38.5 weeks - check-in

We had another non-stress test (NST) today and it showed continued contractions every 4-5 minutes (no shock there) but it also confirmed that I am not only good at identifying contractions, but I am pretty good at judging their strength.  It also showed baby is a stud and not only is playing on his own, but he does really well during contractions, actually having accelerations at the same time, showing he is very healthy.  I asked if I could talk to Dr. Paek (the other doctor I have a seen a few times) about this continued labor and the stress on my body.  They were able to arrange it (which was great considering how crazy busy the office was today).  Charles and I spoke to her and she recommended we not check my cervix because the act of checking it can actually stir the pot and make things worse (and not necessarily in a productive have-a-baby way, just in a discomfort way).  She agreed that I should go up 1 mg on my prednisone since I started flaring again yesterday. 

Hopefully that will help.  She was also reassuring that this kind of protracted early labor can happen and just keep doing what we are doing.  The baby is doing great so there is no concern about keeping this process going.  She also let us know she is on call all weekend, which is great because if I do go into labor anytime until my own doctor (Dr. Kline) is back, I will have Dr. Paek, who I at least know and like, even if she isn’t as familiar with me (or me with her).  I haven’t met anyone else in the practice, so I wasn’t excited to deliver with a total stranger. 

At this point, I am hopeful baby will hang on until Monday to get things going.  My plan for now is to lay pretty low (activity definitely encourages the contractions), and hopefully get rest and stay as comfortable as possible.  If contractions really pick up and it seems like labor is starting, I will probably move around to get it going because if it gets too intense, prolonging it will just drain me.  Monday my appointment is early morning, so we can work out a plan with Kline, but my preference will be to be very active on Monday to hopefully get labor going instead of having any intervention on Tuesday or Wednesday with the planned induction. 

I am getting a little tired of this process, but I am still thankful that we won’t have to do a really hard induction and I am super grateful for the wonderful support of family and friends and especially Charles and our Doula. 

Here’s a picture of me yesterday.  Still not looking huge, but when the baby turns his head towards my back he sticks out considerably more than when he is laying sideways (yes in these pictures he is the “bigger” position).

38 weeks - early labor

Well it has been quite a busy week.  After contractions starting last Wednesday, they continued all weekend, especially picking up at night and if I was standing or moving.   They were mild and mostly ignorable.  However, I felt a little trapped since moving exacerbated the contractions and they kept me from sleeping as well.  Charles did a great job picking up the slack, but I was still able to go shopping and help cook as long as I sat down and rested when contractions started.

Because I was still functional we got all our grocery shopping done and I was able to make 8 nights of meatloaf and also we made all the Christmas lasagna. 
Then, Monday morning I woke up with a dull pain in my cervix after a pretty bad night of sleep (but wasn’t sure whether it was from contractions or not).  I went to my doctor’s appointment, which started with my non-stress test (baby heart rate and contraction monitoring).  After an uneventful first 8 minutes, I started not only getting contractions every few minutes, but they actually hurt (unlike most of the previous week where they were tight and uncomfy but no real cervix pain).  During the 25 minutes NST, I had 6 contractions and then continued to contract throughout my ultrasound and waiting to see the doctor (not my doctor, she is out of town).  The doctor decided to check my cervix and found it open about a centimeter, 1.5 cm long and the baby’s head completely dropped down against the cervix.  I hadn’t been checked in about a month, but at that point, the cervix was 4 cm long and completely closed, so either over the month, or the previous days, there was definitely progress.  Since labor is really defined as a changing cervix, and she had only one data point in a month though, she said to go home and call if my water broke or if it seemed like I was in intense labor.  Basically, this pre-labor can go on for days, so we went home. 
Since it was Christmas Eve and we were excited to spend time with my family, we deiced to have me rest since the contractions seemed a lot less intense and frequent (although still fairly incessant) while reclining or laying compared to sitting up or especially standing/walking.  This worked for Christmas Eve and Christmas and allowed us to have a great holiday and have fun with the family.  We really didn’t want a Christmas baby, so he obliged and my labor stayed in this phase.  In addition, I actually got a little bit of break last night from about 8pm – midnight) with almost no contractions.
Last night I had a lot of trouble falling asleep with some pain and bladder discomfort (bathrooming every 15 minutes or so, great fun!).  Then at 4 am I woke up feeling like I was having much more intense contractions.  I followed the Doula’s list of pre-labor rule outs by taking a nice hot showering and eating and drinking water.  Things continued.  After doing some timing they seemed to start about 4 minutes apart and then progressed to about every three minutes.  I was texting with the doula throughout the early morning and she decided at about 7am that she should come check on me.  Normally, in addition to looking at timing, you can judge intensity by whether the mom can talk through contractions.  However, with my talkative personality and high pain tolerance, this is a tricky metric for me.  After timing contractions for about 45 minutes, we discussed what to do next.  She said they were inconsistent in frequency – from 2 – 4 minutes apart and they were lasting between 1 and 2 minutes.  I felt over this time that they hadn’t gotten more intense, if anything they seemed very consistent and some were even better now that resting.  She said although that contractions don’t have to come like clockwork, the duration and intensity is usually more consistent as well as progressively worse if the labor is starting in full.  I was also getting a little sleepy at this point so we decided she should go home and I should try to rest and bit and we’d communicate during the day. 
I actually was able to take about an hour and half nap.  The adrenaline from the morning had made my arthritis better than it has been in weeks, so I was actually really comfy in bed and after about 5 hours of the more intense contractions my brain was willing to ignore them in favor of sleep.  When I woke up I noticed they were still coming fast and furious though.  Luckily Charles got a nap and then was also able to head to the gym during all of this (although tethered to his phone in case things changed). 
So, now we are waiting to see what happens next.  Definitely this is pretty intense so I hope that things progress at some point, but I don’t want to be stuck at the hospital with them tempted to augment labor to fit their timeline.  There is no reason to not stay comfy and happy in the comfort of my la-z-boy couch for a while longer.  My doula will come back whenever, but mostly we are looking for my water to break or the contractions to stop me more in my tracks.  I am going to periodically time my contractions and let her know throughout the day.  However, I am really bad at paying attention to pain (after over a decade of learning to tune out unnecessary information from arthritis), so it takes a lot of focus to be good at timing them.
Our only major decision now is whether Charles should make our stew for the week and more cookies while we’re here.  For now, I am going to enjoy listening to Taylor Swift and relaxing!  I feel really ready to meet our son and I welcome him whenever he is ready.  So far I am proud of myself for dealing with this prolonged early labor and I think I was right that I am pretty tough and will do well in labor (although I am sure it will hurt a lot more before it is done!)


