3 Weeks Left!

At week 37, your pregnancy is considered full term, meaning baby is likely to thrive after birth. Baby spends these last weeks in preparation for the outside world… meaning careful refinement of the blink, suck, inhale and exhale. Meconium, which you’ll probably find in the first diaper, is accumulating in the intestines. If (okay, as) you worry about giving birth, consider what it’s like for the little one. During the journey out of your womb, baby will produce more stress hormones than any other time in life

How far along? 37 weeks

Total weight gain/loss? Up 2 from last week, up 17 total. I thought weight gain was supposed to slow down/stop towards the end of pregnancy? I feel like I'm starving all the time now and seem to eat a lot.

Maternity clothes? Every thing full time now.

Stretch marks? :( Yes. I have 2 that are towards the bottom that are raised, not flat on my skin. They hurt or itch a lot though, especially at the end of the day. 

Sleep? Still waking around every 3 hours or so. But, I can still generally fall back asleep pretty quickly. However, the late pregnancy insomnia has started. Twice this week I couldn't fall asleep initially then woke up wide awake at 5am.

Best moment this week? Seeing my boy at the ultrasound again.

Movement? He is still moving, but he's running out of room now so it's not too much now.

Food cravings? Warm chocolate chip cookies

Gender? It's a BOY!

Labor signs? Yes. Still having contractions. I've been having them ever since Thursday, I just don't always feel them. Hopefully I won't show up at the hospital too late!

What I miss? The cooler weather, sleeping through the night, no heartburn, and still sex.

What I'm looking forward to? Labor and finally not being pregnant!

Weekly Wisdom: If you have a big baby, don't go into an appointment expecting to hear anything about what the course of action will be. Go in with no thought out plan so you won't be disappointed by what can or cannot be done.

Milestones: Full term!

Emotions: Starting to cry more. And, I'm also getting really irritable. Just get this guy out!

Super cute blog!

http://milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/

Found this through the August 2010 Moms board on the bump. Too cute!

Back to L&D

So, late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning, I woke up shivering and nauseous. I eventually decided to go back to sleep thinking if it was actual labor, I would either wake up in more pain or with my water breaking, or that I would not be able to sleep because of it. It wasn't real. Yet.

I took it easy with my sister yesterday, we went to get a pedicure, lounged around during lunch, then went to my house to see my cats. I took a nap on the couch with one of them. I woke up around 4 feeling nauseous again but burning up, not shivering. This time, I could also feel contractions, occasionally. With Jason still being out of town, I wasn't able to concentrate on how many I was having or how far apart they were. I grabbed my hospital bag and went back to get my sister. We decided to go to triage to see what was going on.

I was having irregular contractions but with an average distance of 5 minutes apart (some were 4, some were 5 and a half...). I asked the nurse about it and she said that they don't always come at regular intervals in the beginning. I once again, couldn't feel them, well, I could in my lower back, but not in my stomach, and I could talk through them with no problem. She then did an internal, and Monday, when I was just over 1, I was now at 3cm. So, since I'm 36 weeks, they don't want to do anything to speed it up. Especially since I can talk through them and am not in too much pain. So, they sent me walking for an hour. If I was in labor, there probably should have been some progress after an hour of walking the halls of the hospital. There wasn't, I was still 3. Contractions were now irregular with an average of 4 minutes. So, they sent me home. But, the nurse basically told me to ignore the preterm labor discharge papers (the same ones that I had gotten every other time), and told me to come in for certain signs, including when the pain is so much that I can no longer talk through it.

So, there we have it. However, the nurse thinks it will be sooner rather than later. She was to be off until Tuesday and it sounded like she expected it to happen by the time she came back. The full moon is Monday, so who knows, perhaps! But, I don't think I'll be lasting to my wishful thinking birthday of 8-9-10. As long as he's ready though, that's all that matters.

4 Weeks Left!

How far along? 36 weeks

Total weight gain/loss? Up 1 from last week, up 15 total

Maternity clothes? Every thing full time now.

Stretch marks? :( Yes. More than 2 now, all near my belly button. They no longer hurt, but man does my stomach itch like crazy! Nothing seems to help!

Sleep? Still waking around every 3 hours or so. But, I can still generally fall back asleep pretty quickly.

Best moment this week? Finding out that my doctor says, yes, I'm about 1.5cm dilated and around 75% effaced.

Movement? He is still moving, but I think he knows his dad's not in town and he's not moving as much.

Food cravings? Ice cream. That's pretty much it. Yup. Oh, and back to sweet tea. Soon enough. :)

Gender? It's a BOY!

Labor signs? Yes. Still having contractions. In fact, I think they're coming about 45 minutes apart right now. Soon it seems.

What I miss? The cooler weather, sleeping through the night, no heartburn, and still sex.

What I'm looking forward to? Well, besides for labor... My growth ultrasound on Tuesday then the appointment right after where we'll discuss if we need to bring Hunter to the world in some other manner other than the traditional way.

Weekly Wisdom: Don't be surprised if you have to go on bed rest even if you don't think you have a reason that would require it. If things are moving too fast, they'll need it to slow down!

