregnant for 267 days.  it is REALLY starting to feel like forever.

so big news this week.  i had my 38 week/pre op/prep for c-section final appointment today, and this child (OBVIOUSLY takes after her father) is HEAD DOWN!!!!!!!  after all of that mental preparation, getting ready for surgery, people taking off work, etc, little miss decided to go ahead and flip for us.  5 days before my c-section. 

i am obviously happy i don't have to have major abdominal surgery and can experience labor.  but i am also super overwhelmed that she decided to flip and i now have to wrap my brain around not knowing when shes coming, having less time off work, and preparing for the unknown.  so as of now, the c section is cancelled and we are playing the waiting game til this little one decides to make her grand entrance. 

on the normal pregnancy stuff, i am sitting at 26 lbs gained, blood pressure is still good, and i am having minimal swelling. i took my rings off around 37 weeks and haven't put them back on. (too worried they will get stuck.) i am still having a hard time sleeping, ESPECIALLY last night during an insane thunderstorm which prompted our 90 lb baby to cry and want to lay on top of oliver all night.  

her nursery is pretty much ready, save for a couple of "daddy" projects oliver has to finish up.  we got a new big tv for our room so we moved our old little one to the nursery for me to use while i am on leave and nursing the baby in there.  he is going to mount it for me too.  :) and we need a shelf up as well. 

i just keep washing clothes as i get them and blankets and stuff, but all her newborn and 0-3 size clothes are washed and put away in her dresser, and the diaper station is set up.  we also have the pack n play all assembled and washed in our room for when she gets home, and my hospital bag, baby's bag, and a snack bag are all packed.  we still need to get the carseat in my car and oliver will need to pack...but i'm not feeling rushed on that stuff.  

i still feel pretty good, but i am getting to the point of just wanting this to be over and to be able to hold her. i'm not sure how much of that feeling is because of the huge news we got today, or if i am just getting uncomfortable, but i can see why women are absolutely ready towards the end.  i get weird twinges sometimes which MIGHT be contractions, but so far i'm not showing any signs of labor.  sooooo...could be tomorrow and could be two weeks. who knows???  

anyway thats it for this week! i will keep you all posted on the progress of this crazy little girl!  

                                

bump watch: 37 weeks

today is 37 weeks, aka I AM FULL TERM!!!  holy cow. i cannot believe this day is here.  it feels like i've been pregnant forever, but i am also slightly freaked out about the pregnancy being done and me and oliver being responsible for a real live BABY!

all in all, i feel pretty dang good still.  sleep sucks, honestly, but at this point i am over it because i know when shes born i'm not going to be sleeping either. so i just get a couple of hours at a time.  coffee is my friend in the mornings.  i have gained 25 lbs, and that number seems to be holding steady for the past couple of weeks. i am actually happy with that, and if i can deliver and stay under 30 total i will definitely be a happy camper.  i have some minimal heartburn but even that isn't bad. i probably take a tums once every other week or something.  my worst symptom at this point is catching my breath.  baby girl is wedged into my lungs and its hard for me to feel like i am getting any air.

i got the group B strep test (negative) and the doctor re-checked my iron levels and my platelets at my last visit, and everything is normal.  my platelets are still very slightly low, but they want you to be over 100 for an epidural, and mine are at 134.  so we aren't having to worry about them anymore.

this stubborn baby is just like her dad and has decided to make herself at home in a frank breech position.  frank breech means her head is up and her feet are up, and her bottom is way down in my pelvis.  so shes folded up like a pretzel in there.  this obviously makes for some complications at delivery, because vaginally delivering a breech baby has some concerns and most OBs wont do it. SO. i have a c-section scheduled!  at first i was freaked out and really really sad that my first (and most likely all subsequent) birth would be a c-section.  but after talking more to my doctor and close friends who have had one or are in the same boat, i am ok with it.  i just want her to be here safely and if thats the best way, then so be it.  i get to pick a pandora station for the surgery and the way that it all goes is still very mom and baby friendly (she gets placed on my chest immediately after birth, she never leaves me or olivers sight unless there is a medical reason, we do an hour of skin to skin as soon as i am in recovery) so i really do feel at peace with it all.