Dear Baby McClintock –
     We can’t wait to meet you.  Your Dad and I have been looking forward to having kids since shortly after we first fell in love.  I knew when I met your daddy that he would be an amazing dad and that bringing children into this world with him would be the peak experience in my life.  We waited a little bit, but decided it was time and now here you are, literally, knocking at the door ready to join us.  I wasn’t always sure I had the maternal instinct but it has been fun watching myself change through the pregnancy.  I loved watching you grow on the ultrasound and felt such pride as you developed into a healthy baby and showed all your superpowers (flexibility, nearly constant practice breathing, and strong kicks).  I am so happy I was able to create a healthy and safe place for you to grow until you are ready to join us!
     I can’t wait to hold you in my arms and gaze into your eyes.  More importantly, I can’t wait to meet you and get to know who you are and what makes you happy!  Watching my nephew, Luke, I have enjoyed seeing him become his own individual and have strong opinions and ideas.  I am so excited to know what you think and what you want.  I also can’t wait for your daddy and me to show you all we love about life and the world.  You will love how much your dad is able to find fun in every moment and excitement in every new experience (and he has taught me as well).  He makes every experience more fun and I can’t wait for you to experience that.  We have so much passion for the world and everything in it and I can’t wait to see that bloom in you as well.  I consider myself wonderful at seeing and celebrating the many good things in life, even on a bad day, and I can’t wait to show you!   We may be silly sometimes (we will burst into random Disney sing-offs or have a lively and fun competition over a game) and hope you learn from us to never take life or yourself to seriously. 
     I want you to come when you are ready, but I want you to know your daddy and I couldn’t be more excited and more ready!  We love you.

37 Weeks - TERM!

The baby is now considered a term baby (no longer pre-term).  He is welcome to come at any time he wants and he will be fully developed and healthy.  Of course, the longer he stays in the bigger he will get, but there is no longer any fear of him being pre-mature.  Also, since nature is better at getting babies out than doctors, my doctor is encouraging him to come before the induction if he is ready.  She is asking me to stay active (as much as I can), to encourage contractions and get my body and baby ready for labor. 

Tuesday’s doctor appointment was great.  Baby has been such a stud lately going above and beyond during the non-stress tests.  I also had one measured (but not felt) “real” contraction while I was there. My health has been very volatile the last few weeks and it only seems to continue to get more so.  Last night things took a definite turn for the worse.  I noticed feeling moody (something that never happens to me), and this surge in hormones was shortly followed by massive hip flares, general arthritis flare, and contractions.  I contracted quite a bit for a few hours, but it didn’t feel like it was progressing so I just went to bed and tried to ignore it.  I have had much fewer contractions today, but my hips are still very bad.  I think the physical and hormonal changes of the last few weeks, preparing for labor, are going to present a constant challenge for my hips.  I will keep in touch with my amazing nurse Megan and my doctor to try to keep things under control.  Generally there is a team of nurses at my clinic, but Megan has adopted me and it is SOOO nice to have one person who really knows my story (it’s a long one) and can help me troubleshoot.  I’m trying to stay positive about the next two weeks, but day like today make it seem like it is going to be a long haul.  Hopefully the terrible weather we are having is contributing some and if it clears up, I will get some more relief.

We had another good productive week.  We have the full living room set finished now (pottery barn finally sent us 4 pieces without noticeable errors).  The bassinet is now assembled and in the bedroom.  The Diaper genie and laundry hamper, side table, and nursing chair are all in the nursery.  My dad has spent many hours over helping install our new pull out shelves in the pantry which look amazing.  We also dusted/vacuumed the house and finished the Christmas shopping.  Only a few things remain:  install car seat, assemble bouncer, and cooking a few meals for the freezer for the first week or two.

I feel really peaceful and relaxed about going into labor, and honestly at this point I am looking forward to the relief.  It is strange how little anxiety I have about labor, since I think normally people are more stressed, but I feel really well prepared and like I have a great team to support me.

I have been thinking a lot about all the wishes I have for our baby and all the things I am looking forward to sharing with him.  I will be doing another post shortly with a “letter to our baby.”

Tonight Charles and I went to our last Elysian Apocalypse event.  It was really fun to go to all 12 this year.  We weren’t sure if this last one would work, but my body cooperated and we had a really nice time.  We got a nice picture with our favorite Elysian manager, Lucretia, and everyone touching my pregnant belly!

Here are some pictures of our living room, pantry, bedroom, and baby room.

36 weeks

Another week closer!  It has been a relatively stable week since about Wednesday afternoon.  I am definitely “sicker” both in arthritis and stomach stuff since maybe 4 weeks ago, but I am not having the super low lows anymore, it has sort of reached a new normal.  This means I can eat and sleep again, even though I have to get used to a certain amount of stomach discomfort and arthritis symptoms.  Overall, seems like an okay balance between drugs (now at 9 mg prednisone) and disease management.  My blood sugars also have stabilized, showing that overall things are happier in my body.  Dr. Kline is happy with it and so am I. 

Baby is looking great.  They estimate his weight at 6 lbs and 4 oz (57th percentile).  His head is 9 cm across and 33 cm around and his femur is 6.7 cm.  He is looking cute and doing well.  He is quite squished in there but still enjoying being very active.  He played around during the ultrasound and got 5 heartbeat accelerations in the 20 minute NST (non-stress test) when he only needed 2.  I am not having any contractions and am doing well.  My weight is back where it was after dropping two pounds last week (with all the stomach issues), so that is good.  I have been eating a ton more this last week and still didn’t gain past where I was.

We had a busy weekend of fun and productivity and we are rapidly getting closer and closer to being ready for baby.  The bassinet and breast pump came this week as well as the mattress pads, breast milk bags, steaming bags, etc.  Pretty much we now have everything we need.  I might buy another sheet or two, but I wanted to see how the color I bought looks before I place more.  I only need a few more things to feel ready – a new hamper for our bedroom, a lamp for baby room for nursing, and some squishy floor mats for changing table and kitchen.  Projects left are to vacuum and dust bedroom and do the new pantry shelves (I already cleaned it out the last two days).  We’ll see how much of all this we get done.  It doesn’t feel like way too much, but we also have important tasks like making cookies (we got some good sugar cookie and gingerbread dough from Wildflour), and making Christmas Lasagna and Danish!   

We finished our hypnobirthing class yesterday which was great.  Not only did I learn a lot but they really are big on practicing relaxation and I find it is good time for Charles and I to spend together thinking and preparing for not just the labor, but our future.  It has been nice.  I am noticing improvements already in how quickly I can get into a relaxed state (and I was already pretty good before from dealing with pain over the last 10 years).  I learned a lot of tricks and I really think it will be an asset to me in labor.  We did a big fear release visualization yesterday, and I thought it was great. I feel almost no fear now approaching the labor, even knowing it will likely be augmented by medication. 

Charles and I are continuing the great baby name hunt.  We are running short on time.  We finally went and bought two baby books and have been enjoying the process of batting names back and forth.  All the reading did was reinforce the list we already had, but I feel like we have 6 or so good names to choose from and I think any of them would work well.  We’ll work to hopefully choose one by next weekend. 

