Archive for the ‘week by week’ tag
Pregnancy: Week 36
Today marks exactly one month until my due date (July 22)!
Miseries
I had an absolutely craptastic night last night – I woke up at about 2 am and that was that. I dozed a little off and on, which means I had no more deep sleep, but lots of crazy (many of them disturbing) dreams. Most of my nights are like this lately. In fact, the big excitement was night before last when I slept clear through the night without getting up to pee, which means no inability to fall BACK asleep that I've been suffering lately. I felt rested and refreshed all day yesterday. What a novelty! (And the scary thing is I know the whole grogginess/mental fog problem is going to get worse before it gets better. Eek.
Other discomforts of note: I sit at the computer all day and even with that my lower back aches by evening. But the worst is the weight and tightness of my belly. Starting around 3-4 pm the Braxton Hicks contractions start getting really frequent and intense. Getting dinner together is no joy – sometimes these contrax, while painless, are intense enough that they stop me dead in my tracks while I try to collect my breath.
Also the boy is really getting up into my ribs and they really hurt. Ahhh, I'm just one complaining ball of miserableness!
But the pool, ohhhhhhh, the pool. I've been getting in most nights lately, floating and soaking as long as I can until I feel chilled. Bliss.
The worst part is getting OUT of the pool. Immediately the weight and the BHs hit me hard. There's not much left for me to do at that point but go to bed, get as comfy as I can with pillows and sleep/rest/battle insomnia until my brief morning reprieve from the discomfort rolls around.
Baby size?
Last night my backup midwife was checking out Jake's position, etc. and she commented that he felt bigger than average 35 weeker – 6.5 lbs or more. I said my other babies were in the 8-9 lb range and she said if he goes to his due date or beyond, she would expect him to be closer to that 9 lb number.
Huh. I was rather hoping Jake might be just a little smaller than the others. Regardless, I know I can do it, though.
He was going crazy reacting to all that palpating, too – wiggling, kicking. Cute, but uncomfortable.
In other news – this is cute. I had TWO appts this week, first with the OB. When she listened to Jake's heartbeat, she exclaimed, "WOW, that is a strong, strong heartbeat!" Then last night when the midwife was listening in with the fetoscope, she pulled back and said, "Wow that's loud."
Plus at the last ultrasound, they just raved and raved about his perfect little heart and wanted extra scans for teaching etc. 
Assuming he comes after his due date, I'll forever think of him as my little lion-hearted boy.
Good heavens, I'm bragging on him already and he's still in UTERO. 
—————————————
Readiness, here's where I'm at:
Physically: Not quite. I need to make it to Sunday (36 weeks) for midwives to attend my home birth. And I'd like to get to 38+ weeks at the least to make sure the boy is fully baked. (And based on past births, he'll probably go at least 40 weeks).
But oh dear it's going to be a long 5-6 weeks of discomfort if Jake-baby goes all the way.
Emotionally: I'm ready anytime. I'm especially ready to have my brain back, please. I'm ready to be on the other side, hopefully with most fears, worry and apprehension behind me.
Household: Ready!!!
Although with that said, I was feeling a little crampy yesterday and thought it might be the beginning of prelabor contrax (which can last for weeks and weeks with me) and I panicked a little bit. I'm ready for time to speed up a little so I can meet my Jake, but at the same time I want him fully baked and am not ready for him to come quite this early – too much preemie risk I'd rather avoid. Anyway, I think the crampiness was just gas…
Pregnancy: Week 35
35 weeks pregnant today and 35 days until my due date.
I've been having a little bit of a panic attack about that timing. Should Jake arrive after his due date, there will be some unpleasant overlap with the first day of school (July 30). It only just occurred to me since school has been out, what a stressful juggle that could be, particularly if we have to go to the hospital for some reason. One way or another, though, I know we'll manage. No choice! (And we do have options – it's just figuring it all out.)
