37.5 weeks, belly shots & update

This is more for future reference, to see how/if my belly changes in the days to come. Well, it's sure to grow, of course...but I'm wondering if I'll "drop" or start to actually get smaller. With Andrew, I was bigger on my due date, then actually smaller two days before labor started. I think amniotic fluid levels go down at the end, plus they're sitting so low that your profile changes.

Anyway, over the weekend, I definitely started feeling different. Whether he's lower or not, I don't know...but he's definitely doing something different because all the jolts and movements I'm feeling down low are NEW--and there are a lot of them! It's like he's just swaying back and forth, like break dancers do on their heads. And tap dancing on my bladder and cervix. And tickling my ribs with his fingers or toes.

His head seems to be resting in a lower spot and causing all manner of discomfort and bizarre sensations. I'm getting a lot of shooting pains into my pelvis and quite a bit of pressure around my cervix. I even have hemorrhoids again for now good reason, like he's pressing on that, too! Oh, and diarrhea. Lovely. It may just be the anxious/excited factor causing the belly ache, but who knows??

What I do know is that I felt this way about two weeks before Andrew was born. I journaled about similar sensations and changes right around 38 weeks. So, maybe we're getting closer and he'll be here sooner rather than later.

I'm betting that there will be a change from last week when I see my OB on Wednesday--maybe I'll be calling Drew to tell him to get on the next flight! :)

I'm getting a newborn!!!

The reality that there will be a newborn in the house within the month hasn't QUITE sunk in yet. AT ALL.

I have no bassinet (my co-sleeper was loaned out and I can't get in touch with my friend to get it back), there's no nursery (he'll be rooming with us and his stuff is in our room), none of the baby gear (swing, bouncy seat) is out of the garage yet, and over all, there just isn't any evidence that a brand new little human will soon be joining our family.

Someone asked me yesterday if I'm imagining holding Ethan in my arms. Well...kinda. I am so focused on the days leading up to the birth and the labor and delivery itself, that the END RESULT of a baby is sort of an afterthought. Weird, huh?? I know I will surely savor the moment when it happens, of course. And I'm viewing my hospital stay like a vacation. Staying in bed, having food brought to me, no obligations except to hold, feed and love my new son...

But still, the reality hasn't quite hit.

In other news, this precious, hand-knitted newborn hat arrived yesterday from a bloggy friend. The kindness of strangers never fails to amaze me!! She wanted him to have a cute hat for his hospital stay (and his first pictures) instead of the hospital-issued hats. I adore it and imagining Ethan, brand new and squishy, makes my heart happy.

full term photos

We're full term--HOORAY!!!



Bare belly.



Other side



Bare.



Now we're in the "home stretch!"

37 weeks--OB report

*** TMI alert!! For women's eyes only! ***

My doctor and I were both excited today that I am "full term." We made it!!!

Drew and Andrew came along so that was fun!

My belly measured 37cm for 37 weeks, right on. Gained 1.5 lbs FINALLY, which puts me up to right around 18 total (I think). My appetite has returned so it's nice to enjoy food again and not be forcing myself to eat.

Ethan's heart-rate was in the 140s. He had to be sleeping cuz he'd been pretty quiet for the hour or so beforehand, whereas typically, he's jumping around like crazy with a heart rate in the 160s.

My blood pressure was good, as always.

And, of course, she "checked" me. I was never checked during my pregnancy with Andrew so I have no point of comparison...but I am 2 cm and my vagina is starting to soften slightly, but is still quite high. So...things are starting to soften and prepare, of course, but he hasn't dropped and there are certainly no signs of impending labor. She asked if I'm contracting and I said I haven't really noticed--but there are lots of jolts, tightening and pressure that could easily BE contractions.

She gave Drew the all clear to go out of town next week--we're figuring that I've got at least a week before things get going. PHEW!