I am really looking forward to “Christmas.”  I put it in quotes because Charles and I aren’t getting seriously into the gift part of Christmas this year (heck our baby and house purchases are doing our part to keep amazon in business without Christmas gifts too!).  Also, with us both being so busy and me getting more and more tired, Charles has allowed me to Christmas shop for him when we are out together.  If he points out an expensive honey he wants, I just buy it with him rather than having to drive back later.  What I AM excited about is getting to spend time with my Mom, Dad, Kevin, Tara, Luke and Andrew.  The three days with them is what I am so looking forward to.  I had a firm talk with baby that he has to wait at least until the 28th so I get my recharging family time (and ideally until the 31st so my doctor is in town)!  On a sadder note, it is a real bummer to not get to see Charles’ family this year, especially after having to cancel the summer trip.  Thank god we saw everyone at Gina’s wedding, but it still seems like it has been too long.  You all will be in our hearts and minds even though we won’t be there with you!  Next time you see us though, we’ll have a pretty fantastic plus 1!

35 weeks

We had another appointment with the doctor yesterday.  Our baby is doing great.  He passed his tests with flying colors and didn’t even need any prompting as he was wide awake and very active!  Yesterday’s appointment was a big one because we had several health things to discuss (diabetes management, arthritis/stomach management) as well as my birth plan.  My doula, Deana, came along with me and Charles to the appointment.  We had a very good discussion about the plan for the birth as well as our wishes and hopes for the birth.

Here are the basics.  We are planning to meet with Dr. Kline on December 31st (a Monday) and make a plan.  The tentative plan now is that she would start my induction on the 3rd (Thursday) and I would come in to get things going initially on the 2nd (Wednesday).  However, this may change depending on how ready my body is for labor.  If I am really ready, we’ll go, if not even close, we may give my body a few more days to prepare (but not more than 4).  The induction method plan right now is to use a foley catheter to manually open my cervix and then follow up with Pitocin if needed (sometimes the manual opening triggers your own hormones to start labor, which would of course be awesome).  The nice thing about the foley is that it is non chemical AND I can go home with it in and wait to come back to the hospital until contractions start or the catheter falls out (meaning it did all it will do).  I am elated with the option to not have to stay in the hospital for that whole day (inductions can be lengthy processes).  If the foley doesn’t work, then we would use cytotec, which is far less preferred but will get the job done.  Once it is administered, I must stay in the hospital. I am also going to have the option to snack in labor until I get pitcoin or epidural or until the active phase of labor (>4 cm), which is great so I don’t starve if the beginning part of the induction takes a long time.  I will need fairly continual monitoring if I end up on Pitocin (and intermittent otherwise), but they have wireless ones that work when you are walking around or work if you are in the tub or shower.

We also got a tour of the birth center and it is a lovely place, complete with a fridge in every room and a microwave in the hall which will be perfect since hospital food is not going to be fun with my food intolerances.  They also have tea and jello and stuff for both mom and dad.  Each room has a nice day bed for the dad with sheets and blankets.  The room feels nice and warm rather than sterile, which I like.  Each room also has a shower/tub and a birth ball and all the hookups for baby warming.  It looks like a really nice place and I am really excited we chose it!  They do almost everything in the room, including most interventions like oxygen or suction if necessary after birth.  They would only take the baby out of room if he needs additional help beyond the first stage of intervention and then Charles can go along.  Otherwise, baby stays in room with me the entire hospital stay.  They bathe, measure, inject, and otherwise prod baby in the room with the parents, which is great and something that is important to me.  Here is an online tour if you are interested.

We discussed with the doctor our desire to have as natural labor as possible but also that we can’t foresee what will happen and we want a healthy baby.  We want to be flexible but also want the option to talk through things and make as reasoned decisions as possible.  Our doctor is totally on board.  She has been such a good listener and communicator the whole pregnancy and I can’t imagine labor will be any different.  I am going to finalize my birth plan in writing and then the doctor and nurse will review and write an addendum so that the hospital knows the doctor is on board with it and won’t ignore it if I come in at a weird time when no one is there (I love that my doctor and nurse suggested this and are so supportive of this, not all doctors and nurses are).

Healthwise, it was a pretty up and down week. Well the first half of the last week (wed-sat) was definitely up but the last half has been down.  Luckily no contractions to report, but my stomach symptoms are back with a vengeance and my arthritis is only okay. I swear my body knew how important our Gingerbread Rock Christmas party was to us and made it so I survived that.  About 20 minutes after the last guest left I crumbled into a billion pieces.  I am increasing my prednisone another 1 mg to see if that helps (started today).  I can’t wait for some relief.  Last night was especially bad with me waking up after being asleep for an hour and feeling extremely sick.  Charles was still up because I had gone to bed early and took amazing care of me, making me ginger tea to settle my stomach and keeping me company.  Have I mentioned how awesome he is?  I have been a trooper (if I must say so myself) and continued to eat my full amount of calories despite wanting to do anything but, with such an upset stomach.  I really am committed to keeping this baby healthy and I am willing to do whatever it takes, even if in the short term, I suffer a bit.  For now, I am just going to take it easy and luckily I don’t have to worry too much about work. 

On the fun news, Gingerbread Rock was a huge success and we had a blast seeing all of our friends, playing rock band, and seeing everyone decorate their gingerbread houses.  Charles and I haven’t made one yet, but hopefully we get to it this weekend.  We also go our new coffee tables and end tables (although we have to send one of each back because of defects).  The room looks so professional and so nice and is very functional (I’ll post a pic once the last table is here and the look is complete).  Charles finished the dresser in the baby room too so that is coming together.  We also had our first hypnobirthing class Monday.  All in all, it has been a busy week, but less busy in the last few days.  Charles and I were almost beside ourselves because we finished our doula meeting around 5 or so yesterday and we had the whole night with nothing to do.  We aren’t used to that.  I was tempted to go be productive, but knowing we needed a break, on top of feeling sick, made it easy to just chill on the couch. 

Tomorrow we meet with our pediatrician to test her out, which should be interesting.  Then Saturday we have the winter beer festival.  I am hoping to go along, but I will need to feel a lot better than I do now to go.  This weekend I hope to put together more of the baby stuff, fill the drawers and start settling into the room.  Since I keep getting more tired and sick I feel a need to put some time into getting things ready now in case I feel even worse later.  If I don’t feel worse, then Charles and I can just enjoy being done. 

34 weeks

Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I am getting so close.  It seems almost surreal that I am 34 weeks already.  Well, yesterday I had another ultrasound and me and baby are doing well.  Baby isn’t quite so huge as before, about 55th percentile, or 5.5 lbs (this is a good thing).  Although I have been having some contractions, my cervix hasn’t opened at all.  In fact, the doctor is hoping that it starts shortening/opening soon, so she thinks the contractions are a good thing, even if uncomfy.  She did an exam to rule out other problems that might cause pain like contractions (placenta issues or uterus problems).  She agreed with my decision to up my prednisone to 8 mg (which I did 3 days ago) and if that doesn’t work, after 5 days I will go a bit higher.  I am also going to start meet with a diabetes consultant about managing my blood sugar because it has been a little more difficult and they might have some insights (first appointment Friday).  I still don’t need any drug therapy though, since I am doing so well at controlling with diet.

