40 weeks...and then some

Was kind of hoping I wouldn't make it to this post but... here we are on our due date! As I write this I'm now at 40 weeks and 1 day. It's also now my 27th birthday, which I would LOVE to share with her if she would just hurry up and decide to come out already. So far i'm still not really having any contractions or back pain or anything to make me thing she wants to come out. 

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I picked my mom up from the airport yesterday, so now she's here for 3 weeks... It's so hard to sit around and wait for your body to do something. I know it is super common for first time mom's to go past their due dates, but with modern medicine they get really nervous if you go too far so I really only have about 4 more days until they will induce me (read natural birth plans get thrown out the window) 

At this past week's doctor visit I was still "barely 1cm" but 80% effaced. The doctor couldn't strip my membranes since i wasn't dilated enough but she did her best to stretch me to a full 1 cm. That night I had contractions for about 2 hours but they fizzled out before they got strong enough or regular enough. (talk about disappointed). 

I've tried all the old wives tails about how to jump-start labor (except castor oil... but that is not really recommended due to the "side effects"). Yesterday I ate the 3rd to hottest boneless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings thinking maybe the spicy food would do the trick. Nada. 

Here is the up-close version of the board Micah drew for me this week. In case you can't tell that is a space shuttle getting ready to take off. His graphic representation of 40 weeks :) Micah has taken to talking to my belly trying to convince Bailey that she needs to come out so he can hold her and play with her. At least now with it being a Monday morning there is a chance he could at least get to miss work. 

I've completely given up on my weight and instead have a bit of a pity party for myself about having to go past my due date. If I would have had her  2 weeks ago I would have had 2 weeks Less to gain weight. In the past 2 weeks i've started getting really puffy and retaining fluid i guess. my socks leave imprints on my ankles. Micah wants me to start doing cross-fit with him after i can restart exercising... with the weight gain i've put on these past few months i'm thinking this may be a necessity. 

Oh and in case you can't tell, I'm writing this post at 3:48 am because sleeping through the night has become a distant memory of mine. It is impossible to sleep comfortably so i alternate by spending a few hours a night in bed, a few hours in the reclining chair, and a few hours sitting on my exercise ball and killing time on the computer. With my mom here I no longer have a spare bed to sleep in so if I try to go back to bed i'll wake Micah up (and he has to go to work and can't nap so I really don't want to wake him up unless i have to). 

Here is a new picture of Fiona. She got to go to the groomers so that she would be all clean and pretty for when Bailey comes. Too bad she'll probably be matted and stinky once this stubborn kid decides to make an appearance. 

I really am trying to stay positive, but it is so disappointing to be waiting so long... I just keep reminding myself that in less than one week I will be holding my squirmy daughter in my arms and this past month will all fade to memories. 

Wish me luck! 

Summary:
Weeks = 40
Fruit/Veggie = Still a watermelon, though I suppose a slightly larger one? "
weight gain = about 42 lbs.
Milestones = I have to go for a non-stress test today (just means they strap me to monitors to watch bailey for about 20 minutes and make sure her heart rate/movement etc are fine) Then on thursday I have my LAST OB appointment... if my cervix is still at 1 cm then i'm going to be heading to the hospital (maybe that night, maybe friday... maybe sunday who knows) for an induction. 

39 Weeks

I seriously can't believe we are already at 39 weeks!!!

Our last doctor's appointment was last Wednesday and I was still 1 cm dilated (different doctor this time and he said barely 1 cm... he wouldn't have even really called it that) But... I am more effaced at nearly 75 to 80% effaced and she has "dropped" and her head is at a -2 station. My doctor gets back into town tonight/tomorrow so it looks like she will be the one to deliver Bailey. 

She's still active, but most of the time it doesn't feel as strong... she's running out of room I suppose. I'm getting a lot of braxton hicks but no real contractions. I'm sitting on the exercise ball as much as possible and trying to walk around each day. Luckily yesterday warmed up into the 40s so Micah and I took the dogs for a walk. It's funny when i see my shadow because i'm like "whoa, that's a very pregnant shadow!" 

Micah encouraged me to go ahead and get my hair cut, so I got a trim with some light layering done on Friday. I love it and it made me feel so much better to have it "styled". 

Still proud of my stretch-mark free belly! 

