38 weeks + Appendectomy. OY

I'm actually closer to 39 weeks as I write this, but better late then never!

At my 38 week appt I had made almost no additional progress from the previous week. I'm currently sitting at 1cm and about the same effacement. Wah. No matter how much you try to convince yourself that you *know* the numbers don't mean a thing, at  the end of the pregnancy you really want to hear something. And yes, I do ask to be checked because I'm just way too curious.

Other then being uncomfortable, I'm still having a couple hours of contractions every other night or so that clearly go no where.

On a completely side topic and "story to tell our kids one day"...Dan had to have an appendectomy Monday afternoon. After being up ALL Sunday evening (both of us), he made an appointment with his doctor to see what the deal was...hoping that maybe he had pulled a muscle/hernia. The doctor did one test and confirmed exactly what we didn't want to hear. He needed to go to the hospital immediately for an appendectomy. I freaked out at first because I had heard through the grapevine that the hospital stay was 3-4 nights. UM. That's not going to work.

Luckily, they got him into surgery ASAP and told us we could go home almost immediately afterwards!!

Not saying this has been easy. He's been in pain, taking doses of Oxycodon (sp?) and been pretty much not helpful for the past couple of days. I'm super tired because I get to deal with an active toddler who really really REALLY wants to play on the daddy jungle gym and can't. So I have to keep him busy doing other activities, which I swear make him want to play on Dan MORE.

This has been the most tired I've ever been. While I would love to have Bridget here, I'm actually way too tired for her to come. Along with the fact that Dan would basically be useless to me during labor at this point...Like, he wouldn't even be able to drive me to the hospital. We've been joking about it the past couple of days. We'd actually have to call our neighors or parents to drive us to the hospital if I went into labor! He's started to wean himself off the medication, but I don't think he'll feel much better until friday.

How far along?  38 weeks

• Total weight gain:  21lbs
• Maternity clothes? Yep, I've been wearing tops. STILL haven't bought maternity pants yet....I have a pair of pre-preg skinny jeans that fit and leggings have been my BFF. The weather here has been really odd. Really nice and in the 70's one day, and then 42 (today)
• Stretch marks? still none
• Sleep:  MEH. 
• Best moment this week: Getting to bring Dan home from the hospital and not needing an overnight stay!
• Miss Anything? Regular clothes!!!!! And a DRINK. I really need one.
• Movement: a lot of pressure down low. Her movement has slowed down a bit it seems
• Food cravings: Meh. Not much, honestly.
• Food aversions: nothing really
• Gender: Girl:)
• Labor Signs: Contractions, 1cm dilated, 70% effaced
• Symptoms: My RLP is still pretty bad. I have a ton of pressure down low.
• Belly Button in or out? Out.
• Wedding rings on or off? On.
• Looking forward to: Hopefully a non-eventful weekend. If Dan's feeling better, then Bridget can make her debut.
• Feelings-physically I'm feeling done. Emotionally I'm pretty much ready for her. I need Dan to catch up with my on the physical part. I really need him to be more "awake" during our labor :)

 

37 weeks and Progress

Oh man. Has this week been TIRING.

It looks like I'm going to be having lots of false/pre-labor with this little girl.

It started Monday evening, which didn't surprise me since we had done so much travelling. It was only for about 2 hours but were pretty consistent at about 5-6 minutes apart.

Then came Wednesday evening and I had contractions ALL NIGHT LONG. From 11pm-5am. I was able to fall asleep for a couple hours before getting up for work, which thankfully wasn't as tiring as I thought it would be.

