34 week check up

Everything is going just fine! I showed her a copy of my birth plan and she said she agreed with everything I wrote and handed it back. So that was easy! (I knew she'd be ok with it anyway!) My blood pressure is good, she asked me to take it every day now so there aren't any surprises. The baby is head down, and was facing with her back to my back so that kind of concerns me about the possibility of more back labor when the time comes. Overall it was a good visit, the baby sounded really good and she estimates that the baby is already about 6 pounds!!! So I am thinking I'll have another 9-pounder. She estimated Will's weight at 36 weeks to be 7 pounds, and 5 weeks later he was born at 9 1/2 pounds. So she was right on. Hope things continue to go as well as they are!

Christmas is done for another year...

My poor 2 year old was SO overwhelmed!! He had been sleeping really well for about a week (he didn't wake us up at all for quite a few nights in a row) and after Christmas Eve, he kept my husband up all night! And the next morning, Christmas Day, he finally stopped opening presents and just wanted to sit and watch his new Bob the Builder DVD, he wanted nothing to do with any more gifts! He was just DONE! He had a pretty restless night last night too, but he's got a lot of nasal goop and was coughing and snurfling throughout the night. That was mixed in with him yelling "NOOOO!" in his sleep and kicking the bed! I had insomnia again and once he got settled, I went back to our room (my husband wasn't feeling the best so he slept on the couch) and read for about an hour, finally after 5 am I got back to sleep.

This past week was busy but one wonderful highlight was that I got to see my friend Laura and her little girl (who will be 3 in January). Her husband had been deployed to Iraq with the Army and just got back in November, and they were visiting his family about 45 minutes from us. So my son and I went up to see them for the day and we had a really nice time! I got to see her this summer too, so it was a real treat to see them again. He will be retiring from the Army (technically he's done in 1 1/2 years but due to the Iraq war he will not be able to leave just then) and when they are finished, they'll be moving to Michigan, they've got property all set to build on right near the family they were visiting. So it will be wonderful to be able to see them more often!

I am realizing now that I've got only about 6 weeks left until I'm due. I don't have that much to do, and less to get, but I do need to wash diapers and baby clothes so the poor kiddo at least has something to wear! We also have not picked out a boy's "just in case" name, we keep talking about it and the conversation keeps going down the road of "EEWWW, that's a weird name!" It's so much easier to find names we don't like as opposed to names we like. And we want it to sound good with our last name too.

My husband is off all week and already it's going by way too fast. We knew it would though. I see the doctor for my 34 week check this week, then in 2 weeks I see her weekly until I'm done. It's hard to believe we're already almost to weekly visits. I've got so much cervical pressure so early with this one that I can't imagine I will last to my due date, but you never know, I'll probably be sitting here on Valentine's Day wondering where my little Valentine is...

I can't #*#*@*#*@*# sleep!!!

How cruel is this..... I am 8 months pregnant, my two year old still wakes me up in the night, so what does my stupid pregnant brain do? It keeps me up! My son woke me up at 4 this morning and, yes, you guessed it, I'm still up. Everyone (including him) was peacefully asleep in the house EXCEPT THE PREGNANT ONE... why??? The thing is that I am SO tired I can barely function, yet my brain will NOT let me sleep! I've had about 9 hours in the past two days combined.

I am hoping I can fall asleep with him when he naps in a little while. Yesterday I tried that but could not. Watch, today I can but he'll only sleep 1/2 hour. I feel like I just can't win, and I'm about to start clawing my eyes out in sheer frustration!!!

Third trimester Christmas shopping...

Can we say, OW? Oh my, I think that was my last big shop until much into next year. I got a couple of hours to myself last night to go to the mall and get a few things for my husband and son. By the time I left, I was so sore I could barely walk... between pelvic pain, my ankle bugging me again (darn joints), and my back hurting from hauling around the jacket I knew would be off in the first 5 minutes and my purse that does not stay on my shoulder, and the bags of gifts, it was just kind of tiring!! Now today I just feel bad, I think I did too much last night. Ahh well, I remember this feeling from before... it will just keep getting worse until after the baby is born. Nothing much you can do about it, pace yourself and that's about it. It was kind of nice to not shop with my toddler who now hates the stroller and wants to do nothing but ride the rides at the mall (and run away from me) but it was still very tiring hauling myself around with my stuff. Although I do enjoy getting gifts for people, I really have begun to intensely hate Christmas shopping, I think it's mainly because of all the other people out. I think people need to do more hunting (like hunt and shoot their own meat) because maybe they would get it out of their systems and not be so hell bent on finding "the perfect gift" for all the 1,000 people they are shopping for. Christmas is way too commercial anyway and this year I was extra crabby to be a part of that. Ugh.