Today I am feeling a little better than I have for a week or so.  I love these days because I feel like 10 minutes of a good day can wipe out the exhaustion from a whole bad day.  I feel really recharged and rejuvenated.  I think maybe the 8 mg of prednisone is working and it seems to make everything better (stomach, arthritis, blood sugar, contraction pain).  I also can sit back and enjoy the pregnancy on days like today.  My days are numbered of being able to feel my baby all the time.  In many ways that is good, but I am sure I will miss it too, so I am enjoying the time I have now!

Yesterday our favorite gingerbread elves (Meghan Wright and Mo Diehl) came over to bake the gingerbread for the party.  We are SOOOO grateful for their help.  We baked over 80 pieces of gingerbread, enough for 12 houses (with some spare pieces for breakage).  It would have taken Charles and me forever (especially because I need to rest from time to time).  It was good fun and really helpful.  We also got the first part of our new living room furniture set (coffee and end tables) yesterday.  It looks beautiful and we can’t wait to get the rest! 

This week is still going to be a bit busy.  We need to get the house ready, buy some more candy, assemble the dresser, and decorate our own gingerbread house before Saturday at 3.  We have recruited some more help to make this possible, so I think we are all set and Charles and I are taking Friday off, which should help. 

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers from everyone.  Although it was a rough week, I think I am through the worst of it and if nothing else, will get to charge my emotional and spiritual battery this week between feeling better and our favorite Christmas party!

Attaching a picture of me tonight.  I still haven't really popped out too much (although my belly is bigger than it looks if you move the boobs).  Thanks to Charles for taking the photo; no thanks for not telling me my pants were tucked into my socks :P.

33.5 weeks

Well it has been a pretty exhausting last week.  It has been a busy last week of pushing myself probably a bit too much to get ready for the impending holiday season as well as other events like the baby class and going to work.  I then got my first migraine this pregnancy on Sunday and just noticed I was getting a bit more tired each day.  Then on Wednesday night, after going out to dinner, we went to make our pies and I started noticing that on top of being SUPER tired and drained, I was feeling some pain on the surface of my stomach that felt like it could be contractions.  It wasn’t super uncomfortable, but it felt weird.  I had had a few Braxton-hicks practice contractions where my stomach felt tight, but nothing where it actually had any pain involved.  It was definitely pain rather than tightness.  After reclining on the couch for a bit and then ultimately getting into bed, we notice no improvement (despite no activity for an hour). 

So, we called the on call doctor and described the symptoms to her and she said we should go to the hospital and get checked out.  Of course it was like 9:30 or 10 pm at this point, everyone’s favorite time to go to the hospital.  Luckily the labor and delivery triage is not at all associated with the ER (and therefore, more peaceful) and the on-call doctor had called ahead so they were expecting us and got us in and settled immediately.  They then hooked me up to the machines to watch baby’s heart rate and check for contractions.  They saw about 3 contractions, then nothing for 20 minutes, then as soon as they called the dr to say not much had happened I had another 3 or 4 contractions.  The hospitalist on duty was very nice and came in and we talked a while about what was going on.  Since I was contracting, she also checked my cervix and saw that it was championship level long (4 cm) and completely closed.  We also talked about my increased activity as well as things like my blood sugar being a little off and the migraine.  She hypothesized that my hormones were changing at this point, causing all these changes, and either causing or contributing to the contractions.  They also confirmed that I still had blood in my urine (I had restarted antibiotics the day before) which meant my uti/bladder infection as still present.  She said to rest/relax and basically put myself on bed rest to see if it would help calm the contractions down.  She recommended we not do anything for thanksgiving and just totally take it easy.  However, she also reassured us that also I might be having pre-term contractions, that is different than pre-term labor (where the cervix is actually changing).  If it switched and got more intense, my cervix was long enough that we’d have plenty of notice to take action.

We were home by midnight (after a quick stop for steamed egg nog for Katie for being such a good sport!).  Unfortunately though, I had a terrible night of sleep and probably only got about 5 hours, if that.  I woke up several times still contracting and was also contracting in the morning.  I called my dad to let him know we’d miss thanksgiving but he could come get the pies we baked for everyone.  He came up and kept me company while Charles was at the gym, which worked perfectly.  It was nice to see some family on thanksgiving, even if it didn’t go exactly as I planned. 

The day was rough with contractions all day and no improvement despite resting all day (plus an upset stomach and irritated bladder).  We called the on-call doctor at about 4 (of course while another pie was in the oven) and he said that I shouldn’t still be having contractions so I should go back in.  So Charles drove me to the hospital to be hooked up to monitors and then went to rescue our pie before coming back to join me.  This time, no contractions came up on the monitor despite some similar pains on my part.  The doctor at the time suggested that I was probably having bowel contractions instead since my stomach had been off all day.  Either way, the baby wasn’t going anywhere, which was reassuring.  We got to leave pretty quickly.

We then had some lovely pumpkin sausage pasta with Bobby Flay’s Brussels sprouts recipe (a new part of our thanksgiving spread).  And of course PIE!  It was nice to not be worried about the “contractions” any more and just relax and enjoy my dinner with Charles.  As much as thanksgiving is supposed to be about big family stuff, it was nice to finally just sit down and enjoy a few minutes with Charles and relax.  I then slept a million times better last night and as the Inverso’s would say “thanks-a-god” because I really needed it.

Today has been much improved.  Most of the day I felt almost perfect, but in the last hour or two have had some increased discomfort, but nothing major (probably just my body getting a little tired).  I had a regularly scheduled Non-stress Test (NST) today, which is the same baby heart rate and contraction monitoring.  I am going to be doing them bi-weekly for the rest of the pregnancy.  It was nice to see that I still wasn’t contracting and the added bonus today was that my doctor (Dr. Kline) was in the hospital so we asked them to page her and she came to chat for a few minutes.  Her take was that I may be having uterine contractions, or maybe bladder, or maybe bowel, hard to say.  She thinks if the monitor picked it up the first night, that there probably is some type of uterine contracting going on, but clearly not large enough ones to open a cervix or be picked up by the monitor always.  This means that even if annoying, there is no worry of pre-term labor.  She said ultimately it seems like my body was having a bad day yesterday (and night before) and has potentially righted itself (technical diagnosis of caddywompus-ness!).  She said to listen to my body and relax, but if I am worried, to call because she would be on call all weekend.  This is such a relief to have her available to us, and she was so nice to not only commend us for calling the last few days because it is always better to check, but encourage us to keep calling if we are worried.  We are in SUCH good hands!  It is hard enough to be first time parents, but to add all of my stomach/bladder/arthritis and other issues to it makes it all the more complicated and confusing, and with such high stakes!