Milestones: Down to the last month!

Emotions: Starting to cry more. Jason is out of town and he told me to rub my belly for him and that he misses Hunter. That made me tear up!

Bed rest, sort of

Well, I saw the doctor yesterday. I told her about my 2 visits to OB Triage last week. She listened and did my exam. At that point, she did realize that I was just over 1cm dilated and she said about 75% effaced. She doesn't want me at work helping things along until I hit full term next week. So, according to her papers she gave me, that puts me off of work until next Friday.

My FMLA through my work says maternity leave cannot be intermittent. It has to be all in one block. So, that might be a problem. I've called my HR group in charge and told that I wanted to make sure it was ok or not otherwise I could tell my doctor it's an all or nothing situation but the lady I spoke with didn't give me any indication that it would be a problem so hopefully I'll be approved for that. Now, I have to call the ones in charge of disability so I can get paid. Fun times.

So, I gave up

Yeah, I gave up on wordpress. I can't find a suitable theme for the new blog and I don't want to pay to be able to edit the CSS and such. So, I scraped it and I'm back here on blogger. They've actually made some enhancements that I didn't realize so it should be good to go soon. In fact, you might even be able to find it. There's just no posts right now.

Thus, the reason the About Me section has changed and now shows me as Hunter's Mom. Well, there we go!

Babies galore!

In the span of 4 days last week, 4 of my friends had babies.

Saturday, July 10 saw 2 babies. Jill, a sorority sister of mine, had a little girl, Carolyn Leona, around 9:30 Saturday morning after a labor of about 36 hours (Yikes!). Saturday night, and Vanessa gave birth to Logan who decided to arrive just a few weeks early (he was 36 weeks).

Monday, July 12, Lori, another sorority sister, gave birth to Emily Winifred, who came right on her due date.

Tuesday, July 13, Libby, my pregnant friend in my baby shower pictures, gave birth to her son. They've been quiet so far on the details as even though he was 2 days shy of his due date, he was needing help breathing and has spent a few days in the NICU. We ran into the father yesterday in the hospital cafeteria while we were eating lunch during a break from our childbirth class and he gave us the news. Upon hearing that, we figured his name wasn't that important just yet. We just hope that everything turns around and they can bring him home.

In other news, I was back at Triage late Wednesday night due to more contractions. I took Thursday and Friday off from work. I go in for right around a half day tomorrow before leaving to go to my 36 week appointment. I've felt a few more contractions, but none that were really trackable. We'll see if I'm still 1cm and 80% or if those numbers are different. And, my childbirth class was yesterday and it was pretty interesting. I am glad I took it. We were hesitant after the baby care class we had in June, but this was much better. Now, it truly is a waiting game. Ideally, if he could show up after this week as Jason is out of town for band camp. But, my sister will be flying in to stay with me, just in case. Who knows, there is a full moon next Monday.

5 weeks to go!

How far along? 35 weeks and 1 day

Total weight gain/loss? Up 3 from last week, up 14 total

Maternity clothes? Every thing full time now.

Stretch marks? :( Yes. More than 2 now, all near my belly button. They no longer hurt, but man does my stomach itch like crazy! Nothing seems to help!

Sleep? I went back to waking up every 2-2.5 hours. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to take me long to fall back asleep.

Best moment this week? Finding out I am 1cm dilated and about 80% effaced. We're making progress!

Movement? He can't really kick now, he'll just stick a random body part out and I feel like I have to push it back in! And, hiccups.

Food cravings? Ice cream. That's pretty much it. Yup.

Gender? It's a BOY!

Labor signs? Yes. I'm having contractions now. Didn't realize on Monday I was having them, but they were 6 minutes apart. I had to go back to L&D last night due to more contractions. I'm home today and tomorrow taking it easy as it's just a little too early for them.

What I miss? The cooler weather, sleeping through the night, no heartburn, and still sex.

What I'm looking forward to? My childdbirth prep class on Saturday. Not a moment too soon too!

Weekly Wisdom: Don't be scared about calling wolf. You never know what's going on.

Milestones: I guess having possible signs of preterm labor.

Emotions: Good, I survived week 34 (and so did my dad). Now, I'm mainly nervous about all these contractions and know that I'm clueless right now if he were to come. I'm relieved that the childbirth class is on Saturday. I also have to finish packing my bags!

Preterm Labor and the OB Triage unit

Yesterday around lunch time, I started having this low back pain that was a new pain to me during pregnancy and was on my sides, rather than centered on my back. I went back to work and tried to continue. About 2.5 hours later, it was still continuing so I called my doctor's office. The nurse didn't seem concerned with the back pain, but did ask if I felt the baby move recently. That's when it occurred to me that I hadn't felt him since sometime that morning. I originally estimated 10:30 or 11, but once I really thought about it, it was probably before that. Well, she didn't like that so she told me to go to L&D for monitoring.