My biggest issue now is that I am having a REALLY hard time sleeping (to the point that now i've started sleeping in the guest room and/or lazy-boy so i don't keep Micah up), i have horrible gas, and I want to eat everything in sight! I thought labor might be starting soon since all day Friday I had horrible intestinal cramping, but it went away and still no contractions. I'm at a point where I find myself eating cereal at 2:00 am nearly every night... 

Micah and I got a LOT of time together, enjoyed our 1 year anniversary, played a lot of dominos and card games. Now he's back at work until Bailey gets here. I'm trying to find "activities" to keep myself busy during the week. This is going to be a long 7 days (+/- a few). 

Roses from my always sweet & thoughtful Hubby! 

Summary:
Weeks = 39
Fruit/Veggie = Watermelon
Weight gain = 40 lbs
Milestones= Bailey moved to a -2 station, I go back to the doctor on Thursday if Bailey still hasn't come. At that point if it's possible I'll have her sweep my membranes and hopefully get something started by Sunday. My mom also gets to town next Sunday...

38 weeks

So these photos will remind me not to hairspray my hair so flat in the future! Yikes!   

38 weeks! So excited to be at this point! Bailey is SUPER active and strong. We got great news at my last Dr. appt. According to her my cervix is now in mid position, 1 cm dilated, and 60% effaced. With Bailey's head being "low". YAY! I have been so scared that I would have to be induced with pitocin (my absolute least favorite drug ever) but with these changes it makes me have hope that over the next 2 weeks my body (and Bailey's) will continue to do what it is supposed to. 

Since we hit the 38 week mark i'm now "off" until mid february and I'd love to get as much time with her as possible so... Bring on the walking! (and other stuff) I aired up my exercise ball to sit on (not sure if it does anything but it makes me feel like she's lower when i sit on it...), i'm eating dates, and I even went and bought "Red raspberry leaf tea" which while there are no studies to say it induces labor supposedly it makes the uterus stronger leading to more effective contractions. Now if you know me, you know how much I HATE tea. So a few minutes ago I went ahead and made a cup of it with the idea that i would chug it. I added some sweetener and then.. no go. I poured it over a big cup of ice and added ginger-ale to try again... still can't get it down. It makes me want to vomit... soo... no red raspberry leaf tea for me. Sorry uterus, you're going to have to do it without that particular herb unless i can find a way to make it into ice cream that doens't taste like tea or something...

Last week was Christmas and Micah and I had a wonderful relaxing time together. We had steak with really sweet yummy sweet pototoes with an oatmeal/brownsugar crust on top. We got SNOW for Christmas and truly had a "white" Christmas. The day after Christmas we went shopping and tried not to freeze (i think the temp was 14 degrees that morning). 

I ate, and ate, and ate. At my doctor's appt I weighed in a whopping 6 lbs heavier than the week before! (oops!) At this point in the pregnancy though I just don't care :) It'll come off soon. 

Here's a picture of our current "little girl" cuddled up on Micah's lap. (yes those are in fact Iron Man pants!) She becomes really cuddly when it is cold.

Summary:
Weeks - 38
Fruit/Veggie - Pumpkin
Weight gain - 38 lbs
Milestones - 14 more days until her due date! Dr. appt every week... trying to jump start labor :) 

37 weeks & Christmas!

So here we are, 37 weeks pregnant! Officially done with all of my Med school rotations until mid February! Also 100% done interviewing for residency too. From now until approx. Jan 13th I get to just hang out around the house and "nest" Unfortunately that desire to clean and stuff still hasn't hit... 

It's hard to be away from all of our family members this Christmas, but Micah and I are going to try our best to just enjoy this last bit of time where it is "just us." So far since Friday we've watched 3 movies (probably more than the last 3 months!) played dominos, and went to our Pastor's last Sunday at Hope slash children's christmas service. We are going to do tamales for Christmas eve (my family tradition) and then since there was no point doing a whole turkey for 2 people, we are going to have Steak on Christmas. Oh and some sparkling cider courtesy of our sister-in-law. 

Probably the most exciting thing that happened in the past week was our "growth" ultrasound. Turns out Bailey is actually on the small side! (but from looking at her squishy cheeks i'm going to guess she's just short). Here is the first "picture" of our little girl! 