We are now looking forward to doing nothing.  We have our Christmas party (Gingerbread rock) next weekend, but hopefully we can depend on friends to help pull that off without too much work on my part.  I also will just take work one day at a time and rest as much as I can.  Tomorrow we are planning to stay home and NOT go to the hospital!  I am going to keep resting as much as I can and try to catch up my energy meter!  Thanks for all the love and support and I promise we will keep this bun in the oven until he is ready!

p.s. I apologize for typos, not doing as much proofing as usual today…

32.5 weeks

It has been a pretty stable and good last two weeks.  We made some progress on the baby room and in general I feel much less whiny about pregnancy than last time.  A lot of my little problems have been solved (support hose and belly strap really do help!) and I am enjoying that I am not too big and uncomfortable yet.  My arthritis and stomach stuff has been a little worse the last four days, but I hope it is temporary.  I have also been able to get some really good work done (with some breaks), which allows me to feel really good about myself.  I also received my annual review from last year – an outstanding – which helps ease fears of performing well despite complications and missing work.
 
I’ve had two more ultrasounds since my last post.  My mom and dad came to the last one, which was great.  I think I have begun to take for granted how cool it is to get to see my baby weekly and watch him move and practice breathe and watch his little heart beat.  It is quite reassuring.  My parents really enjoyed all the new technological advances and how much they could see of their grandson!
Last week he was rocking out on the way to the ultrasound appointment to Metallica and I think I tired him out so he was totally conked out during the ultrasound and made it take a little longer (they like to count a certain number of kicks).  Back in true form, this week, he enjoyed kicking me and the ultrasound wand throughout the ultrasound.  He still enjoys switching from having both head and feet down (yes it gets quite crowded for my bladder) and having one or both legs up so he can kick me in the ribs.  For once, this week, his body was facing my right side instead of my left, which was interesting.  He unfortunately had his face toward my back so we don’t have any cute pictures. 

I have been reading this hypnobirthing book and it talks about bonding with your baby.  I admit pregnancy and baby preparation is so hectic it is hard to remember to take time to enjoy him.  Today I sat down and played him some of my favorite songs (including some Handel’s Messiah, Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme from a Paganini, Taylor Swift, and Charles’ and my song).  I enjoyed petting my stomach while he kicked in response to the music!  I can’t wait for all the things we can share with this kid, but when I feel like I want to connect with him now, there is still plenty to do.  I also hope his fondness for music will continue when he is born and maybe he will enjoy band or choir like I did!

Saturday he was crazy active including moving all around last night.  As Charles and I sat on the couch, you could literally watch my stomach rippling and bouncing around.  It seemed like he either was trying to or was flipping back from facing my left to ride side.  I think his head is staying down but he likes to flip over which, given his large size, and my relatively small belly, is a tight squeeze.  Charles and I both feel and odd sense of pride watching our kid move around.  He is strong and active and I couldn’t be happier with that (even if it is uncomfy sometimes)!

The crib is up and looking fantastic and the room is all painted.  We also have the stroller (thanks Tina!) and Charles put that together as well.  It is cute to see him in his daddy-mode where despite being tired, he bucks up to go paint or assemble things.  I love that he is also a perfectionist and will take the 30 minutes to read online about painting tips or thoroughly read the stroller manual before he starts.  It is one of the things I really love about Charles (well that and about a million other things).  I am not sure if it is carrying his baby or the fact that I am always madly in love with him, but I have noticed since my pregnancy started that seeing him across a room or a grocery store will literally make my heart skip.  It is fun to have that crazy-head-over-heels-in-love-feeling magnified by the child we are bringing into this world together!

Saturday was also the all-day baby class at our hospital.  I had heard great things about it but since my arthritis was pretty flared, I have to say I was not looking forward to going in the morning, but the class was worth it and I was able to stay comfortable enough.  Also it was only 6 hours instead of 7 and we were able to take a quick nap in the afternoon before heading to a friend’s pre-thanksgiving party.  The class was well done and I felt like we both learned a lot.  If nothing else, it is good to spend some time thinking about and visualizing life after our son is born.  One lady’s water broke during one of the breakout sessions (not ours), so she’ll have to learn as she goes, haha!

Charles is taking all next week off so it will be nice to have him home.  I plan to still work all but Thursday, but I may take an hour or two off if Charles wants to go on a fieldtrip.  Hopefully we will get the last piece to the dresser early next week and we can put it together, but otherwise, I hope Charles can get some good relaxation time in since he has been working so hard at work and at home!  Once we have the dresser up I can start putting things together in the room and realize what we need and are missing.

30 weeks

Well the baby is a growing machine (or maybe I am the growing machine for the baby).  He is 4 lbs 1 oz, by ultrasound measurement (which is a notoriously bad estimator) but since it compares to other bad estimates, it can help us determine approximately how he compares to other kids.  He is in the 91^st percentile, so he is gigantic!  Everything is looking really good.  They measure resistance and blood flow in the placenta and umbilical cord and the placenta is still going very strong.  Baby is also still head down, although that doesn’t stop him from kicking me in the cervix and bladder (and punching at the same time).  He apparently likes to have everything hanging down with his butt up against the lower right of my rib cage.  He is already feeling pretty tight in there.  Hard to imagine him getting more than twice as big!

Speaking of size, of course the issue with him being a healthy big boy is that it may make delivery more complicated or more exacerbate any problems with a failing placenta.  If my placenta stops growing later in pregnancy (as has been found with some active auto-immune patients, although not all), then it may really struggle to keep up with the really big baby’s nutritional and oxygen needs.  My doctor is still tempted to induce me by 40 weeks at the latest because of this concern, but nothing set in stone yet.  We also talked about if he continues to grow faster and faster, we could end up needing a c-section.  Apparently the standard is that babies who are over 4000 g (8 lb 13 oz) are more likely to have should distocyia problems (head comes out, shoulders won’t = very bad for baby and mommy).  Since ultrasound is not an exact science, doctors raise this to 4500 g estimated weight (9 lb 14 oz).  At that point, they would induce if your cervix is super super ripe or if not, they would do a c-section.  They lean toward c-section as a safer option.  Apparently the best solution for dystocia problems is having the woman throw her legs up high over her head, which may be difficult for my body, which may make approaching this situation even more difficult. 

So, we’ll see.  I’d still love to have this kid naturally, so I am hoping that sometime around 38-39 weeks, he just decides to come out.  It might make the holidays more difficult but it sure beats an induction or c-section.  On why he is so big, it is hard to say.  My blood sugars have been really good, so probably not that, but possible that in the same way prednisone makes me gain more weight than I would normally, it might do the same for the baby.  Unfortunately, prednisone is also keeping me glued together and able to eat at all, so I guess if that means a healthy baby by c-section, then so be it.

As to my health, I am doing great.  No signs of pre-eclampsia and blood sugars have been super easy to control (thank god for peanut butter, why did I resist so long?).  I have gained about 30 lbs so far, which is more than I would like, but given the prednisone, it isn’t something I have a lot of control over.  I don’t feel like I am eating in excess, but I’ll continue to watch what I eat.  I have been having a little bit more arthritis and stomach discomfort the last week, even though I have held stable on my prednisone, so it may be that the hormones or just weight of pregnancy is causing stuff to get slightly worse.  I’d like to not increase my prednisone if I can, but 8 or 9 mg vs 7 won’t really matter if I am getting really sick, so we’ll see. 