Aside from the usual, typical complaints (fatigue, spacey, uncomfortable, insomnia, etc. etc. etc.), I'm feeling pretty grand. I seem to have finally happened onto a system of eating and managing indigestion/reflux – it (knock wood) hasn't been bothering me too much lately.
I've been nesting like crazy! Got the diapers and supplies ordered and they were delivered on Friday. Much excitement! Mir's eyes just about bugged out of her head she saw them. She insists she's never seen cuter diapers in her LIFE and she immediately ran to get a doll to diaper. She is EXCITED. It's cute. Like me, she keeps petting the soft, soft Kissaluvs and rubbing them against her cheek. A CD addict already?
Anyway, I spent a significant portion of the weekend so far happily washing and folding (and smelling and fondling) baby diapers. Boy, will baby laundry get old after awhile, but during this expectation phase it brings me unaccountable joy to walk into the tidy nursery and smell all those delicious baby clothes and dipes. Mmmmm.
I have a few major work projects on my plate. One of them should be very satisfying. I hope I can just get my head into it and let it distract me from these end weeks for a bit. As opposed to the opposite (end weeks distracting me from work). Which do you think is more likely, eh… ?
Pregnancy: Week 33
It's June! That means now when people ask me when I'm due I can simply say, "Next month!" Also, I'm only 3 weeks from qualifying for homebirth with my midwife, presuming all else is well. There are some hurdles still to clear in that regard… the main one at this time being GBS screen, which will hopefully be negative (positive means IV antibiotics during labor and a hospital birth). <fingers crossed> that we don't have to deal with any such complications.
Baby's position is head down (vertex) and he's been that way for weeks. Like all my other babies, he really seems to favor my right side. Mostly he's alternating between ROA and ROT and is very, very occasionally posterior (ROP). That basically means he's head down on my right side with his back facing either out, opposite my spine, or his back is facing out from my side. He is really just all cuddled up under my ribs. Um, it's a little tight there, baby!
He's just so big and… present these days! At any time Scott or I can cradle his little back and bum with our hands. A little in utero snuggle! There's often a knee part poking up about halfway between my belly button and sternum – sometimes I can gently press and prod and even move it gently around and he'll give me a little punch back. He also reacts – very predictably! – with a startled jerk when Scott blows raspberries on my belly. If Scott's interactions with all the other kids is any example, that is some teasing and hassle Jakey better get used to. 
Pregnancy: Week 30
Woo – 30 weeks! Only 10-12 weeks to go; three-quarters of the way done. I would expect the time to fly right by if it wasn't for how uncomfortable it's getting (and how much more uncomfortable I know it's going to get!).
I look at the pictures of how big my belly has gotten and it's hard to imagine how much bigger I will be at the end, considering that this babe is currently not even one-half of his birth weight! (Assuming he's somewhere around three pounds now and predicting that he'll be somewhere in the 8 pound range like my other kiddos were.) If only there was a way to get that huge and NOT feel so miserable in the process…
Anyway, for now I still feel wonderful in lots of ways, especially in the mornings. I'm pretty much shot by mid-afternoon, though, and desperate to be in bed by 8:30-9 pm most evenings. That means Scott mainly sees me only at my grumpiest. Poor boy. It's not pretty.
I'm sleeping particularly badly at the moment. Caught a cold a couple days ago – ugh. I have NO energy – but of course PLENTY of obligation between work, end of year school activities and HM's birthday (10!) tomorrow.
The stairs: Our bedroom and office are both upstairs and since I work from home, that means I have to deal with the stairs anytime I want a fresh drink or something to eat (that isn't stashed at my desk…). They make me so winded! Pathetically, I find myself strategizing to save myself as many encounters with the stairs as possible.
I had a midwife appointment yesterday evening and everything is still insanely textbook – fundal height measures 30 weeks, I'm gaining a pound a week (up 15 lbs total for the pregnancy so far). Baby boy is head down, and seems to be so consistently. He's used up most of the space I have to offer in there – no place else for him to grow right now except out – and into my ribs, of course.