They are estimating her at 6 lbs 1 oz as of Dec. 21st. She has her mouth open and it looks like she's trying to  suck on her hand. I can't wait to meet this baby girl! She's still head down and the fluid levels all look good. Now we just have to wait for her to finish cooking! 

I'm at a point where I would classify myself as "VERY pregnant!" I waddle (*sigh*) and i find myself having a harder time moving around than I have ever had before. I've actually ended up sleeping half of the night in the lazy-boy recliner for the past 2 nights because I get better sleep being propped up. Sleeping on my side is just getting uncomfortable and I end up keeping both myself AND Micah awake. 

Thanks to everyone who has been so generous with gifts for this little girl. Her room is basically done and she has just about everything I think we will need for her. We went ahead and installed the car seat base this week... I think that made it real for Micah that she's almost here. Now if I could just get up the energy to pack that hospital bag...

Summary:
Weeks: 37
Fruit/Veggie: Wintermelon (Winter melon?)
Weight gain: 33 lbs
Milestones: Well, technically this is Micah and my first Christmas married and our last Christmas as just the two of us :) So I guess that makes this Christmas important.

36 Weeks

Oh my gosh! I just realized I'll only be posting 3 or 4 more of these! (ok, maybe 5 if she's a week late, but for my sake let's hope its no more than 4)

So here we are, 36 weeks and 3 days (I've been on my internal medicine rotation, I haven't had a day off in 2 weeks so I had trouble getting around to the picture this week. This also explains my clothing choice... by the end of the day i just want to be comfortable so sweatpants and Micah's t-shirt it is) I've gotten to the point where i'm just so tired and I don't feel like working anymore. Luckily TOMORROW is my last day working in the hospital until FEBRUARY! 

We had a pretty bad dust storm today (which is what the red "cloud" Micah drew behind the 36 weeks represents. he's so funny). It caused a huge pile-up on I-27. winds were 35mph sustained with gusts to the 70s. Of course I make it out to my car to leave work and I have a nearly flat tire. *sigh* ok God, I'll make a short detour to get this fixed before I head home. I'm thankful I have transportation and a safe warm house waiting for me.

The picture isn't very flattering... but I have to show off my real belly. Look closely... NO STRETCH MARKS! Woooo hooooo (sorry Amanda, it's genetic and I apparently got the genes from the grandmother I resemble the most in the face) ok so technically i have a tiny stretch mark where my bellybutton ring was, but that's my own fault for piercing my bellybutton.

I'm hoping she decides to "drop" into my pelvis soon. My OB checked me last week (since she had to do the group B strept swab anyway) and my cervix was soft but high and closed. Which is good for now, but i'm pretty sure bailey is completely above my pelvis and i'm not sure if she has any intention of dropping lower. We'll see in the coming weeks. My OB actually goes out of town this friday and doesn't return until i'm 39 weeks and 1 day... so it'll be interesting to see if Bailey waits for her. As anxious as I am to meet her, and have her be small enough to actually fit through my pelvis (and be able to sleep on my stomach again!) I don't really want her birthday to be this close to Christmas, so i'm hoping she does wait til Jan. 8th at least. 

My dog still thinks the red "balls" that dangle on the tree are the best toy ever! If you notice the red tree skirt has been undone... AGAIN by Fiona and the outermost lower branches of the tree are missing any ornaments. I have to keep picking them up and moving them higher. Luckily they aren't glass. 

Micah and I have a travel suitcase to use as our hospital bag and as of tonight i actually put SOMETHING in it :) Yes it may just be clothes for Bailey to come home in, but hey... it's a start ;) We had a low pressure system and I was noticing that my Braxton-hicks contractions are getting more frequent and stronger. Definitely not the real thing or anything, but perhaps a sign that my body may know what to do afterall? 

We have another Dr. appt this thursday (now at the once a week stage!) and we have a growth ultrasound this coming friday. I'm so excited to get to see her again (last u/s was at 18 weeks so it should be quite a difference now). My Dr doesn't think she's measuring big anymore, but is concerned about my fluid levels since i've been on my feet and on the go so much. 

Micah's family came to visit last weekend and celebrate his graduation. YAY MICAH! He now has TWO masters degrees on top of his bachelors. Bailey has such a hardworking and smart dad. 