And then again last night...for a good 5 hours. 5-7 minutes apart. We'll see if this is how the next 3 weeks proceeds! I know very well that I could be stuck with contractions like this every night for quite awhile - at least it's getting my body prepared for actual labor:)

On another note: I was totally surprised thursday afternoon by the wonderful shower my co-workers threw me! They purchased Bridget a BEAUTIFUL baby bedding set from Pottery Barn Kids which included a Crib Skirt, Crib sheet and Quilt. I know most people think that baby bedding is a waste of money - I'm actually not one of those peopl. The only piece of the bedding I feel is a waste are the bumpers (which my co-workers knew not to buy!) We registered for a really nice bedding set from Pottery Barn for Grayson and although he didn't get to use his quilt right away....has slept with it ever since we allowed him to have a blanket. It's now on his toddler bed and totally adorable. If Dan and I were to invest our own money in a bedding set, we were going to go with Pottery Barn again because of the simple classic styles they offer - something our kids can grow with.

A quick pic of my guys:

And for the weekly Quiz:

How far along?  37 weeks

• Total weight gain: still 20lbs according to the docs scale
• Maternity clothes? Yep, I've been wearing tops. STILL haven't bought maternity pants yet....
• Stretch marks? still none
• Sleep:  Not very good this week.
• Best moment this week: finding out that I had made some progress - made the contractions worth it.
• Miss Anything? Regular clothes and bending over. Seriously.
• Movement: Still have a lot of big movements
• Food cravings: Meh. Not much, honestly.
• Food aversions: nothing really
• Gender: Girl:)
• Labor Signs: Contractions, lost my mucous plug,  70% effaced, Fingertip dilated, Baby's head is engaged and my cervix is anterior!
• Symptoms: My RLP is still pretty bad. I have a ton of pressure down low.
• Belly Button in or out? Out.
• Wedding rings on or off? On.
• Looking forward to: Pumpkin picking and possibly HallZooWeen..although the weather is pretty poor.
• Feelings- Starting to feel done. I'm getting to that uncomfortable stage in pregnancy where my belly is taking over everything. I finally packed my bag for the hospital yesterday, along with a bag for Grayson in case we need to drop him with the neighbors or parents. I also washed all the material that was on the swing, car seat, rock and play and put most of it together. We may bring the swing upstairs this weekend so that Grayson can get used to it. Luckily, his daycare is small so he knows that baby's aren't supposed to be touched while in the swing...

36.5 week Comparison

 

I'm a little delayed in writing this post. We've had a lot going on...

 

Because of the passing of a very dear boy, Dan and I made the 11ish hour trip back to CT to say our goodbyes. In preperation to travel, I had my appt thursday where they basically printed out my whole medical history and delivered it to me in a manila envelope stating "do not go anywhere without this". We also were instructed to map out every hospital on the way to CT just in case.

 

Because of the patience and confidence of the midwives, we felt pretty comfortable making the trip without any issues. We were "supposed" to stop every two hours...and totally failed on that front. I was very anxious to "just get home" and made sure to move my ankles around, etc.

 

We did the trip in one shot on the way TO CT, but decided to leave Saturday evening to break it up a bit on the way back. Although it wasn't terrible, I really wasn't excited about getting back in the car for a full 12 hours in one day and we wanted to get back home to Grayson since it was the first time we'd left him for two nights, and been so far away from him.

 

All in all, I'm very happy we were able to go home.

 

******

I really like looking back and "Comparing Bellies"

 

The left is myself 37 weeks pregnant with Grayson, and the right is me 36.5 with Bridget. Just noticed how tired I look in both pictures. Ha! 

 

 