Funny how this post started out by me complaining about feeling sore and then it changed to me hating how commercial Christmas is, there is just TOO much crap out there!!

32 week check up

I am happy to say, things are going very well! My blood pressure was totally normal (it has been at home too), and the baby sounded really good. I am measuring 33 cm (should be 32 at 32 weeks) which is a little big for now but she was not at all concerned about it. I have gained a total of 23 pounds. I expect it will probably wind up being between 25 and 30 - as I get bigger I won't be able to eat as much. I set up all the OB appointments I will need from here to the end - I actually made them through 41 weeks, being the eternal pessimist that I am! If I go before then, I can use one of them for the baby's check up and someone else can have any other(s) that are left! I will be seen in 2 weeks at 34 weeks, then in another 2 weeks at 36 weeks, then it's weekly until the birth. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out. The only thing I REALLY want is to go into labor on my own, without any inducing drugs at all. From there, I know I can handle whatever comes next.

Today it is raining. All the snow we got over a week ago is now melted. Today after the doctor's I went to Yasmeen's (Middle Eastern store in Saginaw) and got some baklava, stuffed grape leaves, a huge jug of olive oil and a few other things. I just love that place! Tonight I am going back to Saginaw for some La Leche League business. My son is napping right now and giving me a little quiet computer time. I try not to do any work while he is sleeping because I need a break too when I can get one, but it is tempting especially when I have a mountain of dirty dishes in the kitchen... I'll feel better once that's all taken care of!

Owie Owie Owie...

OK, this stinks. I'm getting to the point where I'm just sore a lot more now... especially later in the day when I've been up and doing stuff! I do NOT like this part! I wish I could take off my belly and give myself a break, then put it back on. 31 1/2 weeks is too soon for the baby to come, but it hurts... all I can do is take Tylenol and try to change positions. Laying down feels the best, but then when I get up, I've got pubic symphesis pain from the pressure on my hips. Just can't win!! It feels like I'm aching in different places this time, more along the sides of my belly than the last time. Not happy at all! :(

Something funny...

I saw this in someone's siggie on a message board today:

Deep thought: Some people are like slinkies - They don't really have a purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

LOL

Does anyone read this?

Or am I just blowing a lot of hot air? LOL

If you have stopped by to read this, please leave a comment so I know I'm not just prattling on and on to nobody...

31 weeks and my blood pressure is NORMAL!!

I am SO relieved! I made it this far with normal blood pressure - also no episodes of tachycardia that I've noticed! It was right at 31 weeks during my pregnancy with Will, that my blood pressure was high enough to start medication, and I would have sudden, unexplained what my doctor thinks was supraventricular tachycardia - an abnormal, too-fast heart rate. The meds I took both lowered my blood pressure and kept my heart rate under control. I have been waiting for today, because I really was hoping to make it this far without needing medication!

One thing I noticed this time is that my blood pressure has stayed about the same. The last time, it started creeping up a month or two before it actually got high enough to cause problems. I am not sure what the rest of this pregnancy will bring, but I am hoping my body will hold out and that I won't need meds or monitoring at the end. I'd love to finish out this pregnancy in peace! I'm not going to hold my breath, there is always the possibility, but it sure would be great. I'll be checking it a few times a week just to be sure.

I can't believe I'm only about 2 months from my due date. It just seems like it shouldn't be coming up this fast. Now the next big hurdle (after seeing what happens with my BP) will be going into labor on my own. I am going to dig in my heels and refuse induction unless something is really going wrong with either me or the baby, but I won't consent to it just because I'm late. I simply can't be away from home that long this time. And it was a miserable experience, I'm sure I caused us much more grief than I needed to by being so impatient. Either way I am sure it will be a totally different labor this time, they all are, especially once you've already done it.

I have been talking to Will alot about babies getting nursies - he gets really excited when we go through all the list of animals that nurse and then I'll tell him that the baby in my tummy will nurse too. And that there will be plenty of nursies for him! I can't wait to see what he thinks when suddenly I have milk again!