NSTs

This post is really for myself. I just wanted photo documentation of me having one of my weekly NSTs so I would always remember how thankful I am for modern medicine and the ability to carry a child to term, two things I hope to never forget or take for granted!

37 Weeks

(Don't mind the BRIGHT PINK activity center. It's a much-appreciated hand me down!)
(P.S. Rob likes when I include a photo that is "up close." )

How Far Along: 37 Weeks.

Size of baby: Watermelon. How fitting considering it looks like I'm smuggling one everywhere I go!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I didn't weigh myself out of fear for what the number would read. I'm realllllly re-thinking that stoopid idea to try to fatten my baby up...

Maternity Clothes: Oh yeah!

Gender: A beloved son!

Movement: He is still nice and busy in there. I love it! I was talking with a friend this week telling her how all cheesiness factor aside, pregnancy truly is a miracle. She adeptly replied, "It's the biggest trip you can't possibly describe!"

Sleep: I am now up to a minimum of two pee breaks per night. Ugh. Oh well.

What I miss: Nothing, really, seeing as I am in the home stretch! I only have nine more days left from here!

Cravings: I made my way back to chicken wings. No surprise there! Having them once was enough, though. None of this second trimester business of eating them three times in one week! Special shout out to Chili's for sending me a coupon for a free molten cake! Ha! Thankfully Rob ate half!

Symptoms: A BIG baby belly!

Best Moment this week: I had my first (and likely only) internal exam as well as the Strep B swab. Both were non-events. Yay! When you're pregnant people like to tell you lots of horror stories but they really only took a matter of seconds and were not painful in the least. Awkward? Yes, totally, but not painful. Bonus: they were over literally within seconds.

Interesting...

My aunt saw my on Skype today and started to cry, telling me I look the best I have ever looked. So, I had Rob take my picture. Call me vain like that! Anyhow, here I am:



And darnit if I don't feel pretty, too!

Yikes!

Less than two weeks and baby will be here. I'm still unprepared. Well, I take that back. I decided to work on organizing our papers and financial affairs before tackling the nursery. I want my ducks in a row in the event something were to happen to me. I'm not trying to be morbid, just realistic that I am having surgery and have a blood clotting disorder. If something did happen, Rob would be so stressed that the very last thing he would need is to deal with financial chaos, too.

I did buy special soap so that hopefully tomorrow I can start on organizing and inventorying. Rob has plans tonight to play softball and tomorrow he is meeting a friend for their "accountability" meeting so that leaves me two days and nights with no excuses for why things are not getting accomplished. Next week I have to go to the DMV and afterwards I don't want to do anything except relax before baby arrives. Rob also works Saturday so really I have three days. Everyone please send vibes that I can get my act together. No time like the present!

And for those of you interested, here is a glimpse of the nursery bedding:

I Thought I Was Losing My Mind!

Three weeks ago my kid flipped breach. NBD since I'm having a c/s. In the middle of the night I was woken up by an extreme pain. It hurt so bad I literally sat straight up in bed.

I looked at my stomach and I could see that my baby was in a transverse position. I've always, always said I am not one of those women who can accurately tell you where baby is positioned, which parts are which, etc. Because of this I wasn't 100% confident and thought maybe I was losing my mind. He seemed very intent on whatever he was doing in there so I switched positions hoping it would help him or encourage him to keep on moving.

Lo, I went for my weekly ultrasound this morning and the tech confirmed that he was now head down, "ready, locked and loaded." My belly looks entirely different, too. If I lay flat and use what used to be my abs to raise my body, it looks like an alien cone. I saw the doctor just yesterday and he was nowhere near being in position and in a matter of a few hours, he went and did "his thing." And dayum if it didn't hurt! Good thing this wimp isn't birthing him traditionally!

17

Well, I guess I took my task of fattening up my son to heart because at the doctor this morning they said I am up three pounds, for a total of 17. This post is more for my own memory. I would be fine with gaining 20 pounds this pregnancy so coupled with the amount of time I have left in this pregnancy, I think we will end up on track.

Uh...fingers crossed one of those pounds went to the baby, ha! I will say this: we ate like kings (pigs?) this weekend at Cracker Barrel, Starbucks and a fancy brunch place. We were determined to eat out before those days are over. Ha!

It's Getting There

The nursery is still under construction. Over the past few days I have been to ten stores in search of an appropriate rug. Alas, even with the internet, I didn't fall in love with anything. We settled on a rug from Ikea, which is amazing to me since it is extremely rare that they have any products I like.

Rob placed all the furniture and vacuumed, my mom washed the baseboards, and now I begin the tedious process of washing the bedding and all all his clothes so I can set things up. I still (desperately) need to do an inventory to see what I have left to buy. Since the majority of our clothes are upcycled from friends, I need to go through and label stuff so I can return it when the baby outgrows it.

We bought a glider and an ottoman off of Craig's List and we need to recover the cushion-it is absolutely the ugliest of the ugly but as soon as that is done I can show some pictures. I 2 weeks so I'd better get on it!

36 Weeks

How Far Along: 36 Weeks.

Size of baby: Large cantaloupe (still.)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I haven't weighted myself yet this week. I'm sure it is a scary number. I had Starbucks for breakfast and Cracker Barrel for lunch so you do the math...