The baby’s weight is definitely pushing down on my stomach and causing some discomfort, so the doctor suggested investing in a belly band for support.  I bought one today and so far I hate it, but I hate anything tight or squishy, I am going to wear it all night tonight and see if I am more comfy otherwise.  If not, I may set it aside and repeat again in a week until the discomfort of wearing it is outweighed by discomfort of baby pushing down.  Also, the doctor wants me to wear support hose as much as possible during the day because I am getting some broken blood vessels in my legs which aren’t ideal and I will probably end up with varicose veins. I bought a pair today, after driving around the fricking planet to find them at a place that would bill my insurance (they are $55 per pair) and so far they are pretty awful (they are squeezing all my tender joints, and resist movement) but my legs aren’t hurting as bad as they have been the last few days.  I guess I hadn’t really noticed how throbby they have been (although this morning it was killing me).  The good news is, the belly band is practically the most comfortable thing ever compared to the stockings, just not sure yet if it is having as much of a positive effect.   

I also need to invest in larger bras (I think mostly women read this blog, but sorry to the boys).  Apparently my breasts are growing exponentially, but finding them is getting trickier as no one sells my size.  I have ordered one new bra (that is also a nursing bra), so I am looking forward to testing that out when it comes and probably ordering some more.  It will be my first foyer into non-underwire since I was in 5^th grade or so, so it will be interesting. I hate buying bras online, especially in new sizes because you really don’t know how it will fit.  A lot of them are on back order online, and since my breasts might get bigger after my milk comes in, there may be a few weeks where I am making due.  Wish on top of everything else, that this wasn’t such a headache. 

Speaking of simple things like big boobs being an annoyance, it sometimes feels like the little uncomfy/annoying things with this pregnancy add up (peeing all the time, testing my blood sugar constantly, acid reflux, breast swelling and pain, pants not fitting, giant baby pushing down discomfort, varicose veins, difficulty bending over).  However, most of these are all normal things.  They are more annoying to me than my arthritis because I am less used to dealing with them, but they are all things normal people get.  They aren’t high risk issues, they aren’t hurting the baby, and they aren’t really hurting me.  It is good to step back from the momentary discomfort and realize it is all small potatoes and what I care about, and have always cared about is becoming and mom and having a healthy baby.  So far my body is growing a great baby!  It is amazing to look around at all the women who have chosen to have babies and realize the personal sacrifices they have made, not just for 9 months, but for their whole life (as a result of pregnancy)!  It is an amazing thing to have a baby and to give life to someone, but I don’t think society gives women enough credit for being will to do it!

In prepping-for-baby news, we go our new couch today, woot!  We are so excited.  It looks amazing.  We also flipped the direction of our living room, which I think is a good change.  Charles has been a really good sport taking everything apart (so we could clean the carpets and flip everything) and now putting it all back together.  It hasn’t been easy and he has spent a lot of time crouching on the floor.  Thanks honey!  Next we need to pick and order coffee and end tables and then we’ll be mostly done.  This weekend, we also hope to paint the baby room, but that somewhat depends on how long it takes to put the living room back together.

 

We also had a fun week of being social: Mo’s birthday parties and Carlo and Julie’s going away party along with dinner with my dad, and tomorrow dinner with one of my best friends from high school, Ryan Simpson.  Also this week, since all of our furniture was moved, Charles and I have been sort of camping (eating where we can find a surface and playing cards rather than watching tv or talking on the phone).  We probably played a good 30 games of Set, which we don’t do often enough and was very fun.  We also played some wordament on the cell so Charles could have his redemption (he wins 99.9% of the time in wordament and I win 99.9% of the time in Set).  Overall it has been a busy but productive and fun week.  I think we both need some vegging time though!

29 week mini update

We had another ultrasound today.  Baby is head down again and doing really well.  They measured all the blood flow in the brain, heart, bowels, and cord and everything is looking really good.  Also, I was able to learn a little bit more about what he is doing when I feel certain things because he was squirming all over during the ultrasound.  It is fun to get a visual to put with the sensations.  Also I realized I have felt his hiccups a few times and didn’t know what it was.  Lastly, I got to see him “practice breathing.”  They actually breathe amniotic fluid in and out of their nose to help develop the muscles and the lungs.  They don’t get oxygen from it, and they don’t do it all the time, but it is a good sign of a healthy baby (exhausted/sick babies don’t have energy for this).  Overall the doctor is really happy with his progress and my overall health!

I’m including another 3D ultrasound pic.  It is a little more creepy, but you can see more of his face straight on.  Ignore the hand on the right side of his head and the umbilical cord on the left covering part of his face.  I think it is a great shot of his face shape, nose, and lips (note there is a top to his head, it just didn't show up here).

29 weeks - 2 Showers, 2 Beer Events, and a Dr. appointment

It has been a busy week!  We had our big baby shower and my work baby shower as well as another doctor appointment (although since those will start being weekly, they are less exciting).  Then we had lots of beer events this weekend and have done quite the cleaning session as well.  Fhew!

The main shower was thrown by my best friend, Becky, with help from my Mom and Tara.  It was perfect and I really enjoyed myself.  We got so much of the stuff we need and good fun stuff as well.  I do truly feel showered with love and support by the people around us.  Neither Charles, nor I, are very worried about our ability to parent, but having such a strong community certainly chases any remaining doubt away.  Thanks for everyone who helped make this so special.

The weekend was extra fun because Kevin and Tara flew up with Luke and baby-Andrew.  It was really fun to see all four of them and to spend time as a family (with my parents too!).  It was kind of an exhausting weekend but honestly, it was such an emotional refresher.  I loved holding Andrew and realizing that holding a baby isn’t as hard on my arms as I thought (and Kevin showed me how to use the BECO baby carrier and I am really excited about that).  Grammie and Granddad Conover gave me the BECO and I know that will come in handy a lot.

 

I saw the doctor on Tuesday.  It was my first experience with a quick ultrasound where they just look at the kid and amniotic fluid rather than measuring everything.  It was so quick!  The big news of the day was that for the first time the baby was breech.  I noticed a lot of weird movement Monday night followed by some kicks in new places and discomfort in new places so I think that is when he flipped.  I can’t tell whether he has flipped back or not.  He has been squirming around a lot, but also kicking me in new spots (but this may just be because he is getting bigger and bigger).  It isn't a big deal yet, but we hope he will flip back and stay head down as we approach my delivery date.  Otherwise, he is doing well and looking quite cute.  I got a good 3-D ultrasound pick of the baby's face and his leg (flexible kiddo).