How far along? 36 weeks

• Total weight gain:  20lbs according to the docs scale
• Maternity clothes?  Yep, I've been wearing tops. Haven't bought maternity pants yet. It's "casual dress" all week at work, so I'm still holding off....:)
• Stretch marks? still none
• Sleep:  Pretty terrible last week - not necessarily pregnancy related.
• Best moment this week: Getting to see family, even under the sad circumstances
• Miss Anything? Regular clothes. Definitely. And my movement is becoming limited...
• Movement: A lot of big movements still.
• Food cravings: Meh. Not much, honestly.
• Food aversions: nothing really
• Gender: Girl:)
• Labor Signs: Cramping a bit more. I was checked last week at my appt before leaving for CT and I wasn't dilated at all, but 50% effaced. Bridget is also measuring AHEAD now..she was consistently measuring a week or 2 behind, which is fine, but it may be the reason why I clearly look much larger these past 2 weeks all of a sudden. Baby girl had a growth spurt!
• Symptoms: RLP is getting pretty bad. I had to really slow down on the elliptical today because I was being so bothered!
• Belly Button in or out? Out.
• Wedding rings on or off? On.
• Looking forward to: This weekend with my family. We're hoping to go pumpkin picking and do the HallZooWeen. The weather is looking a little gloomy, so we'll see.
• Feelings-  Starting to feel done. I'm getting to that uncomfortable stage in pregnancy where my belly is taking over everything. I'm definitley better this time around then when I was pg with Grayson, but it's still starting to get a bit tiring.

35 weeks/35 Days

So here we are at 35 weeks!

I'm VERY tiredly (word??) waiting for my oil change to be complete at Toyota. I lucked out with about 3-4 days of great sleep....and then my body decided to wake me up at 3:00am for the day. I was doing good up until I sat down, and now I totally want to nap in the waiting area.

The nap thing is probably not going to happen since I have errands to run...but it's a nice thought:)

We have been sending Grayson to daycare on fridays since it was easier then trying to find a sitter on the days I have my appointments. (And yes, there is absolutely NO WAY that I would even think about bringing my child to an appt. He is THAT bad) I actually pay daycare less for the whole day, then what it would cost to have a sitter watch G for 3 hours. This has been pretty awesome the past couple of fridays when we've needed to get stuff done.

Other then being a little sleepy today, I'm definitely starting to feel like I'm ready for the end.

In the picture below, I feel like I've had a pretty big growth spurt. Both Dan and one of my co-workers think that I've "dropped"...although I don't really have much of a torso...so to me it's really hard to tell. Either way, I've been having a lot more pressure "down there" (yey)

Look at that artwork!! I think this is a pretty accurate picture of my size.

How far along?  35 weeks 

• Total weight gain:  19 lbs 
• Maternity clothes? Still just tops right now...
• Stretch marks? none yet
• Sleep:  It was great this week until last night!
• Best moment this week: Seeing the wainscotting complete - YEY!! Picture below. I am totally jumping on the "Gray" bandwagon and looking to paint above the wainscotting a very light gray...that project will have to wait until after Bridget is born and I'm back to work. Way easier to have the house painted when we're not in the house!
• Miss Anything? Regular clothes. Although I've really enjoyed this pregnancy and my bump...just today I had a little moment of "I want my body back!!"
• Movement: A lot of big movements - which was why I was up last night
• Food cravings: I've been drinking a lot of Powerade and ice tea's...
• Food aversions: nothing really
• Gender: Girl:)
• Labor Signs: Cramping a bit more. My contractions with Grayson started as really bad cramps...and I've started to get them a bit more, especially after I excersice or other activities *ahem*
• Symptoms: Leaking a LOT more. Definitely feeling more "pressure" down there. RLP, and shortness of breath. I don't remember ever having shortness of breath with Grayson, it must be her positioning.
• Belly Button in or out? Out.
• Wedding rings on or off? On.
• Looking forward to: Taking Grayson to either museum tomorrow OR Entertrainment Junction.
• Feelings-  Still feeling really good. Starting to feel "done" though. Dan is definitely ready for her to be here....he's always wanted a little girl, so this is like the icing on a cake for him to actually get to have one. I have to say, I've bought a LOT of clothing these past couple of weeks...and Dan DOESN'T.SAY.A.WORD. He may roll his eyes a bit..:)



Bags - we haven't packed any bags yet. I don't remember when I did it with Grayson, I have most of the things I need, and will probably put something together within the next week or so.

We're going to pack G a little bag to keep all his things together in case we have to either drop him off at Dan's parents or have the neighbors come over quickly {waves to the Adams}. That way, no one has to go searching for anything he needs...it's all right there in his bag.