Maternity Clothes: Yup. And I got three new dresses this week from Targhetto to see me through the post-partum phase.

Gender: A beloved son!

Movement: Considering his lack of room I'd say he's still pretty busy in there doing his thing!

Sleep: I have not been sleeping at all. It isn't the peeing or the heartburn, it is the racing brain.

What I miss: Not struggling to make it in the heat. I have never been someone who thrives when it is hot but this heat has limited me severely. I also miss being able to rotate my body while driving. My range of motion seems very limited!

Cravings: None this week.

Symptoms: Last week I wore the same outfit in my 35 week picture to church and THREE people told me I was too small to be delivering in less than 3 weeks. Last night I wore a form-fitting pregnancy tank and THREE different people all asked if I was planning to deliver that very night. What a difference an outfit can make, right? So, I guess the biggest symptom is a burgeoning belly.

Best Moment this week: During my NST they kept trying to tell me I was having epic contractions on par with labor. I kept insisting I was not! I knew better than them in this instance. Turns out the sensors were picking up my breathing movements. Silly!

Guests!

Immediately after baby's birth, my MIL and BIL will be visiting; BIL is bringing his girlfriend. I am glad to see them since it has been quite a while but I am very nervous. Well, not so much nervous about my MIL, as she has given birth and knows how exhausting it can be. I have received lots of excellent advice to just focus on my baby and let everyone fend for themselves but they will be here for a week and I don't like for people to be disappointed. Under any other circumstances we'd love to go out and explore/play!

Since Rob started a new job he literally has ZERO time off. So, my in-laws will not get to see him much. My BIL is only 22 and his girlfriend is barely 21 so I am sure they are not going to want to sit around the house with me, which is not something I want, either. It will really put me on edge to have an audience. I am thinking of compiling a list of places that might interest them. This is the land of countless water parks and malls, after all!

My MIL is going to cook my favorite dish of her hers so that is exciting. Since both my parents work odd, long hours they haven't really prepared any of the foods I crave from their repertoires. If a restaurant doesn't make it, I don't get to eat it, LOL!

My FIL is coming a few days after MIL and BIL leave. I am leaving that visit up to my husband!

At all of our hospital classes they have really been driving home the "You do not need help holding your baby. You need help with cooking and cleaning" point so I am thankful that my MIL called Rob and told him she wants to make sure she is helpful, etc. It is easy for me to set boundaries with my own family because I can say what I want and know they won't be offended but I was super worried my ILs would think we didn't want them to visit, or that they were an imposition, etc. Rob and I are simply scared out of our minds to become parents. And I am scared to get into the scheme of nursing.

Everything always works out the way it is supposed to. That said, if any DFW locals know of a fun place for young twenty-somethings to venture off to, I'd love to add them to my list! Thank you for all the kind advice and encouragement of late. I keep reminding myself I only need to focus on the baby!

Random

Here are some tidbits floating in my mind today:

1. Tonight we have our final baby class at the hospital. We have taken quite a few, including Daddy Bootcamp (for Rob), Safety & CPR, and Breastfeeding 101. Tonight is Baby Care, where presumably they will tell us how to prevent dropping him and doing anything else stoopid. The cafeteria at the hospital is locally famous for having delicious food so we are thrilled to be having dinner there again. I know stereotypes abound about hospital food but their is stuff is genuinely delectable. People come from neighboring businesses just to eat there! On the night your baby is delivered they bring you steak and lobster. I, of course, will be on a liquid diet for two days but Rob is sure excited about it. He had a delicious cheese steak at last week's class and I enjoyed strawberry shortcake, LOL.

2. I was telling the ultrasound tech how nervous we are that the baby will be small due to the Heparin. During my weekly ultrasounds they don't measure for his weight because doing so week to week would be pointless. She knows how scared we are so she secretly measured to determine a guess of his weight and had the nurse give it to me. She is estimating him to be 6 pounds, 4 ounces. So tiny! This made me super sad. He doesn't get the benefit of 2 extra weeks in utero, where typically they put on the most weight, so I am bound and determined to do whatever I can to fatten him up.

3. I feel like a bag of bricks. The iron pills were helping for a while but I am hitting the wall quicker each day! I'm sure some of this has to do with being 9 months (tomorrow) and living in 105+ degree heat, but having never been pregnant before I have nothing to compare it to.

4. I realllllly need to stop procrastinating on doing the nursery. An inventory is desperately needed. I have an emotional hang-up on not having the right rug so I can put the furniture in the positions I want so I can start filling drawers. Silly, I know! My nesting instinct sucks! Ha!

5. In other news, I am starting to get super nervous. I can't believe God is going to loan me a baby. I'm so happy I can hardly stand it but I'd be lying if I didn't admit to being terrified, too. I remember a few years ago I saw my friend Carrie before she delivered her daughter. She had that gorgeous pregnancy glow and she was cool, calm and collected. I always hoped I'd be the same. Instead I am sweaty and nervous. Ha!

6. I am nervous to have out-of-town guests so quickly after delivering. I won't be in a position to play tour guide and I feel badly since Rob's brother, in particular, is viewing the trip as a summer vacation. I am also scared to try to learn to mother and nurse with an audience. People keep telling me I will lose all sense of modesty, and in many ways I have lightened up, but I am still nervous about my body being on display.