i've started to pack my hospital bag and to think about what i want to bring to little miss. i guess i really need to have that stuff ready like...yesterday.  whoops! i definitely will be doing it this week.  we are scheduled on my 39th week but i technically could go into labor anytime before then.  so its better to be prepared. we also need to get the car seat installed.

i am pretty much only wearing skirts and dresses now. i feel like pants are just too uncomfortable for me, and my dresses and skirts are super comfy and aren't constricting like pants are.  shorts are ok too.  its getting hard to find stuff big enough to sleep in, so i might have to start stealing oliver's big t-shirts or something.

i think thats pretty much it for this week...i will post again at 38!

                          

                  

some major lopsided belly action 

                  

bump watch: 35 weeks

holy cow, 35 weeks down and 35 days to go! i cannot even believe it.  it still seems like i have so much time to prep for this baby and to get stuff ready..but in reality, she could very well be born THIS MONTH.  eeeeee!!

i am still feeling pretty good, all things considered.  i am large and in charge (see pic below) but i still can get around pretty well and am on the floor playing with harley, talking nightly after dinner mile walks with oliver and pup, and working full time.

sleep is starting to suck a bit.  its hard for me to get comfortable, and once i do, i either have to pee or i have crazy vivid nightmares that i wake up from all upset.  most of them now are involving the baby or going into labor type stuff...i guess some of my unspoken fears coming through?

i had all of my showers, and i feel like i just need a few more things for her room to really feel prepared.  i had my family shower in mid june, and then my work shower and my friend shower this past friday and saturday.  all of them were so much fun! and people were so generous to my sweet baby girl.  i got a ton of registry stuff, handmade gifts, clothes and clothes and CLOTHES, and artwork for bebe's room.  my mom also bought us the dresser and oliver's mom bought the glider!! so i am very excited and thankful for nana and gigi for spoiling this girl.  i am planning on doing a shower post at some point--so hang in there.  :)  i also want to do a blog about her room when its done, but we have her name letters up and i don't really want to share those til shes born. so that might have to wait for after her birthday!

i have gained a little over 20 lbs now.  ughhhhhh.  but my doctor and nurse practitioner keep telling me that its good and my weight gain is going well.  oliver and i do try to walk a couple/few nights a week and i do think that helps a lot.  sometimes it takes me a LONG TIME to get around that mile loop, but its good for me and good for harley too.  so we like to do that.

baby is breech as of my 34 week growth scan, which kind of scares me. the c-section word was thrown around, and if she doesn't flip, we will have to go that route.  it does freak me out but the ultimate goal is to have her here healthy so if thats the best way to get her out, thats what we will do.  but my doctor knows how much i would prefer a vaginal birth, so we have mini ultrasounds scheduled weekly starting next week to keep an eye on her and see if she flips.  they estimate she weighs about 5 lbs 9 oz as of last thursday.  big girl!  that is 66% on the growth chart for a 34 week gestation baby.  the us tech thinks she will be right around 7-8 lbs at birth.

i also have my first internal check next week, which i am kind of freaked out about.  (for those of you who don't know, thats where they start trying to tell if you are at all dialated.)  we will see if any of these random contractions i THINK i have been having have been really that, or are just braxton hicks, or if they are not contractions at all.

baby girl is still moving and shaking all over the place.  she gets hiccups about 3-4 times a day and she kicks and punches the crap out of me.  some of her kicks are actually painful at this point. i am just waiting for the day when i can see the outline of a hand or a foot on my belly.

i am going to try and do blog posts weekly from here on out since things will be changing so much at the end.  we will see if that happens. but here are a couple of pics for 35 weeks!  my belly pic and baby girl growth scan pic.  shes making a kissy face!