I go home to get the hubs then we get to L&D about 4:15. I tell the nurses in the triage my story and say that the office wants me monitored due to the change in fetal movements. I say this with a "I'm sorry to be bothering you with something so trivial" tone in my voice. About 10 minutes later I'm hooked up to everything and baby is beating away. About an hour later, the nurse comes in to read the graphs. I know one is his heartbeat, but the other was unfamiliar to me. I ask, and they say that it monitors contractions, and that I was having 1 every 6 minutes.

I was surprised. I guess I always thought that I would know a contraction when I felt it as that is what everyone has said. Shoot, my BH I could feel, but not these. They checked my cervix and I am dilated to 1 cm. Nothing big as I can stay dilated for weeks before going into labor. But, as I'm not yet 35 weeks, they don't want me to continue with contractions. They gave me a dose of terbutaline to see if it would calm my uterus down. I was so jittery from getting it. They continued monitoring for 30 minutes and during that time, there was nothing. When the nurse came in, it looked like everything was fine and that it took. So, she left to get the on call dr from my office and see if they could discharge me. 45 minutes later, she comes back in, and I've had 2 more contractions about 10 minutes apart. So, I got another dose.

I got to leave about 8:00 last night and I was told to watch everything to see if I could go to work today and if my back still hurt the same way, then I should stay home and off my feet to see if that helped. So, I go to work today and only lasted 4 hours. I continued to have contractions and I was very, very hot. I'm now in bed at home. Jason had the house cold and ready to help cool me off and I haven't had 1 contraction (at least, based off that back pain) since coming home. Perhaps it's the weather, and it's only going to get hotter. Perhaps it's just trying to calm down from yesterday. I don't go to see my doctor until this coming Monday, so I'm not really sure if I have to be on bedrest or not. If I stay ok today, I'll try to go back in to work tomorrow, and if it doesn't go well, then that will probably be my sign.

6 Weeks to Go!

How far along? 34 weeks

Total weight gain/loss? Flat from last week, up 11 total still

Maternity clothes? Every thing full time now. Except for unisex t shirts in size L and XL.

Stretch marks? :( Yes. More than 2 now, all near my belly button. They no longer hurt, but man does my stomach itch like crazy! Nothing seems to help!

Sleep? Well, for a few days I was waking up every 2-2.5 hours having to make the trip to the bathroom. However. Sunday night it was only twice, and Monday and Tuesday night were only once! I'll take that! Keep that coming!

Best moment this week? Deciding to run the Princess Half Marathon with my sister in February at Walt Disney World! And, seeing the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows trailer! (Ok, that was actually last week, but I forgot about it when it came time to type this out)

Movement? He can't really kick now, he'll just stick a random body part out and I feel like I have to push it back in! And, hiccups.

Food cravings? Ice cream. That's pretty much it. Yup.

Gender? It's a BOY!

Labor signs? Nope. But I still am getting those ever so much fun Braxton Hicks contractions. I feel so sore after a session of them. My lower back is starting to hurt - though I always have back problems. The BH seem to be getting stronger, I think I lost part of my mucus plug... Every thing that happens sends me into a frenzy wondering if it's preterm labor or not. I'll discuss all this at my appointment tomorrow.

What I miss? The cooler weather, sleeping through the night, no heartburn, and still sex.

What I'm looking forward to? My friend Libby going into labor! She's 39 weeks today! Any day now she could be having her son! And, my appointment tomorrow. And, for my labor to be over with signaling that my boy is here!

Weekly Wisdom: Don't fight it, might as well get up when you wake up and make the trip to the bathroom so you can go back to sleep, otherwise it will just keep you up.

Milestones: I've been officially cut off from traveling.

Emotions: Good, but I'm also on edge. With this whole "am I in preterm?" and with the dream I had about my dad dying. That happened during week 34, right when I was no longer able to travel. Please don't come true!

Let the packing begin!

I've started collecting items that I will need in my hospital bag, or at least they say you will need. I just bought my pads for the ever so long bleeding and also bought nursing pads. I also have some underwear that I don't care about so it can be ruined and will be getting some sugar free hard candy to suck on. What other types of items should I be prepared to have? I'll be bringing my iPod, can I bring the little player for it too or will it only be headphones? I'll be making a playlist of my favorite Dave Matthews Band and Coldplay music but everything will be on the iPod in case I want something else - though I doubt it. So, yeah... what things do I need to make sure I pack?

On another note... while at the store today, we were looking at cloth diapers. I love the ones with the flushable insert, but that's more money than regular diapers. So, I asked what is done with dirty cloth diapers and such - especially poop, or the exploding diaper. After talking it over, it seems like something we could do - plus it's greener, a lot greener. However, we already have quite a few diapers here, maybe not enough to last us for a full year, but quite a bit. Perhaps, if we find ourselves tight on money, we will seriously look into it. But, given that our diaper genie is all set up and the amount of diapers we have thanks to my MIL, it doesn't make sense to switch right now before he's even here. Hmm, more things to ponder.

The new wordpress page has begun

We have the name all picked out and a current theme, but we are trying to find something better, or see how to make one of our own. We still have a little bit of time so that's good. Right now, besides trying to find a good theme for the site, I'm also trying to navigate my way through it. It's a lot to take in and figure out so I'm sure it will take some time.