 

Wednesday, Charles and I went into my office for my work shower.  It was really fun to see all my coworkers (since I go to work so rarely).  We got showered with lots of presents and support and got to plan a few fun word related baby games (scramble and wordfind, where Charles and I excelled!).  It was great to feel that support even though I mostly work at home and talk to my coworkers on the phone.

Then Saturday was the annual Great Pumpkin Beer Festival!  This is Charles and my fifth year attending and we went with several of our Microsoftie friends (Chris and Mo Diehl, and Steve).  It was supposed to be terrible weather, but the sun came out and it was warm enough to be comfortable until the very end.  We really lucked out.  Our tradition afterwards is to go to Tu Casa, and of course that was amazing as well.  Charles and I finished off the exhausting day with a nice nap and trip to my favorite Gelato place. Overall, it was a really fun day.

After all of our fun Saturday, we had a lot to get done Sunday but we also had the monthly Elysian apocalypse event for lunch (with Chris and Mo our apocalypse survival buddies).  After lunch, we did clean out the whole closet in the baby room and do a little tidying up around the house as well, grocery shop, and we cooked meatloaf.  Overall it was a well-balanced weekend of productivity and fun and it was nice to get to enjoy some non-baby events while we can. 

I have noticed over the last week that bending over is getting nearly impossible, even though I don’t feel much bigger than when I could bend over.   I also think my feet keep getting father away!  On a weird note, I wonder how much longer my belly button will be an innie because I can make it turn into an outie by gently pressing around it.  It is sort of gross and fun to watch (and it feels like nothing).  One of the few discomfort-free parts of pregnancy!  Lastly, the baby is definitely getting stronger and can really punch/kick me hard when he wants too.  It will actually interrupt my thought or sentence when he hits something that feels important.  Most of the kicks aren’t too bad but there are some pretty intense ones.  I am sure this will just get more frequent as he grows.   It is fun to have him as a companion though and I find myself bonding with him more day by day and thinking of him as his own person (not just a little fertilized egg). 

26 weeks - End of Second Trimester

We had another doctor appointment and ultrasound today.  Baby is looking great, and weighing 2 lbs 2 oz.  His head is about 7 cm in diameter and he is definitely still a boy!  He is at the 63^rd percentile.  I feel him kick almost all the time now, which is fun. Sometimes it is exhausting, but I am getting more used to it, so it is fun when I want it and not as distracting when I am trying to work/sleep.

The last few weeks have had their ups and downs.  Some stomach downs, and some cramping and pain near my cervix, but it seems like things are back on track and we have a plan for both.  I am certainly feeling (and looking) more pregnant each day, and I know it is only the beginning.  I am down to 7 mg prednisone and am happy to be weaning off.  I am going to start monitoring my blood sugar a few times per week to make sure that I don’t develop gestational diabetes (especially with the prednisone which ups my risks for diabetes).  We have our next appointment in 2 weeks (with only a quick ultrasound), and I am guessing this 2 week pattern is probably here to stay.

 

We had a wonderful weekend with Tina and Josie last weekend!  It was truly a joy to catch up and visit, and get to show them all our favorite spots.  I also got a mini baby-shower of love from Tina and Josie and had fun getting maternity clothes for me and toys and clothes for the baby!  I am still sad we haven’t been able to go to California all year (and won’t at Christmas), and having some of Charles’ family visit makes it easier (although I greatly miss the rest of you).  I have been so lucky to marry into a great family and I never thought I would miss you all so much.  We also like the spontaneous care packages from Maria which are fun and make us feel closer!

 

Tomorrow we are meeting with our replacement doula since our planned labor doula is moving out of town.  I think the replacement, Deana, will be great, so excited to meet her.  Also we are taking our labor class all day on Sunday.  We might get a few other things done this weekend, but as it is, it will probably be busy with shopping and cooking on Saturday.  We both have Monday off (Columbus day holiday for me and Charles is taking vacation), so that will be a good day to decompress after some busy weekends (and even busier weekends coming up, yay for my Shower, I can’t wait). 

It is feeling like October is already packed, and December I might be useless, so I hope we can get the room painted and furniture set up early in November, to give us time to finish decorating and get everything prepped.  I know we have 3 months left, but it sure feels like it is going to fly on by. 

24 weeks - Prepping for the Baby!

We had a busy weekend, with social activities and continuing to prepare for our upcoming family expansion!  Despite being tired, I have so much trouble sitting still and not being “productive.”  This weekend we got to spend lots of time with friends (and a quality couple lunch) while also going to Ikea and getting our baby room rug, getting some organizing done, and also getting a bunch of stuff we needed at Target and Home Depot (thanks Becky for the company and the help).  We know have some paint samples to look at in the baby room, which is even more fun.  We also cooked my lunch soup for the week and cooked beef and butternut squash stew (a new favorite) on Sunday and Frankie’s pumpkin pasta on Monday.  Fit in full days at work and we have had about 30-45 minutes on the couch to just veg and visit each night.

I also gave in and bought my first pair of maternity pants and got an awesome black maternity jacket (I don’t go anywhere without a basic black thin jacket and my pre-pregnancy one was looking pretty crazy).  It feels good to have some clothes that fit and are comfy and I don’t have to continually adjust everywhere I go.

In addition to productive time, I am also reading books on pregnancy/labor.  I read Ina May Gaskin’s book and I also read the pregnancy and labor portion of the book Women’s Bodies: Women’s Wisdom, by Dr. Christiane Northrup.  Both had surprisingly similar takes on labor.  It was really interesting and inspiring to read these powerful women talk about how effective the female body is.  Ina May says that if people take one thing away from her book, she hopes it is that they realize their bodies aren’t lemons and they are meant to do this.  I think it is so tempting to give into the societal message about labor being “too much to handle,” and fun to hear some encouraging language and inspiring stories.  Society is obsessed with horror stories and telling people how hard things are.  Honestly, lots of things are hard, but encouraging words mean a lot more than a reminder about how hard it will be!

Tara warned me that Ina May’s book is very one-sided, but that I would learn a lot.  I have to say that although Ina May is certainly anti-hospital, it wasn’t as bad as I thought and I learned even more than I expected about the labor process and your body.  I have read the book the hospital gave me and although I thought it had a lot of info, it focused on what medical interventions can do and very little on what your body can do on its own.  Of course, things with my labor may not go exactly as I want, but I am really glad to be well educated on the risks of induction (and various methods) and other interventions.  Sometimes you really need medical intervention, but I need to communicate with my doctors how I feel about interventions so that we don’t end up doing something just because we can.  I flipped to a TLC show the other day on labor and a woman was just told point blank from her doctor “oh, we are breaking your water now and starting pitcoin.”  No discussion of the effects of both of those and her other options, just a statement of fact.  I want my doctor to be looking out for me and my babies best interest, but I don’t think that is always through immediate intervention and would like to have an open dialogue every step of the way (also one of the reason’s we have the doula!). 

I am excited for my personalized labor class on October 7^th with my Doula and my good friend from high-school Kira, who is a hypnobirthing teacher.  I can’t wait to learn more!