Jake is a super-active babe. Reminds me of Mir, who was (and is) always on the move. She was totally the toddler you'd find standing atop the dining room table striving for the chandelier. Eep! I think I have another one of those!
Pregnancy: Week 28 and ultrasound
Monday I had my 28 week prenatal and I was soooooooooooooooooo traumatized.
Everything was on target, but this was the week of the one hour gestational diabetes screen. I almost refused the test – I have in the past. My age puts me in a higher risk category this time, however, so I went for it. I wish I would have just refused it, because…
The tech could NOT get any blood out of me. (Warning: the following might be too much for you if you're squeamish about needles.)
I got stuck twice in both arms and several more times in the backs of BOTH my hands (and then my veins moved and so she'd fish around for the vein with the needle already embedded in my flesh). The needle was tiny and it didn't hurt TOO badly, but I still get so lightheaded in this situation. I was feeling very faint and nauseated by the end.
All that trauma and she only got two out of the three needed vials. Mercifully, one of the two was the GTT. The other one was one of the hemos. Theoretically I can go into the lab anytime to get my iron checked.
Yeah, not likely. Keep those needles away from me OMG.
Also, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to drink water after having the glucose drink. I wonder how that will affect the result? Sigh.
Anyway, today I had an ultrasound to monitor my placenta. It was low-lying (previa) at my 19 week ultrasound. This appointment was much more fun. 
First off, no more placenta previa – I'm cleared in that regard for vaginal birth.
The boy was – as I suspected – head down, with his back along my right side. The technician also confirmed in passing that, "Oh yes, he's definitely still a boy."
Also, both the tech who did the scan and the doctor who reviewed it were in raptures over his perfect little textbook heart. They even wanted some extra scans of it.
He was measuring just one day shy of my due date at approximately 2 lbs 11 oz (although ultrasound estimates of weight are inaccurate at this stage of pregnancy – and become increasingly more so as the pregnancy progresses).
Jake was super-active this morning and she had a hard time getting some good shots of his face. At one point he even turned his face completely into the placenta as if to say, "No pictures!" He did ultimately cooperate. 
Check out my cute little baby boy!!
Pregnancy: Week 27 belly photo
Pregnancy: 27 weeks
27 weeks today! And it's just all baby, all the time on this blog now, isn't it? Definitely this is a very consuming stage of pregnancy. I'm getting very excited to meet my little guy.
This was one of our weekends sans kids, so Scott and I spent some time shopping and putting the finishing touches on Jake's room. Got the bedding into the crib, hung some cute wall hangings, folded little baby clothes and put them away (still have to pull them all out again in a couple months or so and wash them and fold them and put away again, but I don't mind – nesting is no chore.
Entirely unexpected that it would play out this way, but it turns out that Jakey has a fully furnished nursery. There's even a glider rocker! The ONE item from my girls' babyhoods that survived for Jake (mainly because I was a smart mama and picked a non-nursery upholstery, so the glider has long been a fixture in the living room these past 11 years). Still in perfect shape!
Enough of my babbling! Pictures!
Pregnancy: Week 26 and Third trimester!
This pregnancy feels like it is flying by! The crib and dresser we ordered arrived Wednesday evening and Scott (with some help from HM) got it all assembled last night. Ohhhhhh. So exciting to see it coming together.
I feel pretty good – the expected, normal discomforts (heartburn, pubic symphisis and hip pain, getting harder to get around, breathlessness, etc.).
I had a 26 week midwife appointment on Wednesday. I love my midwife appointments, but gahhhh, I have a lot of appointments in general with the shadow OB care. It makes me crazy. Every two weeks most of the pregnancy (except I did skip a couple months of OB appts, oops), then when we go to the 3rd trimester every two weeks schedule, it will actually be WEEKLY. And when we go to the 9 month's weekly schedule, it will be TWICE weekly! UGH
Not to mention that the first week of May I have OB prenatal appointment, then colposcopy, which is a separate appointment, PLUS the follow on u/s to check placenta. For heaven's sake! I don't care much for it.