The highlight was when she was listening for Ethan's heartbeat with the Doppler and Andrew was watching her and said, "Be careful with Ethan." HA! He's already looking out for his little brother!

The building where my OB's office is sits right next to the hospital so we took different routes to get there and back, so we have plans A and B for getting to the hospital. We also saw the maternity and emergency entrances, so it'll depend on when we arrive as to which one we use. So I feel better about that!!

Afterward, Drew treated me to an Icee and a Snickers--yum!! And he didn't have to go back to work, so we're all home, enjoying the cool afternoon and some downtime.

My mom is coming to stay this weekend because my dad will be a few miles away at the race track and Drew is planning to head across town to their house to do some soul searching and praying. So he'll be close by if anything happens. Then he leaves Monday for Florida for a church planting conference with our pastor, so mom is staying the nights he's gone (Mon., Tues. and Wed.). It's more to keep me company and hang out with Andrew than "just in case," but I will feel better having a birthing coach nearby should things start changing. I'm banking on Drew arriving home to a slightly larger and more miserable wife Thursday night!

And, of course, we'll know more on Wednesday when I go back at 38 weeks!

In the meantime, no hiking or heavy lifting for me! Or vacuuming or mopping or strenuous chores...maybe just sipping Starbucks drinks and watching movies, y'know, just to be safe...

37 weeks...92% done...3 weeks from EDD!

Most sources call 37 weeks full term, others go with 38.

I have now completed 37 weeks--three weeks to my due date!!

Here's me at about 36.5 weeks on Easter Sunday.



My ankles were very puffy when we returned from Easter Sunday, which is strange because I didn't have to DO anything all day! We did walk to my parent's nearby park and back, but that was less than an hour on my feet. Doesn't take much, I guess!!



Here you can see it even better, especially my right ankle. Whoooa.



I am also 1 week from the "birth month," which places your due date in the middle and gives you two weeks on either side--which is when 85% of babies are born. So I'm still earlier than "normal" and that's fine by me because Drew is set to go out of town next week and return just after I hit 38 weeks. I'll be "keeping my legs crossed" until he returns, and then still not "trying to get things started" until I hit 39.

I'm putting quotes around everything because it is not, of course, up to me!! Only God knows when this baby will make his appearance!!

Drew and Andrew are tagging along to my OB appointment today, which is exciting--Drew has never met her before. Ethan, meanwhile, is definitely active this morning and I am feeling some pressure down low--but I had all that at the end with Andrew, too. I didn't have a whole lot of warm-up with his birth except a few Braxton Hicks after a long day...but when that first "real" contraction hit, there was no stopping it and I knew that was "IT." No false labor or anything, although we did time contractions the day before briefly but they were very mild and never picked up. Hopefully, I'll remember what the real thing feels like--no false alarms!!

My anxiety is all but gone, although I do have to keep myself busy and pray a lot to keep it at bay. Like today, knowing I'm going to the doctor, the anxiety levels start to try to creep up--but I'm keeping it positive and reminding myself that these doctor visits are the most exciting!! The hemorrhoids are also gone and not bothering me, assuming I rest and don't sit for long periods of time. I do have a card order to fill but I'll sit on the Boppy while I work! My weight gain got stuck again--we'll see what her scale says. I swear, this baby just takes exactly what I'm putting in, cuz I feel like all I do is eat, and I make sure it's all healthy, too! Weird.

My midwives never checked my cervix when I was pregnant with Andrew and I still question why it's done routinely. No matter what she tells me, it's really meaningless. You can be totally closed up and then change in a day, or open to 2-3cm for weeks!! The reason I'll allow it today is because Drew is going out of town. I want a head's up if anything is "happening" and knowing it's not would be comforting, too.

P.S. I just checked myself and my cervix is VERY high and decidedly closed, so we'll see if my doc agrees!!

I'll post the OB report when I get back! :) Oh, and maybe a belly shot, too. At this point, it'll be fun to compare once he "drops," so I'll probably post a picture once/week.