The baby has been really active the last few days.  Yesterday was sort of an odd transition day where he went from periodic kicks to almost 8 hours of continuous kicking.  Today I am already noticing it is easier to ignore so I can sleep or focus on work.  I still enjoy thinking about him, but unlike before where they were so infrequent that it was a fun distraction, I think the kicking/moving is going to be a constant presence from here on out. 

This weekend I am really hoping to finish up most of our cleaning in the two rooms and tomorrow I finally have someone coming to give a bid to de-bird-ify our attic.  The closer I get to having everything ready the more excited I get to see the baby room and everything all put together.

23 weeks

The last few days have finally brought consistent kicking from our little one!  It is weird but also fun to feel him kicking.  It will be hours in between kicks and then all of a sudden I’ll have a flurry of kicks in about a 10-15 minute period of time.  I’ve tried to have Charles feel for them on the outside of the belly but he hasn’t been able to feel much yet.  I look forward to when we can both share this experience. 

We had another ultrasound and doctor appointment today and the baby (and mom) are looking great.  Our baby is 1 lb 6 oz now!  (almost double its previous size)  He’s measuring in the 80^th percentile for his gestational age (down from 90^th last time).  This means the baby is still growing, but not as crazy quickly (both are good things).  Slow growth is still the biggest concern, so a healthy sized baby is a great thing.  Poor kiddo had terrible hiccups racking his entire body during the ultrasound; wish I could have comforted him!

My blood pressure and everything are still looking good.  Although the last few weeks have been a little bit of a struggle with return of stomach symptoms, my overall health seems to really good.  After tapering all the way off of prednisone, my stomach symptoms returned almost immediately.  It is hard to say if this response was my body just missing prednisone and having depravation or whether it really needs the prednisone to work.  I am back on 10mg a day now (I had started at 60 mg long ago), and I am going to stay on for about another week (to try to return to as “normal” as I can get) and then taper much slower (1 mg per week rather than 5 mg per 5 days) until I am off (or until things get bad).  I feel good with plan and am glad not to give up on tapering, but to listen to my body that it needs to be much slower!  I have another Dr appt in 3 weeks to see how things are going.

Since I will still be on prednisone for at least 10 more weeks, we are going to do additional diabetes testing.  Instead of doing another awful screening, they are going to give me my own glucose meter in a few weeks and then I will check my own sugar a few times a week for probably the rest of the pregnancy (FYI - baby is kicking as I type).

We talked briefly about the end game this appointment (aka labor).  Dr. Kline reiterated that she is worried about growth problems and my placenta giving up at the end of the pregnancy.  Her experience (and literature) shows that auto-immune patients with flares during pregnancy are more likely to have a placenta crap out earlier.  Given that, and the multiple flares I have had, she thinks that likely I shouldn’t go past 40 weeks (36-40) being the ideal range.  She wants us to stay on top of it so we can do an induction if necessary rather than an emergency c-section if the baby starts showing distress.  Although I would love to avoid any kind of intervention, we have to be a little more careful given how my pregnancy clearly hasn’t gone smoothly for my body. (wow he is kicking a lot!)  She is really excited we have hired a doula, and I think she really will avoid intervention unless necessary, although I have to be realistic, that I can’t be as laissez-faire as a regularly pregnant mom is about the process.   

We got sooo much done over last weekend and nearly both the office and baby room are devoid of “crap” now (piles of things that had to be sorted and organized).  I think there is literally one small bag/pile in each room left.  Note: Charles powered through despite me being tired and a bit whiny, thanks Honey!  It feels very attainable that we could be ready for this baby!  We also got an amazing surprise this week when our crib and dresser arrived from amazon courtesy of the Inverso Family!  Thanks Guys! I can’t wait to see it all in our future baby room.  We also bought new shelves for the pantry and an amazing new couch for the living room.  We need a new coffee table too (we already found a good potential), but then most of the little projects will be done.  Everything is coming together in a way that makes me feel really good about having our house set up conveniently, ergonomically, and practically for the arrival of our son! 

 

21 weeks

I am definitely feeling pregnant now.  Mostly in the not so good ways, like lots of uterus and ligament discomfort (mild), but still not much in terms of feeling the baby.  Clothing myself is getting more difficult and I went out to buy 4 longer shirts yesterday that would cover the bump (I was getting tired of my belly crack showing).  My belly isn’t super obvious as pregnant yet to a bystander who doesn’t know me, but those who do, would definitely notice a bump in the baby area.  It is amazing how much the bump has grown in just 2 weeks.  Now I can’t wait to feel the baby move consistently (rather than a few odd sensations here and there)!

We have been pretty productive in terms of getting things done around the house. Last week was EXTREMELY busy with going to a friend’s gender reveal party (a GIRL!), hosting a girls night (so cleaning and prepping for that), and also getting 90% of the office set up.  We moved the bookcases in and reorganized all the books (including a very big box of books to give away).  We also moved in a small dresser to hold the printer and provide a little extra storage.  The layout worked out great and we even have a perfect corner for storing our DDR pad (which I couldn’t figure out where to store before).  All that is left is to move a few textbooks off the existing book shelf so I have room to shelve my files and to move the 3^rd dvd rack into the office and reorganize all 3.  I am really glad now that we tore down the wisteria last year since it allows much more light in this room which will keep me sane when I am cooped up and working all day.

We also did a lot of thinking about the baby room last weekend.  I think we have decided on oak furniture for the dresser and crib and we are settled on the undersea theme for decoration.  I found some really cute fish decals for the walls and we’ll paint the room a nice sea green/blue (think Caribbean).  We are looking for a good rug for the center of the room (it is hard wood and uncomfy to stand on), and although we found one we liked for 500 bucks, we are tempted by the 30 dollar Ikea rug that is not as cool, but certainly a better price if the rug gets puked on/peed on/etc.  Once we pick the rug we can pick the specific color of sea-colored paint for the walls.  I am not much of a decorator, but I have enjoyed thinking about this (although it does get a little overwhelming for me since decorating isn’t my strong point).  It was nice to be able to ask the Microsoftie Wives for advice (thanks girls!).

Health-wise the last two weeks has been up and down.  Two weeks ago I had a rough stomach week and had some trouble eating and lots of cramping, discomfort.  That has sorted itself out and now my big complaint is terrible fatigue.  I am tired all the time and sometimes dizzy as well which may be related to anemia (although apparently according my nurse, my iron isn’t significantly low yet).  For now, I will just keep trying to eat well and take care of myself (rest when I need). 

I am past the half-way mark now.  I am excited.  I find myself strangely not anxious about parenting a newborn or labor.  Possibly this is because I am not someone who worries in general but also I just feel so confident with Charles and myself and our planning, that I feel like we’ll be able to deal with anything that happens.  I like the feeling of calm I have.  I know I don’t have all the answers, but I feel good that Charles will be my partner in crime and that we’ll have plenty of family and friends around to help if we need it.  We also have a labor doula hired and our looking to hire a post-partum doula.  This preparation fills me with even more confidence.