Anyway, the appointment on Wednesday was uneventful. Still measuring right on (26 cm), gained 5 lbs over past month (total weight gain is about 10 lbs so far), pee, BP, baby's heartrate etc. etc. were all perfecto.
In all, not too bad for an "elderly" gravida. 
Pregnancy: 100 days! (Week 25)
I am 25 weeks pregnant (almost 26!), and today my little ticker tells me, YAY, only 100 days until baby Jake's due date!
(And that means only 99 days for HP and the Deathly Hallows, which I have preordered and am hoping it will prove a fun distraction for at least a couple days when I'm annoyingly overdue…)
I'm getting excited to meet the little guy. I think this period of just 100 days left (give or take about 14ish days) is just a little golden time of pregnancy. Anxieties, which never entirely go away, at least have eased back somewhat. I'm not so far along that I'm getting impatient and grumpy and super uncomfortable. But his arrival doesn't seem impossibly far away anymore either! It's really going to happen.
Symptom watch
The belly is starting to get quite unwieldy. Rolling over in bed is becoming an effort. I waddle a little bit and have to walk more slowly. The increase in my blood volume has reached peak, so I can tell I have to take it easier; I'm easily winded these days. I've been dealing with some painful sciatica and neverending heartburn. Thank goodness for Zantac. I also feel a lot more tired. By late afternoon, I'm fading fast. In all, definitely feeling third trimestery.
Baby movements
Just palpate my belly a little bit and you can feel how much this boy is growing! Every once in awhile a sturdy little body part (maybe a foot, a knee, an elbow?) will randomly present itself – announcing itself with a gentle roll or a hearty thump. I can feel how strong he's getting! And it's so easy to visualize him as my little babe in arms. Soon. Soon!
He was a frustrating boy last night, though. Scott's mom is down from Colorado for a short visit. The last time we'll see her until Jake's arrival in July. Usually the baby can be counted on to be very active in the evenings – and we were hoping his grandma would have a chance to feel him moving about. But he was obstinately quiet last night, to the disappointment of everyone. He was also unfortunately positioned in such a way that what few nudges he did offer, I could really only feel inside. Little stinker – no one's performing monkey, I guess.
Health stuff
Aside from the expected discomforts. So far, a very healthy pregnancy – let's hope it stays that way!! I did find out at my OB appointment last week that I do have to go in for another ultrasound around 29 weeks (May 3). Apparently the placenta was a little low (close to my cervix, but in no way covering it) and they want to confirm that it's moving up as it should. A very common "complication" – and the vast majority of the time the placenta does indeed move up. Hopefully I just follow that common pattern here. I am looking forward to seeing little Jake again, but I do hope this is the last time until I meet him in person in July.
A note about the belly pic
I didn't realize until I saw this photo just how unflattering those shorts are. UGH. The are super comfy, because the waistband rides under the belly and they are a little too big so that means not binding or restricting in anyway. But, DAMN, they make my butt and thighs look HUGE. WAY too huge. Boo, hiss.
Pregnancy: Week 24
Yay – yet more placenta brain adventures!
You know pregnancy has fried your brain when…
…you think the gas pump you're trying to use is broken, but actually you've simply failed to indicate which KIND of gas you want to put in the tank, even though you've done this a million times, plus the pump is there giving you very explicit instructions.
(But, hey, at least you figured it out on the THIRD attempt and at least you minimized the humiliation factor by managing to NOT involve any gas station attendants.)
(And of course your Scott was witness – via telephone – to all of this.)
(And just what ARE you going to do when you no longer have a placenta as your excuse for all this airheadness???)
——————————–
So I can totally tell the third trimester approaches.
I was on my way home from an in-office staff meeting and stopped by McD's on my way home. I very nearly SUPERSIZED my extra value meal today!
And then I wished I would have after I ate every crumb of the regular size PLUS apple pie and was still hungry.
Mom to 4 kids and 2 stepkids, I am a writer writing in the heart of chaos. I am the co-founder and former editor of 