Oh, one more thing. we went to our natural childbirth class last week and i'm SO glad we did! We now have a Doula (my hospital provides one for free!) and I feel so much more confident about my ability to give birth without an epidural. I'm practicing my self-hypnosis and relaxation techniques nearly everyday now. Hopefully all this hippie stuff will work. I honestly think taking the fear out of childbirth will make it much more bearable. We'll see if I know what i'm talking about in another 4 weeks or so. 

Summary:
Weeks: 36
Fruit/veggie: Honeydew Melon
Weight gain: who cares... (ha ha, just kidding. 32 lbs)
Milestones: Finishing up all of my rotations before Bailey is born and a growth ultrasound on Friday! 

35 Weeks

I can't believe we are already at 35 weeks! Only 35 days left until our Due Date! It's crazy how fast things have gone the past few weeks. My belly is getting bigger by the day. Luckily Micah got back into town last night so I took today off of work and we are just spending the day together. He did the awesome job on the board this week. 

My new favorite pregnancy memory is that when i lay on one side for a few hours and then stand up my belly is lopsided because she has shifted to the dependent side and it takes her a while to shift back to midline.

We have our "natural labor" class tomorrow night and then a Dr.'s appt. on Thursday where if she is still measuring big I'll get the ultrasound scheduled. My weight has definitely stabilized to the 1/2 to 1 lb per week i'm supposed to be gaining. 

I am so tired of working so much but I only have 2 more weeks left of "work" until i'm off for a month and a half! I can't remember the last time I had that much time off of school. Of course i'll have my hands full with having a baby and everything, but it'll be nice to have a break from the hospital. 

At this point when anyone sees me all they ask is "how are you feeling" which is fine except my answers are kind of limited. My options are to say "I feel great" which is true half of the time, or i spend 20 minutes telling them how my joints all hurt, i have a neuropathy that developed over one knee/thigh, I can't sleep past 5:00 am, I want to eat everything in sight, I wake up at least twice per night to pee, My lower back is killing me, I'm stuck "rounding" on patients for hours on end and my lower belly starts to hurt, none of my clothes fit right, people continually ask when i'm due expecting me to say any minute now, and i'm mentally terrified of what will happen come July when I start my residency and I have to leave this beautiful little girl with other people for the vast majority of her waking hours.... So instead I just say "I feel pretty good"  or "a little tired" 

We still haven't packed a hospital bag (or even thought about what to put into it), we haven't bought our diaper bag, we haven't bought any diapers, we haven't finished putting her room together, we don't have a christmas tree put up or lights, I haven't bought the stuff i need to use the breast pump, I don't have any milk storage containers/bags, i haven't washed the clothes we've been given, etc. I Let's hope she continues to cook at least until a week after christmas so i have time to get all this stuff done :) 

Summary:
Weeks - 35
Fruit/Veggie - Coconut
Weight gain - 30 lbs

Milestones - Labor class this week, possibly scheduling another ultrasound. Also when people ask me how much longer i have I can answer them with one month! 

34 Weeks

Micah is out of town this week, so I had to take pictures myself. I decided to do something different and show off my belly that I'm so excited to have. I'm very lucky and as of right now I haven't found a real stretch mark (with the exception of where my belly button ring used to be). My belly button is no longer really "in" but not "out" either. 

I did develop an interesting symptoms this past week though. I thought I had gotten bed bugs from my last interview in Austin. Then I realized it actually fit the description of a very mild form of PUPP (itchy bumps of pregnancy basically) . I have about 14 or so total, and they itch like crazy! On a happy note I found a glider for sale on craigslist for only 60 dollars!!! It's soooo nice and comfy and beautiful. 

Bailey is getting so big and strong and ACTIVE! She used to kick for a few minutes and then fall back asleep. Now it'll be a good 20+ minutes of active moving. Leading me to start being a little bit concerned about how this "kid" will get out. I still have 6 weeks until my due date but i'm starting to think she isn't going to fit... I have a class on Natural Childbirth on Monday at the hospital i'm delivering at and I've been using a self-hypnosis type of relaxation but I have to admit I'm a bit nervous... 

One of my classmates delivered her twins this week at 35 weeks and 1 day. It's crazy to see pictures of her girls and realize that Bailey is probably the same size as them! I have a real live baby inside of me! it's crazy.

Well, not much else is happening this week, just going to the hospital every day (EVERY DAY) for internal medicine and trying to salvage my house from the mess it became after the whirlwind that was November interview season.