36 weeks...9 months...4 weeks to go!!

I would say that week 35 was probably my most "eventful" to date, for several reasons.

1. I experienced my first true adverse symptom of pregnancy--anxiety. It started Wednesday night and looking back, I think it was because I'd been re-living Andrew's birth as I recounted his birth story, then added to it by reading a book about the finer points of birth. My symptoms were sweaty hands and feet, feeling a little "foggy-headed" and just a general feeling of something like impending doom. It was like the thought of actually having this baby soon set in--and freaked me out!

I got through the night but it started up again as soon as I woke up Thursday, to the point that I couldn't eat and was just hanging on by a thread mentally, mostly due to ominous thoughts that were completely UNrelated to birth. I had my OB appointment that afternoon and my friend offered take me to lunch beforehand and drive me there and back, God bless her. I was anxious all through lunch and couldn't touch my food--I just drank water and tried to not think about anything but the present moment. I felt better at the doctor's office and everything checked out perfectly, so I knew there wasn't anything truly "wrong." She told me it was hormonal. The sweating, the anxiety, the feeling foggy-headed...all hormones.

Friday was another challenging day with a lot of time spent on the couch, just trying to focus my thoughts and get through. Friday night, Drew and I did a lot of talking and praying and I was able to sleep better.

Saturday was my shower and I was a little better, but still not myself. I just felt...anxious! It was toward the end of the shower that I felt the fog sort of lift, and Drew said he thought it was partly because I was just anxious about the event itself--which is very unlike me!! Normally, I'd be anxious/excited and maybe have a stomach ache but the other symptoms were new to me! By the time we got home, I was so relieved to be feeling better that I just laid on the couch and chilled.

Sunday, I spent the morning in bed, again, relieved to be feeling back to normal, and spent a lot of time just resting in the Lord and praying. Drew and I got to talk more about what happened, too. I think hormones were at work at first, but were exasperated by my re-living my last birth, then made worse by the stress of the doctor visit and the impending shower. Hormones do funny things to you! Plus, it dawned on me after a Starbucks tea on Saturday, that I hadn't had caffeine since it all started, so I was probably experiencing withdrawals!! Sheesh.

Drew and I prayed about it and god was reiterating the word PEACE. So since then, I've been trying to take my thoughts captive, rest in God's peace, view my circumstances through a lens of peace and pass peace on to others--all of which have helped me feel almost 100% normal ever since--save some sweaty hands and feet!

So it was a minor hiccup but I'm glad it's over and glad to be one week from full term!

2. I had my baby shower! :) I'll post pictures on my main blog and link back here ASAP.

3. I had my maternity portrait session! Find the link in the previous post

As for week 36...I am not--I repeat, NOT--going to psych myself up for "going early."

All pregnant women probably wish for their baby to be born at about 38 or 39 weeks--nice and ripe but not overly so. And every week at the end gets you another half-pound as far as the baby's weight, so two weeks can result in a baby that's a pound heavier! For a woman having natural childbirth, you kinda hope to not have any more weight on the baby than necessary!

Having gone 6 days past-due last time, I can honestly say that I have no desire to go past my due date this time. The caveat, however, is that Andrew was born at a healthy 8 lbs. 4 oz. and has been miraculously healthy ever since...so you can't argue with that! He definitely came when he was ready. He also had passed meconium, though (and the odds increase that they will, the longer they 'cook'), which created an "emergency situation" at the end of my labor, so that resulted in a less-than-ideal birth. So I'd like to avoid that this time, too, and thankfully, the odds are in my favor.

Today marks the first time I felt pressure on my cervix--just a tad, when I stood up from the computer. Right down the middle, though, and fairly intense! Ya never know, maybe I'll be dilated a little when I go in for my 37 week appointment next week!

maternity portraits!

Here's a sneak peak...



...but check out the best

HERE